Cocktail Recipes and Tips

So I'm still in India, hanging out with our friend Rohun having an easy relaxing day. I did however run across something very interesting, well interesting to me anyway. I found a book on India's nightlife that has a section with tips and recipes. Score!

So here's some tips I found very helpful:
-Do chill the glass before serving the cocktail. Place it in the freezer half an hour before use.
-To give the glass a sugar-frosted look, dampen the rim of the pre-chilled glass with a slice of lemon and lip the rim into sugar.

Caribbean Dawn

Ingredients:
-60ml pineapple juice
-5ml lime juice
-10ml grenadine
-sprite and soda for topping
-10ml orange squash

Method:
Top the glass with ice.
Pour the grenadine first, then orange squash, then lime.
Pour pineapple juice and top with Sprite and soda.

Suggested: You can drop in lime slices and cherries.

Apple Pie Mojito

Ingredients:
-45ml spiced rum
-6 lime wedges
-4/5 slice of apple
-10ml cinnamon syrup
-10 mint leaves
-bubbly apple soda/juice
-2 cinnamon sticks

Method:
Squeeze and drop the lime wedges into the glass.
Tear mint leaves over the lime and cinnamon. Muddle.
Fill the glass with crushed ice.
Add spiced rum, cinnamon syrup and stir.
Top with more crushed ice and top with the apple soda.

Garnish with Apples.

Blond Sangria

Ingredients:
-Cut fruits (litchi, kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, apples)
-375ml chilled white wine
-75ml citrus vodka (to soak fruits)
-sprite and apple soda or juice

Method:
Soak all the fruit in citrus vodka overnight.
Add the soaked fruit and ice into a pitcher.
Fill with white wine and top it with sprite and apple juice half and half.


Enjoy! I can't wait to try these...

Relaxing in Udaipur

It's about 3pm right now and David and I are just hanging out and relaxing in our hotel. It's been pretty hot here in the Rajasthan region. Today I think it's supposed to get up to 105 degrees. It feels really great to have made it to our hotel after the 7 hour no AC bus trip from Jodhpur. It was quite an experience. Along with the heat we had to experience gusts of dust every so often because all the windows were open and we kept driving into these small villages with no pavement. By the time I got off the bus I was coated with a thick layer of dirt. The dirt was everywhere, in my hair, on my clothes, and all over my skin.

Through most of the trip I kept a eye out the window and observed everything. It was almost like an Indian village safari! I got to see so much over those 7 hours. Whenever we stopped for a break I would peep out the window and get so many stares back. Everyone LOVES to stare at us. I don't mean a causal stare or a 5-10 second stare, I mean a full blown 1-2-3-4-5 minute stare. I can't do anything without being watched here! Sometimes I smile at them or wave and they then realize that they are staring and usually smile or laugh back.

Everyone seems to be really friendly here though. We've come across many people (adults and kids)that politely say hello and ask what our names are and where were from. Many of the locals also love to take pictures of us with them. They always bust out their cameras and take pictures. The funniest is when they don't ask and try to secretly take a picture. Hmmm, let's see, is it really not going to be obvious when trying to snap a picture of someone? It's always SO obvious what they're doing! lol! It's better to ask for the picture because then it's not so awkward. I mean I understand where they're coming from, I take pictures of them so why not take some us strange white people. :)

So when we hopped off the bus (finally) it was 8:30pm and we rushed to the hotel.

We needed to get a hold of the bank right away because for the whole weekend we were stuck without being able to withdraw any money. I guess what happened way the bank changed something with the card providers and some people's cards were affected. And of course there had to be a problem with ours... and on a weekend. We seriously had $20 in our pocket hoping everything would work out... luckily it did.

So far Udaipur seem really nice. It's less hectic then Mumbai, Dehli, and Jaipur (at least in the older historic center area). I checked out some of the shops but they seemed too touristy for me. I really wish I could have done some shopping in Jodhpur because they had neat little markets that all the locals shopped at but that was where we didn't have a bank card working. Some of the cool things I've seen are journals, pictures of the gods, colorful clothing, scarves, bangles, stone necklaces, statues, wood carvings, spices, and so much more. So far I've only bought myself one outfit, some cheap jewelery, and a pair of flats. I need to smooth out the leather on the flats though because when I wore them they were rubbing my skin badly. :(

Ok well this is all for now... I have so much to say but little time to write!

Hello Mumbai!

