Austria

My time spent in Austria can be summed up in one word. Schnitzel. During my 2 day and a half stay, I managed to have schnitzel for 3 meals. How that happened, I’m not entirely sure. Every time though, it was delicious.If you don’t know, schnitzel is a breaded meat, usually pork or veal. Pork is the better version in my opinion, but to each their own.

Now I did eat other things while in Austria. The one that was the most traditional of the these meals that I had was a lunch that we ate on the side of a mountain. I ordered bacon dumplings and salad, thinking that the dumplings would be small and scattered within the salad. So imagine my surprise when the waitress puts a plate I front of me with a salad, but beside it were two giant balls of dough. I can hardly qualify them as dumplings. The meal was extremely filling and delicious, so I could only make my way through one “dumpling”. Plus there’s only so much dough and bacon that a girl can take.

Those two meals are really the only two traditional and notable meals of the trip. The rest of the time I mostly ate salads, and lots of yogurt. I know, very boring stuff. But that’s it for my posts on European food. I hope they help you if you ever go to France, Switzerland or Austria some day. I only dabbled in the cuisines of each country (obviously seen by this last post) but I had fun writing them all the same. Here are some more photos of my trip that I hope you like. Thanks for reading!

Switzerland

The Swiss are best known for having 4 national languages (French, Italian, Swiss German and Romansh), founding the Red Cross and their chocolate. While I was there, I found their chocolate and yogurt particularly delicious. So let’s talk about them. 🙂

I have to start this post talking about the yogurt. Oh my gosh I wish I could have bought liters of it and brought it back home. You see, while walking around during our first day there, I got a little hungry so we popped into the nearest grocery store. Since I am a huge fan of yogurt, I figured a company that’s been making yogurt since 1694 was worth giving a shot.

Oh. My. God.

It was fantastic. Creamy, smooth, and not just the right amount of vanilla. I don’t know the words to describe the joy that eating that yogurt brought me. Honestly if you’re ever in Europe and you see this brand, you must try it! And if you see it on the shelves of your local Canadian grocery store, please let me know. Writing this has really made me want more…

Another discovery in that same grocery store were these beautiful yet strange looking eggs. Since it wasn’t Easter, we thought we’d ask what made these eggs different. Apparently in Europe, grocery stores differentiate hard-boiled eggs from raw eggs by colouring them red. Isn’t that cool? So if you’re on the run but want a shot of healthy protein, you can buy a bunch of cooked eggs. I think we should have that in Canada. It would definitely be supported in my opinion.

This is just a photo of fancy toast. In the little dishes from left to right are maple syrup, strawberry jam and apricot jam. I really just took this photo to show how classy restaurants in Europe can be. They make you feel special when all you’re doing is eating toast.

CHOCOLATE! On the last day in Switzerland, we realized that we had yet to step into a chocolate shop. This would have been disgraceful, so we quickly sought out one that I regretfully no longer remember the name of.  In this particular store there were three main chocolate brands being offered for sale: Toblerone, Lindt and Laderach. We had heard that the Swiss prefer Laderach chocolate so instead of buying chocolate that we could easily get back home, we all bought some Laderach chocolate. Now, during its transport back home, my chocolate bark had melted. And since there were 5 different flavours in the bag, they have now all combined into one mish-mosh of sugar. So the bite that I had tasted like a combination of milk and dark chocolate, with a hint of coffee. Never the less, it’s delicious, so if you see some than you should buy some.

http://www.laederach.com/chde

And that’s it for Switzerland. Last but not least is Germany, who’s post will be published on Monday. Until then, below are some additional photos that I took while out and about in Murten and Berne, Switzerland. Thanks for reading!

A beautiful antique bookstore.

Mountains mountains, everywhere.

A lake in Murten had lots of fun things to do, like a slide and a zip-line.

A cinema in Murten that only shows 3 movies.

France

Whilst in Europe, I visited three countries with my family: France, Switzerland and Austria. I will cover my favourite meals, food and drinks  from each of these countries over the next couple of posts. Today, we start with France!

For almost every dinner that we ate out, my sister and I asked for iced tea. The first couple of times, it tasted a little strange but still good. It was just nice to have something refreshing, considering the oppressive heat. On our final night there, we finally found out why Parisian iced tea tasted different. It was peach flavoured! In Paris (and everywhere else that we traveled to during our trip we would later find out) lemon flavoured iced tea is difficult to find. Sweeter iced tea is preferred in Europe I guess. The peach flavoured iced tea was delicious, although it took some time to get used to the sweeter flavour, but I would recommend trying it if you get the chance.

