Guest Post: She Wears a Red Sox Cap takes on New Zealand

New Zealand- Part 1

Hi everyone, I am Kelly from She Wears a Red Sox Cap and I am very excited to be writing this guest post for Meghan. I LOVE to travel so I hope you enjoy reading about it…

I began my trip to New Zealand quite differently than most other trips. Normally, I anticipate a trip for months beforehand. I research every place to visit, every hotel to stay at, every restaurant worth trying, etc. However, my New Zealand trip happened quite differently. I was planning to study abroad in Australia, my plane ticket came with one stop over, so I picked New Zealand and so it was booked.

Then, I studied abroad for five months enjoying what felt like a 5-month long vacation and just when it was time to go home and see my friends and family I remembered I had a New Zealand trip to go on. At this point 5 months of fun had caught up with me, I had a terrible cough and while I was excited for New Zealand, I probably would’ve chosen to just relax in Sydney for another week if I had a choice.

On my flight down to Auckland I was definitely “one of those” people on the plane, coughing and coughing and driving everyone around me crazy. I was supposed to meet up with two of my college friends and travel around the country with them. Due to my sickness, I decided to pick a town and park myself there for a few nights so I could get better. I picked Dunedin.

Dunedin is a college town located on the South Island of New Zealand. I had to take 3 two more planes to get there, but it would make it easiest to meet up with my friends later in the week. I found a random hotel on the outskirts of town (I had been staying in hostels, but I didn’t want to be that person on the plane AND in the hostel) and I made myself comfortable.

Over the next three days I feel in love with Dunedin. There is so much to see and do, and so many cute coffee shops to park yourself and read Harry Potter (which is what I did when I needed a break). Dunedin, I later learned, actually is the old Gaelic name for Edinburgh and I can definitely some resemblances between the two. Dundein’s central point is referred to as “The Octagon” and is a nice place to sit on a bench and eat lunch, or read a good book. The Municipal Chambers of Dunedin is also located there.

The first place I visited in Dunedin was the University of Otago, New Zealand’s oldest university. What a gorgeous place!

Almost made my wish I studied abroad there. Except that it was December (summer time in New Zealand) and I was still wearing a North Face fleece.

Continuing north from “The Octagon”, I next visited the Dunedin Botanic Gardens. Even though it was cold, it was such a beautiful day for walking around such gorgeous landscape.

Going even further from the center of town (I probably hopped on a bus at some point), I visited the World’s Steepest Street! I know, major tourist trap, but it did not cost any money and it was really cool to say I’ve walked up the World’s Steepest Street. The street is called “Baldwin Street.”

Coming back more to the Octagon area, there is a lot of other fabulous architecture to be seen. I was not taking a train anywhere, but look at this amazing railway station…

Inside was just as amazing:

Also, standing above the Octagon is St. Paul’s Cathedral, which has the only vaulted ceiling in New Zealand…random I know.

Finally, if you are a chocolate fan, no trip to Dunedin would be complete without a visit to…

And yes, you do get free chocolate. You also get to enjoy a tour through a chocolate smelling factory. What could be better? Also, New Zealand (and Australia) have lots of Cadbury products that are not sold in the US, so be sure to try some of those.

If you are not sick and relaxing like I was, I would definitely recommend a trip out to Otago Peninsula. You can see the more rare species of penguin, the yellow-eyed penguin, ONLY on Otago Peninsula. Very cool.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when I get more adventurous and begin to really see the countryside of the South Island.

Guest Post: Simply Life in India

I was so excited to be able to be a guest blogger for Travel Eat Love because that means that I can post a bit more about my travels and the food I’ve enjoyed on those trips!  I decided to go with our most recent adventure; this spring my husband and I were able to spend about 10 days touring around Northern India!  Indian food is one of my absolute favorite ethnic cuisines; I love all the flavorful spices and especially the naan!   During our trip we were able to visit about 8 different cities, and I just loved getting to taste what were the local favorites.  By the end of the trip I was able to even start recognizing some words on the menu to even know what I was ordering instead of just pointing to something on the menu and hoping I would like it (which, of course, always did)! 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of our favorite meals and areas.  Of course, the Taj Mahal makes the list of the most incredible places I have ever seen.  Before we arrived, I thought it was going to be a tourist trap that looks amazing in every picture but is just “okay” when you’re really there…wow, was I wrong!  I could have stared at it for hours and never ceased to be amazed.  We took the advice of the locals to see it during the sunrise, and as you can tell, it was just breathtaking!

