Tag Archives: travel

Welcome Winter

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With the onset of cold weather in Chicago — FINALLY!– I decided to feature some of my favorite places covered with snow.

Lake Michigan at Evanston, Illinois

 

It’s hard to believe that I will be seeing those hills in Provence in just a few months — and they won’t have snow on them then. I’m also pretty excited about planning a trip to Edinburgh and northern England for a tour group; you’ll be hearing more about that as the plans progress.

Happy New Year (and make your reservations!)

January Header Images Credits: Provence, Lamb in snow, Stonehenge, Paris

 

25 Days of Holiday Recipes: Rosemary Roasted Pork Loin

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Doesn’t it sound like a fun job to work in a spices store?

I have recently been able to experience the world of Penzeys Spices — a place where cooking is kindness, and that kindness can change the world. Really. That’s what their job application page says and that’s been my experience when shopping at two different locations in the Chicagoland area. I am impressed and want everyone to consider shopping either in person or online at Penzeys — it’s a beautiful place to spend a holiday afternoon.

Although I stocked up at the store on whole nutmeg and sweet curry powder, I already had a lot of spices in my cupboard. I went through them and threw away a lot of old spices. I also moved them into glass jars rather than plastic. Penzey’s also sells glass reusable spice jars in several sizes which is good for the environment as well as not leeching plastics poisons into the spices. I also put some spices into small canning jars and yard-sale glass spice jars. I labeled them using my trusty Brother P-touch labeler and I was pretty darn happy. My alphabetized spice cabinet is looking sharp.

When I realized that I had a big rosemary bush on the patio that was not going to live through the winter, I started looking for recipes to use up some of that luscious rosemary goodness. I discovered that Penzeys’ web site has recipes linked up to the order pages for the different spices. I was in business with a recipe for Rosemary Roasted Pork Loin.

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Rosemary Roasted Pork Loin

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Yield: 6 Servings

Serving Size: 4 oz.

Calories per serving: 170

Fat per serving: 6g

Rosemary Roasted Pork Loin

Ingredients

Instructions

Heat oven to 450°. Rinse the roast and pat dry. In a small bowl, mix together the GARLIC, THYME, ROSEMARY, lemon juice, lemon zest, 1 TB. of the olive oil, salt and PEPPER.

Rub the seasoning all over pork loin.

Note: We bought a small 2 1/2 # center cut roast and cut it into two pieces. I put the second piece into a plastic bag and put half the marinade on the roast; we'll have this another meal since there's only two of us now in our empty nest.

Spread the remaining olive oil evenly over the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the pork in the pan. Roast at 450° for 30 minutes; lower the temperature to 350° and continue roasting for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature is 155°. Remove the pork to a cutting board; cover with foil and let stand 15 minutes or until the temperature reaches 160°. Slice and serve.

For gravy, save 2 cups of the water you cooked the potatoes in (assuming you're using the gravy for mashed potatoes; if not, 2 cups of water is fine). Remove the roast from the pan and drain off all but 2 TB. fat (if there is any). Place the pan on the stove top, pour in the potato water and let sit a few minutes. Scrape up browned bits from pan. Pour juice through a strainer into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and reduce liquid by 1/3. Reduce heat to medium low, taste and add salt to taste. Thicken with 1-2 tsp. ARROWROOT or cornstarch dissolved in 1 TB. water.

Notes

Cook time is variable from 60 - 75 minutes; use a meat thermometer.

Nutritional Information: Servings 10; Serving Size 4 oz. (103); Calories 170; Calories from fat 60; Total fat 6g; Cholesterol 70mg; Sodium 115mg; Carbohydrate 1g; Dietary Fiber 0g; Sugars 0g; Protein 25g.

https://gotmyreservations.com/2012/12/02/25-days-of-holiday-recipes-rosemary-roasted-pork-loin/

Back to your travel dreams — Penzeys is a great place to take the relatives or to pick up a house gift. They have stores in twenty-seven states. The next time I have friends visiting the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park or shopping at the Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets in Kenosha, Wisconsin, I’m going to include a stop at Penzeys on our itineray.