The first time that my family visited Angelina’s, it was a chocolate revelation. Melting a Swiss chocolate bar into hot chocolate? Who would ever think of that? This time around, we all tried something a little different. The hot chocolate was (as memory serves) heart attack inducing, so we all opted instead for some tea. Then I ordered some macarons from which we all snacked on. The four flavours were vanilla, chocolate, caramel and pistachio. I tried the chocolate one, and it was marvelous.  Oh, and the Earl Grey tea that I had was dependably energy giving as well. 🙂 I would definitely recommend going to Angelina’s, however I would go for a snack, not a full meal since it’s quite pricey.

http://www.angelina-paris.fr/

Ice cream. Gelato. Frozen Yoghurt. It was so hot during our time in France, that almost every day we had an ice cream. Being the incredibly adventurous person that I am, I usually got vanilla. Above is one of the more elaborate ice cream dishes that I got, which included a cookie, strawberries and nectarines. Although I also tried Neapolitan, pistachio and mango, vanilla ice cream will always be my favourite.

This pizza was the best pizza I have ever tasted. Topped with brie, camembert, mushrooms and drizzled with honey, there wasn’t much not to like. I wish I had taken a photo of the restaurant so that I could tell you where to visit when you’re in Annecy. All I can say with absolute certainty is that if you visit a bar down along the canal in Annecy, one of them will have this masterpiece. Good luck!

Finally, who can leave France without trying some snails? The French have a much more elegant word for them though: escargot. Essentially garlic deliciousness, they are a delicacy that I had been looking forward to for weeks before boarding the plane to Paris. If you haven’t tried them before, then I have 3 easy steps to having the best snail experience.

1. Board an airplane to Paris
2. Go to Le Coupe-Chou.
3. Order their snails.

It’s really the only way to have them. 🙂 Below are some other photos that I thought you might enjoy. Thanks for reading!

A rainbow of terrines.

Mountains in Annecy

Swimming in this lake in Annecy was pretty spectacular.

A multitude of ice cream options.

 

Fresh French Produce

 

Updates and Changes

Hello and happy summer! I hope that you are having a lovely summer, one that is a relaxing and fun-filled. As for myself, I have just returned from  a family trip to Europe so I have been immersing myself in the different cultures across the pond. But more of that later. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share with you some changes that will be occurring from here on in. There will be both short term and long term changes, and I hope that you like them all. Here’s also a preview of what there is to come. 🙂

1. The URL of the blog will change from http://www.foodandteaforthought.wordpress.com to http://www.foodandteaforthought.wordpress,com. This way when you forget the URL of the blog (which never happens because you’re subscribed of course) then you don’t have to remember a completely different combination of words. So hopefully this will make your life easier! Please note that you may have to re-subscribe after the URL change has been made, which can take 2-5 days. WordPress wasn’t really clear on this aspect, so I don’t really know what will happen. I’m really sorry for any inconvenience that this will potentially cause. 😦
2. I’ve decided to set up a schedule for posts. I was previously trying to write a post a day, however then I felt too pressured. Blogging became more of a chore than a passion. This poor blog also fell by the way side during exam season, even though I felt like if I cooked I would feel less stressed. So from now on, expect a post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I think that 3 days a week is perfectly manageable, and hopefully the quality of my writing will increase. Quality over quantity right?
3. As I said before, I just got back from a trip to Europe. So expect blog posts on some of the food I ate there. I also have a huge back log of meals that I cooked from as far back as April. Everything from Vegetable curry to blueberry oatmeal to Menchies. Lots to look forward to!
4. The background will change soon. It’s been the Davidstea cup for way too long!

So there’s the update/changes post.  I hope that they all work out for the best. Here are some photos of what’t to come.

 

Have a great long weekend!

Oatmeal

Summer has finally arrived, and with it comes more free time. Not tonnes, but enough for me to try cooking and baking some new recipes. Because that’s what every normal teenager does right? Right? Well, my main goal for this summer is to find a granola bar recipe that everyone in my family loves. Since I’ve conquered granola, it only seems fitting to expand to granola bars.

I got this recipe through my subscription to the blog/website Food52. This food community emails tasty recipes to get you through the 52 weeks in the year. This oatmeal recipe was sent out about 2 weeks ago, and it was created by Heidi Swanson, the author of the cookbook Super Natural Everyday. 

This recipe was all about expectations for me. I was expecting to get granola bars, so I was a little disappointed when after 35 minutes of baking, the mixture was nowhere near firm enough. After realizing my mistake though (and letting the oatmeal set for an additional half hour), I tasted it with an open mind. It was delicious-and the flavours combined really well. The crunch of the oats, the tangy blueberries and the cinnamon all created an explosive taste in my mouth. The bananas at the bottom also added a lovely bit of sweet to every bite. So even though I didn’t get my granola bars, this recipe is definitely a keeper.

