Archive for category food & drink
veggies continued….
Posted by Volker in family, food & drink, house, personal on March 14, 2009
It is so nice when you are on the road to get a text message from your wife about how well your veggies are doing.
Veggies for the garden
Posted by Volker in food & drink, health, house, personal on March 11, 2009
Wow, my veggies I planted the other days are growing like mad.
Broccoli, Radish, Salad, Beans, Courgettes and Carrots. Yummy.
Cannot wait to put them outside.
Jazz, Cigars and a nice Steak
Posted by Volker in food & drink, personal, restaurant review on March 6, 2009
Hello,
I was confident I have mentioned the Boisdale before in my restaurant reviews for London. But could not find it. So here we go, we have been for the 3rd time last weekend:
The Boisdale in Belgravia, established as a cigar and food place – and drinks of course – still has a terrace where you can smoke fine cigars.
I guess the “gentleman’s club” atmosphere combined with Jazz, an extensive and expensive selection of whiskys from around the world plus a fine selection of cigars make this place just special.
And, if you have a look at their food menu, this Scottish Cuisine restaurant serves an amazing selection of good food, nice fish and my favourite: plain steak!
So there is not much more to say. Amazing, highly recommended restaurant. If you go for steak and a nice bottle of wine, e.g. the Tannat grape from Uruguay, then make sure you take enough money. For the food itself it is not a bargain place but the atmosphere really does pay off!
Enjoy.
New addition to my Whisky collection
Posted by Volker in food & drink, health, personal on January 31, 2009
Yes, I could not resist today.
I bought myself a nice bottle of Ardbeg whisky which was long overdue in my small collection. The Whisky Exchange at London Borough Market, description, has one of the best collection of whiskys in London!
Uigeadail
A fine drop of Ardbeg bottled at cask strength.It`s an earthy whisky with a bit of spice – a marriage of Ardbeg from bourbon barrel and sherry butt which gives a sweet and smokey finish to this malt at 54.2%. Uigeadail is the loch from which all Ardbeg water flows and you can suck up the Islay landscape with a dram of this fine whisky. Winner of World Whisky of The Year title in Jim Murray`s 2009 Whisky Bible.
Wow, isn’t that a beauty to describe an award winning whisky. And, it tastes lovely sweetish, peaty and a smooth aftertaste. Definitely a whisky to share in this cold weather.
food and drink
Posted by Volker in food & drink, health, personal on January 23, 2009
I bought the first issue of Jamie Oliver the other day. Mainly because I thought it was a bargain, getting so many food recipe ideas for only a couple of quid. And, a year’s subscription only costs £30/year or something like that.
Cooking has become a hobby but I notice more and more that the more complex the dishes become, the less likely I am interested in cooking. Mainly because I am just not a person that likes attention to detail, the nitty gritty stuff. That is why I most probably fail in DIY, would never make a good cook, cannot be an artist and will not be able to ever sit down and do nothing. As far as I remember I always had “ants in my pants”.
Anyhow, I wanted to catch up on some food and drink stuff I read in Jamie’s magazine. Honestly, I was more interested in the Whisky section. Jamie wrote about a Whisky from Islay called “Sheep Dip” and another one called “Pig’s nose“. Weird names for a Whisky I thought. They even have a Facebook Group.
For £15 you can try both Whiskys from the Jamie Oliver Shop (no surprise here) or you try to get it at your local shop. I personally had never heard of it before but of course find the names so intriguing that I am curious to try them. The old marketing ploy 
Or, you could just order from their webiste for only £7.50 (nice margin Jamie) and add £7.50 postage to it.
Anyhow, once I tasted those two peculiar sounding whiskys, I will surely let you know. Have you tried them? Then please leave a comment and let me know!
Volker
Squirrel Crisps?
Posted by Volker in food & drink, health, personal on January 23, 2009
Does anyone understand?
sleep and wine
Posted by Volker in food & drink, health, personal on January 18, 2009
Sleep and wine, cheese and sleep….I covered the latter a while back.
Now, what do I want to discuss about wine. One of my “New Year Resolutions” is to drink less alcohol, particular wine. Why? Because it is healthier and I should rather go the gym or for a walk to relax. However, after 10 days of not drinking, I really fancied a glass of wine. Mainly because I read my wine magazine and therefore thought I should have a glass.
The first night I had a glass and didn’t sleep well. The next one I had a glass and a half (honestly) and thought the next day that I felt as if I was hangover? Wow, I thought, there must be a reason for it. Is it the food I had or the wine? Now, this morning, after quite a lot of food and half a bottle of wine, I feel fine. And, I did sleep ok but not as long as I would have if I had not been drinking.
Summary:
- I drink and don’t feel like I sleep better but cope with less sleep.
- I don’t drink and sleep better but can sleep longer.
Why is that?
