Last Day -- Trip Recap

Well, all good things must come to an end -- the two weeks of paradise and relaxation are officially over! Okay, we're leaving tomorrow morning and staying overnight in Frankfurt, where I plan on consuming some schnitzel, strudel, and spaghetti eis.  So, I still have some vacay left in me!

However, our Croatian adventures are over :( and we definitely ended our trip on an amazing note:
A home-cooked, Croatian meal, made by my "Teta Stanka" -- my great aunt --

We headed over to her place, where we were greeted with a feast!

As an appetizer, we had the traditional prosciutto, cheese, olives, salami & bread :)
            I COULD LIVE OFF OF THIS STUFF & BE HAPPY
we also had a mozzarella and tomato salad that went undocumented

 The main course was amazing. Easily, one of the best meals I've had here (maybe even ever!!)

Homemade gnocchi with a stewed meat.  It's called pasticada, kind of like Croatian pot roast, and it is a specialty along the Dalmatian sea coast. 

The meat just fell apart! Sooo delicious

The gnocchi were cooked to perfection - I had 3rds

 Sister's favorite part of the meal was undoubtedly the home made cherry strudel!!!
It was soooooo goooood. We immediately piled seconds on our plates before we even finished the first one.  The cherry was tart and sweet with hints of citrus... and the crust was perfect.  Our aunt made everything from scratch! Home made is the way to go.

Oh... and we comandeered the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow morning :)
If you think there is a better motivation than strudel to get me out of bed, I don't believe it.

Of course, we had to say goodbye to the Croatian rellies (relatives), which is always sad :(

Croatia, you know how to have a good time.  You will be missed!!!!
Here's a little recap of the highlights from our vacay :) obviously, I've focused a bit on food... duh.

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Narrowing down your favorite munchies and your favorite memories is a tough task.
I know, my life is just soo unbearably hard!

Top 5 desserts:

1. The King bar!!
This ice cream bar puts dove, haagen dasz and magnum bars to shame. Sister and I have sampled the pistachio, the almond, the double, the coconut, and the truffle bar.... and we have never been disappointed. We will choose this over gelato any day of the week.

2. Breskvice - or "little peach" cookies.
These cookies are sugary and buttery deliciousness that is filled with a walnut, butter, cream-like center.  We tried these on day 1 and fell in love.  Sister and I call them bobis... pronounced like bow-bees... God knows why.

source.

3. Palačinke filled with sladoled :) otherwise known as crepes stuffed with ice cream!
The crepes were filled with a scoop of vanilla, strawberry, and rum chocolate ice cream... enough said

4.  Croatian version of tiramisu!
This cake was spongy, creamy, dense, and light -- yes, all at the same time.  It was light a custard filled with layers of sponge cake, topped with a thick chocolate coating.  Um... maybe this should be higher on the list!

5. Krem Pita - or Serbian custard cake.

This had a delicious light and flaky crust with a dense vanilla custard in the middle... sooo good.

source.



Top 5 Pastries:

1. The sugar doughnut -- aka the "healthy donut"
This was a sweet, doughy bread that was sprinkled covered with sugar.  Sister and I ordered this way too many times to count because we deemed them healthy versions of the fried doughnut!

2. Spinach, egg, ham, and cheese pastry.  Much like a quiche!!
This was always sitting out on our neighborhood bakery - warm, right out of the oven.  The pastry dough was always flaky and buttery and the egg, spinach, cheese & ham combo is a winner

3. Burek -- A Croatian specialty!
We love the cheese burek & the meat burek.  It is a warm, flaky pastry filled with meat and cheese.... obviously, we had to have burek like 6 times just to make sure it made the "favorites" list!
Check out how flaky that crust is (second picture)

 4. Strudel. 
Of all varieties... Sister's favorite strudel filling ended up being a tart cherry :) I would have to agree.  Although, the raspberry strudel was a close second.  Any doughy pastry filled with sweet fruit filling and topped with powdered sugar is a topper in my book.

5. Spinach and cheese pie.
This was a thicker crust.. still buttery and delicious and filled with hot spinach and melty cheese - this seemed to come out of the oven of our favorite bakery right as we walked in sooo it was a regular guest at our b-fast table!

Top 5 Meals:
 - in no particular order.....
1. The Mixed Grill platters 
This is one of the most common dishes among locals and tourists... Croats love their meat.  Platters usually came with french fries, chicken, chicken and veggie kebobs, cevapcici, sausage and pork!

