August 24, 2012

a day in rotterdam

so apparently carnaval is so much fun, that Rotterdam decides to do a second round in the summer. (or maybe they wait until its warm enough to wear skimpy costumes and host a 5 hour street parade.) regardless, we spent a day in rotterdam to take in a little architecture and boogie down with a lively bunch of people. enjoy some highlights!

some mysterious objects near the canal

the basement of the NAI museum - "treasure" room

treasures found in the NAI

section model of the Nile river valley

historic harbor of Rotterdam

cube houses by Piet Blom, 1977




waiting patiently for the parade

carnaval queen!










August 13, 2012

Summer highlights!

Hello, friends! We've been enjoying our summer days here, despite a bit of rain, and I finally managed to look at the camera and realized we'd captured some good moments from the last couple of months. In a few installments, hope you enjoy some of our summer highlights.

First up is our US trip.

dear friends and babies at the zoo!




hiking at Devil's lake state park (wisconsin)


perusing downtown Baraboo


Grandma Millie making prank phone calls


cousins! 


Mississippi looks like a river of root beer!

hello kitty ice cream cake. oh, DQ!

patty cake experts


a goodbye brunch with steve jobs and friends. 





July 12, 2012

day off.

today the sun finally came out! i was getting very disappointed when i had to go back to wearing socks, sweaters and almost turned on the heat in the apartment. we always say we didn't move to the Netherlands for the weather... but this past week has been miserably rainy. ugh.

i was starting to really feel cooped up in the house even though we braved the rain last night to get some Indonesian food for dinner.  every time i come back from home it takes a while to adjust to life again and remember why we are living here. it was great to see family and some of our friends that we miss dearly, but then when i arrived in Eindhoven it was not the best feeling.

and so when i woke up to the sun this morning i finally felt a little lighter. i rode my bike around town, running some errands, and felt the energy of our small but busy town. it helped that its finally warm enough i didn't have to wear socks and opened the windows again.

so i'm taking the rest of the day off and going to enjoy the weather in case i have to pull on my smartwool expedition weight socks tomorrow.

i promise to post some photos and catch up on life again soon.

miss you all!
xo


July 9, 2012

Chef in residence: #3 Fried Octopus Rings


#3 Fried Octopus Rings (Out of 5)

Category: Long and tedious meal...
Preparation (simplicity): 2.4
Ingredients (ease of obtaining): 4
Taste: 3.5

Ok, I cheated and used squid instead of octopus, but it was quite the operation, especially the batter and all that oil. I guess I'm not really a fan of deep frying. I mean, what do I do with all that oil?

It tasted like squid biscuits... and if you dip them in Siracha sauce, it was actually quite yummy!

Fried "octopus" rings

June 6, 2012

The Twin Cities...

Many weekends ago, we took a few days to visit Budapest... two beautiful cities, each with its own character.

Baths at Szechenyi

Braving the winds by the fisherman's bastion 

By the Danube

Soaking in the sun near Gellert Hill

Amazing night lights

May 25, 2012

Chef in residence: #2 Spicy Pork Cutlet Donburi


#2 Spicy Pork Cutlet Donburi (Out of 5)

Category: Quick meal
Preparation (simplicity): 3.8
Ingredients (ease of obtaining): 4.5
Taste: 4.4

Also a very comforting meal, the eggy sauce from this dish binds the rice together with a bite of fried pork cutlet. Spicy, savory and best of all it leaves you craving for more!


April 3, 2012

Chef in residence: #1 Meaty Miso Noodles

I (Howie) love to eat, and so one of my passions is cooking! Being in the Netherlands (expensive to eat out!) and having a nice gas stove, allows me to explore my hobby and to start seeking out recipes to try and tweak to make them my own. One of the cook books that I will start with is Chen Kenichi's "Knockout Chinese" book of mouth watering wonders. Iron chef Chen's recipes seem to be reasonable and from a first glance looks fantastic.

#1 Meaty Miso Noodles (Out of 5)

Category: Quick meal
Preparation (simplicity): 4
Ingredients (ease of obtaining): 4.5
Taste: 4.6

Imagine the warm savory taste of spicy shiitake and browned ground pork, tossed in with noodles that have the perfect degree of firmness. This mouth watering combination is further enhanced by the cool crispy cucumber strips that are light and refreshing...

Simple and fabulous!