Can you guess?

 

You need to click on that one.

 

We figured that,  even though there was certainly no “cultural” advantage to going to the outlet mall,  it was still something that Ljuba might enjoy.

For my part,  I sat at a cafe,  drank coffee and read the paper.  My kind of shopping.   I got schlepped around enough the last time.  Turns out that the particular purse that Travelling Companion had been thinking about at the Prada store was no longer there.  That was a bit of good news I suppose.   We only ended up with one tiny little ‘she-she’ shopping bag,  the contents of which must remain a mystery,  since I’m not really sure whether or not it might be somebody’s Christmas present.   “Christmas shopping”  seems to be the theme when it comes to any kind of shopping for the foreseeable future.  Something that would never occur to me.  Not until about November anyway.

You understand ‘she-she’ right?  Sort of too fancy/frilly?  Like that.   Like I felt a little self conscious carrying it from the car to the apartment.

 

It’s a bit of an odd thing really, that the outlet mall that we went to really is more or less out in the “boonies”,  but the place is pretty well mobbed most every weekend.  Judging by the license plates,  I think I get it,  since there were cars there from Hungary,  Romania,  and beyond.  There were many Austrian shoppers too.  I even saw plates from Montenegro.   Who the heck drives from Montenegro to shop in Parndorf? 

I just checked,  it takes 13 hours to drive from Montenegro.  I saw two or three vehicles from there.  Really.  Surely they were here for some other reason than to go to the Outlet Mall?  Maybe there’s not much to be had in Montenegro?  I wouldn’t know.

 

Anyway,  that was most of the mid-day,  then it was time for a brief nap,  then off to what is just about our favourite restaurant in all of Vienna for some “Tafelspitz”.    Admittedly,  we’ve been there enough times in the last three years that I’ve actually tried one other dish there,  which was some sort of pork tenderloin medallions,  but the only real reason to go there is for Tafelspitz.

 

Regrettably,  I didn’t really take heaps of pictures,  since I was too busy first eating,  and then I was too full to even think straight.   You believe that, right?

If you wish,  there is a brief write up about Tafelspitz here.  The picture in the article doesn’t really do it justice,  since it’s better than that picture looks.  Tafelspitz for three,  a bottle of wine and a couple beers was roughly €130,   so not cheap by any means,  but it’s not like we go there every weekend either. 

Oh,  and the (almost) best part?  The young lady who took my reservation the other day actually managed to spell my name right!   It’s not really easy spelling those old Scottish names if your “Muttersprache” is German.  I’ve even spelled it out in the past,  only to later discover that it was dead wrong.  Anyway,  I almost gave her a hug,  but managed to control myself.

Not really appropriate,  especially since she was younger than both of our children.  (creepy old guy thing)

 

Well I guess that’s all I have in my pea brain for today.  Hope your day was enjoyable.

 

Do check to make sure your fly is done up.

 

Thanks for lookin’.

 

 

.

Cooking with Ljuba.

I probably should say,  “watching Ljuba cook”,  since that would be more appropriate,  but I did sort of help.  For my part,  I prefer to be left alone if I’m making the meal.  Some sort of a Gloria Swanson thing I suppose.  Is that where those Swanson dinners came from?   (I’m kidding,  really) 

Oh wait!  Shoot,  that was Greta Garbo.   There goes that whole witty “Swanson dinner” mime.  Helps to do a bit of on line research before making these assertions.  Just sucks that I was wrong however.

 

There were a couple requests for the rather awesome smoked salmon recipe from last night,  so that’s going to be pretty much it for today. 

First though,  we need a little show,  since then the recipe will make that much more sense.  That’s my theory anyway.

Not that it had anything to do with it,  but I also grilled some white asparagus.  I tell ya,  now that I’ve started grilling them on the BBQ with a little olive oil and maybe some salt and pepper sprinkled on,  I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the boiling them. 

The method below with the pan is my preferred tool of choice,  since they’ll still grill nicely,  and not fall helplessly through the grates into the nether regions of the grill. 

…or coal fired BBQ,  as the case may be.

I just put that second one in there for comparison purposes.  I mean,  that BBQ set-up was truly awesome and everything,  but a bitch to operate.  It wasn’t just me who lost one puny little asparagus either,  the “chef du jour”  managed to lose an entire fish.  Um ya,  I didn’t mention that the last time.   So just give me the simple Weber over the sexy charcoal thingy.

 

So there was the finished dish.  It really is “Bob simple”,  so I’m sure I’ll give it a go in the not too distant future.  

There’s some freshly grated parmesan off to the left there and,  like I said,  the asparagus are optional. 

