Tag Archives: salad

Productive

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Wait…what could this be…an update???? Surely thine eyes deceive!
Nope. I’m here, and [mostly] in one piece. What prompted a sudden revival of posting, you ask?…a weekend of blatant procrastination. I am none too proud of it, but the past 3 days have been painfully unproductive. And with 6 1/2 weeks still left in the semester, it’s not making me happy.
Today, however, for the first time in two months, I actually read blogs. I blew the dust off of my Google Reader and read. And I’ve decided, it was possibly one of the more productive things I’ve done yet during this absolute hell ,ahem, busy semester.
As I’m sure any current college senior can attest, that ubiquitous question “so what are you doing next year?” is the hot topic of the moment. And I will say it is quite a relief to a) know the answer and b) be able to ignore the GRE-mania that has taken over my friends and fellow tormented classmates. But, I can’t say I’m immune to my own self-questioning of is this what I really want. As I’ve been running around, making arrangements for gaining my 6 months of food prep experience required by the CIA, I can’t help but hear that very teeny voice in my head saying “oh, but this could be BAD. WHAT do you think you’re doing?” etc, etc – that same voice that held me back before Florence figuratively slapped me in the head.
One of the blogs I depended upon in Florence for restaurant recommendations had been left ignored, like all the others. I caught up on it today, and it all came hurtling back to me. Everything I learned – everything that Tuscany taught me – about food, and food as something inexplicably more, flooded my senses. Oh right – this is why I love it, why I want it. Duh.
I really do miss those yellow apples.
BUT, a number of other exciting things have happened in those few & far apart moments when I’m not metaphorically [usually] bound to my desk chair researching recipes from the 1940s. (My thesis and I….it’s a love/hate relationship. Not sure if I’m the love or hate…but that’s another post for another time.)
Fall Break was last weekend, and I spent it with my aunt & uncle in Georgia. Not only did I get to hang out with these adorable faces for 4 days:
Bosco, Banda, and
Buster!
…but I am also hoping (planning? let’s not jinx it just yet.) to spend the summer with them while getting the aforementioned food prep experience at a restaurant just down the street from their house. We went there – Three Blind Mice – for dinner and a little good-natured schmoozing with the owner/chef to check out that possibility.
My initial reaction to the restaurant itself was something to the tune of “too good to be true.” And I hadn’t even tasted the food yet. The decor is pretty perfect – you walk in and there is a wall of wines ordered by country of origin in front of you; a look to your left is a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf filled with culinary literature*.
*Side note: As a result of my thesis, I now have a venerable wealth of knowledge concerning what to call “food writing”: this includes, but is not necessarily limited to, ‘culinary literature,’ ‘culinary writing,’ ‘cookery books/literature,’ and ‘gastronomical literature/writing.’ Just in case you thought I was only trying to use fancy words…I wasn’t. That’s just a broad enough title.
But let’s get to the menu, right?

 

Now, I don’t know if you can see it, but if you look under appetizers, you will see a affettati board, which is Italian for literally ‘slices’, usually referring to meat. Look a little further down. Any die-hard Gillianasana fans remember finocchiona???  (Hint: here and here!) Only my favorite.sandwich.EVER. from my beloved sandwich shop/wine bar, Casa del Vino!! Y’all, I just about had a heart attack. I have not had the pure unadulterated joy of finocchiona since my last day.second-to-last sandwich in Florence.
…and then our waitress brought out the bread.
Ok, no olive oil & balsamic, but it is in middle-of-nowhere suburban Georgia. Let’s not push it, shall we?
I was seriously torn come decision-time, but I went with the Nicoise salad. I’m a huge fan of tuna in salad – but I hate ‘tuna salad’ (mayonnaise makes me gag. and shudder. and then gag again.). I actually make it all the time at home. That, and when my family and i were having lunch after touring Pompeii, my mom and I got this salad with tuna, corn, olives and arugula that blew our minds. Italy kinda does that.

