Having ChatGPT Design My Birthday Dinner

AI is a powerful tool with many capabilities, but have you ever thought of having it make you a recipe?

Hello! This is Izzy, the kid foodie, and my do I have the story to share!

For my 17th birthday dinner, I decided to have a home-cooked meal. But this wouldn’t just be any meal, I wanted it to be Michelin Star quality. I had the supplies to make something extravagant and was especially curious to try utilizing my whipping siphon and maybe including some gels.

I began planning my dinner by searching for unique recipes that I had never made before.

I landed on a meal, which would include: beef carpaccio with a homemade anchovy aioli and handmade saffron fettuccini pasta smothered in a creamy roasted garlic and lemon pasta sauce. For my last dish, I wanted something crazy, unlike anything I had ever tasted. That’s when I thought of…ChatGPT. That’s right, I had AI create me a recipe!

I began with what I wanted the recipe to entail. I shared my vision of a Michelin-quality dish. I wanted to use my whipping siphon, and I was especially eager to try making edible pearls. With this request, it created: Beet Tartare with Horseradish Espuma, Dill Oil, Black Garlic Pearls & Crispy Rye Crumbs. Wait what? My first thought was that it mistyped ‘beef tartare’ as “beet tartare”. Then I thought, what in the world is ‘espuma’? This recipe sounded more extravagant than anything I had imagined. However, I would be lying to say that I wasn’t curious how the beet tartare would taste. So, I tried it!

Here’s the ticker: I wasn’t going to tell my family that the recipe was from AI until after they ate it.

The days leading up to my birthday, I began grocery shopping, as I knew that my recipes were calling for some unique ingredients. I went to Safeway and then Whole Foods to acquire all of the ingredients the recipes called for. However, I had to special order black garlic paste (for the black garlic pearls) from Amazon, after not being able to find any at either grocery store.

I’m sure that you’re wondering by now, how did the dinner turn out?

Beef Carpaccio with Anchovy Aioli

The carpaccio was tricky to slice thin, so I resorted to using a mandolin. However, I recommend not doing this, as I quickly noticed that the fillet was becoming deformed by the machine. This left the slices a bit too thick for Michelin quality. The anchovy aioli was good, and I enjoyed using the remaining sauce as a Caesar salad dressing later, throughout the week.

Handmade Pasta (Great! Just typing those words and now I’m hungry.)

I have made homemade pasta in the past and find that my Villaware pasta-making machine works very well for this. Homemade pasta is so much more delicious than store-bought. I highly encourage you to try making it at some point. While recipes often call for the dough to rest overnight, the hands-on process is actually quite simple, mostly entailing feeding the dough through your maker to thin and cut it. The sauce that I made to pair with the fettuccine was pretty good. However, I have found that a very simple sauce is preferable so that the fresh pasta can shine, rather than the sauce overpowering.

Lastly, the Beet Tartare!

Firstly, be careful when handling beets, as their strong pigment can easily stain your clothes, cutting board, and skin. Secondly, oh my, this was delicious. This recipe blew my parents and my expectations away. Each aspect contributed a unique texture, ensuring that my mouth could hop in on the flavor party of my birthday.

The beets were fresh, the (freshly grated) horseradish espuma (culinary foam) was frothy and added a unique texture, and the crispy rye crumbs were so good (don’t tell anybody, but I ate them by the spoonful as an “amuse bouche”). The black garlic pearls had strong potential, but didn’t quite turn out. The process for making them required dropping the black garlic flavored liquid into ice-cold oil, in which its agar agar powder would solidify into droplets. Looking back, I released too many droplets into my small beaker at once, so the pearls began to stick together. This left little room for incoming droplets, causing deformed pearls.

My birthday evening became just the culinary adventure I had hoped for. Even though not every dish turned out perfectly and dinner finished way later than expected, it gave me the experience of trying recipes out of my comfort zone, and I learned so much about these advanced culinary methods. I recommend that next time you have a rainy day or extra time to make dinner, you try something crazy! (P.S. Just make sure to have a yummy snack, like cheese and crackers, to make sure nobody gets hangry while cooking.)

Would you try an AI recipe?

Here are the recipes that I used. Feel free to try them out yourself! Drop a comment if you do, or if you have any unique recipe recommendations to try next.

