Just for Fun

el-e-e gave me a letter and I have to list 10 things I like that start with that letter.
My letter is T. Wheee! This is fun!

1. Traveling!
2. Triathlon training. Just working on building the base so far. We've sort of targeted a race in Europe in 2009, but are not making any definite plans yet. But the training is fun! Especially swimming.
3. Tuborg
4. Target. Next time we're in the US, I'm planning a big ol' Target shopping trip.
5. To Do Lists
6. Taking Jakey for a run or a swim
7. Thunderstorms
8. title nine
9. Thanksgiving
10. 30 Rock (does that count as a T?)

Trip Report: Praha

Here's the wrap-up on our trip to Prague. In short, it was beautiful, the city is incredible, we had an absolute blast with our friends from the states, we froze our patooties off in the cold, snowy weather, we loved how inexpensive everything seemed after living in Copenhagen for several months, and we'd highly recommend Prague if you're traveling to Europe.

Now for the long version. I'm writing it all down just as it comes into my head because if I take the time to try to write eloquently or be witty or creative, I'll never get around to posting and at the very least, I want to have a record of our travels. So here is my spew of our trip.

We arrived in the afternoon on January 1. LOVE that the flight from home to Prague is only one hour. This is one reason why we moved here, right? We got settled into our apartment for the week (yay for http://www.vrbo.com/) and went out to find an early dinner. A few funny things from the restaurants we found:

• "Meat marbles" and "tasty necks" on the menu
• Pilsner Urquell signs everywhere
• Budweiser that is in no way related to American Bud
• One in three Czechs smokes. Absolutely the truth. I think at dinner they must light up a new ciggy between bites.
• A Mexican restaurant with nothing Mexican on the menu. We call it "Czexican."

After dinner, we went to the heart of the city to wander around. Turns out the city of Prague has a fireworks display on the evening of New Year's Day, in addition to whatever merry-making and fireworks go on on New Year's Eve. We happened upon it just as it started. Nice timing!

The metro station was a little crowded:

But we had a lovely time watching the fireworks and then seeing our first glimpses of Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, and the Gothic architecture at night. It was breathtaking.


Day 2: Bought a Lonely Planet book on Prague and started planning. Went to Old Town Square, saw the astronomical clock, went to the Jewish Cemetery and Museum and a couple of synagogues, looked in some crystal shops, and generally wandered around. Fantastic day.


Day 3: Went on an "excursion" to Karlstejn Castle.

It was about a two-mile walk from the train station up to the castle. Uphill. Which wasn't too bad since it was cold as heck. By the time we reach the top of the hill and the castle we were stripping off layers and layers of mittens, scarves, coats, hats. The view was incredible.


And the tour of the castle was fantastic! No heat though. We definitely found out was castle-living would have been like before the days of central heating. Yowzah! Our fingers and toes were numb by about the second room of the tour. The history of Prague is quite interesting. This castle was a summer home for King Charles IV. (Yeah, summer home. Smart move. I wouldn't live there in the winter either.) We also learned that at one time, Prague was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. So this King Charles IV was a big dog in European history. Fascinating. Must read up on Prague, the Hapsburgs, Austria-Hungary, the Thirty Years War, King Wenceslas, etc.

After the tour, we practically ran down the mountain in an attempt to get warm. (Didn't work.) Back in the city, we headed up to the Strahov Monastery. Take a look at the library here! OMG! By the way, the oldest book in this library is from the 9th century! NINTH!



Here's the view from the monastery:

We had dinner at Maly Buddha, which I highly recommend. De-lish. We finished the day with a beautiful walk home and I think more than a few games of Hearts. I'm pretty sure all of which I lost.

Day 4: Prague Castle! Hradcany! (Czech is one crazy language. Makes Danish seem easy!) We set aside a full day to tour the massive castle. It's practically a town in itself. Complete with a huge museum, gorgeous cathedral, smaller basilica, a street of shops, many towers, a prison, gardens, and cafes. It was a fantastic day.

A fantastic day, except that the castle offers a "family" ticket, which is less expensive than buying two adult tickets. The family ticket is good for two adults and a child. Which means, we soon discovered, that it is NOT good for two adults and no child. "You are not a family!" they told us. We tried explaining that our (fictional) child was waiting outside. And even though the completely exasperated ticket lady finally gave us the family ticket, we couldn't use it to get into the exhibits. All the ticket people looked at the ticket and asked, "Where is your baby?" They actually refused to let us in until we exchanged our family ticket for two adult tickets. I don't get it.

On the way home from the castle, we walked across Charles Bridge, then went up in the bridge tower and got some more great photos of the city.

