Blue Apron : Travel the World without Leaving Your Kitchen

Some of you may already be following along on instagram and seeing how I've been experimenting in the kitchen and having #culinaryfirsts over and over...and OVER! Every week I cook with exotic ingredients and spices like watermelon radish, forbidden rice and korean gochugaru...but how am I pulling this off without a lot of time in the market and looking up recipes? At the beginning of the year, I had a case of analysis paralysis from all the pinterest boards of carefully categorized recipes, but I got over it and I'm going to tell you all about my little secret to how. 

I really take pride in knowing that I'm selecting good ingredients, but I also want to know that I'm growing as a cook. I want to continue adding to my repertoire and tackling new culinary feats in the kitchen. But of course, who has the time? I first stumbled upon Blue Apron (a weekly meal subscription service) via a friend of mine who gave me one of her free trials (3 meals for 2 people, worth $60). It could seriously be one of the best free trials out there. So I signed up, selected my dietary preferences and my meals were to be sent to us by the end of the week. You can change delivery settings within a week's notice.  

How it Works

• • •
Get Food Packaged Exactly by the Amount Necessary
All the veggies and select cuts of meats come prepackaged, as well as all the seasonings,
cheeses, and other ingredients to make sauces and dressings from scratch.

• • •
Prepare Food Using Step-by-Step Visual Recipe Cards
You're given a dose of the cultural influence to the dish, with all of the ingredients needed plus  a visual display on the front of the card. On the back, a visual step-by-step that acts like a mini cooking course at home. What's great about it is that hubby (who's less cooking inclined) and I can both jump right in and divvy up our efforts, where as traditional recipes tend to require an extra step of organizing and strategizing. Even if you don't subscribe to the service, you can access all of their visual step-by-step recipes via their online cookbook.

Some of My Favorites

Mexican Chicken Mole with Cilantro Rice 
• • •
Wasn't much of a fan of mole until this dish. The rich decadent chocolate and peppers mixed against the lime cilantro accents, collaborated well together. I think we ate in silence, (which is the marker of a truly delicious meal for us).

Chicken Shawarma with Tzatziki, Hummus & Beet Salad
• • •
All I need to say is "Tzatziki spilleth over." A zesty sauce made from scratch
and beet salad. A surprise rush of flavors in such a simple dish with vibrant colors.

Beef Ramen Noodle Soup with Choy Sum & Enoki Mushrooms
• • •
I was a Hoisin virgin until this meal. Quality steak and enoki mushrooms.
Handmade noodles? The noodle lover in me was swooning.
{ ...awww shucks, thanks for including this photo in your Autumn Cookbook }

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Forbidden Rice
• • •
I was excited to use watermelon radish for the first time, (so delicious to the eyes) and we discovered forbidden rice (which is a rich source of anti-oxidants)! What a great replacement for white rice. It's hearty and has an earthy flavor on its own.

Korean Beef Chapchae with Sweet Potato Vermicelli 
• • •
FYI I love spicy food! I loved making yet another culinary first, with the Korean chili spice, gochugaru. The sweet potato vermicelli noodles were a unique element that soaked in all the flavors. Added bonus:  being that I am more conscious about the amount and type of carbs I eat, I liked that it was a great substitute for rice noodles.

 Dukkah-Dusted Tilapia with Eggplant Sofrito and Peppers over Quinoa
• • •
Having never tried dukkah-anything, I was excited to experience new flavors and fish with extra texture. The blistered peppers were a surprisingly delightful way to prepare them whole and we're always down for Quinoa.

 Salmon Burgers with Corn-on-the-cob & Basil Butter 
• • •
Hello juicy-ness! My goodness this was the best burger of the year. The lemon aioli drizzle on the made-from-scratch salmon made for a summery refreshing pairing. 

Savor the World & Learn

1 - Try the world. Hop cultures from meal to meal. Sample before you decide to invest in a full size carton of miso, or bottle of hoisin sauce. Cook with exotic ingredients like sweet potato vermicelli, kumquats or pattypan squash for the first time.

2 - Less anxiety in trying to figure out what to make. We set our preferences, for the dish types (vegetarian, pescatarian, chicken, beef etc.) and the majority of the time it's something we want to eat. I would love it if eventually they could include more specific dietary requirements like dairy free, gluten free etc. 

3 - Cooking class at home  Learn a new cooking technique in every meal. The visual recipe cards give it a "demo" feel. 

