Scotland: St. Andrews Day . . .

In Venice, there was the Festa della Salute. In Madrid, there was the Fiesta de la Almudena. And hold on to your seats, in Scotland I will be there during their Annual Saint Andrew's Day Celebration. (Learn more on the St. Andrew's Day Official Gateway to Scotland Website)

The story behind this special feast day goes as follows . . .

"Saint Andrew was one of Jesus's original disciples, the brother of Simon Peter and a fisherman by trade, who lived in Bethsaida in Galilee (in present-day Israel.) He is believed to have been martyred at a place called Patras in Greece, crucified by a Roman governor on an X-shaped cross that was to become the inspiration for the cross that forms the Saltire, Scotland's national flag.

His bones were entombed until, 300 years later, the Emperor Constantine the Great decreed they should be moved to his new capital city of Constantinople, modern day Istanbul in Turkey. Legend has it that before Constantine's orders could be carried out a monk, who was either Greek or Irish and called St Rule or St Regulus, was warned in a dream.

An angel told him to take what bones he could to the "ends of the earth" for safe-keeping. The monk obeyed and set out on an epic journey that ended when he was shipwrecked off the east coast of Scotland and washed ashore with his precious cargo.

He found himself at a settlement that was soon to become known as St Andrews." ~ Geocities

It was only after Robert the Bruce's famous victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 that St Andrew was officially named patron saint of Scotland and the Saltire became the national flag of Scotland in 1385.

I learned about this history and stumbled onto this special feast day of celebration when I learned that this year marks the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns' birth (a Scottish poet and lyricist - Wikipedia). This is the inspiration behind the year of the Homecoming where many events throughout the year are held to celebrate his life and work. It turns out that among the events being held is the special Finale Week of activities to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Andrews.

There will be music, free entry to many sites (listed here on the Historic Scotland Website) and there will be several special events planned for the week that I will be in Edinburgh before flying home! Yippee!

I found this important bit of Scottish history so interesting. I am not Scottish but I am going to totally enjoy celebrating along with the Scottish people their heritage and this important day of celebration.

Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites: SSB Week # 4 - Avocado

This week's ingredient is Avocado and it was selected by fellow Slow Traveler, AnnieNC, Churches in Venice. Thank you Annie for selecting this great ingredient. It is one of my favorites!

I decided to go with a recipe that I found on the Epicurious website. It is a recipe for a Ripe Olive and Avocado Quesadilla. Since I love avocados and I love quesadillas, I thought this was a fabulous and yet easy appetizer recipe to try. This was my first time making a Quesadilla and I have to say that I really loved it!


Ingredients:

a 6-ounce can pitted ripe black olives (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 firm-ripe California avocado
1 small red bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro sprigs
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
four 6- to 7-inch flour tortillas
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups grated pepper Jack cheese (about 5 ounces) (I used regular Jack Cheese)

Instructions:

Drain olives well and cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Halve, pit, and peel avocado and finely chop avocado and bell pepper. In a bowl stir together olives, avocado, bell pepper, cilantro, onion, and lime juice.

Preheat broiler.

Put tortillas on a large baking sheet and brush tops with oil. Broil tortillas 2 to 4 inches from heat until pale golden, about 45 seconds. Turn tortillas over and broil until pale golden. Sprinkle tortillas evenly with pepper Jack and broil until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 30 seconds. Divide olive mixture among tortillas and cut each tortilla into 4 wedges. (I used the large tortillas which made two and then cut them into 6 wedges each)

For more Sunday Small Bites (SSB) recipes, visit the Slow Travel Webiste.

PhotoHunt: Twisted

I took this photo at a local amusement park here in Southern California and in it I found three things for this week's theme.

# 1 - some Holiday garland twisted around the lamp pole in the bottom right corner;

# 2 - see the metal tracks twisted up and down, side to side and in loops; and finally

# 3 - the most twisted of all. The people riding on this insanely scary roller coaster ride for the thrill! Yikes! :)



See more PhotoHunters HERE!

Scotland: And the Dream lives on...

Whoo hoo! Got my tickets and I'm on my way . . . .



I called Scotland yesterday and spoke to the receptionist of the last lodging arrangement I had to make. She had a wonderful Scottish accent, took my credit card information then made my reservations. I received the confirmation e-mail this morning. So that's it. I even got my car reserved to be delivered to me upon my arrival in Fort William to begin what I can only think of as an adventure (so I don't get too nervous about the prospect of driving on the left side).

