2011

Books in 2011

  • De huishoudster en de professor, Yoko Ogawa (v. cool story about a woman working for a professor whose short term memory is only 80 minutes long)
  • Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, Janet Evanovich (mildly amusing story about a bond enforcer and barbecue ribs that never really got through to me)
  • The Importance of Being a Bachelor, Mike Gayle (yay, chicklit about men!)
  • The Troubled Man, Henning Mankell (loved this last installment of the Kurt Wallander series, but hated the outcome in the epilogue; can we change that please?)
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, Alexander McCall Smith (more pitter-patter about people living their life in Edinburgh, and I was entertained again- but not as much as before)
  • Een dame in de keuken, collected stories and recipes by Elizabeth David (she’s a bit strict about food, isn’t she?)
  • De Kostwinner, Henk Rijks (what do you do if you end up with a container full of cocaine in your back yard? why, sell it, of course)
  • Nieuwe buren, Saskia Noort (lots of sex, lots of psychological crises and then four dead bodies)
  • Het verloren symbool, Dan Brown (a Dan B story I hadn’t read yet, and now I want to be a freemason)
  • Close up, Esther Verhoef (oof, this story of a red haired girl and an odd photographer who have people dropping dead around them kept me up a few late honeymoon nights)
  • The importance of being married, Gemma Townley (fluff about a girl who finds love while trying to get someone to marry her for an inheritance, accidentally read twice and only mildly amusing)
  • Eenmaal, andermaal, verliefd, Jill Mansell (cute girl moves to the country, works for a gay father of a teenager and falls in love with the town’s hunk- what’s not to love?)
  • The Complaints, Ian Rankin (I couldn’t really care about two police officers set up for crimes they hadn’t committed)
  • Mama Tandoori, Ernest van der Kwast (I laughed, I swallowed around a lump in my throat, I had a thoroughly good time with this book about a fierce Indian mother who lives for her children, and for savings)
  • The Pyramid, Henning Mankell (and now I want to take a trip to Sweden and read all the other Wallander books)
  • The To Do List, Mike Gayle (a man chronicles a year of doing the 1277 things on his list and inspired me to make a list of my own)
  • Keys to Good Cooking, Harold McGee (not quite finished with this one yet, but have already learned I need to wash my melons before cutting them)
  • The School for Husbands, Wendy Holden (it is no good when fluff makes an attempt at seriousness)
  • Diary of a Bad Year, J.M. Coetzee (opinions on the world plus a story of an aging writer and a beautiful woman: I like, a lot)
  • Size Doesn’t Matter, Meg Cabot (the fluff continues, with a college administrator trying to find her boss’s killer and falling in love with her landlord)
  • The Un-Domestic Goddess, Sophie Kinsella (more fluff, this time delicious fluff about a lawyer who leaves the City, becomes a house keeper and falls in love- of course.)
  • The Nearly-Weds, Jane Costello (entertaining fluff about bouncing back after being abandoned at the altar)
  • Knielen op een bed violen, Jan Siebelink (when a wife sticks around for her husband’s descent into blackest Christianity, I want to scream at her, but half admire her too)
  • 44 Scotland Street, Alexander McCall Smith (nothing much happens in a house in Edinburgh, but somehow I kept reading, quite entertained)
  • The Sunday Philosophy Club, Alexander McCall Smith (a young man drops to his death in a theatre and a philosoper finds out what happened)
  • De weg naar Kandahar, Jason Burke (I feared I’d bought an anti-islam diatribe, but instead got a thought-provoking account from a journalist working in Irak, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir in the years before and after 9/11)
  • The Hindi Bindi Club, Monica Pradhan (sweet story about Indian mothers and American daughters, with recipes too)
  • The Foodie Handbook, Pim Techmuanvivit (talk about being hungry after reading a book)
  • Woestijnen van Arabie, Wilfred Thesiger (whew, this was hard work, with the sand and the worthy Bedu and the faithful camels)
  • Van je familie moet je het hebben, David Sedaris (probably funnier in the original language)
  • Climbing the Mango Trees, Madhur Jaffrey (when Jaffrey writes about picnics and fresh breads, I get hungry)