So the hope is that you can simply copy and paste this into some sort of document file and give it a go.  I’ve never been tempted to drink the Apple cool-aid,  so this is on a PC (laptop)  and came from an open office text file.  I don’t think it should matter.   Go nuts↓

 

*******

 

Smoked salmon and cream with pasta:

 

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1/4 pound smoked salmon, chopped

• 1 cup heavy cream (a.k.a. whipping cream)

• 3 tablespoons capers, drained

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 pound pasta, cooked al dente, drained (reserving about 1/4 cup of the cooking water), and tossed with olive oil

• Freshly grated imported Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, but not browned. Add the smoked salmon and continue cooking just until the salmon turns opaque, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the cream and add the capers. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Be careful how much salt you add because the smoked salmon and capers are both salty. Add the pasta and toss to coat. If there doesn't appear to be enough sauce, add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to thin it down. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

 

There were no moving pictures.   Sorry. 

Um because, when the day comes that I start posting cooking videos on YouTube,  I’m sure the apocalypse will be right around the corner.

Oh,  and we just used regular olive oil.  I’ve never been tempted by the “extra virgin, stomped on by young women with nicely trimmed toenails” variety of olive oil.  The ordinary stuff seems to be fine.  Besides,  with the amount of olive oil we use,  we’d be hurtin’ in the pocketbook in no time flat. 

 

 

Other than that,  it’s a normal Friday.  Ljuba took a little hike over to Schönbrunn,  and by “hike” I mean,  on foot.

She then took the U-bahn back here and just now walked in the door.   It’s my turn for din-din tonight,  and it’s going to be “meat and potatoes”.   OK well,  it’s actually steaks cut to order from a tenderloin,  but let’s not get all hoity toity here.

 

Keep your quills sharp.

 

 

Thanks for lookin’.

 

 

*Oh,  and “imported” parmesan cheese??   Whatever.  I’m in Europe.  It’s just parmesan cheese.  It’s kind of like that “Wiener dog” thing?  Here they’re just called “dogs”. 

 

Really.

 

 

.

It’s a Holiday!

And this time,  Travelling Companion resolved that she was in fact,  going to take the day off. 

Of course,  she schlepped home her computer,  but it’s still in it’s little roller thingy. 

I think I’ve yammered on enough about Slovenia,  so we won’t bother with any more of that.   It’s that whole, “one cactus starts to look like the next”,  thing?

We did take a little trip over to the Belvedere today to poke around a bit.   I drove the car and parked on Goldeggaße,  which made for a fairly short walk over to the entrance.   There was the same annoying guy from the Greek restaurant across the street trying to entice us with some sort of “deal”.  I think he needs to tips on marketing however,  since his approach was all wrong.  First of all,  don’t interrupt me when I’m obviously in the midst of a conversation,  and then I shouldn’t have to actually tell you to bugger off after I’ve indicated that I’m not interested.  And I MIGHT be interested,  if you hadn’t interrupted me in the middle of a conversation.  Idiot.

Anyway,  we were discussing his rather backwards marketing scheme when we came out,  and just what he might do to actually get people to come to his restaurant.  It might very well be just a fabulous place,  but if you bug me,  I’m not gonna go.   It’s that simple.   Maybe a little ‘ticket’ for the free glass of wine he was offering?   Then maybe we might have given a visit to his establishment more than a two second consideration. 

I realise that I only took one measly picture during our whole visit.   That kind of sucks I realise.  Sorry.  I guess I’m slipping.

This is looking down across the gardens towards the centre of Vienna.   Big whoop. 

It’s been a year since we were last at the Belvedere,  and that was for a wedding.  Now I ask you,  who gets to go to a wedding at the Belvedere?   This was one of Travelling Companion’s work associates,  who married a young lady whom he met when he was working in Denmark for the Company that Cannot be Named.   He still works there of course,  only in their Vienna office.  (obviously)

I won’t go into the details of the Belvedere,  but if you happened to click on that first link above,  you would have noticed that the address is on “Prinz Eugen Straße”,  and that’s basically since the palace was built for Prinz Eugen.   You can read to your heart’s content here.  Prinz Eugen,  or Prince Eugene of Savoy,  was a rather significant military figure in the Hapsburg empire,  and you may need the better part of an afternoon to read that second article.  There’s a lot going on there.  Go crazy.

Anyway,  that was our afternoon.  It’s a little windy and cool out today,  but Ljuba has gone out once again to do some further exploring.  She’s been hitting the museums quite diligently since we’ve been back in town. 

I mentioned a few days ago about the clanging and banging out on the main drag.   Just to refresh your memory, you can see the goings on here:

 

Since they were actually NOT working today,  we happened to peek behind the curtain down in the parking garage,  and it looks to me like they’re installing an elevator in one corner.  Otherwise I have no idea why they would need a perfectly cut out section of the ceiling.  It would be convenient to be able to take an elevator from the garage up to the C & A.  We’ll find out in due time I suppose.

 

That stud wall on the far side is just a temporary wall they’ve put up to make a pathway for folks using the parking garage. 

 

I suppose that’s it for today.  Ljuba has said she’s going to make some sort of smoked salmon with pasta thing for tonight.  Sounds good to me.  Should I take a picture?   I guess we’ll find that out in due time as well.

 

Keep your oars in the water.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

.