As I mentioned in a previous post I have four very important things on my must see list, Edinburgh, the Highlands (and some Scottish sheep), the Isle of Skye and thanks to AnnieNC (HERE's her wonderful post about them)these remarkable and beautiful Baby Highland Baby cows! Then throw in a museum, a couple of cathedrals, castles, lochs, some sunrises/sunsets and I will be very happy.

I have been reading the blogs of two fellow Slow Travelers, Deborah (Old Shoes-New Trip) and MaryT (Reflections of My 40 Years in Umbria). They both wrote about their wonderful experiences during their visit and shared several of their beautiful photos. And Deborah took a couple of great photos of these beautiful Highland cows HERE, that Annie posted about, which is pretty cool!

Thank you so much to all my blogging friends for all the encouragements for staying on course with my plans. I honestly wasn't sure that I could pull it off! Stay tuned . . .

Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites: Week # 3 - Sun Dried Tomato

This week's ingredient is Sun Dried Tomato and it was selected by Slow Talk Moderator and fellow Slow Traveler, Amy, Destination Anywhere. Thank you Amy for selecting a great ingredient.

I decided to go with a recipe for Sun-Dried Tomato Frittata. A Frittata is a thick, Italian style omelet. I remember having my first Frittata in Rome back in 2005 and loved it. I once again found the recipe in one of the three cook books I bought for this cooking group. The book is called "500 Appetizers" by Susannah Blake.

I thought this was an easy recipe and it was really good too. Maybe even as good as the one I had in Rome! Almost . . . . :)

Here is my Frittata in whole...



You can then cut the Frittata into wedges and serve them as a wonderful snack.


Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced
Salt
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
6 eggs, beaten
Ground black pepper

Instructions:

- Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Then add the onion, sprinkle a little salt and the thyme, and fry gently for about 15 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and season to taste.

- Stir the Parmesan into the eggs and season with black pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the onions and cook gently for 5 to 10 minutes, until the frittata is firm but still moist on top. Lift the edges of the frittata occasionally to allow uncooked egg to run underneath.

- Preheat the broiler. Brown the top of the frittata under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges.

For more Sunday Small Bites (SSB) recipes, visit the Slow Travel Website.

PhotoHunt: Upside Down

While doing a 10K race here in LA, I stopped to take a photo of this amazing street performer doing a one hand upside down stand! And as you can see in the background, I wasn't the only one who was taken by this performer.

See more PhotoHunters HERE!

Music: Classic rules . . .

This photo of Electric guitars that I took while at the Hermosa Beach Festival during the Labor Day Holiday a couple of weeks ago was my second choice for last week's PhotoHunt theme. It sat in draft form for a long while before I finally decided to go with my tram photo from Prague. But IMO music cannot be denied it's rightful place along side my interest in Travel . . . and so here is my equally favorite pic for photo of the week, which I decided to turn into a Music post!

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."~ Jimi Hendrix


Music played with electric guitars especially from such greats as Jimi Hendrix, BB King and my favorite, the Cool One (Prince) himself, are fabulous. However, music played with a classic guitar can be equally wonderful!

Here are three very talented musicians that I had the pleasure of listening to while visiting Granada, Spain.



What was really surprising to me when viewing my video was how people could just walk by and not stop to listen to them play. Remember my past post HERE! :) They were so good I bought two of their CD's which I love listening too. It is a souvenir that I treasure greatly. That and my very own Spanish guitar that I brought home! :)

Yay, it's Friday!

Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites (SSB): Week # 2 - Crab

This week's ingredient is Crab and it was selected by fellow Slow Traveler, Vico Girl. I decided to make an appetizer dish called Crab Roll-Ups. I found the recipe in one of the three cook books I bought for this cooking group. The book is called "Pillsbury Appetizers" (by General Mills, Minneapolis, MN)

Ingredients:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1/2 avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped (I used the whole avocado)
6 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1 (8-oz.) pkg flaked imitation crab meat (or surimi)
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1 (2 1/4-oz.) can sliced ripe olives, drained

Instructions:

1. In a food processor bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise (or salad dressing), horseradish and avocado; process on high speed until well mixed.

2. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over tortillas. Top each tortilla with crab meat, bell pepper, green onions and olives. Roll up each tortilla; wrap securely in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes or overnight.

3. To serve, slice rolls diagonally into 3/4-inch thick slices.


I thought this was a simple and pretty tasty appetizer. You can prepare it the night before (the flavor does seem better the next day) and then cut them when you are ready to serve. I would probably make this again, but next time, I will try to use real crab rather than imitation and I would roll the tortillas much tighter. As you can see in the close-up photo below, the rolls were not tight enough and some of the ingredients were coming out. It didn't quite look like the photo in my recipe book. Well, what can I say, live and learn! :) For the most part I thought this recipe was pretty good.



