Tentative Itinerary

As I've mentioned before, I love making itineraries. My OCD organizational skills are allowed to let their hair down and really run free. Here's what my upcoming trip is looking like thus far:

November 21

• Arrive in Munich at 8:00 a.m. (apologies in advance to my sister and her husband)

• Attempt to stay awake despite a likely Tylenol P.M. induced coma

• Explore the area where my sister lives (near Parsberg in Bavaria)

• (*fingers crossed*) Eat a döner Turkish pizza, a variation of a döner kebob. If you haven't experienced the heaven that is döner, I'm sorry. It's like a gyro, but far far better. The Travelling Hungryboy has a good description.

Nov. 22-24: Prague (woo hoo for the USD being strong somewhere!)

Nov. 25: Early Thanksgiving

• Herb and mustard turkey with green onion gravy

• Apple, sausage, parsnip, and sage dressing

• Mashed potatoes with garlic, mascarpone, and caramelized leeks

• Brussels sprout hash with caramelized shallots

• Apple streusel tart with honey crust

• Pear (replace with apple?) cobbler with blueberries and corn biscuits

Nov. 26-29: Sotogrande, Spain with various day trips

Seville

Gibraltar


Tangier

Nov. 30-Dec. 5: Bavaria

Christmas Markets

Dachau

Castles

Dec. 6: depart for home

Dec. 7: go back to work

What I will look like at work

(Creepy witch from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves")

One of my many loves

I am completely obsessed with Mad Men. This week's episode was AMAZING. For my fellow Mad Men addicts, here are the blogs I read every Monday morning; they give some really great insights:

• The Watcher
• What's Alan Watching?
• Basket of Kisses

And now for your viewing pleasure, I give you Don Draper (swoon!).

(Photo courtesy of AMC)

A southern feast

I've lived in the south all my life, with the exception of a year spent in New York, but I never had shrimp 'n' grits until about 6 month ago. I have been missing out all these years! When my BFF Kiwi a.k.a. Ninja Kitty and her boyfriend visited Atlanta for Labor Day, we decided to cook a southern feast of shrimp 'n' grits and macaroni and cheese casserole (we love a good casserole in the south; hopefully Ninja Kitty will post her chicken casserole recipe soon....hint hint!). Warning: the following recipes will cause extreme fullness of the stomach.

Shrimp 'n' Grits

Ingredients for grits:

• 3 cups milk
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup stone ground white cornmeal
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 3 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper

Ingredients for shrimp:

• 2 Tbs. canola oil or olive oil (not extra virgin)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 lbs. spicy Italian or andoulille sausage (or regular pork sausage for those sensitive to heat)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 bunch scallions, minced

Directions for grits:

1. In a 3 quart pot over medium-high heat, add milk, cream, butter, salt, and pepper.
   
2. Slowly whisk in grits. Keep whisking every couple of minutes to keep grits from clumping.
   
3. Once grits begin to bubble and thicken, turn heat off and move pot to back burner. Keep covered.

Directions for shrimp:

1. Mince the onion and sautee with oil and garlic in a large pan over medium heat.
2. Add sausage, and brown.
3. Sprinkle pan with flour and stir to make a roux. Roux should be the color of caramel.
4. Add stock and bay leaves, and simmer.
5. Peel and devein shrimp.
6. Add shrimp to the sausage and cook for 2-3 minutes until they're firm and pink.
7. Add lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper.
8. Serve immediately over grits.

Macaroni and Cheese Casserole

Ingredients:

• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
  
• 2 Tbs. cornstarch
  
• 1 lbs. cooked macaroni (wheat if you want to attempt to be healthy)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded munster cheese
• 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
  

Directions:

1. Melt butter over medium heat (every good recipe starts with butter).
2. Add milk and bring to a simmer.
3. In a small bowl, stir cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold milk. Slowly pour into simmering milk, and whisk constantly.
   
4. Keep whisking and allow sauce to thicken. Once sauce covers a spoon, remove from heat.
5. I a large bowl, mix three cheeses together. Remove 1/3, and set aside.
   
6. Add sauce to the large cheese mixture, and stir until cheese is melted.
   
7. Add pasta and stir until it's completely coated.
8. Place macaroni in a buttered casserole dish and top with reserved shredded cheese.
9. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until top is brown and bubbly.
   