 

Loved it. Especially because it was over arugula, my love for which knows no bounds.
My aunt ordered the Panzanella after I had another mini spaz attack over it (another fave of my mom’s & mine), but I actually didn’t love it. In another appeal to its audience, it included chicken and that was just kinda wrong to me. That and my pescatarian ways are slowly taking over. My uncle got the shrimp & grits (you see how awesome this restaurant is – it had rigatoni abruzzese just under shrimp & grits…genius.) and near licked his plate clean.
But, I will never forget the sage words (haha, get it? sage? like the spice…oh, never mind.) of my Italian cooking professor when he told us that the way to judge a restaurant is by its appetizer menu – CHECK – and its dessert menu.
We ordered 3.
My uncle ordered a chocolate-raspberry fontaine, a pastry of deep dark chocolate and raspberry filling enclosed in a flaky phyllo dough
I had a bite or two, but found myself a little distracted by the meringue-topped key lime pie…
…was amazing, mouth-watering, and basically exactly what I think of when key lime pie comes to mind, only maybe a step above. Even my aunt who hates key lime pie – and really desserts in general (I don’t know how I’m related to her either) – had a couple forkfuls. It was so light and perfectly tart, and didn’t have any of that icky gelatinous artificial mouth-feel that waaay too many key lime pies do. My fork was momentarily panicked when it could find nothing but a few graham crust crumbs left. Of course, then it found…

 

…the sticky toffee pudding.
Ok, now I am well aware of the reputation – or perhaps infamy – of British cuisine. That being, in layman’s terms, that it sucks. But I had heard of this dish before and being the dessert aficionado that I am, I was curious if nothing else to see what it was.
I did not expect it to be one of the fluffiest, most moist and caramel-y cakes ever steeped in a heavenly bath of liquid toffee. My aunt – you know, the one who “doesn’t like dessert” – and I dueled over the last toffee-soaked speck like two cats over catnip. I promptly texted my brother to inform him that his birthday present this year was going to be my recreation of this. It will be done.
The prospect of working here for a whole summer? Exciting is a sufficient but mundane word to describe how I feel about that!
And on the summer, I just might have a life again. A thesis-free life, at least!
I’m also writing a weekly blog for Converse (my college) – because, you know, I need something else. But it’s pretty fun :) And the next post (up tomorrow I believe!) is all about my favorite topic – Florence!
Ok, back to…Henry James, a paper on Emerson, or chemistry problems. Gosh, what thrilling prospects.
Here’s to being productive.
~Namaste~