For more Sunday Small Bites (SSB) recipes, visit the Slow Travel Website.

PhotoHunt: Electric

The city of Prague in the Czech Republic is a beautiful compact city and you can easily walk to many of the main sights. However, there is also a wonderful and efficient public transportation system which includes these really cool electric trams.


In the background is the Rudolfinum which is a beautiful neo-Renaissance building in the Old Town, built in 1885. It houses Rudolfinum Gallery where it plays host to exhibitions of contemporary art and it is also a concert hall where the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra performs.


See more PhotoHunters HERE!

Worldwide Moment Project for Peace 2009 . . .

Slow Traveler and Moderator of the Slow Talk Website, MartaR (Blog: Postcards from the Trail), Twittered about a Worldwide Moment Photography Project for Peace. At exactly the same time (in 100 countries around the world) 2,000 people pledged to simultaneously take a photograph at the exact same time for World Peace!


I really didn't expect to participate but when I read Marta's twitter (and I happen to be off from work today, another bonus), I decided to participate. I'm so glad that I did! My caption . . . it's a little wrinkly, but the message is clear. Peace!

You can find more Twitters who participated HERE. Or you can go to their website and check out their gallery of photos.

Thank you Marta!

Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites: Shrimp

This is the first week of the exciting and challenging Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites cooking group. This week's ingredient is shrimp and it was selected by Cindy, Baked Alaska.

When preparing for this cooking group, I went and purchased 3 cook books for appetizer dishes and managed to find some really good recipes in them. However, for the first ingredient, I found my recipe on the Internet.

Residents of Sao Paulo call themselves Paulistas and this simple shrimp dish, "Shrimp Paulista", is a regional favorite. ~ Eating Well


Ingredients:
•2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
•2 tablespoons lime juice
•1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
•8 cloves garlic, minced, divided
•1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
•1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, divided
•2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:
1. Place shrimp in a medium nonreactive bowl and toss with lime juice, 1/4 cup cilantro, half the garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, marinade and remaining garlic; cook until the shrimp are just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; add the remaining 1/4 cup cilantro, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper. Toss to combine.

I thought this recipe was simple and also quite tasty. I used a little more garlic just because I like the flavor and a dash more pepper for an extra kick.

For more wonderful Sunday Small Bites (SSB) recipes, visit the Slow Travel Website.

PhotoHunt: Orange

This week, I give you . . . Mr. Orange face man! I found this graffiti/mural in a cute little park in Toledo, Spain, and just had to post it. I stumbled onto it while I was exploring around (aka "being lost") . . .


I was originally going to crop this photo to only show Mr. Orange Face Man, but I just couldn't bring myself to leave out his cool looking friends.

Have a great long Holiday weekend everyone! Whoo hoo!


See more PhotoHunters HERE!

Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites . . .

Thanks to the encouragements of blogging pals, AnnieNC (Churches in Venice) and Maria (My Place in the Sun), I recently decided to join the Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites (SSB) cooking group which begins this Sunday. The idea is this . . . each member picks an ingredient and all the group members makes an appetizer dish using that ingredient and then shares it with the others in the group by posting their recipes and photos on the Slow Talk Gold Forum.

Anyone who knows me will know that this is a great challenge for me. Cooking is not something that I am very good at. My mom was a great cook and so is my sister, but somehow that talent was lost on me. So why participate? Well, first of all, I really like the challenge of doing things that are completely out of my comfort zone. Second, after the Sunday Salad Samplers experience I discovered that I actually enjoyed cooking more than I thought I would. And finally, I really like the group cooking experience. I think it is cool seeing the photos and reading about what others have done.

Since joining the group I have been on the hunt for ideas . . . and so far I have recipes for 8 of the 19 ingredients on the list. Only 11 more to go.

For more on the wonderful and talented members that make up the Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites cooking group and the ingredients they have chosen, visit the Slow Travel Website: HERE

Much thanks to AnnieNC for coming up with the idea of picking an ingredient of the week and then choosing a recipe using that ingredient; Debrah for the idea of making appetizer dishes; Deborah for the idea of the group's name, Small Bites; Maria and her husband for creating the SSB's fabulous Logo; T-Mac, Traveling McMahans for providing the photo that was used for the logo, Kim for setting up the list and schedule for the Sunday Small Bites group on the SlowTalk website and to all the other members who contributed in this pretty cool cooking group idea.

This will be a lot of fun!