Brussels for some Mussels :-)

 

Ok...

So as a means to break up my trip from Germany to London ( with several bags in toe, containing drums, sticks and all the other tatt I managed to squidge ...), I saw it a valid opportunity to stop off for a night in Brussels!

I had been planning to do this for months. One of the reasons being Moules-frites. 

POSSIBLY the yummiest thing ever..

best.thing.ever

 SUCH a cool city, and such a nice evening

and for pud pud..

Belgian waffles were consumed

So many to choose from!

 I picked the fudge sauce and creme combo

cant go wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the mannequin piss was photographed.( WORST PHOTO EVER!!) hes so tiny and i was freezing so i didn't hang around to wait for that perfect photo!!

Its an amazing city, where you will hear nearly every type of language and accent whilst walking along the street. It was confusing, I gave my French a good shot anyhow... (!)

(throw in some German and English= confused Belgian's!)  

Looks like I have another city on the list of places to live before im 30...!!!!!

ruairi :-)

Sister's Christmas Bake Challenge !

 Facebook convo with sister from this evening....

Sister 

but you could tell me what baking you want....like actually. rocky road, mini chocolate Christmas puddings?

11:18pm

Ruairi

no,

honest

i prefare

puds etc

not confectionary

11:18pm

Sister haha good one. puddings like what?

i know you prefer puddings but you defo eat confectionery too....ive seen you a million times!

11:19pm

Ruairi HA!!!!

Ill eat everything

11:20pm
Sister

I know you will! So anything goes?

so heres the provisional list....

apple cake

coffee and walnut biscuits

sesame toffee banana fritters

banana bread

mini chocolate xmas puddings

shortbread (various types)

coconut buns

rocky road

sugar and spice rings

chocolate flake biscuits

butter whirls

butterfly cakes

cupcakes/muffins

cherry cake

gingerbread and gingerbread men

brownies (nigella's receipe)

11:22pm
Ruairi

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11:22pm
Sister

i think that's enough at this stage

 (ps, i corrected MY spelling errors!)

 

ISnT MY SIS THE BEST (!) 

COOOL, so basically, its your choice, all the millions of people who read my blog (!!)

What will my sista bake for me this Christmas,

Thoughts, do leave suggestions in the comment boxes :-)

Pictures will of course be posted and suggesters will be linked in accordingly

P.S. 

i dont think she will cook puddings...

ruairi :-)

Goodbye Stuttgart, Covered in Snow

The day has come to leave my home in Stuttgart and to return to the violent jolt of the capital (!) i'm sad to leave such a fantastic place, but looking forward to London and all the goings on there...

M A C A R O O N S
yum

snowballs made of shortbread, cinnamon and toffee sauce
yum

tree with snow on it.
yum
(to look at)

Kurbiskerne ( candied pumpkin seeds )
yum

Starbucks
yum
(but their the same everywhere...except America)

I have had such a great time here, and met and experienced such great things with great people and seen amany great things too :-)

 
snow !!

So nice to spend the final days with such cool people and exploring the Christmas markets. Lots of finishing up work before heading onward to do...

Next call London,
(via Brussels, expect a post on moules frites)  

Ich danke Ihnen allen in Stuttgart!

ruairi :-)

PASIC, Indianapolis Metropolis, and some more NYC

Next stop on the map was Indianapolis :-)

I stayed in All Nations B&B, which was so.so.so nice

Thank You All Nations :-D

What can I say about PASIC*

Talk about percussionists heaven. I mean, what a one in a lifetime experience., three full days of talking percussion shop. I managed to bus some weird and wonderful instruments thank one could only buy at a percussion convention. Thank you so much PAS and PASIC!

 *Percussive Arts Society International Convention

Starbucks drive thru.... 

'WHAT?' you say Europeans?

I mean seriously, this is SUCH  a good idea! I’m already feeling the withdrawal symptoms of the extended drinks menu. Favourites were Cinnamon Dolce Latte, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Caramel Brulee Latte...the list goes on... Seriously delish :-)

So, after all of the goings on I returned to NY for some more adventures.

 

Notably and randomly, whilst stocking myself up for my expedition back to Germany in DUANEreade ( pharmacy ala boots that sell anything and everything) GUESS who cruses up right next to me 

(only about 1 person away!)

 

La Toya Jackson

(*!*!*!*)

done up to the nines, none less... (!)

No paps, no raving crowed, just her and her 2 assistants!

Of course, first thing I thought-

"Gosh, im standing in a store in NY next to La Toya Jackson- NOBODY will believe me"

....right, because you'all(yall) wouldn’t we ye? Ye mighty pack of doubting Tomas’s. Well, lookies what I got....