On The Road Again

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I completely forgot to mention that as of Wednesday, mia mama and I hit the road. We are driving to Georgia, were most of my material life is residing all packed away in boxes at my grandparents’ house. On Sunday, we’re driving up to South Carolina to move me in! I’m SO excited to reunite with all my friends – haven’t seen them since December!
That said, it will be a bit more difficult to blog for the next few days. 
BUT, I went and missed yesterday’s Over-the-Humpday Challenge, and feel the need to make up for it…with a restaurant review!
Mom & I rolled into Charlotte after a very long day of driving. We were hungry, exhausted, and just wanted a nice, rejuvenating sit-down dinner. Charlotte did not let us down.
At the concierge’s recommendation, we walked down the corner from the hotel to LaVecchia’s, a seafood/steak restaurant.
[The pictures aren't super clear; in LuLu's defense, the lighting was not exactly food-blogger friendly.]
They had really funky decor – I love it when restaurants use the industrial look of the space to their advantage. I think it looks really modern & fun!
Lots & lots of metal fishies hanging from the ceiling. As true fish-lovers, we took this as a good sign.
Things only got better from there:
Bread baskets just make me happy. This arrived warm with a light but doughy interior and a perfectly crispy crust. Never mind the basket – bread alone is enough to make me grin like an idiot. I had 2.5 pieces, and I’m not ashamed to say it.
Mom ordered a salad as an appetizer:
Arugula with beets, blue cheese, and candied walnuts in a lemon-y dressing. It was delicious – she all but licked her plate! I helped her out a little ;) Although it would have been better with goat cheese…but I’m getting to that.
For dinner, I ordered exactly what I was craving: a big bowl of spinach.
Well, alright. Spinach with goat cheese, caramelized onions, tomatoes, pancetta & spicy grilled shrimp. The shrimp was actually a little too hot for me, but I’m a big fat baby when it comes to hot-spicy. I’m also a big fan of shrimp, so I still ate every single bite.
I was not expecting the pancetta – I don’t think the menu mentioned it – but much to my surprise, it was perfect on this salad! I’m not much of  bacon person at all and since basically giving up red meat, I haven’t really had it in years – and when I have, I always remember why I don’t like it. But on this salad….holy pork.  (I think it was pancetta because it both looked & tasted more like it than bacon, but I could be wrong.) It was diced into teeny tiny pieces and was absolutely drool-worthy when combined with the caramelized onions. It totally had that sweet-salty thing going on. I am a little in love with this salad, actually. Spinach + goat cheese is one of those to-live-for combos in my book. If you haven’t tried it, please do. You can thank me later ;)
Mom’s entree was beautiful, in more ways than one!
Almond-crusted tilapia with blue crab beurre blanc and mashed potatoes over roasted corn, baby asparagus and red peppers.
It was in a cute little edible tower with the veggies hidden on the bottom, the taters, the crab, and the fish on top.
Ok, I was one of those kids who ate everything on her plate separately and freaked.out if one section of my plate touched another. Woe to anyone within ear range if my baby carrots began mingling with the ketchup for my hot dog. Thus, I was a bit skeptical about this stacking situation currently going on on my mother’s plate. 
But damn if it didn’t meld perfectly! I would never have put mashed potatoes with tilapia, but they actually complemented each other quite well. It definitely helped that the fish was super fresh and delicious. The crab beurre blanc…well, put it this way: I only got one bite. The vegetables underneath also went well with the potatoes (which weren’t in and of themselves amazing per se, but they tasted like my mom’s mashed potatoes, and there is certainly something to be said for keeping it simple and comforting!). It was just a great dish overall.
I will add that my mom ordered 3 different white wines, all of which were rather disappointing. But it’s hard to tell if that was just due to bad luck on her part or something else. Either way, the food made up for it.
And of course, I can’t not have some form of dessert. It’s simply a must.
Yep. Definitely a must.
That is mango sorbet – and downright delicious at that. I think sorbet is actually the perfect summer dessert. It’s cold, light, and refreshing, and satisfies a sweet tooth without causing that pushing over the edge into too-stuffed-to-move land. Although it didn’t have a smooth and creamy texture like, say, a certain gelato place, I could definitely taste how fresh the mango was and I think that’s more important anyway. It was exactly what I wanted. Don’t you love it when that happens?!
A lovely meal in a lovely city.
Now that is delicious.
~Namaste~

Restaurant Review: Red Lentil

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When my aunt and uncle left to go home to Atlanta, they took my brother with them so he could have a vacation down there. My anti-fish/anti-”health food” brother. What’s the big deal, you ask? My parents and I can go out to fun, interesting restaurants the doorways of which my brother couldn’t be paid to darken. Naturally, the first on the my must-go-to list was a relatively new vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Watertown, near Cambridge, Mass: The Red Lentil.
My mom and I met my dad there, who arrived before us and much to our relief and delight (we were starving), had already ordered the eggplant caponata appetizer and was sipping on a ginger brew – like ginger ale, only with much fresher ginger and very refreshing. I’d never tasted anything quite like it; I stole several sips! 
[Word to future diners - no wine list!]
First of all, I really liked the feel of this place. It wasn’t too loud, despite the fact that every table in the small dining area was packed. The walls were a funky lime green that gave it a hip – not 1970s nightmare – aura. The clientele were, well, as expected in Cambridge – in every size, shape & color! For any non Mass readers, Cambridge is where Harvard is located. ‘Nuf said.
So, about that appetizer…
One of the best things about this place hands down is their presentation. Every single dish we saw was beautifully and artfully placed on the plate. You eat first with your nose & eyes before your mouth, and it was lovely that the chefs take this into consideration.
As for taste? Well, I really enjoyed this. The sundried tomato spread was tangy (although a tad pasty, like it had been spread on too soon) and the crusty slice of bread was wonderful. The eggplant was mixed with tomatoes, capers and olives and went perfectly with the sundried tomato spread. My parents felt it was good but still missing something; I agreed, it wasn’t the most amazing thing to pass my lips, but it was tasty and made my empty tummy happy.
After LOTS of deliberation (so much looked good!), my mom chose an appetizer & salad:


