whites

I have an ever expanding collection of white dishware. A lot of pieces are typical, but then I love the quirky everyday things made ceramic.

These are a couple pieces I picked up recently:

pillow plates - made in Ohio for eleven madison park in New York City

berry punnets - for my love of blueberries

pâtisserie plates - like those in European cafés, for cakes, cookies, and confections.

I love having guests and giving them something a little unexpected in terms of servingware. 

It's the little things.

Finger Limes

I've been hearing about these for the past couple years and now that they are in season I went to find some.

Finger limes are often call the caviar of the fruit world. These little fruits are like confetti. They come from Australian and are available in a variety of colors, which have different flavors. Our exotic fruit man got us the pink variety, which have a tart peppery citrus flavor and are slightly sticky.

If you live in Munich you can get them at the exotic fruits stall at Viktualienmarkt, but you'll have to order them in advance. He told me they are available until March and they cost about 1.50€ each.

[Here are some finger lime recipes.]

I also asked if miracle fruit was available to order, but sadly it's not. It's a tiny red berry from Africa that gives everything naturally sweet an enhanced flavor. Lemons taste like lemonade and strawberries are ultra sweet.

We were able to try miracle fruit while we were in Tokyo a couple years ago and it's a lot of fun to have an altered sense of taste. Unfortunately sugar lobbyists aren't so eager to promote its use, but if you ever find them give them a try!

[Apologies, because I still need to write about our trip to Japan!]

Fei Scho

We decided to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Dragon at Munich's new dim sum restaurant Fei Scho.

If you're looking for a fun and offbeat little place with great food and a Bavarian slant - this is it. The menu is small, but everything we sampled was delicious.

The schweinekrustbraten dim sum with dunklebiersauce and apfelblaukraut is a fun twist on melding Bairisch and Asian. They have quite a few vegetarian options, too.

恭喜发财 - Gung hee fat choy!

Tartine

While I actually prefer savory foods, I do have a weak spot for really well made pastries.

They tend to be time intensive to make and slightly difficult to pare down, which can be troublesome if I'm baking for just the two of us. Those factors never usually stop me.

A few months ago Emily and Jeremy sent us the kind of care package that makes your heart skip a beat. It was filled with many treats from home, handmade items, and the Tartine cookbook.

The morning after our arrival in San Francisco we stopped at the actual location to sample Tartine's legendary array of foods. Despite having ample time to decide due to a line that wrapped around the building, I felt overwhelmed deciding exactly what to get. Since there were 5 of us it helped in being able to sample and share, so we ordered a lot of food.

[Here's the Tartine Menu if you want to plan in advance!]

As we waited we saw the pastry chefs working their magic through the window. Sometimes I think it would be so much fun to be a pastry chef, while other times I have to remind myself the job doesn't only entail eating all day and baker's hours aren't great for someone who loves sleeping.

Not one thing we had was just mediocre. I loved all of it.

I'm really looking forward to putting that book to work until we make it back to San Francisco again. Hopefully I can achieve similar results! 

Here's a video about the dedication and passion that goes into it all from the shop's owner. 

Jet Lag

We just got back from the United States.

It's funny to notice little things after being away, even though it's only been about 6 months since our previous visit.

Some things feel foreign, sometimes I feel a little foreign, and other times I love the familiarity. It's like an old friend who you can pick up with without skipping a beat.

The variety always amazes me, too... the complexions, subcultures, styles, foods - those are things I desperately miss after all of these years away (not to mention friends, family, and my parents' dogs).

Mieka and Josh were happy to see us. Mieka was eager to celebrate my birthday in hopes of stealing a bit of cake (she was unsuccessful). Since she has Addison's disease, she is constantly hungry and will do anything for the smallest kibble. It's sad and sweet all at the same time.

Joshua was so delighted to run in the first snow of the season. I always seem to forget he is such a behemoth and looks like he belongs in a zoo. What a sweet boy he is.

We miss everyone already.

I hope to catch up a bit this week and write about our trips to San Francisco and Ohio. It was such a great visit and so nice to have some sun!