When: May 31, 2006
What: oven baked chicken, with potatoes, cauliflower, spring onions, paprika and paksoi
Wine: 2004, rose, Goedgevonden, South Africa (oke-ish)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: back at work and after a follow-up meeting with our newly found financial advisor we had, as usual when Lynda prepares it, the most lovely chicken in the world!

When: May 30, 2006
What: Lamb Karma, vegetable Tandoori and Naan
Wine: 2004, Cabernet Chardonay, Goedgevonden, South Africa (not great)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: all three of us reunited again! Lynda made soup for herself and Olivier, but I felt like Indian (and like a short walk thru my own neighbourhood after a week in the country-side).

When: May 29, 2006
What: chicken, rice, spinach and tomatoe-salad
Wine: 2003, Chardonnay, Jacob's Creek, Australia
Where: Haga, Sweden
With whom: Hilda, Daniel, Olivier
Whatelse: preceded by a green soup, very much enjoyed by Olivier

When: May 28, 2006
What: big mac and a hamburger
Wine: none
Where: McDonalds, Halmstad, Sweden
With whom: myself
Whatelse: yes, it happened, I did have "dinner" at McDonalds. But not only that, I firstb watched Mission Impossible 3 in the local cinema!

When: May 27, 2006
What: lasagna and tomatoe-salad
Wine: 2003, Shiraz, Jacob's Creek, Australia
Where: Haga, Sweden
With whom: Hilda, Daniel, Olivier
Whatelse: as usual, Hilda makes a lovely lasagna and Olvier ate a plateful (though the tomatioes were, as usual, not appreciated). I had a very rewarding day of shopping in Halmstad!

When: May 26, 2006
What: salmon
Wine: 2003, Chardonnay, Jacob's Creek, Australia
Where: Haga, Sweden
With whom: Hilda, Daniel, Olivier
Whatelse: a lovely baked salmon

When: May 25, 2006
What: pasta Bolognaise
Wine: 2003, Shiraz, Jacob's Creek, Australia
Where: Haga, Sweden
With whom: Hilda, Daniel, Olivier
Whatelse: we arrived, as planned, around five o'clock in the afternoon at my parents place in Sweden. During the day we visited the best modern art museum in Europe (well, at least one of the best): Louisiana, where Olivier in particular enjoyed the video-art. And, because I forgot Olivier's bike, we had to drive back to the farm, before we could finally make our way to the ferry.

When: May 24, 2006
What: pizza with gorgonzola and prosciutto
Wine: none
Where: an excellent farm just outside Helsinge, Denmark
With whom: Olivier
Whatelse: just the two of us, on holiday, on our way to my parents in Sweden and after enjoying Tivoli in Copenhagen, where we rode the meery-go-round, the ferris-wheel, the planes, the cars, the racing cars, the Andersen ferry-tale ride and the kidsrollercoaster. We enjoyed it a lot! Getting dinner was a bit more complicated. Helsinge, a small town north of Copernhagen, really only has one restaurant and when we arrived it seemed as if all inhabitants of the village had decided to go out for dinner on this one specific evening: no free table in view (excep the one intended for those waiting for their take-away and Olivier thought it utterly weird that we were not allowed toe at at that table, and I sort of agree). So we had to bring pizza (for me) and lasagna (for Olivier) home in our little rented Punto. Home was an appratment in a farm just outside town and not the booked little cabin. It was still very god and Olivier never ceases to amaze me with his ease of sleeping in, to him, foreign locations.

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When: May 23, 2006
What: don't remember
Wine: no idea
Where: not a clue
With whom: search me
Whatelse: you guess

When: May 22, 2006
What: Wiener schnitzel and French fries
Wine: none (just a beer)
Where: Vienna airport, Vienna, Austria
With whom: Angela
Whatelse: after a fruitful discussion at our Austrian offices and on my way to our Swiss offices we enjoyed a traditional and slightly greasy dinner at the airport

When: May 21, 2006
What: homemade (by myself) meatballs with leek and French fries
Wine: our regular Australian Chardonnay friend
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Olivier
Whatelse: for the first time since ages I maade meatballs and Olivier actually liked them, even on top of the pancakes we ate at the airport for lunch.

