Picture of the Day: Buddha & Elephant Statues in Chang Mai

Chang Mai, Thailand
08.09.2008 

Random Sights: Bottled Water Advertisement in Paris

This advertisement for Evian water on the side of a vending machine at a Paris Metro stop has me totally baffled. I just don't understand why this guy is wearing a t-shirt with a baby's body on it and I really don't get what it has to do with bottled water. I'm also confused how their statement "fraîcheur garantie" (guaranteed fresh) ties in with the picture.

Although mystifying, the picture does totally crack me up. It looks funny and would make a pretty good Halloween costume.

Anyway, if anyone out there has any insight into the meaning of this advertisement please let me know. The best I can think of is baby = young = fresh but then why not just have a picture of a baby with the water instead? What do you think?

Italy Trip Day 1: Rainy Day in Montreal

Waking up in Montreal in the morning, Frank and I were exhausted after not getting to go to sleep until four in the morning due to flight delays. Looking out the window we saw that it was a rainy, grey day so we decided that since we had both been to Montreal before maybe it was best to catch a bit more sleep so we wouldn't be completely exhausted when we got to Paris.

After we were rested we checked out of our hotel, left our luggage there and headed down Rue Sainte-Catherine. We saw a lot of brightly colored graffiti adorning buildings which made a cheerful contrast to the dreary day. I stopped to snap a few pictures and Frank asked me, "What are you taking pictures of? The nudie bar?" In typical Lisa fashion I was completely oblivious to the fact that a strip club was right in the middle of the block I was taking a picture of. I decided that the other side of the street might be a better photo opportunity. 

Since we had slept through breakfast we were famished for lunch and stopped to eat at Café du Nouveau Monde. Frank had the beef burger on brioche with roasted onions, bacon and mustard mayonnaise while I ate the proscuitto, fresh fig and arugula salad with vinaigrette. My salad was fabulous with the sweetness of the fig and the saltiness of the proscuitto. I think I'll have to try to replicate it at home. We also decided to share an appetizer plate of charcuterie, cheese fondue and crudites. The cheese in the fondue was wonderfully sharp and the salamis and proscuitto were delicious. 

After eating we continued on and walked through Le Quartier Chinois which is Montreal's Chinatown. We saw some awesome looking noodle places that made us wish we hadn't eaten yet.

Finally we arrived at Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal. It is pretty from the outside, but stunning from the inside. The first time I saw the basilica was when I was in eighth grade on a trip with my French class to Montréal and Québec. I had spent months babysitting at every chance I could get and then used almost all of my savings to go on that trip. It was worth every penny and I absolutely loved the trip. I remember being mesmerized by the basilica as soon as I walked in and trying to capture the beauty with my terrible 110 film camera. Thankfully I ended up buying a postcard. Seeing the lovely basilica again it was no less beautiful than the image of my memory. The wood carving is stunning and the vaulted ceiling seems to rise to the heavens. It is a lovely and awe inspiring place of worship.

At this point we needed to start walking back to our hotel so that we could head to the airport. On our way we walked by Hôtel de Ville de Montréal (Montreal City Hall) and Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in Old Montréal.

After checking into our airport we discovered that our flight to Paris was very delayed and we ended up having seven hours on our hands before the flight finally took off. As compensation we got $15 food vouchers which we spent at an airport restaurant that ended up having sub par food. Luckily we had access to the Air France lounge so we enjoyed free drinks, snacks and internet while we waited. Frank had set up a sling box before leaving home so a positive side of the delay was that he could watch the Michigan-Ohio University NCAA tournament game.

Eventually we boarded, but then sat on the tarmac for an hour before finally taking off. Unfortunately this flight delay scenario is getting a little more common on our trip than I would like and I am glad that our flight from Paris to Rome was a little more smooth.

Picture of the Day: Traditional Greek Shoes for Sale in Athens

Athens, Greece
11.15.2009 

St. Patrick's Day Sugar Cookies

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Paris! Frank usually observes St. Patrick's Day back home by celebrating at our local Irish Pub, Conor O'Neills, starting with a traditional Irish breakfast. This year since we are out of town I knew Frank would be a little bummed about not being at Conor's so I thought that I would make him some shamrock cookies before we left and surprise him with them on St. Patrick's Day.

To make the cookies I made up a batch of sugar cookie dough, rolled it out and then cut out shapes with a shamrock cookie cutter. For best results, I find it is important to let your dough sit in the fridge for a few hours before rolling it out. To make sure I have evenly baked cookies I make sure to have the dough rolled out an even thickness because any thinner part will brown too quickly. I also keep a close eye when I am baking and pull the cookies out of the oven as soon as I see a little browning on the edge.

