I'm Not Dead, I Just Moved to New Jersey

Sorry for neglecting this blog.  As the title says: I'm not dead, I just moved to New Jersey.  I hope to get back to posting and maybe even Photo Phriday once I am settled in.  In the mean time, here are photos of the New Jersey themed dinner my boyfriend made for me in celebration of our move.






Yum!

Longyearbyen: My Northernmost Experience

I visited the Arctic town of Longyearbyen back in August.  Though I've been a blog slacker, I really wanted to write about my visit and some things I learned while in Longyearbyen.  So here's a brain dump!

At 78° North, Longyearbyen is well above the Arctic Circle.  Destined for the land of the midnight sun, Longyearbyen was about a 3hr plane ride due north from Oslo, Norway.  We took off in the dark around 10:30pm and landed in daylight around 2:30am.

Northernmost

As the northernmost city (there are more northern permanent settlements), Longyearbyen is home to the world's northernmost:

• ATM

With the northernmost ATM fees.  
Photo by Jimmy.
• Airport with scheduled public flights (Svalbard Airport, Longyear)

Outside the airport at 3am.
• Bar (Barentz Pub, more on that shortly!)
• Bridge (Wikipedia cites the northernmost bridge as Havøysund Bridge, but there is a small bridge over the Longyearbyen River.  It is much further north, and it totally counts!)

Bridge over the Longyearbyen River.
• Church (Svalbard Church)
• Probably some other things; it's REALLY far north.

Food

There's no shortage of interesting food in the Arctic.  We didn't get to try everything, but here are the places we did check out.

→Huset
After a long day of hiking with a newly injured knee, I walked another mile+ from our Hotel to Huset, and back.  In the rain.  Did I mention the injured knee?  Despite my mood by the time I arrived, Huset was a nice dining experience.  Food choices had a Norwegian flair, including their delicious reindeer stew.

Reindeer stew with lingonberries.

Outside of Huset at 9pm; it finally stopped raining.

→Barentz Pub (northernmost bar in the world!)
How could I visit Longyearbyen and not have a beer at the northernmost bar in the world?!  I chose wisely, and ordered a beer from the northernmost brewery in the world (Macks Bryggeri in Tromsø).

Approaching Barentz Pub and the Radisson.

The beer I had from the northernmost brewery in the world.

Another northernmost beer.

So tired I can't even smile. 

For more information:

• Spitsbergen Travel - Barentz Pub
• Knut Goes To The World's Northernmost Bar

→Kroa
For our second dinner in Longyearbyen, we ate at Kroa.  Kroa is in the center of town, which meant I could finally buy postcards ($$$) and souvenirs ($$$$) - yay!  For dinner the table shared appetizers of smoked minke whale*, which tasted more smokey than like anything else.  The day's dinner special was one no one could resist: Arctic char said to be caught yesterday by our waitress' boss.  Everyone in our group ordered it!

Inside Kroa!

Smoked minke whale.

Fresh-caught Arctic char. 

*Not to rain on Longyearbyen's parade, but I had a minke whale steak in Oslo that was AMAZING.  The smoked whale just didn't let the whale's flavor shine through.

Accommodations

We stayed at Mary-Ann's Polariggen.  The former company housing for coal miners has been converted into a basic but pleasant hotel.  Bathrooms and showers are shared with your hallway, the breakfast is delicious, and the staff is very friendly and helpful.  I was a big fan of the artwork in my room:

Polar bears are messy eaters.
Sweet dreams!

Exterior of Mary-Ann's Polariggen.

Photo by Jimmy.

