Tajine cooking

Tajine cooking
has become my favourite occupation after coming home from work.

The ingredients for a veggie tajine are unspectacular:
onions, carrots, tomatoes, fennel, garlick, celery, olive oil,
parsley and coriander.
Ras el Hanout, a North-African blend of spices, adds an oriental touch.

Everything is cut to small pieces, the onions are slightly roasted, the other veggies, salt, pepper, ras el hanout and some water are added and then the cap is put on the pot.
The whole thing simmers for half an hour, and finally the fresh parsley and coriander are added.
Voilà, dinner is ready!

And, perhaps a glass of prosecco makes the cooking process still more delightful :)

Enlarge the picture above for the recipe!

Happy weekend, dear friends!

Now spring is coming

Last Sunday my husband and I sought relief from watching the disturbing news from Japan.
We strolled through the outskirts of Vienna
where we found a landscape still wearing the colours of winter,
but showing the first signs of spring.

What a fancy thing:
the colour of the river Danube exactly matched the colour of the first violets!

Some bushes even showed a pleasant yellow!

Liverwort is a common sping flower in the decidous forests of the Vienna Woods, and its colour is also "Danube-blue" :)

We walked back to the city through the endless wineyards, still bare and grey,

towards a city with nearly 2 million inhabitants
(which actually looks like a very big village... )

Here we found the first snowdrops - the wetlands of the Danube must be full of them by now!

The ice is melting

The old arms of the Danube in Vienna are still covered with ice.

A mallard enjoyed the warm sunlight glittering on the ice.

Our dog D'Ora gave the cold water a first try.

The ice was still thick enough to carry nosy dogs,

lively ice-skaters and curious families.

Where the ice was gone,
mandarine ducks were courting their females.

Could this be Spring?