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A tart , fantastic tasting jam  My friends Jacqueline and Heinz have a beautiful sour cherry tree. These cherries live up to the word “sour”—or let's say tart. They make your mouth pucker. But they are absolutely delicious, very delicate with a soft skin and texture. This is not any commercial variety.  I am supposed to be getting ready for my 5-week long trip to Germany, with a hundred things to do before we leave—but I just had to have some of these cherries. I picked about three pounds. I ate a lot and made about 4 pint-sized jars of jam and a cherry clafoutis. The jam is to die for— it’s tart and carries the essence of these gorgeous cherries. I like to eat it mixed with yogurt, on a piece of toast, or in my cherry chocolate tart. The icky part of making this jam is pitting the cherries. My husband volunteered for this very messy job, bless his heart. It took him 30 minutes to pit those little buggers with a cherry pitter, although he did watch the baseball game with one eye while pitting. You have to wear an apron and short sleeves. Our cutting board now has cute little red spots.  I wasn't going to blog this, but I changed my mind. I'm starting to like taking photos, plus I have this cute hand-painted cherry platter made by a local artist Beth Grippenstraw in Santa Cruz, California. Check out her work; it is fun and very unusual. I used David Leibovitz's recipe for the jam; he calls it no recipe jam.  You can use any variety of cherries for this jam. Wash the cherries thoroughly and drain them in a colander. Pit the cherries, and if they are big and the skin is tough, cut them into smaller pieces. I left mine whole since they were small enough, had soft skin, and were very juicy.
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I took another trip to Germany to see my mom, but before I went to my village, my husband and I had some fun. We have our favorite places and went to some of them on this trip. Our flight was exciting because Neil Young and his entourage were on the plane. Once we landed in Frankfurt and rented a car, we were on our way south to our destination in Grindelwald, Switzerland. We gave ourselves a couple of days to get there, so we had no reservation the first night. But we had some addresses for our navigation system. Usually, there are too many variables for the first day (the plane is delayed, we are too tired to drive, traffic jams on the Autobahn). But this time, we were lucky, with no delays, and my man was willing to do the driving. We ended up in a Best Western hotel disguised as a health spa in the middle of the Black Forest. We enjoyed a nice dinner on the terrace with a nice quiet room. After a good breakfast the next morning, we were on the road again. We had made a reservation in an Austrian hotel with an amazing spa and view, where we had stayed before. There is a fantastic heated indoor swimming pool with jets to massage your jet-lagged body. It also has a great sauna and steam room. The following day, we reached our destination in Grindelwald, Switzerland. We love this place in the Bernese Alps with a spectacular mountain range that makes it one of the most impressive alpine landscapes in Europe. The Jungfrau and the Eiger North Wall are the most well-known mountains. We have stayed at the Kirchbühl apartments several times. The Kirchbühl is a family-run hotel with apartments and houses to rent. I love this place. The location is great, above the village and away from all the hassle and noise. The hotel has two restaurants that are quite good and offer a wonderful breakfast with chewy whole wheat bread, great croissants, and the best Bicher Müsli. We always make sure that breakfast is included in the price of the apartment. A dinner option is available that you can choose daily. They also surprise you with free afternoon tea or happy hour another day in their cozy hotel lobby. Frau Brawand, the owner, and the rest of the staff will make sure that you are well taken care of. In good Swiss style, the washer/dryer and wifi work great. And let's not forget the stunning views! Friends in the States thought I showed them a painting on Skype.  The view from our apartment at the Kirschbühl as the sun is setting on the mountains. You come to Grindelwald to hike. My favorite hike is from Kleine Männlichen to the Kleine Scheidegg. This hike is easy with children. The views are stunning and will take your breath away. Take the tram to the Kleine Männlichen, an experience in itself , and then hike to the Kleine Scheidegg, where you can take the train down to Grindelwald or hike part of the way. The train has several stops. Many tourists take the Jungfrau-Bahn to the top of the Jungfrau. I have done it twice and it is beautiful and expensive. Don't go up unless it is a clear day. Originally, we had planned to do some additional hiking in the Val de Herens, but there was nothing but rain in the forecast, so hiking was out. Instead, we decided to head for France, to the Burgundy, to be precise. Here we are, visiting some old haunts and doing some serious eating. Our five-hour drive took us through some scary mountain passes, and our navigation system (we call her Missy) rerouted us over some very narrow roads because of the Tour de France. Mind you, it was drizzling rain and foggy part of the way. We made it, and my sweetheart is taking a well-deserved nap before dinner. Foie gras... here we come. The first night, we stayed near Chagny at the Hostellerie du Chateau de Bellecroix, a place where the 15th century knights of Malta rested on the way to the Crusades. This old chateau has rooms in different buildings and beautiful grounds. We’ve stayed here before, and I have to say it hasn't changed much. We had a circular tower room on the third floor of the main building. The room was small but fun for one night. The surroundings are stunning—an old-fashioned French hotel in the countryside. Our dinner was excellent; the foie gras was served with some fig jam and toast. The smoked salmon broiled on top of rich scalloped leek potatoes was also good. The creme brûlée made an excellent dessert. We enjoyed our meal and our evening stroll around the castle. Nearby, in Chagny, is the Lamiloise, a three-star Michelin restaurant.  Chateau De Bellecroix For me, Burgundy is the mecca of fantastic food where you want to eat everything. I love coming here and trying out new restaurants, charcuteries, and patisseries. But oh, my poor stomach and body tell me that enough is enough! This is a marathon of eating (the secret is in pacing yourself). In other words, don't overdo it the first night. I did, and now I'm paying the price. Alka Seltzer and peppermint tea to the rescue. On the second day, we continued our trip through Burgundy via Puligny Montrachet, a small village with Chardonnay grapes. We had some good wine, but the food was mediocre. But we visited Beaune for a couple of hours. This is a medieval town I fell in love with many moons ago. It is a very touristy but charming town. We toured the hopitâl de Beaune, an old hospital for the poor from the 14th century. It is very interesting and worth of a visit. As I was looking for a cappuccino and something sweet, I ran into a great patîsserie called Tavenet on 14 Place Carnot. My man loved tarte aux noix et caramel (caramel walnut tart), while I enjoyed a piece of apricot tart and took with me some macaroons and a gougere, a cheesy puff pastry served with wine. It was superb. 
