After warding off several colds this season, I thought that, perhaps, I would finish the winter with a record-breaking immune system. Unfortunately, I have succumbed to the sniffles and congestion. Being snowed in and bedridden last night, I thought it would be an opportune moment to practice my home cooking.

Whenever someone was sick in our house, my Filipino grandmother always made a popular native dish known as arroz caldo. Packed with ginger, chicken, rice and garlic, arroz caldo is the best remedy for a cold and the only Filipino dish my mom agrees to cook in the house because it doesn’t make the kitchen “stink like fish.”

This was my first time attempting to cook Filipino cuisine in my Brooklyn apartment. The aroma immediately took me back to the days when my Grandma would prepare wonderful Filipino dishes for us. The arroz caldo was a hit, and it almost tasted just like my grandmother’s. I highly recommend this recipe for anyone with the sniffles.

– Courtney Centeno, account executive

In New York City, I have noticed there is rarely a reason to eat in. With so many restaurant and take-out options, who would want to use their stove? Most New York apartments don’t even allow enough kitchen space to prepare a meal. I, personally, am not one with a passion for cooking. Having a sister who is very talented at the trade has allowed me to do more tasting than cooking. Plus, I prefer the eating over the chopping, measuring, preheating and, worst of all, cleaning up.

However, lately, I have been testing new ways to use my kitchen. As an attempt to save money and eat healthier, I have started cooking for myself. It didn’t start out so pretty. Whenever I am willing to prepare a meal for myself, I always choose the quickest, easiest option. This usually turns out to be the worst tasting. And, as an amateur, a book of recipes can be intimidating.

What I have found to be the most useful is to choose two main ingredients I want my dish to include, then Google recipes with both those ingredients and choose from there. In my experience, when I Google a recipe involving pork and lentils, for example, dozens of recipes come up that could take anything from 25 minutes to three hours to execute properly. The key is to find what spices and ingredients are most frequently used with the meat and then have the guts to do a little experimentation. Part of learning to cook is taking risks.

I’ve found some success in my meals lately, but I still have a lot to learn. Although the clean up never gets any easier, at the end of the day I feel that I’ve accomplished something on my own.

– Courtney Centeno, account executive

As I was preparing to write today’s blog, I scanned through our categories list (on the right-hand side of the blogsite) and realized that my blog yesterday was the 100th I’ve written since starting last August — yippee!! Hey, Fran, congratulations — you’ve reached the magic century mark, too! I have to admit that there are times when I struggle with coming up with topics to write about, especially when I’d just as soon kick back and enjoy my weekend without the responsibility of writing something semi-coherent and at least mildly interesting/entertaining. (And I won’t make any claims that I really believe I DO interest or entertain!) As I’ve said before, though, this opportunity has forced me to pay closer attention to the world immediately around me as well as the broader scope of our fascinating globe. I believe we can all get swept up in our day-to-day responsibilities and schedules and forget to acknowledge all the wonders, big and small, that present themselves to us all the time. So as I approach my one-year anniversary of contributing to Global Traveler’s blogs, I thank Fran and GT for this forum which has opened my eyes a little wider, and I thank those of you who take the time to read through my resultant ramblings.

The number 100 has been in my mind a lot over the last few weeks, as our daily high temperature in the Rogue Valley here in Southern Oregon has hit that number or exceeded it virtually every day in that time span (this past Tuesday we hit 109 — ouch!). Air conditioning has got to be one of the all-time greatest inventions mankind has devised! It is in weather like this that I like to prepare a favorite family recipe, one I believe Mom Sipe got from her friends in Iowa. It is cool, light, refreshing and takes advantage of the season’s fresh fruits. It also doesn’t necessitate a lot of baking or cooking over a hot stove, and I’ve never met a person yet, young or old, who didn’t like it. Allow me to share it with you; I hope you get the chance to savor cooling evenings in the yard or on the porch with friends and family, sipping a cold drink and enjoying a delectable treat like this:

 Twice-forgotten Dessert

Beat until stiff:

6 egg whites and 1/4 tsp. salt

As the egg whites become stiff, add 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time over the course of 15 minutes. Toward the end of the 15 minutes, add

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar and 1 tsp. vanilla

When finished, the meringue should be stiff and glossy.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place meringue in a greased 9″ X 9″ pan, turn oven off and place pan in oven  on middle rack. Leave in oven overnight — DON’T OPEN OVEN DOOR!! [once forgotten]

Next day, whip 1/2 pint whipping cream, spread over top of meringue. Place in refrigerator for several hours [twice forgotten]. Serve with raspberries and/or blueberries (or other seasonal fruit, but those with a touch of tartness make a better counterbalance to the sweetness of the dessert). If desired, garnish with mint leaves.