Then wandered around Old Town Square again, took more pictures, window shopped, etc. For dinner we found a fan-freaking-tastic restaurant called Cafe FX. The best vegetarian restaurant I've ever been to. (Not that I've been to very many...) It was so good, we went back the following night.

Day 5: our last day in Prague. We went first to the National Museum. They had quite an impressive exhibit called Republicka. It was about the Czech Republic of the 1920s and '30s. Fascinating! And fascinating (and sad/slightly depressing) to think about its history since then. Aside from the exhibit, the building itself is a masterpiece. Definitely worth seeing.

After the museum, we walked down Wenceslas Square. Yep, good ol' King Wenceslas, of Christmas carol fame.
Stopped for lunch at a cafe where you can get either "salty pancackes" or "sweet pancakes." We opted for salty: one pancake (crepe) with mushroom cream and blue cheese, and one with spinach and cream sauce. Mmmmm. After some shopping (for crystal! eeeee!!! and jewelry! eeeeee!) we went to dinner at FX, then for a Budvar nightcap at our neighborhood Czexican restaurant, and finally home.

What a blast!

Christmas. Copenhagen. Night.

Christmas Eve at Our House

Things that make me happy this Christmas Eve:

1. Being with Kevin.
2. Using the good silver and holiday china.
3. That the Danes typically open presents on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day. When in Rome...
4. Candlelight.
5. That we made the ricotta for this lasagna. It's tough to find ricotta at DøgnNetto and that is all that is open on Christmas Eve, so Kevin found a recipe for how to make it.
6. That making ricotta is easy.
7. That we are happy and healthy and full of peace and joy this Christmas.

Trader Tuesday: Skillet Apple Pie

Easy, delicious, homemade apple pie! From Cooks Illustrated.

Skillet Apple Pie

Crust
1 cup flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening , chilled (or just use more butter. I couldn't find shortening over here.)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter , cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3–4 tablespoons ice water

Filling
1/2 cup apple cider
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 pounds sweet apples and tart apples (about 5 medium), peeled, cored, halved, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
1 egg white , lightly beaten
2 teaspoons sugar

Instructions
1. FOR THE CRUST: Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined. Add shortening and process until mixture has texture of coarse sand, about ten 1-second pulses. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and process until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse crumbs, with butter bits no larger than small peas, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer mixture to medium bowl.
2. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons ice water over mixture. With blade of rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix. Press down on dough with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if dough does not cometogether. Turn dough out onto sheet of plastic wrap and flatten into 4-inch disk. Wrap dough and refrigerate 30 minutes, or up to 2 days, before rolling out. (If dough is refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable.)
3. FOR THE FILLING: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (between 7 and 9 inches from heating element) and heat oven to 500 degrees. Whisk cider, syrup, lemon juice, cornstarch, and cinnamon (if using) together in medium bowl until smooth. Heat butter in 12-inch heatproof skillet over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, add apples and cook, stirring 2 or 3 times until apples begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes. (Do not fully cook apples.) Remove pan from heat, add cider mixture, and gently stir until apples are well coated. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Roll out dough on lightly floured work surface, or between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap, to 11-inch circle. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll over apple filling. Brush dough with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. With sharp knife, gently cut dough into 6 pieces by making 1 vertical cut followed by 2 evenly spaced horizontal cuts (perpendicular to first cut). Bake until apples are tender and crust is a deep golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes; serve.

Polar Bear Jamboree?

Remember the Country Bear Jamboree at Disney World?


Hey, look! It's the Scandinavian version!



Glaedelig Jul!

Tuesday Recipe Trade - Kale and Carmelized Onions

Here's a kale recipe that doesn't taste like bitter greens or weird rabbit food. Yummy side dish, even for non-vegetarians, in my opinion!

5 T olive oil
4-6 medium onions, sliced
1 T sugar
10 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
2 lbs. kale, stemmed and coarsely chopped
salt and pepper
1 lb fresh spinach
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup chopped almods

Heat 2 T oil in large pot or Dutch oven. Add onion and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring often, until tender and starting to brown. Add sugar and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so.
In a separate skillet, heat 3 T olive oil. Add garlic, cook 3-5 minutes, stirring often, until garlic starts to brown.
Add garlic to carmelized onions.
Add kale, salt and pepper, and 1 cup of water. Toss until all kale is wilted.
Add spinach and toss until all spinach is wilted.
Reduce heat and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes, or until greens are tender.
Uncover, add balsamic vinegar, and cook for 2-3 more minutes. (Might want to turn up the heat here. Let any extra water evaporate.)
To serve, sprinkle with almonds.