 Recipes cooked from books/magazines in 2011

  • World Food Cafe: 1 (tamarind-coconut curry)
  • Hoe te eten (How to Eat): 3 (stewed apricots with cardemom, a crustless riff on rhubarb meringue pie, ham and veal pasta bake)
  • Forever Summer: 3 (Greekish lamb pasta, the meringue base for the passion fruit pavlova, yoghurt cumin lamb, but with chicken)
  • Moro Londen (Moro East): 3 (bulgur salad with celery and pomegranate; feta, endive and orange salad; radish, kohlrabi and mooli salad, without mooli)
  • Feest (Feast): 1 (chocolate ginger bread)
  • How to Cook- book one: 1 (Canadian buttermilk pancakes)
  • AH Basiskookboek: 2 (pannenkoeken, klassieke appeltaart)
  • A Homemade Life: 1 (cabbage salad with lemon, parmesan and black pepper)
  • The Bread Bible: 3 (basic soft white sandwich loaf, pizza dough, Sicilian pizza bread roll)
  • Climbing the Mango Trees: 1 (chicken korma)
  • De basis van het koken (Jamie’s Kitchen, 2011 edition): 1 (celeriac ribbon salad)
  • De Zilveren Lepel (The Silver Spoon): 3 (leek risotto (twice), celery salad with apple and walnuts, Napels ravioli)
  • Good Food (several editions): 2 (easiest tomato soup, salmon and spring greens)
  • Hoe word ik een goddelijke huisvrouw? (How to be a domestic goddess): 1 (rhubarb grunt)
  • De Spaanse Keuken (The Spanish Kitchen): 1 (piperrade)
  • Johannes van Dam’s recipe pick in Het Parool: 1 (5 ingredient Thai roast chicken)
  • Koken met Sylvia Witteman (Cooking with Sylvia Witteman): 1 (pineapple with mint sugar)
  • Da’s lekker (Good Cooking, Jill Dupleix): 1 (lamb with feta)
  • Garden Cookbook: 4 (cucumber dill salad, apple mint jelly, grated beetroot salad with mustard seeds and orange, borlotti bean ratatouille)
  • De Joodse Keuken (The Jewish Kitchen): 2 (chicken soup, mandeln)
  • Made in Italy: 2 (egg pasta, “wild” mushroom sauce for tagliatelle)
  • Mijn favoriete ingredienten: 1 (sweet and sour pumpkin)