Beet-potato latkes

Arugula salad w. beets & golden beets, walnuts, and herbed goat cheese.
The latkes were very interesting, and enjoyable, but perhaps not to die for. It was also a lot of food! It was a little too big; by the time you get to the middle, we found our tastebuds a bit bored. The salad was great, very fresh, and a delicious combo of flavors. And the goat cheese was de-LISH!
My dad got the special:
Tamale filled with tropical fruits, black beans, and spiced soy chorizo
Again, a bit underwhelming. And again, we couldn’t put our finger on why! Tasty but nothing particularly *wow*.
I ordered the Macrobiotic Platter – a choice of tofu, tempeh, or seitan with pinto beans, fresh veggies (broc, squash, zucchini, sweet potato) and a brown rice-sea vegetable mixture.
I really enjoyed this. The tempeh was perfectly cooked and had that great grainy texture I adore so much, even if it was a tad on the salty side for my taste. The pinto beans were, well, pinto beans, but what I was really impressed with was the sea vegetables! They had the coolest flavor – I’ve had & love seaweed salad at sushi places, but never had this particular kind of sea veggie before. It tasted like, um, the sea? I know, specific; I suppose it was salty with a pleasant bitterness not completely unlike kale, but with a hint of vinegar in there. (Is that better? ;) It was nothing life-changing, but I did very much like my entree.
We were debating dessert…and then the table next to us ordered. And then my dad reminded me of the “always judge a restaurant by its dessert” rule set forth by my beloved Italian cooking professor. And it was done.

All the desserts at The Red Lentil are vegan, gluten-free, and made in house. Gotta love that! We obviously went with chocolate – if nothing else, for comparison’s sake!


This was…a disappointment. The cake was super dry – I think the chef needs to meet Dreena’s blog! The ganache was lovely, and as for those peanut-butter-looking bits in there, I have no idea what they were, perhaps pieces of cake that got tiedyed? It was good, but not great. Of course, they could just hire me as their pastry chef and all their problems would be solved. Sounds like a plan to me.


And, another mark against them – my mother went to the bathroom before we left and, well, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Dirty bathrooms in a restaurant? Come on, guys, that’s TOO easy to fix!

Overall though, it was a fun dinner. It was new and different, and I am so excited that vegetarian/vegan cuisine is gaining in popularity. I wish one would open up close to me! The biggest issue (food-wise) here is that the dishes themselves won’t make you say “whoa.” A lot of it would be very simple to make at home. I would, however, recommend it to everyone from strict vegan to the veg-curious. My parents & I truly enjoyed The Red Lentil, and I am more than happy to support veg-conscious places like this.
 Rock on, Red Lentil. Rock on.

~Namaste~

Restaurant Review: Bella Luna

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Instead of letting everyone in the house abandon me and leaving me to stalk the aisles of Whole Foods for dinner (not necessarily a bad thing, really), my mom invited me to her dinner date with a friend. And then put me on restaurant-search duty as the resident foodie of the fam. I was more than happy to oblige :)
I had read about Bella Luna, a funky restaurant/lounge in Jamaica Plain in a feature in the [Boston] Globe. It  was described as “satisfyingly groovy” and had a menu to match, so we figured, why not??
I couldn’t have described it better myself.  You walk in to a somewhat dimly lit space, most of the light shining out of big paper mache star lamps. The decor was funky, just shy of kitsch, and the service was great. Our waiter had an impressive knowledge of the wine list, too. Best of all, they have outdoor seating under bright red umbrellas. I love sitting outside. I think it totally ups the atmosphere and makes for an even lovelier evening meal.
If we weren’t charmed yet, each seat had a different plate with its own hand-drawn design:
Clearly designed by some aspiring artists. TOO cute!
And I loved the bottle the water was served in:
A restaurant I just went to recently did this too…maybe this a becoming a trend in the US restaurant scene?
To start, we 3 split an order of some seriously awesome fried calamari. For all you skeptics out these, I usually don’t like fried food because it tends to make me violently ill, but I couldn’t resist one golden, crispy bite – and it was SO good. Some of the best I’ve had.
We also split the Mediterranean Duet, warm pita bread with raw veggies and 2 dips: classic hummus and a spicy eggplant dip:
The hummus was only so-so, a little too creamy-chickpea-y for me. What can I say, I need my tahini and GAHLIC! But the eggplant dip was ca-razy good! Heavy on the ginger and with quite a kick of spice, and really tasty. The other two helped, but I pretty much dominated this plate.
For my entree, I just got a big salad – love me some arugula!
The shrimp was lovely and fresh, and the cheese was deliiisssh. Arugula and sharp cheeses like prmeggiano were basically made for each other. It also had pumpkin seeds, which I totally loved! Such a fun extra flavor addition. It was in a very simple lemon vinaigrette, which I felt needed a little work – it was a little too much like straight lemon juice. I think just a spice or two added to it could really make it incredible. But I was a very happy leaf-eater with this salad.