When: May 20, 2006
What: rib-eye with French fries and salad
Wine: Bourgogne, Domaine Geantet Pansiot (lovely!)
Where: cafe restaurant Amsterdam, Amsterdam
With whom: Olivier
Whatelse: our regular outing to Olivier's favourite restaurant, after an exciting day at a childrens paradise playland in Zaandam, where Olivier climbed and ran until he was truely exhausted.

When: May 19, 2006
What: asparagus with ham, eggs and potatoe
Wine: our regular Australian Chardonnay friend
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Olivier
Whatelse: Lynda went sailing with amongst others Jette, Bernard, Karen and Jean-Noel (though sailing maybe is a bit of a wrong term for being stuck in a harbour most of the time due to horrid weather circumstances), whilst I enjoyed the ultimate springdinner. Olivier would have none of it: he stuck to pasta!

When: May 17, 2006
What: beer
Wine: none
Where: Stade de Paris, Paris
With whom: Marco, Stephane, Thierry and 80000 other football fans
Whatelse: the Champions league final was terrific and Barcelona won (sadly, Bergkamp did not play, but Larsson did and very affective at that). In all fairness, the beer was indeed at dinner time, but I enjoyed a very rich and pleasant lunch at Maison Blache prior to the match and a very late supper consisting of 9 assorted oysters and St. Jacques salad after, accompanied by a wonderful 2003 Pouilly Fuisse from Georges Burrier, whilst meeting and talking to Rock, Marco, Stephane, the MD of the Barcelona Olympics, his brother and their Catelan friends, who all were very passionate about sports.

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When: May 16, 2006
What: AH pizza with added bluecheese-tastytom-onoin topping
Wine: our regular Australian Chardonnay friend
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Lynda
Whatelse: Olivier was ill and I was sickened by the disgusting behaviour of Rita Verdonk and her treatment of Ayaan, for selfcentered, leadership election purposes only, and I was glad to note that almost all parliamentarians agree with me. It did give us very memorable television, of which Lynda and I watched a large part together with Jos.

When: May 15, 2006
What: delicious meatballs, splendid spinach and potatoes balls with mayo
Wine: 2004, Pinot Gris, cave de Beblenheim, Alsace, France (wonderful)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: Olivier was very dilligent in serving out the food, though his love for spinach has completely disappeared.

When: May 14, 2006
What: assorted meats and cheeses, eggs from the farm
Wine: 2005, Domaine de l'Amaurigue, Cotes de Provence, Le Luc en Provence, France (one of the best value-for-money roses)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Lynda
Whatelse: after a wonderful night (Olivier slept in his own tent and actually, on his own, in the middle of the night and in the dark, zipped open his tent to go outside to relieve himself after which he went back inside and got slightly frustrated for not being able to close the tent - amazing!!) and another woderful day at the farm (Olivier and I saw a kitten being born, we fed the chickens, chased the cows, baked the eggs, fished the fish and loved the weather and the location), we drove home and got there in only 20 minutes.

When: May 13, 2006
What: tournedos with mushrooms, leeks, stew-pear, potatoe cookies and garnituur
Wine: unknown by the glass and not wonderful
Where: cafe restaurant De Vriendschap, Driehuizen
With whom: my family
Whatelse: the frst day of the first camping weekend of Olivier's life started brilliantly and luckily the weather guys got it all wrong. After throwing out the tents, rowing the boat, chasing the cows, garen the eggs, we had dinner at the village restaurant (and actually the only building in the village open to the general public), topped of by Olivier's first Raket, the photos of which look like the best ad-campaign you can think of. I might actually send Unilever (or whoever owns the icecream brand) some and we might get a year's worth of free Raketten.

