Tag Archives: meatless desserts
Would You Stay at a Panda Hotel?
Would you stay in a Panda Hotel? We did and we loved it!During our whirlwind stay in Hong Kong, we were treated like royalty, stayed in a suite that looked like a movie set and ate the most amazingly delicious food.
And, yes, there were pandas… CONTINUE READING >>
Finding Germany in the Mountains of Georgia
The unexpected surprises that lurk around the next corner are one of the things that can make travel so interesting.Boy, did we get one of those in the mountains of northern Georgia when we came upon the old fashioned Bavarian village of Helen. Tucked into a valley on the banks of The Chattahoochee River, we suddenly found ourselves driving through an anachronism of epic proportions. Every building, down to the gas station… CONTINUE READING >>
The Key to Quito, Ecuador
What we THOUGHT was going to be a simple stopover on our way to The Galapagos Islands, turned out to be a gem of Colonial American history.Quito’s Colonial Center is perhaps the largest and best preserved historic center in the Americas, and was the first New World city to be declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO… CONTINUE READING >>
Quito, Ecuador in a Day!
Enter a church completely coated in gold, see the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace, explore Quito’s unique food and take in a giant winged Virgin… CONTINUE READING >>
Scaling the Donut Tower
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At The Blue & White, what really caught our eye was their signature dessert… The Donut Tower. Two hot caramelized donuts filled with ice cream and topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Don’t see how anyone could have the blues while… CONTINUE READING >>
Weird Regional Food Photo Gallery – would you eat it?
The wildest, weirdest and (sometimes) oddly delicious food we’ve seen so far!Did we try everything? Yes we did. Did we survive? Yes. Did we get sick? Well… you’ll have to click in to the gallery to see!
You won’t believe what people eat!
Czech Please! Eating in the Czech Republic – A GypsyNester Guide
A big part of Veronica’s desire to see “The Motherland” was to find the origins of her childhood dinners. Generations of her Bohemian ancestors had passed down dishes and now we could experience the originals, almost all of which include dumplings.Dumplings are the undisputed heavyweight champions of Czech food and we found them answering the bell on almost every plate. Big city or small town, fancy restaurant or local dive, it made no difference, dumplings were our… CONTINUE READING >>
Bohemian Wrap-sody
A fairytale day in Prague – join your GypsyNesters as we visit a castle, wake up in a Fine Communist Hotel, visit a king from a Christmas Carol, ponder the Dark Ages, watch soldiers change their guard and, best of all, never spend a koruna (except on traditional street food and a subway ride). Edibles spinning over an open fire was cooking method of… CONTINUE READING >>
Follow Your Nose to Casale Monferrato, Italy
In many ways Casale is your typical medium-sized town of Italy. About thirty thousand souls reside around an ancient center with a wonderfully preserved medieval castle, several spectacular towers dot the skyline and at least one unique food item calls Casale home. Perhaps the biggest difference between Casale and other Italian towns is that the item is not a wine, olive oil or cheese, but a cookie.A cookie that has remained unchanged for nearly a century and a… CONTINUE READING >>
Making Lunch with Claudia, A Real Italian Kitchen
With ingredients from her mother’s organic garden, Claudia invites us into her Italian home and shares her secrets to her light and easy Pesto Rosso with Ricotta and for dessert, delicious Bunet! Want more deliciousness? http://www.gypsynester.com/cmi.htm
Tour the Most Delicious Cookie Factory in Italy!
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We received exclusive access to the inner workings of Krumiri Rossi, the famous cookies made in… CONTINUE READING >>
OMG. The. Food. Cruise Live-Blog
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The GypsyNesters show you the food! Check out… CONTINUE READING >>
Time Traveling with the Amish
Where Indiana meets Michigan, Michiana as it’s known, time travel is possible. Here in the Land o’ Goshen, the Amish have settled and continue a lifestyle reminiscent of hundreds of years ago, placing merit on humility and hard work.Elkhart County, Indiana has the second largest population of Amish in America. More than a religion, this is a way of life. The shunning of technology is not from an idea that new things are inherently bad, it comes from the drive to always remain humble.
We wondered how folks in Amish Country tame a wild hair and, after following a few leads, enrolled ourselves in a Dutch oven cooking class. It turned out to be quite the… CONTINUE READING >>
Dutch Oven Cooking Class
Old-fashioned ovens were set in different scenarios, hanging on… CONTINUE READING >>
Ain’t it Quaint?
Join us in Vermont in the wintertime – quaint and lovely. We survived skiing – all limbs intact – ate at two diverse eateries and stayed at a charming lodge.The quaintness factor continued to increase the entire trip. So much so that when we turned off the main road in Vermont we were immediately greeted by a picture perfect covered bridge over a snowy stream… CONTINUE READING >>
What Do You Want on Your Tombstone?
