Mmmm Memories

When a trip is long over and you have settled back into the daily grind of work and home the details of your trip seem distant. It felt particularly rush to me because once we returned home there was a mad rush to make our new home livable. We lived our of our suitcases for several weeks until we found and opened the boxes of our clothes. This mad rush lead us right to Christmas when were finally had our housewarming party. And the holiday craziness lead almost to now. I try to reflect on our travels whenever I get a moment. This time I am reflecting on our anniversary meal in Venice. Our wedding anniversary was actually on Aug. 28th, two days before leaving for our trip and one of our worst days of 2009. We had mutually decided not to get any gifts for each other. The trip and the house were our presents enough. Somewhere in the mess of the days before we left and the excitement of the beginning of our trip we made unofficial plans to celebrate our anniversary with an expensive and fancy dinner near a canal in Venice. After our first miserable day in the city of water, canals and flooding the anniversary dinner plan did not look promising. Luckily our second of two and a half days was beautiful and inviting. We had seen two cute restaurants right next to a little canal near our hostel the night before but looked around the entire the next day for other options. Other than the really big expensive restaurants along the grand canal which did not excite us we could not find anything we liked. So we went back to the two places near our temporary home base. We could not have been more satisfied. It was beautiful and delicious. We ordered the fish. we got a kick out of them presenting us the whole, raw fish before and after cooking. Then they proceeded to delicately dish equal portions of the fish on each of our plates. Yum! and what a beautiful place!

Missing photos

It seems quite pathetic that is has taken me this long to post any photos of our trip to Europe to demonstrate how yummy the adventure was. However, what must be taken into account are the following facts: 1) the moment we touched US soil (in Philadelphia) we were on the phone to car insurance agencies trying to work out our car situation (Ed was rear ended driving my car on 8/28, our anniversary, a day and a half before moving out of our apartment and leaving the country for a month. The car was totaled but he was fine). 2) The house we bought with Ed's brother had not closed the entire month we were gone. Therefore we were homeless for a day after returning. the house closed the following day. 3) We moved into a vacant house that needed a good amount of repairs which we have been working on diligently. Ed has but a TON of work into the new place! 4) I had to get a new car, see fact number one. 5) On top of all of this I had to return to daily work. Okay, my excuses are out there...now for some photos.

After our picnic we posed in front of the Eiffel Tower, from left: our friend Kevin, Ed, me.
Ed and Kevin discuss meeting at the Louvre the next morning while enjoying hot chocolate and a beer and waiting for the rain to pass.Kevin stares at my dessert even though he is eating the same, exact thing. The baked apple tart thing was quite good but for the price we paid for this meal at an ubber fancy place not too far from the Lourve I was disappointed. We found better meals for less money.Speaking of better meals for (a little ) less, this was one of our best meals over all. The restraunt he is sitting in is the restaurant we "stayed above". My pest raviolis filled with pesto that was made right there in the town...OMG! Ed enjoyed his mussels too (i'm allergic so I don't dwell on them. I'm sad I can never have them again). My raviolis were followed by grilled calamari and Ed had a steak as his main course. The meal was finished off by a glass of a sweet raisin wine I can not spell or pronounce. The wine is unique to the region and really quite good, and really quite expensive. luck for us it was on the house because we were staying there!After our all day hike we got some to go food from a delicious cheap place and enjoyed the food and wine on our balcony as we watched the sun set. Gorgeous!In Florence we ate at cafe Zaza on a few recommendations. Everything was delicious but again, for the price was a little disappointed. Our meal the next day in a random hole in the wall place with only locals. The food was cheap and good!Another recommendation was made to us to climb up to the stairs by the bronze David and watch the sunset. We'll who is going to do that and not bring a bottle of wine. Truly only a few groups of people did NOT have beer or wine with them. The sunset wasn't the best but you couldn't beat the view!

