Packing List

We've had quite a lot of requests for more information about what we packed. I'll go through everything that made our final list, and add some notes to things we didn't use, or would've changed.

We packed everything into two 60L bags. They were a bit overkill for the amount of stuff we had, but we already had them, and didn't really think it was justifiable to get another set of packs. We didn't ever really find them too big to carry around, and it meant we had room to spare for souvenirs etc. As Jerome mentioned in an earlier post, we used packing cubes which made living out of backpacks very easy. We had two sets, one yellow, one orange, so that we could easily tell what was in each one, and it was simple to just pull out what we needed even if we were at a train station.

GENERAL THINGS
Ziplock bags - Small, medium, and a few 2.5Gallon Ziploc bags, we used them alot! 
Silk sleeping bag liners - Didn't use these as often as we thought, but were handy to have. 
Swiss army knife - Used for many things!
Travel clothes line - Used this to dry our clothes in many places we stayed.
Quick Drying Towels
Day pack - We had one small day backpack that we used that fit into our big packs on travel days. 
Lock and lock wire - For securing our packs. We never used it - and probably wouldn't bring again.
Money Belt - Also never used it. 
Notebook and pens/pencil - Used to keep a daily log of all our adventures. 
Playing Cards - Didn't use until the last week, and then used alot! 
A watch
Wallets
Passports
Metal Travel Mug - Useful for water and tea when we were staying places with no dishes.
Package of Tea filters - So we could make our own tea anywhere.
Small Pocket Notebook - Had removable pages, really handy for notes and directions
Kit of useful things in an Altoid Tin - Included: Sewing Kit, binder clips, caribeanners, safety pins.
 - We didn't have very much use for them this time, but I'd bring it again. 

TOILETRIES - All contained in a toiletries bag that hangs up
Sunscreen
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
spf lipbalm
Shampoo - We started w/ 2 travel bottles and added from hotels 
Nail clippers
Razor
Hairbrush
Hair elastics, band
Hand sanitizer
Dental Floss
Laundry soap - Liquid woolite which worked well until it exploded, we'll go powder next time. 
Deoderants
Advil
Bar soap in container - We bought more soap along the way as we ran out
Toothbrush holder(s)
Kleenex - Brought 6 small packages, stocked up as needed 
Electric Razor - So Jerome could shave easily with no shaving cream. 

ELECTRONICS

Power adapter - Multi adapter for all the plugs
Extension cord/splitter - A 3' cord that split 1 into 3 outlets 
Chargers for things - Phones and Camera
Cameras - We brought 2, it was really handy to be able to get both our points of view. 
Phones - After debate we each brought our phones, which was good as one broke. We were able to buy sim cards almost everywhere we went, to give us maps and information we needed. 
Small flashlight - Small windup one. Came in very handy on many occassions. 
Small tripod - Fit in Jerome's pocket, and helped us take some great night photos. 
Extra Camera batteries and cards - We brought 4 camera batteries (both camera's take the same ones) as well as 3 32GB cards and 1 4GB card. We bought another 32GB Card on the way. 
Earbuds -  A pair for each of us
Pouch for cords etc - Had a small pouch to hold all of this stuff
Extra phone batteries - We had second batteries for our phones. 

Before Trip

LAURA'S CLOTHES
Note: Everything but the golf shirt was quick dry. 
Rain Jacket
Flip flops
2 Smartwool next to skin T-shirts
4 pairs Ex Officio underwear
5 pairs socks
2 pairs long pants - including 1 pair of zip offs
Swimsuit
1 pair of Shorts
2 Button up T Shirts
1 Golf Shirt
2 bras, + 1 sports bra
1 Tank top
1 Zip up light fleece hoodie
1 Dressy jacket
Running Shoes

JEROME'S CLOTHES
Note: Everything was quick dry. 
Rain Jacket
Flip Flops
4 pairs Ex-officio boxers
5 pairs of socks
2 pairs pants - including 1 pair of 1 zip offs
1 pair Shorts/bathing trunks
1 Smartwool Next to Skin Long sleeved Shirt
2 Northface quickdry t-shirts
3 collared T-shirts
1 long sleeved shirt
Running Shoes

After Trip

THINGS WE ACQUIRED ALONG THE WAY

These teas we got in London and Switzerland at the start of our trip and we carried them with us and drank them throughout our whole trip. They migrated between our backpacks. 

Some delicious tea from Mariage Freres in Paris. We didn't open this on the trip. 

It was carried in Laura's backpack. 

Wooden dice to play backgammon with, and a tiny wooden turtle I got for my Birthday in Hallstatt. 

The dice were carried in Jerome's pocket and well used, and the tiny turtle was carried inside the Marriage Freres tea tin. 

Two tiny containers of salt from the Hallstatt salt mine - the oldest in the world! 

They came in handy in Italy when we both caught a cold and used the salt for gargling! 

 

A pair of small wine/liqueur glasses from Prague. 

Carried in Laura's backpack carefully wrapped up in socks.

