I hope you have a spare half hour today, my friends. That’s how long it will take you to listen to my January Vlog. I tried to edit it down. I cut and cut and cut… but Hubby and I are just too verbose. Eventually I was cutting out too much and so I stopped.
This month I decided to focus on food and on some of the memories of food we’ve had when we’ve travelled.
So. Hubby and I chat about Charleston, South Carolina and grits, and how very wrong we were about grits. We also chat about Boltby, in Yorkshire, and marmite. About a wonderful dish I had in Capljina, Bosnia-Herzegovina. And about a couple of food adventures we had in Newfoundland.
Now pour yourself another cup of tea, and have a listen:
I should say if you have never visited Newfoundland, you are missing a real treat. When Hubby and I were in Ireland a few years ago, we chatted to a young girl in a cafe. When she heard we were from Canada, she said with awe, “I hear there’s a place over there where the people talk just like us.” “Yep, I replied. “It’s called Newfoundland.” Newfoundlanders don’t talk exactly like the Irish, but it’s pretty close. I know. I have an aunt and uncle and six cousins who live there and sometimes it’s a teensy bit difficult to communicate. Ha. But that’s another story.
Hubby and I have wonderful memories of all the places we mention in the vlog. I know that many of you are new to my blog, and won’t have read any of my travel posts. So you can read about our trip to South Carolina here, to Bosnia-Herzegovina here, and to Ireland here. Also Boltby was one of our top five favourite quirky travel destinations which I wrote about here.
The restaurant where we first tried shrimp and grits is the Post House Inn in Mount Pleasant near Charleston, SC. I tried to find the Post House Inn recipe for shrimp and grits, but sadly they are not offering them anymore on their menu. I think that’s too bad. But here is the recipe we used from Daniel Gritzer on Serious Eats. The quinoa casserole recipe can be found here. Although we omitted the chicken and used Italian sausage, and homemade tomato sauce instead of tomato soup.
That’s enough of me waffling on for today. Hope you enjoyed my January vlog. Hubby and I are starting February off with a long ski tomorrow. We’re even packing a lunch. I’d better get my beauty sleep tonight if I’m to keep up with him. So… I’m off to bed. Even if it is only 10:00. Ha.
Hope that you are all starting February off right. Whatever that means to you. 🙂
35 thoughts on “January Vlog: Food and Travel Memories”
What a fun Vlog. I love to cook and at the moment I am finding and cooking recipes for food I would normally go out for. I enjoy the process of finding and cooking new recipes and then adjust to my taste and, if necessary, making them healthier. Currently I have a few Korean recipes to try for Bimbap and Bulgogi.
On a side issue your hair looks great and suits you beautifully.
I have not tried Korean food at all, although I have friends who are converts.
Korean food is awesome.
I loved this. Your snow! Actual winter!
That was fun . Twenty five below is a bit nippy ! I used to have recipes with lots of notes but use an App called Paprika for recording recipes now . You can download recipes from the net or write your own . I do say keenwah but not many people round here do & I get some strange looks . I now realise I’ve being saying Newfoundland wrongly all my life & your pronunciation of risotto took me by surprise. Funny how words change as they travel the world .
Marmite is definitely a love or hate thing & part of the language here . Even people can be like marmite ie you either love or hate them . I’m not a fan but Max loves it on hot brown buttered toast . I told him what Stu thought of it & he just shook his head despairingly .
We have lots of food memories tied up with holidays too – being instructed on how to eat spaghetti properly in a small pizzeria in Naples in 1970 – learning how to use chopsticks in Malaysia or we would have starved . After three weeks travelling we were very proficient but so sick of rice -then having curry every mealtime in India , even breakfast , & loving it . Still love curry . You’ve brought lots of those memories back .
You should write a guest post about your and Max’s travel experiences in India etc etc. I remember the story about Max haggling with the kids and pushing the price up. How do you pronounce risotto?
Well we say risOTTo , you say RISotto ( but let’s call the whole thing off 😁 )
Golly, travel and eating out – distant memories from The Before Time! And what I dream of now. Made a list yesterday of all the places I want to visit in Germany as my nephew may be stationed there in future – between friends, family and where I used to live, it could take a month – sigh! Anyway, I adore shrimp and grits, almost as much as crab cakes, which I eat anytime we’re remotely close to a coast. I’ll try to listen to this on my home in the car, and make sure I’m saying Newfoundland and risotto correctly – bwahaha!