Pesto and other good things

I visited the birth place of pesto, I know you are jealous. Cinque Terre is the area of 5 fishing villages on the side of the cliffs inthe Italian Riviera. Half of the town consists of beautiful, old, colorful buldings on top of each other piled on the side of the cliff. The other half of the each of the five towns and the space between them are terraced hill sides growing tons of produce; grapes, basil, lemons, tomates, etc. I had booked a room above a restaurant in the 2nd town of Manarola. When we arrived we went to the restaurant where we then followed a woman to our room. it was definitely ABOVE the restarant, we hiked up to nearly the top of the town where she lead us into a beautiful room with an amazing view!!!!!! (pictures eventually) That night we ate at the restaurant way down below. It was fantastic! Raviolo Pesto, grilled calamari and local wine that was okay. But the dessert wine a sweet raisin wine was superb but cost about $40 for a small thin bottle. so we only got the glass which was actually compliments of the restaurant i guess cause we were staying there. The big thing to do in Cinque Terre is the hike. we woke up early the next morning to start the trek to each of the other 4 towns. They say it takes about 5 hours to do the whole hike with little stopping. It was an all day adventure and it was so worth it. The trail at times was no wider the width of my foot with a hill on one side and a four foot drop on the left. 4 feet does seem like much but it is not an easy trail.. but it is a fun one!

Eating our way through Europe

Yay, we made it to Europe and are enjoying the food! Paris had the best bread! Ed indulged in steak tartare and we enjoyed a delicous picnic under the Eiffel tower with procuitto, cheeses, wine and our good friend Keving who arrived on the same day as us. We also had a fun time eating at the cafe where Amelie was filmed, Le Deux Moulin. Ed fell in love with the 3 cheese quiche, one of the cheeses was bleu! On to Avignon where we wandered the old walled city and toured the Pope's palace and has some pretty good tapas. Now we are in Nice where the weather is gorgeous (it rained in Paris, but not bad and the wind was crzy in Avignon). Last night we stumbled upon a delicous and inexpensive Tunisian restourant. it is great what you can find by accident! Today a quick trip to monaco and tomorrow off to Cinque Terre Italy ( where we stay above a retaurant).

Philly Food Part II

A couple of days into the convention I spotted a window of time I could escape. Armed with a map, my cell phone and notebook of information in case anything was urgently needed (which it was, of course but fixed in minutes with a couple of calls) I scampered off towards the Liberty Bell to do some sight seeing.

I was lucky enough to catch the Liberty Bell with very few people around. While I was slowly making my way through the museum a big group of school kids entered the hall. I ran down to the Bell and got a few photos with it before the big group came. (strangers are not the best photographer. The bad thing about sight seeing alone) I lingered to hear the park ranger give his speech about the bell to the school group.

After seeing the bell I set off in the direction of the river. I can now say I've seen New Jersey but I've never been there. Walking down the historic looking Chestnut street a brewery caught my eye. I had some extra time and I figured I could use a quick rest. I sat myself at the bar of the Triumph Brewery and ordered a pint of seasonal ale brewed on site. A bizarrely named beer intruiged me. The bartender gave me a taste of their crazy concoction. It was particularly strong but very good, I would have rather drank a pint of that, oh well.

Philadelphia provided me with many good meals some of which where fancy gourmet entrees but it were the inexpensive unexpected meal that were the best. The first night that several other people arrived for the leadership meeting I grabbed some dinner with a couple of them. We wandered away from the hotel with a specific cantina in mind. When the wait turned out to be over an hour the pizza place we passed on the way sounded great! I ordered two enormous slices, the second only because it sounded crazy and I had to try it; potato and egg pizza. It tasted like breakfast. The food was good. The restaurant even offered several pasta dishes which, according to my dinner mate, were pretty good. And it always helps that everything was very inexpensive with no tip required.

My last full day in Philadelphia was spent in an all day leadership meeting at our Courtyard Mariott Hotel. We got a quick break for lunch. Unfortunately it wasn't long enough to go anywher other than the hotel restaurant. I ordered a crabcake sandwich with high hopes. I was disappointed with a soggy pile of crab mush. I picked at it and then excused myself from the group exercise that I wasn't really apart of. The outdoors were calling me and I had to get some fresh air.

The next morning I woke up early to squeeze in anymore sightseeing I could do before we left for the airport at 11:30am. I arrived at Independence Mall just before everything opened and asked a park ranger where I could grab a bite for breakfast. She suggested a buffet place inside the Bourse Building. I expected something expensive with tons of food. Tons of food yes but you only paid (by weight) for what you put on your plate. Some eggs, a few pieces of french toast and syrup cost me $3 and change. I gobbled the affordable food and ran off to see the US Mint, Ben Franklin's grave and the US Treasury.

Yummy trip to Philly!

