My venture

More food.....well more like cakes....and some cappuccino....Kim and I love to go for cappuccino and cake preferably carrot cake....but every now and then we do try something else....I have also figured out how I like my cappuccino best....a dry cappuccino with hot milk on the side :-)....guess what, then the cappuccino is not too milky, but I can actually make it as milky as I want it...how clever....took me long enough to figure that out.....but now I am so proud of myself.... So where do Kim and I like to go for coffee and carrot cake....we have two places which currently rank as our top choices and I will of course also explain why.... It is difficult to say which is number one and two because they both have some things which are better...let's start....the one is Woolies in Nicol Way....believe it or not their carrot cake is unbelievable...moist..contains pecan nuts and icing amazing, has some cranberries and pumpkin seeds on top...the size of the carrot cake is also perf...

As promised....Orient up for review...or should I rather say...my opinion....it was Mutti's birthday on the 3rd July and her wish was to go to a nice Asian place...so why not go to Orient...there is something for everyone...from Sushi to sizzling dishes to spring-rolls to Satay sticks etc..... Orient is situated at Melrose Arch, it has been there from the beginning and also that night it looked busy. What I like about the layout is the various levels and sections. All the sections are quite small and it does not feel like you are a part of a HUGE restaurant, it almost seems cosy. we ordered some sparkling water and then looked at the wine list and the food menu. Then we waited....and waited....and waited....the waiter just did not come back to get the wine order, in fact I was a little bit irritaed of how long it was taking him. When he FINALLY came back we decided to give him the wine order and the food order at the same time. For starters Mutti ordered the vegetable spring r...

So....talking about foodies again....I know I know....so much food....but never mind, that is what I enjoy to do...going out to restaurants trying their food....could be new restaurants or old ones, could be a meal I have had before or something I wanna try....so this time it was a restaurant that I have been before, but way back when......my parents have gone there though not too long ago and they were impressed...so when my dad's birthday dinner came up, we decided to go to Mastrantonio....the original one in Illovo. The menu looked impressive and I had my heart set on the Saltimbocca (starters I would pick a little from everyone). Kim's heart was set on the bistecca Fiorentina (he just anted to find out the size).....so order time came....mom decided on the special called Capresini (a caprese sushi), that sounded interesting, I was curious...would there be rice or how would they do that? Mutti decided on the vitello tonnato, dad the beef carpaccio and Kim the mussels.... ...

The baby shower....My mom organised a beautiful baby shower for me on a Sunday afternoon....the theme that i chose was "Bee", cause i just love the colour yellow and thought that would be nice....so it was a baby shower with the theme "mom to Bee"...... My mom did an amazing job, the table with all the sweet looked amazing, from honeycomb to liqorish to yellow cupcakes, white lindt chocolate balls.....just so divine.....my Mutti (gran) and me decided to help out with the savouries...from quiche to "chaes-chuechli" (savoury cheesecakes) to a huge cheese board divine.... Savoury table Sweet table Fill your own bag to take home Delicious treats Cupcakes in various flavours It was a chilled afternoon, with lots of chit-chat and me and the baby got very spoilt....clothes, face cloths, creams etc etc.....i had picked at baby city what i wanted and loved receiving all my presents.....also mom asked each lady to bring a bag of diapers which was great....good st...

This last Italian blog brings together some bits and pieces.....Some random things.....where to start....some foodies...in Montepulciano we found this really good restaurant called La Pentolaccia.....dad had already gone home, so it was just the three of us.....kim decided to have a cinghale stew (wildboar) and this time i managed to take a pic before he ate it all.....and mom and i shared a melon and parma ham and a buffalo caprese....it sounds funny, but it was amazing, the melon had so much taste, just wow...and the parma ham, although not thin thin, i have actually realised that i prefer it when it is cut slightly thicker......and the buffalo mozzarella amazing and tomatoes as red as blood and so juicy....yes, the food was damn good....we all truely loved our lunch....and guess what...it was cheap....we were very surprised about the price...... Cinghale stew Buffalo caprese and proscuitto and melon We also found this cute little cafe, looked very old english, was called la poliz...

So....one day....we decided on a day trip down from Chianti to Montepulciano....well to be exact we wanted to visit Pienza and Monticchiello and we would just drive past the famous church in Montepulciano, San Biagio...its a true beauty, its outside the old walls, just underneath but it is stunning.....have a look at this.... San Biagio We did not go inside.....we thoughT we could leave something for next time....so we made our way to monticchiello....however, we made our way there on the dust road not the main road, well actually it is the scenic route and hence we chose it, the views along the way were beautiful.....let me share some pics.... Driving the scenic route On the way from Montepulciano to Monticchiello Arrival in Monticchiello we parked right outside the historic centre. It was truely beautiful, but so are most old tuscan towns/ villages, there is just so much history and character, truely just wow....there were not many restaurantS, just three near the entrance....of c...

So....As i have already hinted before....we are back in Italy after just having been back home for exactly one week.....why are we back, well, we had some long family discussions and debates....and have decided we need to go back and see some things in Italy in order to make correct decisions for the future.....so off we flew back to the tuscany. Why we are stuck here now after one week....well that i will tell you about in one of the next blogs.....since being here for a week, we have tried some more pizza places and can thus rate 2 more places.....the first one Is in Greve in Chianti....place called La Cantina....its is just outside from the main square.....the verdict 7.5 out of 10....why...the mozzarella was a little too much cooked, the dough was thin, the ingredients a little scarce, but i felt the mozzarella was a little over cooked...... Pizza at La Cantina in Greve in Chianti Next up.....pizza in Cavriglia called Ristorante Pitena.....this i would give 8 out of 10, the dough ...