As you travel you may crave a soft steak but you need to watch your budget. (Or, due to language, not order the desired cut from the local butcher.) I have not tried this trick, but apparently there is an easy and very inexpensive way to soften that tough cut of meat, making it a much nicer and more edible experience.
This episode of Cooking with Jack Show can help you out with that. Any steak, some kosher salt and some time…
December 22, 2014 (posted on facebook) Tonight is the 7th night of Chanukah and I have yet to even see a latke. :( Who’d have thought that in Israel, the land of olive oil, there’d be a dearth of luscious lip-licking latkas? In Poland I could buy them cold in the supermarket or even freshly cooked hot on the street (at least in Zacaopne). But in Jerusalem on the first two days of Chanukah I couldn’t find them on the street, in the markets, or in the most famous shuk. (Donuts, the other traditional fried food of this fiesta, were all over the place, but for me, latkas are the only satisfying option.) Returning to Tzfat I didn’t see a latka for sale anywhere either. So I decided to think of it this way… I travel to learn the world’s traditions, so I’m going with the flow and living on memories of latkas in Tarnow and Zacaopne […]
Imagine walking through lush greenery and seeing waterfall after waterfall with each step and each turn of your head!
That’s Plitvice — a waterfalls park!
For my first meal in Vilnius, Lithuania, I wanted something traditional. My Portuguese friend Pedro, having met me at the bus, was with me for the afternoon and evening. After we’d checked me into a great hostel, we kept an eye out for a good, but affordable place to eat.
The main street through the old city is really nice, but, as you’d expect, the restaurants are touristy and costly. I felt we did fairly well finding Forto Dvaras.
I noticed the American chain, Subway™, in a lot of places. But it really took me by surprise when I saw it in Zakopane! I wasn’t surprised to see it elsewhere in Poland — but to see an American chain in a classic old-style resort town… well, I never expected to see anything American there! And I don’t recall seeing anything else American. I’m not sure there were even any other chains there, American, Polish, or other. Of course, whenever I did see it, I tried to go in and take photos of the menus in each country. (In Panama I ate at Subway once. I didn’t try it in Poland.) Inside, they all looked pretty much the same as in the USA. In Europe where they use the metric system, the sandwhiches were 15cm and 30cm, which works out to slightly smaller sandwhiches. 5.9″ and 11.81 actually. At this […]
Dorota and I spent our days in Zakopane simply walking around and enjoying the sites, sounds, and foods — despite the rain. (Remember you can click an image to enlarge it.) One of the things you can’t miss is the local cheese. It’s sold in each of the main areas of Zakopane and comes in many sizes, shapes, and nuances. Notice it’s not refrigerated? It’s all quite salty and doesn’t need refrigeration. At least not until cut info or for some time. I brought some back to Warsaw as a gift to my host and hostess there. The Square Food stalls surrounded a local square (well circle). The potato pancake stand was irresistible as our lunch. They serve these hot crisp beauties covered in cream. I got to people-watch as we joined others sitting on a low stone curb to enjoy our casual snack or meal. The entertainment included this […]
Here’s the place that attracted our attention for a good sit-down meal for a late lunch or early dinner. The Pierogi caught my attention. I ordered the Spinach Pierogi for 12zl. When the waitress brought it, swimming in butter, I had one bite and was in heaven. I know I took photos of it, but don’t know what happened to those photos. So I can only share a photo of the restaurant and show you its menus. Arranging the night’s accommodations as we ate Dorota needed to get back to work so our mini holiday was ending soon. We were taking a bus back to Krakow by dark. Dorota was worried about me having a place to stay. I wasn’t. I had called Joanna, a woman with whom I’d stayed the first time I came through Krakow because she’d told me to call when I returned. Besides, I can always walk […]
In Kolorowa, a Zakopane tavern featuring live traditional area music, I discovered Raspberry flavored beer, created by adding a raspberry syrup to your beer. (Years ago, in France, I feel for Belgium beer made with raspberries too, but hadn’t thought of adding a syrup myself.)
I arrived in Zakopane, a popular mountain resort in Poland. My Polish friend was on the way by bus. I walked around, found a place for a sit-down lunch, then I listened to room-hawkers who approached me as I awaited my friend’s bus. It was a change for me to stay in a chalet rather that a hostel.