And I just had ChatGPT write this. Just kidding!

Beef Carpaccio Recipe

Creamy Roast Garlic and Lemon Pasta Sauce Recipe

Handmade Pasta Recipe (I made the saffron variation)

Chat GPT Beet Carpaccio Recipe

The Dessert of Summer: Strawberry Shortcake 🍓

With summer having just begun, I’m sure that we can all agree to having a bit more time on our hands for wanting to work on the things that make us happy. Lately, I have found that cooking has been one of those things for me. My favorite recipes include using fresh produce and fruits. The other day, I was discussing what my favorite fruit was, and I came to the decision that there isn’t just one fruit that I love the most, but rather what ever is the ripest. I have had blackberries that fill my mouth with sour juices, but also had them when they taste like nature’s candy.

The sweet spot for strawberries is April through July, meaning that now is the perfect season to get some locally. I was with my dad driving to a butcher and across the street was a farm stand with a big sign advertising ‘fresh strawberries’. As soon as I saw the sign, I knew that I wanted to get some. Once we brought them home, I saw that they where at peak ripeness and needed to be eaten that day. That’s when I knew it. I had to make my favorite summer dessert: strawberry shortcake! (Although, you could make this dessert with really any berry or stone fruit like peaches, blueberries, raspberries, etc.)

The first step is always washing and cutting up the berries into quarters and sprinkling with sugar. This helps them release their juices. After waiting for about an hour, they will be sitting in a delicious strawberry sauce and will taste way sweeter. This juice is just what you want to have soak into your shortcake biscuit. Speaking of shortcake, next was making the scrumptious biscuits. To do so, I used the recipe below.

Lastly is the final touch (or smother) of whipped cream. I LOVE making homemade whipped cream, in which I use a siphon and add whipping cream, a little vanilla, and some maple syrup (not too much that it the consistency becomes too watery). This will tie together the whole dessert.

I recommend enjoying this dish on your deck (if you have one) while watching the sunset. There you have it, your very own bite of summer.

Warning: You may become obsessed with strawberry shortcake. (I now have a pint of strawberry shortcake ice cream in my freezer and I had a strawberry shortcake crepe yesterday.)

Shortcake Biscuits

2 and 3/4 cups (345g) all-purpose flour, plus extra for hands and work surface

1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

4 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt (I recommend fine sea salt)

3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

1 cup (240ml) cold buttermilk*

2 Tablespoons (30ml) heavy cream or buttermilk

Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

Start with the strawberries: Stir the strawberries and 1/4 cup granulated sugar together in a large bowl. Cover and set in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Make the biscuits: Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large food processor. Pulse until combined. Add the cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients by pulsing several times in the processor. Pulse until coarse crumbs form. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.
Pour buttermilk on top. Fold everything together with a large spoon or silicone spatula until it begins to come together. Do not overwork the dough. The dough will be shaggy and crumbly with some wet spots. Pour the dough and any dough crumbles onto a floured work surface and gently bring together with generously floured hands. Have extra flour nearby and use it often to flour your hands and work surface in this step. Using floured hands or a floured rolling pin, flatten into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle as best you can. Fold one side into the center, then the other side. Turn the dough horizontally. Gently flatten into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle again. Repeat the folding again. Turn the dough horizontally one more time. Gently flatten into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. Repeat the folding one last time. Flatten into the final 3/4 inch thick rectangle.
Cut into 2.75 or 3-inch circles with a biscuit cutter. You should end up with around 10-12 biscuits.
Arrange in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or close together on parchment paper or silicone baking mat lined baking sheet. Make sure the biscuits are touching.
Brush the tops with 2 Tablespoons heavy cream or buttermilk and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown on top. Remove from the oven, then cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before assembling.
Slice the biscuits in half and layer with strawberries and whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Thank you for reading this publication, I hope that you enjoyed it.

-Your favorite kid foodie: Izzy

Asheville Adventures

For my last break, I visited Asheville, North Carolina. I went for 6 days. Here is what I did and how I liked it!

I (of course) had to visit the famous Biltmore (Vanderbilt) House. December is a great time to visit, as it is decorated for Christmas. I went on the audio tour of the home and listened to a choir perform multiple holiday songs as I entered.