 Recipes cooked from blogs/ websites in 2011

Parties and dinners in 2011

  • Traditional New Year’s buffet with the family
  • New Year’s Lunch at work (yes, it counts, even if the rolls were soggy)
  • Aude’s birthday dinner (salami so good even the burps after taste nice)
  • Pasta with Jennifer after she played a game of squash with my man
  • Dinner at Jan’s, with Martijn, Alice, Teun and my man (the cheese, oh the cheese)
  • Dinner with the parents (wedding talk and garlicky fish)
  • Nathalie’s birthday (good times chasing after food in the Chinese hotpot)
  • Burgers and pasta with fellow “talents” Mischa and Artan
  • The weekly menu at Bidou with my man (carpaccio, orange tiramisu and a “tartufo pizza” I cannot stop thinking about)
  • My man’s mom’s birthday (lots of pizza and hazelnut cream cake)
  • Halvar’s birthday (happy reintroduction of Toffifee into my life)
  • Turkish lamb pasta and pudding cake with Steven, Latifa and my man
  • A movie and curry with Lieke (Black Swan and chicken korma)
  • Salad, pasta and vanilla pudding with Jan and my man
  • Friday night dinner with the parents and my man (fennel and orange salad, chicken in riesling, chestnut pavlova)
  • Chinese take-out with the grandparents and my man
  • My man’s parents’ anniversary dinner (six huge courses and meeting Bas’ girlfriend for the first time)
  • Dinner at Bidou with my man to celebrate my new job (spring vegetable plate, ricotta ravioli in mushroom sauce, cheese plate- YUM)
  • Burger and salads with Esther and Artan
  • Dinner at The Ledbury with Mikey and Enrico (blood orange souffle is perhaps the perfect dessert)
  • Barbecue in Kensal Rise at Gabriele’s house, with Mikey and friends
  • Dinner at Girassol with Nathalie (lovely company, but the food was nothing special)
  • Piles of gorgeous toppings on corn fritters at Lieke and Preben’s with Manon, Peter, Jasmijn, my man
  • Easter brunch with the parents, Steven and Latifa and my man (cucumber yum yum cocktail, anyone?)
  • Easter dinner with my man and his family (poolside hotplate)
  • Queen’s Day BBQ with Bas, Sandra and my man (love the lovely garlic sauce)
  • Barbecue with T. Will, Steven, Latifa and my man (So Much Meat and as much laughter)
  • Lunch at Tin Pan Alley with Latifa and my mom
  • Dinner at Barbara’s (seriously fresh asaparagus with ham, butter and egg. Mmmmm. Also, I scored a second witness for the wedding.)
  • Dinner at Boccaccio with my man (dinner on our first night in Groningen: lovely Italian food and an Aperol aperitif)
  • Dinner at De Branderij with my man (dinner on our second night in Groningen: disappointing, but followed by a good movie)
  • Bami with the grandparents, Paul and my man during a spur of the moment visit on the way from Groningen to Dordrecht
  • Rene’s birthday (outside until midnight in early May)
  • Post- wedding registration (ondertrouw) salads with my man at La Gare, Amstelveen
  • Pasticcio with Jan, Daan and the man before a night of diving gear maintenance.
  • Good vegetarian options at Bresson after a city walk with colleagues
  • Sunday night dinner at Rosa en Rita with my man (the tartufo pizza was good, but not as good as Bidou’s)
  • A shared 375 yr UU-anniversary picknick bag, shared pizza and interesting lecture with my man
  • My granddad’s birthday (delicious whipped cream cake)
  • Asian style dinner with Martijn, Alice, Jan and (his new squeeze) Ellie and my man (peanut noodle salad is good, but next time I’m tossing the vegetables with dressing separately from the noodles, against stickiness)
  • Mini burgers at De Burgermeester with my man
  • Dinner at Bidou with Jai and Aidan (the tartufo pizza is good, but not as legendary as I’d remembered)
  • Vegetarian chili, baklava and heaps of chatter with Jai, Aidan, Nathalie and my man
  • Mediocre food but good times with Barbara and Marieke at King Arthur
  • Appetizers at Rollende Keukens in the Westerpark with my man
  • Barbecue in the park with Steven, Latifa and my man
  • Delicious fish and potato salad with the parents and my man (with a camping burner to boot)
  • Pasta with zucchini and eggplant salad at Niels’ with my man
  • Pizza at Il Senso in Middelburg with Niels and my man
  • Chicken and risotto, miraculously cooked by my man, with Stefan
  • Tapas at Taperia Lolita in Barcelona with the mom (astoundingly fresh fried fish, the best olives of our trip, runny St Marcellin, gorgeous Iberico ham- yum. Just, yum.)
  • Sub-spectacular food at Market restaurant in Barcelona with the mom
  • Imaginative, seriously flavorful vegetarian tapas at Sesamo in Barcelona with the mom
  • Gazpacho, pasta and strawberries with too much cream (yes, it is possible) at De Eend with colleagues after an afternoon of rowing
  • Goat’s cheese salad at a pancake restaurant with different colleagues
  • Iwar’s birthday (a Cars ball turned out to be a great gift)
  • Chicken tagine and gorgonzola salad with Lieke and Preben
  • Goodbye pancakes with colleagues from my old job (lots of salmon on a sweetish pancake is odd, but the company was great)