Enjoy!

–Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

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Recently someone asked me what my dream job would be. After just a few moments of thought, I replied, “A restaurant critic!” How great to be able to try all kinds of cuisine and not have to pay for it! Almost as soon as the words were out of my mouth, though, I thought of another potential ideal job: travel writer. What could be better than wandering the world and sharing your discoveries with others — and getting paid for it? Well, how about combining both of those occupations for the ultimate in dream jobs? Perusing the offerings on at least two cable networks, it seems that there are a lucky few out there who are doing just that.

Most travelers would probably agree that one of the aspects of their journeys they most enjoy is the exposure to new foods and libations of the regions they visit. For those who can’t frequently explore new places and foods, however, they must be satisfied with whatever local ethnic restaurants can provide in the way of variety. Certainly in our largest cities, those options can be quite extensive, and as the globe effectually shrinks, even small towns often boast an assortment of “foreign” cuisines. That may not really suffice for those who long to enjoy a truly authentic experience served up in culture-rich surroundings or who are tired of the same old offerings at home.

Perhaps the next best thing to hopping a plane for parts yet unexplored is spending some time with the well-traveled hosts of some of cable TV’s food-focused shows. Two that my husband and I watch on a fairly regular basis are Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri and the Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food with Adam Richman. Both shows focus primarily on offerings on American soil, but often they present the quirky, the unusual and truly fantastic that a visitor to a city or region might easily miss. A visit to either show’s website provides one with recipes and addresses and links to the websites of restaurants previously visited. For travelers who are looking for a unique and perhaps regionally authentic dining experience in a strange city, these are sources which reach beyond the typical concierge’s list or tourist guidebook. Giada DeLaurentiis’ Weekend Getaways and Alton Brown’s Feasting on Asphalt (and this season’s Feasting on Waves) on the Food Network also allow one to take part in vicarious road trips with food as the focus. 

The Travel Channel also produces several shows in which foods and recipes are prominently featured in their country or city of origin. A number of these (such as Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods) tend to have a more international bent than those mentioned above. Websites for these programs include a “Travel Guides” component which provides lists of the cities, restaurants, hotels and other sites visited in each. These make it especially easy to quickly review whether a spot on your next itinerary has appeared on one of the shows and have all the contact information at your fingertips. 

For those who enjoy seeing new places and indulging in good food, these programs and others like them provide a chance to learn a little more about both without ever leaving home . . . and wonderful incentives to hit the road again!

Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

Today is the Global Traveler holiday party. Alex and Courtney have traveled in from New York and the rest of the staff will celebrate with us in spirit. For me, the party is the first of many of the holiday season and the kick-off to gift giving. Shopping for my Secret Santa gift was my motivation to start the rest of my holiday shopping, but I still have some gifts to buy. When I was little, my mom’s Christmas cookies always meant the holiday season was upon us.

My mom went cookie crazy for the holidays. Courtney’s blog yesterday brought the smells of freshly-baked cookies wafting past my nose because we always gave homemade cookies as presents to teachers and friends. There would be 12-15 different types of cookies and dozens and dozens of them everywhere each holiday season. The mixer and oven would be going all night and on the weekends. I would always help my mom decorate with sprinkles and little silver balls, and I always insisted she make my favorites, spritzers.

Spritzers (I am not sure if that is the technical name!) are small butter cookies made using a cookie gun. The dough would shoot out in different shapes - Christmas trees, snowflakes, circles. They are perfect bite-size cookies - absolutely delicious! I have tried spritzers made by other people, but my mom’s remain the very best.

Giving the cookies as gifts or as supplements to gifts was always a big hit! My mom would buy cute, decorative tins and baskets and adorn them with ribbons, candies and chocolate-covered pretzels. People looked forward to my mom’s cookies just as eagerly as I did. Instead of visions of sugar plums dancing through my head, I had visions of chocolate chip cookies! The smell of cookies baking means Christmas to me more than anything, even the smell of fresh pine needles.

-Kimberly Krol, eFlyer editor, circulation and public relations executive