10. Cool for 15 minutes and serve.

My favorite dessert

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients for crust:

• 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup cold vegetable shortening (Crisco)
  
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 1/4-1/2 cup ice water
  

Ingredients for filling:

• 3 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 Tbs. melted butter
  
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 5 Tbs. all purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2 lbs. fresh or frozen strawberries
• 2 lbs. fresh or frozen rhubarb in about 1'' pieces
  

Crust directions:

1. Dice butter and put in back in the refrigerator.
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
3. Add butter and shortening, and mix until ingredients combine to form almost little peas.
4. Add ice cold water a tablespoon at a time until mixture beings to form a solid ball. The dough should hold together without being sticky.
5. Wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
   
6. Divide dough in two, and roll out on a lightly floured surface.
   
7. Place first rolled-out dough in a 9'' or 10'' pie pan. Place in freezer.
   
8. Roll out second half of dough. Fold in half and cut 3-1'' slits. Set aside.
   

Filling recipe:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat together all ingredients except for strawberries and rhubarb.
   
2. Once mixture is combined, stir in strawberries and rhubarb.

To assemble the pie:

1. Remove pie pan with crust from the freezer, pour in filling, and cover with top crust. Pinch the edges together to ensure that they are well-sealed.
2. Brush the top with water and sprinkle with sugar.
3. Place pie on the bottom rack of a preheated 425 degree oven for 10 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 30-40 or until rhubarb is tender when pierced with a fork.
   
5. Allow to cool for several hours before serving as the filling needs time to thicken.

Enjoy!

Change of plans

**Editor's note: I apologize in advance for the egregious amount of exclamation points.**

Now I'm Spain and Morocco-bound! I got an email from my sister last week asking if I'd be interested in going to Spain instead of Amsterdam, and she attached an itinerary that her friends put together. I emailed her back within 30 seconds with a "YES YES YES!!!!!!!!" So needless to say, I'm in. I am so unbelievably excited; I've been dying to go to Spain, and as an added and completely unexpected bonus, we're going to be able to take a day trip to Morocco (cue squeals of glee)!!! It'll be five of us including my sister, her husband, a couple they're good friends with, and me. I have a feeling I'm going to get along with her friends very well after seeing the organized and detailed itinerary they put together; I too love making a good itinerary. So here's the plan:

Day 1
-Depart Frankfurt for Málaga, Spain (woo hoo for cheap Ryan Air flights!)
-Drive one hour from Málaga to Sotogrande where our villa is. According to the rental description, the house has views of Gibraltar!


Day 2
-Explore the area
-Maybe (hopefully!) drive up to Seville




Day 3
-Take a ferry to Tangier (so excited!!!!!!!!)





Day 4
-Visit Gibraltar

-Depart for Frankfurt

I cannot wait! Only one month and one day until I leave!!!

Amsterdam-bound....maybe

So my sister and I are starting to plan what trips we're going to take when I visit in November. It's looking like Austria is out. Now we're thinking Amsterdam. The more I research it, the more excited I get! It seems like an interesting, cool city. My sister already found a couple of places we could rent; this one is my favorite. I've been browsing tripadviser.com (best travel website EVER and what I use for every single trip); here are some of my initial thoughts of things to do (aside from the obvious redlight district and Anne Frank and Van Gogh museums):

1. Canal candlelight cruise

And here's why: they have unlimited cheese and wine. Oh yeah....and it looks pretty too.

2. Heineken Experience

3. Flora Holland auction

Isn't it crazy big?!!

Most of the world's flowers come through this auction.

4. House of Bols Cocktail and Genever Experience

Hmmm....a lot of my choices seem to involve drinking. When in Rome I guess. Funnily enough, Design*Sponge happened to come out with an amazing Amsterdam city guide today. A sign perhaps?

How good does this look?

Petite sugarcane cured bacon "BLT" with roasted tomato confit and ginger aioli...YUMMM! Recipe can be found here. I love me some Design*Sponge!

Best Orzo EVER

I'm a pasta-holic, so I pretty much think any pasta recipe is good, but this one is exceptionally amazing. My aunt came up with it, and my mom tweaked it a little to our liking. It's good hot, room temperature, or cold. I've eaten it all three ways, so I speak from experience.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. orzo, cooked
  
• 2/3 c olive oil (not extra virgin)
• 2 medium eggplants, diced
• 4 bell peppers, diced (I'm not a fan of bell peppers, so I use banana peppers)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bunch of scallions, sliced (both white and green parts)
• 1/2 c chopped fresh mint
  
• 1/3 c fresh lemon juice
• 12 oz feta, crumbled or cubed
• 1/2 c grated Parmesan
• 1/2 c toasted slivered almonds
• 1 c diced apple
• 2 c frozen collard greens, thawed and drained (optional)
  

1. In a roasting pan or on a baking sheet, toss together oil, eggplant, peppers, and garlic. Roast for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.
2. In a serving bowl, toss together roasted vegetables and remaining ingredients. Serves 12.

