Ahhhh... Montreux!

We set our alarm (the only time we set our alarm!) for 5:30, so we could be sure to catch our train to Switzerland after finding it by way of the Metro. I, personally, didn't want to stay in Paris one minute more than I had to. :)
It was a long train ride through the France country side and down into the Geneva district, but beautiful!

We took a lot of pictures from train windows.


This is what we did on the train...wrote postcards, journaled, listened to music, and took pictures.


All the train stations are uniquely different. I never got tired of them.

I can't even express how nice it was to arrive in Montreux after Paris. We absolutely fell in love with this little town on Lake Geneva.





Our hostel didn't open until 18:00, so we walked around town with our backpacks and just soaked in the sights.



The streets leading down to the lake are very steep. In fact, they actually have an elevator that will take you from one sidewalk up to the street above!

After buying avocado, bread and figs to pair with our Bruge cheese for a picnic dinner, we wandered down to the lake and just sat on a bench while waiting for our boat to take us to the castle, Chateau de Chillon.





The boat ride over was so refreshing! (After all the walking we did, we enjoyed any sort of transportation that moved when we didn't. :D)





Then the views of the castle from the water! Wow! It was soooo neat!





After getting off the boat, we walked up a quiet little path to the castle when all of a sudden...

...our camera quit working! (I'm absolutely certain that it had nothing to do with being dropped in the sand on the Zandvoort beach, or dropped on the cement later!)

I can't tell you how disappointed we were that we couldn't get pictures of the phenomenal Chateau de Chillon to show you! I don't even think I could describe it in words....our disappointment or the castle! All I can say is, you must tour this fortress if you are ever near Lake Geneva - and be sure your camera is working so you can get pictures for me!

We were able to put our bags in lockers before we explored the castle, which worked out really well as there were many, many stair cases (Have we mentioned how many steps we've climbed? :D), some of them very narrow with low ceilings.
We went to the depths of the dungeon to the very top of the turrets, crept through secret passageways and glided about spacious dining halls, sang in the chapel (the acoustics were amazing!) and sat in the windows looking down over the water.

Then we awoke from our medieval dream, retrieved our packs and headed down the path toward our hostel. But first we found the "most perfect picnic spot" by the lake and ate our delicious avocado sandwiches. It was so beautiful and so peaceful! I felt like I could stay there forever.

Our Swiss youth hostel, Jugendherberge Montreux, was right on the lake path, so after we got our room I went down to the lake and soaked my feet in the freezing cold water and watched the sun go down.

A tiny picture I found on Google of our awesome hostel!

It was a gorgeous sunset - some say due to the volcanic ash from Iceland. The lake was glassy and the reflection on the water looked like an i with the sun as the dot - just like the information centers around Europe. Yes, we've learned to look for that i ! :D
Ironically, the information we are all looking for is in creation and the God who made it.

i Looking for info? Look up! i

Unfortunately, we missed getting that once-in-a-life-time sunset on camera. However, it will be forever etched in my mind as one of my all time favorites.

~Sarah

P.S - My Taste of Europe Series has a new entry as well - Bruge Waffles!

org cuti sabtu ahad, sy cuti isnin selasa.

ye tepat sekali, sy menghabiskan masa bercuti dgn sebaiknya. well, mostly depan laptop je. promote business sana-sini. phew~ letih menghadap laptop lame2 kan. duduk setempat plak tuh. mcm2 position dah pun sy duduk. & malam semlm. sy buat barney terkejut apabila sy tiba2 berada di dpn mata dia. adalah slh fhm skit at first, then sy mmg menguatkan semangat drive sorang2 for the 2nd time utk tahun ini tnpa dirancang! dgn minyak kereta dah E. separuh jln baru sy bubuh minyak, dgn takut mat rempit, dgn fobia perompak, peragut, semua lah! tp berbaloi lah, sbb kali ni tak sesat jalan =P dan die speechless... =)

btw. i've planned for a couple of week to go the carwash. yeah yeah. kembara itu sudah masham x berbasuh for more than a week. then semalam, dah siap pakai bju pe sume, tibe2 ade bunyi doorbell. ta daaa! pos laju! yeayyyy! sy beli 2 brg on9. shawlsss + accessories.

selingan! =P sy da lame beli shampoo ni. tp, Dove baru je habis.

so baru pakai banana body shop ni. and... baw die best!

