A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Australian Restaurant!

Mac and I had a great adventure planned for Saturday night.

We were headed into Stuttgart to eat at the Australian restaurant.

We had heard they had crocodile and kangaroo on the menu.

We were very disappointed to find that after 12 year's the Sydney's Australian Restaurant had closed.

My heart was set on this adventure but, Mac wisely informed me that the

next adventure is always around the corner.

We ended up in Kikuya Japanese Restaurant!

Kikuya – Japanese Restaurant

located at Calwer Str. 31

70173 Stuttgart

Phone: 0711/504 474 24

http://www.kikuya-stuttgart.de/

 

This is a lovely little restaurant.

You can sit here on the seats or

at the bar with the "kaiten" conveyor belt.

Here I am removing my shoes to sit with the other guests at the table.

Oh no, Chopsticks!  Nevermind, since I have not master the use of these items I am not above stabbing my food if need be!!

This is the chef with 30 years experience.

Have a look at his shoes.....I know I wouldn't be able to walk in them.

We started with a lovely avocado and cucumber salad.

I have no idea what kind of a sauce was over it but it was very tasty.

I had the sushi plate which, was excellent.

Here is where I'd normally show you Mac's food but he was so excited about his tempura shrimp and fried fish, soup and sushi that he forgot to take the picture.

Imagine?!  So instead we will show you the friendly staff and a close up of the conveyor belt.

Mac asked for dessert and the waitress recommended Daifuku

which means "Great Luck"

It is a sweet confection stuffed with

sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans. 

Mac loved this but, this was not my favorite of the evening.

However; their homemade ice cream was very nice.

Although it wasn't the adventure we had in mind it was a wonderful, fun evening.

If you are looking for something different to do with kids or "big kids" in Stuttgart

give Kikuya a try. 



A variation on the GERMAN WURST SALAD (NOT WORST)

My son-in-law asked me to blog the WORST salad. I am pretty sure he meant "WURST" salad which, is not so bad and quite tasty.

I've used the American "Bologna" in my recipe, but normally I go to the German butcher and ask for

"Fleischwurst."  It tastes very similar to our bologna.

It's simple to make.  First you slice your bologna up into thin strips.

Separate it so it looks a bit like this in your bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon  fresh chives

    1/2 teaspoon fresh parsley

   1 teaspoon minced garlic

   1/2 onion finely chopped

1/2 can of water chestnuts chopped

1/3 of a small jar of sweet relish

and a dash of cayenne pepper

Pour this over the salad and add approximately 1/4 cup mayo.

Mix well. 

The addition of the water chestnuts is my own because I love the crunch they add to the soft bologna.

You can serve the "wurst" salad on it's own but, I prefer to

serve it with a variety of other salads, such as the carrot salad I blogged for you last May and a nice green salad.

Enjoy the recipe son-in-law, oh and we love you!

My shy Englishman son-in-law is turning red now.

Weekend in Bern Switzerland (Part One- The Open Air Market)

We were so excited to go back to Bern and spend the weekend with my Cousin Terry. When you live in Europe it's wonderful to have family three hours away.

Terry, Rich, Mac and myself lived near each other in Germany

nearly 15 years ago and we were delighted to find that we are back in the same neck of the woods.

We arrived Friday evening and got up Saturday morning and hopped a "tram"  for the city center and open air market.

I LOVE open air markets.  The smells, the unexpected sights and sounds are always a feast for your senses.

Yes, those are bunnies hanging out to be bought!

I stopped and bought a wonderful "eggplant" (aubergine for you Brits) conconction from Tunsia.

Flower venders.

Sheep skins on offer.

Varieties of nuts  (Say, Cousin Terry.....we have a large variety of nuts in our family too, don't we?  Just sayin'.)

Dried smoked meats....Terry accidentally tried some Buffalo....she wasn't impressed.

Next we moved on to the "Hand made" items market.

Look at these cute little Chicken pocketbooks.

I almost bought you one Aunt Ruthie!

Hand-made clocks.

Hand smocked dresses.

No end to the lovely stuff to be found here.

Next up, we decided to go into the Gothic Church, the Cathedral of Bern.

Weekend in Switzerland (Part two- Cathedral of Bern)

The Cathedral of Bern, Switzerland.

This is the largest Gothic building in Switzerland.

The foundation stone was laid in 1421 and constructed like a basilica.

The exsistence of a church in Berne was first documented in 1224.  It probably would have been a wooden structure.

Just above the main portal of the church is an amazing depiction of the Last Judgment. They say it  contains more than 200 carved wood and stone figures. Apparently the survival of  late-Gothic sculpture like these are rare. 

The windows in the church were amazing.

The main church area.

Many of the benches were adorned with cherubs.

Mac and Rich took the long hike up the tower to take pictures and I will post some of Mac's pictures here later.

Do go and have a look at this if you are in Bern.. We don't have anything this old in America and it's a shame not to see this architecture.

                                                                          

Weekend in Switzerland (Part Three Eating on top of the Gurten)

No cars are permitted on Bern’s local mountain the "Gurten". We took the  funicular railway up after our visit to the Cathedral.

  The Gurten lies 332 m above Bern, has the most fantastic panoramic view:  On one side you'll see the city of Bern. From the other side you discover a plateau with charming villages and vistas and Swiss Alps with peaks rising over 4000 m rise into the backround.

Our first stop was for lunch at "Rauf aus der Stadt."

http://www.gurtenpark.ch/

You can also stay overnight at this restaurant/hotel.

We seated ourselves outside with a view of Bern while we perused the menu.

It is my favorite time of year.  SPARGEL season or for us English speakers

ASPARAGUS season.

Terry and Rich shared the lovely Cream of Asparagus soup.

I had the green and white asparagus salad with raspberry vinigrette for a starter.

Mac had noodles, geschnitzel over asparagus.

Rich had the noodle asparagus dish.

I had a most unusual concoction of green and white asparagus with a slice of ham rolled around them.  This was then covered with a thin "dough" of sorts and deep-fried.

It tasted amazing.

Cousin Terry had the green and white asparagus with new pototos.

We agreed this all was DELISH.  Refreshed we set out to explore

The Gurten.

Weekend in Switerland (Part 4 THE GURTEN)

As I said previously, The Gurten lies 332 m above Bern, Switzerland and accessed only by the funicular railway.

Of special note to those of you traveling with children, I have NEVER seen such an amazing playground.

They had little go-carts.

A mini railroad and water play area.

Chess anyone?

This part housed mechanical apparatuses with rolling balls. The children had great fun running around looking at how it all worked, not to mention tree houses and many other fun things.

For the older "kids" , how about a little surfing?

Because the temperature was at 72 F.  people came out from all over to sit on blankets, play guitars, commune with nature and revel in the SUNSHINE!

There are barbarcue pits here as well as a place to make a wood fire.

We were just awe inspired by the view.

Words can't describe it!

Just breath-taking.

The video quality isn' t that great but will give you an idea.

Thank you Rich and Terry for introducing us to such a lovely place!