maandag 23 december 2013

Merry Christmas!

 
Dear family and friends, from Vancouver we wish you:
 
 

zaterdag 9 februari 2013

Kung Hei Fat Choi, again, already..?!

 
Oh dear - that means I haven't kept Swans Place up for a whole (chinese) year...If it makes you (and me) feel better: the Jaap-and-Mickey blog didn't get as much attention as it deserves in the past year, either. Too many planes, too many moves, not enough interesting things to tell...or just not enough time.
Lets see if I can do better. For now, to all my Chinese and HongKong friends:

Happy year of the Snake, Kung Hei Fat Choi!
 






zondag 22 januari 2012

Kung Hei Fat Choi!


Tomorrow is the first day of Chinese New Year.
Tomorrow we'll fly to Vancouver for 5 weeks. Also the beginning of a new beginning....


Happy New Year of the Dragon!

dinsdag 11 oktober 2011

copy of our latest newsletter

This week we send out newsletters to family and friends. Possibly there are people whose emailadress I do not have - but who do read this blog and would like to know how we are doing.
So here it is, the latest update of our plans!

******************************************************

Dear family and friends,

Last week we send out an email to our family and friends in Dutch - and I realized it might be nice to keep our english (and other languages)speaking friends and family informed as well!
Informed of how we are doing, and of our plans for the near future.

We are doing very well. Life in HongKong remains busy and interesting. There's lots of work, going out with friends, and travelling. Mostly for Jaaps business in the past few months but we manage to put a fair bit of fun into that as well. Like last month, when he had 5 days worth of work in HoChiMinhCity in Vietnam - we went there a few days in advance so we could do some sightseeing together before the work started.

Our life might be changing a lot next year.
There's a sistercompany of HITT HongKong, in Vancouver, Canada.
They are in need of a new managing director and Jaap has been asked to do that- and we more or less accepted. But...We cannot just leave HongKong behind without a successor.
So the solution for the next six or so months is that Jaap will be going to Vancouver a couple of times to assist and join meetings. In the mean time we can look for a successor in HongKong and if and when such person is found and well prepared, and when all our paperwork for Canada is in place, we will leave for Vancouver.
Or, option two (but less likely) would be we find someone to manage Vancouver and we will remain in HongKong.
So for the next months there will be a lot of flying between Canada and HongKong for us. We're not sure about the frequency yet - possibly two or three weeks Canada every two months.

All this is very new news and still 'liquid'- as in: it changes about every week. So both of us are very curious about the future and what our next newsletter will tell.

We will be happy either way: life in Canada will be totally different from HongKong and will involve lots of clean air and nature, but we still love HongKong and would be completely OK with staying.

To be continued!

Love to everybody,

Mickey & Jaap

dinsdag 5 juli 2011

Last week in Brisbane

And there we were, in Brisbane.

It was deliciously cool and fresh and airy and there were koala's, kangaroos, birds and snakes at the Zoo we visited on sunday - a pleasure to be outside and wander around, enjoying the sun and the sights.

And then it was Monday. Lunch-with-Barbara-Monday!
She and her husband Bryan picked me up in my hotel and took me to the Southbank of the city, where culture and good food can be found.





We sat down at this lovely place, which served a tapas-style lunch.


It was so wonderful to sit down together, enjoy a shandy, some light starters, a nice maincourse, but mostly, just chat away.
About food, ofcourse. About travelling. About living in Brisbane, and living in HongKong. About plans. About her health (Barbara is batteling cancer), about children, in short - about life!

And again it struck me how nice and easy it is to talk to people you have something in common with. The love for food, in this case. And how that makes that two women, with very different backgrounds, histories and stories, end up chatting the afternoon away as if we're doing this every month.

We even forgot to take pictures of us together. Yes, we got the restaurant, the food. But not ourselves!
Good thing we found out that by coincidence we had restaurant reservations for the same place, the next day!...so we were able to get our snapshots together. (As it was quite dark in there they are not the sharpest ever, but...ah wel, you get the picture :-) )



Thank you Barbara and Bryan for a lovely, lovely afternoon together!

dinsdag 21 juni 2011

Next week in Brisbane

My husbands work brings us all around Asia and beyond. Because if he has to go somewhere(nice)for business, I try to join him. And if I can't, I try to use that time to travel somewhere interesting by myself, like to Japan last year.
Next week there's work in Brisbane, Australia. Ofcourse I'll join him. And ofcourse we juggle the long weekend in HongKong, right after the work, into our trip, so we get some time off there as well.