The night was perfect and the sunset was the cherry on top

There wasn’t spot on the grounds that didn’t sparkle with lights

For dinner, I ate at the Biltmore’s Bistro. The restaurant is a bit like a carnival with its atmosphere, but has scrumptious food. Each bite was filled with flavor and presented beautifully. Dining here is definitely pricey, but also deserves acknowledgment for the wonderful dishes.

I ordered…

French onion soup, which wasn’t the highlight of the show, but was very well put together

Warm mushroom salad, which had well-paired flavors that I never thought of combining

Estate raised carpaccio, that I couldn’t stop eating

Trio of artisans bread, which I recommend as a tasty filler

Estate raised lamb ragu, which had deep flavors and fantastic seasonings

Artisanal lettuces, which made the meal well rounded, dressing was perfect

And lastly, the five cheese artisan cheese plate, which was delicious and well put together

My top three favorites were the carpaccio, artisan breads, and the artisan cheese plate. The cheese plate included candied cranberries, bread crackers, a blue cheese, a mix of soft and hard cheeses, and my favorite, a whipped goat cheese. With the cheese plate was a paper with where the cheeses where from, my favorite one was from a local goat farm, Round Mountain Creamery. After a bit of research, my family discovered that this farm does tours and so we booked a tour for the next day. We were lucky to have a one-on-one tour with the guide. We got to look at the goats and taste their different cheese flavors. The cranberry zest was my favorite (this was the same cheese that was on the Biltmore cheese plate). I definitely recommend this tour, as it doesn’t take long and is the perfect excuse to eat cheese.

Next, I visited a waterfall in Pisgah Forest. This waterfall was pretty, but I wish it had a hike in order to get to it rather than just off the main road.

While planning a trip, it is always good to leave some down time to explore the town and understand what it’s like to be a local. One way that I did this was by visiting local breweries with my parents and bringing a game to play while there. I also enjoyed shopping in local boutiques. I had a delightful surprise when there was a Christmas parade on the streets one morning.

I did a hike in Montreat, which was great! It was difficult, but not impossible. It’s a great hike if you have kids or are looking for a mild exercise. The view is great! Tip: Park by the start of the trail for a less tiring hike. I made the mistake of parking on the College grounds and was already getting tired by the time I reached the trail (there is a big hill).

I did a foraging adventure with ‘No Taste Like Home’. We got to hunt (with professionals) for anything edible in a forest. We found wild mushrooms, fruit from bushes, onion grasses, and other interesting wild plants. They then made a dish with us out of our harvested ingredients. We had the option to take the leftover ingredients to select restaurants which they will use them to make you dinner. I had reservations to do this, but didn’t get the ingredients to them soon enough. I didn’t let this put me down. Instead, I made my own dish out of the ingredients at our airbnb, it was great! My family had fun creating a few new recipes to use what we found. Looking back, I am happy that this is how my evening ended up.

The following day, I got breakfast at Stay Glazed…Donuts, which had unique flavors, like miso maple and blueberry bacon pancake (both were great).

I finished the day with La Bodega by Cúrate. This was a great find. Curate is a well known Spanish tapas restaurant that gets very busy. I didn’t have reservations, and the wait would be a while. I did some quick research and found their bodega just around the corner. I believe that the menu items are similar. There was no wait, and the atmosphere was a lot less busy. My waiter was a little edgy, but I have no complaints on the food. I tried many of their dishes and they were all good in their own ways.

The tartar, mushroom dish, and salad where my favorite. The fish with the tartar was very yummy. The salad was phenomenal, with its mandarin oranges, crushed pistachios, and shredded parmesan. Mmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

On our way to the hike, we stumbled upon The White Duck Taco Shop and it was the perfect stop for a bite. I recommend these tacos if you are looking for a lower in cost but still delicious lunch.

The Green Sage Cafe was just down the street from my rental house and was a great breakfast/brunch spot. I had their huckleberry bowl (granola base), which was a nice healthy breakfast (sometimes it is difficult to find healthier and lighters meals while traveling). I also went here one morning to read while drinking a smoothie.

Old Europe Pastries has a great quiche that they make fresh every day.

That’s it for my Asheville, North Carolina trip. All of these destinations that I visited, I would love to return to. If you were looking for trip ideas, I hope that you will be able to enjoy these spots and embrace a little adventure. Sometimes it’s best not to know what you are going to do in the afternoon, take time to experience what’s around you. Feel free to stop into that bakery you have had your eye on. That’s the joy of traveling!

