This Christmas holidays we decided to travel around Cyprus. Basically, on 30th of December we drove to Limassol to see an exhibition "Landscapes [of] People". It was amazing. Especially, I was inspired by Melanie Christou's collages, as I do collage art work too. Just look at these beautiful creations! Aren't they perfect? The whole idea and composition are amazing. Especially love the "sushi girl".
"Sushi girl"
After that we headed to Kakopetria, a small village in the mountains. There we celebrated New Year in the hotel's restaurant. The dinner was good and was served fabulously, but was not as delicious as we had hoped.
On the first of january we headed to Nicosia. We hoped it would be as noisy as in Moscow during new year holidays but it all turned out to be the exact opposite. On the first day of 2015 there was no life in the city. We could understand it as we entered the hotel. Literally, we were the only guests. (As the result they did not serve hot breakfast, if you did not ask them, and did not update the amount of yogurt/bread/vegetables and fruit). It was really lonely at the breakfast. When we came, we immediately went out to explore the city and find somewhere to eat. As usually I came ready with a list of good cafes, restaurants and shops, because I am a picky eater and won't eat a burger at McDonalds under any conditions by any circumstances. I try to eat healthy, but that is not so important when you are on holidays. I need my tastebuds to be struck by amazing flavour, unexpected combination and exquisite, dainty dish. When we came to one of the cafes I was planning to visit, there was no way it could be opened. So hungry and tired we came up with the idea of going to Starbucks. To be honest, I LOVE Starbucks. Mainstream, hipsters and so on... But nothing to do with mainstream when it comes to the perfection of gingerbread latte... frappuccinos... And their cheesecakes! Okay, so for lunch on a New Year's day I ate a cheesecake. Yes, that raspberry cheesecake. What can I say? No regrets. There is nothing better than a cheesecake. Well, except oatmeal (my favourite grain tends to be oat) and fruit (I can not live without my daily intake of fiber from fruit. Fun fact: I eat fruit at least 3 times a day). The following evening was spent in the hotel room with some take-away salad and fruit (What a surprise!) I brought from home.
So here we come to the part where I talk about deliciousness we tried on the next day. Lunch was in that cafe, which we had already tried to visit, but had dramatically failed. It was a health cafe, opened for breakfast and lunch. So we ate a carrot ginger soup followed by a salad. Mine was designed by myself and consisted of mixed lettuce leaves, mango, avocado, chicken, cherry tomatoes and sweet lemon vinaigrette. It really inspired me to make something as delicious. And for the dinner we went to the fancy expensive restaurant, we even had to make a reservation! So I had prawns with bergamot orange sauce as a starter and salmon is miso-comandaria glaze for the main. When we came back home I definitely wanted prawns. And wanted the simple, but with a citrusy-sweet sauce. This is how I came up with this idea. Kumquat sauce! (I found and adapted it from here a.k.a. kumquat chutney) The reason why I thought about Kumquats is that I really love their taste and it happens that we have it growing in our garden! They always come in handy during winter season! The result was delicious. (I liked it served with quinoa)
Kakopetria
On the first of january we headed to Nicosia. We hoped it would be as noisy as in Moscow during new year holidays but it all turned out to be the exact opposite. On the first day of 2015 there was no life in the city. We could understand it as we entered the hotel. Literally, we were the only guests. (As the result they did not serve hot breakfast, if you did not ask them, and did not update the amount of yogurt/bread/vegetables and fruit). It was really lonely at the breakfast. When we came, we immediately went out to explore the city and find somewhere to eat. As usually I came ready with a list of good cafes, restaurants and shops, because I am a picky eater and won't eat a burger at McDonalds under any conditions by any circumstances. I try to eat healthy, but that is not so important when you are on holidays. I need my tastebuds to be struck by amazing flavour, unexpected combination and exquisite, dainty dish. When we came to one of the cafes I was planning to visit, there was no way it could be opened. So hungry and tired we came up with the idea of going to Starbucks. To be honest, I LOVE Starbucks. Mainstream, hipsters and so on... But nothing to do with mainstream when it comes to the perfection of gingerbread latte... frappuccinos... And their cheesecakes! Okay, so for lunch on a New Year's day I ate a cheesecake. Yes, that raspberry cheesecake. What can I say? No regrets. There is nothing better than a cheesecake. Well, except oatmeal (my favourite grain tends to be oat) and fruit (I can not live without my daily intake of fiber from fruit. Fun fact: I eat fruit at least 3 times a day). The following evening was spent in the hotel room with some take-away salad and fruit (What a surprise!) I brought from home.
Starbucks that day
So here we come to the part where I talk about deliciousness we tried on the next day. Lunch was in that cafe, which we had already tried to visit, but had dramatically failed. It was a health cafe, opened for breakfast and lunch. So we ate a carrot ginger soup followed by a salad. Mine was designed by myself and consisted of mixed lettuce leaves, mango, avocado, chicken, cherry tomatoes and sweet lemon vinaigrette. It really inspired me to make something as delicious. And for the dinner we went to the fancy expensive restaurant, we even had to make a reservation! So I had prawns with bergamot orange sauce as a starter and salmon is miso-comandaria glaze for the main. When we came back home I definitely wanted prawns. And wanted the simple, but with a citrusy-sweet sauce. This is how I came up with this idea. Kumquat sauce! (I found and adapted it from here a.k.a. kumquat chutney) The reason why I thought about Kumquats is that I really love their taste and it happens that we have it growing in our garden! They always come in handy during winter season! The result was delicious. (I liked it served with quinoa)
Kumquat sauce
Ingredients:
- 250g kumquats
- 1/4 white onion (red goes well too)
- 5cm ginger root (or 1tbsp dried ginger)
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar (or any other sweetener)
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
Directions:
- Dice kumquat into circles, ginger, onion and garlic. Place all the ingredients in the pot. Boil and cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes. After boiling put on a lid, then in the middle of cooking (~8-10 min) take it off and continue cooking without it, stIrving sometimes.
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