One of the things I like to do when travelling, is meeting people I 'know' from one of my favourite websites, Chocolate and Zucchini. I have been more or less active on their forum since 2004 and have participated in food-and-giftswaps, get-togethers and one-on-one meetings. Somehow meeting a group of complete strangers is a lot less scary if you share the same interest!
There was a groupmeeting in New York in a fabulous italian restaurant, which the writer of the blog, Clotilde, was hosting.
There was lunch with a few forum members in New York while we all just happen to be there - neither of us lives there. (hi Judy, hi Greg, hi David!)
There was a lunch in Tel Aviv,(Simona, hi!) more then one meeting in Paris with Debbie (and her hubby), a couple of days with her in Australia as well.
I feel blessed to be able to meet all these wonderful people and share a meal, a shoppingspree, lots of food-talk...

And next week, in Brisbane, I will be meeting the lovely Barbara of Winos and Fodies. Another inspiring lady on the forums and in her blog, and I can't wait for us to get together and start talking!
Pictures will be shared, ofcourse...

dinsdag 29 maart 2011

my big sis is here!



And boy, did we start talking...

Fun weeks to come with her here for three weeks all together, in which we'll visit Singapore, explore HongKong, and our brother, and-sister in law will join us in HongKong the last ten days as well.

zaterdag 26 maart 2011

earth hour



We're lighting a candle and turning of the lights. And we're comparing the lights of yesterday (as seen from our livingroomwindow) with those of today.


yesterday




and today 20:30-21:30


Good initiative, Earth Hour!

maandag 7 februari 2011

tiramisu



These days it is not a very original dessert anymore. It was when I started making this, about, ehm...*whisper*over 25 years ago...back in the days when it wasn't so easy to find mascarpone.(OMG, am I that old already?!?!)
Anyway, it still is a favourite. I sometimes try a bite when mr.Husband or friends order it in restaurants. And almost always I think: "mine is better". In restaurants they are often too wet, too watery, not creamy enough, well, you get the picture.
Saying those thoughts aloud challenges other tiramisu makers ofcourse, and modistly but proudly I can say that mine wins 'every time' in blind tests :-).

Why, you may ask? Is it such a special recipe?
Not at all, but maybe my joy in knowing there will be this huge tiramisu (with leftovers!) later is shining through?!

Tiramisu, serves 8 (recipe can easily be halved, but why would you want to?!)

4 eggs
90 gr. sugar
500 gr. mascarpone cheese
a packet of ladies fingers or italian savoiardi (in dutch: lange vingers)
about 150 ml espresso or strong coffee laced to taste with 3 tablespoons coffeeliqueur, or vanilla,cinnamon,chocolate-or-whiskey liqueur, or brandy.(I prefer not to use amaretto because the flavor is too strong almondy to my taste - but feel free if you love it!Alcohol free is also perfectly fine, or add more to taste. I like to keep it on the subtile side)
cocoapowder




-split the eggs, keep the whites at the side for later. Firmly mix the yolks and sugar together until pale yellow and creamy.
-add the mascarpone in two or three portions and mix in between until very smooth.
The mixing can be done by hand, with an electric handmixer or with your favorite new pink kitchenaid standmixer-toy :-)
-in a separate bowl beat the eggwhites until stiff and fold them through the mascarone mixture.Mix well - don't beat out all the air but don't worry too much.
-in a large bowl (I use the same size I use for lasagne, but you could make individual portions as well) first put a single layer of ladyfingers. THEN take a tablespoon and drip the espresso over, about a spoonfull per ladyfinger. (most recipes tell you to soak the ladyfingers in the coffee first. Well, that gives me the same result as dunking biscuits in tea. You know the effect. Like this you get the perfect coffee-to-ladyfinger-ratio. They should be wet on the bottom as well but not falling apart).
-Spread half of the mascarponemix on top of the ladyfingers.
-Then repeat the ladyfingers - coffee thing for a second layer and finish with the second half of creamy, yummy mascarpone.



-cover and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or longer.
-take out of the fridge just before serving and top with a good dusting of cocoa powder, or grated/shaved dark chocolate (I prefer cocoapowder)

ENJOY!!!!
Any leftovers can/will happily be consumed for breakfast the next day...

Variations:

it is definitely not a classic tiramisu, but the mascarpone mixture tastes wonderful with red summerfruits, or, for example, mango.
Make layers of mangopuree and mascarponemix and serve the ladyfingers on the side, or soak them in orangejuice with a nice fruity liqueur and build up the same as the tiramisu.

