Travel

Cooking with FAGE Yogurt at The International Culinary Center

@FageUSA We had the opportunity to learn how to use FAGE products at The International Culinary Center in New York City recently. The Center is located at 462 Broadway Avenue and we went to one of the kitchens on the 5th floor. Chefs from the Center guided us through a hands-on experience of cooking with FAGE Total in eight different recipes, 6 of which we had a hand in making.

First, let me talk to a little about FAGE yogurt. FAGE is pronounced “fa-yeh” or FI-E – it’s a little tricky.

This Greek strained yogurt dates back to 1926 and started in a small dairy shop in Athens, Greece owned by Athanassios Filippou. As time passed, Athanassios’s yogurt became known as a “delicious, creamy, one-of-a-kind yogurt.” In Greece, up until 1975 yogurt was typically sold in bulk quantities and the specific manufacturers were rarely known to the individual consumers. That changed in 1975, when FAGE introduced branded yogurt products. FAGE continued to grow and started exporting their products to the rest of the world. It became available in the United States in 1998. In 2008, they opened a plant in Johnstown, New York.

Greek yogurt is a strained yogurt that uses a natural straining technique which removes excess water, dissolved salts and sugars. This results in a thick, creamy yogurt having more protein and fewer carbohydrates than common yogurt. The thickness and creaminess of FAGE yogurt is a result using four pounds of milk to get one pound of yogurt. FAGE plain yogurt is offered in three Classic, 2% and 0% (% of fat) varieties. Each variety has several different flavors. Visit the FAGE website for more detailed information.

As I stated earlier our group, under the guidance of the master chef from the International Culinary Center, made five recipes using FAGE yogurt:

Fage Fried Chicken
Fage Lemon Coleslaw
Fage Macaroni and Cheese
Fage Yogurt Dill Biscuits
Fage Yogurt Greek Eggs Benedict
Fage Yogurt Parfaits
Fage Potato Salad
Fage Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Strawberry Compote

The five recipes had a theme of a summer picnic using yogurt as a substitute for other dairy products. Once we had completed the different recipes, we sat down to enjoy them.

We started with the Eggs Benedict but never got to try them so that is the recipe I am going to give you. We did get to eat the Dill biscuits that were used in the Eggs Benedict as part of our lunch.

Fage Yogurt Greek Eggs Benedict Recipe

Recipe created by Edward Magel on behalf of FAGE

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

8 medium FAGE Yogurt Dill Biscuits
8 medium Canadian B
10 ounces Fresh Spinach leaves, washed and dried
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 recipe FAGE Yogurt Hollandaise
8 large Eggs
1 tablespoon White Vinegar
1/3 cup Feta Cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Place 2 biscuits on each plate.
Put salted water in a large skillet to the depth of about 2 inches. Add vinegar. And bring to a simmer.
Gently sauté Canadian bacon in a dry sauté pan and keep warm.
Warm a medium sauté pan with olive oil. Add spinach and sauté until wilted. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
When water with vinegar is just barely simmering, crack an egg into a small dish, and then gently slide egg into water. Repeat with remaining 7 eggs. Cook 3 – 4 minutes.
While eggs are poaching, top each biscuit with 1 slice of Canadian bacon and sautéed spinach.
With a slotted spoon, top the spinach with one poached egg.
Spoon Hollandaise Sauce over each egg and garnish with crumbled feta.
Serve immediately.

Fage Yogurt Blender Hollandaise Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

3 large Egg Yolks
2 tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Dry Mustard Powder
1/4 teaspoon Siracha Pepper Sauce
4 ounces Butter, warm & melted
3 tablespoons FAGE Total Classic

Directions:

Place all ingredients (except the melted butter) in the bowl of the blender. Mix briefly to combine well.
With machine running on low, gradually add the warm melted butter in a slow stream through the
center opening of the lid.
Transfer mixture into a double boiler over warm water (no flame). Whisk in yogurt. Serve warm, not
hot.

More recipes are available on the FAGE website.

I had a great time working with two young ladies from Woman’s Day magazine; Mandy and Brynn. Wendy was busy documenting the experience with her camera, chatting it up with other bloggers, and tweeting and updating Facebook about the event. We worked in groups of three and there were around 10 different groups. Other than the chef and FAGE representative, there was only one other guy present besides me. Us guys like to cook, eat, and blog about it and we need more.