A very well packed carpet from Morocco. Which was carried in Laura's backpack

A neat expanding chess set from Morocco that was carried in Jerome's Backpack

 A cool damascene plate from Morocco. Carried in Jerome's backpack wrapped in our desert scarves. 

 Cactus silk thread from Morocco. Carried in Laura's Backpack.

Shortbread from Marks & Spencers in London picked up on our way home. 

We stocked up on tea from Twinings in London before we came back too! 

 And some Harrod's Tea too.

And on the recommendation of Jerome's Aunt Kathleen, we picked up this amazing plum pudding which we brought home and ate at Christmas with our family! 

Chocolate Mousse!

A few weeks ago our good friends Ann and Eugene came to visit us. We decided it was a good occasion for a feast, and decided to make Beef Wellington as it had been a while! However since we've posted making it twice already. We decided to also try Chocolate Mousse and talk about that instead!


Here we are about to enjoy our Beef Wellington! After that we were having too much fun, and so I forgot to take any more pictures unfortunately...

For the Mousse we based it off of an Alton Brown Recipe.

You start with some chocolate chips (12oz)

Then you add 3oz of Espresso

Then you add a splash of rum!

Then make a double boiler and melt it together along with 4 tbsp of butter

Stop  as soon as it's all melty, and let it cool down.

Meanwhile, you need to add 1/4 cup of whipping cream to a teaspoon of gelatin and let it sit for 10 minutes. Kind of like proofing yeast. Once the chocolate mixture is cool, stir these together.

Then whip up 1.5 cups of whipping cream until it has peaks. 

Then fold it into the chocolate mixture carefully so it stays light and fluffy. 

We thought it'd be fun to make in individual cups and had these neat ones we got in Italy on our honeymoon that were just the right size for a serving. 

We topped them off with blackberries and we all enjoyed it thoroughly.

The one thing we'd change next time is to put less coffee in it. We weren't sure if we'd over done it, or if it was supposed to be like that, but it was definitely more chocolate coffee mousse than chocolate. But otherwise, the texture was really nice, and it set well and everything. It was quite easy and quick, and I'm definitely interesting it making it again!  It was a nice end to our tasty dinner and our evening of fun and friends!! 

Cranberry Chocolate Tart

Back at Thanksgiving, I promised a follow up post wherein we detailed the awesome Cranberry Chocolate Tart recipe we found. It takes a bit of pre-planning, but was so light and had just the right amount of sweetness, that it's totally worth the effort. Even after our Thanksgiving meal, everyone managed at least a piece! The original recipe is from Bon Appetit Magazine, but we found it on Epicurious.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cranberry-Chocolate-Tart-240427

Here's what you need, and some step by step photos so you can make your own! It seems a bit complicated, but all the individual parts only take a few minutes, you just have to alot for all the chilling time.
There are three components to this dessert: The Crust, The Cranberry, The Filling.

Crust:
1 1/4 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

     
Preheat the oven to 350. Then pulverize your chocolate graham crackers in the food processor or with a bag and a hammer, or however you so choose to make them crumby. Mix the sugar and salt in with the crumbs. Melt the butter and then pour in of the crumbs and mix it all up until its like that great sand castle sand texture. Then get your trusty springform cake pan, line it with parchment paper if you want to make your life easier, and then pack in the crumb mixture at the bottom. Try and get it flatish on top if you can. A spoon helps with this. Then throw it (gently) into the middle of the oven and bake it for about 15 minutes. You can do this the day before or the day you're making the rest, but make sure it's not still hot when you put the filling on or it will melt!

Cranberry Topping:
1/2 cup cranberry juice, divided
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 12-ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

Put the gelatin in 1/4 cup of your cranberry juice. 

Let it sit there until it gets jellyish. (not jellyfish)
     

Then in a pot, put the rest of the cranberry juice, the cranberries, the sugar, lemon juice, grated ginger and salt and boil it up! 

    

Make sure you stir it so that the sugar will dissolve into the liquid. Then let it simmer for about 5 or so minutes, until the cranberries are soft and plump. 

Strain the berries from the juice and add the gelatin to the juice. Stir away until the gelatin mixture dissolves. Then you can put the cranberries back in. Oh and add the chopped up candied ginger, it makes a huge difference! 

Then let it chill until it gets jello-y at least 8 hours, but you can do it up to 2 days ahead if you're feeling extra on the ball. 

Mascarpone Filling:
1 8-ounce container mascarpone cheese

• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Thin strips of crystallized ginger (optional garnish)
• 
  

  

Mix the marscarpone, icing sugar, whipping cream and vanilla with a mixer of some sort. Just get it thick enough to spread - apparently you can over mix it. You can make this part a day ahead too if you want. 

The Assembly:

Now you have your 3 parts, plus some extra candied ginger.
Guess what comes next?!


Layer them up! Crust, then filling, then cranberries on top! Sprinkle with the ginger if you want it extra gingery. The make sure to put it back in the fridge for a few hours so that it's easy to serve and looks awesomely impressive after dinner.


Remove it from the spring for pan and cut it up into tasty slices!


Enjoy!