Just Add Yoghurt

Hypothesis: Not all yoghurts are made equal. While I didn’t fly to Europe to prove this hypothesis, I sure did use our 4.5 week European honeymoon as a chance to test it. Across 14 European cities, in nine different countries, I tasted 17 different yoghurt varieties. All varied in flavour and texture. It all started in Amsterdam, where on a rainy day I tried Zuivelhoeve Boer’N Yoghurt, while sitting on a wet bench pining for the summer I was cruelly promised but so far denied. The tart creamy yoghurt was balanced perfectly with the sweet strawberry compote and just enough granola muesli to provide a textually pleasing crunch. All in all, my first yoghurt was a winner. The second yoghurt in Amsterdam wasn’t as successful because it wasn’t a traditional yoghurt. Thick, incredibly sweet, with no tartness in site, I was somewhat confused by this Danone Danio Vanilla yoghurt. That was until a lovely Dutch Instagram follower kindly informed me that the photo I had posted...

A different kind of post because it’s not about yoghurt! Mr Bball and I recently went to Europe and I wanted to share three of my favourite meals. So let the story begin…. On 31 July 2016 my now husband and I packed our bags, ate all the food in our fridge (yes I almost ate an entire tub of yoghurt because I didn’t want to waste it) and started our honeymoon adventure. With a list of ‘things to do’ in all fourteen cities we were visiting, each list topped with what local food and drink to indulge in, we jumped on our Emirates flight with relief. The last few months had been hectic with the wedding, a quick trip to America for Mr Bball’s work 6am after the wedding and a lot of work to wrap up, so getting on that plane filled me with this calmness I hadn’t felt for a long time. A 13 hour, followed by 7 hour flight, we finally made it to our first city Amsterdam. Greeted with a free glass of bubbles to celebrate our honeymoon, we ventured out to experience the canals, the sm...