4 - Feel accomplished. There's something about the combination of trying new techniques and unique ingredients and doing it on your own from scratch that add up to a sense of accomplishment. I love feeling like I'm learning and exploring right in my kitchen.

Have you tried Blue Apron, or a service like it?...what has your experience been like? 
 

• • •    LESSONS LEARNED    • • •

Let someone else take the driver's seat
so you can enjoy the ride. 

Get everyday adventure ideas @LiveLikeYoureTraveling  

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Make Delicious Sweets with Your Instagram Photos

I've heard people say that they'll start being impressed with Instagram when they'll be able to eat the pictures. Well... you kinda can! These three companies are making it possible for you to print your Instagram photos on delicious, sweet morsels.

• • •

1. Boomf.com let's you print on marshmallows, now that is very exciting because fancy marshmallows are pretty in vogue right now. 

• • •

 2. Bakingforgood.com makes it possible to put your Instagram pictures on sugar cookies! I'm a fan of sugar cookies... wait, who isn't!? The photo quality will probably be a bit more sharper then on a marshmallow and these do provide a slightly larger canvas. Now what you'll do with that information is totally up to your own creative interpretation. I'm just saying. 

• • •

3. Cocoagraph.com puts your photos on chocolate bars. Oh my..! This is getting very dangerous very quickly. Then again you don't need to worry because you can Instagram a selfie, print it on a chocolate bar and then eat into your figure to make yourself look skinny! So yeah, no need to be alarmed about the calories. 

And guess what! Now that we have Insta marshmallows, Insta cookies and Insta chocolate do you know what we can make!? INSTA S'MOORS! I kid, I kid, you will probably have a hard time eating these up because you'll just want to stare at them, they'll be so pretty. What you can do to extend the visual enjoyment is to hang these on your Christmas Tree as ornaments. Every day you and your family can sit by the tree, remove one delicious Insta cookie and eat it while sipping some tea, or popping that Insta mallow into your hot coco. I don't know...I feel a new Christmas Tradition in the making! 

• • •     LESSONS LEARNED    • • •

You can make make sweet memories, 
and eat them too!

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IDEA122: Sweeten Your Day (and Tea), Russian Style

I was born in Ukraine and when I was about 10 years old, my family immigrated to the US first passing through Austria and Italy. Coming from a closed off (back then) to the world country and getting exposed to so many new places and sensations this experience has forever changed me. It was an adventure of a lifetime before that moment I only read about in my adventure books. That experience made me realize that anything was possible and since then I've been a nonstop pursuer of adventures. (Or as my mom would lovingly put it: "Someone who looks for trouble to befall their ass".)

First years in America I spent trying to understand this brand new culture, and being based in the colorful Brooklyn, it involved also understanding the Italian, Greek, Mexican, Hatian, Chinese, and Puerto Rican cultures as well! What a treat that was! All I wanted to do was know everything about my new friends and how they did things. I always say that New York is no melting pot, but more of a salad bowl.  All the ingredients are tossed together, but they very much retain their own character and taste. 

In college I was lucky enough to study abroad both in Spain and in Italy having the greatest time learning all I possibly can about these cultures and languages. I remember once picking up a book in Russian and being so out of practice that reading just one paragraph exhausted me when at the time I'd have no problem reading in Italian, my language love of the moment. 

But this isn't really a story about vagabonding through cultures. This is about coming 'home' and rediscovering your own roots with the same voracious curiosity. And this is exactly what has started to happen after I gave birth to our Mo two and a half years ago. All of the sudden I wanted to immerse in the culture of my long forgotten 'home' and discover everything about the Ukrainian and Russian cultures so I can teach him as well. I found the songs and cartoons on youtube that I used to watch as a child and of course I wanted him to taste the foods I used to eat.  

"Merchant's Wife at Tea"  by Boris Kustodiev.  She is feasting on the exotic fruits and wares her husband just brought back from his travels. Among them tea, which came to Russia with the merchants from far away China. Additional factoid, in the late 1800's the plumper the woman was the more beautiful she was considered. Plumpness was also a sign of good health and riches . (Oh to have those times back!)

But before this 'novel' gets any longer let me share with you something that I have just recently remembered. It's something very simple and you can find it in almost every fridge of any Russian or Ukrainian.  And that is: a little dish, cup or a glass jar full of lemon slices covered in sugar.  

