winter

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Hot Buttered Rum

January 26, 2011 in recipe by traveleatlove | 15 comments

Hello Travel Wine Dine readers! My name’s Daisy and I blog over at Indulge Inspire Imbibe. I offered to write a guest post for Meghan while she spends some time in Ireland.

It has been an extremely snowy winter here in New England thus far, or haven’t you noticed? Instead of dreading the massive storms that seem to fall upon us every week, I embrace them by experimenting with libations to warm the soul. Last week I crafted a Hot Toddy and while it stands as a favorite winter warmer, the Hot Buttered Rum isn’t so bad itself. Switching up the cocktail routine (it’s a long winter after all) proves easy and satisfying.

Ingredients:

1 small slice soft butter
1 tsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 oz dark rum

hot water
My favorite type of dark rum is Goslings Black Seal. (I usually have some on hand for mixing Dark-n-Stormys in the summertime!)

Muddle the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in the bottom of a glass or Irish coffee mug.

Pour in the rum

Pour in the hot water
Stir

There’s just something about the fluffy white stuff falling from the pale blue skies (okay, sometimes they are dark and gray, whose keeping score) and blanketing the earth that lifts my spirits. It evokes an inner happiness, a feeling of pure delight.

With Hot Buttered Rums to keep me warm, let it snow!

What warm and cozy things do you look forward to in the winter?

Tags: cocktails, hot buttered rum, hot drinks, rum, staying warm, winter, winter drinks

Snowshoes and Cocktails

January 16, 2011 in recipe, Travel by traveleatlove | 27 comments

I love weekends! Rather than complain about the snow, yesterday we decided to enjoy it by heading to the Weston Ski Track, right off of the Mass Pike, and only about 20 minutes from our house, for some outdoor fun. If you were reading the blog last winter, you may remember our first adventure at Weston Ski Track. On this day, I learned what a great workout a few hours on snowshoes is and declared it my favorite form of marathon cross training.

Yesterday was very cold but bright and beautiful in the Boston area, and we arrived at the Weston Ski Track in no time, rented snowshoes, and were on our way.

We immediately wandered away from the groomed cross country skiing trails to trudge in the two-foot deep snow. It’s better that way Winking smile

A little pond and tiny streams, hills, and trees provided us with constant beauty, and a couple of falls into the deep snow provided some belly laughs in the snow. The sky, as you can see in the photo below, was magnificent. I was truly amazed that these berries survived the winter.

The path among the trees was quiet and well worth veering off for.

Don’t I look glam?

On our walk, we discovered this badly broken tree, likely affected by one of our wintry storms this year. If you squint, you can see the head of a little woodpecker, pecking away with delight at this wonderful discovery. He was LOUD!

We spent over two hours walking around the Weston Ski Track property, which is actually a golf course during the warmer months. This truly is a great workout; our hearts were pounding, our legs sore, and I was as tired as could be when we got home. I love fresh air!

After a long bath with Philosophy Hazelnut Espresso bubble bath, I made a blogger-inspired dinner. . . you will have to wait until tomorrow for that! But I will share our post-snowshoe cocktails with you. Inspired by our Thursday dinner at The Elephant Walk, I decided to make Lemon Ginger Martinis. I started by making a quick ginger syrup with water, sugar, and chunks of fresh ginger. Hint, take the peels of ginger and run them in your garbage disposal. It smells amazing!

In addition to the syrup, the other ingredients for the martini were vodka, limoncello, and a splash of bubbly ginger beer.

And a squeeze of half a lemon in each glass.

I very simply added four teaspoons of ginger syrup, two shots of vodka, two shots of limoncello, and about 1/2 cup of ginger beer with ice to a cocktail shaker and shook. I poured it over a pasta strainer into my favorite Waterford martini glasses which don’t get enough use! They are lovely, and I was excited to dust them off.

A day of snowshoes, fresh air, and beautifully sunny blue skies added to a strong but incredibly delicious cocktail was enough to knock me out. I absolutely love how a day in the snow, like a day at the beach, just takes it all out of you. Bliss.

I already asked this question last year, but since I have some new readers, I would love to know: what is your favorite day trip from where you live?

Tags: Boston, cocktails with ginger, ginger syrup, Lemon Ginger Martini, outdoors, snow, snowshoes, Weston Ski Track, where to snowshoe near Boston, winter

Wintertime in Europe

December 4, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 22 comments

While most people seem to look forward to summer to travel, we tend to be the exact opposite. I love to stick around New England to soak in the rare months of sunshine and warmth, hydrangeas, deep blue seas, fried clams, local beers, and long evenings.

Instead our travels tend to take place in winter; by keeping to this schedule we get to enjoy crowd-free holidays that cost much less than they would in summer. And Europe is simply magical in the winter. In the past 5 years, I have traveled from the West coast of Ireland on multiple family visits, to London, Brussels, and Amsterdam for work, to Amsterdam for New Years, to Vienna, Munich, Lake Lucerne and Zurich, to Monaco and Nice, to Prague, and to Barcelona. Inspired by Rick Steves’ European Christmas, on public television this morning, I thought I would share with you just why winter is my favorite time to visit Europe.

Many European countries really do it up for Christmas and New Years. In places like Vienna, decorations transform already gorgeous cityscapes into enchanting holiday villages. Outdoor markets and the prevalence of gluwein (yes, drinking wine while shopping!) and street food like sausages, chestnuts, and pretzels, make wandering around in the cold more pleasant.

In colder parts of Europe like Vienna and Prague, a quiet blanket of snow only adds to the architectural and natural beauty, making everything seem just a little bit slower, the perfect pace for your vacation.

In the winter, all of the sights are still there! Museums and other attractions might have limited hours, but in general, places are open for business with a pleasant difference from summer, no crowds. Smile When planning a trip, you will. of course want to double check that places are open. I do know, for example, that some Champagne houses in Reims do not have winter tours.

Weather in Western Europe can be downright gorgeous! If you are from a place like Boston where our winters tend to be quite brutal, going to places like Ireland and England can be a pleasant surprise. The below photo is me running on the beach in Galway, Ireland last JANUARY! Temperatures there can be in the 50’s or, as we have experience several times, even the low 60’s in February. It is nice to step off the plane and shed the New England layers!

And again, in the winter, the natural beauty of places just shines, and you don’t have busloads of tourists elbowing you out of the way to enjoy it. Winter in Europe is a great time to blend in, to talk to people, and to get more of a handle on what everyday life is like which is my absolute favorite part of travel.

And if you really can’t stand the cold, you can always head to the warmth. Barcelona in late November had us eating lunch on the beach, watching surfers and children swimming.