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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Itinerary

In less than two weeks (!), my guy and I are going on a pretty much crazy-awesome oversees adventure, so here's a bit of an itinerary so that anyone who wants to can know where we are and when (and cry a bit with jealousy.. suckers).

South East Asia















4th-6th July: Bangkok
6th-9th July: Chiang Mai
9th-12th July: Chiang Rai
12th-15th July: (via the Mekong River)
 Chiang Rai- Luang Prabang
15th-17th July: Vang Vien
17th-18th July: Vientiane
18th-21st July: Phnom Phen
21st-24tj July: Siem Reap
24th-25th July: Bangkok


Scandinavia / Europe




25th- 29th July: Helsinki
29th July- 1st Aug: Copenhagen
1st-4th Aug: Nygård (at my Aunt's)
4th-7th Aug: Norrtälje (with more family
7th-9th Aug: Stockholm
9th-12th Aug: Road trip somewhere in Sweden
12th-14th Aug: Oslo
14th-20th Aug: Reykjavik
20th-25th Aug: Edinburg
25th-28th Aug: Paris


US / Canada

















28th-31st Aug: New York
31st Aug- end of December- Halifax, Nova Scotia (Dalhousie University exchange)
End of December- 28th January- Travel the west coast, fly out of San Fransisco










So there we have it! Asia is mostly unplanned, we have 3 nights accomodation and one flight booked, so it's all pretty likely to change, but at least I have a rough guide! If anyone has any suggestions of places we HAVE to go, things we MUST see, places we NEED to stay, please let me know.



*the above photos are all from Pinterest, below photos belong to me.



Some photos from previous trips to Sweden- SO excited to go back to my second home.






My Aunt's amazing farm in the south of Sweden, only my favourite place on earth (the picture of the blue door above is from there too.


They even have gingerbread named after me there, clearly where I belong.


Stockholm



Counting down- only 12 days!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Procrasti-baking

Whenever I'm meant to be doing something else, I inevitably find myself baking something! Recently instead of booking my travels, planning things or working, I decided to make a rasberry and lemon pannacotta. As you do. I have made pannacotta once before, and was so amazed at how easy it was. Pannacotta can look really impressive and technical, particularly with layers, but trust me- it's easy as pie!

I adapted the recipe from this amazing looking one; http://userealbutter.com/2009/02/17/pomegranate-lemon-panna-cotta-recipe/

As I didn't have pomegranate juice on hand, I settled for blended raspberries instead. I am also rather impatient, therefore not setting the first layer enough and I also think I didn't quite use enough gelatine, so the layer of raspberries bled a little into the lemon pannacotta- we'll just say I was going for rustic...!


Raspberry Lemon Pannacotta

Pannacotta Layer
1 large lemon- juiced (about 5 tbsp) and grated for the peel
2 tsps gelatin powder
1 cup full cream milk
1 cup cream
1 cup natural yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Raspberry Layer
1/4 cup boiling water
2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
1 1/2  tsp gelatin powder
1/2 cup icing sugar (to taste)
Extra water

Method

First, to make the pannacotta;
  • Sprinkle the gelatine over the lemon juice, sit for 10 min until dissolved. Will be a wierd, wobbly texture- don't be alarmed.
  • Heat milk and cream in a saucepan on low heat until warm, do not boil.
  • When soft, stir gelatine mixture and the sugar  in with the milk and stir over low heat untill dissolved.
  • Remove from heat and add in yogurt, lemon peel and vanilla extract, stirring until smooth.
  • Pour into desired glasses (clear and tall are best, I think the ones I used were a little bit big- but no-one complained!), filling 3/4 full
  • Refrigerate at least one hour before next layer.
Then, to make the raspberry jelly;
  • Stir gelatine in with boiling water until dissolved.
  • Blend raspberries with the sugar to taste, it should be a good balance of tart and sweet- you don't want it too sour since the other layer is lemon.
  • Stir raspberry mixture with the gelatine, and add some extra water until it is a desired consistency. (I kept mine quite thick, but the mixture would go further and be easier to pour if you make it a bit thinner)
  • Pour the raspberry layer over the set lemon pannacotta layer, and refigerate- best overnight.
  • NOM. 







 




Friday, June 15, 2012

Pre-Departure

It's almost TWO WEEKS untill my guy and I hop off on our little adventure, stopping off at some temples, perusing some glaciers, foraging through markets and cheese shops and even reading some text books thrown in there somewhere! Which is why, last weekend, I decided I needed a little trip before the trip.

So, as a little tester of how I will go about this blogging thing when I am actually over there, I thought I'd post some little tidbits of our weekend in Melbourne.

I love the feel of a city with art and culture popping up around every corner. Next to rubbish bins and the like.



We strolled down some lovely laneways and alleys, the kind that make you want to sip wine and read something dark and romantic. Well, the former I accomplished with success, at least!


What else do I do when on holidays?
 

 Eat.


 One red velvet delicious?... or ten?...


A bit of of amazing coffee to get us through the exhaustion that comes with eating...


And more eating.. There are some seriously great cafes going around in that town! If only I could remember the name of this adorable one that served our amazing sandwiches on rustic wooden chopping boards and had quite the collection of cakes and goodies.



Besides eating, we also stumbled upon some pretty great shops, among them this wonderful little gallery on Brunswick street of artwork inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Pretty darn gorgeous.



And well, it was World Gin Day. Which of course we took very seriously.


Hope you had a happy one too!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Number One

How to begin.

Starting is never fun is it?

The first line will always set the whole atmosphere for the rest of the movie, for the rest of the book, for the rest of the conversation. Of course, you can always redeem yourself by adding some hilarious quips down the line when you gain confidence, but the fact that you stumbled first will always be there. Not that I've already stumbled, right?

Er. This blog is where I want to document fun things. Exciting things. Adventures. Even if they are just day-to-day adventures. But soon I am embarking on a rather exciting trip, so that deserves documentation, and this is where it's happening!

So Mum, Dad, and whoever else feels like reading, stay tuned!