• • •

Lemon with Sugar Concentrate

Russians add lemon with sugar syrup to tea.  This is how I always drank my tea when I was little. Though sometimes I would just sneak into the fridge and stick my little fingers into the bowl then suck up the delicious lemony syrup.

Ingredients
• 1 or 2 lemons (preferably organic, pealed or not that's up to you!)
• 1/2 - 1 cup of sugar (I use Caribbean brown sugar)

PrepSlice up one big or two medium lemons any which way you like. Pour the sugar over them and mix a bit to be sure the lemons are coated in sugar. Press with a spoon to pack lightly. Put it in your fridge! Next time you go to use it you'll see that the lemon juice has turned the sugar into syrup... yummy! (Good for about a week.) 

Serve
If you're a lemon lover like me, you'll soon discover yourself putting this in everything, and even eating it with a spoon in the middle of the night with the slightly open fridge illuminating your way... But here are some elegant ways to partake. 

• Add one or more slices of lemon accompanied by a teaspoon of syrup to your unsweetened tea. Why not go traditional with Russian Caravan tea blend. Russian merchants first brought tea to Russia from China among the other wares they were bringing back. The Russian Caravan tea bland is a black tea blend with rich smoky taste that is said to have been acquired at nights when merchants would make stops on their long road from China to rest and campfires would be lit to burn all night while they sat around drinking, eating and no doubt playing chess. How romantic! 

• Add it to a glass of cold water for a refreshing drink with a hint of sweetness. 

• Add it to cocktails whenever sugar syrup or agave is called for!!! OR (and this is strictly for "advanced" drinkers, I mean... readers, just put a few spoonfuls of the lemon sugar concentrate into a tumbler, pour Cachaça over it, add some ice and call it a caipirinha! NOW we're talking. If this isn't a beautiful example of a fantastic cross-cultural collaboration then I don't know what is! 

For a real Russian tea experience...
Steep tea and hot water in a small teapot. The resulting dark liquid is called "zavarka". You and your guests can variate the strength of your tea by pouring as little or as much zavarka into your cups according taste.  Fill the rest of your cup with hot water, from a "samovar" perhaps, and drink with lemon and sugar syrup. Check out more scrumptious Russian Tea blends from Kusmi Tea.   

And as a bonus, get a few of these authentic tea holders so you and your friends can sit around arguing late into the night whether Anna Karenina was a woman lost to the imposed societal laws of propriety or simply a hysterical selfish slut. I'll let you guess what 'camp' I'm in. 

Traditional Soviet tea cup holder (podstakannik) and glass. I remember drinking tea from these exact ones when traveling on overnight train from Kiev to Chernovtzy to visit my maternal Grandmother (babushka). 

Learn: 
More about the Russian Tea Culture.
Caipirinha recipe. (Cachaca can be replaced by vodka to make a Caipivodka!) 
For additional things you can do with lemons, visit J* over at Sparklingly. 

Where to find:  
Russian Tea Blends
Vintage soviet era tea holder and glass. 

--> For more refreshing drink ideas: visit our Pinterest board (First Sip!)

 

• • •     LESSONS LEARNED    • • •

If you look carefully you will find adventures
right in your own cup of tea. 

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IDEA119 : Bake the Easiest Lemon Tart Just Like the One in Normandy, France

Let me tell you a story about my search for the perfect lemon tart recipe. It all started last summer in Normandy, France where we went on a family vacation. My dad and brother joined from New York, Vito's mom and brother with his girlfriend made us a merry little group of eight. We stayed in a lovely town by the sea called Saint Aubin sur Mer, where time didn't hurry, tourists were not many, yet there were plenty of things to do and see. It was a delicious week of family bonding, discovering the sites and of course eating as many pain au chocolate for breakfast as humanly possible (well, maybe this last one was just my personal achievement).

We stayed at a camping (Cote de Nacre) a ten minute walk from the seaside promenade lined with sunny colored villas, happy little cafes and restaurants. Our mornings consisted of sightseeing, and afternoons in the pool or at the beach and of course no day went by without promenading up and down by the sea.

Walking from Cote de Nacre camping to the beach. 

Pastel villas along the promenade in Saint Aubin sur Mer. (Mo has just two settings, run or sit.) 

But back to the lemon tart...  as you can imagine a family of eight including one 1.5 year old boy and one 13 year old boy there is always someone ready for a snack (or a 5 course meal).

Dinner on the promenade.

