I'm Baaack . . .

. . . From a long overdue overseas trip to Amsterdam with my sister who has become a Grandmother.  I couldn't give up the opportunity to travel to the Scandinavian country, to feel the cold, eat the food(!!!), see her new grandchild, meet her in-laws, and bond with my sister.  From my perspective, her son and daughter-in-law, are fortunate that time seems to have stood still for them, as they savor the birth of their new child together.

She's a native of Amsterdam, with Chinese, Indonesian, and some Portuguese ancestry, and her first language is Dutch though English is taught early to all since Dutch is not spoken anywhere else in the world but in Holland.  My nephew, who's lived in Bali for most of his life, is of Korean and Spanish ancestry, and English is his only language.  Their son, Makena, will become multi-lingual, learning English from his father, Dutch from his mother, and Indonesian from his Au Pair.

   

Her medical coverage is from her job in Amsterdam, where she can take up to three months off according to Amsterdam allowances, though the Bali arm of the company would only cover two months, so the third month's off without pay.  Considering that TDI (Temporary Disability Insurance) coverage in Hawaii is just a few weeks at most, what a wonderful start for the young family.

Our hotel was a 5-minute walk to their home, after we got the route down.  Amsterdam was built on the water, and so there are over passes over the canals to accommodate walkers, bicyclers, while cars and trams crisscross larger streets of the city.  Bicycling is huge in Amsterdam with many rentals and parked bikes secured everywhere.  I eventually got used to the bike bells to get out of the way because, cyclers must've been frustrated having to call out to us.  We "Uber-ed", quite a bit, after getting lost walking, with sister's GPS that wouldn't speak up from the phone.  Guess our movement was too slow for the GPS voice to kick in?  It didn't help either that a major part of the city central was divided by roadwork as they build a subway system below.  I pulled out a map as I realized using a map while walking is better than a phone GPS.  You need to see the destination in relationship to the overall.

 

Beautiful Old World architecture, and the new, blend in together, along the clean streets, shows respect for the environment.  Lucky I had those little bags attached to my bag that look like fruits, as we put them to good use.  Such good looking people all in good shape too.  Everyone's so nice.  Well, we were in the touristy part of town. 

 

Double espressos and cappuccinos fueled our walking and shopping adventures the first day, to replace clothes from sister's delayed huge bag, which arrived Hawaiian time, a day and a half later.  Did I say I wanted cold?  I found out what cold was when my toes and fingers felt like falling off as my Patagonia wool socks and gloves weren't enough in my Naot shoes.  I added thin socks and another pair of gloves, bought a knit scarf I could twist around my head and neck up to my sunglasses because wow!  My mouth and often-runny nose was freezing too, with the wind.  Lucky for us no snow except for small rain size hail.

As I entered the Van Gogh Museum, I was asked to remove my dark glasses and scarf so a picture of my face could be taken.  My face was covered up almost as much as a burka would've. We took in the Rijks (pronounced Rice) and the Van Gogh museums during our stay.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  With just the two of us, we could read the art descriptors at our own pace, and were able to piece together the history of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and its people.  Sister asked a Dutch native Uber driver, how long his family had been in Amsterdam, actually wanting to find out where the Dutch originated.  The answer he gave, "ancient German (land)".  Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and other impressionists captured everyday life (instead of Kings and Queens) as well as the plight of impoverished women who turned to life in the brothels and the double standards between men and women.

 

At the Farmers' Market early Saturday Morning, we hit the hot Pumpkin/Coconut Soup and crusty bread a couple of times.  We started off with 250 Euro from our sister-in-law, which came in handy there, and as it dwindled I finally hit the ATM when I discovered black truffles.  Woohoo.  Bought a cauliflower, chanterelles, arugula, tatsoi, vine-ripened beef-steak tomatoes, a bottle of tomato tapenade and basil pesto each.  We didn't even have a small fridge in our room, but dropped it off at my nephew's house the following early evening before going out to dinner & jazz the day they had moved into their friend's house.  I eventually made a cauliflower chanterelle truffle dish, and tossed the greens with the tomato tapenade and basil pesto for a dinner and wine for us four while Makena slept.  Met their friend/owner of the apartment who was once a chef/owner, and shared champagne and more wine with him and his wife.

We took in some jazz at the huge modern designed music hall, at a club in there called the Bimhuis (pronounced Bim House), but first had a "Tart" made of thin flambé Pizza crust with arugula, ginger sauerkraut, olives, thin slices of camembert cheese, and mushrooms (but no tomato sauce).  I ordered the caviar lentils, and we shared, both paired with wine before listening to a jazz quartet, so sweet it was ear candy.

RISOTTO RADDICHIO AND GRAPEFRUIT

We ate our way through Amsterdam, eating lunch and dinner to taste it all.  We ate Italian food twice from Trattoria Caprese (pronounced Trahhh-torrrdddia Caprdeee-zz by a passer-by who pointed the way the second time).  Oh the Old World, the authentic flavors, the real deal compared to a fancy lunch we had in the Financial District with foam on cod etc. for Sister, and while I had an artichoke puree under a black truffle puree, funny I couldn't seem to taste the truffles.  While I tried to eat vegan as much as possible, I allowed some dairy if not removable, for a full on experience.  I could not resist the risotto radicchio with bittersweet grapefruit slices on top, a tiramisu, and an apple strudel with pine nuts and raisins.  Now that I'm back home, I notice my Japanese "roomie-exchange student" made a couple of trial tiramisu and saved them in the freezer for me."  Wow not bad!!!  She is truly "exchanging" with us.   

