Prague ~ Old town & Charles Bridge

This free of traffic Prague's Old Town Square is among the finest public places in the city.  You can only see horse drawn carriages and some police patrol cars parked in this area.  The picture above, with the brown roof is the Kinsky Palace which now serves as an art gallery.

Church of Our Lady before Tyn ~ the church's Gothic (spires soar skywards) steeples are the Old Town's most distinctive landmark.

The Storch house (centre) has painted decoration based on designs by   Mikulas Ales showing St. Wenceslas on horseback.

The Powder Gate ~ this gate is one of the 13 entrances to the Old Town.  This gate had little defensive value only its rich sculptural decoration which was intended to add prestige to the adjacent palace of the Royal Court. It acquired its present name when it was used to store gunpowder in the 17th Century.

The above two pictures used to be the former Royal Court Palace, the King's residence between 1383 and 1485 but now it's been turned into a Municipal House with cafes and restaurants on the ground floor.

Church of St. Nicholas ~  The dome has frescoes (wall painting) of the lives of St. Nicholas and St. Benedict.  In the nave is a huge crown-shaped chandelier.  In World War I the church was used by the troops of Prague's garrison.  At the end of the war, the church of St. Nicholas was given to the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.  The church is now a popular concert venue.

Charles Street ~ a house decorated with the Art Nouveau statue of the legendary Princess Libuse surrounded by roses.

Old Town Bridge Tower ~ a magnificent Gothic tower built at the end of the 14th Century on Charles Bridge, one of the oldest stone bridges in Europe.  Charles Bridge is famous for the many statues of saints that adorned the entire length of the bridge.  For centuries, this bridge was the only link between the Lesser Town on the left bank of the Vltava river and Old Town on the opposite side.

Statue of Madonna and St. Bernard, 1709

The statue of   St. John of Nepomuk.   On 20 March 1393 he was thrown into the river Vltava from the Charles Bridge at the command of Wenceslas, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia.

17th Century Crucifixation ~ for 200 years the wooden crucifix stood alone on the bridge.  The gilded Christ dates from 1629 and the Hebrew words 'Holy, Holy, Holy Lord', were paid for by a Jew as a punishment for blasphemy.

Boat trip excursions along the Vltava river passing below Charles Bridge.

Hope you've enjoyed your trip to Prague, thus far!

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Bishop's Cake ~ Stained Glass Window Cake

As the name implies, this cake is certainly very suitable to be baked for the X'mas season.  I've eaten this cake before but didn't know that it's called Bishop's Cake  or  Stained Glass Window Cake until I spotted this on the internet.  According to the website this is an old English fruit cake that got its name from the stained glass window of the churches and cathedrals because of the appearance of the cross-section of each slice of cake.  Also known as American Christmas cake.  The wonderful part of it is that no fat is used in this cake!   As X'mas is not too faraway, perhaps you would like to give this a try as it can be kept in the refrigerator, wrapped in foil, for about 2 months.  

As this cake is quite sweet, cut and serve in thin slices with coffee, tea or sherry.

Bishop's Cake ~ Stained Glass Window Cake

Ingredients

• 150 gm dried pineapple, coarsely chopped
• 100 gm each of Cashew nuts, Brazil Nuts, Walnuts
• 50 gm raisins
• 120 gm red and green cherries
• 2 Tbsp mixed peel  (1 orange and 1 lemon)
• 75 gm plain flour
• 1/2  tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 80 gm sugar
• 1/4 cup Brandy/Rum/Orange juice
• 1  tsp vanilla
• Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Method

1. Grease and line a 9" x 4" x 3" loaf pan.  Sift flour and baking powder, set aside.
2. Combine 3/4 of the fruits and nuts in a large bowl. (Cut the fruits and nuts into half).  Keep the remaining 1/4 fruits and nuts, whole.
3. Add sifted flour into the fruits and nuts to coat.
4. Beat sugar, eggs, Brandy and vanilla on low speed till well combined.
5. Add to fruit mixture and mix well.
6. Spoon batter into prepared pan.  Use a spatula to press down on the fruits and nuts to make it compact.  Top with the remaining whole fruits and nuts.
7. Bake in a preheated oven @ 150 deg.C for 60 to 70 mins.  Cover with foil if it begins to brown too much.
8. Leave to cool in pan    for 20 mins. turn onto wire rack to cool completely.
9. Wrap with  plastic wrap, then foil and keep refrigerated.
10. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

I'm submitting this post to  'Baby Sumo's Christmas Recipes Collection 2013' hosted by 

Baby Sumo of  Eat Your Heart Out.

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A short holiday in Prague

I've always wanted to go to Eastern Europe for a holiday and  so took the opportunity to hop over to Prague from Aberdeen.  Prague, the capital of Czech Republic is the fourteenth largest city in the European Union having a population of just over a million and covers 500 sq km at its outer limits. We stayed in the old town of Prague at the Charles Bridge Premium Apartment which was one of  the best apartments that I've stayed so far.  We spent 3 nights in Prague and paid 515 euro for our stay in this apartment.

Oh, back to the first picture of this post ...... The Old Town Astronomical Clock which was acquired at the beginning of the15th Century, rebuilt by a master clockmaker named Hanus.  On the top of it is the Old Town Hall Tower.  On the left is the Gothic Door, main entrance to the Town Hall and Tower, carved by Matthias Rejsek.

Our first meal and taste of Czech food @ the U Dvou Sester  restaurant which was within walking distance from the apartment.  What we had ......  Pork ribs, a soup, Pork knuckle, not in the picture is a Lasagne. Cost - 1067 Czech Koruna excluding service charge.

Market selling all sorts of knick-knacks, souvenirs, fruits, etc.