We are big shrimp and grits fans now… and we’ll be getting bigger if we eat too many of those meals. Ha.
Such fun, and I would have enjoyed listening to the edited parts as well. It just made my tea all the more fun to share it with you.I do wish my husband would help in the kitchen, perhaps a small shipment of Stu’s dna injected while sleeping..haha. I know what you mean about the rosacia flare up in this cold, I was mentioning that just yesterday after getting out of the and scarves. That would be a great idea for the next instalment. So far it seems like we are going to get that frigid vortex for the month of February so my walks will be much shorter with even more coverings. Oh, also, Marmite, I never did get the attraction, but then again my choices while travelling are rather bland.
I thank Stu’s mum every day for teaching him that cooking is men’s work. Ha.
Yea! New recipes to try. Know you are probably tired of the snow, but it looks really beautiful. We have 74 degree weather today in San Antonio, and I must say the snow looks inviting !
We’re not tired of the snow yet. Talk to me in March and I’ll be singing a different tune. 🙂
JUst read you blog about Charleston-one of my special favs! Middleton plantation,if you ever go back,is worth seeing. Also grits…….I am a cross-breed of Yankee and Southern-to me grits are so much better if you put lots of cheese(anykind)melted in to them.Our daughter lives i Cicago.They don’t carry grits in the grocery stores! Have no idea what they are! I never have gotten to like them with shrimp-too rich for my blood! But diff. strokes,etc…..that’s why we have lots of variations of food and recipes. WE are hoping to do the cross Canada train this sping. Had to post pone last year for obvious reasons, then on to Alaska to visit relatives. I am hoping nothing will happen to cancel it this year. We have second round of shots next week,so we should be set. Any restaurants in Vancouver you would recommend for dinner? Stay safe.
We loved Charleston and had some memorable meals when we were there. Hubby and I have taken the sleeper train from Toronto to Edmonton Alberta. It was so much fun. The food was wonderful. But I don’t have any idea of restaurants in Vancouver, though.
Enjoyed the Vlog, Sue! Would love to have the Seafood Casserole recipe, please and thanks 😊. We were posted to N.S., 3 times and spent 35 of the last 45 yrs on the East Coast. Love fresh Seafood and miss it.
Info on skin care – mositurizers & serums, would be greatly appreciated. My skin has really started to dry out this cold winter – not sure if I am not using the right mositurizing product or what is going on? Age? Visiting a Cosmetic counter is out of the question these days. Would be interested to know about Serums – especially ones without fragrance or else only a very light fragrance. Any recommendations anyone?
Thanks, Carolyn. We have fun filming the clips. I will see about posting the seafood stew recipe on a future post. About skincare, I have found a YouTube channel that has been quite helpful for me as I try to wade through what product goes under what etc. Emily DiDonato who is a former model has a series on her channel called “Dear Derm” in which she talks to her dermatologist about skincare. The videos are quite short and the doctor explains things really clearly. You might want find them helpful.
Thanks for the recommendation, Sue – I will check out the “Dear Derm” on her YouTube channel. Up until this winter, I had been using Ceptahil products ( no scents) , which I really like but am now wondering if I need a Serum to keep more mositure in. Also, I will keep an eye out for the Seafood Casserole recipe. Thanks!!
Love your Vlog!! Thank you. Seeing Stu cook and you helping – so fun. And, great recipes – we need to see the seafood chowder too!
Your walking reminisces show what fun you must have when you travel. Where you were walking and seeing the snowmobiles go by, remind me of my years living in the country in Maine. Your reaction to marmite was the same as ours, although I might give it another try – maybe it grows on you….😉
Thanks, Liz. Winter walking can be glorious… or terrible…. all in the same week. 🙂
This blog is so much fun-travel and food! It’s a Masterclass!
I love to adjust and change recipes indeed,only desserts are something where I follow the recipe
I love polenta very much and we had something very similar to how I imagine grits-are grits stonegrounded as well? My grandmother used to make sausages where something like grits was one of ingredienrs.
