Food & Drink Archives - Page 4 of 5

December 8, 2017July 24, 2018

Southeast Asia – Come for the weather, stay for the fruit

Fresh fruit salad in the morning, including black-speckled dragon fruit. — Fresh fruit in the morning, including ripe mango, banana, grapefruit and black-speckled dragon fruit.

HANOI, VIETNAM – For most of the three-and-a-half weeks we’ve been in Hanoi it’s been around 70 degrees during the day (except for a brief cold spell, and a few days that were near 80) — a far cry from the chilly weather we experienced just before we left the Pacific Northwest.

Skipping winter from now on was one of my main desires when we were looking for a place to stay for a while. That and easy access to a market where we could buy fresh food.

So far we’re winning on both counts.
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December 1, 2017July 24, 2018

Too many surprises for one night

Can't wait to taste that cheddar-y goodness! — Can’t wait to taste that cheddar-y goodness!

HANOI, VIETNAM – I’m not giving up, but I am pretty frustrated. Sometimes you just have your mind set on something and you don’t expect to be disappointed. You understand…

You really do, don’t you?

Yummmm. I am so looking forward to cheese popcorn. Just the right amount of salty to go with what I’m drinking at this time – a good dark beer. Here is a picture of the package.

First you have to get the darn packaging open, so I wrestle that project with a serrated knife big enough to kill. I walk into the living room with my drink, ready to sit down and relax.
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November 17, 2017July 24, 2018

What’s this headache?

Window seat daytime view — View from the window seat at 38,000 feet

HANOI, VIETNAM – I’ll write about more flight adventures later, but I thought I would share with you (especially Dr. Flanagan) about travel and the “American” way of life. What do I mean? Let me tell you my tale:

We get on the plane for Taipei at midnight in Seattle. Getting to the airport, checking in for our flight, boarding the plane – that part was uneventful. But the Northwest has a terrible windstorm that night and we get the resulting ‘rock and roll’ for a few hours at the start of the flight.

They want to serve me food soon. I’m almost sick, but I am saying to myself, “I AM NOT ON A BOAT AND I WILL NOT BE SICK.” This means I have nothing in my stomach for hours.
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August 26, 2017July 24, 2018

Desperately seeking ‘real’ Scotch ale

UNITED KINGDOM – Back home in Washington state, one of my favorite beers has been “Scotch Ale” from Bellingham’s Boundary Bay Brewery. Another favorite (which seems to be no longer available) was Jenny’s Scotch Ale from the Skagit River Brewery in Mount Vernon. Both are quite sweet, with just enough hops to add body, but not so much that they cross over into “bitter beer” territory.

So when Melanie and I set out to visit Scotland, I looked forward to drinking a lot of similar brews. After all, where else would one expect to find real Scotch ale?
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August 10, 2017July 24, 2018

Baked beans for breakfast… and other quirks of Scottish cuisine

The full Scottish breakfast — The “full Scottish” breakfast

SCOTLAND – One of my most curious first impressions of Scotland was the so-called “Full Scottish Breakfast.”

The ‘full Scottish’ includes such typical morning fare as smoked bacon (mostly meat, unlike American bacon where it’s mostly fat), a savory link sausage, a fried egg (just one) and toast (white or brown).

Uniquely Scottish additions to the menu include a wedge of potato scone (more like a potato pancake than the scone I’m familiar with in the States), a slice of black pudding (another type of sausage – very salty – made from pork fat or beef suet, pork blood and oatmeal or barley), sautéed mushrooms, a couple of grilled tomato halves, and finally…
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