Miscellaneous 

• Despite what every online article about Longyearbyen says, it is not "against the law" to leave the city limits without a shotgun.  It is, however, a stupid idea to leave the city limits without being prepared, which includes bringing a shotgun for protection.
• If you see something you'd like to buy, buy it!  It will not be cheaper on the mainland!  I should have purchased that thermos I liked so much... 
• The average time most people live in Longyearbyen is 2 years, but there are some people who have made it their permanent home.  Our boat's captain has lived there for about 8 years, and his brother has lived there for nearly 20 years.
• Sewer and water pipes are above ground, and have several sources of heat to keep the pipes from freezing.
• Survival suits may keep you from freezing to death for 45 minutes in the Arctic waters, but they may not keep you dry, even if you're just sitting in a boat, rather than floating in the ocean.  
• If the boat's captain asks if anyone has a back injury, and your back injury over a year ago, still TELL HIM.  Your back WILL hurt after that boat ride, even if you sit in the "least ouchy" seat and brace yourself.
• It was quite rainy during the day.  Locals told us that so much precipitation at that point in the year was very unusual, but the entire summer had been that way.  It would rain/flurry all day, then around 10PM the sun would come out.  Of course, this made it much harder to go to sleep, because we all wanted to explore while the weather was nice. :)
• Take your shoes off when you enter someone's home, hotel, and sometimes restaurant.  It's actually pretty pleasant.  You feel at home right away!
• I need to visit again.  There's so much I still want to do!  Plus, the dark season seems like an interesting time to visit.

More On My Adventures

To read more about the group's adventures in Norway, check out our blog: DU Geography - Norway 2013. There are two articles about Longyearbyen:

• Getting Our Feet Wet - Glacier Hike
• When The (Weather) Odds Are Not in Your Favor... - Arctic Boat Ride

Coconut Lime Tofu!

Sounds DELICIOUS, doesn't it?!

I don't claim to be a good cook, or anything of the sort, but a few months ago I made salmon with an orange ginger glaze.  Not surprisingly, it was amazing. :)

Salmon is great and everything, but Jimmy and I really like tofu.  So we took that recipe and turned it into coconut lime tofu!

Here's the deal:

• Boil 1 cup of limeade with some chopped up ginger root.  (The orange juice from the original recipe reduced to about 1/2, but the limeade won't reduce quite that much.)  I think we threw in some garlic too.  
• Cut up a package of firm tofu into cubes, and place in one of those spiffy oven safe glass pans.

  +

yay tofu and limeade! 

• After the limeade and ginger look sufficiently boiled, pour it over the tofu cubes in the pan.
• Sprinkle some shredded coconut on top!
• Bake it for a while... Original recipe says 400°F for 15ish minutes.  When the coconut on top looks crispy, I think it's done! 

Serve it over some rice!


Aaaand that's it!  Go make me some coconut lime (ginger) tofu! :)

Guest Blogging!

My friend Bindesh over at DesiGrub.com has allowed me to be a guest blogger! The article documents the adventure Jimmy and I had with making seitan sausage last year. Good times! So check it out, and enjoy the rest of his blog as well!

Seitan Sausage

Kim's Kitchen

Since I like to eat and I can't seem to decide what to write about lately, I have decided to do some restaurant reviews! Fantastic, right?!

Last Thursday night I was in the area, so I figured I'd stop by:
Kim's Kitchen
5842 Main St (Rt 309)
Center Valley, PA
[map]
[One source told me this was Coopersburg, but it's really Center Valley.]

Oh, and I first heard of this restaurant via Beyond Scrapple.

I stopped in and asked what kind of Korean food she had on the menu. I was pleasantly greeted with several options and samples! My samples included:

• bean sprout soup (verdict: TASTY!)


• homemade dumplings [the sauce was great, and I normally don't even like dumplings!]


• some fresh honeydew melon and strawberries


• a cookie!

I ordered a wrap version of bulgogi (marinated beef and onions), brown rice, kimchi, and she threw in some kind of scallions. All of it was delicious! There are various non-Korean options available for the less adventurous, but I'll definitely be returning to try her other Korean dishes. She also does catering for events and such.

Also, aside from the awesome homemade food, you can't beat the service: helpful and friendly!

And here is the cover of the Korean menu.

Doesn't it make you hungry?!

Mashed Potatoes!

Now, everyone knows potatoes are pretty awesome. In high school a friend and I even had something we referred to as the Potato Product of the Day! Mashed potatoes are pretty cool and all, but when you add in Paul McCartney everything gets even better. This is pretty entertaining. And educational*. Educational potatoes. Who knew?!




*unless you already knew how to make mashed potatoes.