2. Pizza.
Enough said.

3. Teta Stanka's homemade gnocchi and stewed meat!!! SOOO GOOOD. The meat was so tender that we could barely keep it together on our forks... and the gnocchi was doughy and delicious.

4. Cold cuts! 
I don't know how the Europeans do it, but their bread, cheese, and freshly-cut meats are too die for.  The combination is heavenly -- we had this meal literally every day, even just for a snack.

5. Cevapcici.
This is the Croatian version of fast food.  It is minced meat patties, grilled to perfection, stuffed into a soft and delicious piece of bread, and filled with cheese, onions, and this red sauce. 
I first tried this two years ago, and I've been craving it ever since.  It's that good... screw McDonalds, I want me some Cevap.

Alright...
I was planning on doing honorable mentions and even perhaps listing my favorite non-food memories... but I think my suitcase needs a little attention.  I have yet to pack :(
I'll see you all in Frankfurt!

Cooking In Croatia

 It was only a matter of time...

Until I tried to bake in another country.  Keep in mind, the difference between cooking and baking:  Cooking is an art; Baking is a science.  You try doing a science project, in another country, in a foreign language -- complete with conversions & translations.  Yeah, it was an experiment to say the least.

We had a delicious lunch of leftovers -- Villager pizza & Waiters' Pizza with risotto and pasta! Dad heated up the pizza in the oven so the bottom was nice and crispy.  We're kind of pizza snobs like that... no soggy slices for us, please.

If you're wondering what that black stuff is (above), it's cuddle fish risotto -- and it looks better than it tastes.  Yeah, the fact that I put something purple/black and fishy in my tummy means it has to be noteworthy.  Below is my newest obsession: Empty-the-fridge Salad.

I've discovered the best way to get your greens - Top it with tons of food (it is the best "dressing" you could ask for!!)  So far on this trip, I've topped salad with Bolognese, pasta, risotto, pizza, cevapcici...

My plate: 

So, on to the baking.  A little background info -- sister has been mad craving peanut butter.  She's made us go into every single market and grocery store in search for anything close to nut butt (hahaha my new name for peanut butter... not as appealing). 

Our last hope was the big Konzum store in the city.  Low and behold, we found a tiny jar of nut butt (peanut butter) on the top shelf, next to a gazillion jars of jam, nutella, and vanilla creme.  They call it "kikiriki" over here in Croatia.  How cool is that name?!? It sound like I found a name for my first born child.. "come here kikiriki!"

We decided to make brownies with peanut butter swirled in - a classic American dessert, right?

Wrong! After looking up recipes, translating the ingredients into Croatian, asking all the store employees for help, coverting the measurements to metric, guessing how the oven works... our "brownies" came out a little differently than planned.  Think a layer of peanut butter and chocolate, ooey gooey butter and sugar, and some random cake-like part at the bottom.  The only reason there are layers, is because we left the pan out while we were eating lunch, and the flour all settled at the bottom of the pan... and thus, we had "layered brownies."

THEY WERE DELICIOUS!  We served them with vanilla and chocolate ice cream (after heating them up in the microwave...) and our guests - family from Croatia - loved them.  They even asked for the recipe!  People had seconds!  Sister and I were in shock... they were not the brownies we planned for, but they turned out better than expected.


Uh-Oh Brownies
We doubled the recipe to fit a 10 by 14 1/2 pan, so feel free to reduce or adjust anything here

Ingredients:
- 4 sticks of butter (we used 2 sticks of butter, 2 of margarine)
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour (we got the Croatian equivalent)
- 4 cups of granulated sugar
- 4 tsp of vanilla extract (we used 5 packets of vanilla sugar... couldn't find extract)
- 8 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups of cocoa powder -- we used chocolate powder not cocoa powder and we think this definitely changed the recipe
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 1/2 tsp of salt

Directions:  Heat the over to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter in the microwave (stirring occasionally).  Place melted butter in a large mixing bowl and add in the sugar until dissolved.  Stir in the eggs, stir in the cocoa (chocolate) powder, flour, salt, baking powder, & extract.  Next step is critical: let the pan sit out for 15-30 minutes if you want layers... then bake for 40 ishhh minutes :)  ENJOY!

With our brownies, we also had dinner:

Appetizer of bread, proscuitto, and smoked cheese

We kept with the American theme and grilled steak, terriyaki chicken, zucchini, onions and tomatoes

Check it out!! I'm showing off my blog to the Croatians :)
They're new fans.