So David and I made it safely to Mumbai and currently we are resting at our friend Rohun's place.

The airplane trip was not that great but we survived it. Since we were feeling pretty sick right before we left we medicated the night before we left and actually were able to fall asleep for a while. We woke up and were ready to go feeling somewhat ok (definitely better not worse), but after the first flight from Prague to Istanbul David and I both started to feel worse. It didn't exactly help that we were delayed for about an hour and half with Turkish Airlines. I was tired and my throat was killing me... Once we made it on the airline though we were able to relax. I tried to sleep but that didn't happen.

When we got through all the customs and picked up our bag, we headed outside where there were crowds of people hovering outside. Luckily the airport put railing around so there was a circle area where people coming out of the airport could situate themselves. The heat when we landed was not that bad. I was wearing my jeans and I was sweating just a tiny bit. I think what gets me is the humidity. Since Mumbai is so near the water it has this muggy heat to it.

We found Rohun right away and made our way to his car. It's great seeing him. He actually just got a job right before we came working as an assistant manager within some Bollywood film company. I guess it's supposed to be a really great job so he couldn't turn it down when they offered it. :) We also met his parents and grandmother, they are all such nice people! I'm excited to talk with them. Since Rohun has to work almost every day, his mom has offered to take us out once in a while too if we'd like. I took her up on her offer and later today we're going to go shopping. I'm very excited to go and find some sweet clothes! I believe it's fairly inexpensive here. I literally didn't have anything in my wardrobe for such heat (the same situation can up in Egypt), I mean when in Prague or on the Oregon Coast will it get up to 100 degrees, nearly never!

By the way, they can make a mean cup of Indian chai over here.... MMMMMmmmm!

INDIA!

David and I leave for India tomorrow! I am so excited!

My main concern however is to get healthy as soon as possible. For the past 3 days I have been having the worst sore throat of my life. I also haven't been able to sleep and have a constant headache. Today I feel a tad bit better but it's still pretty bad. David is in the same exact state as me too. Right now he's in bed trying to recover. We are doing our best though, medicating, taking tons of vitamins, and eating good soup. I had to miss class yesterday, and I should miss class today to sleep in bed and recover... But... I have many things I need to do and I have this one class I can't miss. I also need to finally pay my tuition (always a grim day), and then buy some things at the store for India. I need to buy some sun lotion, tissues, hand sanitizer, and food. I would also like to find something nice for our friend Rohun. Rohun is a cool Indian guy that went to our high school and is now letting us crash with him for about a week. He lives in Mumbai(Bombay), and that's where we'll be flying into.

David and I will be flying from Prague (departing 11:45am) to Istanbul, and then from Istanbul to Mumbai. We will arrive in Mumbai at 4 am! Pretty dang early, but I guess Rohun will be there with a car waiting for us (thank god). The total time of travel with connections will be 12 hours and 45 minutes. We will return may 3rd at 5:25pm. I'll write more later about our itinerary.

Dilli Delhi Resturant

Today David and I went to Dilli Delhi at U Vodárny 10 in Prague 3. We ended up having a good experience there. Our waitress even spoke great English and was super nice.

I ordered sweet Lassi drink and David tried the Masala tea. I believe the Lassi (40 crowns) is made with blending some yogurt and milk and Indian spices. It was interesting tasting, but not bad at all. David's spiced tea (40 crowns) was very good, I liked it.

We also ordered this delicious Mulligatawny Soup (50 crowns), it was a curry flavored lentil soup.
I ordered the Paneer Masala (155 crowns) (Cubes of Homemade Cheese Simmered in a Thick Creamy Tomato Gravy with Bell Peppers). David ordered the Chicken Biryani (145 crowns) (Basmati Rice Cooked with Pieces of Chicken in a Delicate Blend of Exotic Spices and Flavoured with Saffron). We both ate our meals with the yummy Indian bread naan. Sooo good! I don't know much about Indian food, so I'm not sure how this meal compares to others or the real deal, but I enjoyed it so whatever!

After our meal we headed out and met up with our friends Katie, Kara, Ben and Victor. It's great having then back in Prague for a visit. :)

Also, if anyone is interested, I found this great Naan recipe at Allrecipes.com. Click here to see it.

14 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Enjoy!

Beautiful day in Prague

My friends and I decided to go to Riegrovy Sady (park) yesterday. We relaxed and ejoyed a few beers. Check it out!