Philly Food Part I

With my new job I got the chance to travel to Philadelphia for a convention and leadership meeting. I was very excited to visit the East coast for the first time. For months all I could think of was trying a real Philly Cheesesteak. I did my research and planned on exploring the Reading Terminal Market for every meal. Conveniently the Reading Market is located right underneath the convention center and one block away from my hotel!
The night of my arrival began with the cheesesteak I'd been dreaming about for so long. Philadelphia tradition prepares the cheesesteak with CheezWhiz, I opted for the provolone. It was good and I should have tried another one from another vendor or restaurant but I found so many other wonderful things I didn't feel the need to return to the famous sandwich.
My first big breakfast on my own was one to remember. I ventured into the Reading Terminal Market and chose a seat at the busy counter of The Dutch Eating Place. I had heard good things and a busy place is always a good sign. Each of the small counters in the market have a few seats for counter service. You take a seat where you see an open chair and the person behind the counter will get you your food. If you don't have the time to sit or there are no free seats you can order take away food at the register. I was lucky as one person, one seat was easy to find.
I ordered the raisin french toast with one fried egg on the side and a small organge juice. Sure, that sounds like standard breakfast fare but what I received was heavenly. Everything in the french toast was incredibly fresh! The butter was like nothing I'd ever tasted before. The butter actually had TASTE! ( it was home-churned) The orange juice was thick and fresh squeezed. The maple syrup wasn't Aunt Jemima, it was real Vermont maple syrup. And the atmosphere was fun sharing the counter with other tourists and locals.
For lunch the same day I returned to the Reading Terminal Market and settled on the Tommy Dinic's counter. I ordered the Italian pork sandwich and boy was it filling and fantastic! Unlike The Dutch Eating Place Dinic's didn't have a menu other than the sign that hung above the counter. There were only about five options so ordering was simple. The woman behind the counter was very nice and happily bagged the other half of my sandwich for me. If you go to the market keep in mind most places are cash only so be prepared and stop by an ATM.

Hawaiian Grilling (an Ed Post)

I seem to have forgotten that I am supposed to contribute to this blog. I apologize. Jodie has been doing such a wonderful job, I wasn't sure what I should write about. Writing about my own cooking just seemed like bragging, and Jodie is covering all the food we eat away from home very well.

However, I realized I could share how I made some of the dishes Jodie keeps bragging about.

Most recently, Jodie described my grilling in Hawaii, so I will start with that. First, let me just say that I love getting a chance to cook abroad. It is actually one of my favorite parts of travelling. If at all possible, I always try to schedule some time for me to cook during a vacation. This is because the types of food available to cook with from one country to the next, one state to the next, or even one city to the next, vary considerably. It is great to be able to prepare kangaroo in Australia, game hens in wine country, or ahi in Hawaii.

Not to say that fresh Ahi is only available in Hawaii. Here in California I've had a good deal of success finding sashimi grade fresh ahi. Especially in San Francisco, but also at my current residence in Los Angeles, with only a little more scarcity. The Ahi in Hawaii is, however, considerably cheaper and easy to find at any grocery store. The quality of the ahi I pepared in Hawaii was particularly good as my parents sprung for the nicest cut available.

Making an avacado-mango salsa is not nearly as complicated as it may sound. Simply, chop an onion, mango, avacado and some cilantro if you have it (I did not that night.) Then carefully mix these ingredients in a bowl with lime juice, salt, and pepper. Cut the avacado in large chinks and be careful mixing, so as not get mango guacamole.

Searing Ahi is also uncomplicated. Just salt and pepper the raw fish. Heat the grill until it is very hot. Try to coat the area you are using with a little vegetable or olive oil to keep the fish from sticking to the grill. Then simply sear the fish on each side no longer than 2 minutes. The fish should be nice and rare on the inside. My Dad's steak was prepared similarly, except that I rubbed the salt and pepper onto the steak with olive oil 10 minutes before cooking. I also cooked it closer to 5-7 minutes per side. rotating it once 45 degress to get the angled grill marks.

Serve the fish with the salsa spread over the top. I served the steak the same way. On the side serve some grilled veggies (in this case corn.) I added some grilled pineapple into the mix, because, as I said, its Hawaii and grilled pineapple is just too good to pass up. Normally, Ahi goes well with a Sangiovese red wine, but because of the mango salsa we opted for a Chardonnay. The more citric a Chardonnay the better. This would be a good time for some of the crisp summery Australian Chardonnays such as Madfish or Grant Burge. Hawaii's wine is expensive, so we opted for a cheaper, but still tasy Barefoot Chardonnay. We paired my Dad's steak with a Penfold's Shiraz-Cabernet blend.