rase nak mkn rambut sendiri. give a try! ;)

ta-daa! sy beli black necklace & grey bracelet. murah ok!

like, both necklace + bracelet + postage = RM30

++sy mmg suka ape2 brg diperbuat dr kulit siput. thanks kak lyne!

amat puas hati and shukeee brg2 anda

visit - http://adore-mystyle.blogspot.com/

then, hari tu sy nmpklah tudung rainbow tuh! 1st time nmpk!

terus nakkk! wlpun sen tinggal sikit... sy nak beli 1 je. RM10.

suddenly akak tu offer baekkk pnye price -

RM30 = shawl rainbow, inner syria, shawl 'i am gorgeous' + postage.

haruslah ambil! and sgt puas hati.

visit -http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000427410188&ref=ts

ok, yesterday ends up with sy x jd ke carwash, sy teman mama + cik ke carre4 wangsa maju. then mlm baru sy buat surpriseee utk barney. setiawngsa-seri kembangan tuh sy bwk 20minit je wkt balik. hebat la jgk kan =P wkt pergi setgh jam-45min jgklah sbb traffic jam. and hari ni, sy lunch with barney, unplanned. kami mkn KFC. then, sy balik, ade org order shawl, dan sy teruslah pos ptg td! thank u customers and loyal supporters! ;)

esok keje! wohoooooo. oh gumbiranye. ok. hipokrit. haha. tidaklah! sy suka apa sy buat, cuma nak ke pejabat tuh yg malas. kelak, bila sampai dan mula bekerja, ok saja. =)

Teman jauh

8 mei 2010, sabtu

Gw punya temen satu gereja, tapi dia anggota gereja di Malaysia, so ga pernah ketemu, cuman lewat fb email emailan aja. Dia sekarang tinggal di Kanagawa ken, bersama suami n 2 anak cewek, Yuu chan n Yuki chan.

Kamis malam, kita ada chatting bareng via fb, dia bilang mau datang ke daerah t4 gw tinggal sekarang..wah, gw kaget juga..coz kan dia tinggalnya jauh begitu, trus kok mendadak bilang mau berkunjung??? Ternyata, dia bareng family lagi jalan2 driving by car ke daerah shikoku n sekitarnya. Yang gw kaget, mreka ga nginep di hotel dalam perjalanan selama 4 harian itu, ternyata mereka tuh buka tenda, istilahnya camping gitu...wah salut dah. Tapi emang bener, lebih irit pake buka tenda soalnya disini biaya hotel dihitungnya per orang bukan per kamar...uhhhhh

Sabtu pagi, gw da siap2 bikin cemilan kecil aja, pizza n kue2 dah. Mreka datang jam 10 lebih, ngobrol ngalur ngidur, tentu aja by japanese...hahha...padahal gw n dia tuh kalo chatting pake english, walaupun english gw belepotan dah...begini nih, kalo bahasa jarang dipakeee...ancur leburr...
Seneng banget bisa ketemuan...n kita cerita banyak juga..mpe ga berasa waktu tuh cepet berlalu. Anak2 sebentar juga bisa langsung akrab...padahal baru maen sebentar, tau2 uda pamit, soalnya mo lanjut perjalanan, jalan2 ke onsen..hohoho...
[Sis, thank you for visiting me, I miss U, I hope we can meet each other at another chance.]

DAHI WAALE ALOO

Ingredients:

Potatoes .... 3

Curd .......... 1 cup

Green chillies...1

Coriander leaves ... handful

Mint leaves ........... 6-7

Ginger ............... 1 tsp.

Turmeric powder .. 1/8th tsp.(2 pinches)

Salt ..................... to taste

Cumin seeds ....... 1 tsp.

Oil..

Method:

1. Boil and peel the potatoes. Cut into cubes.

2.In a pestle and mortar grind coarsely the coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilli and ginger.

3. Heat 1 tbsp oil and add the masala paste. Stir fry for a minute and add the potatoes, salt and turmeric powder.Mix well and sprinkle a little water and simmer for 2 - 3 minutes.

4. Now churn the curd with a little water and stir into the potatoes and simmer for 2-3 minutes further.

.

Temper with the cumin seeds.

This sabji goes well with puris.

Yes, I'm Lazy

Okay...so it's been awhile. Amazingly enough, a couple people seem to have been checking and have made requests for a new post so here goes.

