A Taste of Spain at Home

We learned a lot about Spanish culture on our recent honeymoon cruise along the Spanish coast. For one thing, we learned that only tourists order sangria. We found this out after trying a few different variations of the iconic drink, the best of which contained sliced local mini-bananas and was out of this world.

Flaunting my touristness with the best sangria ever, in the Canary Islands

But the point is, we stopped ordering sangria. We learned that locals order the simpler (and cheaper) drink, tinto del verano. Literally translated to "red wine of summer," it is a delicious mix of Spanish red wine and carbonated lemonade. For me, it transformed red wine from a complement to a dinner-time meal to a refreshing afternoon beverage. We did a lot of walking and liked to stop for a refreshment and a tapa or two, and we started ordering a tinto del verano at every stop. I think we might have earned a little respect from the locals for not ordering a sangria like they expected us to do. We also saved a few euros by avoiding a menu item reserved for tourists.

Standard tapas-style lunch, complete with tinto del verano

I was a little sad to leave Spain and my daily tinto del verano fix. Luckily, while at the store the other day I happened to notice a 2-liter of calorie-free carbonated lemonade! I didn't know they even made that, and I immediately thought of attempting my own version of tinto del verano.

Sparkling lemonade to the rescue!

I found some super-cheap Spanish tempranillo wine and came home to experiment. 

Add ice to a wine glass and fill about halfway with the wine. Add sparkling lemonade to fill glass. Add a squirt of lemon juice if you like it extra lemony. 

Give it a try, we really love it!

Prone to Wander

This is something I've been suffering from for a while now:

wan·der·lust (wŏnˈdər-lŭstˌ); noun - A very strong or irresistible impulse to travel.

 

Mountain biking in San Francisco, California

  I've always liked to see new places, but I've never enjoyed the planning that trips require nor the time in transit between where I am and where I want to be.  But lately, the monotony of office life has shown me that planning an adventure is almost as fun as experiencing it. And the time spent in airports, buses, and taxis, can be viewed as a necessary evil, or, can be enjoyed as a part of the experience. I've been lucky to go the places I've been, but it seems the more I travel, the less I'm satisfied with staying at home.

The first day back to work following a trip is almost depressing, and worse still if there are no new adventures on your horizon in the foreseeable future. Of course, our Facebook and Picasa photo albums help us relive the good times and survive our days at home. I'm sure we're all guilty of obsessively "lusting" over friends' travel photos during the dry spells; I know they're fuel for my fire.

But even though I love to travel, I'm also a family girl who loves the comforts of home.  When I'm gone too long I start to miss my family, my friends, my cat, my cactus.. Traveling has taught me not only to appreciate the many cultures of our world, but to treasure my time spent at home.
 

Rock climbing in Red River Gorge, Kentucky

 
Here are a few quotes that inspire the wanderlust in me:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J. R. R. Tolkien 

A Taste of San Francisco - Part 1

At the beginning of August, I spent 4 days in San Francisco and I loooved it.  Needless to say, I spent a good deal of time researching what we would eat while we were there.  Here I'll give you some reviews of the places I chose, and will leave the highlights of non-foodie activities for a separate post. I would love to go back and definitely recommend the city as an amazing city-type vacation spot.  

Friday
Our first night in town we met friends at an upscale hotel lounge for drinks.  The view was supposed to be amazing from the top floor of this hilltop hotel, but we were there on a very foggy night.  It looked like we were sitting in a cloud, but that was still a unique experience for a Floridian.

Top of the Mark
-Lychee martini - Yum. Loved it. You can't find lychee anything where I live.

While Marnee Thai was my first choice for thai, this was nearby and came in at a close second on my list. It was loud inside, but the food was good and they got it out promptly.  You pay for the ambiance, but we really enjoyed it.

Osha Thai
-Thai tea martini - Thai tea mixed with vanilla vodka- so delicious.
-Crispy tofu - This was just ok for me.
-Dungeness crab rangoons - Good, but not amazing.
-Spring rolls - Very yummy with great dipping sauce.
-Tom Kha - My favorite part of my meal. So many flavors, and chock-full of chicken and veggies.
-Pumpkin curry with chicken - Everyone really really liked this dish.
-Yellow curry with beef - This was good, but not my favorite.

Saturday

This breakfast was tasty, but we had to wait entirely too long for our food to arrive. It was a simple order and the place wasn't overly busy, so I was a little disappointed that we waited so long. It was good though, and it was nice sitting outside with some Blue Bottle coffee.