On one such occasion we stopped at a cozy cafe with cream colored furniture, nautical prints and walls lined with book shelves giving you a feeling of a sea side day lounge. Lemon tart was the first thing we saw on the chalk board menu and that was enough of a suggestion for all us to order a round. The tart was incredible! The lemony filling was creamy with sweet and tart flavors in perfect harmony. The crust, a wonderful companion, perfectly yummy yet not trying to compete jealously with the filling for attention. The tart was so delicious that we immediately ordered seconds nervous that the cafe might not have enough! Thankfully they did, so there was no need for violence. And since that moment I've been looking for a recipe that will reunite me with my perfect lemon tart...

My brother reclining after the lemon tart and Nutella crape. 

Until finally! I have come across this recipe on Julia's blog.  She in turn found it in a newspaper article about a German illustrator who lived in Lisbon for a while. This illustrator upon tasting this tart at a rowdy summer backyard party asked the cousin of her neighbor, a certain Anita, for the recipe. She then illustrated the recipe which Julia transcribes on her blog. (In English thankfully.) 

So there! A recipe found via our global neighbor Julia, from literally someone's actual neighbor (well cousin of said neighbor) has made its way to me in The Netherlands! AND! What has set off this world wind recipe search? Why a visit to a little seaside town in France called Saint Aubin sur Mer... Now tell me we are not all connected. :)

• • • 

If you are like me and have been searching for an easy way to make lemon tart feel free to raise your hopes high.  Real high! This tart does not require intimidating baking thermometers, high scores on your math tests to perform calculations involving heat, altitude, timing, and egg yolk temperaments. There are two, JUST TWO ingredients for the filling. Condensed milk and juice of 2 lemons, ok 3 if you count lemon zest. That's it!!! The crust? The easiest ever, and you don't even have to have your butter at room temperature. I hate it when recipes call for that, when I want to bake, I must bake right then and there before inspiration leaves me and I can't wait for princess butter to arrive at room temperature. (Excuse me, I'm an Aries, it's a biological fact that I can't wait for stuff.) 

Now I'm not a baker and trust me when I say, you can't do this recipe wrong. I did have to look up how to beat egg yolks stiff on youtube because I wasn't 100% sure of the right way to do it. I know my grandma did it by hand with a fork but after 2 minutes (ok 15 seconds) I gave up and looked it up on youtube.  Here is the video, listen to the nice Italian lady all the way to the end, that's when she tells you how to make your egg whites really stiff.  

Lemon Tart 
Recipe: on Julia's blog.
 

Saint Aubin sur Mer, Normandy, France.
Stay at: Camping Cote de Nacre  (Groups)

Eat at: Wherever speaks to you on the promenade, however for dinner you should make a reservation, and of course lemon tart and other deserts at Aux Bains des Mots.

To do: Visit the town of Cabourg on market day and eat lunch on the promenade, bring your swim suits for when the inevitable desire strikes for a dip in the sea.  Normandy is also the land of apple brandy, do visit Château du Breui, a Calvados distillery and a historical manor house. 

Sight see: Saint Aubin sur Mer is a great base for discovering Normany. Not to miss  Omaha Beach and the Normandy American Cemetery Memorial. Visit the UNESCO heritage site, the medieval monastery Le Mont Saint Michel.  

Take home: a bottle of Calvados. Hemingway would have approved.  

Now, what have we conclude from all this madness? 

• • •    LESSONS LEARNED    • • •

You might find your lemon tart exactly where
you didn't think to look for it.

Love it? Share it! - We are dedicated to sharing stories that spark ideas and are meaningful to you. The best way to let us know is to post a comment, like below or pin on Pinterest! ~ For more ways to Live Like You're Traveling, follow us on Feedly, Bloglovin, Pinterest, or Facebook. 

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IDEA107: Channel the Romance of Nice with a Savory Pumpkin Soup

Vito and I discovered this simple yet divine dish for the first time in Nice, France, in a tiny restaurant a bit out of the old city center. This was a place of about 12 tables that served small dishes and the courses continued coming out until you said stop. There were no menus as the chef in the kitchen demanded your complete surrender. Bring it on- we said! This soup was the first dish to come out and we knew we were in for an evening of indulgence.

