make believe meat? food of the future?

I recently found this article online, "PETA subsidised meat?", where I discovered that for the past 10 years, people at PETA have been trying to make meat via in vitro. GROSS. 


Well, that's my first impression. Now I throw this in here because it kind of goes into a topic I read about a couple months ago about factory farming in the US. In my blog about it, Nom nom nom, I decided we need to change or find or solution or some junk like that, of course.. something always needs to be changed right?
SO, looks like other people feel the need to make changes in regards to the way we all eat meat, and they are, in a strange way I might add, making a change. 


I like to think that making meat out of a test tube is the way of the future, once people get past the fact that it is made in a test tube. I like to think how it will reduce greenhouse gases and pollution and all that jazz. But still, I can't help to think that it's going to cause more problems, it is so unnatural and fake that there has GOT to be something wrong with it. 
Just like years ago when someone decided factory farming would be great, mass produce meat to make tons of money and feed the world! I mean they make the money but there are so many bad side effects its just not worth it. 
If this catches on, and it really is "the food of the future!", there is going to be some form of repercussion, nothing works that easy. 

And would you be able to adjust to eating meat from a test tube anyways? I think it would fail just because people would be too grossed out by it. 


The best part about this article, is that they compare it to beer and bread.
 "There are many products that we've eaten for centuries, such as beer and bread, and these are accepted, traditional products of biotechnology and this is taking this to the next step,"
Just taking it to the next step, awesome. 


I don't know, maybe it is the "way of the future!"


still grossed out,
shannon xx


p.s A shout out to Tyler, the youngest of my two brothers who is FIFTEEN today!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER! :D


further reading! (just in case, some have convincing arguments)


8 Ways In-Vitro Meat Will Change Our Lives

The In-Vitro Meat Consortium

Burgers From A Lab: The World Of In Vitro Meat

perfect eggs.

Has anyone ever mastered boiling eggs? or frying them? 


There is no way someone makes the perfect soft boiled egg every single time, with absolutely no snotty white parts, but still a gooshy yellow yolk. It is IMPOSSIBLE. Yes, it is possible to do this, but it always happens by accident! That's when you have to savor those delicious boiled eggs, cause you never know when you will have such a fantastic turn out again. 


Now this is where I need help. I live in some form of Austrian student housing, where dishes and furniture are provided just like in residence back home in Uni. Now, after many students living in this apartment year after year, lets just say the frying pan isn't exactly up to par. We all know what happens when that nice Teflon coated frying pan loses its Teflon.. well at least at the Harbers house it gets chucked because no one wants to deal with the mess. Understandable, because trying to fry an egg on a less than decent frying pan is like trying to fry an egg on asphalt, and flip it with a spatula that doesn't fit in the narrow sides of the pan, or.. road.  


Can anyone give me a solution to the perfect fried egg without getting a new pan? It doesn't even have to be perfect, just in one piece. More Pam? higher heat? lower heat? flip with a knife? If anyone reading this has a trick up their sleeve please lend this hungry student a hand. 

the 'taste' of home.

A few weeks ago the family made their way out to visit here in Europe. With them, they brought me a few comforts of home that I had missed. What does this include? Well, don't laugh.. peanut butter, pancake mix, headphones, my black scarf, a few key summer clothing items, and of course a box of hagelslag (refer to Day 1, pre-EU departure).


To start, part of the idea of me taking on the topic of this blog, was to open my eyes and broaden my horizons when it came to looking at, and eating food. As of 4 and a half, almost 5 months into my 6 month adventure, I can honestly say that my attitude has changed drastically. 


Since my arrival in the EU this past January, I now love olives, most types of sushi, plain yogurt, and even white wine is growing on me. I have learned a few new recipes, and even simple tricks to makes my simple spaghetti amazing. I now regularly purchase lemons and zucchini, olive oil, and feta cheese. Things are changing for the better! But I must say, I have not forgotten my previous eating habits (ie toast, cheese and wildberry yogurt), because they are just so darn good now and then. Presented with an opportunity for a good 'ol living on my own in Guelph meal, I sure grabbed it. Is there anything wrong with a piece of toast and hagelslag if it reminds you of home?

peanut butter and candied hagelslag

what I eat everyday for breakfast, replacing that toast.. 

Funny how little things like hagelsgal and peanut butter have so many associations with home at this point in the game. Or how a song can remind you of your best friend or a road trip last summer. 


I guess the success of this blog will be determined after my arrival back in Canada, to see if I picked up my old eating habits again. Some would say they were bad, but I would like to say they were just... lazy. With some new knowledge, new techniques, and pretty much a whole new train of thought when it comes to food, and the culture it's associated with, I do not feel a return to pop-tarts for dinner coming back. 