We hitched our wagon in Tombstone, Arizona and had a rip-roaring time! A reenactment of the Gunfight at OK Corral, a historama narrated by Vincent Price (sounds like the “Thriller” Video!), Boothill Cemetery (No Les, No More ) and a night of music and authentic frontier gibberish at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon… CONTINUE READING >>
The Inexplicable Stairway to Heaven
As the legend goes, when the chapel was built without stairs up to the choir loft. Monks used ladders, but since this chapel was for nuns, a staircase was needed. Conventional stairs would take up nearly half the space in the little chapel, so the nuns decided to pray a novena for some divine assistance. On the ninth (and final) day of the devotion, a mysterious man with a few simple tools appeared and informed the sisters that he could fashion a suitable staircase, but he must be left completely alone. Locked in the chapel for three days, he finished the stairs and disappeared without asking for pay. Nobody knew who he was or where he went, so naturally …CONTINUE READING >>Food on a Stick Photo Gallery
Portable provisions for pedestrians! Ohhhh yeah!French Quarter Pounder
Mention New Orleans and most folks conjure up visions of Mardi Gras, jazz bands, Bourbon Street or maybe even the world champion Saints, but we think of food. Crazy good food.An incredibly diverse, yet unique style cooking has developed through the combination of several cultures down here at the bottom of The Mississippi River. Elements of French, Spanish, Caribbean, Cajun, German and Italian cuisine are all represented in what has come to be known as Creole.
Several of Creole’s signature dishes are very similar to typical Cajun recipes and can share the same names and ingredients. Most start with “the holy trinity” of Louisiana cooking, bell pepper, onion, and celery. The names jambalaya… CONTINUE READING >>
On Fire! Bananas Foster
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The waiter brought a cart up to the table under the hanging wisteria and began setting things aflame, always one of our favorite pastimes. For more on New Orleans food: http://www.gypsynester.com/nola.htm
The Unhealthiest Menu on the Planet
In our never ending search for intriguing foods, a jackpot was hit with what has to be the mother of all unhealthy menus. Seriously, there is a deep-fried cheeseburger on the menu.Heart stopping, artery clogging foods are favorites all over the world and the American Midwest is certainly no exception. In Michigan, it’s Pasties in the U.P., cherry pies in Traverse City and the great Coney Island dogs in Flint. But for real gut busting nothing beats… CONTINUE READING >>
The Maple Leaf Spangled Banner
The rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air…. YEAH CANADA! What? Turns out Independence Day is not the only patriotic fireworks-laden midsummer festival in North America. Canada Day is on the 1st of July and celebrates Canada’s “birthday” with familiar cookouts, picnics, parades, fireworks and a communal cake. Cake? Of course, it’s a birthday party! We found ourselves a beauty of a celebration by the banks of the River Thames in London… Ontario that is.
We found ourselves a beauty of a celebration by the banks of the River Thames in London… Ontario… CONTINUE READING >>
Lamb on the Lam
“All aboard for Hayward, Hurley and Hell!” the train conductors would yell. Northern Wisconsin had become a playground for gangsters, politicians and the “beautiful people” of Chicago during Prohibition and the Great Depression.
Al Capone had a hideout on a private lake near Hayward where he had bootleg whiskey flown in from Canada on seaplanes. The town of Hurley boasted… CONTINUE READING >>
Of Tulips & Fat Balls
Eight decades of tulips and fatballs. EIGHTY years. This is no amateur operation. This is serious stuff. It’s Tulip Time in Holland (Michigan), and when it comes to festivals, these people don’t mess around.
It would seem that the six million tulips alone would be more than enough for any small Midwestern town, but not so for Holland. They take it to the limit — right up to the edge of crazy– creating a veritable Tulipalooza. That’s why Tulip Time was named Best… CONTINUE READING >>
Kalamazoo Appy Crawl
As the tee shirts say, “Yes, There Really IS a Kalamazoo!” It’s the kind of name that makes you want to stop and see what’s going on. Kalamazoo is an Algonquian Indian word meaning “boiling pot” and the city has gained fame through celery, taxi cab production, Gibson guitars, the Upjohn “friable pill” and the Kalamazoo stove. With all of this going for it, we had to drop by and try an appy crawl in this tidy little Michigan college town, proving that appy crawls can be done in anyone’s hometown.
All roads led downtown, which boasts the first pedestrian mall in the United States. Since 1959 it has hosted fun little… CONTINUE READING >>
St. Croix Appy Crawl #2
For this evening’s Appy Crawl, we have decided to hit three of Christiansted’s most established eateries. To make the crawl more lively, we are hitting the town in the teeth of tourist season—the people watching/meeting was SPECTACULAR! We meet a couple on their honeymoon, escaping the cold of Philly with an interesting toasting style (Cheers, Big Ears). Then, a woman who worked for Frank Zappa in the 70s—a true Gypsy Nester—she has just finished raising… CONTINUE READING