This other photo was taken during a boat ride in on the Ganges River in Varanasi during another sunrise that I will never forget.

Varanasi is an incredibly unique city as just in this short boat ride, we observed people mourning the loss of loved ones, others beginning their day with a holy bath or silent meditation, people washing their clothes in the river and a mix of rituals, celebrations and religions.  I learned so much during our short stay here and feel so grateful that I have been able to experience this rich and diverse culture!

This was an amazing trip that I will never forget! Now I just hope to learn a little more about how to be able to cook my own Indian meals at home! 

~Simply Life

 

Thanks so much to Gina for sharing this amazing trip with us. Is anyone else hungry now? Check out her blog at simplylife.blogspot.com. You will want to move in with her and her husband just so you can eat dinner with them every night!

Foodbuzz Swag!

Hello from San Francisco! I should be getting ready right now, but I couldn’t stay away! I am hoping to cover this event as “live” as I possibly can!

We made it quickly on the BART to our hotel right after we landed, and we were able to check right in. Score!

 

I was STARVING when we got to our hotel, so we walked a couple of blocks up the street to a little Thai place called Banana House. I ordered a spicy tofu curry that had bell peppers and avocado with a side of brown rice and a salad dressed in peanut sauce. I adore peanut sauce. I also had a Calistoga sparkling water.

 

Hubs had a mountain of Pad Thai. So good.

After lunch we walked over to Foodbuzz central, the Hotel Vitale so that I could register and pick up my bag. I finally met Mardi from Eat Live Travel Write!

It is super warm here, and I definitely overdressed. I NEEDED to head back to the hotel to get a quick shower.On our way back I saw another person carrying the very heavy Foodbuzz bag, and it turned out to be Adria from http://highlowfooddrink.blogspot.com. It was great to meet her, and hopefully I will see her again tonight when I am feeling cleaner and more of a normal human being!

Before I go for the night, a glimpse of the swag. . .

Have a fantastic night! I wish you were all here, but whatever you do tonight make it fun!!

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Hello from 36153 feet! It is – 80 degrees F up here. . . brrr. I am on my way to San Francisco for the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival which we will follow up with a 2.5 day adventure in California wine country. It feels like I have been waiting forever for this trip, but in reality it has only been planned for about 6 weeks or so. We visited San Francisco back in September and decided we had to come back soon. Coming for Foodbuzz was the only logical move! Over the next couple of days I will be eating my way through San Francisco with many amazing, brilliant foodie bloggers. We will be sitting in on sessions like “Farm to Table” with                         Chef Paul Arenstam, MA native and Executive Chef at the Americano Restaurant in San Francisco and “Underappreciated California Merlots” with Alder Yarrow, proprietor of vinography.com. We will be faced with the task of tasting food and wine from 40 different producers, and we will even have an Outstanding in the Field dinner at a real produce warehouse! It will be tough, but I am sure we will make it through!

This morning was rushed. Our taxi driver was 15 minutes early, calling and honking the horn outside so we flew out the door. I always feel like I forgot something. We pre-empted our hunger with a lovely Nasoya tofu/frozen blueberry/Trader Joe’s Super Red Drink Power of deliciousness smoothie. Yum. Unfortunately I was hungry again not long after. Then came Virgin America. . .

Have I mentioned that I love flying on Virgin America? We settled in, and immediately I had to start ordering food and drinks like it was my job. I love the novelty of touch screen ordering. Clearly I don’t get out enough?!

We split the fresh veggies and cheese box which was delish, especially the mini gherkins and fresh mozzarella. I could eat pickled food all day long.  I am sure there will be more snacks ordered throughout the flight.