With a nearly full jar of peanut butter and box of hagelslag staring me in the face every time I open the cupboard, temptation to have toast for dinner will loom, but trust that I will have self-control! A little taste of home is good now and then, but I will not lose sight of all I have learned thus far.


times are changing! shannon xx

adesso noi mangiamo! now we eat!

No, I didn't go back to Italy, but I do have a fantastic Italian roommate. 

Here in Vienna I share a 'flat' with 4 other girls. 2 from Calgary, Canada, and 2 from Russia. A good combination I must say.

Let me describe some of the many benefits of flatmate's. 

1 - they let you throw in your whites with theirs, to save time and money on laundry.

2 - there is a wide variety of music, playing at any given time.

3 - you can share things like salt and coffee filters.

4 - there is often someone to accompany you to a party across town, and take the ride home with you.

5 - you have a huge variety of teas.

6 - travel buddies.

7 - some like to cook.. :D

When Jackie and  hang out, it almost ALWAYS involves food.

For me, someone who strongly dislikes cooking, and is quite bad at it, a flatmate that shares her natural talents and joy of cooking is like hitting the jackpot. I have had so many new, strange and delicious foods just within the four walls of this flat. Everything from fried cheese to Russian bagel bites, you name it. 


Just this week, a fellow flatmate from Calgary took it upon herself to test out a new recipe for Risotto. Now, before this encounter, I have only ever had Risotto in restaurants, and from Uncle Ben's line of 'Fast and Fancy' side dishes. Of course I wanted to try some homemade!! Acquiring this recipe, and a box of rice earlier this semester, Jacqueline easily mastered the technique, and I was lucky enough to be home when she offered it to me. 
Obviously the result blew Uncle Ben out of the water.


After stuffing my face, Jackie herself gave me the idea to include the experience in this blog. (Thank you Ms. Jacqueline!) She jotted down some names, dug out the recipe, and gave me a run down of how she did it (and how easy it was for her.. I haven't tried myself yet.) SO, for all you chef's out there who have never made Risotto- I have included the epic recipe from this week. One day back in Canada I will certainly experiment with this again.  


Risotto! (with additional ingredients of your choosing).


Ingredients:


2 handfuls of Arborio Rice per person (rice with a high starch content)
leak (as much as you want)
garlic (as much as you want)
olive oil (as much as you want)
white wine (about 1 glass, or, as much as you want)
salt and pepper to taste
finish with Parmesan


PLUS: anything you need to clean out of your fridge. (ie: zucchini, mushrooms, peas etc.) 

1 - Boil one pot of hot water and put the green part of the leek in the water, with salt.
2 - Heat olive oil and put the white part of the leek in, chopped. As it goes transparent, put 2 handfuls of rice in per person. (so, 4 handfuls for 2 people, and so on :P)
3 - Add a little bit of white wine (a glass or so)
4 - Keep stirring until water absorbs and add hot water from first pot, pour in little by little.
5 - Taste until you like it (supposed to be be cooked and tender).
6 - Finish with Parmesan, salt and pepper

Ok, I forgot to take a picture. But here is one from Google that looks quite similar.

So, if you are not naturally gifted in just knowing what to do here, I would practice maybe once with someone who does know... I am not the kind of cook that can just whip something together and improvise- that doesn't EVER work for me. However, its the kind of recipe that you can play and experiment with. Jackie added everything from zucchini's to mushrooms in hers, and it was fantastic. I consider it a bit like stir fry, you throw in what you have and what's going bad.. a real fridge cleaner-upper.
So, if you're feeling ambitious, test it out! Let me know if it worked out just as amazingly as it did for Jackie.


I must now find a talent of my own to share with these girls.. because officially, cooking is NOT it. Thanks again to Jacqueline, I eat well when you're around.


until next time, shannon xx

Ich liebe Griechenland

I love Greece.


Ok.. who knows anything about Greek food? Clearly I did not. It is more amazing than I could have ever imagined. And this is why Greece is officially my favourite of all the places I have been. (Not just because of the food I guess.. but yea thats mostly why.)

Moussaka!

Unfortunately, I did not always have my camera on me at meal time due to its massiveness. So my photos of this fabulousness that is Greek food are limited. But, take my word for it.. I have never eaten so much delicious food in such a short period of time in my life. After being back for a week, I still feel full, and find myself eating crackers for dinner.


So what does Greek food consist of, you might ask? Well to start, there's a LOT more to it than just souvlaki, yogurt and feta cheese. With a culinary tradition of over 4000 years, I have learned the the Greeks don't fool around when it comes to food. Although I wish I could (in my opinion) say the same for the wine, beer and coffee.. eww. NOT high on the list of priorities, clearly. 

A frappe (cold coffee with sugar, not horrible) and insanely thick yogurt.

