Blorg

It's really hot today and my dad decided to clean the oven. 10 days until I'm in winter (i.e. Peru).

Back at the Churn

I'm back in the US and apparently am eager to get back to my life of domesticity. I decided I'd get back to the ice cream churn and checked out recipes for blueberry frozen yogurt (see below). I halved the recipe because I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I also put the mix into the freezer for about half an hour before churning it.

Verdict from the family and possible suggestions for next time:
-a refreshing summer treat but the flavor wasn't as strong as I would have hoped.
-reduce the blueberries to concentrate the taste
-add blueberry mixture after the milk mixture has churned for a while
-add chocolate sprinkles or hot fudge on top

I've had a request from my sister for Guinness ice cream so I'll let you know how that turns out...

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

• 2 cups lowfat vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 pint blueberries, pureed and strained

In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, milk and sugar. Mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the pureed blueberries and mix until combined. Place in ice cream maker and churn for 20 - 25 minutes. Ripen in the freezer for at least 2 hours before serving.

Yield: 8 servings

Cheese and beer. Life doesn't get any better.

For our last big excursion, we decided to go to Alkmaar. Every Friday, they inspect the cheese and sell large quantities of it. We headed to Amsterdam Centraal and caught the train to Alkmaar, discovering that we still had to walk quite a distance to the market.

To open the event, an important person rings a bell (like opening the Stock Exchange).

The cheese is inspected and tasted.

Then carried off to be loaded into the trucks.

Watching these proceedings was quite hot and tiring, so after a coffee, a walk around town, and some cheese buying, we headed to the Beer Museum which required having a beer after.

We were exhausted on the way home!

Hi(gh) from Amsterdam

I have been waiting for DAYS to use that title on my blog because i am so easily amused. No, i am not actually high in Amsterdam, just very delinquent on my updates. I'll try to send some highlights tomorrow...

Amsterdam

Dear Blog, We have survived five days with our parents, and they have survived five days with us! Emma and I (Charlotte) have decided to do a joint blog and just link to each other. (Not like we haven't done that before.) Instead of a play by play of each day, we will do a "best of." Emma might supplement this with her blog. Here it goes.

Best of…Museums:
1) Handbag and Purse Museum. This museum contained purses and bags from the 1600th century. Emma really liked the purses from the 1930s, especially the art deco ones. There was a temporary exhibit on environmental and free trade bags, which inspired Emma. Apparently, everyone will be getting purses made from trash for Christmas. I liked the store. Dad did not come, surprisingly.
2) The Van Gogh Museum. This museum, located on the Dutch version of the museum mile was full of Van Gogh, other period artists and tourists. I skipped the print exhibit on the 2nd floor but really liked his paintings of the potato eaters. Van Gogh was trying to capture the peasant life, to which he was attracted.
3) De Oude Kerk. The Old Church, located in the Red Light district was a stunning example of the iconoclasm that took place during the protestant revolution. It was originally a Catholic Church, but was stripped of all if its ornaments (except what couldn't be reached) and turned into a protestant church. One can imagine the altars and rich brocaded fabrics on the white washed walls. Few of the stained glass windows remain. Unfortunately the tower was closed so we could not climb up and see what is probably an amazing view of the old city.

Best of…food:
1) Cheese. Emma is in love with the cheese in this city. We've tried many varieties of blue cheese, goat cheese, and cheddar. The hands down favorite is a farmer's cheese, a cross between cheddar and parmesan with crunchy bits in it. What makes these cheeses so good is the lait cru, or "raw milk." It's hard to find in the US.
2) Poffertijs. I had my first experience of poffertijs at a pannenkoeken huis built from an old carousel. They are a cross between pancakes and waffles cooked in a pan which creates silver dollar shaped cakes. Sprinkled with powdered sugar, these are delicious.
3) Apple Pie. I don't know. Tasty. Like you always wish it tasted.

That's all for now. stay tuned! perhaps we'll get some pictures up...

Ozone hole

The ozone hole isn't projected to recover until 2070 now. Depressing but at least all of my stratospheric ozone knowledge will be useful for a while!

Its hot

Northern Europe here i come.

This perplexes me

http://www.trubeverage.com/

There is, in fact, wildlife in NYC

In the past month, I have had two wildlife* sightings in the city, both of which were raccoons. Today, as I was running around the park, I looked over and saw running next to me a:

*I don't count pigeons, sparrows, squirrels, chipmunks as wildlife.