Food in Salzburg

I know it has been a while but here is another honeymoon food post.  This time we are in Salzburg, Austria.

We arrived in Salzburg around lunch time so after checking into our hotel we headed to an Italian restaurant near by for some lunch. Even though we were eating Italian it didn't stop us from having our first glass of Austrian beer.

My husband decided to go for something a little lighter and went for a tuna salad while I didn't pass up the opportunity for a big bowl of pasta.  I had a nice pasta with a gorgonzola sauce. A great first meal in the second city of our trip.

For dinner our first night we went to a restaurant right near our hotel. We didn't pick it based on its logo but it didn't hurt that it was a monkey with a beer and pretzels.

We started with a salad of arugula (rocket) and radicchio with avocado and a wonderful lemon dressing and a red pesto.  We have tried to recreate this salad a home but haven't been able to get it just right.

After staring out with a light first course we made up for it with our main course. I had a risotto and my husband had a steak.

Our first morning we headed out and grabbed some pastries at a local festival on our way to our adventures of the day.

Lunch our second day was another meat and potato dish for my husband and a goulash soup with a dumpling and "pumpkin" foam.

After lunch we saved room for a dessert I had heard about that was specific to Salzburg. This Salzburger Nockerl is a type of soufflé with a raspberry jam in the bottom. It was good but I can't say it was the best dessert we ate on the trip.

Our second night was another delicious meal with another delicious beer.  I think this beer was my favorite that we tasted in Austria.

These spinach dumplings with a brown butter sauce were to die for.  I ate every last scrap of food on my plate and enjoyed every bite. I don't remember what exactly my husband's dish was but I am sure he had amazing breath after eating those raw red onions.

Despite eating every single bite of my dumplings our dinner was at a leisurely pace so we had room for desert. My husband had an apple strudel of sorts and I had a delicious fried ice cream with a side of jam. 

As many other meals on this trip did our last lunch in Salzburg started out with beers. My cousin and my sister both rave about Stiegl beer so of course we had to try it.

I enjoyed my spinach dumplings the night before that I ordered spinach dumplings again at lunch the next day. These were good but not quite as good as the ones the previous day. My husband couldn't leave Austria without having wiernerschnitzel so that is what he had. 

 

Later that afternoon we took a little ice cream break and had pistachio sundaes. I love a good ice cream sundae and this one did not disappoint.

We were at the Salzburg fortress this last day so we also took a beer break to enjoy the view. Beer and a view are a good combination.

After two snacks that afternoon I didn't feel the need for a heavy dinner. I had a nice bowl of dumpling soup while my husband had another serving of schnitzel with a side of german potato salad.

We finished off our trip to Salzburg with two delicious desserts. I don't turn down a delicious ice cream sundae and this one didn't disappoint. We never did figure out what those little red berries on top of both of our desserts were but they were good.

It took me a while to get my second post of my honeymoon up but come back soon for more food. There won't be such a big gap between posts this time. Promise! Up next is Prague!

My First Wedding Anniversary

Last Monday was my first wedding anniversary of our church wedding. Yay! My husband and I talked about going away overnight to celebrate and we decided to take Monday off of work so we could Sunday and come home on Monday.

Last year after our wedding we stayed at the Monterey Plaza Hotel so we decided to stay there again since we had such a nice time there last year.  Monterey is only a little over an hour away from where we live so it was a perfect location for a quick overnight trip.

We drove down late Sunday morning so we got there right around lunchtime. We were too early to check in so we dropped off our luggage at the hotel and headed out to find food. The hotel is right on Cannery Row so we had no shortage of places to eat.

At the Fish Hopper we started our trip with drinks. I had a watermelon cucumber margarita and it was delicious. Nice and refreshing. Everything we ordered was delicious and we left full.

After lunch we wondered around Cannery Row stopping in all the little tourist shops along the way. I grew up near Monterey so it was kind of weird to be there as a tourist. We stumbled upon a store that had about 50 olive oils and vinegars for tasting so we spend a while taking advantage of that. We ended up taking home a bottle of mushroom sage olive oil and a pomegranate balsamic vinegar.

We headed to the hotel coffee shop and got hot chocolates/mochas.  We took our drinks and sat in some comfy chairs by the fire pit. 

Sitting by the fire pit, drinking hot chocolate, listening to the sound of the waves while snuggling with my husband was the perfect way to finish our afternoon.

We checked into our hotel and had a few hours to enjoy the view before it was time for our dinner reservation. It was just so nice to relax and listen to the sounds of the ocean.  My husband laughed at me because as soon as we got to the room I put on the hotel robe and curled up.  I can't help it if I like to be comfy!

Before we went to dinner I tried to take a picture of the view of the lights but this picture doesn't even close to do it justice.

We headed to the Chart House for dinner and got a table right next to the window. They had lights on the building shining right on the rocks so you can see the waves crashing even when it is dark. Cheers!

We started off with an amazing trio of hummus along with plantain chips and pita and a crab shrimp avocado stack.

Since we right next to the ocean we took advantage of everything being so fresh and we both had fish.  I had a macadamia crusted fish and my husband had a fish with tandoori sauce.