Recipe courtesy of Penzeys Spices; links are to Penzeys and Oh, Olive for the garlic olive oil. I featured Oh, Olive here in a previous post.

Dutch Cheese Soup

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Is going on a cruise all about the food?

For those of you who enjoy traveling by cruising, you already know that a cruise offers cultural and scenic delights as well as some well-deserved rest and relaxation. When I went on my first cruise to the Caribbean, I wasn’t particularly impressed with much about the food the cruise had to offer. I can barely remember what we ate, but I very clearly remember that formal dinners were difficult while traveling with two young children — even if they were well-behaved.

Fast forward twenty years and we took another cruise — just the two of us this time.

Well, just the two of us, our close friends from college, and 146-ish other intrepid travelers. And this time isn’t wasn’t a “fun ship,” it was a Viking River Cruise from Paris to Normandy. All the issues with reserved seating vanished and we didn’t have to decide whether to wait in the bingo game or the casino with the kids while the people in the late seating finished dinner. We had close to three hours every night of wonderful food, fabulous wines, great conversation, and attentive service. Now that’s the way to travel.

It’s not surprising, then, that I went directly to the Viking River Cruises web site to find a satisfying soup recipe for Soup Week. I’ve linked up both the Viking River Cruises site and another blog, A Spoonful of Thyme, where I found the photo. If you are a cheese soup lover, you will love this fall favorite!

Print
Dutch Cheese Soup

Yield: 4 Servings

Dutch Cheese Soup

Travel is wonderful when the food is wonderful. Originally published by Viking River Cruises, this is a yummy entry into your soup recipe book!

Don't forget that you need flameproof crocks to broil the cheese at the end.

Ingredients

  • A quarter cup vegetable oil
  • Two tablespoons butter
  • A half cup diced onions
  • One cup diced cauliflower
  • Two potatoes, cut into half-inch cubes
  • A half cup carrots, cut into half-inch cubes
  • Four cups chicken stock
  • Four ounces Canadian bacon, diced
  • Five ounces Gouda cheese, thinly sliced
  • Eight slices sourdough baguette
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat oil on medium-high heat in a 1.5-quart saucepan. Add onion and sauté until softened. Add cauliflower, carrots and potato; sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in chicken stock and bring to a boil. In a small skillet, heat the butter. Add the Canadian bacon and sauté until lightly browned. Add bacon to soup. Reduce heat to low and cover, simmering until vegetables are tender (about 15 minutes). Pour soup into four individual flameproof crocks or bowls. Top each portion with two bread slices and one-quarter of the cheese. Place under the broiler until cheese is bubbly. Serve immediately.

https://gotmyreservations.com/2012/11/06/dutch-cheese-soup/

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Trip Advisor: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?

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I’ve been spending a lot of time this week looking online at London hotel web sites.

I’ve read Rick Steves’ recommendations; he has a certain point of view that I’m not sure I always share. I’ve read some other travel guides, but I often come back to Trip Advisor. My experience has been that if a hotel has mostly Excellent and Very Good ratings and has enough such ratings to actually have some credibility, I can trust Trip Advisor. Open online forums such as Trip Advisor allow for fake positive reviews posted by the relatives of the innkeeper, but also allow for negative reviews created by competitors to drive business away. That’s why I look for an accommodation with lots of reviews and I read them pretty carefully.

I rated the bed and breakfast we stayed at on our 2011 trip to England, and gave it glowing reviews on Trip Advisor. We were there for eleven days and knew the place inside and out. One morning there was a disgruntled guest who complained about her breakfast experience the entire time she was in the dining room — and she wrote a negative review on Trip Advisor about it. Hers is the only remotely negative review about the place, and frankly, people should take it with a grain of salt.

What’s your experience with Trip Advisor? Do you write reviews? More importantly, do you have a place in London to recommend to our readers? Please put links in the comments — we’d love to check out your favorite London accommodations!