Today is a really big day for another couple of reasons. First, it is my sister and her husband’s wedding anniversary, so Happy Anniversary to them! It is also my nana’s 95th birthday! I can not even imagine being 95. Nana lived in a time when women couldn’t vote. She lived through the food rations and disastrous unemployment of the Great Depression. She saw two World Wars, prohibition, the rise and fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, the Civil Rights movement, and the first man on the moon. She has also witnessed insane cultural and technological changes. She has never owned or even used a computer or owned a cell phone. She actually flew for the first time just a few years ago!

Nana raised 4 kids and has many many grandkids and great grandkids. She is feisty but loving and was a great cook when she was able. She is in great health and is 100% with it mentally and intellectually. She will tell you what she thinks of politicians, family members, and the other people in her nursing home. And we all listen. I have mentioned this before, but she has used all sorts of natural health boosters such as barley green and apple cider vinegar as part of her diet, and I definitely think her health is an inspiration to us all. I am sad that I can not be with her today, but I will see her in just a few weeks at Thanksgiving and will give her loads of hugs then. In the meantime she will have other family visits today, complete with cookies and cupcakes. Hey, she’s 95, she can eat what she wants!

I will be spending the next few hours catching up on reading your blogs. I am so excited. I have really neglected reading and commenting lately, and it is a little luxury to spend some time doing so. Have a great afternoon and check back later tonight for a beautiful guest post!

Guest Post: Mexican Food in Phoenix

In 1989, after more than three decades of dreading the winters of Long Island and Philadelphia, I decided that I never wanted to see snow again unless I was watching the Olympics on television. For months, I researched the perfect place to move. Now, this was before the internet, so research meant using this archaic thing called the reference section of a library. I spent hours poring over voluminous government, industry and census reports making note of the number of men versus women in certain age groups, their average incomes, economic predictions and real estate prices for various cities in warm climates. I read newspapers, trying to get a flavor of the local culture, looking to see if my short list of cities had a symphony, live theater, low crime and politics that I could tolerate.

Mostly, I read the yellow pages. My passion for all things food required that my new home have enough restaurants that I would enjoy. I made lists with checkmarks, notes and columns of pros and cons. How many Vietnamese joints? Was there dim sum on weekends? Could I find Thai and Portuguese food? However, Mexican food was completely absent from my lists. At that time in my culinary education, I knew Mexican food to be globs of yellow cheese melted on some dry, shredded meat that was wrapped in soggy tortillas, and then covered in a runny red sauce. When my Philly friends insisted on Mexican food, I grudgingly ordered fajitas, calling it “Mexican Stir-Fry.”

Accordingly, my Philly friends were somewhat surprised when I told them the Phoenix had won the new home lottery. Simply put, it had more checks in the pro column than in the con column. Knowing my distain for Mexican food, my closest friends inquired about how I was going to handle living in one of the Mexican food capitals of the country. Stubbornly, I insisted that I would educate my Phoenician friends-to-be to expand their foodie horizons beyond Taco Bell.

Unexpectedly, my new neighbors introduced me to authentic Mexican cooking. None of the pseudo-Mexicano chain restaurant greasy glop for these folks. I learned that chile rellenos were stuffed with delicious picadillo or queso Oaxaca cheese, not Monterey Jack bulk purchased at Costco. As much as I enjoyed those shrimp cocktails from the 1960’s, I liked campechana’s better. I discovered pepita-crusted fish with a lovely and light jicama, orange and avocado salad. Who knew that guacamole that didn’t have the consistency of baby food? Even green chile burritos or salsa and chips, the McDonald’s of Mexican food, were evidence that fast food could be delicious.

That Mexican cooking had such variety of styles, spices and flavors was a revelation to me. In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been. Doesn’t Chinese have Cantonese, Szechuan, Mandarin and Hunan? Why did I not realize that our Latin American neighbors would have their regional specialties, too? Twenty years later, maybe I would find authentic Mexican food in Philly, too. But I’m guessing that America’s southwestern cities do it better simply because we have large populations of Hispanics who demand food that tastes like la madre used to make. We have five Ranch Markets, the mother of all Hispanic grocery stores. I’m just glad that they are willing to share with the ignorant, uneducated foodie’s like me.

