American Slaw...

Following on from my post on Wednesday this week, yesterday I was still feeling a little down at just the general idea that this year, I will NOT be spending the next two months travelling around America...So to cheer myself and Sam up, last night we decided to have an American feast night!!

Food was such a HUGE part of our travels, and oh my god...In America they know how to serve up a good meal. 

 My boyfriend Sam unfortunately suffers from a number of food allergies (among others), and this really limits us to where we can eat when we're eating out in the UK...We found that at first, we stuck to the mainstream chains, and visited a lot of Hard Rock and Rainforest Cafes, but we were made to feel so safe with the food and service we received, we found ourselves becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of branching out and trying local, smaller restaurants, which was lovely to be able to do.

One food that featured with almost every meal we had, was a large helping of Slaw (coleslaw to us brits) on the side of every dish...So with our American feast, we decided to make an attempt at making our own...and here's how we did it...

American Slaw

All you we need for yours:

3 medium sized Carrots

1/2 White Cabbage

1 large White Onion

4 heaped tbsp Mayonaise

1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar

1 tbsp Wholegrain Mustard

Handfull of Dried Cranberries

Salt and Pepper to taste

(obviously this isn't a traditional American Slaw recipe, but we did the best we could with the ingredients we could get our hands on in the UK - and it tasted spot on!)

Step 1.

Start by peeling and thickly grating the carrots and onion, thinly slice the cabbage, and mix together in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2.

Salt and Pepper the vegetables and mix together.  Pour in the white wine vinegar and using your fingers, mix in with the mayonaise, and mustard. 

Step 3.

Finish with a sprinkling of cranberries, to add that extra sweetness to your slaw!

Served up on the side of a half rack of BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken wings, battered onion rings, and potato wedges...YUM!

What reminds you of your favourite holidays?  and to my American readers...what do you think of our recipe? Let me know if you have any suggestions of other great US recipe tricks :)

x ♥ x

A Trip to Remember Forever...

I'm feeling a little sorry for myself today...As exactly one year ago today, my boyfriend Sam and I were  somewhere across the Atlantic Ocean, flying into Washington DC for the start of the trip of a lifetime where we spent 2 months on a road trip travelling down the east coast of the US...and I'm so wishing we were back there right now ready to do it all again!

Instead, I have the next best thing...I thought I could share with you, my loyal readers, some of the amazing memories we made on our trip...
Starting with a map showing you the route we took and all the beautiful places we visited...

We saw so many different things during our trip, each place we visited was so different and so special in it's own right, I LOVED Atlantic City, it was such a fun place to be with a real buzz, and on the other hand, Savannah was definitely the most beautiful of all our stops...but of course my favourite of all was Disney World...need I say more?!

As a first timer to the states, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect...I loved every single part of it, from the places to the food, to the people...it was amazing and I can't wait to go back...SOON!

Until then, here's a small snippet of the 1000's of photographs we took during our trip away...

Sam at the White House

The 'Love' sign in Philly

Playing mini golf in Atlantic City

The pier in Wildwood

On the ferry heading to Ocean City

The 'carcycle' in Virginia Beach

On the lazy river at our hotel in
Myrtle Beach

On the beach on Hilton Head Island

The steeple from Forest Gump in
Savannah

Sam in the pool at our hotel in
Jacksonville

Playing some more mini golf in
Daytona Beach

Sam getting drenched at Busch
Gardens

The view from our room in Universal

The parade at Animal Kingdom in
Disney

At the pool in Singer Island

My crab legs at Hooters in
Fort Lauderdale

At the pool at our last stop in Miami

In total we drove 1798 miles in 7 weeks...This took us through 10 different states of America, and some of the most extraordinary places and sights we could possibly imagine.  We stayed in 17 different places, from scary roadside motels in 1950's style seaside towns, to gorgeous beach front apartments in southern Florida, with each place bringing new and exciting adventures to our travels...Each part of this trip was utterly magical and something we will remember forever!

To make sure I can keep the memories of this trip safe, I glued every leaflet, ticket, room key card, postcard, and even our mini golf score cards we picked up along the way into this scrapbook,  and I think I'll spend the afternoon having a flick through these memories, reminding myself of how lucky I am to have such an amazing boyfriend to take me to all these beautiful places...maybe that will cheer me up a little :)

What special trips have you been on this year? Have you been to any of the places we visited? What do you think of them??

x ♥ x

Under Water Camera...

Now that I have finished Uni, and I currently have nothing else to do, I have been having a little clear out...I have come across some real little gems that I had forgotten existed.  One in particular is the Under Water Camera which my boyfriend Sam and I bought to get some great pictures as we travelled around the States last Summer.

There are some great shots on it, and I've included some here...

This one was taken in the pool of our beautiful hotel in Miami Beach...our final destination of the road trip.

This is probably my favourite photo of the whole trip, taken in Orlando's Discovery Cove, We spent the day snorkelling and swimming with dolphins...probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and definitely a day I will never forget!!

Have a clear out of some of your old bits and see what goodies you come across

x ♥ x