could've been 'nicer' than usual but people were waiting for me to finish taking photos so they could eat it was simply a case of snapping away without any creativity!

always coffee and cakes to start anything with. cucumber salad to go with the prawns and roast beef slices. there were also little new potatoes with a thick roasted capsicum sauce poured on top of them, and sliced chorizo. it was a scorcher that afternoon and NL vs Serbia football match finished shortly before eating.


another version without the cakes


this is the chocolate covered ball in the first mosaic. basically it's a pastry shell filled with cream and melted choco is poured over. my favourite actually if i eat something sweet. but then again who doesn't like butter and cream, yes? a little bit sugar is okay sometimes.


and the orange thing is not usually orange. they colour it to coincide with the football fever that's gripping this country. it's totally bloody ridiculous, btw. again, it's filled with cream, sugar, and butter. the top and bottom are puff pastry sheets.

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Good food is the basis of a good existence. (by Someone)

Well, I'd eat that (with the exception of the orange thing unless it was naturally colored). To be polite, I'd try all the pastries I was ever faced with in Holland. I'd probably even enjoy them. At least they actually contain butter and sugar instead of hydrogenated soybean oil and sucralose. Butter, sugar, flour and chocolate can make some amazing combinations after all. I turn into a pastry fiend whenever confronted with the real deal.

The rest of the spread looks quite wonderful. I love the little tri-part takeout (?) container. I'm gonna keep an eye out to see if anything comes packaged that way and save the tub. Perfect for outdoor dipping!

Of course we haven't seen the sun for weeks here so I can probably stop worrying about eating outdoors and start socking away the cozy winter foods. I made cottage pie the other day. Granted it was by request, but it's been appropriate weatherwise. sigh

Senior in-law ate the orange thingie [dutchies are suckers for this pastry]. i would NEVer it eat it. only the cream filling :P i've tried just about everything [pastries] but don't really like anything. the biggest blow is the sugar and fat contents. i don't have a sweet tooth. gimme ONE square of exquisite organic chocolate and a good dark beer or cognac instead.

tri-part dips are very common here. actually i've never gotten it for myself as i much prefer to make the dips from scratch, which takes hardly any time. the only time i'd get it pre-made is when i have company lay everything out and relax is the idea, innit.

hope the weather is picking up for you soon. after a week of blistering heat we finally have some rain. such a relief for the plants and birds in my backyard.

winter food still???? that's bad!

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ps: i just got 3 new pots of herbs for the backyard: basil [already harvested all for a pesto with habanero so it's gone. gone!], lemon thyme [planted], and mint. it's a different sort of mint, the type that smells so delicious and intoxicating!

i've also seen [and smelled] wine rue. am very curious but from what i've read it's quite toxic in large quantities. smells great though.