Recipe Notes

• Let the oatmeal sit for at least half an hour once out of the oven. Straight out of the oven, and this oatmeal is more soupy than porridgy….sorry, I don’t know how else to describe that one.
• Any berries work, frozen or fresh! My family loves blueberries, so I just threw those on instead of a mix to ensure that everyone would like to try some.
• I used almonds instead of walnuts, and it worked out fine. I also added some more for some extra crunch.

Click here for the recipe on Food52, and click here to visit Food52’s homepage. 🙂

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2
• bananas, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2cup blueberries or a mix of berries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter the inside of a square 8-inch baking dish.
2. In a bowl, combine the oats, half of the walnuts, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, the milk, egg, half of the butter, and the vanilla.
4. Spread a single layer of bananas across the bottom of the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle about two-thirds of the berries on top. Cover all that with the oat mixture and then drizzle the milk mixture over the oats. Scatter the remaining berries and walnuts over the top.
5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the oats are set. Let cool for a few minutes. Drizzle with the remaining melted butter and serve.

Thanks for reading, see you next time!

Kazu

Not Kazoo, the musical instrument. I’m talking about the Japonese cuisine restaurant on Saint Catherine street in Montreal, which I went to for the first time this past weekend.

Kazu is rated number one on the Urbanspoon website for moderately priced restaurants in Montreal. So when my mom and I were looking for a place to eat during our last visit to Montreal, I suggested trying Kazu. It was a unique experience that we will never forget.

Kazu is a hole-in-the-wall restaurant is located at 1862 Saint Catherine in Montreal. Since the restaurant is as small as a thumb box, we had to wait about 40 minutes before we were offered seats. We eagerly said yes, although the seats that we were offered were not what we expected. Squeak went the door, we took a step, and then we didn’t go much further. We were seated across from a couple who we did not know, centimetres from the door.  Rather shocked, we sat down as we were hurriedly handed some menus.

 

During the 10 minutes-maybe less-that we had the menus. we were completely overwhelmed. The restaurant was so loud, we almost had to shout to hear each other. On the walls (as seen above) were pieces of paper with items on the menu written on them. Kazu is not an americanized Japanese restaurant, so we had no idea what to order. Luckily the couple across the table offered us some guidance-it seemed that they weren’t newcomers to the restaurant. As the waitress zoomed back to our table, we ordered the tuna salmon salad rice bowl and the shrimp pancake salad.

 

The salad arrived first, and it was delicious. Essentially it was freshly chopped tuna and salmon mixed with salad on steamed Japanese rice, with crunchy noodles and lettuce. Although it was raw, the different textures combined to make an exciting bite every time. The crunch of the noodles and the lettuce, the warmth of the rice, the cold of the tuna and salmon…it’s so healthy and so good.

 

The shrimp pancake was a tidbit of a disappointment. I love shrimp, but even I thought that this was a little weird. I think it was the texture that threw me off: it was almost spongy. The flavour was good, although a little salty. Combining the lettuce, carrots and shrimp patty in one bite helped witht the overwhelming salt flavour. If I go back, I won’t order it again.

All in all, I give Kazu a rating of 8 out of 10. The salad was spectacualr although the salad was anything but. The experience was unique and I loved trying authentic Japanese food. However during the entire meal I felt rushed by the waitresses, who made me feel like they just wanted us to scarf up our food and leave so that they could seat another couple in their conitunously growing line. Even with all that, the price for our meal was really good, and like I said, the experience was one that we’ll never forget.

So if you’re going to be in Montreal anytime soon and you don’t mind a bit of a wait, I strongly suggest that you try Kazu. For a link to their website, click here.

Thanks for reading!

Eating and Baking

I have most definitely been eating more than I have been cooking these past 2 months. This isn’t entirely a bad thing, since I got to take photos of elegant, edible art and at the same time surprise my taste buds. Here are some of the best photos of my favourite meals, along with photos of the few instances that I have gotten the chance to bake.