Mom got this beauty:
Arugula, goat cheese (!), cherry tomatoes, red onion and garlic oil.
Ok, I don’t know what kind of crack they put in their crusts, but this pizza was one of the best I’ve had. And I’ve had what I consider the best - fresh from the oven, in Italy, after making it myself. But this was up there. The crust was that perfect thickness and the arugula + garlic oil made it herby and delicious. I had a slice and then a couple more teeny tiny slivers when we brought it home. Whoa.
And Mom’s friend Barb (and just in case she reads this…HI!!!) got the wild mushroom ravioli:
I had half of a bite of my madre’s bite because it’s me and I avoid all things involving peas like they’re mosquitoes (and, actually, ravioli…but that’s another story), but the bite I had was some seriously phenomenal ravioli. The earthy mushrooms + creamy sweet cheese filling flavors were just spot on.

Dessert came in the form of lemon sorbet and tiramisu. Now, I will say that this is one restaurant where the “judge a restaurant by their desserts” rule does not work. We had great appetizers and wonderful entrees, but I was quite disappointed in the dessert. The sorbet, although refreshing and lemonade-like, had a very odd texture. It was almost like freezer burn-icy on the outside (which had a watery flavor) but then oddly chewy on the inside. Sorbet, to me, is supposed to be smooth and almost creamy, at least easy for a spoon to dig in. This was almost gummy, and there was nothing inventive about the flavor. The tiramisu was even more of a disappointment – I mean, I realize I’m horribly biased, but still. The sponge in the middle was watery and weak tasting, and the whipped cream on top tasted very artificial. And the chocolate syrup was no better than Hershey’s out of a bottle – not that that doesn’t have it’s place, but come on. That place is not tiramisu! I tried [multiple times] to take a picture, but the sun had long since set and LuLu wasn’t having it. Clearly they should just hire me to be the tiramisu chef! Haha, jk jk (sort of ;) .
Dessert aside, it was a lovely meal with great conversation and company, and that is what a meal is supposed to be.
~Namaste~

