Avocados and Travel
We have been traveling a lot lately. Four flights in 2 weeks. I love traveling, but often it’s the food and the snacks that create a dilemma, what to bring?! Personally, I find solace in the avocado as it is one of my favorite foods and highly portable. My sweet husband looked at me cross eyed the first time he saw me pull one out of my bag on an airplane. But the avocado is the perfect snack to toss in ...
Kale Salads and Not Blogging
As anyone involved with social media can attest, daily experiences aren’t just daily experiences anymore. They’re experiences to be tweeted, blogged or pinned immediately, which lends new meaning to the notion of living in the moment. I haven’t quite decided how I feel about all this as I participate in this world, and often find myself saying, “Shoot, I should have tweeted that,” or having my dining companion say to me, “Shouldn’t you be blogging about this?” And then feeling ...
Italian cooking lessons via Skype
If you’re lucky enough to have a Southern-Italian friend with a mother who can cook, I’d advise extracting as much culinary wisdom as you possibly can from your friend’s mother. My dear friend Gabriella, originally from Bari, Italy, happens to have that mother. Her mama speaks very little English, and though my Italian cooking lessons with her are sporadic, I’ve learned priceless things, mostly pertaining to seasonal vegetables. Gaby’s mother and I have never actually spoken. Gaby translates her mother’s ...
Brussels Sprouts, Miami and Boobs
We never know where inspiration will come from. And when the usual tactics don’t work, we have to find new ones. I’ve been called a “free spirit,” which I don’t like, as it brings up insecurities about being flaky, which I suppose we all can be at times. But in the best sense it means to follow ones heart. I like to think of myself as a curious meander-er. Miami doesn’t really lend itself to my normal curious-meandering habits. Translation: ...
Avocados And Toast
I seriously think that one hasn’t truly experienced an avocado unless it’s been eaten fresh off the tree in Byron Bay, Australia. Growing up in the Midwest, guacamole at “Mexican” restaurants was essentially the only avocado we ate. Occasional holidays in Mexico or Florida offered different tastes of the green fruit, but it wasn’t until I lived in Byron Bay that my taste buds got awakened to something completely different from anything I’d ever tasted before.
Living a Total Re-Set
Icy Lacuma-Cacao Smoothie. I often get asked what it is I do. It’s a good question in that I do a lot of things. I make people healthy and I do this in many ways. One of the ways that I do this is I create custom programs for my clients with menus and recipes. Sometimes I go on-site, spend some time with my client and cook the meals and literally make the program come to life. I love this ...
Missing Paris, Missing Carrot Cake
I have been in Miami one week now and I miss Paris. Miami is lovely but it is not Paris. I miss so many things about Paris it would be silly to start listing them but one thing I am craving is Rose Bakery. If I ever was to open a café, Rose Bakery would be my role model. I took my friend Pierre there once and his comment was “zis is so bobo” (bohemian-bourgeois). In fact, it is. But ...
Baked Artichoke Fries
Vegetable Tapenade
Potato Pancakes, Parades and Brunch
We don’t have Thanksgiving dinner in my family. We have Brunch. Sixty+ people gather at my mother’s house to watch the Parade and break the morning fast on a scrumptious spread that (for the most part) my brother prepares. One of his specialties, much in demand, is his potato pancakes topped with smoked salmon and a dollop of crème fraiche. Many years ago he had a restaurant, which featured a potato pancake sandwich!! The Ruben Sandwich was the most popular ...