** as this desert contains raw eggs please be careful when serving to the elderly, small children or pregnant women. You could use pasturised eggyolks and eggwhites if you like or make a version of tiramisu without eggs by using well whipped cream to mix with the mascarpone and sugar**

*disclaimer* As I did not take any pictures last time I made tiramisu I got the pictures from the internet. Thank you photographers!*

vrijdag 14 januari 2011

zaterdag 1 januari 2011

Happy New Year



Happy New Year dear friends!

donderdag 23 december 2010

merry x-mas, part II

It's too funny not to share...

happy holidays everyone!

maandag 20 december 2010

Merry X-mas!



Dear All,

Best wishes for happy Holidays and a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!

Love, Jaap & Mickey

zaterdag 11 december 2010

home made vanilla extract - in the making!

It was in the plans for a long time already. Last year I received some home made vanilla extract from my friend Debbie. I haven't used anything else since. But now there's only a few drops left.
So...



Yesterday I finally got out my vanilla beans, bought some vodka, split the beans, scraped out some of the seeds (got lovely smelling hands!), put it all in the bottle and in about 8 weeks, with a weekly shake and a hiding in a dark closet my homemade vanilla extract will be ready. Dark, syruppy, vanilla-y, pure, fragant gorgeous vanilla extract.



How to do it? Uhm...get some vodka, get some vanilla beans, split, mix, and wait.:-)
And read more here.

Do read all the comments as well for tips on what other alcohol you could use instead of vodka.
Since I had lots of vanilla, a whole bottle of vodka and no jar or other, smaller bottle available I decided just to infuse the whole bottle and I used about 10 vanilla pods for that. It also ment I did not have to sterilize my jar :-).
There'll be no shortage of vanilla extract in this house for a while!!





PS. Vanilla extract works wonders for smelly fridges, I learned last week after leaving half an onion in uncovered (blegh!). The usual trick (leaving some bicarb of soda in the fridge to absorb the odour) did not work so I searched online and found this tip: clean the fridge with hot water with 3 tablespoons of bicarb, and a splash of vanilla. It worked like a charm!

zaterdag 4 december 2010

happy B-day



Oh yeah, I am now the proud owner of a PINK KitchenAid standmixer! Thank you hubby and Happy B-day to me :-)

dinsdag 9 november 2010

NY food - Serendipity 3



Today I saw an old Oprah-show in which she said you HAVE to put Serendipity 3 in New York City on your bucket list. Or, to be more precise, the 'frozen hot chocolate' at Serendipity 3.
I have seen that one featured in many food shows on tv, a blog or two and just about every travel guide out there. Serendipity 3.
THE placee to go. For Frozen Hot Chocolate :-)

Or, if you fancy, for the famous us$ 1000 golden opulence sunday. Choclolate icecream, yes. With edible gold.



Since I did not have an extra $1000 in my pocket I went there for the FHC. Online I studied the menu, they had a lot of all time american favourites besides the FHC.
And a waiting line of about half an hour. Not too bad, so I decided to wait for my 'table for one'. While I was standing there another single girl came in and we decided to join up and share a table for two. We ended up sharing a cheeseburger as well, but decided on a FHC each.



Well...what shall I say.
I'm not sure it is the best chocolate milkshake I ever had. I mean, it was nice enough, and certainly big enough, but the taste? It is made with a chocolate blend from 17 different chocolates, made into a powder, their signature mix. One cup full of this powder is mixed with one cup of milk and three cups of ice, and blended 'till smooth. Then you add whipped cream, and chocolate shavings.
I have to say, it reminded me a lot of the taste of the chocolate milk made from little dissolvable chocolate powder balls called 'Benco' from when I was a child.(I loved that stuff, by the way). Or perhaps even nesquick powder.
I was a little dissapointed, so to speak. My expectations ofcourse were quite high, with all this media coverage.
But...What a charming lovely place, and what a nice afternoon I spend there with my friend-for-the-afternoon, we shared the burger, laughter and facts of life and later on had fun in Dylans Candy store next door, before each going our own way.
And Serendipity 3? Don't let my opinion stop you. If so many people like their FHC, and they sell the mix online to all over the world - it's definitely worth a try!
Wether it has to be on one's bucketlist...well..I dare to disagree with Oprah on that one!

donderdag 4 november 2010

jam and jelly and Swan turnes one!

Time flies...
One morning you wake up thinking it's time to blog about your jam-making again. And then you realise: Jam! That whas my first real entry on this blog. ONE YEAR AGO!!! Time flies..!

