Goodbye Canada, hellooo Europe!

         Well folks, the time has come, and this may just be my last blog post on Canadian soil. I leave this country in two days now. I started this blog on July 28th, maybe a little too early in some opinions but what can I say? I was excited. Now three months later I am nearly packed up and ready to go. Nervous but by far way more excited. What am I nervous about? Mostly the unknown. I've lived very comfortablely in a lot of ways for a while and now it's like I'm entering a whole new world kind of like Aladdin and Jasmine. Okay, maybe not quite but that song definately entered my mind just as I wrote that. Essentially, every day is new, no day is like the other but there can be this thing called routine and I don't think I will experiencing any routine on this trip whatsoever. So that has the potential to be somewhat stretching but at the same time I love that. Other things on my mind is my mind. The forgetful part of my mind. I like to live easy and laid back, trying not to worry about every little detail but that unfortunately usually ends up in a case of, "Has anyone seen my keys?" or "Crap, I forgot my wallet again." These items have been ever so faithful to return back to me. One time I thought I officially lost my keys, like by no chance were they coming back. After the first month of hoping they'd return from their long lost journey I decided to get a new pair. Well, I ended up losing those ones too and as I was looking for them I ended up finding my old ones! How that works, I don't know. Eventually the other set showed up too. I've been fortunate but I'm not so sure this will be the case in Europe especially after everyone tells me about the thieves and pit-pocketers. My oh my. This has my parents slightly worried and has my brain working double time as I train it to remember important things like keys, wallet, PASSPORT! Last week I was at church so my bible accompanied me there of course but little to my knowledge it did not accompany me back home. I could not find it a couple days later but I was sure that it was not at the church. I mean really, you sit down, you stand up to sing, you sit down, you stand up to sing, you sit down and then you stand up to leave. There's alot of up and down but no moving around. How hard can it be to forget your bible? Well, just a couple days ago I got an email from the secretary that I know well and she wrote, "Karin, your bible was found at the church!" Haha, typical me. And then there was the time just a couple nights ago where my parents, Terry and I went out for supper. The victim this time: my bag. We had an enjoyable supper, funny waitress, yummy food, some laughs, good time. Luckily the resturaunt wasn't too far from home because when we arrived home I realized that I had left my bag there which held my wallet which held some cash and important things like a credit card. I went back, got it, everything was fine but needless to say, none of this boosted my parents confidence in my ability to keep track of my belongings. I got a gentle parental speech. So, my money belt and I will be well acquainted by the end of this trip. That will be another I have to think about, though. Take out enough money before the day begins and put it in a safe, secure pocket but that is still easily accessible. This will prevent me from reaching down my pants in public when wanting to buy a simple coffee. Smart move, I know.
         Another thing that has been on my mind is my bladder. Sorry if I startled you there but apparently there are a lot of places in Europe that charge you for using the bathroom. Anything to make a little cash I guess. I experienced this in Mexico once but it sounds like it's quite the thing in Europe too. The reason why this is on my mind is because if you know me well I pee alot. Like alot. And it makes me wonder what the percentage of bladder infections are like there. If I had to pay to pee I'd be holding that pee more often then I should. It is highly likely that cranberry juice and I will be good friends by the end of this trip.
         Well, with all that being said, I'd say I'm prepared to go and so excited. I have never emailed so many people than I have this last month. Figuring out plans and a route and all that jazz. So many people have been so incredibly helpful to find me places to stay or to allow me to stay their house and I can't wait to see them all in person! I doubt I will be blogging as often as I have been these last months but when I get a chance I will update you all  and post photos as that is the point of this whole blog.
        Before I sign off of this post I have some bible verses and quotes that I have found encouraging as I've been preparing for this adventure and so I will leave you with those and hope they are an encouragement to you as well.
    
         So long and farewell!

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." -Romans 12:2

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." -Ephesians 2:10

"Your travel life has the aspect of a dream. It is something outside the normal, yet you are in it. It is peopled with characters you have never seen before and in all probability will never see again. It brings occasional homesickness, and loneliness, and pangs of longing... But you are like the Vikings who have gone into a world of adventure, and home is not home until you return." -Agatha Christie

The French Finale

Tonight was the last theme meal night to my little sisters disappointment I leave in seven days and time is getting a little tight. I mean I'd say I'm pretty prepared but...7 DAYS!!! So, I decided tonight was the last and we finished up French style. Just me, Terry and my parents. I looked in a Bon Appetit magazine that I had that had some french recipes but I just wasn't digging them. So I did an internet search and found something called  Croque Monsieur. I am glad this isn't a french class oral exam because I have no idea how you'd pronouce that. Good thing I'm just typing here.  This is a little something the website had to say, "Found all over France today, the Croque Monsieur - casually referred to as a Croque - has as many recipes and variations as it has cooks. The crunchy sandwich is served as an appetizer, snack, or casual meal." These sandwiches apparently usually contain some kind of meat and cheese and whatever else. I decided to do one with a slice of apple, a little mayo, parmesan salami and applewood smoked cheddar all broiled on top of a fresh homemade slice of bagette. Mmm...soo good! The website suggested a roasted cauliflower soup which was nice and simple. I just roasted some cauliflower, fried off some onions and garlic, added it all together with some chicken broth, water and heavy cream and salt and pepper to taste. Not bad, not bad. Some meals we've had wine, some we haven't. This one being French and the last, I had to get some. I scoped the french section at the liquor store and found a Mommessin white wine called Cuvee Saint Pierre. Really nice actually and was the first time that I could really tell that the wine enhanched the flavour of what I was eating.