As I traveled to Warsaw for the first time, I felt like a VIP knowing my host, Michal, would be waiting for me at the airport — holding a white sign with my name on it. As he drove me home, he told me of his girlfriend Joanna (Yanna) and that she was making me a traditional Polish meal of Pierogi (but with berries)l for my arrival. Wow.
My first outing in a new country is always exciting. Even if it’s just walking to a food market. But in this case, being taken around by a life-long resident of Warsaw was particularly nice.
Did you know you can open a bottle of wine WITHOUT a corkscrew or other wine-opening tool? This is a tip that every wine-drinking traveler should know. Thanks to Mirabeau Wine for sharing this tech-less tip.
Let’s see if, wherever you go in the world, you ever come across vegetable displays as great as these.
This is the work of a man named Victor. Victor’s proud fellow RALPHS workers call him The Produce Artist.
The morning before I left the good people of the tiny village of Pueblo Nuevo, I used my SteriPEN UV light water purifier one last time as I purified one more bottle of water for my trip back to Panama City.
I got good use out of this SteriPEN but as I go back to Los Angeles, where I am lucky enough to have healthy, safe water, emergencies aside, I know my trusty SteriPEN can be put to much better use here. It will now be used to purify water for the newest baby in the village.
I was very lucky the day I met Susan, a Peace Corps volunteer who is working in a tiny indigenous Panamanian village. I wasn’t able to visit Susan’s village as she was away for a break, but I was able to visit the fabulous Juan Carlos and his friend Elmon in their own village, Soloy. I plan to write more about this visit and the opportunities for others to visit and learn about indigenous Panamanian, but here are a few photos for now. Getting to Soloy, Panama
I am very impressed. I am at Hotel Boca Brava, having arrived last night just as darkness fell. This morning, ordering breakfast, I said (as always) that I am allergic to Cilantro and Culantro. The man who took my order, Jaime, brought me my delicious Breakfast and then asked me since I don’t eat those, what about Perejill (Pe rey hejl). I told him I don’t know that word, so he said wait and brought some to me. It was Parsley and I told him I love it. Then he came back with one more thing, a piece of a lettuce, to see if it was OK. When I arrived and some guests told me of their meals here and then when I saw the menu and not-exorbitant prices, I knew I was in a good place. This morning’s Cilantro response confirmed that! Oh, here is my breakfast: Omlette with […]
When you’re traveling in Panama City, the walk from the start of the cosway to the end of the three now-connected islands the comprise Amador provides great views of the city. However, the restaurants there are higher than the meal budget of the typical budget traveler or backpacker. Of course you can bring sandwiches for the day. Sandwich meats and cheese are quite affordable in Panama City. However, as of approximately December 2012, there is an affordable alternative. at the very end of your walk, off to the side of the last parking lot, you will notice a Sort of a New York City style trailer that is a diner. The owner set this up to sell hot food to the people who work on Amador — but it is open to all of us. It isn’t fancy and it isn’t top quality, but it will get you buy. A […]
Boquette is a small mountain-surrounded town a 30 minute drive from David. The volcanic soil there and its climate make it the vegetable garden of Panamá. The climate is beautiful as ate the vistas. Most short-term visitors dine on the park at Central Park or two blocks up the road at a choose-your-food buffet that my meal companions and I enjoyed. However, my friends Mike and Mike live and work in Boquette and took me to a favorite place of theirs — Nelvis — that Mike says is always great. I did not take photos of my meal but have photos of Nelvis’ facade to share with you. (And yep, that is Mike and Mike in the photo.) About the food: There were several good looking meat dishes in offer as well as fried (not greasy) chicken — and side dishes. As I do not eat Cilantro, the meats’ sauces […]
Having traveled all the way down from Mexico to Panama,* I can now say that I believe Panama has the best food for the least cost. At least I can say that for the local small eatery food in David and Boquette. This was my dinner today, and two other evenings. It is served at a small restaurant on a residential street, not a commercial strip, across from Bambu Hostel in David. It is: • A fish filet, fried but not at all greasy. Just a perfect, crispy light breading. • Thinly sliced pickle with a mustard dressing. • Patacones – Green Plantains that are fried, then smashed, then fried the rest of the way. (My iPhone photo didn’t do it justice or you would be drooling right now.) Water is free. The water here is clean volcano water. No need for plastic water. A Balboa cerveza is $1.00. Wondering […]
