SARAH'S ASIAN STEAK AND NOODLE SALAD

If you aren't able to grill outdoors, steak can be cooked in a hot lightly oiled well-seasoned skillet or grill- pan over moderately high heat, turning over once, until medium-rare, 12 to 14 minutes total. Dressing can be made 3 hours ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

For steak
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 lb flank steak

For salad
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
6 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons dried hot red-pepper flakes
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots (2 medium)
8 oz dried vermicelli rice-stick noodles
2 medium Granny Smith apples
7 oz mixed greens salad (16 cups loosely packed)
1 cup fresh mint leaves, torn into pieces if large
1/2 cup salted roasted peanuts (sometimes labeled "cocktail peanuts"), chopped
Whisk together fish sauce, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Pour marinade into a large sealable plastic bag. Pat steak dry and place in bag, then press out excess air and seal bag. Turn bag over 2 or 3 times to coat meat, then place in a shallow dish (in case of leaks) and chill at least 4 hours and up to 8. Bring steak to room temperature 30 minutes before grilling.

Prepare grill for cooking over moderate heat. Remove steak from marinade (discard marinade) and pat dry with paper towels. Grill over direct heat, turning over once, until medium-rare, 12 to 14 minutes total.
Transfer steak to a cutting board and let stand, uncovered, about 15 minutes.
Thinly slice steak across the grain.

Assemble salad while steak rests. Whisk together lime juice, water, sugar, fish sauce, and red-pepper flakes in a bowl until sugar is dissolved, then stir in shallots. Cook noodles in a 5-quart pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, then rinse under cold water and drain well. Transfer to a bowl and toss with 1/2 cup dressing. Working around core of each apple, cut apple in 4 chunks. Slice these approx. 1/4 inch thick. Stack and cut slices lengthwise into matchsticks. Combine apples, greens, and mint in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup dressing and toss well to coat.

Arrange noodles on a large platter and mound greens on top of noodles. Arrange steak slices on greens and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve at room temperature with remaining dressing on the side.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

I love this recipe!! Don't bother tasting as you go along, just make it exactly as it says and it will be perfect! The mint is the best part of the salad so make sure you have enough. Not having a balcony for a BBQ I cooked the steak in a skillet. Who knows what type of steak I had, all it said was "freshly slaughtered". I only had to cook it a few minutes on each side (it wasn't very thick) and it was very tender after marinating for the full 8 hours. There was enough left over for lunch the next day, but watch out! Suds found the dressing was spicier the second time around.

Mainz, Germany

I went with Suds on one of his pairings to Frankfurt, Germany. We left at midnight and got in at 6am. Lucky me I got the crew seat in business!!

The crew stays in a town about 45 minutes from the airport called Mainz (MINEz) in the Hyatt on the river Rhine. We slept for a couple hours then headed out into the town.






It was market day in the city.
There were stalls and stalls of fresh veggies, fruits, noodles, cheese, breads, and preserves. We bought one of these huge pickels!

Every stall had strawberries and white asparagus! I have always thought of white asparagus as special but it was EVERYWHERE here! We went out for dinner and they had a whole section of the menu headed under Asparagus.























There are a couple of church's in the city. They have little entrance ways inside the main doors that are all glassed in. It's cool cause you can look in and take a picture without disturbing the people inside!








We stumbled onto this church and out front were tables set with flowers, but no restaurant or wedding we could see! Later on in the night we walked past it again and people were sitting there eating.



We watched Germany play Ecuador on the big screen in an outdoor beer garden.
The German colours were everywhere!

Too bad we couldn't understand what people were saying. When the game started everyone stood up and we couldn't see a thing! Then it started to rain so we left and watched the rest of the game on a floating pub on the river.




Suds wanted to get my pic with these dressed up Holland fans. Well they sure surprised us!!! Must have of been drunk to kiss the photographers wife!





Here is the floating pub where we watched the rest of the game.

Shek-O beach

On Saturday we went to Shek O beach. It takes an hour from our place but is still on Hong Kong Island. It is easy though, just hop on one MTR line and then a bus.





It was 32 degrees out and the water was nice and warm. Around the corner there is another beach called Big Wave Bay that is supposed be good for surfing.