Would you like to learn more about great gourmet gifts, wine accessories and kitchen gadgets? Jeanette Hauser is the founder of the third largest gift basket business in Phoenix, AZ. She has been a frequent guest on the radio, discussing gourmet gifts, restaurants and food related travel, and has been honored to be a judge at the International Fancy Food Show. Visit Anything Goes Gourmet for great discussions, gourmet gift suggestions, and free wine and food reports.

Thank you Jeannette for sharing your cross-country foodie awakening with us!

Wine and Travel

Happy Thursday! I am in the midst of trying my best to get as much work done as possible before I leave for a few days. Tonight begins a series of guest posts on travel intermingled with updates and recaps from the Foodbuzz festival, the Sonoma coast, and Napa Valley. I am obviously excited but have so much work to do today and over the weekend that I am also more than a little stressed. Oh well.

Since I do have some new readers, I thought I would share a few of my favorite posts all which involve food, wine, or travel in some way. Click on the images below, and happy reading!

 

 

  

I make a mean veggie chili.

And I am eating some right now.

I love making vegetarian chili, and from what I have heard, I am quite good at it The recipe is never the same, but it is always chock full of healthy, hearty ingredients like beans, tomatoes, and corn. I have made chili with ground turkey before, but I just don’t think it adds anything special to the flavor. Feel free to disagree.

Tonight’s chili (which is actually last night’s chili, even better after a day) consisted of 3 large carrots, 1/4 red onion, chopped, 1 can plum tomatoes, mashed, 1 can black beans, a handful of pickled jalapenos, chopped, and a half bag of frozen corn.

I started by heating up habanero oil and tossing in the carrots and onion until they were slightly soft.

 

Carrots are not common in my chili, but since we are going out of town I am trying to use veggies up. Once the carrots were soft, I poured in the can of whole tomatoes and used a potato masher to gently break them up. I like chunky chili, but otherwise you could definitely use chopped tomatoes or put them through the food processor. Once the tomatoes were the way that I like them, I added the black beans.

One big happy veggie family.

The chili simmered on low while I started chopping this beauty.

I topped my bowl of chili with shredded Kerrygold Dubliner Irish cheddar, TJ’s 0% Greek yogurt, and avocado.

I had this bowl times two. It was soooo good. The habanero oil added just the right amount of spice, while the carrots added a slight crunch, and the beans and tomatoes gave it a warm, homey feel. The avocado was unbelievably good, perfectly ripe and buttery. I have another half to eat before I leave for San Francisco. I plan on chowing down on it with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of sea salt. Just may be the perfect food.

We also have a couple of cups of chili left which I am going to freeze individually for when we return from our trip. One thing I love about chili is that it freezes and reheats extremely well, making it an ideal meal to cook in bulk. When I return next week, I am going to make a big effort to start cutting BPA out of our lives, so my chili will be getting a little bit of a makeover.

That is all for tonight. I am off to tackle this:

I have outfits to try, guest posts to upload, and an itinerary to organize. I am excited about all of the posts that I have scheduled AND about blogging from the sky again! Goodnight guys!

Turkey Sausage Stromboli by Trader Joe

As you all know, I try my best to make a lot of home cooked meals, even if it is just a simple salad or sandwich. Sometimes it is really nice to have something quick and easy to pop in the oven. Trader Joe’s always comes to the rescue. First, let me just say that I love when my husband goes to the grocery store. While I love grocery shopping, I tend to get a lot of the same things and most of them tend to be healthy. When he goes, he gets all of the healthy stuff, but there are also always fun surprises that I would never buy myself but would definitely help out eating! Trader Joe’s turkey sausage stromboli was one of these surprises.

So Sunday after I returned from our fabulous blogger lunch, I was still a little hungry, and the hubs was starving. I decided to pop the stromboli in as it was chilly and we were pretty tired from a late Halloween. These offer microwave instructions, but I had a fear of soggy crust so we waited the 26 minutes that they require to cook in the oven.

