Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.
I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.
Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing. This is now taking me into other areas like deforestation, chemicals and preservatives in the food chain.
Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!
Welcome to Thursday Thoughts this week has been busy in my mind so many thoughts and so many rabbit holes either from posts, social media or just browsing…the temperatures are rising and it’s 28C as I am typing at @4.55 am this morning…I hope everyone who celebrated St Patrick’s day had fun, laughter and good food…Riverdance was well received I didn’t realise how very popular it was…Lily arrived yesterday and the first thing she had was a Hersheys Chocolate Burger…
Nannie had the tiniest piece to try and it was ok…dripping with chocolate sauce, and a chocolate bun but it wasn’t as sweet as I imagined it could be and Lily liked it…Aston just pulled a face as I knew he would and declined-smile but he is a savoury person rather than having a sweet tooth …I just wanted to try it because I could-smile-
Cher Ami what a heroic little pigeon…
Where is Cher Ami today? Today, Cher Ami is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of
American History to preserve his memory. Since then, his story has lived on in the hearts and
minds of Americans across the decades and his bravery will never be forgotten.
The reason I shared this was prompted by a comment from a friend on social media(FB) her question was “Why after 3 days has this post got no likes or comments”
My thoughts are it’s not a cute cuddly panda, kitten or puppy and it’s not a post that anyone who trolls would get any traction from…Sad but true of Social Media…However, it doesn’t make Cher Ami any less of a hero…
Throughout the world, nations have become dependent on antibiotics resulting in drug dependency plus the fact that we now have drug-resistant bacteria and other “superbugs” that keep evolving faster than scientists have time to research, making it hard to fight them off…
It’s time to listen to mum or granny as our ancestors used many different foods and herbs that are known to defend your health, rid infections and stop diseases from spreading. In fact, many holistic doctors still practice these types of antibiotic treatments instead of resorting to pills… today I’m looking at something many of you will have in your kitchen…ACV or Apple Cider Vinegar. With its antibiotic and antiseptic properties, ACV can help in weight management, and lowering cholesterol… ACV can also be used as a chemical-free astringent if you need to topically disinfect or sterilize a wound…if I think I have even a tincy tiny chance of a sore throat coming I just add a little ACV to a small glass with a little hot water and fresh honey…
Taking a shot of apple cider vinegar in the morning on an empty stomach is one practice that many wellness gurus claim helps you lose weight, reduce hunger, and remove toxins from your system…You don’t even have to drink apple cider vinegar to reap its wonderful meat-tenderizing benefits…it is also a great house cleaner and I mix some with water and spray my plants and it gets rid of any little bugs, especially on my chard and curly kale…
Music today is from Bocelli (again) another duet…
Thank you for joining me today as always I look forward to your comments and appreciate your shares x
Welcome to my latest A-Z …World Cuisines…where I will be looking at the countries of the world, their food and national dish or their most popular dish around the world…by this I mean some dishes are eaten in many countries as their fame has spread around the world…
Today I am looking at the cuisine of Germany…
A country I have visited a number of times over the years… they are famous for the Christmas Markets and Glühwein…I have memories of holding a warming mug of Glühwein while snow is falling and the brass band is playing while we shop for gifts…it is magical at Christmas…
However, we are here for the food famous for its Bratwurst Sausages although there are at least 1,000 different types, there are over 300 different kinds of bread and over 1,200 types of cake…and in BAVARIA Beer is considered a food officially…
The biggest Beer Festival in the world is Oktoberfest in Munich, Bavaria, where the beer glass size is not 500ml but a whole litre!
The Germans’ love for beer is also expressed through the popular saying, “Durst wird durch Bier erst schön,” which translates to “Thirst is only beautiful when accompanied by beer.”
