FOOD FIND...

Chicken Gyros with Dill Sauce

1 cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

2 large garlic cloves, finely minced

1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

4 fresh pita bread rounds, heated

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

-1. In small bowl blend together yogurt, 2 tablespoons dill, garlic and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

-1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken with oregano, 1 teaspoon dill, salt and pepper. Sauté until browned and cooked through, about about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

-1. Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and sauté onions until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Return chicken and any juices to skillet. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir until heated through, about 2 minutes.

-1. Top pita rounds with chicken mixture. Spoon dill sauce over chicken and serve. This sandwich is folded in half and eaten. Pass the extra sauce, as desired.

Serves 4.

Written For the Road...

If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's third novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Denny meets and marries Eve, has a daughter, Zoë, and risks his savings and his life to make it on the professional racing circuit. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins koanlike aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man. When Denny hits an extended rough patch, Enzo remains his most steadfast if silent supporter. Enzo is a reliable companion and a likable enough narrator, though the string of Denny's bad luck stories strains believability. Much like Denny, however, Stein is able to salvage some dignity from the over-the-top drama.

FOOD FIND...

Blätterteig Apfel Strudel (Apple Strudel)

4 medium tart green apples, peeled, cored, quartered, sliced

1 cup toasted sliced almonds, chopped - divided use

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup raisins

1 cup granulated sugar

Pinch of ground cinnamon

1 slice of sponge cake, 10 x 2 1/4-inch

1/3 cup rum

1 sheet prepared frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions

Egg Wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

1 tablespoon sugar

Optional Garnish: whipped cream and fresh berries

-1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

-1. In a large bowl, combine apples, 3/4 cup of the almonds, sour cream, whipping cream, vanilla, raisins, sugar and cinnamon. Toss gently. Allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

-1. Place puff pastry on a lightly floured, dry surface. Using a rolling pin, roll until approximately 12 x 6 x 1/8-inch. Place on baking sheet. Place sponge cake down the middle. Drizzle rum over cake. Place apple mixture on top of cake. Fold puff pastry over the top and seal. Seal ends, too.

-1. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle on remaining almonds and 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake in middle of preheated oven until golden brown, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

Makes 8 servings.

*To toast almonds, place on baking sheet and place in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 3 to 5 minutes. Watch carefully because they can burn easily.

Written For the Road...

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever. Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home. What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms. For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story.

FEATURED HOSTEL...

Unplugged Hostel Montevideo is located in the heart of Pocitos, one of the nicest and safest neighborhoods of Montevideo, just a few blocks away from the beach where you can sunbath and swim in the summer or walk or ride a bike in the winter. This quiet and friendly neighborhood has plenty of stores, restaurants and pubs within a walking distance.
Our young and friendly staff has been specially selected and they are going to make you have a great stay!

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FOOD FIND...

Danish Pancakes - Pandekager

4 large eggs, separated

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup beer

2 cups milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

Strawberry preserves

-1. In mixing bowl beat egg white until stiff; set aside.

-1. In another mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored, add flour and mix well. Add beer, milk, salt and butter and beat until smooth. Carefully fold in egg whites.

-1. Pour a little batter in 6-inch greased skillet. Rotate skillet to spread batter over surface. Brown on both sides. Repeat until all batter is used. Serve hot with strawberry preserves.

Makes about 18 pancakes.

10 THINGS...ROME

10 THINGS...BARCELONA

Written For the Road...

Maarten Troost is a laowai (foreigner) in the Middle Kingdom, ill-equipped with a sliver of Mandarin, questing to discover the "essential Chineseness" of an ancient and often mystifying land. What he finds is a country with its feet suctioned in the clay of traditional culture and a head straining into the polluted stratosphere of unencumbered capitalism, where cyclopean portraits of Chairman Mao (largely perceived as mostly good, except for that nasty bit toward the end) spoon comfortably with Hong Kong's embrace of rat-race modernity. From Beijing and its blitzes of flying phlegm--and girls who lend new meaning to "Chinese take-out"--to the legendary valley of Shangri-La (as officially designated by the Party), Troost learns that his very survival may hinge on his underdeveloped haggling skills and a willingness to deploy Rollerball-grade elbows over a seat on a train. Featuring visits to Mao's George Hamiltonian corpse and a rural market offering Siberian Tiger paw, cobra hearts, and scorpion kebabs (in the food section), Lost on Planet China is a funny and engrossing trip across a nation that increasingly demands the world's attention. --Jon Foro

FOOD FIND...