Hawaii...Mmm Delicious part 2

Every two years my father's family holds a family reunion where most of them live; Honolulu, HI. The first event that kicks off the weekend celebration of family is always a luau at my dad's Auntie Mary's house. Back in the day Auntie Mary used to do all of the cooking. Over the years the younger generation has stepped in to lend a big hand and some of the food is now catered. No matter who is doing the cooking, the best advise is to not eat breakfast or lunch that day.
This year it was a mix of catering and home cooking. I am sad that Auntie Mary isn't doing as much cooking because I truly miss her curry shrimp, but there were plenty of other delights to choose from. I chose a mixed plate of (clockwise from top left) Lomi Salmon, Squid somthingornother, Tuna Poke, Chicken long rice, Kalua Pork and a slice of taro root; all things scrumptous! I could live off of the Lomi Salmon, Poke, Pork and long rice, I love going to Hawaii for the food.
After the family reunions on Oahu, Ed, me and Ed's parents went to Maui for the remainder of our trip. We stayed at Napili Point, a condo resort on the edge of the water overlooking a small cove filled with sea turtles. I LOVE this place! My parents booked it several years ago and I have been back three times since. The condo has a full kitchen, living room, big balcony, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Despite the full kitchen, we decieded to use one of the 3 gas grills on the property to grill up a Hawaiian style feast for dinner. Ed made seared Ahi for the two of us and his mom and a steak for his father. He also grilled up corn and pineapple and made a mango, avocado salsa to top the main entrees. Oh yeah! It was truly awesome! His father licked the bone.
The next morning we went to the gazebo cafe around the point. To get there the best way to go is on the path along the cove (where sea turtules are regularly spotted), down to the expansive tide pools and around to the whale shaped pool. There is always a line that requires about a 20 minute wait, but at the end of that wait there are white chocolate, macadamia nut pancakes! Not to mention a table with a great view. During the winter months (February-April) whales are regularly spotted from the pool and gazebo area. There is a bell mounted on a nearby palm tree with a sign that says "one ring for a whale spout, two rings for breaching".
The last time I was on Maui with my parents we ate at a French Restaurant. I could not remember the name of it but I knew it was in an itty bitty strip mall on the way to Lahina just around the bend. All I remember was that the food was indiscribably amazing! And when we went, it lived up to my memory, some of the best food I've ever had. Of course this time I remember that the prices are up there too. The restaurant, Chez Paul does not have a magnificent view what-so-ever. It is a closed, dark, classic French restaurant, and it is fantastic!
Hawaii was a fun and delicious trip! I am always happy to return. But for now it is back to the wonderful home cooked meals of my husband.

Hawaii...Mmm Delicious part 1

Before I thrill you with my wonderous culinary delights of Hawaii I want to wrap up Ed's infomercial workout.
Only about half of the class was asked to participate in the actual infomercial with before and after pictures and all. Ed was asked to join the top group! He lost a total of 22 lbs. and had to go buy new pants! My hubby is looking great and has kept up the routine after classes ended. Look out for the Shadow Boxer infomercial as a product of Body by Jake. Maybe some late night you'll see Ed's before and after shots and hear how he wanted to get in shape to sell himself better as an actor.

To Hawaii...
This was a special trip to Hawaii. Although I and my family have been many times for my father's family reunions this was different. Not only did we go to see my dad's family but our entire family tagged along. My mom, dad, sister, sister's boyfriend, grandma, husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law and me. We all went out to a fancy dinner on one of our first nights to celebrate both my parents' and Ed's parents' 40th wedding anniversary and my grandmother's 80th birthday. The restaurant was called the Hau (pronounced "how") Tree Lanai and had a beautiful view of the sunset. (of course it did, it's Waikiki).


The meal was a fun gathering of families. We all enjoyed wine, food, conversation and catching up with each other. The salad I split with Ed's dad was less than amazing and not worthy of a blog photo, I could have made something better at home. But for my entree I ordered this yummy Mahi-Mahi topped with avocado.


The next morning I was awake early beacuse our room was irritatingly noisy. I left Ed to sleep in the room and went out to find a quick bite for breakfast. I walked up Kuhio Blvd. where I knew there was a small grocery store. I picked up some water and POG (best juice ever; pineapple, orange, guava) and then stumbbled upon the section of Aloha Shoyu, the best soy sauce around. We occasionally found it in Grocery Outlet here in California but it quickly disappeared. I took this picture to show Ed and to remind ourselves to get some when we came across a better, less expensive store. But, I forgot and this is all I have of the Aloha Shoyu.


More to come...