Tag: food

Madrid Tapas stroll on Calle Cava Baja

Previously I have talked about my food experiences at the Mercado de San Miguel. It is tough to top the food choices at the mercado but we were determined to find more good food.
For a tapas crawl experience, our guide book recommended we visit the restaurants of Calle Cava Baja in Madrid.
We started in the early evening down the street whereas most locals do not go out until after 9. We were able to try some places out before they got crowded. We made our way down the street and sampled as much food and beverages as we could for the night.

It happened to be St Patrick’s day. I caught this festive guy on a cell phone break.

This place was packed everytime we walked by.

Albóndigas (meatballs and sauce) served with potatoes.

This was pretty good and I while I am still not 100% sure what it is, the waitress called them little fish.

We spent some time sitting at the bar at La Perejila. They have some nice vermouth and great tapas.

Love me some Spanish vermut!!!

Pate

More fishies…

This place wasn’t on Calle Cava Baja but was quite busy and recommended in the guidebook.

The night proved to be a success. I advise anyone who can to visit Madrid and do a tapas crawl. Your mouth will not regret it!

India: New Delhi & Noida Part 2

Since we didn’t get to see much of New Delhi on our previous day trip (See India: New Delhi & Noida Part 1) we arranged with our hotel to have a car for the day to take us from sight from sight. It was a rip off at $80 but we felt like we didn’t have much choice since our hotel was far from the city center and there is a lack of public transportation. Note if you do stay in the city center I have learned you can be taken around to all the tourist sites for as little as $20 a day.
We started early and the fog was still thick. Our first stop was to Humayun’s tomb.

Humayun’s tomb

We visited the tomb of the Mughal ruler Humayun. It was impressive but I was interested more in the smaller, older tomb nearby: The tomb of Isa Khan Niyazi (see picture above). The tomb had an erie feeling to it and kept luring me in.
Mosque next to the small tomb

Beautiful pathway around the smaller tomb.

Interesting looking structure we could see from walking the walls of the smaller tomb complex.

Stairs that just appear out of nowhere. Be careful!

And then we move on to the tomb.

It was here that we first encountered the “friendliness” of locals. An older man offered up many stories and took us around the tomb. We hadn’t asked for his help and really couldn’t understand much of what he said but he had his hand out for a tip. It is something you need to get used to in India. Either politely say no to people when they offer their help or expect to tip. You will be tipping all the time in India. I think there was only a couple times I was able to go to the bathroom without tipping.

After the tomb we had a quick stop at the Lotus temple. The Baha’i House of Worship of the Baha’is of India is more commonly known as the Lotus temple.

Lotus Temple

It is a place of peace and you can tell when you enter. Like many other temples, no shoes are allowed.

Next stop on the tour was Qutab Minar.

Qutab Minar

This tall stone tower was built in 1193 by Qutab-ud-din Aibak and sits next to the first mosque to be built in India.

Carvings and verses from the Qur’an.

Wall scriptures in different lanuages.

Alai Minar

Another tower was built but never finished.

Part of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque

Our driver dropped us off for lunch at Pindi. One other thing about India is that typically your driver will just drop you off at a lunch place of his choosing. Mostly because you don’t really know where you are and if you did have place in mind, you wouldn’t know how to get there. Plus the “yelp” of India isn’t really that helpful to tourists. Fortunately this place was good. I ordered butter chicken and wow was it filling.

After lunch we got caught up in the first of the shopping emporium time suck. Partially my fault because I told hill I wanted to go back to the Dilli Haat to shop a bit since it was closed on my last visit. He takes us to the Dilli Hut (even though he knows what I meant), I get upset but he insists it is good quality stuff. We go in and product after product is put in front of us. I am anxious and annoyed and cannot shop when people are talking to me non-stop. It was here that I first discovered I am unable to shop in India. I am a slow shopper who needs time to digest my choices. I don’t even think I got anything at this place; I can’t remember for sure. This scenario repeats itself over and over again our entire India trip.

After losing 2 hours with shopping nonsense we arrive at the Jama Masjid mosque to find it has just closed for afternoon prayer and would no longer be open to non-Muslims for the day. Ok, kind of annoyed we lost that time shopping.