Jamaican Coconut Pudding

1/2 shredded or flaked coconut

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1 cup milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

-1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

-1. Put all ingredients in a blender and beat until smooth. Pour into a buttered pie dish and bake for 1 hour.

Serves 6.

Written For the Road...

It's safe to say that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of the funniest science fiction novels ever written. Adams spoofs many core science fiction tropes: space travel, aliens, interstellar war--stripping away all sense of wonder and repainting them as commonplace, even silly.
This omnibus edition begins with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which Arthur Dent is introduced to the galaxy at large when he is rescued by an alien friend seconds before Earth's destruction. Then in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Arthur and his new friends travel to the end of time and discover the true reason for Earth's existence. In Life, the Universe, and Everything, the gang goes on a mission to save the entire universe. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish recounts how Arthur finds true love and "God's Final Message to His Creation." Finally, Mostly Harmless is the story of Arthur's continuing search for home, in which he instead encounters his estranged daughter, who is on her own quest. There's also a bonus short story, "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe," more of a vignette than a full story, which wraps up this completist's package of the Don't Panic chronicles. As the series progresses, its wackier elements diminish, but the satire of human life and foibles is ever present. --Brooks Peck --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

FEATURED HOSTELS...

CROATIA

Hostel Ana is sitauted in the center of town Split, in the historic part of town near to Silver Gates of Diocletian's Palace. The distance from the Diocletian palace is about a 40 m. Hostel include terrace and wonderful view to Diocletan's Palace and Cathedral of St. Duje.

For more on Hostel Ana checkout our Facebook Page

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PASSPORT TO: USA

Mentioning 'the best laid plans' (and all that) - well Fred & I have spent about 18 months seriously planning our holiday, and let me tell you, our first day in New York didn't go to plan!
We had a gruelling 12 hour flight to L.A - I didn't sleep a wink the whole way, mainly because of a baby that shrieked hysterically the whole way - poor thing & poor parents! Josh (10) and Kate (7 ½) & Fred slept a little, though the kids stayed awake a lot of the time complaining that their legs hurt. A Note about Air New Zealand: Their service was pretty average, and the fact that they didn't supply us with the almost compulsory toothbrush/paste/night mask etc left us VERY unimpressed - as we had expected these fundamentals and hadn't taken any of our own with us - hence a bad case of dragon-breath for our family in the morning. Descending into L.A I was struck by the grey and brownness of the scenery - and the haze of smog. The mountains were beautiful, but the city just seemed an endless blur of dusty grey with strips on interstate dwindling into the horizon

View from hotel window.

. Once in L.A everything went smoothly, apart from a delay in our New York flight. The flight to New York was loooooooong, and I managed to catch a couple of 5 minute naps each time the woman next to me let out rip-roaring sneezes & I jerked awake like a startled bunny! Not to worry, we breezed through JFK airport and caught a yellow taxi cab to our hotel - Hotel Pennsylvanian. I was pretty much a zombie as we were driven silently through the swift moving traffic on these long expressways - which to be honest pretty much looked like expressways anywhere else in the world. However the views of Manhattan lights and the Chrysler towers pretty steepled roof was a delight on the eyes. Once through the mid-town tunnel it only took a few minutes for us to arrive at our hotel - The Hotel Pennsylvania www.hotelpenn.com
The lobby is a little dated with a huge chandelier, but I guess that's part of the old charm of the place - I think it dates back to the early thirties.
But then imagine our horror at getting to the reception desk at about 2am to discover we had made a mistake with our booking, and we weren't expected (or allowed) to check in until later that day at 2pm. Yes, it was 2 in the morning, and we couldn't lay our heads to rest in our booked rooms for 12 hours...! So we had the choice of paying a whopping US$400 full price for another room for the remainder of the night, or staying awake till our room was ready later today

Staten Island Ferry.