  • Sushi and “He’s Just Not That Into You” with my man for my birthday
  • Barbecue with Lieke, Manon and Preben (fresh herb butter is so much better than the packaged stuff)
  • Dinner after a seminar at work, at Polmans Huis
  • Lebanese mezze with Nathalie in The Hague (still haven’t found a good Lebanese restaurant in the NL)
  • Three pizza’s, kasespatzle, charcuterie and spinach strangolapreti- and that’s just the meals out on holiday with my man and Niels (love the lovely Italian food)
  • Jamie’s eggplant parmigiana and a thorough catch-up with the parents and my man
  • Gazpacho, garlicky lamb, fennel salad and strawberries and cream with Jantien, Wouter and my man
  • Pancakes with Nienke, Meindert, Timo and Kalle, followed by Bridesmaids (the first time in ages I’ve seen a movie in a theatre with an intermission; the movie was worth the wait, though)
  • Lovely lamb curry cooked by Jan, with Elly and my man
  • ChrB’s birthday (little bites of tasty food are perhaps the perfect dinner)
  • Greek “mezze” at Thalassa with my man- love the lovely little bites, but not so much the meat
  • My man cooked (!) dessert for dinner at Kaspar and Claudia’s
  • A non-bachelorette party dinner at United Tastes of 1097 that still had plenty of wine, trips down memory lane and talk about penises. I had tears of laughter running down my cheeks at some point
  • Tian and Wilfried’s birthday, with an excellent buffet as usual
  • Barbecue joint testing with Bas and Steven (we’re going with the other place for the pre-wedding dinner)
  • My man’s father’s birthday, sitting in the garden eating pineapple pizza
  • A bad burger at Gare du Nord at the end of a one-day visit to Paris
  • Pre-wedding dinner; too many people for the room, too much food, so much fun
  • Wedding picknick and barbecue- I blinked twice and they were over, but wonderful nonetheless
  • Many Menus Corses, pizzas and some home-cooked meals in Corsica (I am so bringing a proper chef’s knife on our next holiday)
  • Caesar’s salad at The Basket with Artan, Mischa, Nina, Esther, Mariska
  • Indonesian food at Jeroen and Esther’s wedding (had me craving more, so I will be cooking Indonesian food soon)
  • Jalapeno poppers and bitterballen with my man at Lokaal Negen
  • Manon’s birthday (wow, babies grow quickly!)
  • My man’s birthday (apricots with bacon and chicken wings, because why break with tradition?)
  • Birthdays drinks at work (I am eagerly awaiting my present: Latvian National Cooking)
  • Mussels, salad and a really good waffle at Olivier in Utrecht with Barbara
  • Jan brought Finnish Miko over for dinner (leek risotto and sausages), and I felt very international
  • New-job dinner at Bidou (smoked salmon, taleggio pizza, tiramisu), gorgeous as usual
  • Looking through wedding pictures with the family, with a constant flow of gorgeous bites to eat (savory pie, fennel and blue cheese salad, tiny sausage meatballs in home-made tomato sauce, chicken wings, filled mini-rolls, mmmm)
  • Mushroom pasta and stroopwafels with Nathalie
  • An old flatmate’ s wedding party, with many, many people and catch-up over l-o-u-d music
  • Bas’ birthday, with Chinese take-out and lots of tasty vlaai (pie)
  • Three v. tasty courses followed by a glorious cheese cart at Tollius, with Alice, Martijn, Jan, Elly and mij man
  • Goat’s cheese tarts and fall salad at Jantien and Wouter’s, with my man
  • The winter birthdays in Almere (much lovely food, as usual)
  • Dinner with the man and his parents (with a bit of a pink elephant in the room)
  • Lovely sushi and even lovelier company at dinner with Manon, Peter and Lenthe
  • Dinner at Rodizio with Ap, Martine, Rachel and Jeroen (“meat on sticks” and quite a good buffet)
  • Looking over the wedding album with the photographer and the parents
  • Dinner at Tant’s, with Steven, Latifa and my man (the home made pasta clumped, but the flow of conversation never stopped)
  • Sinterklaas at Papendrecht (I’d like to bathe in that garlic sauce)
  • Yummy “different” tacos with the parents
  • Dinner at Bresson with colleagues (why is it so hard to resist the lure of the bread basket?)
  • V. nice caesar’s salad and yummy cheese at Goeie Louisa with Barbara and Nathalie
  • Nice food, excellent chats and odd, ODD waiters at De Artisjok with former colleagues
  • Christmas dinner at work with an unexpectedly hurried ending and a trial run of poached pears with chocolate sauce as dessert
  • Manti and baklava at Gulluoglu with my man before seeing Puss in Boots
  • Martine and Wander’s 12,5 yr wedding anniversary
  • Dinner with Jochen, Peggy, Evie and Tessel with my man (bread and garlic sauce was was good as ever)
  • Lunch with the parents and Steven (Spicy Chick is a silly name for a sandwich, but tasty-tasty)
  • Four days of Christmas in the Ardennes with the man and his family
  • End-of-year comedy at Toomler with the man
  • New Year’s Eve with Judith and Rinus, Matthijs and Annemiek, Steven and Latifa and my man

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