So simple, yet it had never crossed my mind to try this out. Reading Debbie’s article on frozen grapes and her rave review of their texture and taste, we literally dove for the grapes we just brought home from that days shopping and migrated them to a colder climate.
The last week has been funny. Just a week ago we barely had 12 degrees Celsius (54 °F) on the temperature scale, on Sunday/Monday it jumped right up to 30 degrees (86 °F) – almost 20 degree difference! – and today it’s raining again – of course – while the temperature dropped below 10 degrees (50 °F)… Good thing we took advantage of the 2-day summer preview!
It is this time of year when all the various beer gardens and almost beer gardens are opening their doors to embrace the first groups of Bavarian culture carrier. In other words it’s officially beer garden time, including roasted chicken, radish and “Obatzda” (cheese mix) with Brez’n (pretzels) and of course lots of high quality beer. Lucky us, the Biergarten Hofbräukeller is just 2 minutes walking distance away and always a save bet for spontaneous evenings with friends.
The beer garden is located next to the Wiener Platz, its many beautiful chestnut trees contribute to a pleasant snack. It’s quite obvious, why this place is one of the prettiest beer gardens of the city (it’s always in the top ranks – yes, they actually run beer garden polls :) Another interesting fact about Munich beer gardens developed out of history: You’re explicitly allowed to bring your own food as long as you buy your beer (or any other beverages) there, special tables (no table cloth) are reserved.
So we can confirm that for this year we’ve had our first Mass (beer mug) on Saturday and herald the season with beautiful weather and crowds of happy people :)
On Sunday we took the car out for a ride and ended up in a very nice and cozy rural restaurant, just a stone’s throw away from Munich: Landgasthof Stangl in Neufarn.
Once a year we’re challenged to come up with either a main course, appetizers or desserts or all of the above for an annual potluck dinner in our apartment house. It’s a fun event that usually starts around noon and ends in the wee hours. Good thing we have great neighbors, so it never gets boring. But then of course it is also about food. One of our last years contribution was this Chicken Sesame Salad and the feedback has been, hmm, let’s say pretty positive ;)
Little side note: The previous time I made this salad, we had family over and of course set high expectations. Perhaps I was distracted for a minute or two or I wanted the cucumber to get a really spicy touch, anyway, I left the szechuan black pepper for a bit too long in the hot pan. With the result, that the kitchen had to be evacuated due to stinging air and third degree chemical burns – ok I’m exaggerating here – but seriously, leaving the pepper in the pan for too long can not only ruin your dish, but also cause your respiration system to trip.
What to do with the puff pastry left-overs from IMBB#14 ? Well, we decided to put them to good use and treat ourselves with a quick apple tart. Sometimes we use a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the still warm tart -which really is a treat-, this time good ol’ whipped cream had to do :)