. We decided we would rather drink lots of coffee & give the kids coke, than pay over NZ$500 for 6 hours sleep. So we took off to a nearby 24-hour diner and had a lovely 'early' breakfast - the kids chowed down on chocolate chip pancakes, Fred had banana pancakes and I had bacon & eggs - and lots of coffee. We then saw two police officers who we asked if Times Square was safe for us to walk to at that time of night - there were still LOTS of people around and quite a few shops open. They assured us it was safe as they had just been there, so kids in tow we took a 3am-5.30am tour of mid-town Manhattan - what a blast! We saw a number of homeless people, which was sad, but no one hassled us at all and we didn't feel at all threatened as we walked up and down & across the streets of the Time Square area. The neon there has to be seen to be believed - Joshua and Kate loved the M&M shop with the big neon sign that changes constantly with the cute M&M characters. By about 4.30 I was starting to feel light-headed from the combination of caffeine high and lack of sleep, so we stopped at a nearby McDonalds for a rest - and another coffee - okay, okay at that time I didn't REALISE I was having a caffeine head rush! We saw the sky lightening, and the amount of people on the streets increase as dawn approached. We'd made it through a night on the town.
Then we decided to catch the subway down to the end of Manhattan and catch the Staten Island Ferry (free) which goes right past the Statue of Liberty with awesome views of downtown Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridge

Tracey, Kate, Josh with Shrek.

.
We headed to see the World Trade Centre memorial, which is basically names on a huge sign and a small information kiosk with many Asian tourists milling around & photographing themselves in front of a large colour photo of the twin towers on the side of the kiosk. That made my stomach turn. We took no photos and didn't stay long. It was a sobering place to visit, but I had always promised myself that I would visit it and pay my silent respects to the dead. I still remember clearly watching the event on television that September morning, and to see the gigantic hole in the ground was just surreal and so, so sad.
The kids were very anxious to get back to the Times Square/Broadway area - you see that had spotted the 'Toys 'r' us' humongous toy store - they spotted the huge indoor ferris wheel earlier in the morning and DROOLED. Of course we all had to have a ride on it... There was also a giant sized animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex who moved his head/arms and occasionally let out a bellowing roar, a oversized Shrek (kids & I had a photo op with him) the Statue of Liberty & the Empire State building completely made of Lego - and let's not forget the huge Barbie house (two floors big) stocked with everything Barbie licensed. By that time I had been awake over 30 hours, so my patience with my dear daughter Kate dithering on whether she wanted to spend her $20 pocket money on this doll or that was wearing a bit thin

Toys R Us

.
By the way, it was a beautiful blue sky day and HOT in New York. There seemed to be heaps of professional filming productions happening around the streets - Fred even got interviewed for TV news about toy recalls outside 'Toys R' Us' - who knows if it'll end up on TV!
We staggered back to the hotel and sat in the lobby about and hour (Josh & Kate fell asleep on one of the couches in the lobby) until our room was ready. We are on the 10th floor, with views of Madison Square gardens and on to the river. The room is very nicely furnished, and even if it wasn't I think I was too tired to care - I flaked out for 2 ½ hours!

Anyway, will probably add this to our blog online with some photos over the next few days. We are all fine, and even though the day wasn't what we planned, we've made the best of it, and actually enjoyed the whole experience!

Read more: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alvrez/usa-2007/1187029500/tpod.html#ixzz1IaD1LvIM

TRAVEL DEALS...

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FEATURED HOSTELS...

Welcome to Swiss Backpackers

At Swiss Backpackers hostels we offer you a home away from home. Each hostel is individually run with the owners often working at reception themselves. You receive a warm welcome and can enjoy both a budget and comfortable bed. In the self catering kitchens you will find a good atmosphere not only to cook and eat but also to get chatting to other travellers.

Swiss Backpackers are the quality hostels of Switzerland - as is ensured by the quality label for Swiss Tourism that each hostel has to reach within a year of joining the group.

All hostels fulfill minimum standards in order to ensure that you our guest really get your money worth and maybe that little bit more...

All this helps to provide that really good base for you to discover Switzerland. Thanks for coming and staying with us.

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