Good Friends, Good Food, and Good Times @Colorado

My cousins, Aunt, and Uncle came to visit my family for a Forth of July weekend. We were able to go crabing, paddle boarding, relax, and go jet skieng. For our eavning on the 4th, we all lit our own fireworks and had a crab and rib feast (no one went to bed hungry)!

The next day, I flew with my cousins to Colorado! Before I know it, I was walking around the city of Denver, Colorado with my cousin.

We were able to go to a really good breakfast spot called, The Green Collective! Where I got an order that included 3 toasts of my choice. I choose, their original avocado toast, Colorado lox toast, and whipped goat toast. It was so GOOD!

We were soon venturing through the city, where we saw cool street art.

We new that if I saw a boba place, that would have to be our next stop, and to my luck we did. We stopped at a unique boba spot called, Tea Station. We’re they had many options of boba that even I had never heard of (like jelly ice). If you didn’t know, boba is a really filling drink, so that was my lunch.

Next stop was dinner, where we went to a rooftop restaurant, which had a great view.

We had to end this great day with ice cream! So we drove to a shop called Little Man Ice Cream. Their ice cream was really good and they had an unusual assortment of flavors.

I spent the rest of my trip in Boulder, Colorado. Where I kept a weeks streak of ice cream every day, ate well, shopped well, and sight saw well, all with great friends! Cheers to, another successful trip!!

Thank you to all who helped this travel be awesome!

Enjoy my photo dump!

Fruittastic Refresh Smoothie

I love making (and of course drinking) smoothies. I have always thought that homemade smoothies are the best. Homemade smoothies are cheaper and often more healthy then the store bought ones, while still being delicious (at least the ones I make without all that veggie stuff). 
In this recipe the only form of added sugar is, the mango sorbet. It is not required but encouraged to use frozen fruit because it adds a texture to your smoothie that adds to the ice. It is very easy to replace ingredients with other ingredients if you don’t have some (although it might not be quite as good). For example, you could replace milk with yogurt. Here are my favorite ingredients!

- mango sorbet (or any flavors that match your added fruit) 
- milk
- assortment of frozen fruit (any frozen berries/fruit that you like)
- ice
- apple sauce (adds a flavor but is not overwhelming)
- banana 

I would definitely recommend using these secret ingredients! Let me know in the comments if you try it, and how it turns out!

Homemade Pizza

For a school assignment (6th grade) in my FACS class ( a class were you cook, sew, and learn daily life skills), we learned about pizza, and how to make it homemade.

I also learned how many ways there are to make it. From my own experience, I know that there is thin crust, giant crust, regular crust, soft crust, crunchy crust, and definitely even more.

So what a better time than in quarantine learning about pizza than to make my family homemade pizza?! Did you know, out of every 100 restaurants in the US, 17 are pizzerias?!

I got our crust recipe from our Betty Crocker cook book. After looking online for some pizza topping ideas, I finally landed on a twisted Hawaiian pizza. This is how it turned out, but I promise it tasted even better it looks!

My pizza had pineapple, Canadian bacon, bacon, of course cheese and a red sauce. Although I would get laughed at by many Italians for putting pineapple on pizza, I have to say that this was great! The pizza was so good. I definitely recommend that you make it, especially if you want to do a ‘make your own pizza’ night, or you’re in quarantine and the pizza restaurants don’t deliver. Stay safe, and happy!

Turkey Hill Experience

During a break from school in the fall (2019), a few friends and I went to Turkey Hill. Turkey Hill is a ice cream company in Pennsylvania. In many grocery stores you can see their ice cream, with many different flavors. But, they don’t only produce ice cream. They also have a museum/experience, where they show how they make/produce their ice cream, and what it tastes like. Turkey Hill, has recently began starting a tea business, as well.

In Turkey Hill, you get to have infinite mini ice cream tasting cups. That means you get as much ice cream as you want. For an ice cream lover like me this is amazing. Turkey Hill, also has an ice cream lab. What is this you ask? This is a lab, where you choose a base ice cream flavor (chocolate or vanilla) and you will get a pint of this flavor of ice cream and add flavors, toppings and icing/drizzle to it. (If you go here, keep note not to add too many flavors.)