Olives, a variety of cheese, tomatoes, fresh fish and thyme honey are only a few of the historically significant foods we tried in Greece. In the islands, where we spent most of our holiday, fish is whats most available. I had the opportunity to sample an AWESOME plate of salmon, in a white wine and dill cream sauce, served with a side of cooked carrots and zucchini. Can't say this is a famous Greek dish by any means, but at least it was seafood!


You can also tell that some dishes are from deeper origins, or influences, like Turkish or Arabic, just from the names. Things like tzatziki, gyros and moussaka and so on and so forth.. I had to google this, clearly.


So if you haven't caught on yet, I love Greece and its food. We should all just be a little more Greek when it comes to food, starting with yogurt and honey.

Other than eating here, we didn't do much else. As we were told upon our arrival in Mykonos, there is nothing cultural to do, so go to the beach. We did just that! In both Mykonos and Santorini, we rented ATV's for a day and adventured through the rural side of the islands, ending up at great beaches and incredible views. 


In Santorini, we also had the opportunity of taking an all-day tour around the islands that make up what is now Santorini. 
A huge sailboat, The Albatross, was our ride for the day, a volcano was our exercise, the hot springs were our lunch break, a deserted island was our nap-time, and the sunset numbed our butts. 

Explanation: A wonderfully huge sailboat took us from one island to the other, stopping at each for a different sight to see. The first being a volcano, where we hiked 30 min to the top to get a handful of information about volcano's, and how they work.. cool. From here we took our descent back to the boat, where we hitched a ride to the 'hot springs'... which really means warm springs. It was then I put on my sweater and took pictures of the suckers swimming in the freezing cold sea. (Good job girls! :P)

Next on the itinerary was a small island, which I am sure would be hoppin' in the summer, but as of now was pretty quiet. All 6 of us took a nap on a concrete dock, and got a bit burned. Serves us right. 
To end the day, we were dropped of at the bottom of a cliff looking up at the town of Oia, where the famous sunset is seen every evening by a ridiculous number of tourists. To get up the cliff? Ride a donkey!! Yeaaa, won't do that again. 

Sunset was beautiful, but took too long to be brutally honest. We were WAY to early, resulting in a numb butt and jelly legs from sitting on a slab of concrete. 

The remainder of the trip consisted of us laying on a black beach, building black sandcastles, and taking old school all night ferries back to Athens. It was truly a memorable vacation, and there are SO many more things that I could talk about in here. But to keep it short with facts, so I don't lose you.. I will keep it here :)
What should you take from this post, if no other? Greek food, think about it. 


Back to Mozart balls and schnitzel, shannon xx

time for a recap? ja.

Back in Vienna! And I can officially say that Vienna has become my home away from home. After an extended Easter break and a solid 8 days in Greece, I was anxious for my arrival back in Austria. The comforts of a familiar pillow and sweat pants really goes a long way. 


After a few random postings trying to keep you informed of my whereabouts, I feel I should probably give you a recap as to where I have been for the last month, and why I once again have a permanent food baby. Holidays! They do that to you. 


Starting after my weekend trip to Salzburg with Michelle, Brad and Kyle, I officially started a 3 week vacation from studying here at BOKU. A combination holiday for Easter as well as spring break or reading week. 

During this break, I spent some time with some great friends also touring Europe, my family, and then a relaxing trip down south with some roommates and a few other girls. 


April 21st - My parents, brothers and Oma arrived here in Vienna, where they would spend the next 5-6 days exploring this city, while I led them through the sites. After Vienna we then headed north through the Czech Republic to Prague! 

After 4 days in Prague, I said my goodbyes to everyone, who then caught their flights back to Eastern Ontario. 
May 1st - I fly with 5 other girls to Greece! Spending one night in Athens, then setting sail to Mykonos and Santorini, we spent our days riding ATV's and donkeys between laying on beaches and stuffing our faces with spectacular Greek food. 

And after all this, I returned to Vienna this past Monday evening where I flew face first back into school, already completing two exams and a project proposal. So much fun!! :P


Now, another mission of mine is to get this blog's rhythm back in order. Let's see how that goes. 

3 house white and 3 house red please.

Planes, trains, busses, donkeys, sailboats, ferries, and ATV's.
Souvlaki, yoghurt, honey, alfa, brandy with tea, calamari, tzatsiki, bread, tropical margarita, stuffed peppers, vine leaves, salmon, sea bass, greek salad, ouzo, tomatoes, olive oil, crepes, saganaki, little shoes, mousaka, don Fernando, and cheesy eggs.
Acropolis, Olympic stadium, pantheon, super paradise, opa, Argo, backgammon, down under, holt renfrew, volcano hot springs, oia, fira, sunset, and BBrB.

Greece anyone?
Currently rockin my way back to Vienna.

So sleep deprived, Shannon.