After the cookies cooled I decorated them with royal icing. I tinted the icing with green coloring and then piped an outline around the shamrock's edge. I let the outline icing set and then used water to thin the royal icing for filling in the design. To thin the icing I add the water in small amounts until a drip of icing will disappear back into the bowl. It's important not to thin the icing too much otherwise the icing will be hard to control. Once the icing is sufficiently thinned I put it in a piping bag, trace just inside my outline and then fill in the rest of the design. To finish off the cookies I sprinkled green sugar on top of them and then tapped off the excess when the icing was dried. Simple, easy and tasty! I hope Frank likes them!

Royal Icing Recipe

My grandma passed on this royal icing recipe to me. It is a pretty standard recipe and she used it to make roses for wedding cakes that she made and sold out of her home kitchen. When I was little I was absolutely mesmerized by the way she would turn out the roses so quickly and methodically.

With my baking I don't have much need for royal icing roses, so instead I typically use this recipe for icing sugar cookies. I pipe an outline onto my cookie with stiff icing and then flood the design with thinned icing. It is a really easy way to make pretty designs on your cookies.

Another fun thing you can do is pipe royal icing into lacy designs on wax paper and then attach the designs to your baked goods once they are dry. The decorations are quite fragile, though, so it is always wise to make spares in case you break a few.

Ingredients List
- 1 lb. powdered sugar
- 3 egg whites
- 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
- Food coloring (optional)

Directions
- Put powdered sugar, egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl
- Beat for 10 minutes for icing to achieve desired consistency
- Tint icing with food coloring if desired

Tips and Tricks
- Royal icing can dry out quickly start crusting over so using plastic wrap to cover the top of the icing with the plastic completely covering the surface of the icing
- If the icing is too thin, add more sugar; if it is too thick, add a bit of water or more egg whites
- If you are leery of using egg whites, there are recipes that use meringue power instead 

Picture of the Day: Mango Tree in Barbuda

Codrington, Barbuda
07.2009 

An Inauspicious Beginning

Rain, flooding, hail and tornadoes can't keep Frank and I from embarking on our trip and after four gate changes and a several hour delay we finally made it to Montreal, the first stop on our trip.

After a gorgeous, sunny day in the seventies the skies turned dark in the early evening. At 5:30 the tornado sirens started going off while I was still at work. As everyone was evacuating to the basement I decided I just needed to head home otherwise I would risk not being able to pack and make my flight. Lucky for me that I did because it turns out that the people at work were down in the basement for over two hours which would have caused me some trouble getting to the airport.

My drive home was slow with the pouring rain and by the time I got back to my house it was hailing even thought it was still warm. I finished up packing and Frank swung by my house to pick me up. Ann Arbor had flash flooding with about 4 inches of rain coming down in forty-five minutes. Tornadoes had touched down nearby and one had taken out a neighborhood in nearby Dexter.

Our drive to the airport was slow (we had to drive through some standing water that was a little nerve wracking) but we still got there about an hour and a half before our flight. When we dropped off our bags the gate agent said the flight was on time but we knew there was no way since the airport had been shut down for a while due to the storm and everything was backed up. About twenty minutes prior to our scheduled departure the flight finally showed up late and we ended up having a gate change every half hour or so. We had drinks and enjoyed watching some NCAA tournament basketball while we waited and finally took off at nearly one in the morning.

By the time we got to our hotel at nearly four in the morning we were exhausted but glad that we didn't have a tight connection to fly on to Europe that we would have missed. It was definitely a crazy beginning to our trip and hopefully things go a little smoother from here out.

Picture of the Day: African Elephant in Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park
Mpumalanga, South Africa
07.27.2004 

Off to Italy!

Frank and I are taking off this evening for our Italy trip. Because we booked low mileage frequent flier flights (don't you love free flights?) we are taking a round about way to get there with day layovers in Montreal and Paris. I don't mind at all and actually I am happy about it. I love both cities and getting bonus days there will be fun plus I'll get to try to revive a bit of my high school French.

While I am away I have some posts already planned and I hope to also post a bit on my trip if I have the chance but I want to focus on enjoying my vacation and relaxing. I am really looking forward to this break from work and hope to come back refreshed. I'm also a little stir crazy because it has been almost two months since I've gone out of town. It's time to hit the road!

Do you have any spring or summer vacation plans? Where are you heading? If you don't have any plans, where do you wish you were going?