I promise the desert was amazing evidenced by the fact that we dug in so fast the I didn't take a picture. I had a mud pie and my husband had ice cream and we cleaned our plates.

On our wedding night we had chocolate covered strawberries and champaign in our room so we decided to order it again this year. We sipped champaign listening to the sounds of the ocean and it was just perfect.

We slept in the next morning and then had lunch on the water before heading home. 

It was a short trip but it was wonderful to get away with my husband to celebrate.  One year down and oh so many more wonderful years of marriage in my future.

Thanksgiving Decorations

Last week I pulled down all the decorations in my house that were decidedly Halloween-ish and put up some Thanksgiving touches.

I got these cute monogramed towels earlier in the year and was going to use them as part of my fall decorations (that never got put up) so I using them for the first time now. I am loving things that have my new last name initial on it! It just makes me smile.

My sign is a bit hard to see in the picture (apparently I should have zoomed in) but the one on the door says Give Thanks and the other sign says Thankful, Grateful, Blessed.

Kept my black wire mesh pumpkins on my coffee table but switched out my table runner for one with a kind of gold leaf motif. 

I found some great gold leaves to add to my counter along with my super sparkly orange pumpkin and the candle with the acorns.  The dollar spot at Target always has the best little holiday decorations and I have a hard time passing things up that are only $1.

I left the decorations on my TV stand and just added my cute little friend the turkey to the display.

I had this white pumpkin facing the other way during Halloween since the other side is plain but turned it right around to show off its true message as part of my Thanksgiving decorations. I don't remember where I got the sign but I know I love it.

I didn't get to put up this sign earlier in the season so I decided why not just put it up now since technically we are only halfway through fall anyway.

I used two different fall foliage circle to make one full centerpiece for my table since alone either of them look kind of sparse.

This year I am having celebrating Thanksgiving twice.  Once with my family and once with my husband's family.  I have volunteered to decorate my brother in law and sister in laws table/house for the dinner so many of these decorations are coming with me for that so I will enjoy them at my house while they are here. Happy fall and Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Vegetable Curry

I cook a lot using our stove anyway but since our oven is broken (we ordered the part we need) I am having to use it even more. I love curries but they are not something I cook at home very often.  I found this curry on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.

Pumpkin Vegetable Curry

Makes at least 8 servings 

2 onions diced up

8 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cans black beans, drained

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 can diced tomato

1/2 to 3/4 cup of coconut milk

2-4 tablespoon (or more) red curry paste

Salt and pepper

2-4 tablespoons of honey

• Cook the onions and garlic with the olive oil in a medium/large saucepan for 5 minutes on medium heat
• Add the rest of the ingredients except for the honey and then taste to see if more curry paste, salt or pepper is needed
• When you have the spices to your liking add the honey and then taste to see if more honey is needed.
• Bring to a boil and then lower head and cook at a low simmer for 15-20 minutes
• While the curry is cooking I cooked some quinoa to serve the curry over.

I served this curry over about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of cooked quinoa. Depending on how hungry you and your family are this recipe makes at least 8 servings and is great the next day (or the day after) for lunches.

Stitch Fix #17 (and 18 too)

Since I managed to get a month behind in my Stitch Fix posts due to one arriving the day before my honeymoon I decided to catch up by covering two boxes in one post.

The previous box had a scarf in it that was not quite my colors so this month they send me a scarf that was much more my style. This pretty scarf is a super cozy blanket scarf and has been an adventure finding ways to wear it. I can't wait to find more ways to wear it.

As usual these leggings are a little long on me but they are a nice weight and not see through. That combined with a nice wide comfy waist ban sold me on these.

Please excuse the slightly rumpled look of this top.  I took this picture right after I pulled it out of the dryer because I liked it so much that I didn't even wait to take a picture of it before wearing it. I love how comfy it is and the elbow patches make it extra fun.

I had asked for comfy clothes so in addition to the fun striped top I was also sent this great plum hoodie.  It is nice and lightweight which is great since I do live in California and it really doesn't get that cold.

I like this one but wasn't crazy about how it looked on me. I actually ended up keeping this one because I was keeping the other four things and it is cheaper to keep all 5 than send this one back because of the 20% discount. I think I will end up finding someone to give it to.

After keeping all five items last month (for the first time) I was excited to get my box this month. My first item was this pair of skinny jeans.  They didn't fit quite right and I am not really in need of a new pair of jeans so these went back.

Cute bracelet but I don't normally wear bracelets.  I didn't think I would get very much use out of it so I send this one back too.

It is a bit hard to tell from this picture but this is the back of the shirt.  The front was a sweater with a but of a build in shirt at the bottom but the back stopped being a sweater about halfway down. The color was quite nice but I found the back a bit weird so this too went back.

Wasn't crazy about the color of this shirt when I first took this out of the box but when I put it on and the chest was too tight I didn't think twice about sending this one back.

After sending the first four things in the box back I am onto the winner.  This t-shirt is grey in the front and stripped on the sleeves and back. It is so cozy and is great to wear with jeans to run errands on the weekends.  It is not quite dressy enough to wear to work so a weekend shirt it will have to be.

I am looking forward to getting my next box this month and if you want to get your own Stitch Fix box you can use my link.