I wash quinoa before cooking,it tastes much beter. I guess Stu did too
We (actually it is a recipe from Herzegovina and I’ve got it from my late MIL) make also a dish similar to sarma,but instead of sauerkraut use kale leaves- it’s called japrag or japrak. Leaves of kale are much better after they are frozen in the garden (freezer can help too)
You can improvize “peka” with a couple of layers of aluminium foil instead of bell and make in the oven (not the real thing but….)
Dottoressa
We may try peka in that case… Stu is already planning. Ha.
Enjoyed your January Vlog. I am also having problems with my rosacea this winter added to my dry and mature skin. Thanks for all the effort you put into this fun post! I don’t know how you can exercise outdoors in such cold weather.
I am trying a few new products for my face. But it’s hard to know if they are doing any good.
What fun! Just the kind of thing we love here, cooking and eating and traveling and talking about it! We have been to Bosnia and Charleston, but not to Newfoundland, yet! My hubby also is a cook, and more and more I end up as the sous chef, but I definitely don’t mind!
Looking forward to the next Vlog. Thanks again.
We really loved Bosnia, especially Mostar.
Hi Sue, your January Vlog was so much fun!
My Husband watched it with me and while he is not a “Stu Chef”, he is a pretty good Soux-Chef and quite often helps me out in the kitchen. Thank you for the recipe for Quinoa, I try to like it but my search so far has not turned up a dish I want to make twice. Hopefully this will be the one. By the way, we loved the “Bernie” mittens!
Hope you and Stu had a great day skiing.
Thanks, Glenda. Glad you liked the Bernie mittens comment. My mum bought those mittens for me years ago… long before Bernie had his. 🙂
I think it’d be fun to transport someone from Northern Australia to Canada during the weather you’re having right now and film their reaction as they walked outside for the first time.
I think there’d be some mild jaw dropping and wide eyed staring followed by a silent scream.
I think that the shock might be very detrimental to that person’s health. Ha.
Hi Sue … another great vlog! Snow and great food … what’s not to love! 😂 Stu did a great job demonstrating and chatting and the end results looked delicious. I really love his sense of humour too …
A great meal after being out in the snow and freezing conditions, always seems to taste especially good!
I now realise the reason I love cheesy grits is because they’re cooked with lots of cheese and cream! I remember you recommending this when we visited Charleston. We didn’t make it to the same restaurant but enjoyed a few meals of shrimp and grits on that trip.
Our worst cooking mishap ( never to be repeated! 😂) was years ago when my husband was flambéing a steak and I was behind him on top toes watching. Flames suddenly shot upwards he jumped back and his elbow made contact with my eye! Resulted in the worst black eye and many embarrassing looks and conversations for the next few weeks … and gets mentioned pretty much every time we have steak as a family!
I would have enjoyed watching the “edited out” part about your seafood stew as well … maybe it can have it’s own little spot sometime! It sounded wonderful 😋
Rosie xx
The suspicious black eye. Been there the time I bruised my ribs when I caught my flip flop on the step and fell. The lady at emergency asked me all kind of questions. As well they should, but still maybe I protested too much. 🙂
Enjoyed your post. Your talk of Newfoundland reminded me of my (v. short) ‘visit’ there back in the 1950s when my family took a military air transport plane from McGuire AFB, NJ to the UK. The old prop planes required stops to refuel to make the journey from the US to the UK back then and one of the stops on this trip was Gander. It was memorable for me because the military flight attendants used me to demonstrate how to put on a child’s “Mae-West” should we have to ditch in the ocean. At Gander, it was snowing like crazy. Had a heck of a time walking from the plane to the building and vice versa while the plane was refueled. So not exactly a tourist stop, eh? No moose burgers, either! We only got boxed lunches on the ground and on the flight. Good times. 🙂
When we flew to Newfoundland when I was a kid we landed in Gander as well. Diverted by bad weather from St John’s. We had an hours long taxi ride afterward paid for by the airline… but still… very long.
I finally had a chance to listen to the Vlog. When you said cooked under the dome I wondered if this is like the “Tagine” that Le Creuset makes. It looks like a hat and it sits over the pan so that the juices are forced back into the pan. Might work for your recipe
Good idea, I’ll bet it is similar. Thanks.
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