Happy Friday. It's hot, so make some mango lassi. You'll find plenty of recipes on the internet, but don't worry about it. You'd have to try very hard to mess up this simple and delicious Indian treat. All you need is:
A cup of mango pulp
A...
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G-Blogodaria
An Alpaca Says Hello
This charming alpaca and her recently born alpaca baby took some time out of their busy day to pose for this photo. Any guesses on where they live?
A: Arequipa, in Southern Peru
The Etymological Origin of Our Favorite Ogre, Shrek
Hey GLNers,
No doubt you are all eagerly awaiting news of from exactly where our favorite Pixar monster’s name stems.
The answer? The German (and Yiddish-derived) word “Schrecklich”, which means awful, terrible or dreadful! 🙁
Nonsense, Shrek is the best!
Let’s Talk About Cheese
For many of us, cheese is an integral part of our lives. Without it, pasta pomodoro is a bit less joyous and Cheezy Stix are just Stix.
With that being said, here is the first and only time I ever regretted too much cheese in my life. It was during a trip to Rome, after I joked my vegan companion that “it looks like I’ll be eating enough cheese for the both of us tonight.”
It was a Gorgonzola-Noci (walnut) pizza. It sounded so good at the time.
Here is the pizza that has prevented me from ever eating blue cheese ever again.
I had never known cheese to deceive me. Yet this one did. Though this picture doesn’t do it justice, I estimate a half-pound of blue cheese was artfully hidden throughout this pie. And that is how one fateful Roman evening, I ate way too much gorgonzola in one sitting and left the table absolutely terrified of ever encountering it again.
So traveling GLNers, what edible things have you encountered abroad that really left an impression?
Taio Cruz: Key Player in XXI Century U.S.-German Cultural Relations
Whoa, hey there GLNers!
If you’re feeling a little groggy today, I have just the thing to wake you up and also confuse you a little: a cute & quirky German translation of “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz. It’s always been a particular summertime-in-the-car favorite of ours, and now it’s infinitely more adorable.
(Is there a foreign language film/song/book/etc you’re crazy about? Send it to us and it could be featured on G-Blogodaria!)
Foodie Friday–Chilled cucumber soup!
Howdy, Lovelys!
Since this week has been filled with the summer heat, perhaps, today’s post can help you get some refreshing relief…
Recently, I had a delicious chilled cucumber soup at Zaytinya.
Even though I do not have their recipe, here’s a yummy alternative:
Ingredients:
- 3 cups plain yogurt
- 1 large English (hothouse) cucumber, peeled,
- halved, seeded and coarsely grated, plus 6
- paper-thin cucumber slices with skin intact for
- garnish
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 Tbs. chopped fresh mint
- 2 1/2 Tbs. chopped fresh dill, plus 6 dill sprigs
- for garnish
- 2 cups milk
- 3 Tbs. white wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Directions:
Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the sieve and let drain in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Discard the captured liquid and place the yogurt in the bowl. Add the grated cucumber, garlic, olive oil, mint, chopped dill and milk and mix well. Stir in the vinegar. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Before serving the soup, season with salt and pepper. Ladle into chilled individual bowls and garnish each serving with a cucumber slice and a dill sprig. Serve well chilled. Serves 6. Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Seasonal Celebration Series, Summer, by Joanne Weir (Time-Life Books, 1997).
Enjoy!
P.S. Cucumbers hail from Asia, but do you know which cuisine chilled cucumber soup originally comes from?
(Have a recipe you’d like to share? Tell us about it and we’ll feature it on a Foodie Friday!)