It's not that I've stopped cooking entirely and turned into someone that eats Kraft Dinner every night (though some nights...). Or that I haven't made anything post-worthy in the last few months. There was the mind-blowingly amazing Momofuku Compost cookies that were so good I made two double batches in the span of two weeks. And the experimental S'mores pizza that turned out to be the perfect emergency dessert. And a few other yummy meals that I'll attempt to post about in the next couple of weeks. Mostly things got pretty busy at work and I got lazy. Not lazy enough to stop cooking good food, but enough that I stopped taking pictures of my meals or documenting the recipes. A pretty sorry excuse, I know, but that's all I have.

Anyway, my mom had requested no presents for Mother's day this year but simply some good food. It seemed like a nice opportunity to try out some new recipes and ah! post about them.

I've been craving some sort of a brunch "roll" since the Mother's day recipes starting creeping in to the blogosphere a couple of weeks ago. I've never actually attempted my own cinnamon rolls mostly out of (again) laziness - who really has time to get up three hours early to make a real yeasted dough that needs to rise twice*? But since my mom actuallys works until 2 on Sundays I figured I had the time to whip up some rolls in time for an afternoon snack before dinner. My original intention was to make some traditional cinnamon rolls, but then these lemon rolls floated back into my memory. Lemons just seem to scream "Spring" and "Mom", don't they?? Nevermind the fact that winter just doesn't want to go AWAY and it was maybe 10 degrees at the warmest part of this weekend.

These rolls were verrrry good - soft, sticky and not too sweet. They would be a fantastic addition to any brunch spread, or as a treat to go with some afternoon tea. I actually used less lemon than the original recipe called for (they had used zest in the dough as well) and still found it quite lemon-y so I think it was a good call. And the texture of the dough was also perfect. I will definitely be using it again and experimenting with different filling options. YUM.

*Sure, I've done it for english muffins but those occasions also tend to stem from a different kind of laziness: I choose to stay at home and make my own versus the option of going (god forbid) outside to buy them on Sunday mornings.

Sticky Lemon Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze
Adapted from theKitchn
Makes 12 large breakfast rolls...or 15 large-ish rolls

Lemon Roll Dough
2 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
3/4 cup milk, warm but not hot on your wrist
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very soft
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs

Sticky Lemon Filling
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 lemons, zested and juiced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft

Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup powdered sugar
1 lemon, zested

1. In a small measuring cup, sprinkle the yeast over the warmed milk and let it sit for a couple minutes.

2. Stir in the softened butter, sugar, vanilla, and one cup of the flour. Stir in the salt and nutmeg. Stir in the eggs and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft yet sticky dough. (I only ended up using about 3 1/2 cups of flour in total, with additional for dusting while kneading)

3. Turn the soft dough onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for about 5-7 minutes, or until the dough is elastic and pliable. Drizzle the top of the dough with vegetable oil, and turn the dough over so it is coated in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and let the dough rise until nearly doubled - about an hour.

4. In a small bowl, mix the sugar with the nutmeg and ginger, then work in the lemon zest with the tips of your fingers until the sugar resembles wet, soft sand. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon. The mixture should now be more of a sludge. Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking dish.

5. On a floured surface pat the dough out into a large yet still thick rectangle — about 10x15 inches. Spread evenly with the softened butter, then pour and spread the lemon-sugar mixture over top. Roll the dough up tightly, starting from the top long end. Be warned...you'll have plenty of the lemon-sugar sludge leak out. At least I did (see picture). Cut the long dough roll into 12-15 even rolls, and place them, cut side up, in the prepared baking dish. I do think that 12 rolls would have fit in the pan better, but I clearly was not measuring out my rolls properly while I was cutting and it's pretty hard to go back on this one. Cover the rolls with a towel and let them rise for an hour or until puffy and nearly doubled. (You can also refrigerate the rolls at this point. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When you are ready to bake the rolls, remove the pan from the fridge, and let them rise for an hour.)

6. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit, 180 degrees Celsius. Place the risen rolls in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, until rolls are a golden brown.

7. While the rolls are baking, prepare the glaze. In a small food processor (or with a mixer, or a sturdy whisk), whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice and zest and blend until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and blend until smooth and creamy. When the rolls are done, drizzle them with the cream cheese glaze. Serve while warm.