When: May 12, 2006
What: rib-eye from Lindenhoff, with rice, a green salad and a caprese
Wine: 2004, chardonnay, Penfold's, Australia (our old favourite day2day)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: the day before the first camping trip and it may rain tomorrow, after five days of sheer summer spent in the office or the car!! Still looking forward to the trip.

When: May 11, 2006
What: baked cod with tomatoes, mashed potatoes with olives/chives
Wine: 1982, chateaux Carbonnieux, grand cru de Graves, France (just over its top, but very grand)
Where: at Stephane's, Amsterdam
With whom: Adelaide, Angela, Lynda, Stephane
Whatelse: a lovely dinner, kicked of with champagne on the roofterras (accomopanied by some tasty snacks and two lovely, but non-enthousiastic bedgoing, little girls) and as seconds a grand avocado salad (with which we enjoyed a 2000 Chateau Brown, which was lovely) and a selection of cheeses, all of which was topped of by strawberries, vanilla ice-cream and a very nice chocolate cake.

When: May 10, 2006
What: salmon, French fries and lobster salad
Wine: 2003, Coteaux du Lyonnais, Regis Descotes, Millery, France (ok)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: Lynda baked some wonderful salmon from our favourite fish store and accompanied that with a very, very tasty salad

When: May 9, 2006
What: the most delicious home-made veg soup, with lavas
Wine: 2002, shiraz, bin61, Leasingham, Clare Valley, Australia (lovely and impactful)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Lynda
Whatelse: Oliver had eaten his huge bowl of soup before I got home and this after he told Lynda, whilst watching her preparing the treat, "take all vegetables out, because I don't like them" (which would have left him with an undoubtful lovely chicken broth)! After dinner I had a lovely time w Andreas in Pacific and I continue to ponder the idea of moving way-wat out.

When: May 8, 2006
What: a lovely mozzarella, tomato, green salad
Wine: 2005, colombard chardonnay, Cawarra, Lindemans, Australia (slobber, pleasant)
Where: rhome, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: Olivier had eaten before, but I was at home in time to put him to bed, reading Patriks Snabbverkstad

When: May 7, 2006
What: lambstew, fishball, krimean fishstew, courgette, frog-pea salad, saffron/cinamon rice
Wine: a lovely white Rioja
Where: restaurant De Vrije Vork, Amsterdam
With whom: Lynda, Olivier, Hilda, Daniel
Whatelse: my birthday brought me a beautiful morning song by Olivier and Lynda, wonderful gifts (Paul Smith shirt and socks, the Taschen reprint of Bleau's 17th century Atlas, books on Food in Painting and Gandhi and stories by Borges), trying to set up the new tent (which will from very soon be our former tent) in the Westerpark (it was indeed a beautiful day), baking a chocolate cake with Olivier (it turned out really well), Arthur dropping by with 16-20 cuisses and a shell swan, good conversations and lovely time with my parents, topped of with a lovely dinner. Whilst writing this I am enjoying the last episode of "Reiziger met Muziek", a music program normally presented by Han Reiziger, who died today and now being interviewed by Cherry Duys.

When: May 6, 2006
What: grilled chicken with mais
Wine: 2004, Sancerre (rose), Moulin des Vrilleres, Sury-en-Vaux, France
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: the bbq was bought last week, the chicken this morning and the wine this afternoon (at De Lindenhoff in Baambrugge, where, if it is up to Lynda, we should move, and where we had a lovelyy afternoon after a fantastic brunch at Fiona/Marc and before we went to Decathlon to buy a tent), but the advice from the bbq-sales woman led to a lot of smoke and the reversion of the chicken (luckily very dead now) to the regular over. But it was wonderful (wte of the destroyed dishwasher).