She’s Baaaccck…

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Didja miss me??!! 
So, instead of attempting to put the past 6 days into words, I will do it with pictures. They’re worth a thousand, right?
Stop #1: Ursinus College, Collegeville PA
P.F. Chang’s – loved how they served the wine flight!
The Collegeville Diner
Campus
Stop #2: Haverford College, Haverford PA
Love it.
Stop #3: Lancaster Art Hotel, Lancaster PA
The restaurant used all local, organic food! I was a happy foodie :)
Amouse bouche: Gazpacho
lettuce+cauliflower+zucchini+beans+snap peas+ fennel+goat cheese = YUM.
One of the best pizzas…ever.
Chocolate cake w. raw almond butter filling. I all but licked the plate.
!!!
Stop #4: Goucher College, Towson MD
[Pit stop in Pittsburgh!]
Baskin-Robbins kiddie cone soft-serve :)
This salad had some of the tastiest roasted tofu EVER. I want to know what they did to it!
Stop #6: Oberlin College, Oberlin OH
Solar energy panels power their entire environmental studies building – too cool, right?!
Dinner at the Black River Cafe:
Homemade raspberry-lavender sorbet. Amazing doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Our last stop was to Hyde Park, NY to check out the Culinary Institute of America for me. They didn’t allow pictures inside the school and I was so focused on the tour, I didn’t take pics of the campus – but it was gorgeous. To sum up, I was in love with it. And if it hadn’t been sealed earlier, when we passed by one of the baking classes that focuses on gluten-free/vegan-friendly baking, one of the students brought out biscotti they had just made for our tour to try. I am a little superstitious about talking about the possibility of my going there, just because, um, let’s just say I had a truly awful, scarring experience with the undergrad college application process and now I’m totally scared of jinxing this next upcoming process. Stupid maybe, but…I can’t help it.
We ate lunch in the school’s student-staffed cafe. Mom got a pesto-white bean soup:
It wasn’t, perhaps, amazing, but it was most definitely delicious and worth the price. I had a chopped veggie salad:
Now this reached amazing-status. Radish, beets, green beans, carrot, zucchini, fennel, potatoes in a champagne vinaigrette. So simple but so good. And I had a roll because I was not about to leave without trying the bread:
Oh, this is up there on my favorite-breads list. Yes, I have one – it also includes the rolls at Legal Seafoods, the bread from our local Italian specialty food store, and the Tuscan bread at Sergio’s. This was a perfect little piece of carb heaven. Crispy-crunchy on the outside, doughy and fluffy on the inside. If I learn how to recreate these, my life could be complete.
The drive home was brutal beyond belief – what should have been a 2 1/2 hour zip turned into a traffic-laden 5 1/2 hour nightmare. Despite a downright blissful yoga class this morning, I’m still exhausted. BUT, it was a very successful and pretty fun trip. My brother has a better idea of what he wants in a school, and I had some seriously delicious eats.
I think I’m going to sleep for a veeerrrrrry long time tomorrow. I can’t wait!
~Namaste~

What’s in a Name…or Post Title

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Welcome to…
My yard. 
A.k.a, the Gillianasana photography-practice site.
No Flash
—–>
 w/ Flash.
Couldn’t decide.
All my mother. I bake, she gardens. Hobbies are important.
Especially when they become your career! Yesterday I zipped down to Providence, Rhode Island to check out the Johnson & Wales culinary school campus. It hopped to the forefront of my list when I read about their Culinary Nutrition program and decided it was definitely worth a visit. It was indeed, and I got a lot of really good information and now have way too much thinking to do. I’m going on a college tour road trip with my brother (a senior-to-be in high school) and madre this coming week, and on the way back we are stopping in Hyde Park, New York to check out the holy land  CIA – Culinary Institute of America. It’s the big one, where you go to be in the food industry. It scares me. 
That said, tomorrow we leave for Philadelphia and will be on the road until Friday night! I am bringing my mini laptop and will hope and pray to find hotels with wireless access or computers – but just in case I can’t, I promise I WILL return! With pics. LOTS of pics. I’m looking at this trip as a good time to practice my [food]photography skillllllz. 
Speaking of which…breakfast anyone?
Melon is one of those foods I could (and often do) eat every day and never get sick of it. Especially this kind:
Tuscan melon!
It is a lot like canteloupe, only smaller and I find a little sweeter and stronger in taste.I had this in, where else, Florence, and fell in love. Look for those indented lines in the rind. It’s amazing.
Blueberry Acai Dannon Light & Fit
Yes, another new flavor I was powerless to try. I actually really liked this – I could actually taste the acai and it blended wonderfully with the sweet blueberry! It’s kind of a hard flavor to pinpoint, but I find it a little tart and a little sweet at once, a bit like pomegranate. The only issue, other than the ingredient list, is the awful fake-sugar aftertaste. WAY too sweet. I wish it had just been sweetened with real fruit! Oh well, I ‘ll just have to do it myself.
Nothing like a waffle on a Saturday morning (er…afternoon…)
AB-squared: apple butter + almond butter. A perfect combo.
Did some shopping at Old Navy. Ugh, shopping. I can never find exactly what I want. BUT, I did get a pretty cute dress 50% off because one of the straps was broken! Sewing won’t even be necessary. LOVE that!
I came ravenous. Nothing a smoothie can’t fix – especially when it involves this:
Amazing Grass’s Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion protein powder.
I used half the packet + 1 c. frozen mango + 1 c. almond milk + splash vanilla. I should have added a little extra cocoa powder, but didn’t.
Aglow with healthy goodness!
I didn’t love the Amazing Meal – it was a little too spirulina-y for me. But I didn’t hate it either, and liked it with the mango very much. Of course, I like pretty much anything with mango….Either way, as far as Amazing Grass goes, the Kidz Wildberry and Original Superfood powders are in the lead.
The liquid health theme continued with this:
I got it on sale at WFs last week. As usual with Kombucha, I have no idea what to make of this! What I love about it is the complexity of the flavor – it changes every second it’s on your tongue and definitely keeps me interested. This one went from berry-sweet to flowery and then very pine-y. I probably wouldn’t but it again, but it was a fun try. I wish the Honest brand would go on sale again!
Because my mother, brother and I hit the road tomorrow, we had to have Father’s Day a little early.
Dinner on the patio!
Including:
My grandmother’s salad: romaine, tomatoes, avocado, red onion in red wine vinegar+olive oil and S+P.
Grilled eggplant, marinated in balsamic + olive oil. Melt-in-your-mouth amazing. Probably one of my favorite things.
Roasted taters
Fresh pasta in a vegetarian sauce for me, lamb for the fam. [Don't worry, I had some tempeh for protein ealier!]
And my present to the man of the day:
Chianti, straight off the boat plane.
YUM!!
Tippy agreed.
For dessert, I whipped up some peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies (Dad’s fave)  using the Supercharge Me cookies recipe:
The first batch was gone before the second even left the oven. I think they liked them. 
Dessert also included this newbie:
Chobani Champions honeynana!
It’s not thick at all; it’s basically like regular yogurt, but I suppose that could very well be more appealing to kids which I assume are the target consumers here (although I know plenty of “grown-up kids” who would be attracted by the cartoony design). The flavor is great though! Unlike the chocolate, the cane sugar taste blends  in very well. It reminded me of a yogurt I ate all the time when I was little, but I can’t remember exactly which one – I think it was Yoplait Custard-Style Vanilla. SO good. Gotta love nostalgia foods :)
Time to go pack, pack, pack! 
~Namaste!~
P.S. Remember that surprise I mentioned? Check out the sidebar — I’m a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher!!! Dancing most definitely ensued when I got the email. I love Foodbuzz, and my absolute favorite blogs are all a part of its awesome community, so I’m super excited and proud to be too. Share the foodie love!