I have used yogurt a couple times in recipes before, but those recipes actually called specifically for yogurt. Based on yesterday’s experience, I think I will start using yogurt more and part, in lieu of milk or cream, especially Fage because of its creaminess and it nutritional value.

How to Tip When You Travel

Have you ever wondered how to tip when you are traveling? Who do you tip and how much? It can get confusing. Here are some suggestion for tipping when you travel.

Tipping in the U.S. – Here in the States, bartenders and restaurant wait-staff typically make far below the minimum wage as they are expected to make up the difference in their tips. Tipping 15% of the total bill is standard but 20% for good service is customary.

Tipping at Hotels – Tip your bellman $1.00 a bag when he delivers your bags to or from your room. Tip them more if you ask them to do anything additional, like hailing taxis or if you have a lot of luggage.

Tipping Outside the U.S. – If you are traveling to another country then check the customs of that country before you visit. When tipping, do try and give gratuities in the local currency. And always keep small bills and change on hand when you travel

Tipping on a Cruise – Tips are customarily given to service staff on the last evening of your cruise. Most cruise lines will provide you with gratuity recommendations based upon the position of the service personnel provided.

Read more about tipping on the Travel Smart Blog

The Great Wolf Lodge in Poconos Mountain, Pennsylvania

This past weekend Greg and I traveled to the Poconos for a stay at the @GreatWolfLodge during the #RevRet11 (Reviewers Retreat) hosted by the Double Duty Divas. This was such a great experience that I had to share it with all of you.

If you are looking for a place to take your family for a weekend or even a week you will want to check out one of the Great Wolf Lodges around the country. We stayed at the one in the Poconos Mountain in Pennsylvania but there are other locations that might be closer to you (and new ones opening all of the time).

Here is the current list as of May 2011:

What is so different and special about the Great Wolf Lodge? Well, it’s not just a hotel where you go to stay while you visit attractions in the surrounding area. It is a complete destination in itself.

When you pull up to the lodge you know it will be different. You can see the huge indoor water slides jutting out from the outside of the building and you can’t believe those huge things could be inside of a hotel so you wonder what the heck is going on inside there – I must find out for myself.

Pull up to the front and you swear you are deep in a mountain because the lodge is so rustic and inviting.

As you walk in the door you are greeted with music and a lively atmosphere. Children, adults, and teens are walking, running, chatting, and laughing all over the place. It’s a relaxed atmosphere and lots of people are walking around in swim suits.

When I walked up to the registration desk I was greeted by a lovely lady who explained everything to me. She was so friendly and it made me feel welcome right away.

At 8 pm and other times during the day, the clock tower comes alive and there is a show for the kids and story hour. No matter where you are in the building, when the clock tower rings kids and adults flock to this area and the action begins. You will see kids glued to the characters and totally enthralled with excitement.

Just beyond the registration desk is the huge clock tower and to the left is a HUGE, I mean huge, fireplace with a stone hearth. The stones go all of the way to the ceiling. All around the fireplace are couches and tables where people were lounging or eating. To the left of the clock tower is the dining room called the the Loose Moose Cottage – more about that later.

Greg and I stayed in a standard suite but if you take a look there are so many other choices. Some suites – and they are all suites, not just rooms – have kitchenettes with microwaves, some have fire places, all have 2 beds, ample room to move around, a couch that pulled out for an extra bed, table with chairs, lots of lighting, and some even have several rooms in the one suites. Lots of room for families, no matter how many members you bring. There is even complimentary, wireless Internet access in every room.

One of the coolest things I have seen in awhile was the use of armbands to gain entrance into your room instead of room keys. This is ingenious! Now each person can wear an armband, that has a sensor on the back, hold it up to the door and the device reads the armband and let’s you in. You won’t have to remember to bring your key with you anymore. So convenient.

When it’s time to eat you have lots of choices. You can sit down to a meal in the dining room (buffet style) and eat to your heart’s content. Everytime we ate there the food was different. At breakfast we had eggs, bacon, toast, yogurt, grits, oatmeal, muffins, fresh fruit, pancakes, and so much more. At dinner there was beef, pork, chicken, 3 kinds of soup, potatoes, rice, fresh cooked pasta to order, and desserts galore. Kids will love it because there is a special section for them with potatoes in the shape of faces and fun cereal treats in the morning.