When I pulled them out of the oven, I was immediately surprised by how crispy the dough had gotten. The smell was amazing, tomatoes, garlic, and a slight hint of spicy sausage. I don’t have a photo of the finished product because I butchered it pretty badly when I cut it into pieces for us. I was extremely surprised and pleased at how crispy the outside and the slight chewiness of the inside dough. The sausage was flavorful, not very spicy at all, but it tasted great.

This could easily be something that you ordered in from your favorite pizzeria. Though I don’t like to eat a lot of meat or prepackaged foods, I will definitely be storing a couple of these in the freezer for snowy nights when we don’t feel like cooking and don’t want to have a delivery driver out in bad weather.

Kitchen Disaster

I suppose it wasn’t quite  a disaster, but the bulk lunch I made for this week is definitely not the best thing I have ever eaten. Every Sunday I do my best to make something that I can easily package up in Tupperware and bring to work to last me at least through Wednesday. Curries, chili, soup or big salads usually do the trick, keeping me full, within budget, and healthy.

This Sunday I decided on a tofu curry with parsnips and carrots because I had a load of parsnips and carrots to use up before I leave for San Francisco.

I broke out the slow cooker and started layering flavors to create my curry sauce. I started with a can of Goya coconut milk, Thai Kitchen green curry paste (store was out of red), Burmese curry spice mix, and habanero oil. I wanted a rich, spicy sauce.

I chopped the carrots and parsnips and tossed those, along with baby potatoes into the slow cooker to start cooking. In the meantime, I cut extra firm Nasoya tofu into small strips.

I left the carrot/parsnip/potato mixture cooking on high for about an hour and a half, and when I went back to check, nothing had gotten the least bit tender. But the sauce was drying up and browning around the edges. I turned it down to low and left it for another 30 minutes, and went back to find more edge-burning. I thought the beauty of slow cookers was that you could just leave them to cook and not really do anything? After a little longer I added the tofu in, and because the root veggies had so long to go, the tofu ended up mush. The sauce got extremely thick and almost gluey. The taste was worse. I don’t like green curry nearly as much as I like red curry, and for some reason it tastes like raw tofu?

I let it cool, packed it up, and brought it for lunch on Monday. It looks absolutely hideous and really doesn’t taste that great, but since we are traveling and going to be spending a bit of money this week, I really need to eat it. I actually skipped it today in favor of eating peanuts and apples. I have a colleague from Virginia and she always brings the best peanuts when she visits! So, the moral of the story I guess is that while I truly do love about 98% of my kitchen creations, there may be times where tossing ingredients together might not work. I am also a little jaded with the slow cooking process. What if I hadn’t been there to stir every 20 minutes? Oh well.

 

I am off to do some packing for the weekend ahead and to hopefully do some blog post scheduling. I have a few great posts coming up while I am away, in addition to some coverage of the Foodbuzz Festival and my wine country adventures. I am also really hoping to find the time to write a post on food in literature and food memoirs. It has been brewing in my head for awhile, and maybe sitting on a plane for 6 hours will be a good time to let it out.

Have you had any kitchen disasters? Were you able to recover them or did you just toss it? Any lessons learned?

(Don’t forget to enter my Blue Diamond giveaway! )

Blue Diamond Giveaway

As you all know, I have been loving Blue Diamond almond butter for the last few weeks. Latest favorite is a stack of thinly sliced apples, each spread with a thin layer of ready spread honey almond butter. Time consuming, but delicious and filling.

Kristen at Blue Diamond has been great to work with, and I am excited to announce that one of my readers will now have the opportunity to win some almond butter!

The giveaway starts. . . NOW. I will announce a winner next Monday from Yountville, I promise, even if that’s the only computer-related thing I do that day between visiting wineries and eating at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon (eee!).

To enter:

1) Check out Blue Diamond’s site and let me know what product looks yummiest to you.

2) Tweet about the giveaway with an @traveleatlovemm.

3) Link back if you have a blog.

4) For an extra entry, tell a friend. If they comment and mention your name, you get two chances to win!

Good luck, and thanks again to Blue Diamond for this!