My New Year's thoughts are wild. At first I fell madly in love with the idea of going to the Northern Lights with Hurtigruten, but it would have cost around €6,500 and even though I would have really liked to do it, that's too much money for two weeks, I can't spend it.' /p>
Then there was still the idea of taking the ship to New York and then via Canada to the west coast. In Canada it is -40 to -20 degrees in February. I don't have a problem with Central European cold, but that..... nooo!
And then, as I pondered my bucket list, I thought Southern Hemisphere, Asia....hmmmm?!
But I can hardly get there without a plane and I wouldn't get ten horses on a plane.
After a week of pondering and a Wednesday evening full of Margarita (with Mezcal, a blast! Deliciously smoky🤤 different than in Tarifa, but at least as good) with Birgit and Donata, after positive reinforcement from my friends and a small one Bet with Birgit, booked a previously researched fear of flying seminar; for a mere €1,100.
It will take place on January 20th and 21st, organized by an agency in cooperation with Lufthansa (I will report).
Tested by Stiftung Warentest and found to be the best of three providers. 2x10h, pilot(s), stewardess(s), psychologist(s) are there. Six to twelve participants. Success rate at 98%. With inspection of an airplane from inside and outside, also cockpit. With an accompanied German domestic flight at the end. With an audio flight in advance... "This sound is the extending landing flaps, this is the retracting of the engine..." etc.
If I want to travel, there is hardly any other way than by plane. I want to go to New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Korea and China next. So as of today 🤣 And I just got an answer from the travel agency specializing in trips to China, which I wrote to with questions about visas, costs, routes. It is currently not possible to enter as a tourist and it is not foreseeable how long this will remain the case. A pity.
I still have to plan exactly what the upcoming trip will look like, but hopefully this seminar will provide the basis.
I have already bought or ordered travel guides from Dussmann (Japan and South Korea come from Amazon) and am planning..... :-)
Cooking for Christmas can also be healthy and delicious! In addition, you only need three or four ingredients for this fabulous recipe and it goes in no time.
One of my favorites for a light yet festive dessert. So far everyone has liked it, it's easy to prepare and deliciously refreshing. Also had it after the Szechuan soup and margaritas.
Orange date salad
per person
1 large orange
2-3 dates
3-4 walnuts
optionally 1 tablespoon orange liqueur (triple sec)
First, fillet one orange per person. Ideally with large, solid segments.
It's very simple, all you need is a sharp knife to cut the fruit on both sides. Then you place it on a cut surface and cut the shell downwards as sparingly as possible (guide the knife in a nice curve, following the convex shape). You usually have to improve something below. There should be no white skin left. Then you put the knife directly on an inner skin and cut delicately towards the middle of the orange. Repeat this on the other side and you have your first orange fillet.
Now always cut at the "next but one" skin and lift the segment from below with the knife from the loose skin. It is best to do this in such a way that the juice is caught and at the end you squeeze out every remaining orange properly. Then pit two nice, thick dates and add them, cut into strips, to the fillets with the roughly chopped or broken kernels of 3-4 walnuts/person and the collected juice.
Now everything is gently sprinkled with a triple sec (orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Cointreau, Luxardo, Giffard, Curaçao...), not soaked. Let it cool, but not too cold, until serving. Ideal after a fatty or lavish meal. Bon Appetit!
By the way, it also tastes very good without alcohol.
After that, I quickly baked a small piece of bread based on the Irish soda bread, which only takes 5 minutes for the dough and 50 minutes to bake:
Approx. Roughly mix 500g flour (whole grain or mixed or...) with 300-400ml buttermilk, 1 level teaspoon each of baking powder + soda (baking soda) + 1-2 teaspoons of salt, becomes sticky and moist. Pour into a silicone mold or a coated mold and bake at 190/200 degrees for about 50 minutes.
Tip for dealing with sticky dough: either work with a mixing spoon or keep your hands moist with cold water, then nothing sticks.
While still warm from the oven with salted, cold butter, it's definitely addicting. For this one, I ground up equal parts oat and spelled grains in the Vitamix in no time (maybe 20sec). Plain, ready-ground flour from the supermarket works just as well; everything goes, even throwing different flour residues together.
