Culture & Cuisine / Travel
Tucked away on a little side street in the heart of the vibrant, picturesque Barrio Gotico (Barri Gotic), is a hidden culinary jewel. When one thinks of Spanish cuisine, the first things that come to mind are likely paella and tapas, and its the latter in which this restaurant specializes. While visiting the beautiful city of Barcelona on our most recent anniversary, M and I...
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Culture & Cuisine
This past month one of the recipes in my Try the World box was for Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is often referred to as a Japanese pancake. It can contain any number of ingredients and it is associated with the Kansai and Hirosima areas of Japan. In Japanese “okonomi” means “what you like” and “yaki” means “grilled” or “cooked”. And that’s pretty much what okonomiyaki is –...
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Culture & Cuisine / Culture & History / Travel
I was recently introduced to Try the World box (by Local Adventurer) and I immediately fell in love with the way they combine food, culture, and travel to create an irresistible subscription box. As you all know, I’m a huge fan of discovering new foods, cultures and travel and so if there was ever a subscription box that was a perfect fit for me, this...
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Culture & Cuisine
Today I’m going to step outside of Europe for the first time as part of this series and take you to Asia! We’re going to do a BBQ beef baozi recipe (aka BBQ beet steamed buns). M and I often eat pre-packaged baozi purchased from the local market. I first became addicted to them while we were in Malaysia where they served them at our...
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Culture & Cuisine
Each time we go to France, I make a point of stopping in the local patisseries and boulangeries to sample the various items and enjoy those that are my particular favorites (I’m a sucker for pain au chocolat). If you’ve been following me for some time, you’ll know that I did fieldwork in Brittany, France and that I love Breton cuisine. I’m not much of...
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Culture & Cuisine
One of my favorite things to eat for lunch is Crostini. Crostini means “little toast” in Italian and it is essentially a small, open faced sandwich on a piece of toast. Crostini is traditionally made from Ciabatta bread, but in France we make it with a baguette. The options are endless when it comes to what you can do with crostini, but this is one...
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Culture & Cuisine
This is one of those recipes (like the Yorkshire pudding my mom makes) that I dreaded learning because I did not want to know just how much butter is in the recipe. So, if that’s the sort of thing that turns you away, this recipe not be for you. I decided to go ahead because I haven’t found store-bought béarnaise as good as what you...
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Culture & Cuisine
Les Carottes Rapées, or loosely translated, Grated Carrot Salad, is a popular item in France. Lunch or l’apéro (or more correctly, l’apéritif) with my family in Paris almost always includes this item – it’s light and simple to prepare. Plus, it’s delicious! A lot of the foods that we eat in France are not easily available here in the US so M and I often...
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Culture & Cuisine
Quite a while ago, La Marinière asked me what foods I prepare for picnics in response to a post I wrote on inexpensive date ideas. I promised her that I would write about it, and so today I’d like to share a recipe for one of my all-time favorite picnic foods. This recipe has become pretty popular amongst my family – my mom even made...
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Culture & Cuisine
If you hadn’t seen my previous post on macarons, the outcome was definitely not a success. They ended up being the flattest macarons ever created. I am happy to report, however, that round two of macaron making was an enormous success. We (my mother and I) made coconut macarons with a rum filling and they were delicious! Look at these beautiful macarons! My mother and...
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