Back in Amsterdam- recap summer vacation 2012

You have noticed… I am back in Amsterdam.

After so much beautiful nature I find it hard to be back in the city.

Here’s a recap of my summer vacation 2012 in Croatia and Slovenia, detailed blogposts will follow!

Let me show you what I will miss most;

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Recap..

I have been extremely busy lately. Working hard, but luckily there was plenty of time for pleasure too.

Haven’t taken the time to properly post any blogposts for a while. So…. here’s a recap of my recent life in pictures.

(Click on the pics to see them bigger)

Mala & DLCS catching a mouse

Watching Euro 2012

Pizza by the Sardinian queen

Auguri M

Cena Espanola by A y A

Friends (Katapulta) playing Italian & Gipsy tunes at the Noordermarket

Breakfast at the Neighbourfood Market

Japanese salad with yamakurage and mushrooms

Our birthdaypresent for A.

Dancing with the Caspian Hat Dance

Eberhard van der Laan,the mayor of Amsterdam

Showing some foreign friends around; The windmill beerbrewery

Best Surinamese dessert; schaafijs (shaved ice with sirup)

Bunnies in the park

Mala stretching

Campfire party with fire-spitting creature

Tinez Rootsclub (great band!) & I want that fish

The Posse’s potluck

The Posse’s potluck dessert & musicheta

Tortilla by C. BEFORE

Tortilla by C. AFTER

Help me to organise my dreamparty!

I entered a competition by Sony Entertainment Network & Music Unlimited. If I win I get to organise my dreamparty, worth € 20.000,- ….

As a reader of this blog you know my style a bit, I like everything delicious combined (For example THIS or this &This ). If you are reading this now, there’s a BIG chance you’ll like my dreamparty too.

So could you please do me a favour? Helping me is simple. Please visit the following link;

https://www.winjefeest.nl/Profile/Index/a61c60c9-189a-42d4-b0e9-09870505cff7

All text is in Dutch but all you need to do is click on the green button on the right which says “STEM” in purple letters.

There are 25 more days to vote and the number 1 currently has 856 votes. I could do better with your help, right?

CelineDewy by DLCS

DeLiCiouS!

I realise it’s just advertisement, but he’s soooooo cute! Sometimes when Mala is asleep, I have fun with Tom. Talking Tom 2 that is.

Rabska torta

My first Rabska torta. Never went to Rab yet

Rabska torta.jpg

EDITED on 23-02;

People, thank you all for your really nice comments & likes! I have to dissapoint you, I did not bake the Rabska torta, I’m not much of a baker. When I spontaneously made this picture last night (Yes we immediately ate it, ALL of it split in 3), I meant the first Rabska torta to eat! I did not imagine you’d all assume I baked it, ’cause well…… I simply don’t bake amazing things and this Rabska torta was truly amazing….. I wish I could bake anything similar to this! You can store it for months (as we did, remember I was last in Croatia?), this does not change the structure, since the cake does not have any eggs! The cake was a present, bought at Vilma Bakery, Rab, Croatia.

Here’s some text I copied from the website of the producer of this delicasy from the island of Rab in Croatia http://en.rabskatorta.com/ ; “The Cake of Rab is recognised for its unique blend of the sun, a sour stone taste and savour of barren land. It is these particular almonds with sugar crystals, scented lemon and a peculiar taste of the Maraskino liqueur that are the cornerstone of this centuries old and unique delicacy known as the Cake of Rab. With other ingredients -kept as a secret, the Cake of Rab dates back from the year 1177 when it was served for the first time to Pope Alexander II after benediction of St. Mary’s Ascension Cathedral at Rab.”

Okay definitely I HEREBY PROMISE, more info about the unique and amazing taste of Rabska Torta TO BE CONTINUED!

DLCS’ Delicatessen en Delicasies

Delicatessen is a term meaning “delicacies” or “fine foods”. In English, delicatessen originally meant only this specially-prepared food. In time, the delicatessen store where this food was sold came to be called a delicatessen, and the new meaning for the word was eventually shortened to deli.

A Delicacy is a food item that is considered highly desirable in certain cultures. Often this is because of unusual flavors or characteristics or because it is rare.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Now, imagine this;

 
You are allowed to put all your favourite delicatessen, delicasies, from ALL OVER THE WORLD in one store to sell these products.

There’s just 1 but; the products all have to be as natural as possible.

Which products would you chose? 

 

Thank you Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

100 followers! Dear readers,

first of all I’d like to thank ALL OF YOU for reading my posts and supporting me.

