I'm moving to Wordpress!

Hear ye, hear ye!

I'm moving my blog to Wordpress!

I've spent the last few weeks setting up the new blog, learning to use the new interface, and re-writing some of my favourite blog posts to transfer over.

It will predominantly be a food and craft blog, but I won't be prescribing strict boundaries of what I can and can't blog about. One of my goals for my new blog is to improve the quality of my photos with better styling and post-editing. I'll also try to cut down on my wordy rambling as much as possible!

I'd love for you to check out and follow my new blog and continue to chat to me over there. You can either subscribe to the RSS feed, follow via email, or you can even like the Facebook page I created as I've linked it to the blog so that all new posts will be publicised through the Facebook page. All these options can be found on the right panel of my new blog.

Thank you so much for supporting this blog, and I'll see you at http://littlemissling.wordpress.com/

Café Colore

The breakfast at Hotel PurPur was so terrible that hubby sought out alternate breakfast options while we were in Prague.

Style and ambience

Café Colore is a pretty standard large-sized café. Nothing special, and not much atmosphere to it.

Food

Hubby ordered the English Breakfast (CZK235) - Toast, butter, fried egg, sausage, baked beans with tomato sauce, baked tomato, juice and warm beverage,

and I ordered the American Breakfast (CZK265) - Bread, butter, fried egg, baked bacon, baked potatoes, seasonal fruit, juice and warm beverage.

There wasn't anything special about either breakfast meal. I enjoyed my baked potatoes and the fruit bowl was extremely refreshing, but otherwise, everything was pretty standard. I did really like my café au lait though. It came in a teapot so I got two cups worth. Hubby thought his cappuccino was better than the one he had at Café Louvre, but he still didn't think it was anything amazing.

Conclusion

Decent breakfast. Decent coffee. Nothing special.

Baumeisterhaus

We were keen to grab some lunch while we were in Rothenburg ob der Tauber last Saturday, so we had a look at our Michelin Green Guide and found Baumeisterhaus.

Style and ambience

The Michelin Green Guide describes Baumeisterhaus as a "1596 Renaissance gem opposite the town hall… [serving] hearty Bavarian cuisine on two floors adorned with beautiful paintings. The courtyard is surrounded by half-timbered galleries."

Food

Hubby ordered the Gulasch mit Spätzle,

and I ordered the Jägerschnitzel.

The Gulasch wasn't anything special, and the Spätzle was a bit disappointing. The Jägerschnitzel had hardly any mushroom flavour and was super salty. The chips were nice and crunchy though.

Conclusion

Our experience of following travel guide restaurant recommendations have been hit and miss, and Baumeisterhaus was, unfortunately, a miss. Even though the décor is beautiful, it's not enough for hubby and I to return to Baumeisterhaus the next time we're in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Christmas feasting

I don't normally do anything special for Christmas, but it's hard not to get into the Christmas spirit in Deutschland.

This year was the first Christmas hubby and I have spent in our own home, so I decided to prepare my first Christmas Eve dinner feast.

On the menu was freshly baked crusty bread, ratatouille,

whole roast chicken,

and prosciutto and spinach stuffed pork tenderloin.

It took some reverse engineering to work out the timing as everything required the oven at different temperatures for different durations, but it came together quite deliciously!

On Christmas morning, hubby made smashed raspberry chocolate chunk  pancakes for breakfast. (We didn't really like the recipe, but I've provided the link in case anyone is still interested in giving them a go!)

After breakfast, I made butterfly cupcakes with a chocolate filling to bring over to some friends that afternoon.

Even though we didn't get the white Christmas we hoped for (It was the hottest Christmas in recorded history at 13°C), there was still plenty of Christmas cheer and food! 

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas with your loved ones too! 

Alte Mainmühle

Of course, while S and J were in Würzburg, we had to take them out for a traditional German dinner.

Location

Alte Mainmühle is located on the Alte Mainbrücke across the Main river. It gets extremely busy in the warmer months when guests can dine alfresco and enjoy the magnificent view.

Style and ambience

With a welcoming open fireplace and well thought out decorations, Alte Mainmühle is a bit nicer than your typical Franconian restaurant. It still feels traditional and rustic, but the décor is a bit more put together than other German restaurants I've been to.

Food

For entrée, Hubby and S ordered the Leberknödelsuppe mit hausgemachten Schwimmerle (EUR5). The soup resembled the consistency and clarity of a consommé. Hubby liked the balance of flavours between the mild soup and the strong liver flavour of the Leberknödel.

