FOTO FRIDAY:RAIN,RAIN GO AWAY

FOTO FRIDAY: ENOUGH already. We were forewarned about 2 weeks of rain but we are saturated. 

                          Look what fell from the neighbor's yard...

18ft long 5" in diameter. 

All can be fixed and no one was hurt.

Last week's pic was STICKERED

MIDWEEK MUSINGS:MOMS KNOW BEST/MIND YOUR STEP

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: Our Moms' imprint us with many lessons and one specific teaching keeps serving me well and that's the importance of wearing good shoes. You know shoes that give one good support and are appropriate for the occasion, especially walking on all types of terrain.

My computer reminded me that I had more than tripled my steps both in Costa Rica and Croatia. Hills galore and a lot of stairs especially in Croatia.

Our first condo in Dubrovnik had 192 steps out the back door when we wanted to go to the old city... Can you imagine schlepping groceries up them?

I  finally decided to count them our last trek back up them. Even if I doubted my precision, I wouldn't be willing to recount them. It was safer to take them over the narrow winding road with pin curves, not really enough room for walkers. 

AND there were more stairs when one reached the old city...

Thank goodness I had brought two pairs of walking shoes, Merrills that could get wet and the other was leather 'grandma' looking ones. They served me well in addition to some slippers for the long plane ride, Teva sandals for walking the beach, water ( sea urchins!) and around the pool/ hot tub. 

Accidents can happen regardless and we had 2 amidst us that wiped out- one on stairs and another on an unlevel stone board walk. Luckily, no hospital visits requiredand just bruised bodies and egos. 

Remember Mom knows best- Wear the best footwear for the journey wherever you are headed...

TBT: ASIAN WHITE HOUSE CHEFS

 TBT: Last week in spite of jetlag, I attended the Clinton Library's talk given by both Adrian Miller and via Zoom his co-author Deborah Chang re: their collaboration of writing Cooking to the Presidents Taste: Asian Heritage Chefs in White House History." 

Both authors met when they attended Stanford while working towards becoming  lawyers, not cookbook authors.

Years later at a dinner party the two crossed paths again and both left law to collaborate on this book.

Amiable and quick-witted Adrian found another passion in researching as a lawyer and it was Deborah who asked him to collaborate in writing about food, specifically food prepared by Asian Chefs in the White House. After all, he had been a judge in a Bar-B-Q cookoff! She had grown up in her parents' restaurant business. He handled the history and research while Deborah tested and developed all 60 recipes in the book. 

Through the years, many ethnic cooks have graced the White House kitchen, yacht, and Camp David cooking for our Presidents, especially Asian chefs. Chinese chefs like Ah Loy for Roosevelt, Harry Truman had a favorite Filipino chef, Lee Ping Quan, who cooked for Harding and Coolidge in addition to Shiro Tsurusaki. Filipinos like Ireno Esperancilla served Hoover through Eisenhower, and later Filipina Cristeta Comerford ran the White House kitchen from 2005- 2024 for 5 presidents. Right now, the executive chef is Thai American, Tony Kurpradit.

 The night's attendees were treated to a yummy chocolate chip cookie in addition to recipes both in this book and others by Adrian  Miller. 

I am so glad Miller and Chang collaborated, and I was privy to hear about their work!

tUESDAY tUNES:

Silente is  a a pop-rock band from Dubrovnik, Croatia which appeared in 2012. In its earlier years the band was known as 'Silent' (2006-2012).

We saw their stage being assembled our first day in the Old City and then that night SILENTE'S sound more than wafted up to our condo above the square.It was anything but silent... Towards the end of their concert,the crowd sang along to their most popular song. Below are the lyrics in a rough translation to read while you listen to the song...

: Terca Na Tirišinu  

The concert continued until almost midnight. My condo-mates slept through it all. I wish I could have fallen asleep but the rewards were to to hear the sing along at the end of the concert and not have to stand amidst all their fans...

Third in Silence

Chorus:

Don't make a single sound

And I will compose a third* 

I'll propose until you say ''yes''

I will invite people

You'll take care of the wine

First wedding without music

Only third in silence

You rule the air

And I will rule the ground

Don't make a single sound

And I will compose a third* in it

I'll propose until you say ''yes''

I will invite people

You take care of the wine

First wedding without music

Only third in silence You rule the air

 

I shine like a new moon

The east is resting in me

I admit, I'm responsible

For the mess in your eyes

Among your Russian writers

You're looking for someone like me

I read everything in your freckles, freckles

that look like the stars

You sleep in the skies

I will wander the world

Let's meet somewhere in the middle

Let's meet where your clouds

and my hills meet

Let's meet since your freckles and

my wrinkles already greet each other.

MONDAY MUSINGS: EXPANDING ONE'S GASTRONOMIC PALATE

MONDAY MUSINGS: Travel can not only help one see magical places but also experience new foods. I just returned from a WONDERFUL two weeks, one of those spent upon a small yacht that would visit a fraction of the over thousand islands that make up the country of Croatia.

Below is our main itinerary on our small yacht which only had 16 passengers for their initial trip of the season. Yes, 16! Couples from Australia, Chicago, St Louis, Seattle, Russellville (ironically Arkansas) 

 

                                    our group of 5 from La Crosse and yours truly from Little Rock.

Every day our cruise director would handwrite our day's itinerary and we could snap a picture to keep track of the day's plans and dinner suggestions. 

European breakfast bar and lunch most days would be aboard the Diamond, our recently renovated craft of the Zantium fleet. 

Dinner was always on our own, except for the Captain's Dinner., a lovely meal and dance party!

I actually tried the cheese-filled burek 

Sampling local cuisine including treats of both savory and sweet baked goods.

Burek (l)and pistachio-filled croissants, cardamon rolls, etc...

Since we were surrounded by water, seafood was a must and I tried the gamete. 

All sorts of risotto although my fave was Black risotto with cuttlefish. 

Sea bream cooked various ways, salmon, octopus salad, scorpion fish and all sorts of shellfish that had never passed my lips before.

Popular desserts including European gelato, tiramisu, custards, mousses, cakes, etc... 

Yummy fresh food every day. ..

I could get used to a Mediterranean diet for sure. 

FOTO FRIDAY: STICKERED

FOTO FRIDAY: When my children made me give up the oversized hiking backpack I had inherited from my son's leftovers in my storage, they gifted me one of those small, expandable rolling suitcases. 

I had to do something to distinguish it from all those other bags rolling around the carousel... I decided to add stickers after each trip. 

Here's my most recent memory :)

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was SON KNOWS BEST

TBT: THE BLUE CAVE

TBT:  After we left the Croatian island of Vis,  our yacht, the Diamond, visited Bisevo, a nearby island with a very small cave.  On one side of the cave, sunlight sneaks in through what appears to be a sliver of an opening, which reflects off the white limestone floor and makes the light inside the cave a fluorescent blue.

We boarded a small tour boat where its passengers have to duck as it enters the cave's small opening. I didn't dare snap a picture as we entered, but I snapped a shot of it before we left. (see left)

In fact, the day before, the waters were so rough and raised its waters too high for guests to enter.

Luck was on our side the day after...

We were very happy campers to get to see this natural wonder...