Since I was able to write, I’ve always written about things I liked. I contributed to the schoolpaper in highschool for years, I’ve written many stories (I always dreamt of writing a book), filled many notebooks, and one day I was invited by a Dutch girls’ magazine to interview a famous Beverly Hills 90210 actor, after which I was shocked when the interview was published. The journalist wrote down so many lies! I then decided I wanted to become a journalist so i could write honestly.

Years later I failed the entrance test of the School for journalism twice and then decided to …..screw…. the test and do something else with my life. I wanted to only write about things I liked and I didn’t want to write in assignment for anyone anyway. I found a college I liked and loved the direction I chose.  Besides homework, papers and essays, I didn’t write much since then.

When I decided to start a blog, I decided to write about everything I like and here’s where we are today. My blog has been viewed 5110 times since I started in April 2011 (Check out my first post HERE!) and I’m getting more and more ideas what to write about.

Last but not least, a special thx to my followers ( I’d never think there would be people who actually read almost everything I write… ), in particular to Trinzic , You are my 100th follower! This means a lot to me!

Thx

Ratatouille + recipe

I hate rats.. (Food is fuel. You get picky about what you put in the tank, your engine is gonna die. Now shut up and eat your garbage.) Gross! But still…Remy the Rat is my hero! He’d be my friend!

Fall instead of summer? Babysitting? Little causin over? Like food? Or animations? Here’s my new favourite one;
Ratatouille!
Remy is a young rat in the French countryside who arrives in Paris, only to find out that his cooking idol is dead. When he makes an unusual alliance with a restaurant’s new garbage boy, the culinary and personal adventures begin despite Remy’s family’s skepticism and the rat-hating world of humans.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I wish I could taste the flavours and smell the smells of this movie..

Well I can! (And so can you..ha!) Let’s get to work ’cause here’s Remy’s original ratatouille recipe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remy’s Ratatouille

For the Piperade (bottom layer):

• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed
• 1/2 orange bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 3 tomatoes (about 12 ounces total weight), peeled, seeded and finely diced, juices reserved 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 sprig flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 bay leaf
• Kosher salt

For the Vegetables:

• 1 medium zucchini (4 to 5 ounces) sliced in 1/16-inch-thick rounds
• 1 Japanese eggplant (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch-thick rounds
• 1 yellow (summer) squash (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch-thick rounds
• 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-inch-thick rounds
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Vinaigrette:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• Assorted fresh herbs (such as thyme and chervil)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

• To make the piperade, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place pepper halves on the baking sheet, cut side down. Roast until the skins loosen, about 15 minutes. Remove the peppers from the oven and let rest until cool enough to handle. Reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees.
• Peel the peppers and discard the skins. Finely chop the peppers; set aside.
• In medium skillet over low heat, combine oil, garlic and onion and saute until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, their juices, thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook until very soft and little liquid remains, about 10 minutes. Do not brown.
• Add the peppers and simmer to soften them. Discard the herbs, then season to taste with salt. Reserve a tablespoon of the mixture, then spread the remainder over the bottom of an 8-inch oven-proof skillet.
• To prepare the vegetables, you will arrange the sliced zucchini, eggplant, squash and tomatoes over the piperade in the skillet.
• Begin by arranging 8 alternating slices of vegetables down the center, overlapping them so that 1/4 inch of each slice is exposed. This will be the center of the spiral. Around the center strip, overlap the vegetables in a close spiral that lets slices mound slightly toward center. All vegetables may not be needed. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix the garlic, oil and thyme, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle this over vegetables.
• Cover the skillet with foil and crimp edges to seal well. Bake until the vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes. (Lightly cover with foil if it starts to brown.)
• If there is excess liquid in pan, place it over medium heat on stove until reduced. (At this point it may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve cold or reheat in 350-degree oven until warm.)
• To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl whisk together the reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.
• To serve, heat the broiler and place skillet under it until lightly browned. Slice in quarters and lift very carefully onto plate with an offset spatula. Turn spatula 90 degrees as you set the food down, gently fanning the food into fan shape.
• Drizzle the vinaigrette around plate. Serves 4.

 

 Bon Appétit!

p.s.: if you’re brave enough to try the recipe, please post us a pic!

 

 

(thx Pixar & Disney for the material I used here without asking you for permission)

Woohoo00OOooo & Helloooooo!

One can only be succesful if he’s passionate at what he does. I’d like to share some of my passions with you, so WELCOME to DLCS Management’s Blog!

This blog will contain newsitems, pictures, research, “hersenspinsels” (remind me to look that one up), basically everything I find interesting.

Feedback? Ideas? Comments? Yes please!