I have just returned from a ten day holiday in Europe so alas I have not been cooking or baking and thusly have no recipes to post this week.  However, I did do my share of eating so I thought perhaps I’d share a few photos of the food on which I dined.  (My speech sounds very formal right now.  Must be leftover from being exposed to the Queen’s English in Cornwall…)

The first half of my trip was spent in Germany and one of the first things I did there was attend a birthday party in a castle.  Yep, a castle.  It was pretty neat. 

The surroundings were lovely and so was the food.  Below is the main course which consisted of spaetzle (ah-mazing), fingerling potatoes, roasted vegetables, shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon, some sort of smoked fish pate, meatballs, fish cake, baked fish, and thinly sliced cured meat.

There was also a venison stew, several kinds of German potato salad, cabbage and carrot salads, and probably a few other things I am forgetting but I wanted to save room for dessert so I showed a little restraint.

After the main course the waiters brought out dessert which was lovely and light: strudel, fresh fruit, pudding, and sorbet.  There was actually a second dessert later after coffee and cappucinos that consisted of various pies and cakes but I was way too full to partake.  Probably should have eaten less spaetzle… I couldn’t help it though– it was just too good!

I realized upon returning home that I had taken approximately 35 photos of food, 20 of landscapes, and 3 of family.  Oops.  Do my dad’s hands in the background of the below picture count as another family photo?  Guess I got 4 of family then.

The above were some very lovely, very tasty sundaes we ate at an Italian gelateria in Germany.  Apparently the family that runs the place do such a booming business during the warmer months that they return to Italy and relax during the off-season.  Sounds like a pretty sweet deal.  Pun intended.

Later in the week I will be posting pictures of a food market I visited in Stuttgart.  The selection and presentation were incredible!