I would guess that 90 percent of my DVR is queued to record various shows on the Food Network, Bravo and, dare I say it… MTV. However, there is one foodie show on the Travel Channel that I absolutely adore and that is “No Reservations” with Anthony Bourdain. For those of you that are Bourdain fans like me, you will be excited to hear that he is coming to Sacramento! Bourdain will be hosting a lecture on travel and food at Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium on September 17. Tickets to the lecture are $36.50 and are available at the Sacramento Convention Center Box Office, or online at www.tickets.com. (Photo courtesy of Flickr user srlasky)
Foodie Snapshots from Switzerland
This past spring my boyfriend, Joe, and I spent a week in the beautiful town of Montreux, Switzerland. In a country known for producing my two favorite loves, cheese and chocolate, needless to say, I was in heaven! As Joe and I traveled (and ate) our way through this beautiful, vineyard-filled countryside (oh yeah, they have some amazing wine there too) there are a few foodie moments that I will never forget!
Like this beautiful view of the sunset while having dinner at Relais de la Poste set among the vineyards of Lake Geneva.
Where we ate filets of Perch, Meuniere’s style and French Fries!
My favorite boutique in the historical town of Bern (the capital of Switzerland) – Confiserie Tschirren, a chocolate shop of course!
The only insect I will ever eat – a bug-shaped candy made of chocolate and almonds!
Below is a photo of Joe and I shot in front of Chalet de Gruyeres where we enjoyed the town’s traditional cheese fondue dinner.
The first course included a plate of air-dried beef, bread, pickles and onions.
Then there was the amazing cheese plate!
And a basket of potatoes for dipping!
And at a restaurant close to our hotel, we had the most amazing pizza! (Yes, that’s an egg on top!)
But of all the amazing meals we had on this trip, my favorite was one I don’t even remember – a dinner cruise on Lake Geneva where Joe proposed! Now I have another reason to love Switzerland!
The Sacramento Salmon Swap
My fiancé, Stefan, recently went on an Alaskan fishing adventure with his father and grandfather. They stayed at Alaska’s Sea Otter Sound Lodge, which is located 100 miles by float plane from Ketchikan. Some of the highlights of the trip were the gorgeous scenery, sea otters, seals, bald eagles and humpback whale sightings.
After five days of non-stop fishing, the three of them had caught more than 300 pounds of fish – mostly salmon! This would be great news for any seafood lover, but my seafood experiences rarely venture beyond shrimp and clam chowder.
I made the decision to be optimistic and proactive with this bounty of salmon – it was falling out of my freezer, what choice did I have? I decided to swap some salmon with the seafood lovers in our office, in exchange for some tasty recipes. I’m hoping they will inspire me with their favorite salmon dishes – stay tuned for their culinary creations!
Foodie Fun in the Baltic Sea
I’ll be the first to admit that this blog entry is more than a bit overdue. But in the off-chance that you find yourself hungry and perusing the countries along the Baltic Sea in the near future, I owe it to you to share my key learnings.
A little over a month ago, I was lucky enough to take the trip of a lifetime – a cruise through the North and Baltic Seas with my mom and grandpa. The itinerary featured stops in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia and Denmark before returning to Holland. Well let me tell you, I like to travel and I love to eat and drink. The combination only seems natural! Below you will find snapshots of some of my favorite foodie moments and sightings abroad.
Hole-in-the-Wall Foodie Finds are a Good Thing!
I traveled to New York for Thanksgiving again this year on behalf of our U.S. Potato Board client. Healthy MR. POTATO HEAD made his final run down Broadway in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was a bittersweet business trip as I had to say good-bye to our favorite spokespud but I also got to hang with potato industry members who were balloon handlers in the Parade. Getting to know the industry and their families is one of the great perks of my job.
I also dragged my family along, and following a week of fun in NYC, we headed upstate to Troy, NY to visit my grandmother and the rest of my mom’s family. There aren’t too many culinary hot spots in this old and charming college town, but my mom made sure we hit her three most memorable foodie finds. First, we had a traditional Friday night fish fry at Ted’s. A fish fry at Ted’s is a long and meaty piece of fried cod placed in a hot dog bun served with your choice of tartar sauce or Ted’s famous cocktail sauce (I preferred the tartar sauce and sans bun, but I’m not really a hot dog girl). We ordered sides of onion rings, fries and cole slaw. Far from healthy but delicious!
I know I just said I don’t love hot dogs, but our next stop was an exception. While cruising around showing the sites (there aren’t many) to my husband, we crossed the Hudson River into a town called Watervliet. Gus’s Hot Dogs is a true down-and-dirty hot dog stand. There is a walk-up window but it was too cold to slither down mini hot dogs outside. We walked inside and the six counter seats were packed, but one of the two booths were available. This was more of a mid-afternoon snack than a meal so we each ordered two hot dogs with “the works” – mustard, onions and chili sauce. The beauty of Gus’s is that the hot dogs are about a third of the size of a traditional hot dog. I can polish one in about four bites (my husband can do it in two, of course) and the works combination is truly a treat. We saw people with 10 or more hot dogs on their plates. The best is the pricing list posted on the wall.
Finally, we hit the Notty Pine, another Troy oldie-but-goodie that my parents used to frequent when they met in college over 30 years ago. We ordered the pizza which was served in a rectangular cookie sheet with a 1-inch lip. The crust was perfectly golden and the toppings were flavorful. The group was torn on our favorite. I enjoyed the pepperoni and sausage with a red sauce and others rallied behind the fresh tomato and basil with a white garlic sauce. Both were good and justify why “the Pine” has been open for so many years.
If you ever find yourself in Troy (why would you??), I’d recommend all three places. Tie and jacket not required.