Europe pig-out 1: lunch & dinner at Tegernsee

Creamy mushroom soup with finely-julienned saffron

After a 13-hour flight into Munich and another 90-minute drive into the countryside, we walked into a chic restaurant near our farm house. Although there was a fireplace to warm us, I needed something to warm me from the inside. I have in fact ordered soup in every restaurant we walked into! But this one was a tad unusual. I love the julienned saffron strips that make the soup stand out from the others. 

Just another pasta but why is it the restaurants always make them look better than what I can do at home?

Wood-oven pizza with local cured ham 

The cranberry pie looked rustic and inviting and we helped ourselves to it. It took a mere 25 seconds to wipe this out!

This is the farmhouse we stayed in Tegernsee, 90-minute drive from Munich city. Tegernsee is better known to local tourists than foreigners but thanks to our dear friends in Munich, we got connected to Jutta who owns this villa. At Euros 330 for 7 nights for our family of 5, this was a definite steal. It comes with a homely kitchen which we used extensively to make dinner every night. Eating out was always nice but we also preferred our own home-made dinners that cost a fraction and suited our own taste.

We stopped to get some pasta and chicken at the local supermarket. Jutta already had the basic cooking ingredients ready for us to use.

It was easy for me - I can bake this chicken confidently now, thanks to Jamie Oliver's recipe for extra virgin chefs! I could not do this 12 months ago! I added some quick stir-fries with minced garlic and we got our first dinner at home in sub-zero Tegernsee.

The kids got into a roster of dishwashing thereafter for the next 18 days. I am beginning to like this holiday!

Please click here to see Europe pig-out 2