Whilst there are regional variations in food culture, most German recipes focus heavily on bread, potatoes, and meat, especially pork, as well as plenty of greens such as types of cabbage and kale. Cake, coffee, and beer are all highly popular elements of German cuisine too – which will be good news to most!…
No visit to Germany would be complete without having a slice of Black Forest Gateaux…and who better to give a demonstration than “The Hairy Bikers”…
One of my favourite German Christmas recipes came from a dear friend whose husband was German…Spicy Red Cabbage...
This beautiful cabbage dish can be eaten with hot or cold meats and is a firm favourite in this house the red cabbage is braised with red onions, apples and spices it smells absolutely divine whilst it is cooking just like Christmas…however even though it is something we always have with our Christmas dinner I also make it at other times of the year…Called Rotkohl, Blaukohl or Blaukraut in Germany, depending on the region, this braised red cabbage is a staple side dish that is served throughout Germany.
All that bread, cakes and beer there are more types of bread than in any other country you would think it wouldn’t bode well for the waistline however only 17% of the population is obese, compared to 33% of Americans or 27% of Britons. So how do they stay so thin?…as a nation Germans love to hike…and a walk is not just a stroll around the park but rather a brisk 10km (6.2 miles]) ramble that is likely to include ascending an Alp and drinking copious amounts of schnapps…which all proves my theory that you can eat and drink more or less what you like as long as you do enough exercise.
Plus Germans don’t tend to eat their big meal in the evening. Most big companies have an on-site canteen where employees eat their hot meal for the day. In the evening, it’s Brotzeit (bread time), where people have a couple slices of dark spelt or rye bread with some pâté, smoked meat and cheese with a beer or some wine…sounds good to me and pretty similar to my lifestyle now I eat my main meal before 2pm and don’t eat a meal after that I may have fruit or a brownie for a treat but I eat my breakfast and main meal early in the day and walk a lot…
Sauerbraten is a traditional German roast of heavily marinated meat. It is regarded as the national dish of Germany and is frequently served in German-style restaurants internationally.
It can be prepared from a variety of meats, most often from beef, but also from venison, lamb and mutton, pork and horsemeat…I think everyone has eaten or heard of schnitzel which is meat that is pounded until it is very thin then coated in breadcrumbs and fried…although schnitzel can be made using any meat In Germany and Austria, the name Wiener Schnitzel is protected and can only be made with veal.
Schnitzel made of any other meat is Schnitzel Viennese Style.
All the food so far seems pretty normal or is it? Like many countries, there are foods that may not be acceptable to everyone’s palate I mean I draw the line at eating horsemeat and veal just my personal views but for many, it’s on the menu…
However what about Hackepeter or Mett...many of us have been warned by our parents not to eat raw meat however many cultures do and that is the case here in Germany …Mett has been eaten for centuries and even the EU warns against eating Mett or Hackepeter. This preparation of raw minced pork is often sold on bread rolls and is a classic food that is often found on buffets…
Blutwurst is a blood sausage similar to black pudding…but in Germany, the peculiarity of the German Blutwurst is that it has names like Himmel und Erde(Heaven and Earth) served with apple sauce and mashed potatoes or Tote Oma(Dead Grandma) where hot Blutwurst is smashed to bloody pieces and mixed with liverwurst and mashed potatoes.
Saumagen(Sows Stomach) is a pig’s stomach stuffed with pork, potatoes, carrots and spices again similar to a haggis which is a favourite Scots dish…
Milbenkäse (“mite cheese”), called Mellnkase in the local dialect and often known as Spinnenkäse (“spider cheese”), is a German speciality cheese. Produced exclusively in the village of Wurchwitzthe cheese is left in a wooden box with cheese mites for about 3 months…the bugs eat the rind and the digestive liquid they secrete ferments the cheese…the cheese is then eaten with the living mites…
I would pass on this cheese and the raw minced pork although to me it is similar to a tartare…and the blood sausages again are eaten in many other countries so I don’t really class them as weird food just food that I’m not partial to…
Thank you for joining me today for this virtual tour of the cuisine of Germany as always I look forward to your comments and thoughts and appreciate any shares…x
Welcome to Monday Musings where my muse pinpoints anything exciting or unusual I have read, seen or experienced during the last week it could be anything that piques my interest as I explore the rabbit holes…smile.