For Turkey Hill’s tea, while walking through their museum/experience you will see a taste bar of tea and iced tea. You may also (if you ask while buying your tickets,) get a tea tasting and learning class. Where, you learn how the tea is made, where it originates (is from), what it tastes like, and many more tea facts. I like tea and iced tea, so I really enjoyed this and hope to do it again.

Thank you Turkey Hill for this experience, and I hope to return.

Back in Naxos, Greece

As you may have already learned, I go to Naxos, Greece every summer. Naxos is a small Greek islands of of Greece. Where my friend and I have gone together for the past 4 years. Naxos was great and always the perfect temperature to go to the beach and either swim or relax. On the beach that I go to (Plaka beach), there is an amazing restaurant. The restaurant is called Picasso. Picasso is right on the beach and they can bring you drinks and snacks.

This year my mom was able to join my dad and I. We spent a little over a week there and enjoyed relaxing and having some adventures. This year I started wind surfing lessons. We also hunted for Naxos ‘eyes’ that are local shells.

I would say that the best place to stay at is Athina Studios. The staff are sooo nice and the rooms and pool are GREAT! They also have a restaurant which is good, but I prefer the ones next door: picasso (mexican food)

Strawberry vergin moijto on the beach

Amore Mio (Italian food)

Cedar cafe (lunch),

Jan’s Salmon & Deli (fresh fish)

Yazoo (Greek

and ManolisTavern (Greek)

Athina Studios is next to every thing (including the beach). (No need for a car.)

Thank you, Naxos! For a great vacation. Hope to visit soon.

Of to my next adventure…

Marrakech, Morroco

On April. 14, 2019 we arrived in Marrakech, Morocco. Our flight was so early that we hadn’t even had breakfast. We arrived from the airport by a taxi that was connected to the riad where we were staying A Riad is what they call a small hotel that used to be large family houses with a courtyard, in the old town (medina quarter) in Marrakech – they are like a larger bed and breakfast. Once he dropped us off in the middle of the main square (Jemaa el-Fnaa) a man had a cart that we put our bags in and he led us through a big market area (that we did not know our way around and kind of felt like a maze). Once we got to our riad, called Riad Ba Sidi we were welcomed in and had a welcome cup of tea (Tea is very popular in Morocco).

That morning, we had breakfast at Riad Ba Sidi. Then we started to wander around the city. One thing that we all thought was going to be really bad was the fly catchers (random people that come up to you and start asking you questions to “help” you so that at the end they can get you to pay them for helping (or to get rid of them), when really you never wanted or needed help). I am not sure if this is something that has actually changed or if we were just lucky. There were aggressive vendors, but nothing too bad. So we were able to walk around rather peacefully. But, the medina was very active.

Later in the day, we went on a city walking tour. The name of our guide was Usaff. The tour was organized by the place that we were staying at (Riad Ba Sidi). The most interesting thing that I learned during the tour was that each section of the old city has 5 things: a baker, a mosque, a water source, a school and a hammam. It is interesting that there is one baker in each area, residence bring their dough to them in the morning and they will bake the bread. A hammam is a bathhouse, they are public areas where locals go to bath weekly for a deep scrub.

The next day for dinner, we joined a food tour (that I organized for us to join). Our guide’s name was Omar. In the food tour we stopped at little spots around the market and in the medina. Everything that we tried was classic Marrakech cuisine. In the tour we ate a traditional soup in the market. We stopped at an olive stall for a tasting.

Tagine, (a VERY popular dish of meat in Marrakech cooked over fine in a clay pot) the chef who cooked the tagine used to be the chef of the king. The next stop was the neighborhood baker (they don’t cook it at home because they don’t want their houses to get to hot inside). And more, for YOU to discover.

The day after that, we started our journey to the Sahara desert (for a 3 day trip). Most of the day we drove around the Atlas mountains. We also had a few stops to see cool views and attractions (as well as lunch).

Later, we had dinner at the place that we were staying at which was good. At dinner we enjoyed some local food (surprise – tagine). We also had a view of the hotel pool and garden at dinner. The hotel was nice but nothing special.