If you have been to Nice then you’re familiar with the delicious sunsets, the sea and the atmospheric, almost vintage glamour. I had a chance to go there a few years ago for a work. Being there in November I can’t say I had Nice all to myself, but I also didn’t have to fight my way through crowds of tourists, especially the fashionista kind who will trample you without pausing to scrape you off their stilettos. (I know how they behave, I’m one of them). This trip was exciting for a number of reasons, 1) it was my first time in Nice and I was extending my stay for the weekend to explore and 2) Vito would be joining me! This of course called for a sexy dinner a deux. You know the one you sit down to after a long day of walking around exploring the city, holding hands and taking cute pictures of each other. Then, magically, right as you get hungry you take a turn into a seemingly empty alley and voila’ you stumble upon a perfectly inviting little restaurant with delicious scents wafting through the open doors. Only to have your day culminate in such perfection takes careful planning.

When it comes to spontaneous romance in a lovely destination, I’ve got it broken down to a science! What? You thought romance just kinda happened on its own!? Oh no, no, you can’t leave important things like romantic dinners to chance!

Following a tip from a local, Vito and I strolled into the perfect little place precisely timed to relieve the aching feet and rumbling bellies.  Thankfully we had a reservation as the tiny restaurant filled up within 15 minutes or our arrival.  We sat at a tiny table for two lit with a candle next to an exposed brick wall.  Our view of the open kitchen let us peek at the busy happenings there.  Chalkboard menu stated only the sequence of the dishes to expect. It looked something like: soup, vegetable, fish, meat, vegetable, fish, meat.  If you violently opposed one of these categories, you could request a skip.  That was all the chef cared to reveal.  And so our evening began with “soup”, only the most aromatic, tastiest of soups garnished simply with crunchy toasted pumpkin seeds.

• • •

Every time I make this soup, it transports Vito and I back to that candle lit dinner in Nice. Now if only I had a chalkboard menu board and a few serious looking French men in my kitchen cooking up seven more courses…

Nicoise Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin Soup (serves 6)
• 1 small-medium pumpkin
• 6 carrots (variation: 1 sweet potato as pictured)
• 1 medium onion
• Chicken stock (about 6 cups)
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ glass of orange juice (best if fresh squeezed)
• ½ teaspoon of paprika
• ½ teaspoon of ginger
• Salt and pepper to taste
• pinch of black and chili peppers
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
• ½ teaspoon of allspice (optional)

Garnish
• Toasted pumpkin seeds

Pissaladière or Nicoise Pizza:
(My simple interpretation of it will go nicely with the soup)
• 6 slices of a baguette (or your favorite bread)
• 2 white onions
• 2 tomatoes
• Anchovies (optional)

Prep/cook – Pumpkin Soup
Chop up the onion and saute’ it in 2 tsps of olive oil until translucent.  Add chopped peeled chopped carrots and saute’ for another minute.

Chop pumpkin into 1 inch cubes (it’s not necessary to peel it) then immediately add 1 cup of chicken stock and a laurier leaf. Stir then cover the pot for a few minutes to let everything get all steamy – This seems to be a big bonding moment for the main ingredients.  At first they’re thinking only of themselves and their importance in the recipe, but then they realize that it’s more productive and fun to play nice together in the delicious steam and become a team.

Add all the spices and the rest of the chicken stock, cover leaving a crack and cook until pumpkin is soft when you pierce it with a fork, about 15 minutes.

When the soup is ready take out the vegetables and puree them in a food processor or with a staff mixer.  Last but not least add the orange juice and adjust spices to taste.

Prep/cook – Pissaladière (Nicoise Pizza)
Cut peeled onion in half and then into rings and saute’ them in a bit of olive oil and butter.
Add a little splash of white wine or a bit of water to make sure onions don’t burn and come out soft.  Warm up a few slices of tomato right in the pan by pushing the onions to the side. Assemble your sandwich by heaping the onions on top of your toasted bread, then topping it with a slice of tomato and if you love anchovies throw few of them right on.

Serve
Serve the soup garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds and a hot Pissaladière style mini-sandwiches. Pair it with a nice Syrah and don’t forget to french kiss your partner before and after the meal!

• • •   LESSONS LEARNED    • • •

Trust the chef, especially when you're
not allowed into the kitchen.

Love it? Share it! - We are dedicated to sharing stories that spark ideas and are meaningful to you. The best way to let us know is by posting a comment, like below or pin it on Pinterest! ~ For More ways Live Like You're Traveling follow us on Feedly, Bloglovin, Pinterest, or Facebook. 

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