We grabbed some noodles and spring rolls from a street vendor for about $2. Then rented an umbrella and 2 mat's for $4 for the day and we were set!

Camel Dismount video# 2 I swear it works this time!!!

The Fish Whisperer. This works now too!!!

Here is a movie of us on our picnic. Near the end the sound is behind the visual for some reason. Anyways its funny!

3 days in Paris

As you may know, I went to Paris to meet my sister Whitney and her friend Kim for the first few days of their trip to Paris and the UK.
















I flew in a day early to Paris and caught a Da Vinci Code walking tour that exposed several flaws in the story, including a made up Rose Line, 6 foot tall gold candelabra in St Suplice that Silas could not have lifted among many others.


That night I walked the Champs Elsysee. Too bad the weather was crappy and raining. I had to invest in an umbrella and tights for under my skirt! The next morning I got up early and did some shopping in H&M and Sephora, two stores best kept on another continent, for the good of the bank accounts!!







I met up with Whit and Kim at our hotel in the Latin Quarter at 2PM. After some wine we walked to Sacre Coeur church, the "Wedding Cake" church. It was a longer trek than anticipated and we had to hop on the Metro when exhaustion set in!! A detour into the ghetto by an accidental metro stop, then onto dinner and wine near the Louvre. Cute waiters but disappointing French onion soup. Kim needed to sleep at this point so Whit and I walked down the street from our hotel to the restaurant area and found ourselves a 2 euro glass of wine from a gyro shop and a fellow Canadian. We chatted and he came with us to smoke from the hubbly bubbly. He immediately ordered 2 half carafs of wine and promptly & loudly declared them to be watered down. Maybe that's why he drank them so fast? He was a tad obnoxious and both Whit and I were surprised when he slapped down his money first for the bill. We thought we were being taken for a ride! When he refused the change (after all that complaining? Why not take the change as payment?) from the bill Whit decided to throw the 1 Euro coin onto the street, in front of the waiter!! Opps! Then I started to tell about our moving out garage sale just before we sold the house. Whitney had some funny memories of that day and started to laugh. Too bad she had a mouthful of wine! She sprayed it all over our fellow Canadian as well as the table of two adjacent to us! I was laughing hysterically, but was the only one who was! The Canadian just sat there covered in water droplets. Whit was mortified and tried to apologize in French to the other table but started to laugh as well. She ended up saying "merci si'vous plait" over and over again to the people which only made me laugh harder. We had to leave the restaurant in disgrace.














Lucky us we also walked thru a Parisian flea market and bumped into Moulin Rouge as a bonus.









Jardin du Luxembourg













The next day we headed to the catacombs via the Luxenburg gardens. Another long and semi lost walk, but we got there. Cruised thru the catacombs in record time. Who needs to spend a lot of time contemplating bones? It was cool to see but I didn't like the drips from the ceiling, eww!





We split up afterwards with Whit and Kim wandering near the Louvre and me heading to see Jim Morrison's grave and the Eiffel Tower. The grave site is pretty overrated, but still neat.













I had forgotten how huge the Eiffel Tower is!! Standing at the bottom and looking up...Wow!















We met up again for some stinky cheese then out to dinner, the whole reason for our Paris rendevous! We went to a restaurant Suds and I loved when we were there in 2001. It didn't disappoint and was our best meal there!

First day in Marrakesh

Suds and I met in the Paris airport and boarded our flight to Casablanca, Morocco. I knew that Morocco was a Muslim country and tourists were to dress conservatively or risk drawing unwanted attention to themselves. I had my sarong in my carry-on ready to cover my shoulders, but when we disembarked I noticed most people ignoring this advice. I saw bare shoulders and tank tops everywhere. That all changed when we got through customs. The locals there waiting to pick up friends and family from the airport were in burka's, headscarves and robe-like dresses that covered them from head to toe! Suds immediately said I had better cover up! We waited for the train for about an hour, went 3 stops and waited nearly 2 hours (the train was an hour late) then a 3 hour trip and we were in Marrakesh!