Cheap but deliciously fresh sushi from Naked Fish Sushi, a restaurant in my neighbourhood here in Ottawa. I take any opportunity I can to grab a lunch here-it’s such an affordable place for students like me, compared to other sushi restaurants that I find are terribly over priced.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/250/1567032/restaurant/Westboro/Naked-Fish-Sushi-Ottawa

Schwartz’s! For those of you who don’t know, Schwartz’s is a famous deli in Montreal, Canada that seves delicious smoked meat sandwiches. There is always a line up out the door, but the wait is definitely worth your time. When you walk into Schwartz’s you feel as if you have been transported back in time to 1928. I’m pretty sure they haven’t changed a thing in the place since then, not even the tables. Regardless, whenever I’m in Montreal I make the pilgrimage to Schwartz’s for one of their sandwiches, and it is alsways worth it. Above is a photo of my meal with my dad the last time that I was there this past April. My mouth is drooling just thinking about it…Yum!

http://schwartzsdeli.com/

Every time that I bite into a macarons, I’m transported back to my trip to Paris. The pistachio flavoured ones are my favourite, although the chocolate ones are also delicious. You can find these little bites of heaven at Macarons et Madeleines, which is a bakery here in Ottawa run by Stephan Etier. The hours are a little weird, but like I say, these macarons are definitely worth the trek.

http://www.macaronsetmadeleines.com/

If you focus on the bottom half of the photo, there’s a bowl of chili and a beautiful mug of chai tea. Well, a chai tea latte to be specific. Bridgehead is a local coffee shop that makes the best chili I have ever tasted. That’s not even an exaggeration- this chili is harmoniously sweet, spicy and tangy thanks to the combination of vegetables and spices. Corn, beans, sweet potato, tomatoes, peas..you name it and it’s in there. Add some pulled pork on top, and you’ve jsut made my day a bajillion times better. Their chai tea lattes need no elaboration whatsoever. If you haven’t tried one, then you must do so instantly. And while you’re there, grab a bowl of chili. The combination of chai and chili makes the most dreary of days seem better. Even those days that include math and biology.

http://www.bridgehead.ca/

3 gelato flavours from the restaurant Play. They vary what flavours of gelato they offer frequently, but the flavours that I had that night were mocha-chocolate, vanilla and pineapple. I also wrote down in a note that I liked all the flavours except for the pineapple one. I’m not that surprised to be honest.

http://www.playfood.ca

Now back to my own baking. Quite a few gingerbread muffins have been made lately. They’re something of a comfort food for me.

At some point during the past 2 months I had to have a bake-a-thon because there were 3 bake sales happening during the same week at my school. All of which I had somehow said I would bake for. During this bake-a-thon I baked banana chocolate chip muffins, banana muffins, chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles and a couple of loaves of gingerbread. Although I will admit that I kept the loaves of gingerbread. I’m sure they weren’t missed. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Videos

The videos below are just a laundry list of Youtube and Vimeo videos that caught my eye. Hopefully at least one will make you smile. 🙂

The Alphabet

https://vimeo.com/29274467

 

I-pad as a chopping board.

 

Edible Balloon

 

Game Over

 

The Slacker Shake

 

Masala Chai ( This recipe has been added to my list of things to try)

 

 

Chickpea Dip

This recipe was a colossal disappointment. Chickpeas are really delicious and nutritious, I love hummus and epicurious.com has loads of different chickpea dip recipes.So I thought I’d give it a shot.

Big mistake. Maybe it was just the particular recipe that I chose, but this dip was tasteless! The flavour is nothing more that oily puréed chickpeas. Even the addition of tahini, lemon juice and more cumin could not save it’s fate in the compost bin. Although not there yet (I have trouble wasting things) it will get there eventually. The flavourless beige coloured dip was deceitfully fast to make, but not worth it. I am so glad that I only made a half batch! Below are some more photos of this failed adventure; click the last one for the recipe.

1 month later…

The fact that a month has passed without any posts is kind of sad. Life should slow down for a week (or more!) so that I can catch up on my cooking and baking endeavors. Oh wait, it is! I have this week off from school, and since I have a whole list of new things to try, expect more posts from this blogger. Which shouldn’t be that hard, since 0 posts have appeared in the past month.

One of the reasons why posts have been pretty scarce is that I have been writing posts for another blog for school. I’m currently taking a creative writing course, and a semester long project was assigned to challenge our writing skills: create a blog. The topic and style of each post will be different and some will be assigned where as others can be my choice. I’m really enjoying it thus far, so if you would like to take a look/subscribe/read my other blog, click here. It’s called From Brain to Blog, and deals with a plethora of different subjects.

Things to Look Forward to on This Blog!

• Gluten-free recipes, like Chocolate Chip Quinoa Cookies. 
• Tea reviews
• Rejuvenation of the My Favourite Restaurants category
• A new page called Fancy Food.

I’m pretty excited about everything in the list above. I was going through some of my past posts on here and I realized that this blog was started 2 years ago. 2 years ago I had just started at a new school, with no one that I knew. Now I am finishing up my junior year, looking at universities and making big decisions. It’s all a little overwhelming, but all exciting at the same time.

 

Thanks for reading!