 

We sought a table at One Michelin Star chef Chris Naylor's Pop Up restaurant, Olaf (known for his vegan offerings and sides of animal).  His restaurant Vermeer was undergoing renovations (was the building sinking into the water? It looked like it when we passed the following day).  Rewarded with a table after an hour's wait at the bar with nuts, olives and Moet Ice Wine, we went for the starters.  Pumpkin puree with salt crust Pear, Celeriac cooked in ash sea cabbage & celery sauce, Pied blue mushrooms with onion & lovage dressing, a Main course of Sprouts roasted in Vadouvan cauliflower & cheese sauce. Nedra ordered the Dutch squid with black sesame.  So wonderful to be treated to Michelin Star vegan starters.  

We found a Raw Vegan Restaurant called YAY, which opened this past November and found their Taster Plate to be totally awesome.  So good to see Raw Food in Europe.  Later as I walked near the Liquor Store to purchase a couple bottles of Sayah, I saw a lady wearing a beanie with RAW printed on the front.

 

Amsterdam's known for great Indonesian food and Sister treated the extended family to the best, which is Tempo Doeloe.  The "Rice Table" which was highly recommended included white or yellow lemongrass rice and at least 7-8 scoops of various appetizers ranging from mild to spicy placed on hot plates. The vegan one for me replaced the meats with tempeh, as well as skewered barbecue. The dessert Pandan layered cake and accompanying Sayah Indonesian liqueur, was a must get, and her in-laws bought a couple cakes, froze them for me to take home, and we found a liquor store with the Sayah.  The following day, I could smell perfume-y "pumpkin pie" spices drifting up my nose from the Sayah inside my body, and relived the sweet experience.  

 

We also dined with the young couple and their child at a Turkish restaurant, "ReVan Turkish Cuisine", and finally an Indian restaurant, "Mayur Indiaas", with her niece who will eventually be the Au Pair.  Their friend and landlord also set us up at his favorite restaurant, "Rijsel Rotisserie", which is always totally booked a month or two in advance.  Known for its chicken and sausages, I at first dreaded the thought of going there.  But, was richly rewarded with wonderful morel mushrooms, baked shallots, leeks, celeriac dishes, and fruit sorbets. 

 

My sister and I said our good-byes in L.A. as I traveled on to visit my friend and her three young girls in Oregon to celebrate her birthday. We were such close friends before, it felt so easy to pick up where we left.  After picking me up at the airport a little after 8pm, the girls settled into their rooms to sleep, I amazed her tastebuds with the Pandan Cake and bottle of Sayah.  She thought she had seen a bottle like the Sayah at one of the wine stores, and we decided to search for it the next day as well as check out a couple of raw vegan restaurants.

The Oregonians are conscious of keeping the natural beauty of their homeland by not allowing street lights to diffuse the starlit sky, and using natural colored bricks instead of all white in the residential areas, though wooden Colonial type homes were allowed cheerful yellow, white, green, colored paint. 

Bend, Oregon is growing in leaps and bounds with more commercial as well as residential homes going up.  They have corner lots in the residential area that can become a small business, and we saw several restaurants on the corners.  Large swaths of parks are community oriented especially during weekends when people go to the parks for events.

 

While she dealt with her children, I looked at the dozen or so paintings and art pieces on the floor, wall, shelves, needing to be moved, hung, and/or replaced.  We tackled a pile of huge furniture boxes in the garage before the garbage and recycle trucks came by.  I continued ripping the boxes apart with a screw driver while she rolled the garbage bins out front just in time.  When she saw me going at it, she joined me and before you know it, we saw the garage floor.  We folded as many pieces into a large furniture box and pushed it in the corner of the garage and the rest behind the box for future pick-ups.  I wouldn't call it work.  It was more therapeutic for me to be able to use my leisure time as I saw fit with my friend.  It's a different mindset, having to do it when you are pressed for time with that quantity.

It's been so wonderful savoring each moment in a new place with all of the senses.  To savor time with loved ones, make new connections, bringing home new flavors and memories.  Even the dark challenges (I missed my plane out of Oregon due to road construction, etc.) had a silver lining, (met up with a couple of friends in First Class to Honolulu, who helped me get my bags from the back and middle overhead compartments), since I was the last to board onto the last seat to Honolulu.

NEW MEAL PLANS

FOR A WIDER REACH

Starting March 19, 2016, Friday, we will launch our New Meal Plans.  See the attached New Brochure.  Using stackable, uniform sized single-serving containers, we have increased the weekly meals to six per week, and lowered the price to $88 for an individual, $160 for two, and $265 for four dropping the price for quantity of four to $11.04 to accommodate families.

We are working on our Licious Dishes website to revise the Meal Plans and Ordering so you can order online through PayPal. For now the pick up of the Meal Plans will be at Greens & Vines. We will also post new pick-up stations as they become available, possibly by next month. Help us to get into your neighborhood by making contacts at a yoga studio or other Fitness Center near you.  Please give them my (Sylvia's) phone number 808-753-0050.  We will set up a system where you can pick up your Meal Plans at their location when we deliver them on Friday.

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SECRETS OF SYLVIA'S

UN-COOKING RECIPE

KAFFIR MISO PAD THAI (Hands-on Class)

March 13, 2016

12-3pm in the Greens & Vines Kitchen

RSVP 536-9680 * $65/person