We got off the train into the taxi hawker chaos! My trusty guide book said a taxi should be 10 Dirhams, so why were they all offering a ride into town for 50? I am starting to hate guide books and their stupid advice. We got a guy down to $40 and away we go. He was shocked we didn't have reservations and just took us to a place he knew of. In Marrakesh you can stay at a hotel or a Riad. A Riad is a traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden or central courtyard open to the sky. Very cool. The place he took us to only had a suite available at way more than I anticipated spending. I wanted to try to find something cheaper but Suds was hesitant to. It was too crazy out there and we didn't even know where we were or where we were going! We bargained with the owners and got the price from 700 Dirhams to 500. After a shower and some complimentary mint tea and nibbles we headed out. (This is us having breakfast on the terrace of the Riad)


Our first impressions are of the chaos everywhere! I think it has been the most intense culture shock we have experienced. So different from what we are used to it was hard to even tell right from wrong. Everything seemed topsy turvy. Traffic was insane with no lanes or rules, people were in the streets walking, socializing or selling stuff. Men wear pajama like outfits with a long loose top and pants and a knitted hat on their head. It is acceptable for men to hold hands as friends. It is odd to see at first, the men are really touchy feely with each other. Women are in burka's or long loose robes with hoods on the back (think KKK robes) and head scarves. The roads are paved but everything is covered in a reddish dirt. The streets are a maze of twisty dark alleys with doors on the sides going into homes. The buildings are made of reddish stone and mud and none are over 2 stories. The men seem to do a lot of sitting in cafe's and hanging out in small groups in the alley's or in front of stores. The people are known to be really friendly and eager to help, but are just as likely to ask for a tip for the assistance.

Leaving the riad we attempt to find on e of the places recommended in my book. No one we ask is sure where we are on a map and so decide to hop in a taxi to get there. He over charges us of course. They can spot a wild eyed rookie when they see one! Twenty Dirhams to go 3 blocks.... We check out a few more places to stay and find some OK ones for about $300. Turning a a corner we spot a young guy stashing a bottle of wine in a hole in a wall. He sees us see and come over to explain. Alcohol is illegal in Morocco. If a police officer even smells it on your breath you can be arrested! He is stashing the bottle for later on. He is quite nice and starts to show us some more places to stay. His English is OK (French and Arabic are the predominant language here) and we chat for a time with him. His name is Hicham he is 27 and has a wife who is a professor in Berlin. We are getting hungry and he takes us to a restaurant where 3 course are $150, not bad compared to other places we had seen so far! He sits and has a beer with us till our food comes.
It was a good introduction to Morocco! We tried a Moroccan salad (tomatoes, tuna, onion, cucumber) Pastilla (chicken and almonds in a pastry crust sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon)
, and chicken cous cous and tagine of beef and prunes. (A tajine is a Moroccan dish as well as a special pot for preparing this dish. The traditional tajine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay which is painted and glazed. It consists of two parts; a bottom which is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cover which rests inside of the bottom during cooking and is cone or dome shaped, and has a small hole for air to escape during cooking. The cover has a knob-like formation at its top to facilitate removing it.) All was very tasty!


After dinner we head to the famous Djemaa El-Fna square where we are blown away again! It was all just too much for us combined with the jet lag and sleep deprivation. Half of the square is filled with food stalls serving all the foods we just ate as well as kabobs, sausage, boiled sheeps head(yum), fresh orange juice,mint tea, and a spicy cinnamon drink and chocolate cake thing for dessert. Above it all floats smoke from all the grilling. There are people everywhere and Suds kept wondering why they were there? It was about 10PM, shouldn't they be at home? But it is like that every night. I think everyone goes there to socialize and at night it cools off from the daytime 40degrees we suffered in. The other half of the square is for entertainment. There are small groups of people listening to musicians, singers, and fortune tellers and women wanting to sell you henna tattoos . After pausing to look or listen someone will inevitably pop up with a hat and expect a tip of some sort. It gets annoying but you get used to avoiding eye contact and to watch and walk at the same time.
Time for sleep so we started weaving our way through the alleys and miraculously found our Riad!!

