Today I’m going to push the rewind button and go back to the end of July. With the change of season and the temperature of the air… July seems so far away.
I came to Richmond bearing gifts and matching the Chinatown bus. On my visit I found a handy dandy travel case, and had a Barbie pool day… along with other adventures.
Let’s do the time warp!
Tonight I have a special post lined up for you all. I was recently invited to a special blogger event at Shula’s on the Beach down in sunny Ft. Lauderdale. However, I’m in New York at the moment. Luckily I was able to send two representatives on my behalf. The event was just intime to celebrate the 2012 NFL season, which marks the 40th Anniversary of Don Shula’s perfect 1972 season with the Miami Dolphins. The dinner invite offered to tempt taste buds with a chef’s table dinner, complete with wine pairings. Shula’s, recognized as one of America’s top five steak houses, is home of the “Shula Cut“, which guarantees the finest pieces of meat–as less than 1% of cuts make it to the plate.
Shula’s is located inside the The Westin Beach Resort & Spa, which was once the Sheraton Yankee Trader Hotel. The oceanfront property operated for 44 years as an annual home away from home for fun-seekers. After major renovations the resort provides an updated look in spacious rooms, stylish décor and a host of refreshing amenities. I haven’t stayed there (YET), but I hear there are cabanas overlooking the oceanfront pool and that their expansive Heavenly Spa melts away tension.
For years Fort Lauderdale remained a hidden treasure…
When I was younger I enjoyed nearby Las Olas Boulevard because of the Kilwin’s ice cream shop (years ago their toasted coconut ice cream cast a permanent spell on me). Nowadays my taste has expanded, and I enjoy Las Olas for its boutique shopping and chic cafes, live jazz bands, fine art museums and galleries and charming gardens. It’s the part of Ft. Lauderdale that still captures the historic charm with Spanish-tiling and vibrant, blushing hibiscus bushes everywhere you turn. Ft. Lauderdale also offers an exhilarating nightlife and miles of white-sand beaches.
To some Ft. Lauderdale is known as the yachting capital of the world, with more than 165 miles of navigable Intracoastal waterways and canals. Cruising along A1A is one of my favorite things to do when I’m visiting the area, and peeking past the overgrown sea grapes at the beautiful and often over-the-top homes. It’s funny because even though I don’t spend much of my year in South Florida, I can always tap into the relaxing feeling I get when I go back there.
Now let’s move on to the night of the event, shall we?
Last Sunday I had brunch at a place I’d been intrigued by for awhile. Some friends were organizing a brunch, and they had mentioned Five Leaves as an option. As soon as I heard that, I secretly hoped that it would be the final choice. And it was!
There was a long wait, but with good company. I guess a hungry belly would be the only thing sensing any urgency. We were seated and greeted by the friendly staff. That’s one thing I took note of the whole time. Despite the busyness of the whole place, the staff wasn’t rushing anyone at all or giving off any bad vibes. It’s funny because I’m realizing now that I was initially intrigued solely by pictures, not by raving reviews. However, when I got there that’s when I realized I was in for a real treat when strangers were even telling me that “no joke, everything here is great!”
Everything here was so inviting.
My mom was in town last weekend, on a last minute trip to spend Mother’s Day with each other. It was more motivation to clean the apartment, and get all domestic making sure she’d have everything she wants. I made sure she brought her walking shoes! I was so excited to have her visit, and to share my life up here with her. Plus, she always leaves such positive energy behind. It must be all that love she has inside.
A baked sweet berry omelette topped with dried orange slices, strawberries, and Greek yogurt. I think I whipped the egg white too much though, since it didn’t come out quite as fluffy as the original recipe.
We walked to the market together, since I wanted to show her the wonderful fish selection at Citarella. Also, I’m not sure if it varies by location but the one in the Upper West Side has very knowledgable and friendly fishmongers. I made grilled chili-lime salmon, which is a little spicy, sweet, and citrusy. I also tried lime juice with balsamic vinegar and it was so delicious… I’ll have to make a dressing including those two ingredients.
I also found caperberries at the store, and added them to the accompanying salad.
It was so awesome to finally see it come to life!
Since I’ve been back in New York I almost feel like I’m in a new place, although familiar because now I know my way around. One of the ways I’ve been enjoying this city is by going out to eat and reuniting with friends. On this particular day I was meeting up with a friend I knew from college (it’s a funny story actually), and she recommended this place called Bread in Nolita. I was up for it!
Like pastas, salads, vegetable starters, soups, sharing plates, entrees, and desserts! They also have plenty of beverages to choose from–especially wines. It took us–no joke–more than 30 minutes for us to finally decide what we wanted. Most of that time we were talking away, catching up with each other. The waiter checked back on us frequently and had a good attitude about us taking forever. Eventually we decided that we needed to change our focus to the menu. What to choose, what to choose.
