We ♥ Ikea

If there's one unlikely place we enjoy visiting and never mind going around, it's Ikea. The kids enjoy playing pretend...pretending that they are in a different city and identifying each. Here are some of the photos of the setup living rooms and kitchen and the city they associated it with.

This is home mom....not far from how are living room looks but I'd have this one given the chance! ^_^

This is our library mom, and now I'm at our home in the Philippines, says my son.

I bought this glass at a London shop.--  Okaerinasai, okaasan! (Would love to visit Japan soon!)

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We still got a lot of these play pretends and they were enjoying themselves...I only got my iphone then, so pardon the blurry shots.

Food of course is something we look forward to. At 2,50€ you get a full meal and unlimited drinks with a range of choices. My younger kids always prefer the pasta menu which includes a bowl of tomato-based pasta, an orange juice and a pudding for dessert.

Little girl prefers the chicken schnitzel which is served with boiled potatoes.

At times we also get their famous dish Köttbular...swedish meatballs served with that yummy gravy and lingonberry jam. It comes with potatoes too that complements the sauce well. This particular dish is something I also cook at home.

For me, the salmon with red pepper on green pasta is the best...the red peppers are so yummy! I have chocolate cupcake for dessert (my kids would get daim cakes or other cupcakes but it's always chocolate for me). I always get their lingonberry juice but I think I won't now after reading a list of the calories that each Ikea food has, you'll find it here. ^_^

IKEA Einrichtungshaus Wien Nord
Gewerbepark Kagran
Sverigestraße 1a
1220 Vienna

IKEA Kundenservice:
Tel: 0810/081 081 Fax: 0810/810 900

Opens:
Mo-Fr: 9:00 - 21:00
Breakfast: 8:30 - 10:30

Sa: 9:00 - 18:00
Breakfast: 8:30 - 10:30

--a post for-

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Moist Cupcakes @McCafe

Whenever I crave for French macarons but I don't have the lust to make them at home, I run to the nearest McCafe....which is fortunately 2 bus stations away from where we live. These almond treats (not coconuts, those are macaroons) have become our favorite and I'm starting to master it at home albeit tedious and the chance to be successful is, let's say, only 40%! The most favorite would be lemon and strawberry and those two are also what I've been mastering.

One Friday afternoon, the kids and I agreed to drop by and have tea and milk, desserts included. We were surprised about the new addition to macarons, brownies and cookies, there's this moist looking cupcake being sold at 1.69€ (2.45$). 

Curiosity got the better of me, I really liked how they used baking paper as cupcake tins. ^_^ I got me one plus two macarons each for the boys (sold at 0.89cents = 1.29$). I've had some of their cakes before and their definitely not for my sweet tongue because german/austrian desserts tend to be sour compared to ours. 

Though the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry cake) is a german original, I prefer our version; not too much kirschwater that destroys the sweetness of the cake.

So moist! Like devil's foodcake in a bite! The frosting was also tasty complementing the cake base so well. I surely found something to look forward to when I visit back....I do hope that I find a recipe for a cupcake as moist and soft as this. I've got a cupcake recipe that I plan to modify a bit...but that would have to wait for now. (I'm transferring my other blog.)

Oh, I'm not the only one who enjoys McCafe, the kids get free hot milk all the time and if the server is nice, he or she would put some chocolate on top!

McCafe Vienna

http://www.mcdonalds.at/#/cupcakesmccarons/

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Salad

“What is more refreshing than salads when your appetite seems to have deserted you, or even after a capacious dinner - the nice, fresh, green, and crisp salad, full of life and health, which seems to invigorate the palate and dispose the masticating powers to a much lorger duration.”

-Alexis Soyer 19th century French chef.
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At McDonalds, you normally get grilled chicken caesar salad with 3 cherry tomatoes, a slice of cheese-shreded and a pack of your choice dressing. I got 8 tomatoes, 3 layers of cheese and 2 packs dressing some weekends ago! :D Burp!

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