Being aware of the fact that climate change is real and global warming exists despite the fact earth’s climate has changed throughout history however now we have more man-made factors that will influence those changes including population increases…
Food if nothing changes will not continue to feed the world population…with advances in science, it is inevitable that as much as we would like to grow and see our food harvested there does have to change some change is good, some bad, some gone in a flash and some have been long-lasting…
I came across this post while reading Patty Fletchers Social Media Monday…it is an interesting read and I am the first one to admit that I love Almond Milk but recognise that the amount of water needed to produce almonds is astronomical and not sustainable if the popularity and demand for almond milk escalates…Cows emit Methane and I am not getting into that argument but given the increasing demands for beef /milk again we have to have alternatives…
How single-celled yeasts are doing the work of 1,500-pound cows …Cowless dairy is here…
We are far luckier than some and they happen quite infrequently here and never for longer than about an hour not so for some of you..my readers as it seems to be quite a regular occurrence and can last days…what to do as especially now with food shortages and rising prices around the world we cannot afford to waste anything…Well never fear I came across this post on ” How to prevent food from spoiling during a power outage” there are some great practical tips it’s well worth a read if you are blighted by power outages…
Music today is from another one of my favourite tenors Andrea Bocelli who like many artists duet with other artists whose style is totally different and most times it works…of course, their working relationships must stem from a mutual sense of respect for each other artistically and as people, it’s then that the magic happens…
I loved this I hope you do too…x
Thank you for joining me today for Monday Musings as always I look forward to your comments and appreciate your shares I hope to see you for my A-Z of World Cuisines on Wednesday where I look at the cuisine of Germany in the meantime enjoy your week…x
Hello and welcome to my weekly roundup of posts, you may have missed during the week…I hope those of you who are experiencing snow stay warm and if you have to drive heed the weather warnings and stay safe…the heat has turned up a notch here which means walks and gardening I did lots of repotting yesterday all my seeds and cuttings are doing well we have had a market here for the last two weeks with lots of lovely plants and trees the last day is today so I am hoping to get a couple of lovely desert roses…during the week I got two Ma Li(Jasmine) plants plus a finger lime that I hope will grow well and give me limes…
Monday Musings…
Last week in Mondays Musings it was part 1 of “Do Mermaids Exist?’…I know Disney tells us they do as does many a fairy tale or exposure of findings like in the video today…I would never say never as the world/Universe is so vast and much of it undiscovered…This video is on the side of yes they do ..when you have children, experts and government denials in the mix you can’t be blamed if you think just maybe mermaids do exist then on Thursday Thoughts came the denial the young lady who was very witty on occasion skillfully debunked the idea that mermaids do exist …two sides of the coin and I guess some very skilful editing…ahhh for the wonders of technology…manipulation at its finest…and then we have “Nessie”
Thank goodness for the music of the great Pavorotti…x
Welcome to the next letter in my first A-Z the letter S… Sally of Smorgasbord Magazine is kindly rewinding this series and I am thoroughly enjoying rereading the series…Many of my favourite foods start with the letter S …Salsa, squid, satay sauce and sage are among them…To read the original post please click the highlighted link below it will take you to Smorgasbord Magazine where Sally has the coffee pot brewing…See you there xx
The saga of “Do Mermaids Exist” part 2…and septic tanks I gave it a mention on here prompted by a comment from Willow and although I couldn’t find anything concrete that agreed with what she was told the fact that chemicals, chemotherapy, antibiotics and numerous other medicines etc etc are harmful to septic tanks I suppose if someone diet consisted of solely processed and industrialised foods then that could indeed be the case…after coming up for air from that rabbit hole I wanted something lively and keeping within the Spirit of St Patricks Day I thought Riverdance was spot on…
The digestive system is not voiceless…if you get a stomach upset, feel nauseous, or get a headache or a rash.. it is your gut-brain letting you know it is not happy. It works on the principle that after hundreds of thousands of years evolving, it knows very well what it needs and if it comes in a packet along with additives and artificial sweeteners, colourings and chemically produced nutrients… that is not it.