Two Great Days in Alsace-Lorraine The drive from the Burgundy to Alsace-Lorraine was easy on a quiet Sunday morning. We arrived in Riquewihr at our the Hotel le Schoenenbourg, a Best Western with air conditioning, a definite plus after last night’s hot room in a charming hotel with a small room above the kitchen where the mosquitos kept us awake. We had made the reservation a couple of days ago, and this hotel still had some availability. It was the Bastille Day weekend, and most hotels in the region were sold out. I liked our new hotel because it is within walking distance of one of the quaint medieval villages filled with Hänsel and Gretel houses, cellars bursting with wines of the regions, with festivals beautiful to look at and photograph. Riquewihr is a fairy tale setting. All three villages have some nice stores with pottery, sweets, and embroidered fabric. It's a little kitschy but cute. I have brought back some nice things over the years. For sweets, I like their pistachio-filled candy. We were able to watch the fireworks for Bastille Day from our hotel, and before that, we watched the World Cup soccer final (where Germany won) and had a fabulous dinner sitting in a courtyard at Restaurant Winstub Au Tire-Bouchon. My husband had the pork knuckle with sauerkraut and potatoes, with regional mustard. It was the best pork knuckle I ever had, soft and tender. The sauerkraut was great too, with nothing added and perfect with the pork. I ordered the duck breast, and I got a huge one (the biggest I have ever seen) cooked medium rare with all the fat rendered from the skin. The sauce had pieces of orange in it and was served in a small glass. The dish came with a beet mash and a large serving of cheesy scalloped potatoes—very different from the ones I had a couple of days ago at the Bellocroix. This was a perfect meal in a perfect setting, especially when the French accordion player serenaded us with some familiar songs, and we started to sing along. It started to rain just as we finished dinner, so we went back to our hotel to watch the final soccer match and fireworks for Bastille Day from our window. Life is good.  Riquewihr
On the last day in Alsace, we had lunch at the L'Auberge DE I'LL in Illhausen. I decided to post this culinary highlight of our trip in a separate post. From Riquewihr, we drove to Assmanshausen, a village located on the Rhine River, an idyllic location lined with castles—remote and comfortable with outstanding wine and food. Assmanshausen is 10 km north of Rüdesheim. Instead of the tourist frenzy of Rüdesheim, enjoy the contemplative serenity of the northward flowing Rhine. From here, you can take river cruises, vineyard walks, and funicular rides above the hills. You can combine the three of them, see Bingen, go by the Lorelei and visit Rüdesheim. At night, you come back to the peaceful setting of the river and surrender yourself to the good wine and good food and watch the tourist boats (river cruises) go by. We always stay at the Hotel Schön and take a room with a balcony on the river, sip a glass of Riesling, and enjoy the setting. The hotel has a wisteria-covered veranda where you can enjoy a drink, a coffee, or dinner and watch the sun set behind the hills. We enjoyed our delicious dinner on the patio and celebrated our last day before my husband went home, and I continued my journey to visit my mom.
A heavenly recipe for duck lovers     Tucked away on a hillside, this unique restaurant with its gorgeous setting and lush tropical landscaping has been a Capitola icon for decades. A funicular railway transports you into a different world. The restaurant itself is a mishmash of rooms on different levels with a grand entrance to a stunning bar with an indoor waterfall. There are rooms with high and low ceilings, connected by staircases. Some rooms have fireplaces, some rooms have great views and one has a redwood tree growing next to a table. Just the setting alone is worth it, but the food is delicious. Their signature dish is the miso salmon.  But let's return to my quesadillas. They are a real treat—a delightful mixture of flavors. I used gruyere cheese for years, but lately I've substituted goat cheese or feta cheese. The addition of different salsas and chipotle sauce supplement the quesadillas beautifully, adding richness and flavor.  These quesadillas are a real treat for your taste buds. The flavors explode in your mouth. I like to use Mi Rancho soft flour tortillas but you can any tortilla you like. I have used whole wheat sprouted tortillas. The same goes for the cheese, it is a matter of taste. I love the soft goat cheese, my hubby likes feta better, as is the amount of cheese. Which salsa you use is entirely up to you. For store-bought, I like the corn salsa from Trader's Joe's. I have always made my mango avocado salsa with this dish. The zucchini salsa adds a refreshing and crunchy layer to the dish. This is not as complicated as it looks, everything should be ready to go once you are ready to assemble the tortillas to cook them. These quesadillas are very filling but you can't stop eating them, and they are great the next day. One tortilla per person is plenty.
 The zucchini salsa
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WELCOME TO SUNNY COVE CHEFThank you for visiting my blog. My two passions are cooking and traveling. Traveling exposes me to a wide variety of food and experiences. I walk around cities looking for markets, restaurants, bakeries, shops, you name it, and if it is related to food you will find me there, tasting, smelling, talking to vendors, and having a great time. Categories
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