After the main dish we decided to take a stroll down dessert lane and of course indulged in some crepes. Crepes with nutella smothered inside accompanied with some warm raspberries, strawberries, and banana slices. They were what I like to call amazing. Can't go wrong with Nutella. Check it out...

So that was the night, delicious as can be. I can't wait to go to a local market and pick up a bagette with some meat and cheese for lunch and have a picnic. On second thought, it might be too cold for a picnic but I'll see what I can do! I have to do it atleast once even if there are icicles breaking off of my nose! Well, thank you for reading my food adventures and I hope it gives you some inspiration for cooking at home. There are so many yummy things out there!

The Vallee Fam - minus two.

μου ταΐστε τα ελληνικά τρόφιμα

Now that we know schnitzel is in fact Austrian and not German (though germans do eat it so I wasn't completely wrong) we can move on. We are moving on to something a little more adventurous, something I've never tried before. It was greek night last night and I followed a recipe.  I don't really like following recipes, it's just not how I was trained but I bought the magazine above a while ago and I wanted to try something from it because everything looked and sounded authentic. Notice how the magazine says 'The Greek Issue'? If there are any Greeks reading this and think what I made is totally not Greek then you can contact the magazine, not me. That'd be great! So, the closest thing I've gotten to greek food is making fresh pita bread, a chicken and sausage stirfy, feta, tomatoes, lettuce, tzaziki and packing it all in together. And then there's Opa! in nearly every food court. I love that stuff but I was looking for something a little less typical. I decided to go with piperies gemistes me feta, kolokithoketedes, and souvlaki hirino. For those who aren't fluent in Greek, that is peppers stuffed with feta, zucchini fritters, and pork kabobs. For the piperies gemistes me feta, I decided to use goats cheese because I'm so in love with it I might as well marry it and we had it in the fridge so why not? I liked these except for the lemon zest that was in it. I'm just not a huge fan of lemon flavoured things unless it's something sweet. These peppers were not sweet. The recipe also asks for hot peppers but I'm not really into that sort of thing so we used a regular red bell pepper. The zucchini fritters were a little bit of an ordeal. Talk about stubborn two year old! First I had to strain the shredded zucchini, putting a heavy weight on it while it sat for 30 minutes. Then I had to wrap a cloth around it to soak up any more moisture. Man, it retains a lot of water. While the zucchini was doing it's thing, the rest of the mixture was waiting nice and patiently in the fridge - or so I thought. As I opened the fridge to get the pork out, the bowl sprung out like a moody, unpredictable teenager and fell onto the kitchen floor, the mix flying and splattering itself abruptly on the floor and the dishwasher. How graceful. Did I mention the bowl was glass? Yes, but thankfully, though painfully, it first dropped on my foot and then onto the floor. I kept my composure and asked myself what would be my next plan of attack. I told myself the floor was clean and picked up three quarters of the mix (the other quarter being a little questionable), put it back in the bowl and acted as though nothing ever happened. To those who ate them...surprise! I hope that doesn't bother you too much! Then I mixed the zucchini in and shaped the fritters. They sat for a bit, still leaking out water of course and then it was time to fry them. Still stubborn as could be, they would not stay together as I flipped them. Was all my tender loving care not enough? How needy can a fritter be? But I did not toil in vain, believe it or not. They were delicious and definately my favourite item. The soulvaki hirino wasn't bad. For starters, I'm not a huge pork fan and it always seems to be so dry. They were fun to make, though. One thing I changed was not grilling them on the barbeque. We don't have a barbeque so that was a little impossible. We do have a little portable grill thing that I thought about using but then dark memories started clouding my brain. I should know how to use one of these, seeing as though every camping trip I helped lead while working at Capernwray Bible school we had to use one but somehow I was always able to pass up that responsibility to the male leader except for one time. The one time there was more flames than I had prepared myself to see. And then there was the time in the not so distant past where a big commercial oven decided to have a spaz attack in my face which contained of one massive blue flame. So needless to say, I decided to fry the pork kabobs on the stove. The meal was nice, not my favourite but still nice and fun to try something different. Thanks for reading and enjoy the photos!

Antio!

Schnitzel For Four!