Merzouga Desert and the High Atlas Mountains

We joined a 3 day trip to the desert from Marrakesh. There were 11 people in the tour, 3 Aussies and 6 Spanish. We left at 7am. Our first major stop was the Ait Benhadou Kasbah. A kasbah are buildings where people live, a Medina are buildings where people shop. It was really cool and in good shape because movies had been shot there (Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia) and has now become a UNESCO protected site. The buildings are made of mud with tiny windows but that is what helps them stay cool in summer and warm in winter. They call it Berber Air Conditioning! The Berber being the people who live there.



We went inside this ladies house in the Kasbah.









The tour wasn't all we expected...the bus had no air conditioning or seat belts and the driver spoke no English. We spent about 10 hours each day driving but did stop lots for a leg stretch and a cold Fanta. We did get to see lots of the landscape though. But once you have seen one mud house built into a mountain, you have pretty much got the gist...20 more hours of looking at the same is a tad redundant!




After driving tru the Rose Valley we spent the night in a hotel. There was a river running beside us and it was nice to hear the running water and see all the greens surrounding it. Our group were the only ones staying here. We all ate together but majority rules and the Spanish people did most of the talking, and we couldn't understand them! The food was typical Moroccan (which we got to know well quickly!) tagine's and couscous.



Out front of the hotel was a miniature version built into the hill.





Next day we were on the road again. We dove thru a stunning forest of palm trees and more Oasis. We had a quick tour of local alfalfa farming and a Jewish Kasbah. Had a lesson on carpet weaving which ended up just being a gimmick to try to sell us a carpet. We had lunch at the Todra Gorge with crystal clear water running thru it.





Then back on the road heading straight for the sand! We arrived to the bottom of some sand dunes and quickly loaded onto camels. An hour ride and we arrived at our campsite with our 2 Berber guides to make us dinner and keep us company.





Our group on camels. It was so quite and peaceful in the desert. The smooth sand was calming. It felt like it went on forever. Too bad there were all these little black camel poohs everywhere!





Camel shadows








Our tents for the night. I thought they might be fancier...not just blankets sewn together and thrown over sticks in the sand.



Night time in the desert. We got into camp at 7PM and quickly dashed up the dune to catch the sunset on top of the world. Running up a mountain of sand is a workout!! Suds tried to "sandboard" down but didn't get too far. We were starving after all that but dinner wasn't ready 10PM!! Then it was a big bowl of chicken and veggie tagine with stale bread and no utensils!! But we were all so hungry we just dove in with our hands, and promptly burnt them!! It was hot!

After a good night sleep we were on the camels again and back to the van for the marathon to Marrakesh.

Back in Marrakesh

After a long day travel from the desert, we tried out the street stalls for dinner. The food was good and cheap!



Typical meal. Mixed veg, chicken skewers.

And our fav, fresh squeezed OJ








Bab Agnaou one of the 20 gates to the city of Marrakesh.

















Your average back alley in the city. We would wander thru mazes of these to get to our Riad.











Badi Palace a 16th century palace that was once paved with gold!













The Bahia Palace where P. Diddy threw a big bash once!!
Filled with floor to ceiling decoration and mosaics it took 14 years to complete and has 150 rooms!










Spices and herbs for sale in the Souks.










Typical street scene.









This guy chatted us up about all the herbs and spices he sold. He painted my face with Kohl to represent that I was married. We saw many women wearing this makeup in the streets. He also gave Suds and handful of cumin to swallow to settle his tummy! He was very nice and he learnt a lot. I went back and bought some stuff from him later.




The 70 meter high Koutoubia Minaret. We could nearly always see it so we knew where we were! There is a mosque attached but non-Muslims aren't allowed in.












Olives for sale in the Souks










The doorway to the mosque at Koutoubia Minaret










Saadian Tombs where a sultan buried all his wives, servants, concubines and family. Over 170 in total!!



















Patisserie Hilton. Heaps of tea time snacks!! We never made it back here to test them out but they sure looked good!!













Everywhere we went there were cats and kittens. Even in the deep desert, which was even worse because you know someone had to bring them there. It became our mission to feed them. We saved scraps from dinner for them and then started to buy tins of sardines and roamed the alleys looking for unfortunate kittens. After a bit we felt guilty for feeding the animals and not the people so we bought some fruit and handed that out as well.