 

:-) Enjoy :-)

I feel bad, I should at least link her website….

www.latoyaonline.com

Check it out, buy her, um, music (?) and stuff...

Laters... :-)

ruairi :-)

Manhattan in the Morning

I had the privilege of spending a couple' days in New York this past week :-)
  With the jumping of time zones *not as cool as it sounds* my body felt awake and ready to walk at 5am. My initial attempts to go back to sleep failed miserably

 ( not even Norah Jones could help me here !)

so, i decided to kick it and go discover the city. It was so crisp and fresh a morning and I decided to walk, and walk, and walk.... in fact I walked the length of Manhattan before 10am.. Starting on the upper west side, where I was staying.

It turned out to be one of the most amazing city experiences I have ever had. I saw the leaves being swept, the bread being delivered, shops opening , kids going to school, rush hour coming and going.

Highly recommended to one and all :-D

so... i have compiled a little compilation of some of the neat things of that morning in New York. I did a lot of street/avenue weaving and didn't really know where I was going, just followed my nose...

6.34am
The leaves blowing from the subway vent literally hit me as i walked out the door onto the street- me says, IM IN NEW YORK, YAY!!!

(in my head!)

 

7.05am
a glimpse of the park from the street

7.40am
Rockefeller Center

8.01am
Empire State Building

8.26am
a different angle

about 9ish
Law and Order SVU being Filmed on the US Post Office steps!

Between 9 and 10 sometime...
Kitty in the meatpacking district ( people must have thought i was crazy waiting for the moggy to turn and look at the camera, my chances were scuppered when a sugared up kid screamed at it and it went back into the basement...)

around 10ish... i kind of lost track of time as the morning went on ! Throw in a few coffee/ cake stops here and there....

 End of the road and ready to start the day...

ruairi :-)

München in Munich (!)

Last weekend was spent in the great company of my beloved elders in Munich :-D

 Fantastic time was had by one and all- and eating a plenty... even if the DK guide book tried to sabotage the weekend excursions (!)

 the Olympic village 

Lake Starnberg

Pudding ( nachtish)

see how the dk book sabotaged this photo ???!!!!

Strudel Strudel STRUDEL !

As seen in a kids toy shop...wtf?

And also to be seen was the busking marimba player (!!)

 

In fact I would go as far as to say that I ate a whole pig last weekend, that's how much "swine" I consumed. That REALLY IS something to be proud of :-) 

I also ate apple strudel ( and just strudel in general) on average twice a day, and no bakery was past without us testing the quality of its produce 

...all for cultural/socio economic/ecumenical reasons of course...

like....

Next stop Frankfort-Dublin-NYC-Indianapolis-NYC :-D

ruairi :-)

Pumpkin Pizza

Today the day came to try a recipe I have been wanting to try out for a long time, pumpkin pizza  with  butternut squash, courgette, basil  and yes, mozzarella cheese

The day began with the now customary Saturday morning trip to the Stuttgart market to gather the goods :-)

  

amongst my distractions were these big shake'y seed pods. I was super tempted to get a few 

and also

 

Carrots...

(!) 

For the pizza base I used Jamie Olivers Recipe HERE, i mean im not prepared to go on guess work when yeast is involved (!)I made half of his suggested portions to make 3 decent sized pizzas

..It worked REALLY well although their was a bit of a heart stopper when I thought I had bought something else instead of yeast. ( its hard, they have different words over here, and "hefe" could be anything...right?)

Sauce
Cup of Tomatoes
Cup of Pumpkin
4 cloves of garlic
Sugar to taste
olive oil

Boil tomater, garlic and pumkin, drain and mash. Return to heat and add olive oil and sugar for 10 mins until sauce looks like a pizza sauce ( y'know like...)

Put in a fridge and cool...

Roast the Pumpkin, Squash and Corgette ( i got a nice yellow one!)  whole, with a doucing of olive oil and salt. Leave to cool and chop into slices

Prep the pizza base, apply sauce first, mozzerella second. Then follow up with  basil, squash, pumpkin, and corgette. Drizzle with oil and put in oven until cooked (? until it looks cooked i suppose)

I honestly think the secret weapon
ingredient here is the fresh basil. After my 1st basil plant died a week after buying it, I decided that I would take a risk with another. I made sure to douse the leaves with olive oil before ovening to prevent them from going black. Here's to the longevity of my new plant...(if it manages to get through the withdrawal symptoms from living in a chemical pumped gas house)

epic fail

As i said, 3 pizzas were made..

 

Round two c. 18.00 with the Heilmanstr. krew
Round three c.21.00 with the remaining Heilmanstr. Krew

ruairi :-)