When in Holland Pt. II

Stop 4: Zoetemeer

An Indonesian family dinner. Salad with peanut sauce. Fried shrimp chips. Savory and saucy beef and chicken. All on a bed of rice. Fantastic! This meal really hit the spot.

When in Holland

Stop 3: Amsterdam

There is nothing like a Dutch pancake. This one had bacon and tomatoes in it. You top it with a brown sugar syrup. Mmmm....Plus, I had it with a cappucino. Can I say it was the most satisfying meal ever?

When in Brussels Part II

Oh, the waffles. Life the ones Walter used to make. This one also came with pistacio gelato. OMG.

Next time I'm getting it topped with strawberries and cream.

When in Brussels

Stop 2. Brussels

Oh, the mussels in Brussels. The chocolates are pretty good too.

When in London

Just got back from 2 weeks in Europe. There were definitely some good eats.

Stop 1: London

Here is our English brunch dotted with some brown sauce -- gotta have the brown sauce. Topped it off with an Irish cider. The beans are my fave.

It Didn't Suck

After quite a long hiatus from the movies (busy + traveling), we got back to doing what we do best and saw Inglorious Basterds this past weekend. I had heard a lot of good things about it (even Ann Curry liked it), so I was curious yet skeptical. I had sworn off of Quentin Tarantino movies forever after his last debacle, the one before that, and the whole unfortunate Kill Bill series.

But this movie didn't suck. In fact, it was quite good. There were still those signature ultra-violent moments. But they did not seem super gratuitous. Plus, it was impeccably cast. I quite enjoyed it, even if it was a war movie. And, most of it was subtitled with actors actually speaking the language which the characters would actually speak. Love that! And there was humor. The characters were smart and interesting. So, Tarantino is redeemed -- for now.

Ponyo

Took the kids to see Ponyo, the new Miyazaki film. Think an eastern take on the Little Mermaid. Everyone gave it a thumbs up - which is pretty good for the 6, 9, and 12-year old. It's hard to find a movie that they all agree on these days. Oh, yes. I liked it too.