So I was in the Netherlands again, this september. Beautiful weather, and there was time to enjoy our house, family, friends, fall weather and cooking. And my favourite: Apple and pear picking in (commercial) orchards. Sun in your face, rubber boots stuck in the mud in the wet orchards, the smell of the fermenting fruit that fell off already, doing some shopping in their organic supermarket - I love it!



I came home with bags full of apples and pears. I made some juice, I baked applepie, and I made jelly!

Searching the internet I found lots of recipies that call for extracting the juice from the fruit by cooking chunks of fruit (no peeling or coring necessary) for half an hour with water until soft, and filtering this juice through a colander lined with cheesecloth or a teatowel, to make sure you get very clear juice for unclouded jelly.

Patient as I am...I decided to take the easy, quick way out and just extract the juices in my superjuicer that can handle the whole fruit (just half them to check for worms :-) )
First I juiced the pears, left the juice to stand for half an hour so the foam could separate from the juice.



With a large spoon I removed as much foam as I could, then mesured out my juice and sugar. (like last year I used the special jam-sugar with pectine that gives you half-sweet, fresh tasting jam and jelly)
For a little difference I infused my pear jelly with rosemary, by adding a sprig of rosemary to the boiling juice and sugar and allow to infuse for about 3-4 minutes. (on 1 litre of pearjuice I used one sprig, which is plenty).





Spooning of the foam from the hot liquid, by the time the roar in the pan was over I tested the jelly and spooned it into the sterilized jars. Voila, that was my first batch!
Ofcourse the first jar is opened already and nice as it is on toast, it works wonders with cheese, or even better: use it to glaze your apple pie. No, I mean it: USE IT FOR YOUR APPLE PIE!!!



The apples underwent more or less the same treatment, this time giving the jelly a hint of calvados by adding one tablespoon of calvados only, to the amount of one litre juice and 500 grams of this special sugar. The jelly gets a nice little kick but is still ok to use with children or pregnant women - my yield was 4 jars of jelly , so hardly any alcohol per jar. Besides, the jelly is very hot when you add the calvados so some of the alcohol will evaporate.



By all means add an extra tablespoon if you like!
I am sure the jelly will mature beautifully but as it is now it has a wonderful fresh, happy, comfortable flavor. And who wouldn't want that from her jam!

Using the juicing method instead of the boiling-and-filtering method worked well for me. The pear jelly came out just a little clouded - but just a little - nice and golden and beautiful and just not 100% see-through.
The apple juice, from which it was indeed easier to remove the froth, made into a perfectly clear jelly.

Ofcourse I could not NOT make my fig-jam, so that has been done as well. With rose-tea again, this time I enhanced the rose flavor a little by adding some rose syrup.

The only downside is I could not take all my jars with me to HongKong...so while I do have some here, the rest is patiently waiting for transportation when we next visit...!

dinsdag 2 november 2010

Ofcourse they use English in the supermarket!




I'm glad they cleared THAT up for me :-)

dinsdag 12 oktober 2010

donderdag 30 september 2010

how it all started

You may see that I don't post here as frequently as on my 'jaap and mickey in HongKong'blog.
That is not due to lack of things to write about, nor to the language (jaap-and-mickey is in my native language Dutch).
No, it has to do with the character I had in mind for this blog. More food, more cooking, recipes, more travels and more books. You know, like a cosy library-type café, with open doors, strawberries and a breeze in summer, and a burning fireplace and the smell of applepie in fall and winter.

And now I'm finding out that writing a bookreport, and even more so writing a good recipe, is not half as easy as it seems.
I have to admit, I haven't looked into it. I'm sure there are guidelines out there on how to write good recipes, or how to make them your own if you use others for inspiration.
But still.

There are some great examples out there. They intimidate me a little. I love reading other peoples foodblogs! I have some of my favorites mentioned in my reading list.
But for me it all began with this one. The blog that celebrates its 7th B-day this month. I have been quite active for a while on the forum and participated in foodswaps and get togethers, in New York, Paris, Tel Aviv, and all that brought me a great variety and wealth of new experiences, new foods and great new friends from all over the world, some of whom I've met once, some several times and will continue to see, and with some of whom a meeting is still in the making.

So, you see, that's quite an example. Not that I want or need to reach that as well - but I would be happy to get a little bit better at it.
So I will start to write some more again, dive into my archive of food pics from the past months, all taken with this blog in mind, and I'll keep practising. And enjoying it.

But if you can't find me here, hey, I'm probably travelling.
Or reading my favourite blogs...