The Digestive System Part Two – The Oesophagus, Acid Reflux and Stomach…
To read the full original post please click the highlighted link below that will redirect you to Smorgasbord Magazine where Sally will give you a warm welcome and answer any questions you may have…See you there xx
Thank you for joining me today as always I look forward to your comments and appreciate any shares…I hope to see you tomorrow for Monday Musings…Where there is another milk alternative and tips on how to save your food when you have power outages and of course a tune x
The digestive system is not voiceless…if you get a stomach upset, feel nauseous, or get a headache or a rash.. it is your gut-brain letting you know it is not happy. It works on the principle that after hundreds of thousands of years evolving, it knows very well what it needs and if it comes in a packet along with additives and artificial sweeteners, colourings and chemically produced nutrients… that is not it.
Over the next few weeks, Sally from Smorgasbord Magazine will be working her way through the digestive system and afterwards, perhaps you might review what you are eating that might not agree with your body. This includes some chronic illnesses and life-threatening diseases.
The Digestive System Part Two – The Oesophagus, Acid Reflux and Stomach…
To read the full original post please click the highlighted link below that will redirect you to Smorgasbord Magazine where Sally will give you a warm welcome and answer any questions you may have…See you there xx
Welcome to Thursday Thoughts this week has been busy in my mind so many thoughts and so many rabbit holes either from posts, social media or just browsing…
Willow Croft’s comment on last week’s Thursday Thought’s made me go “Ewww” however it also made me think…another rabbit hole- not smiling-
Okay, forgive me for getting a little…off-colour…but someone I know was dealing with a septic tank issue, and they were like, “Why can’t we use the bacteria in the tank” and the septic tank person was like “People eat so much processed food that the bacteria don’t work anymore…they just die, because they can’t break down the, ahem, waste.”
Food for thought or not as the case may be...I know that chemicals in cleaning products, fabric softeners, latex products, medicines, drain cleaners, bleach, fats, grease and crushed food can have a negative effect …Thoughts?
Last week I asked the question do mermaids exist…if you watched the video(s) you may well have thought just maybe Disney is right…and then I watched these ..well I go where the rabbit holes take me…
Tomorrow March 17th is St Patrick’s Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick, a cultural and religious holiday celebrated every year in Ireland and by Irish communities around the world…there will be parades and marching bands… and lots of green and orange…The celebration marks the anniversary of Saint Patrick’s death in the fifth century and represents the arrival of Christianity in the country…
Many old-school Irish dishes are cosy and comforting, as they were made with ingredients that could withstand and soothe the people during harsh winters, like beef, potatoes, cabbage and onions. Some of Ireland’s native dishes were born from a place of scarcity, hence dishes like Irish stew and coddle a layered, slowly braised dish of pork sausage, potatoes, onion and bacon rashers; the people at times needed to make a lot with a little, and were adept at reducing waste, making meals more filling and preserving what they had.
Potatoes feature in many Irish recipes and no doubt there will be Colcannon or Champ at every meal…and of course corned beef and cabbage…Happy St Patricks Day tomorrow to everyone who celebrates…Enjoy!
However…due to the Global Energy Crisis…
Ireland’s tradition of lighting up landmarks green for March 17 will be put on pause again for 2023.
Now for some music(and dance)…March 16th 2000 after years of international touring and even a TV broadcast, the Celtic dance revue Riverdance opens at the Gershwin Theatre under the title Riverdance – on Broadway and runs 605 performances.
Thank you for joining me today for those of you with snow and freezing weather stay safe and warm and for those of you who have sunshine and warmth enjoy as always I look forward to your comments and appreciate any shares xx
Retired? No one told me! 