When: May 5, 2006
What: home-topped up pizza and a delicious shrimp salad
Wine: an over the top Reuilly (need to swap)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse:

When: May 4, 2006
What: homemade shoarma
Wine: none
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Lynda
Whatelse: tv-viewing time

When: May 3, 2006
What: sushi from Yo-Sushi
Wine: see above (great)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: myself
Whatelse: I pointed my camera in the wrong direction, but the food was grand. Lynda is out for dinner w Francoise, Olivier went to bed early after a day at "de kemping" with Joris and family, which was so fantastic that we may acquiring one of those stuck mobiles, with pleasure

When: May 2, 2006
What: bread with camembert, pasta salad, cookie and a chocolate bar
Wine: vin de table de France Blanc, Kressmann, Gironde, France (poor)
Where: LOT airlines from Warsaw to Amsterdam
With whom: myself
Whatelse: what can I say, at least the pasta salad was a different one

When: May 1, 2006
What: bread with camembert, pasta salad, cookie and a chocolate bar
Wine: none
Where: LOT airlines from Amsterdam to Warsaw
With whom: myself
Whatelse: what can I say

When: April 30, 2006
What: salmon, tuna, spinach and rice
Wine: 2004, semillion-chardonnay, Lindemans, Australia
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: two great fish steaks adn well deserved after a semi-hellish visit to a garden center (where did we get that idea from), which did end up with a new barbecue and some very interesting plants

When: April 29, 2006
What: shoarma
Wine: 2004, semillion chardonnay, Lindemans, Australia (nice, but a full Lindemans chard is preferred)
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Lynda
Whatelse: when we enjoyed our shoarma, on plates we bought today (queensday), Olivier was deep asleep, after a long day without midday nap but ful with impressions. We walked around the Jordaan and bought both toys (a.o. cars, skates, dinosaurs, tractors, puzzles, "knikkers") and books (a.o. a dutch translation of a Henning Mankell novel, Resicendce style book, a guide to quiet places in Amsterdam, a book about boderline/paranoia individuals), Lynda and I took a nap, whilst Olivier played with his new "treasures", after which we took the car to Mechteld and Frans and enjoyed the children focused festivities in their neighbourhood and the company of their friends.

When: April 28, 2006
What: meatballs, French Fries and pak-soi
Wine: a lovely Chardonnay
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: my family
Whatelse: the evening before queensday and Lynda, again, created some wonderful meatballs

When: April 27, 2006
What: home made courgette soupe with egg and tortilla chips
Wine: none
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Olivier
Whatelse: Oliver gubbled up the whole bowl, whileLynda was out to the Thai and the movies with Judit

When: April 26, 2006
What: oven baked chicken with assorted goodies
Wine: a wonderful US Chardonnay
Where: home, Amsterdam
With whom: Lynda, Olivier, Arthur
Whatelse: Arthur arrived yesterday from France and is staying a couple of days. He is over to pick up his sons to take them on a week in France. It was wonderful to see him again and he appears to be doing really well (joy)!! I hope he has a good time with the boys down south. He will be back aat the end of the week, but, due to ridiculously high parking fees for Amsterdam city center parking, he will probably not stay at our place, which is somewhat sad, but very understandable.

PICTURE PENDING

When: April 25, 2006
What: canneloni and another pasta dish with salmon
Wine: red, but sadly unremembered
Where: offices of Allen & Overy, Amsterdam
With whom: amongst others Jeroen, Stephane, Gill, Donagh, Angela, Rutger, Yvonne, Eric, Edwin, Paul, Graham
Whatelse: the break in the final legal session (and the first one at which I joined in time to enjoy the dinner) was the moment to enjoy a well-catered dinner consisting two pasta dishes (which were ok), salad (which I did not taste) and sweets (which I dutifully ignored). The wine, though not remembered by make, was very acceptable. More importantly, the atmosphere was very good (though maybe a tad too hot at end of the session (that is, as in tempreture)) and it was very comforting to listen to Jeroen, explaining what we do: I do have a great job.