Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Lots of Tulips and a Cheese Slicer


Yesterday, we drove down to Keukenhof Gardens near Amsterdam to see the tulips in bloom. The gardens are open for a limited period of about two months in spring every year. Since spring decided to make a delayed entry, the tulip season is almost upto the end of May this year.
My first connection with tulips and Holland is of the movie 'Silsila'. I still remember how I just wanted to be there as soon as I saw the song 'Dekha ek khwaab toh' with millions of tulips in it. I wondered how it would feel to be amongst so many flowers. I now know how it feels. And I also know that the feeling is so overwhelming that it is too difficult to be put in words. Actually, I said jokingly to my husband that I have become so used to the urban 'I-see-nature-only-on-my-balcony-and-nowhere-else' life, that I am getting stressed looking at all those wonderful flowers. :) And nature is supposed to de-stress you!

So, is this a non-food post then? No, there IS a food connection. And that is actually one of the souvenirs I bought at the gardens. Here it is.

As usual, while I was looking for a souvenir, it was the foodie in me looking for one too. (And no, I don't suffer of Split Personality Syndrome. :)) This Cheese Slicer is what both of us agreed upon. Isn't it nice? And very souvenir-ey? And it slices cheese too!


I tried using it on the block of Parmesan that I had in the fridge, and it gave me neat, thin shavings. Now I don't know whether to use it regularly or whether to just preserve it, so that I can pass it on as a family heirloom later.

What do you think I should do?

21 comments:

Vineela said...

Hi Vaishali,
Tulips are really beautiful.
Chesse is a smart tool in kitchen.
Vineela

Kitchenmate said...

I love those Tulips.. love that 2nd pic, I wish i was there to enjoy that scenic view, they are just adorable..
Hey, is that you in your profile pics, you look cool:) [when do you plan to post full image??]
Cheese slicer is cool, start using them, you will have lots of heirloom to pass on:)

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Vaishali,
Love that profile pic ;-)
We were in Keuknhof a few years back too. Soeri was just a little baby then and I got some fab pics there. When in Holland it must either be a cheese slicer or clogs! I got the latter!
I'll share my pics with you soon!

Great talking to ya yesterday!

Vaishali said...

Santhi, I know, my frying pan is really photogenic. :)

Vineela, so do you mean, I should start using it straight away?

Kitchenmate, the gardens are open for another 20 days. You still have time. Wanna pay a visit? As for full image of mine, I'll post one as soon as a get a new hair-cut. :)

Meeta, it's thanks to you that I have a profile pic now. Yeah, I'll wait till you blog about the clog (hey, that rhymes!).
It was indeed lovely talking yesterday. We need to do it often now.

Ashwini said...

Amitabh was such a hottie in Silsila, especially when he said in that baritone, "main aur meri tanhaee"
What a beautiful garden that is. I have heard a lot about Amsterdam's tulips. Glad I got to see them.
Hmm so you went to a flower garden and got a cheese slicer? I think its even more sad that I identify with it :-)
Psst - your pan has a nice smile!

Luv2cook said...

Hey Vaishali:

WoW...the pics are just superb esp. the second one. How I wish I could go there right away. May be I need to look for jobs in Germany and leave the U.S :). The cheese, chocolates and the Tulips are calling me. BTW, I totally relate with your experience in Silsila. And Amitabh is my ALL TIME favorite actor.

Also, you look very cute in your profile picture :). I need to find me a good one. I don't have a clue as to what it should be...

KA said...

Great pics Vaishali!! I had the same feeling when I first watched that song from silsila.

Vaishali said...

Thanks everybody for the compliments to the pan. I'll make sure that I convey them to her (yes, it's a she-pan).

SH, thanks for stopping by.

Ashwini,
1. Amitabh, baritone, 'main aur meri...' - I can't imagine anybody else doing that. Just imagine somebody like Tusshar Kapur (who's that?) saying that. No way!!! Long live Amitabh.
2. Yes, I got a cheese slicer from a Tulip garden. We food-bloggers are hopeless, but we love it that way, don't we? :)

L2C, just shift to Germany. We will cook together, blog together and in the spare time watch Amitabh's movies together. Whaddya say?

KA, that song sequence is so lovely, isn't it? Quite imaginative of Yash Chopra to have come all the way to Holland to shoot that song and that too 25 years back. He is a classy director.

Priya Bhaskaran said...

wow:) vaishali, the pictures look so beautiful:)

Anonymous said...

Fabulous pictures! I wish I would visit the place sometime soon :-(

Lakshmi said...

i luv those tulips Vaishali, right from Silsila movie. nice pictures.

Vaishali said...

Priya, Gauri, Lakshmi,
The pictures are beautiful, but still not as beautiful as the actual sight at the gardens. Also because there it was accompanied by the fresh scent of grass and the blooms. Very relaxing.

Unknown said...

Tulips look like out of a dream here- I'm sure you had a wonderful time...as regards the cheese slicer, I guess you can use it and still give it as a family heirloom

Cheers

BTW- very cool profile pic, hiding behind a smiley pan :)

Vaishali said...

Nandita,
I had a great time indeed. As for the cheese slicer, I have started using it for the same reason as you have stated here. I'll use it and still pass it on later.
As for the pan, I am not hiding behind it. It was the pan that came in front of me at the last minute. I have a limelight-hogging pan. :)

Vaishali said...

PD, yes, you are right. The tulip fields in Silsila are not from the gardens. We visited the fields too. Both have their separate charm; I enjoyed both in different ways. However, I wrote about the gardens because they are more popular and I thought more people would relate to them. Not to forget, the gardens have their website and I could give a link to that, which I could not do with the fields. Plus, I bought the cheese slicer at the gardens. I must also mention that I have a 17-month old daughter and it was easier to carry her in the buggy in the gardens. The fields were rather restricting for us in that respect.
Anyway, where exactly in Germany do you live?

Vaishali said...

PD,
I have lived in München in the year 2000 for two months. In the area 'Frankfurter Ring'. I loved that city. Hope I can visit it some time in future.

Pooja Aggarwal said...

Lovely pictures of tulips...

Came by your blog because I was looking for confirmation that the flower fields in the movie Silsila were indeed tulips - a lot of people commented so on one of my posts.

Sangeetha said...

I can't agree less. even my first sight of tulips was from the movie silsila.....ever since I've always been mesmerised with those tulip gradens.I did get to live in europe for a few months....but unfortunately I lived during the winter months:(.... I really regret I could not see those wonderful gardens. I wish i can see it some time...I truly believe if there's heaven on earth it's those tulip gardens in amsterdam!!!

Anonymous said...

I love those Tulips.. love that 2nd pic, I wish i was there to enjoy that scenic view, they are just adorable.
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Anonymous said...

I like all those Cheap diablo 3 GoldTulips.. adore in which Second image, I wish i became presently there to savor which panoramic watch, theywow cd key are just adorable.

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