It takes quite a few ingredients, but it's super easy to make. I'll make a batch on Sunday, and eat it for lunch and/or dinner the rest of the week. Or with grilled pizza like this one time....carbs and carbs, my favorite.

European Voyage Part Sept: Paris

Alright, this is the homestretch! Stick with me. This is the last post on my trip to Europe, promise! We left Aix-en-Provence mid-morning, and took the TGV to Paris. The TGV is a high speed train (Train à Grande Vitesse if you want to get technical) that goes about 170 mph. God, I love train travel. It only took about 3 hours, and it's so relaxing. I love seeing all the different scenery too. Anyway, we arrived in Paris at Gare de Lyon. Good god, it was HUGE, busy, and crowded. Definitely a change of pace from A-e-P.

We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Saint Christophe located in the 5th arrondissement (the Latin Quarter I think), and then headed out. We attempted to take bus # 69, a public transportation bus that runs east-west and goes by a lot of the great sights, but it was the weekend bus schedule, so trying to find it proved to be a task. Eventually we just hopped on the metro and made our way to the Eiffel Tower. Not to be cheesy or touristy, but WOW.




Pictures don't even do it justice. Paris is a pretty low-rise city, no skyscrapers, so the Eiffel Tower stands out even more. After standing with our mouths open for a few minutes, we spotted a crêpe stand and decided to grab a late lunch. Again, crêpe complet for me, crêpe au sucre for my mom. Yummm.

My last crêpe of the trip : ... ( - that's a sad face with a tear running down if you can't tell.

Then we hopped on a bus to take a tour of the city. I won't inundate you with my many typical tourist pictures, but here are a couple of my favorites.







I will say, it was pretty chilly. My extremities were completely frozen by the time we got back to the hotel. The hotel was in a university area, so we just grabbed a quick bite to eat at a little Greek restaurant before completely passing out for the night.

I have to take a moment to give a big shout-out to Moleskin City Notebooks. They are hands down amazing!!!! My best friend got me one for Paris, and then I bought one for Florence. They are unbelievably handy. They have large maps, detailed maps of different neighborhoods, public transportation information, tracing paper to trace different routes, blank paper to make notes, and even a little pocket to store things in. They're small and easily fit in a purse or even a pocket, and for only about $15 each, they are absolutely worth it!


I completely regret not having more time in Paris. The next day was our only full day, and we jam-packed it. In the morning, we went to one of the big antique markets, Marché aux Puces. We could've easily spent our entire day there. It was deceiving at first because the outside of the market is lined with crappy clothing and junk stalls, but if you can find your way into the main building, it's amazing!

Cool floor made out of 2 x 4 slices

If I had had more room in my suitcase, I would've gotten a lot more, but I bought quite a few things as it was. I bought an antique bird print, a Rodin lithograph for my sister (my favorite purchase of the trip), and a first edition Babar poster.

We dragged ourselves away from shopping in order to make it to Versailles before it closed. It was an easy train ride and short walk, and my god was it worth it. Yet again, not to be cheesy tourist, but HOLY LORD. It was STUNNING. Easily the most beautiful part of our trip. Just the scale of the place is MASSIVE. Every direction you looked as far as the eye could see was Versailles. Of all the palaces and grand houses we visited in Europe, Versailles was easily the most liveable, if that were ever even possible.

Front entrance


Around the back towards the gardens.


Grand Canal



View of the palace from below


My favorite sculpture from the entire trip

The Grand Trianon


Gardens everywhere!


One of Louis XVI's coats which was TEENY TINY. I think my 5'2'' tiny skinny mother would've just fit into it.

We spent so much time outside and at the ancillary buildings, that we almost didn't make it back in time to tour the actual palace. We were actually the last ones allowed upstairs to the Hall of Mirrors (whew!).

Yet another surreal moment with all that's happened in that room.

Probably 50 people were crowded into Marie Antoinette's bedroom. It was honestly surreal seeing that much gold and grandeur.

It glowed gold, as you can tell.

Security started scooting everyone out by about 5:30, so reluctantly, we left. I will definitely we going back in the spring or summertime to see all the gardens in bloom.

We leisurely made our way back to our hotel to drop off our many purchases from earlier in the day. We were both starving from trekking all around Versailles, so we headed out for a hearty dinner at a cafe up a couple of blocks. Croque madames and giant Hoegaardens are exactly what the doctor called for.

Good, but nothing touched those from A-e-P.

Paris was a fantastic way to end a fantastic trip. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. You know there are some trips you take, and by the end, you can't wait to get home? Not this one; I wasn't ready to go back to reality. I think I could get used to jet-set (or train-set in my case) life.