Thank you everyone for the congratulations! And yes, I am very much looking forward to the future, and sharing it with you. The graduation ceremony is this Friday–whoa I can’t believe it. As for the coconut busting… I think you guys should give it a shot. Maybe let your inner Towanda out (anyone seen “Fried Green Tomatoes”?).
As I was walking up the stairs to my friends place I noticed something magical.
My friend had invited me over for lunch since she had gone to the farmer's market--look at the bounty!
She also brought back bread.
The woman who makes this bread actually grinds the wheat right before she bakes it, so this loaf was incredibly fresh!
Deliciously fresh, from the farm, and from the home.
The beets were simply steamed and drizzled with balsamic, caraway seeds, and sea salt. We made a dressing out of the cilantro with olive oil, balsamic, minced garlic, sea salt, and pepper. Lastly, the salad incorporated all of the different veggies she had gotten. For the bread we dipped it in a mixture of olive oil and black pepper.
At the store this drink caught my eye.
I remembered seeing this on a few blogs, and thought it was interesting. This KeVita drink tasted a lot like kombucha, and I went back to try another flavor: mango coconut and lemon ginger. I haven’t tried the lemon ginger, but I really enjoyed the mango coconut. The original coconut flavor didn’t do much for me though.
The nice thing about my step-dad being here is that we've been going out to eat.
I’ve talked about it on here a couple times, but I have a hard time justifying things when it involves spending money. I have no problem with necessities, but things like going out to eat are hard for me to do. I definitely enjoy it, but I guess I feel like I need my parents “okay”, since I’m financially dependent on them. I know that they wouldn’t say no, but I guess that’s the overly-practical side of me. But enough of that because the thing in life is that not every moment needs to have a reason. There are times to simply be. Let things happen. As Pablo Neruda wrote in the poem “Keeping Quiet“, “life is what it is about.“
We went to another local dining spot called The Urban Farmhouse. I remember going there when it first opened back in February of last year, and it was nice to see that this place is frequented a lot. With inviting doors that are as tall as the cafe itself, and an open kitchen… you feel like you just want to sit back and relax. And then you pick up your plate of delicious food!
He got lox and cream cheese with fresh dill.
The salmon was so vibrant! Maybe because it’s caught the old-fashioned way with a hook and line.
Someone that works there highly recommended their strawberry and spinach salad to me.
“Fresh organic strawberries and organic baby spinach sprinkled with healthy, fresh roasted almonds and lightly tossed with our Honey Lemon Dressing“ I ordered some tofu to go with it, and a bread roll from The Flour Garden with some of the creamiest butter ever. They also have a big jar of the best animal crackers, so of course I got a handful!
Mmm roasted almonds make all the difference.
I've been inspired by the beautiful salads I've been having while dining out.
Here I made some yellow split-pea crisps to sprinkle on top of a very colorful salad. I just chopped up some red cabbage, summer squash, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and an avocado all over a bed of romaine. My dressing of choice for this salad? A dressing named for a goddess.
We also went to one of my favorite local restaurants, Ipanema. One of my friends was working there that evening so it was nice to see him, and he gave us his personal recommendations.
Housemade fettucine with roasted garlic, peashoots, arugula, pecorino romano, and pumpkin seeds.
This was delicious and worth waiting for the pasta to be done. Actually, I didn’t mind waiting at all. It was a beautiful day and we were munching on polenta fries with kalamata ketchup. I actually went on bought myself some pumpkin seeds after having this. I loved the idea of using them instead of pine nuts.
My step-dad ordered the chile-braised jackfruit huarache with pinto beans, salsa verde and crema mexicana with spanish rice.
He let me try some of his dish as well, and it was very tasty! My favorite part was the crema mexicana.
My friend got us a slice of apricot almond cheesecake to sample.
This is the place I go to with my friends when we want to have delicious desserts! A friend of mine loves their pies so much that for her birthday she ordered a whole one. I brought back a slice of their Mexican chocolate cake for my roommate to enjoy while she was busy writing paper after paper for finals. Luckily, she let me try some (I was hoping she would!) and it was very interesting. A little bit spicy, and kind of had the texture of a pudding.
The other night I pulled out the cast-iron skillet.
I had a butternut squash sitting in my kitchen for awhile, and I’ve had this recipe for these multi-grain butternut squash fritters bookmarked for awhile as well.
Beau said he finished his batch by eating them like a pancake with butter and maple syrup.
Yummy indeed.
What was the last tasty thing you ordered when you went out to eat? Or have you been craving something from one of your favorite restaurants?