A quick internet search got me this article about sleeping and wine, outlining the benefits of wine for sleep.
They say that “in addition to reducing risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, pre-mature aging and several forms of cancer, red wine also helps the body obtain the rest it needs to recover from the daily grind. The benefits of wine on sleep are not only from the alcohol, which, despite helping people fall asleep may actually worsen the quality of the sleep itself. The sleep benefits of wine come from a chemical called melatonin, found in high levels in the skins of red grapes.”
The graph shows, that my most favourite wines, e.g. the heavy Cabernet Sauvignon, are the right ones for better sleep. So is my thesis wrong to say that I don’t sleep as well after having a glass of wine? They say if you have too much alcohol, you feel dehydrated, wake up and cannot go back to sleep. But that of course, is after a very heavy drinking night out.
Even the Daily Mail suggests to have a glass to get to sleep. And another online health journal suggests the same.
So, what is that Melatonin? It makes us drowsy, works as an antioxidant and helps our immune system. Wow, that is like a shake of fruit and vegetables, isn’t it? Grape juice of course 
An overdose on Melatonin can cause hallucinating, however you also get more vivid dreams.
So, to look at my summary above, maybe it is different:
- I drink and have a better, deeper sleep with more vivid dreams that make me feel like I had worse sleep. However, I can cope with less hours of sleep because I slept deeper.
- I don’t drink and don’t sleep as well and therefore, I need more sleep.
Maybe and quite certainly, the truths is anywhere in between. A glass a day keeps the doctor away and is good for my sleep.
Now, I have changed my New Year’s Resolution. How wonderful that science is helping me out here….now I will look for ways to avoid the gym
Have a great Sunday,
Volker
Lakeland Kitchen Shop
Posted by Volker in cb consulting, food & drink, health, personal, SEM on January 14, 2009
Yes, call me an shop-aholic. I love shopping if I am in the right mood, and there are a few shops I love going to.
One of them is Lakeland. You ever been there. It is awesome. They have all the kitchen gadgets and useful stuff you need. At the weekend I bought some microwaveable dishes. Cool!
Other shops I always need to go into are Tchibo but they are closing down in the UK (that is what I heard anyway). Shame. Going to their website they now have a European domain “.eu” rather than .co.uk. Not very search engine friendly but if they really withdraw their shops from the high streets, then fair enough I guess.
So these are my shop secrets. Lakeland is still my favourite. I love kitchen gadgets and love cooking. Although, tonight I rather go for some noodles, cannot be bothered cooking really. Sunday I suppose.
Oh, and before I forget. Lidl is another shop I used to like. Working against a lower profit margin than most UK supermarkets, they are opening shops everywhere at the moment. And, I used to love their weekly offers which you buy because you think that one day they could be useful. But, you never really use them. I actually stopped their newsletter now – maybe I am getting too posh for them Still love their ham though.
Volker
Happy New Year!
Posted by Volker in family, food & drink, health, personal, restaurant review on January 1, 2009
Happy New Year to all readers.
Let’s start this year’s blogging with last year’s “final supper”
I treated my wife and myself to a nice French restaurant trip, Chez Bruce. A nice little place just off Wandsworth Common Train station. We only got to know it as we have been to its sister restaurant La Trompette a couple of times. The latter serves amazing food in a very posh atmosphere.
Chez Bruce is similar. The atmosphere, maybe because it was NYE, was not as posh but quite relaxed. My wife was sure that the person on the next table was an actor from a soap opera, however I was astonished by really really good food and drink.
Since Jenny did not drink, I tried Canadian but Bordeaux style red wine and a Shiraz Viognier from Australia. Both wines were excellent.
Starters were Artichoke soup for Jenny and Salmon parcel for myself. Followed by goats cheese mousse and white sausage (German style Weisswurst).
The 3rd course was sea bass for me which was excellent, whilst my wife prefered the beef which was absolutely astonishingly in taste, and since she could not eat so much, I finished it off. Awesome!
We finished with a chocolate tart and a fruit cocktail respectively.
You find a sample menu here.
From the Glasshouse Partnership there is still The Glasshouse restaurant we have not visited. I guess we work towards that after Jenny had the baby. So she can eat her loved foie gras.
Happy New Year everyone, enjoy your food and wine!
Espresso
Posted by Volker in food & drink, health, personal on December 14, 2008
After some time with my cafetiere and coffee bean grinder, I decided it is time after all to get an expresso machine.
My old one to use on the stove is nice but too inconvenient if I fancy a quick espresso.
After a quick online search and various shops I found a range of espresso machines from £20-£1,000. Since I did not know how often I would use it and how much I am going to like it, and, due to the space restriction, I chose the following:
It is a De’Longhi Bar 14 Café Treviso espresso cappuccino maker and it does the job well. If I like it, then there is a choice of better models for next year.
I keep you posted, no doubt.
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