The next day we continued our drive into the Sahara desert. It was VERY windy, which started to make us worry. Luckily the views were still beautiful as we entered the dunes. As we entered the Sahara we could see amazing views and passing wild camels.

Once we fillaly got to our ‘luxury’ camp in the desert the wind did die down some. We got checked in and relaxed some, while looking out at the endless dunes. The Sahara desert is the same size as the ENTIRE United States! Once we were all freshened up a bit, my dad and I went outside to try sand surfing on the dunes. I was a bit scared so I would jump off the board after three seconds of going down. But my dad was pretty good. Then my mom came so we put away the boards and walked out to dinner at the close camp behind a dune (the camps where owned by the same person. Just the other camp had people sleeping in canvas tents sharing one bathroom and our ‘luxury’ room was in a “cave or hut” thing). Dinner was served family style. After dinner (before sunset) we went on a private camel ride through the dunes. Where a guide led us by foot. AMAZING.

After returning, we chatted with other guests. Then we noticed that it would be sunset soon so we started to climb the dunes (it was hard, with each step in the sand your foot sinks down). We were told in many places and from many people, that this is one of the most beautiful things that they have ever seen in their life. The view meet our expectations very well and we loved the view.

If you go to the Sahara, or any other dessert then I definitely recommend that you know that sand gets into EVERYTHING! (luckily nothing bad happened to us) I do recommend for this problem that you get a ziplock or another kind of plastic bag, so you can put things in it so that they don’t get sand in them, like we used them for our camera and phones.

One of the most amazing things about staying in the desert is seeing the stars. So, we put a plan in place. That night, I had agreed with my mom that she would wake up in the middle of the night to see if the stars were out. If they were, she was to wake us. Unfortunately we slept through the night. We did all wake up to watch the sun rise and there was no wind. After breakfast we loaded up in our SUV and made the long drive back. We drove for hours through the middle of the desert before even seeing a road. Fortunately the views were great and we made a few stops. One was a tiny (like 15 people) village where we saw a local school and how the nomads lived.

That evening, we arrived at our very nice hotel for some peaceful dinner. Our hotel room was HUGE and included two buildings and a courtyard (for just our room!). The place was called Adama Resort. The place was very nice, it had fresh food and a super big pool. It also had clubs like an adult and a kid disco as well as yoga and sports (I did yoga with my mom and then kids volleyball).

The next day, we headed to a Country Club called, Beldi Country Club. The Country Club was fantastic and I wish that we could have gone for way longer. The place had so many things to do that sounded sooo fun. Like, pottery making for kids (I did but I had to leave mine since we were not there long enough for it to dry. So I made it and then they gave me some non-professionally made pieces that were similar.), bread making, cooking, etc. They even had 8 POOLS!!! Can you believe that, 8 pools at one resort?!? The resort was like an old city farm. There were several restaurants around the gardens. We enjoyed swimming in the greenhouse pool. That evening, there was a beautiful local wedding. It was fun to see the decorations and guests all dressed up. It was great!

Morocco, 5 stars out of 5!

Zagreb, Croatia and Slovenia

On February 23 my dad and I arrived in Zagreb, Croatia. We went to see my uncle and to be tourists in Croatia and Slovenia.

When we arrived we went to my uncle’s house, picked him up, and then started our drive out to the Dalmatian coast.

When we arrived we found our rented house and dropped of our stuff (with an easy arrival) and then head out to find a restaurant, because we where hungry. We looked on our digital map and found a close restaurant called, Bistro Marin (Posedarje, Croatia). When we arrived it was fairly late at night and it was dark. When we entered we realized that we where going to be the only ones in the restaurant. We went and had some traditional Croatian food.

The next day, after a good sleep. We headed off to see Zadar and the coast. Our main goal was to drive around and see the water organs. Our first stop was the water organs. We had fun playing music and walking on the “shore”. The organ is a long area of the boardwalk where waves rise and fall pushing air through pipes to make different sounds.

Then we headed off to our second stop of driving around the coast. We loved the views and the water. Here are some beautiful pictures that we took, at the island that we made it to, able to drive via a bridge (the island was called Krk).

For dinner, we had a frozen pizza from the local grocery store. Along with a relaxing game night.