This is what we could see of the mosque.

Outside the mosque.

Last stop in New Delhi is the Red Fort. But guess what – it is closed as well. Because of the shopping time suck, we missed out on two attractions. The lesson here kids is to just say no to shopping.

We finished the day with a stop at the the Askshardhm Temple Complex near our hotel. Majestic at a distance, this new temple is like a Hindu Disney World. There is boat ride (which I think was closed while we were there) and a bunch of vedic exhibits. They spent a lot of money on this complex. I think there is a musical fountain (which was also closed while we there there). You know what wasn’t closed? The gift shop. Lots of interesting stuff in the shop. Lots of Ayurvedic vitamins and body products can be purchased there.
This is the best picture I could get of it. It was foggy the whole time and they don’t let any cameras or phones in the complex.

That concludes our last day in Delhi. The next day we were off to start our religious experience on the Ganges.

Touring Crete

As part of our honeymoon tour package we stopped at the greek island of Crete. Crete is a rather large island and our sightseeing was concentrated in the city of Heraklion. We only got to see a small part but Crete was much less island vacation like than the islands of Santorini and Mykonos. However there was still plenty to see in Crete.

Upon arrival to our hotel, they gave us a honeymoon gift.

We also had a pretty nice view from our room.

While in Crete, we visited the ancient palace of Knossos. Knossos is an ancient Minoan civilization that is one of the oldest in European lands. We wandered around the grounds with its very well planned rooms and halls. Some has been reconstructed to look as it once might have. Fresh frescos have been painted (some of the originals exist in a nearby museum.

Taking a break from sightseeing we stopped in some local cafes in Heraklion. The city has a bustling cafe life. Many young people spend their afternoons and evenings at outdoor cafes. They either slowly sip an ouzo on ice or enjoy fancy coffee drinks. We made sure to carve out some time to participate in this as well.

Morosini Fountain (Lion Fountain)

Later we visited the archaeological museum. Archaeological Museum of Herakleion contains a large collection of Minoan art and artifacts.

Museum visitation is exhausting. We took at break at a nice cafe. We ordered some snails and the restaurant was nice enough to give us a free dessert.

We finished our visit with the Koules Venetian fortress. This fort for some time served as a Turkish prison among other things.

Stoemp

A girl from the Orlando Lady Crafters (a group I am a member of) has habit of planning wonderful gatherings. We recently met and she invited me to her most recent gathering – Belgium night.
Orlando Lady Crafters do not knit; we are a group of ladies who are interested in craft beer. The range of experiences in the group go from home brewers ready to start their own brewery to newbies who are just now venturing past ciders. It is a lovely group of ladies that I’m glad I know.
For Belgium night the idea is that you bring a Belgium beer to share for tasting and a Belgium dish. Not many of us were familiar with Belgium food past mussels with fries or Belgium waffles. I did some internet searches and came across this recipe for stoemp. Stoemp is a mashed potato dish mixed with some vegetable. It is supposed to be the quintessential comfort food. I chose it partly because it seemed simple to make and partly because I have never cooked with leeks before. I pretty much stayed on recipe except the addition of more garlic….I always add more garlic.

We always try to use organic ingredients whenever possible. Here is the bounty from whole foods.

Since it was my first time with leeks I did some internet searching for proper preparation. You are supposed to cut off the dark green leaves (I have saved them for soup stock later). I left too much green in my first cut so ended up cutting some more off later. Instructions on the web say to slice the leeks down middle and then 1/4 way from there to make it easier to clean the inside dirt. After cleaning I sliced it into small slivers.

While the potatoes boil I prepare the leeks.

Leeks are sauteed with onions, garlic and butter (butter yum).

Potatoes are fully mashed

After the leeks are translucent the broth and cream is added according to instructions. Once the liquid is cooked down it all mixed together and topped with nutmeg.

I really liked the recipe. I just wish I choose red potatoes instead of the boring light brown ones. I would have added more salt too, especially since I was making it for others (we salt much less at home). I did get some praises so I might keep this one in my recipe book for comfort food times (holidays, etc).

Source:
http://www.food.com/recipe/stoemp-aux-poireaux-stoemp-met-prei-belgian-mashed-potatoes-121428