Whole food and ideas

Whole foods. An amazing shop here in the States. Just everything one likes to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Their mutual goals and spirits are much about organic ingredients, health, environment, wealth through profit and the joy of taste. All lines off products from sweet to savory are beautiful. The explicit way of taking care and being conscious about those who deal with food allergies is honest and clear. I like the way they propose plates and platters, salads and fruits fresh chopped and delicious dressings enriched with the finest herbs. Berries big as plums. Groceries from less destinations and more from the own continent and the nearest countries like Mexico and Canada. Together with our friends we dream about Rabat and waking up in a shop like this whole food shop. A dream for the moment, I suppose. Anyway it is a delight for the tongue to have all those different dips and cheeses with fresh baked hole grain crackers and fresh watermelon and all kind of berries. Solange celebrates the silver of the Dutch and Belle smiles while thinking of the reporter mentioning the Dutch Delight. So with our thoughts and our very own secret garden we enjoy our friends and share a healthy organic taste in this country where we are impressed, in a hilarious way, by the never ending range and variety of food shops and restaurants and by this consuming paradise. In the meantime we visit all kinds of smaller bakeries and places to eat. Eclectic decorated tiny spots and home made cakes like granny used to do and French bistros. Here it seems that there is a place for everything. Streaming. Ideas. America.

Apples

Apples. Big and small. We saw the apple country in the lands of 10000 lakes. We enjoy now the Big Apple. Dutch masters on the menu before yesterday and a sweet orange feeling goes along with us on this particular trip admiring good old New Amsterdam.
Today is the big game and therefor we will take the train and travel to New Jersey.
Spending time with an American Moroccan family we shared a nice meal in a Moroccan restaurant yesterday evening. The people who run this place in one of those villages of the citie, are in business since more than twenty yars. the food has an exquisite balance and tatse. My platter with four salads was just a tinkeling of the tongue. Tomatoas and cucumbers with coriander, taboule with fresh chopped mint and parsley, humus and eggplant pressed dip served with soft round white bread.

Food and Sweet thoughts

I get to understand kind of better the food rules from Michael Pollan. I do see the importance of his food manifest. His crying out for change on the food plan. Michelle's Obama is busy in her fight against the nation obese obsession. This all sound so logical after only a week in this nation. Just three states in the mid west make me believe that a change is definitely necessary in this part of the world when we face food chains along the roads and food exits on the high way.
What is for breakfast?
What's for lunch?
And what should we have for dinner?
An average treat in a fancy bakery is loaded with sugar and although the woman who is in charge makes really nice pieces, it all taste kind of too sweet and too much like the muffins I tasted in one of nation's larger food chains. A challenge for all of those who stepped in local chains and markets. You can have it all in the supermarket, the better selected ones do have bio fruits and vegetables. But there is still a price to pay. We had a nice dinner yesterday evening while we came back from the lake superior. There was time and a moment at the table for talks and a good glass of wine. Pasta, hole grains and olive oil, a mixed salad with small tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and just a sprinkle of oil and some lemon juice. Fresh parmesan cheese. Every time this works out the best, the basic dish, he fresh ingredients and I see the sunshine on the plate and on the faces of my girls. Their skin is softer after fruits and and tasty ingredients. Food rules seem so reliable.

In touch with the Dutch

What we would like to prepare these days are Dutch favorites like crepes with syrup and Orange Cookies or vanilla cake with a orange topping or butter frosting. A orange filled with wild rice, chicken and the fresh orange fruit. We can't because we are in the middle of our trip in the States and just coming back from a National Holiday Celebrating on Marylin Island. Arriving at the Island, I still saw everything very Orange, since the Netherlands won the soccer game against Bresil.
While heading the Apostles Islands we changed colors. American national colors for the very special 4th of July. Seeing my girls joining audience watching the parade and wearing red t-shirts with the America flag, colors got mixed up and the world looked completely global and differences between nations melted away. These kids walk around like global citizens and feel free to express their mood through a variety of national flags. Freedom!
May be we will enjoy some Dutch food in New York later this week, as we will rediscover some parts of the big apple. I am sure we will get back in touch with the Dutch.

Food rules & thoughts

Keeping up with the allergy diary. Solange does fine now a days. This is certainly connected to the kind of trees we have here around us. It is about oak and maple trees. Her skin comes out nicely again and no swollen face any more for my allergy girl. Food wise we live the American menu. Don't know exactly what that is but I learn a lot here and think about the food rules from Michael Pollan.
In the meantime I have seen the most exquisite kitchen shops and wonder who are those Americans cooking in the French style. It isn't for sure all about Julia Child what we see here.
Bon Appetit!

Summer peaches

Roses

Fresh bakeries

America.
Oh great America. There you are. It has been some time. But we came again. We set foot here on this land. We heard the song yesterday evening. This is my land...apparently a quiet socialistic song, at least that's what my friend here tells me. A song the conservative appreciate less. Belle uses the words of the make off at you tube about the election campaign with Bush and Kerry. We listen to the performance of the elder Americans at the lake side, one of the lakes around Minnaepolis. The sky line at the the other side, sky high constructions. I notice the contrast with this side of the lake: long lanes, green gardens, big mansions and citizens running, biking and skating. This must be a part of the country where people do strongly care about health and their bodies. Michelle would be happy to catch this picture.
Coming home at our friends house we have a mexican dinner. Tortillas, beans, salad, tomatoes, cheese, avocados and plain yoghurt. We grill the tortillas and cut them up in pieces,  this is about vacation. Solange is hungry. Ice cream earlier in the afternoon wasn't a true option for her. No separate spoons for each flavor. So I bought her a nice cinnamon bread at a small bakery. She had some bites but wasn't sure she felt so great. I finished her piece, the taste was really good and pure. Not to sugary. I try to get an idea of the different bakeries in the area. Who knows I'll can think about a small shop at this side of the ocean. Never out of ideas. Simply fun to taste the bread here. The variety though is kind of limited. Most people seem to be quiet OK with the bread at the supermarket. Less expensive, that's for sure. And there is the factor of time. Most Americans are running out of time.