If you want something quick you can go downstairs and eat from Pizza Hut, the Bear Paw Sweets and Eats, get a quick dessert from Scoops or coffee or a Latte from Starbucks.

Kids of all ages will really enjoy participating in Magi Quest and Compass Quest. It does have an extra cost but the kids I saw were having a blast and it kept them occupied for hours on end. The Compass Quest reminds me of Harry Potter. Kids take a wand they purchase from the store on the second floor and go through an adventure that takes them throughout the building. Hallways leading to the suites have names and there are clues and interactivity that they have to perform at each stop.

There were so many other things to do but since we didn’t bring any of our grandkids and we were there for a conference we didn’t check them all out. There is a Cub Club for younger kids, National Geographic Kids, Race Zone, Northern Lights Arcade (which was HUGE and had Skeeball which I love), and gr8-space (for high tech kids, think Nintendo and Wii).

For adults there is a super nice workout room called Iron Horse, Elements Spa and Salon that is full service and offers pedicures, manicures, wraps, massages, and other pampering. And, if you want to check your email and didn’t bring your own computer they even have a computer room with 5 or 6 computers.

To top it all off is the magnificent indoor water park. This is not just a series of water slides, it is a complete water park, all indoors. When you walk in you can be overwhelmed. It is once again, HUGE, and you are greeted with a giant bucket of water perched high up that fills up with water. Watch out though, because when it fills up it spills over and creates an avalanche of cascading water.

There are all kinds of water activities throughout the water park, and water slides for very young children all of the way up to adults who want speed and excitement. There is a wave pool, and even places to get food inside of the water park. The water park is staffed with trained lifeguards too so you always have someone watching out for you and your kids.

Even though we didn’t bring our kids and grandkids it was super fun for us. We will definitely bring them in the future. This is a family place so don’t expect quiet. They do have a strict policy of no running or loud noise after 11 pm or before 7 am and everyone seemed to stick to that.

Definitely check out the Great Wolf Lodge the next time you are planning a family trip. This all inclusive family resort makes a perfect getaway whether you are just staying there or if you are also planning excursions in the area.

Scotrun Vacations

A Day with City Food Tours in New York City

If you like watching the show Top Chef you will love going on the New York @CityFoodTours. This walking food tour, being offered by City Food Tours, stops at some of the places that Top Chef participants visited while in New York City. We met up at The French Culinary Institute, in the SoHo area of Manhattan. From there we walked through Little Italy, Chinatown, and other neighborhoods of New York City.

If you would like to book one of the City Food Tours visit them at www.cityfoodtours.com/newyork. You will find their prices are very reasonable and it makes a great day trip in New York City.

There were right around 10 of us and I think it is important to keep the groups small so everyone gets in on whatever we are doing and no one feels left out.

Our first stop was Dipalos Italian Fine Foods, Cheese Shop and Market where we enjoyed some fabulous Italian cheese. Our tour guide, Amanda, taught us a little bit about what regions the cheese comes from in Italy. The store was bustling with locals and it was hard to just eat cheese and not want to taste everything in this store. It’s a site to see with the large hams and cheese hanging from the ceiling and in the window.

Next stop was Chinatown where we had a “pineapple roll.” This came from a Chinese bakery seen in the video below. It was light and not too sweet. A perfect first treat on our tour.

We also saw Chinese fruit markets and an herb, nuts, and dried vegetable shop. It would have been nice to actually go inside of the markets and shop but then again, unless you can read Chinese you wouldn’t know what you were buying or how much it cost.

Along the way our guide, Amanda, shared some of the history of the area pointing out different buildings how their use has changed over the years. As we progressed through the area, we stopped and enjoyed the savory taste of a Vietnamese sandwich called Banh Mi at the Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich shop in Little Italy. The Banh Mi is made up of three different types of pork and pickled vegetables.

Papa Bubble, a small candy shop / store, was on our next quick stop and we watched them roll out and cut hard candy. They had beakers on the wall to show you all of the flavors and science that goes into making candy. They only sell hard candy so don’t go looking for chocolate here.

We arrived at Eileen’s Special Cheesecake and actually got to meet Eileen herself. She is a bubbly and friendly person who makes you feel right at home. We sat for a bit and sampled her light cheesecake.