If you've enjoyed this post and would like to see more of Prague, do tag along in my future posts!

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Livingston Designer Outlet in Edingburgh ~ (Wordless Wednesday)

Cute Candy Van

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Pumpkin Angku Kuih

These Pumpkin Angku Kuih were made using the same recipe as my  Pandan Angku Kuih but I substituted sweet potatoes with pumpkin.  Another minor adjustment that I made was  I used water in this recipe instead of green pandan juice.  Also, I made the mung bean filling a little bit savoury by adding in finely chopped shallots and some salt.  So these Pumpkin Angku Kuih tasted a bit sweet and salty and they were soft and chewy..... Yum!

Recipe for Pumpkin Angku Kuih

Ingredients for Pre-prepard dough

• 150 gm glutinous rice flour
• 125 ml water
Mix these two ingredients to form a dough, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Ingredients for Filling

• 150 gm split mung beans, soaked overnight
• 80 gm granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 2  Tbsp oil
• 4 small shallots, finely chopped
Method

1. Rinse, drain and rinse the mung beans, steam for about 30mins. or till soft.  While hot, blend them with about 3/4 cup of water till it forms into a paste.
2. In a non-stick pan, saute the shallots with the oil till fragrant, add in the mung bean paste and salt, fry till it leaves the sides of the pan.  Fine tune to taste.
3. Dish out and let cool.  Cover with cling wrap and keep refrigerated till ready for use.
4. Roll out into balls of  12 to15 gm for the mini kuih and 45 to 50 gm for the normal kuih.
Ingredients for Dough

• 100m ml water
• 2.1/4  tsp rice flour
• 1  Tbsp oil
• 2  tsp caster sugar
• 40 gm glutinous flour (add this sparingly, may not need the whole amount)
• 100 gm pumpkin, peeled, steamed and mashed
• Banana leaves, cut into bigger size than the moulds, grease with oil.
Method

1. Mix water with the rice flour, oil and sugar.  Mix till smooth.  Cook over low heat, stirring to make a smooth paste.  Leave to cool.
2. Add rice flour paste to the mashed pumpkin, mix and add in the 'pre-prepared dough', mix, add in the 40 gm glutinous rice flour, sparingly and knead lightly till thoroughly mixed.  Dough should be soft and moist but not sticky.
3. Weigh out dough accordingly,  12 to15 gm for the mini kuih and 45 to 50 gm for the normal size kuih.
Assembling the kuih

1. Flatten the dough, wrap with the filling, shape into a ball and press into the lightly rice flour dusted moulds.  Knock out the kuih and place onto a piece of greased banana leaf.
2. Heat up a steamer and steam the kuih on medium heat, 3 mins. for the mini  kuih and 6 mins. for the normal size kuih.
3. Remove from steamer and immediately brush the kuih with some oil.
4. Yield :  8 normal size kuih and 12 mini size kuih

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Dolphin Watching @ The Speyside Way

'Scotland is one of the best land-based dolphin watching hotspots in the world'.... and so, our way back to Aberdeen, we stopped by at the Scottish Dolphin Centre at Spey Bay on the Speyside Way, with the hope that we'll be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of dolphins.  Other than dolphins, Spey Bay is also a good place to see seals and ospreys and Scotland's wildlife. Updates were given by the Spey Bay information centre  that the dolphins were last seen at around 3 p.m. that day.   We were there at around 5 p.m. and we waited patiently  for about an hour or so before we spotted a shoal of dolphins right in the middle of the sea.

Everyone who had been waiting patiently were excited, some with binoculars, some zooming in with their cameras on tripods set up much earlier.

Look, the sky full of Ospreys, a fish-eating hawk found along the coastlines, marshes, lakes almost world wide. It was fun watching how they fly over the water hunting for prey, hovering and then plunging into the water feet first with a big splash and within seconds up they fly with their catch in their talons.

These pictures were taken by my girl with her Panasonic Lumix camera ........ she was so excited when she captured the images. I wouldn't be fast enough to do this :) Good job!

Gift Shop @ the Scottish Dolphin Centre

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Thai Green Curry

I do like Thai food but sometimes find the dishes too 'lemak' or heavy for my tummy, especially their curries.  However, Thai Green Curry has always been on my menu list whenever I patronise Thai food joints.  I cooked this curry with  Delimas Thai Green Curry Sauce and as you can see from the pictures, the curry is not 'lemak'/thick as I didn't follow fully the instructions on the packet but added more water to suit my taste buds.  Also added some palm sugar to enhance the taste.

Recipe for Thai Green Curry

Ingredients

• 400 gm chicken fillet and thigh, cut into chunks and seasoned with some seasalt
• 100 gm capsicum
• 100 gm long beans, cut into 2 inch lengths
• 150 gm egg plant, cubed
• 1 pkt Delimas Thai green curry sauce (180 gm/6 oz)
• 2 to 3 bird's eye chillies, sliced
• 1 red chilli
• 4 kaffir leaves
• 1 tsp palm or brown sugar (optional)
• 1.14 cup water
• Some fresh Thai Basil leaves to garnish
Method

1.  In a wok, heat up 1.1/2 Tbsp oil and pan-fry the seasoned chicken fillet.  Add in 1/2 cup water and simmer till the chicken is cooked through.
2. Add in the egg plant, followed by the Thai green curry paste and kaffir leaves, continue stirring.
3. Add in the long beans, capsicum, sliced chillies and water, continue stirring.  Fine tune to taste.
4. Dish out and garnish with Basil leaves.
5. Serve hot with rice.









I am submitting this post to  Asian Food Fest  (Thailand) - November Month 
hosted by  Lena of  Frozen Wings

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