For the Love of Food

A year and a half ago I found myself in one of the greenest countries I’ve ever visited. And, this week is all about the Irish and their patron Saint: St. Patrick.

Being someone who pays quite a lot of attention to food, while in Ireland I noticed that food in Ireland is predominantly NOT green. Rich browns, oranges, and yellows adorn most plates nation-wide. And, especially in pubs, the leafy green salads that many of us are used to are few and far between – and sometimes non-existent.

So, what does a typical Irish meal consist of? Potatoes, meat, cooked vegetables such as carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, and cauliflower, and more potatoes…they sure do like their potatoes. I remember once when we stopped for lunch at a cantina and my husband was served two types of potatoes with his spaghetti!

Bread is also an integral part of daily life on the Emerald Isle. They have everything from scones to brown bread to soda bread. While we were staying at Stanley House in Schull, we fell in love with Mrs. Brosnan’s fabulous homemade brown bread. So much so that I asked for the recipe and have been waiting for a while now to try it out. But, since all my baking supplies are backed away in boxes, it may just have to wait for next St. Patrick’s day. Continue Reading »

Before I left on my trip to the US, my in-laws visited us here in Germany and we took a 3 days trip to the Czech Republic. We spent 2 days in Prague and a day in Pilsen – the birth place of the pilsner beer.

I really really enjoy Prague every time I go, it’s just so very beautiful. And, I recommend if you ever have the chance to go that you take it.

Bellow I will share with you some of the many pictures that I took while in Prague and on our tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery. Enjoy! Continue Reading »

Well, I am back into a normal sleeping/waking pattern – finally! I actually have been for a few days now, but being at the end stages of pregnancy makes it hard to sit at a computer and do anything – because it makes my feet swell.

Anyways, I want to start sharing some pictures with you from my vacation, and I’m going to start backwards. The last leg of our vacation took us on a 15 hour car ride from south-central Texas to just south of Denver, Colorado. So, why would I subject myself to a 15 hour car ride with 5 other family members (including a 2-year-old)?? For my brother-in-law’s wedding, of course!

We had a really great time – especially escaping the intense Texas heat and getting to visiting with the extended family that flew in from all over the US and world. Of all the people who enjoyed going to Colorado the most, I believe it was my son. He fell in love with his new aunt and still talks about her all the time. Many evenings he will come to me while I’m in the kitchen preparing dinner and tell me “goodbye mommy – going Jessica home”. Then he puts on his helmet, gets on his bike, and rides down the end of the hallway and tries to open the door to no avail. It is quite cute, ut makes me sad that we live too far away for a quick visit. Maybe that will change in a few years….

First, let’s talk wedding location: Continue Reading »

So, as you are reading this, I am in the air on my way home to Texas!

I hope to have some great posts for you depicting my favorite Tex-Mex foods…oh, I can’t wait for some chips and salsa!!

What are your favorite food-memories from home??

I just wanted to share something really cool with you guys.

The other day when my mom was in town we decided to take a day trip to see Regensburg – a city in central Bavaria. We basically just had lunch there – at a brewery – and walked around a bit.

In the brewery where we ate there was a sort of locker called a Bierkrugtressor which translates exactly to Beer Krug Treasury. It’s for the “regulars” who have their own beer mugs at the brewery. They keep them locked up for them so that their mugs are always there to use when they come for a drink.

Cool huh?

Happy 2009 everyone!

I decided to analyze my blog from January 2008 – December 2008 to see what you like.

Why?
I want to see more of you around my blog more often. And, that means finding out what you like.

How?
I looked at all my posts and saw what you commented most on and I learned quite a lot.

What? Continue Reading »

Last Thursday our local Christmas Market opened its doors. It always gives me such a nice warm and fuzzy feeling to walk through in the evening and enjoy the dimmed lights and people chatting over a cup of warm spiced wine.

I know many of you, my readers in the US especially, do not have Christmas Markets in your area and have never been to Germany to see one. So, I am sharing mine with you. Continue Reading »

If I haven’t been clear enough in my previous blog posts: Ireland is EXPENSIVE.

Accommodations, while pricey, can still be found at decent prices – especially in the off season (Fall/Winter).  But, food is another story.  Food is expensive.  Fancy a salad for your main meal?  Be ready to fork out up to €15 at a local pub.  Want some Irish Stew?  The same type of simple meal can run you anywhere from €9-€25 depending on what town you’re in and how touristy it is.  And, unlike many other countries, in Ireland (usually) the smaller the location the more touristy it is – aka – more expensive.

After many days of eating in restaurants, we soon got tired of this, and moved on to more hostels and “self-catered” meals.  Continue Reading »

We all have to have the fact that sometimes we only think of ourselves when we plan our vacations and forget to account the little ones in our planning. who would think that they would get bored spending 14 days in a car traveling around a huge Island?? – any logically thinking parent.

I have to say that I, as most parents probably are who are booking their next get-away, are only thinking about their extreme need to get away from the daily routine that is stressing us out.

It wasn’t until my son kept asking to go “ome” (home) every single day that I realized how terribly board he was. That is when we started to plan our vacation more around him and less around all the “cool” places we could see that we just couldn’t enjoy because we felt we had to rush.

A castle is just a big boring rock you can’t pick up and throw to a little kid.

To top it off, many hotels or bed and breakfasts and even some hostels are not young-child friendly.

So, for those of you parents with young children planning your next trip to Ireland, I have some great tips for you. For those of you planning on going somewhere else on your next vacation, I have some good tips for you as well. Continue Reading »

I thought I’d share some really interesting things with you about Ireland. Some of these things were obvious to us before we arrived there, but many were surprising.

1. It’s really really green there. There is green grass and shamrocks in every corner of the country and the name Emerald Isle is no exaggeration. Continue Reading »