Off to empty the fridge with Dad and Sister !!!
Later gators :)

Welcome Aboard!

Welcome aboard!!
Okay, sorry, that was more than a little cheesy... but I figured it would set the mood for my blog post recapping our nautical adventures yesterday :)

I need to warn you. Yesterday was one of the best and the absolute worst days ever!! Best = we had a really awesome boating adventure! Worst = I suffered Mother Nature's cruel wrath the entire time... resulting in psychological and physical harm.  There will be some negative thoughts along the way.

Anyways ----

We woke up bright and early (unfortunately, not early enough for a run) and headed to the marina to hop on board a Jadrolija boat that ferried us to the island of Hvar!

This is what happens when you fall asleep...
We like to keep ourselves entertained.

Once we got to Hvar, we took a bus to the "old city" and boarded another boat - this one was a cute wooden boat that took us island hopping around Hvar.  It had three different stops along the way for swimming in this gorgeous water and. of course. lunch was included.

first mishap: I got stung by a wasp... right in the old 'pitter (arm pit).  It was a bittttt painful.

The crew grilled up some amazing, fresh white fish that went along with cabbage and tomato salad.
I used to be grossed out by fishies with a face... and eyeballs... but it tasted way better than I remember!  So i chopped off the head and continued eating :)

 For dessert (we have dessert after ever meal... duh) we had a coconut King bar!!
Vanilla ice cream with a chocolate coconut ribbon coated in chocolate and covered in shredded coconut pieces... um. SIGN ME UP FOR SECONDS!

source.

 One of the most amazing views was of all the gorgeous yachts, sailboats, and cruisers that were docked around various marinas or out boating around the bay.
My future will include a sailboat of this variety:

And of course I want some crystal clear water to go with my boat

Mishaps continued:
- I am the only one, on the entire trip, who has gotten a bug bite. I currently have 8.  and a wasp bite
- I got my foot stepped on crushed by a fairly sizable gentleman.
- I slipped in a pile of dog shit.  And started to cry....

Other than that... my day was amazing!!!
I'll fill you in on the dinner party/feast we had tonight - at a later date

Goodnight!

Croatian Feast

Today... was a foodie day.
You know it's going to be a good day when breakfast consists of french toast and fresh bacon.

Sister and I struggled through a gruesome five miler around the mountain (our legs were jello.. ) and then came home to a beautiful view: Dad manning the stove, frying up bacon and making french toast!

We both ate our weight in delicious french toast - I topped mine with jam and sugar :)

We headed down to the market to refill our supply of figs (see earlier post), grab some coke zero from the grocery store, buy some corn flakes (for our oatmeal), andddd add some more jems to our cookie collection!  I'll have to take a picture for you tomorrow...

We came back for lunch -- leftover pizza from last night & sauteed swish chard, garlic, and bacon.
I didn't take a picture of that either :( sorry

BUT I did remember to snap pictures of our Croatian feast.  My stepmom's cousin and his son came to visit, so we made reservations at this crazy popular pizza place for dinner!  WE WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED.  It was everything you could hope for in a meal:

Appetizers included the vegetarian plate - risotto, Blitva, zucchini, eggplant, and mushroom
and this amazing bread that they make using their pizza dough - I had a billion pieces with "spicy" cheese, which basically just means sharp cheddar-like cheese.
 

 Entrees - Fish plate for two.  This included a grilled white fish, steamed shrimp, grilled squid, mussels, clams and pommes frites :)  I tried a little bit of everything, cause I'm brave.

Sister and I split the Risotto with scampi and shells:  SO CREAMY

Uncle Miki had this gnocchi and beef thing, which was delicious.  He gave me a generous portion, for the sake of taste testing :) 

We ordered two pizzas for the table:
- The village pizza - ham, pepperoni, sausage, sauerkraut, mozerella

 - The waiter's pizza - pepperoni, ham, sausage, onion, peppers, and chili

We were truly un-european, when we had to request "doggy bags" for the leftover food.  We actually had to get the cousins to help us translate, because requesting to-go bags is really uncommon...

But obviously, we had to save room for this jewel:
Crepes filled with ice cream and topped with whipped cream!

Yes, I know you're surprised that I finished the entire thing, plus helped myself to the cousins crepes (which they needed help finishing)

I'll probably have a few more figs before bedtime :) you already know how I feel about those babies

Goodnight! We're off to the Island of Hvar tomorrow for an all-day excursion