As we enjoyed her cheesecake, Eileen told us her history and difference in the types of cheesecake offered throughout the city. She said that some people don’t like her cheesecake because it isn’t sweet enough but for those who like a lighter fare Eileen’s cheesecake is delicious.

What would cooking be without the proper utensils and supplies needed to make those tasty concoctions? Our next stop was the Panhandler’s Kitchen Supply store on Broadway where we were schooled in the proper use and purpose of knives. We made it there just in time for a cooking demonstration too. Panhandlers has free demonstrations every Saturday.

Our final stop was at Wichcraft Sandwich where we tasted the grilled Gruyere with caramelized onions and got to play a food trivia game for prizes. We were also entertained with a little jazz from a duo guitarist and saxophonist in the background.

We enjoyed the tour and interesting stops along the way and the weather was just perfect. Our guide was very informative and knowledgeable in the local history so we learned more than just about the food we were tasting. We are looking forward to going of some of the other tours City Food Tours that they offer.

If you would like to book one of the City Food Tours visit them at www.cityfoodtours.com/newyork

New York City

Extreme Zip Lining in Berkshire Mountains

We were invited to the @BerkshireEast Canopy Tours in Charlemont, Massachusetts to review the Zip Lining tours. It was a pleasant drive and once we arrived in Charlemont we found it to be a laid back and friendly place to visit. We were greeted by Hunter, the resident pup who befriends everyone who visits. Charlemont is on the outskirts of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.

For those who do not know what zip lining is here is a little explanation. Zip lining entails zipping across a steel cable, anywhere from 20′ to 185′ above ground, while attached to the cable by two straps which are attached to a harness. My first thoughts about doing zip lining were a mix bag. “Do I really want to zip along a cable high above the ground or play it safe and just watch while others give it a try?” In hindsight, if I had a bucket list, I would put zip lining on it as some definitely to do at least once in your life.

Berkshire East is located on the eastern side of the Berkshire mountains in Massachusetts on Thunder Mountain and serves as a ski resort in the winter while offering zip lining during the Summer months. They opened up these tours in 2009 and have become the Eastern Berkshires hidden gem for families, groups, and couples alike.

They have three different levels of zipping:

Base Area Tour
Mountain Top Tour
and Valley Jumping Tour

The Base Area Tour is the introductory level for those who want to just give it a try. The Mountain Top Tour is the intermediate level; and the Valley Jump Tour is the extreme adventure.

As we drove into the East Canopy Tours parking lot, we could see the mountains high above and envision beautiful snow covered peaks as the zip lining tours turn into a thriving winter ski resort. We were met by Christopher, John and the friendly staff. I thought we were probably doing the Base Area Tour, but Christopher informed me that we would be doing the Valley Jump Tour. Hmmm, I said in my mind, is this a good idea?

Just so you know, the Valley Jump Tour includes 6 zip lines ranging in length from 700′ to 2600′ and the last two are affectingly know as X1 (Extreme Zip 1) and X2 (Extreme Zip 2). Wondering why they are called that, well, X1 is 2300′ long and spans the valley between the ski area and the mountain side. X2 is 2600′ long, 186′ above the ground and can reach speeds in excess of 50 mph.

After getting into our harnesses and helmets, listening to instructions, and meeting our very friendly and helpful guides (they love their job), off we went to ride the ski lift to our first jump. Our guides were very helpful and made the adventure enjoyable and safe.

At the first jump we were told to hold onto a strap as we zip along the cable and, boy, did I hold on for dear life. Ok, one down and 5 more to do. As we hiked to the next jump, I was talking to a guide and he said that I was holding on too tight and should just lightly hold the strap. So that is what I did on the next jump and sure enough it turned my experience around 180 degrees from something close to fear to a thrill ride. Now I was looking forward to the next jump and finally the extreme jumps.

The level of excitement and adventure grew with each jump as they got longer and higher. At last (after a nice little hike up the mountain) we reached X2. What a ride X2 was; high above the ground, zipping along at 50 plus mph with nothing holding you in the air except a steel cable and a harness. The sights were breath taking. We finished with a ski lift ride back down the mountain with an experience and stories to last a lifetime.

You will definitely want to put this Massachusetts day trip on your schedule and try the extreme zipping tour because it will definitely be an adventure.

You can find out more about these zip line tours, the cost, get directions and more at www.berkshirezip.com

Berkshires Vacations