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Chicago Day 8: Public Art

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I’m linked up today and for the rest of the month in the 31 Days Challenge at The Nester. By clicking the tab at the top of the page, you can easily access all of the 31 Days in Chicago posts. If you’ve got a story to tell about your experiences in Chicago, I welcome guest posts. Join the fun by emailing me, or if you’re not ready to write, go to The Nester’s web site to follow some other stories this month.

Chicago is well-known for its public art.

You have probably all seen Cloud Gate, our “bean” in Grant Park.

You probably have also wondered about our Picasso.

You may have even seen the Batcolumn.

But have you seen Carpet by Ellen Harvey (2007), a mosaic of hand-cut marble? I used to ride the CTA from this station, but I’ve never seen this amazing piece of art work.

If you’re a visitor to town or a staycationer, an exploration of the Chicago Public Art Program website might be in order. We are surrounded by art and it enriches our daily lives in sweet home, Chicago.

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October 2012 Challenge

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I’ll be linking up with The Nester again this year for the 31 Days Challenge — and what better travel destination to choose than my own beloved city? I’ve combed through my archives and I have lots of beautiful Chicagoland sites to share with you, as well as a whole bunch of restaurants. Some will be new to you and some may be old favorites.

If you’d like to join me as a cheerleader for the home team, I’d love some guest posts about your experiences in our fair (but sometimes windy) city. Just email me — my link is in the contact box on the right. Just send me your photos and text, and I can format the post for you.

Last year I just about killed myself with magazine-style articles about places in Europe that we visited. I’m hoping to keep this year’s posts shorter, with lots of photography. You know that I love a challenge; I think I’m ready to introduce you to my Sweet Home Chicago. See you Monday!

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(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

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Photographers do the craziest things.

I chased these white horses around the field in Sauder Village trying the get the perfectly synced photo.

It turned out that the first one I took was the best… isn’t that always the case?

P.S. After I prepared this post, I realized that those rocks in the corner were actually little horse pies and was aghast. Then I decided to keep them in as proof of a photographer’s folly in not cropping one’s photos. 🙂

I’m linked up today with Project Alicia. Be sure to stop by and visit the work of these talented bloggers and photographers.

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Cheese, Glorious Cheese!

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I’m on a brief hiatus while I enjoy my out-of-town company, but I just couldn’t resist sharing this wonderful post about the Roquefort region in France.

Our House in Provence is one of my favorite finds among the French bloggers I follow; Michel lives in the United States with his family and also owns a home in Provence. I love the travelogues that are presented and every story makes me more and more eager to experience Provence for myself!

People either love or hate “moldy” cheese; does this photo of aging Roquefort make you hungry? Or do you hate it?

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Provence Week: Anthony Bourdain in Provence

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Provence “looks like the inside of Martha Stewart’s head.”

Thus says Anthony Bourdain, host of the Travel Channel’s No Reservations. Although I had totally forgotten that I had seen this before, I got all excited about an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations that was filmed in Provence. My brother even texted me to tell me it was airing, I’m that obviously hooked on both Tony and Provence.

This episode actually makes Bourdain seem normal and almost humble.

As Tony learns to make aioli from an elderly Provencal woman, he is respectful of both her process and her experience.

It’s very gentle, the process…You gotta be careful.  You have to keep your voice down.  Show a little respect for the process…

It makes me want to learn how to make aioli.

Sorry, I had to delete the video because it’s no longer available. 🙁

There are lots of good scenes in this episode.

Tony and friends do a wine and charcuterie tasting.

He tours a winery.

His friends tell him that if you ask for Ricard instead of pastis, the locals know you know what they drink.

It’s really funny to see the usually brash Tony worrying about cooking for his Provencal friends.

Apparently I’m not the only person who’s dreaming of Provence; this remains my top post of all time because of the beautiful photo of Provence I used. I guess it’s time to use it again!

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