Being out of the United States, I barely realized Thanksgiving was coming, But the message did come through and I must admit it was a lonely feeling to realize I would be alone and not have a Thanksgiving Dinner. And then a huge surprise – an invitation from a CouchSurfing hostess who lives near my hostel. She invited me on Wednesday night. Of course, the dinner was delicious. Turkey, stuffing, and more. Something new for me: Costa Rican sweet potato mixed with orange juice baked and served in orange halves. Topped with marshmallow, of course. I really enjoyed the company too. I even learned a new game sort of like charades. Are you wondering how I realized Thanksgiving was coming? For one, via TV. (Gotta keep up on the Middle East and I have been catching a couple of my old Soap Operas while working online during some days. Also, […]
When able to shop and have a clean bowl and spoon, I have been buying Granola for breakfast. At times that granola has been lunch or dinner instead or as well. This is today’s breakfast granola. I selected this brand — alin: Alimentos Naturales — because it is made in Costa Rica. The 250 gram (8.8 ounce) bag sells for 710 colones ($1.42). One of the fruits and something else (a nut?) in it are hard and a bit of a shock to the teeth, but it is a good mix anyway. I bought this same one once last week and it was a great late night smack eaten out of the bag slowly. This is the first time in all of my Central America travels that I have purchased milk in a “regular,” not the new box style container. This Costa Rican-made Coronado brand 1 liter milk was 505 […]
I wonder if all the Halloween candy that doesn’t get sold goes on sale or half price like it does in the US. In El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras that would bring the prices down to what we normally pay in the states. In fact, a huge disappoint for me has been the lack of local brands. It is amazing to me that the cacao grows in these places but there is pretty much no candy bar manufacturing. Instead, the stores sell Hershey’s and Cadbury. In Guatemala there is a local brand, a candy bar the size and shape of the Hershey Bar, but it was more expensive than the Hershey Bar. Go figure. Well, I don’t know if they sell Halloween candy in Honduras and Guatemala, and I won’t be there to see what happens to the candy on the large Halloween displays that were up in San Salvador […]
Last night I walked (about a mile) to the supermarket. First stop, the fish counter. Fish has been all too rare in my diet on this trip. They had some very nice looking fillets. One was Tapia, which is too bland for my taste. There was another white fillet that was less money. As I am not traveling with my spice cabinet, I preferred to gamble on the flavor of the other. So here is my mystery fish of choice. These two pieces were 967 colones. At an exchange rate of roughly 500 per dollar, this was a $2 gamble and each piece was $1. I do carry an excellent Spanish/English dictionary (by Ascendo) with me so I could have looked up the name of this fish. I considered doing so, but I wanted to keep the adventure aspect of this shopping trip alive. Plus… I trusted my judgement that […]
If you like American Sour Cream, you might love this sour cream in Cost Rica as well. To me, it was like having either Sour Cream or Cream Cheese, only not as sweet. It was also somewhat reminiscent of the fresh cream I loved so much while living on a working farm in Tasmania, Australia years ago. (I ate that cream out of the tub! The Australians found that rather entertaining.) I actually found this next to a liquid Cheddar Cheese, not beside the plastic tubs. I have seen and enjoyed a plastic container of “American Style Sour Cream” when a friend bought it. That was a creamy sour cream just like we eat in the States, but without sugar. It was also more fresh tasting. This bag is the same – but less costly as it comes in a bag. I have been using it as a pasta sauce, […]
Funny how things happen. At 10am I took a walk down the road from the hostel where I spent last night. On that walk, I discovered Bagelmen’s and wrote about it here. At 11am, I checked out of the hostel because I felt the manager’s behavior toward me became uncomfortable for me after I told him I was robbed at one of its owner’s other hostels and I didn’t feel at home there. I was told, I needed to leave exactly at checkout time. No problem. I had been welcomed at Bagelmen’s so I went there and relaxed while I looked online for a new hostel. I found a hostel that had excellent reviews and sounded perfect for me, called, and found my way there (in Spanish via two buses). Feeling at home, relaxed, happy and excited about my new albeit short-term home, I asked my friend of what is […]
I am at an eatery called Bagelmen’s in San Jose, Costa Rica. I am sitting amidst fantastic smelling bagels that although not as large as NY style, are very tempting looking. There are 6 locations. This owner owns three. curious, I asked and learned the owner isn’t Jewish. I am pretty sure none of the upscale clientele here is either. I knew bagels had come a long way in NY, LA and other US cities, but until today hasn’t realized they’d become so well known or desirable elsewhere.
