Valentine's Day in a Castle

Ah Groupon - you tease! Just when I think you'll be as awesome in Europe as you were in San Francisco, you prove me wrong - again and again!

A few months back, we bought a Groupon deal for a two night stay in a castle in Germany. We decided to cash it in for Valentine's Day - ooh-la-la. *wiggle those eyebrows* So, we packed up the car and made the two hour drive to Kronenburg, Germany. Let's just say it was cute and charming but it didn't quite live up to my ideas of a castle!

Anyhoo, our castle that was not quite a castle (CTWNQC) was situated on top of a hill surrounded by a very old - and admitted cute - little German town. I love how tiny and narrow the roads are - like you're really only meant to walk them, not drive them. We checked in to our CTWNQC and hefted our bags up two flights of stairs. Turns out even CTWNQCs are not handicap friendly. But our room was lovely - and enormous! It was a lovely two level suite with room for three more people - not that we wanted three more people joining us for Valentine's Day. There were exposed wooden beams everywhere and a single tiny window making it feel a bit more protected castle like. The bed was crap but I'll overlook that given the shower had four massage jets for my back - heaven!

The idea had been to getaway to Germany and relax for a few days. These days it really seems that the only time I see or really talk to the hubs is when we leave Brussels for more than 24 hours. So, we were leaving Brussels for 43 hours. And the time away was great. But the real highlight was Dr. Loosen Winery! Herb was able to arrange a tasting at Dr. Loosen in Mosel. Now, let me just say this has been my favorite winery since my Chicago days and Bin 36! Some wine classes in San Francisco reaffirmed my love affair with Dr. Loosen. And for Valentine's Day, I got a private wine tasting with their sommelier!! I also got 11 bottles of wine, which will make any fan super duper happy.

Driving into the Mosel Valley was pretty, but similar to driving through the Eastern edge of Luxembourg for wine tasting. BUT given the recent cold weather that's been pummeling Europe, it was a treat to see the Rhine River almost completely frozen over. (The sommelier at Dr. Loosen said he'd never seen it frozen like that.) It's views like that that make me super happy someone finally invented the heated seat for the automobile.

Tapas, Wine and Gaudi oh my!

The hubs wanted to go to Barcelona for his birthday. Now I realize this is a bit (read: incredibly) selfish, but I've already been to Barcelona. And you see, I'm working on this goal of going to 100 countries by the time I'm 50 years old. And well, I'm thinking I have a decent chance of making 50 (countries, not years) by the end of this year. And as I've already got Spain marked off my list, it'd be really great for hubs to pick a new country for his birthday trip. But alas. It was his birthday and he wanted to see Barcelona (his first time - I made my solo trip the Christmas before we met) so to Spain we went.

The biggest up side to this Barcelona trip is that I absolutely love tapas. I mean - I LOVE it. We stuffed ourselves with tapas, and then had a little bit more for good measure. It was pretty fantastic. And the Spanish wines, oh the Spanish wines! You can't find easy, smooth reds like that for next to nothing in Brussels, that's for sure! Of course, we aren't nearly as hungover every morning in Brussels either.

Herb wanted to see all the touristy things on his birthday trip. It sorta took me by surprise, as he isn't usually a full-on tourist attraction kinda guy. But again - it's his party and he can sightsee if he wants to, sightsee if he wants to, ohhhh.... Yeah, you get the point. I'm not big on paying to get into things, but it was his birthday so not only did I pay to see things - I paid for both of us to see things. I'm pretty sure he was appropriately stoked. So it's all good. And on a definite positive note, who knew the inside of Sagrada Familia is so beautiful!?

Given my previous confession that I don't generally pay to see the inside of anything, I'd only ever stood outside. (And in a moment of full disclosure - I thought Sagrada Familia was ridiculously ugly. I mean - really couldn't understand what all these people go on and on about - it is freaking ugly!) But the inside is so bright and spacious, full of light and graceful archways and colorful splashes dancing on the walls thanks to the stained glass.

So maybe I didn't get to add yet another country to my list. But now I can join all those well-heeled folk in speaking haughtily about the glory that is the Sagrada Familia. Or maybe not. But whatevs - at least I could if I wanted to. :p

New Year's Eve and Salted Chocolate

Right, this blog is mostly about my inability to stay put. And while I do travel a lot (too much depending on who you ask), I actually do other things too. Like bake and use my slow cooker and read and get sorta crafty and other random stuff. So, today - as I waste away an hour before I head to the airport (yay - another trip!) - I'm going to tell you about my obsession with cupcakes.

Yes indeed. Oh cupcakes. I had my first truly awesome cupcake in Chicago several years ago at a little cupcake shop off Clark. I honestly had no idea that a little cupcake (and they were little compared to many of the mammoth cupcakes you find for sale these days) could have so much flavor. And be so moist. And frankly make both my mouth and tummy so very, very happy.

Now that I've got my very own KitchenAid stand mixer, I make way too many cupcakes. Unfortunately, the hubs doesn't really like my non-Chinese cakes. So, I wait for opportunities to feed them to friends. New Year's Eve ended up being just perfect for my most recent craving - salted chocolate cupcakes. After much surfing and recipe reading, I decided not to do the more traditional salted caramel and chocolate but instead go with salted chocolate with homemade butterscotch topping. Yum and yum.

Let's be honest - sometimes I bake from scratch. But I'm lazy so I don't often bake completely from scratch. My pies are always in a store bought pie crust. I rarely make homemade frosting - why bother, it hardly ever tastes better. *shrug* My husband actually prefers Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chip Cookie mix to any 'from scratch' recipe I've ever tried. And my biggest secret of all - nearly all of my cupcakes start with a good old cake mix. Gasp!

(Despite that disclaimer - I'd love to know where to get my hands on Dutch-processed cocoa powder, for baking, in Belgium. So, if you know, please please let me know!)


Salted Chocolate Cupcakes

• One dark chocolate cake mix
• 50 grams of super dark, high quality chocolate shaved super fine
  
• Medium grain sea salt (I used a lovely pink sea salt we picked up in Slovenia this fall)

Make your cake mix according to the directions and ideally in a stand mixer.

Once done mixing, gently fold in the chocolate shavings.

Fill your cupcakes like you normally would and then sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top of each cupcake.

Bake for the time specified on your mix and then cool completely before frosting.

Butterscotch Frosting

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Extra medium grain sea salt

Combine all the ingredients, except medium sea salt, in a small pot and heat over medium low, stirring until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved, 3-5 minutes.

Turn the heat to low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until thickened.

Remove from heat and let cool completely to thicken further. A cool window ledge or even the fridge will greatly help this along.

After frosting the cupcakes, sprinkle a little more medium grain sea salt on top of each one.

So, what should be next? I've got a red velvet cake mix I need to do something interesting with - suggestions?