The next day we drove up the coast and then went back to Zagreb and stayed at a airbnb to get to see a different part of Croatia (Zagreb). Which is also the location of where my uncle works (Rimac). (Rimac is a Croatian brand that makes cars and has made the fastest car in the world, that is also electric.) So, my dad and I visited the Rimac headquarters with my uncle. My dad was able to ride their electric bike (Greyp). That in my mind was a motorcycle that was made to look like a bike.

My uncle stayed at work while my dad and I headed of towards a dinner spot, called Gabreku 1929. When we arrived we were very surprised to see super Mario brothers decorations all around. We thought that a birthday party was happening or going to happen. After we got situated with a table we ordered. (If you go, the soup portions are VERY large.) This is the desert that I had. It was scrumptious.

The next day, my dad and I left to go to Slovenia for 3 nights. (On our drive to Slovenia we had lots of border issues; parking ticket, wrong boarder crossing, and then a speeding ticket that we were able to avoid paying.)

Once we arrived at our place (1 hour late) we rushed to our meeting point for a food tour that we had planned. The food tour was called LjubljanaNjam food & drink walks. Our tour guide was called Meta. Meta was very nice and brought us to many delicious stops. My favorite thing that we ate was homemade gnocchi with Istrian beef Boškarin and homemade apple juice at the restaurant Altroke. Another stop that I really enjoyed was at Lajbah where we ate pumpkin oil tapas with pumpkin oil degustation (or small samplings).

For dinner we wanted something simple and close and easy. We decided to return to a spot Meta showed us on our tour, Lajbah, it had small and yummy bites.

The next day, we joined in to a free walking tour with a tour guide called Tina. She was nice and taught us lots of great little facts of the city. At the end of the tour Tina recommended to us some close museums and activities that we might possibly want to join. We ended up visiting the illusions museum and I think that it was very interesting and interactive.

Then, we returned to our apartment to clean up. Before our fancy 7 coarse dinner at the castle on a high hill. The restaurant was called Strelec. We LOVED the food! It was so yummy. We had 7 coarses. I loved the spread for the bread. It was AMAZING (if you go here you MUST try it.

The entire meal was very fancy and yet super yummy. The service was also very good, personal and kind.

The next day, we started of with a vegan breakfast at a bistro called Bazilika bistro. It was good, enjoyable and fresh. I recommend their Quiche (it was delicious). We liked it so much that we went again the following morning.

Then, we continued our day by driving down to Lake Bled which is a very popular spot in Slovenia if you search it up. We went inside their castle looking out over the lake and it had a great view and was cool to look in. At the castle you can do some things that you pay for where YOU get to make it. We decided to get my uncle a bottle of wine as a gift. I was able to fill the bottle from the cask, then put in the cork, then dip the top in wax, and lastly put the label. The monk made a certificate to along with the gift. Then, we walked around the lake that circled the church.

That night we went to another fancy dinner. The restaurant was called Monstera bistro. At Monstera we had a 7 course meal. Everything was very good and I just can’t pick a favorite.

The food was assembled very well and looked scrumptious. They also had a famous chef there who cooked our meals.

The next day we started our drive back to Croatia.

After we arrived, we picked up my uncle. We realized that we where all hungry so we looked on maps to find some close restaurants. We found one that we had been to before in our last trip to Croatia. It was called the witch of the grich. We loved it just like last time and it was relaxing and yummy. It was a restaurant of local foods with local people.

Next we went to the the museum of broken relationships. This was an interesting museum filled with break up storeys and objects from the break up. Some where funny and some where sad.

I had wanted to go to a certain sushi spot ever since I saw it the year before in the magazine (because as you may know, I LOVE sushi). So I convinced my uncle and dad to go to Tekka (the sushi restaurant) with me. It was not as good as I thought that it was going to be and I was a little disappointed. It looked very appetising.

But it just wasn’t good enough quality for my taste (especially for the cost).

On our last day of Croatia we all went on the Zagreb free walking tour, for 2 hours. I liked the tour guide for her humor and stories. She showed us many good stops for ice cream on the way. She also told us many great stories about the square and statues that we passed. Like for example she said that the fountain in the square used to not be there and the town was struggling to find water and everyone was dehydrated. But a man kept trying and eventually he found a water source underground (the fountain) and saved everyone from dehydration.

The next day, we started our journey back home, to Amsterdam. And we knew that we couldn’t wait for our next travel adventures.