                                  
                     

                                   The day I met Schnitzel

              Schnitzel - a word I had heard often tossed around by german students at bible school. "I love schnitzel, it is so good!" Schnitzel this, schnitzel that. What the flip is schnitzel? In retrospect, maybe I should have asked Julie Andrews, ya know, since it's one of her favourite things and all.  I eventually clued in to that it was a german meat dish that apparently was delicious. I left it at that but I was still curious. Then one day, just over a year ago, a man who I worked on staff with was talking about schnitzel, no he isn't german, and I said, "Oh, I've never tried it before but I would love to!" And he replied with, "Oh there's a great place I know of, we should get a group together and go for schnitzel!" And so we did and it was love at first taste. It was also at a Swiss restaraunt but we'll just leave that part out of the story. Not long after, the head cook at the bible school I worked at decided to try making schnitzel for supper. Did I mention there were 140 people at supper? This was not going to be the fastest task in the world. Big pork loins were sliced into maybe half inch pieces and then each individual piece had to have the living daylights pounded out of it until it was flat and beautiful. Beauty is pain people. And so the head cook started away with the mundane and may I add, noisy task. I was busy doing something else but when I was done I offered to help. I was excited to help, very excited because I was grumpy that day. Very grumpy. It had been a long time since I had been that angry. Needless to say, I was ready to hit something that I wouldn't get thrown into jail for. My boss said, "Um, I don't think you want to do this. " And I replied, "Trust me, I want to." So, we pounded away! Talk about great therapy. If you're ever tempted to take your anger out on anyone, don't, just make schnitzel! And so, that is the story of how Karin met Schnitzel. Supper turned out great by the way.
               Are you wondering how tonight went? Well, I'd love to tell you. It was German night and can you guess what I made? Schnitzel!!! I sliced two boneless pork loin chops in half, not the prettiest cut, but I never said I was a butcher. I then dipped them in flour, then whisked egg, and finished off in a bread crumb mix. Then fried them in nice, hot olive oil! Served with the schnitzel was roasted potatoes. Germans are apparently big on potatoes just like the English and Irish. Sauerkraut is huge too but I looked up recipes and found out I needed some kind of fermentation machinery? I don't know.  Maybe there's another way to do it but that turned me off from even trying. Then I came across a recipe for braised red cabbage which had the same appearance of sauerkraut. I didn't put half of the ingredients in it because of laziness but it actually turned out not bad. It was a low key supper, just myself, Terry, my mom and Sheri-Lee but enjoyable! Here are some photos and guten nacht!

Salmon + England + Birthdays = A Good Time!

                             English Cuisine

Me and Sherri-Lee

Last night was the Vallee residence's second ethnic meal night! I decided to go with the country, England. My first idea was to do a roast, mashed potatoes, some sort of cooked vegtable and yorkshire puddings. Mmm...I LOVE yorkshire puddings! My second idea was fish and chips with mushy peas. I decided to go with fish and chips which was a good thing because the night before, we were invited to my neighbours house for dinner and ate almost the exact same roast meal. And so I headed even more confidently into my fish and chips endeavor! I gave it a little 'Karin' twist, though and instead of breading some halibut to later deep fry it and buying fries from the freezer section I got some fresh sockeye salmon and cut up some Vallee grown potatoes straight from my dad's garden. One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that it was also my mom's birthday so I had to make sure it was nice and so I also thought to myself, 'Is mushy peas really the best idea to try out tonight?'. Now, maybe the English would say, in a heavy accent of course, "You betcha, mate!" but having never made or tried them before and knowing the Vallee family I decided to go with some diced carrots added to some frozen mixed vegtables. I fried the potatoes in some olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. The salmon was baked at 350 degrees F and then drizzled with some garlic lemon butter with a bit of garlic powder and dried onion flakes. Can't forget the salt and pepper too! It was delicious. To finish off the meal we had birthday cake of course. I doubt it was english but it was definately my mom's favourite. Chocolate cake with dates in the middle and boiled icing draped over top.



Happy Birthday Mom!



That day I also took a visit to the Liquor Store for some wine. Last time I was there in the European section I failed to notice if there was any wine from England but it doesn't really seem like their thing anyway. Do they even have the weather for it? Well I decided to head to the British Columbia section seeing as the first word in British Columbia is BRITISH and we got the queen thing going on and all. I walked out with a Painted Turtle red wine that is supposed to be good with fish. I can't say how it tastes because my sister, Heather ended up bringing some wine for supper but the purple bottle looks pretty cool on the wine rack right now.



Guests of the evening? Heather came up again and the newest member of the Vallee residence, Sherri-Lee joined us too. My dad was sadly not there but out of all of us there that night he was probably living it up english style the most. Yes, it's true, he is actually in England this very moment. I am so excited for him!



After some gift opening we finished off the night with no, not the movies, 'Nottinghill' or 'Love Actually' but  instead, 'Leap Year' a movie that takes place in Ireland. I know. I saw it on the weekend and fell in love with this movie and also with Matthew Goode. It is one of the cutest, funniest and heart fluttering romantic comedies I have ever seen. It is a must see!



So England Night ended in an Irish sort of way but it was still a wonderful night. Yummy fish, good company, good laughs, good times!

Cheerio!