For mains, S ordered the Rostbratwurst mit Bratkartoffeln,

Hubby and J ordered the Geschmortes Schweineschäufele mit Dunkelbiersoße, Rahmwirsing und hausgemachten Serviettenknödeln (EUR16),

and I ordered the Fränkischer Sauerbraten mit geschmelzten Kartoffelklößen und Apfel-Rotkraut (EUR16).

As you can see, the portions were huge. The crackle on the Schweineschäufele was rather chewy and hard, but the meat itself was melt-in-your-mouth tender. Hubby found the Serviettenknödel too dense/heavy, and I'd have to agree. We also weren't fans of the Rahmwirsing.

I've had the Sauerbraten here once before, and the quality this time was just as high. The Sauerbraten was very tender and had wonderful flavour, the Kartoffelklößen were soft and light, and the Apfel-Rotkraut completes the dish perfectly.

Conclusion

I think Alte Mainmühle is a nicer place to go for a traditional German meal. The view in summer is great, and the ambience in winter is warm and welcoming. The food is pretty good and the portions are huge, so you get good bang for your buck. There are at least 2 more traditional German restaurants in Würzburg that I want to try, but until I do, I think hubby and I will happily continue to bring any visitors to Alte Mainmühle.

La Part des Anges

No trip of ours would be complete without an appropriate amount of eating, and our trip to France was no exception.

Location

La Part des Anges is a restaurant in Paris that was recommended to me by a friend. It is located in the Montmarte area and is quite easy to walk to from the M12 Abbesses stop.

Style and ambience

I would say that LaPart des Anges is a casual dining restaurant. It is tightly packed with tables and chairs and has a warm and cosy atmosphere. Hubby thought it was a bit touristy, but I thought it had a mixture of local and tourist patrons.

Food

For entrée, hubby and I shared a plate of Fois Gras au Pineau des Charentes and Les Cagouilles a la "Charentaise". Hubby liked the foie gras, but I found the it too firm and way too salty. The snail dish, on the other hand, was quite nice. Hubby and I absolutely loved the garlic chilli pork mince tomato sauce. The snails were a bit chewy and had an earthy/woody taste. Hubby loved his snail-eating experience. I liked the sauce more than the snails. =p

For mains, hubby ordered the Saucisson de Morgon (Beaujolais) - a traditional French sausage with a side of potato gratin. (Sorry. I don't know any French and I'm trying to read the blackboard menu from my first photo!) Hubby liked the strong flavour of the sausage initially, but by the end of the dish he found it a bit overpowering. The potato gratin was nothing special. Hubby found it too creamy. So much so that the whole side dish just tasted like cream to him.

I ordered La Piece du Boucher - steak with homemade fries. My main dish, unfortunately, disappointed in every aspect. The steak, although perfectly cooked, was not a very good cut of beef and was very grissly and chewy; the chips were cold and extremely soggy; and the sauce and salad weren't all that grand either.

Finally, for dessert, hubby and I shared Le Fondant au Chocolat and Le Gratin de Fruits. The chocolate cake was delicious but deathly rich. The sabayon on Le Gratin de Fruits was heavenly! It was so airy and light! And the strawberries and raspberries were just as delicious!

Service

The service was excellent. The service staff speak fluent English and were very helpful in explaining the menu to us.

Conclusion

Average/good entrees, one average/good main and one horrendous main, superb desserts. Unfortunately for me, my horrible main dish has given me such a bad impression of the restaurant, that I probably wouldn't return. If you do the math of good versus bad dishes though, La Part des Anges actually holds up ok. As the saying goes, there's no second chance to make a first impression!

Caramelised onion, gruyere and bacon spread with crusty bread

Apart from going to Querbeet - Trödel & mehr, I also had an intense weekend of cooking. Want to see what we had for lunch on Sunday?

Caramelised onion, gruyere and bacon spread with crusty bread

It was OH SO GOOD!

You can find the caramelised onion, gruyere and bacon spread recipe here, and you can find the crusty bread recipe here. That's right! The crusty bread was freshly baked by yours truly on the day!

The first time I made the crusty bread I followed the recipe exactly, but my bread turned out pretty flat and I found it to be too chewy. After reading some of the comments on the recipe as well as doing some research of my own, I changed up the recipe a little bit on the weekend: I used warm water instead of water at room temperature; I added the yeast to the warm water, along with a teaspoon of sugar, instead of mixing it in with the flour and salt; I waited a few minutes for the yeast mixture to become milky before adding it to the dry ingredients; and I reduced the baking time by 5 minutes for each step. It worked a treat!

Crusty on the outside, tender on the inside. What more could you ask for?