Il Cane Rosso inside the Ferry Building
-scrambled eggs on olive-oil toasted french bread
-olive-oil fried french bread sandwich with pancetta, provolone, and farm-fresh eggs
-Blue Bottle french press coffee

 Lunch in Fisherman's Wharf

Bouidin
-Clam chowder sourdough bowls - The bread was amazing, the soup was pretty average.  It was so comforting on a chilly day though, and Fisherman's Wharf is a great place for people-watching.

Ghiradelli
-Gold Rush Sundae with peanut butter and hot fudge - So rich and yummy, we had to share it. Everyone who walks in gets a free sample of their chocolate.



Dinner at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion
I loved everything about this place! We wanted to eat somewhere close to the hotel. We started walking, this is what we found, and it was a great surprise. The servers were very pleasant; they made a copy of the menu for us and even recommended where we could find the lychee licqueur used in our drinks.

Roy's Canoe Appetizer for Two Coconut Shrimp, Szechuan Baby Ribs, Tempura Tuna Sushi Roll, Blackened Ahi & Lobster Potstickers

Chili and Scallion Crisped Calamari Sweet Thai Chile Sauce, Lemon Sriracha Aioli

1988 Cocktail Perfectly balanced blend of tart grapefruit and tangy pomegranate with Absolut Ruby Red Vodka, SOHO Lychee Liqueur and Patrón Citrónge Liqueur echoes the idyllic island lifestyle

Roy’s Island Mai Tai A 1940s classic with a contemporary Roy’s twist. A sweet blend of Castillo Rum, fresh pineapple, orange curacao and Myers’s Dark Rum for a flavor found only at Roy’s.

Mountain Mulligatawny

I first tried this amazing soup on a camping trip.  It was late and cold, and I was exhausted and starving.  We were in Northwest Georgia on a camping/climbing trip to a place called Rocktown on Pigeon Mountain.  After a few days of climbing the group decided to go caving.  ("Caving" here means: voluntarily lowering your body into a tight, muddy hole in the ground blasting cold air out into the night, followed by a slow, dark trek through winding passages and extremely small spaces covered in cold mud, which eventually leads you to an underground waterfall, where you take a short break, eat a candy bar, and turn around to do it all again.)

Here's the group before embarking on our caving adventure.

I was a little bit terrified.

And here we are afterward. On top of the world after our 4-hour, death-defying caving experience!

Back at camp, my group decided to pack up and head home right away.  It was hard work in the dark, especially as exhausted as we were after caving.  And did I mention it was 2 AM? Well, it was.  There's no point wasting daylight hours in an underground cave, so people typically go at night.  We started our trip at 10:00 PM, and 4 hours later decided to start packing up camp and immediately begin the 6 hour drive home.  Can you say insane?? Let's just say this was not my idea.

When we were ready to pull out of camp, some of our fellow campers (the sane ones who were staying the night) offered to share their dinner with us before we left.  It smelled so good we couldn't resist.  And we were sooo happy we stayed after we tried Josh's campfire Mulligatawny. 

The good stuff

After that night, Mulligatawny and camping just seemed to go hand-in-hand to us.  We now beg Josh to bring ingredients every time we go, and being the sweet guy he is, he usually obliges.  I finally got the recipe from him (complete with camp-ready instructions), and I would like to share its amazingness with you.  Mulligatawny is an exciting mixture of flavors and textures that will surprise your tastebuds and comfort your soul.  It's great to eat anywhere, but if you share it with a group of exhausted, freezing friends around a crackling campfire, you'll know by everyone's happy silence that it was worth the effort to make in the woods.

Our campfire cook. Thanks, Josh!

Josh's Mountain Mulligatawny
6 cups water

1/3 cup dried apple
1/4 cup sundried tomato
2 Tbs chicken bouillon
1 Tbs dried onion flakes
1 Tsp dried minced garlic
2 Tsp hot or mild curry powder
1 Tsp coriander
1 Tsp cumin seeds
2 Tbs dried parsley
1 cup instant brown rice
1 pouch (7 oz.) chicken breast

Prep at home:
Mix apple, tomato bouillon, onion, garlic in Bag 1
Mix rice, curry, coriander, cumin, parsley in Bag 2

At camp:
Boil water
Stir in Bag 1, cook 3 min
Add Bag 2, cook 5 min
Add chicken, simmer 3 min
Cook until rice is done.

Serves 3 hungry campers