All My Single Ladies

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I think it’s about time I introduced some of the ladies in my life:
Daphne, the newest addition to the Gillianasana family. We even like the same music ;)
And a traveling chica of a different sort:
Isabella the Polka-Dotted Moka!
I bought her in Florence because we had one in our apartment and these seriously make some incredible coffee – and it’s TOO easy!! I almost squealed out loud when I saw Whole Foods actually sells them. I highly recommend if you only drink a cup or two a day, because they’re easy to clean (NO soap, just good rinsing), fast, and the taste is bravissima! Unfortunately, they only have the regular one here, no polka dots…all the more reason to pop over to Italia, no?
I’ve met a couple other singles…
Raspberry Goji Dannon Light & Fit
Unfortunately, I did not like this enough to put a ring on it. It was just kind of a vague berry flavor. Admittedly, I can’t think of what gojis alone taste like – haven’t had them enough – but all I could taste was a strawberry-raspberry-ish flavor. Oh well. Made for a decent enough snack.
The next one was slightly more likely to be a keeper:
Chobani Champions! I guess these are the greek-yogurt-for-kids attempt. I personally am a fan of the starburst design.
Normal Chobani consistency – not super thick, but enough to be called a respectable Greek yogurt. The flavor was, well, cocoa+vanilla+cane sugar, which is pretty appropriate considering that’s basically what it is. I liked it and it made for a fun little dessert, but to be honest, I could make this on my own by just mixing in cocoa and vanilla to plain yogurt and be just as happy, if not more (the cane sugar taste was a little much for me). But, the package also comes with a “honeynana” flavor which sounds quite promising, so stay tuned!

And finally…

This Odwalla Sweet&Salty Peanut bar may have been single, but I wasn’t really lovin’ it. It had a very peculiar flavor that reminded me exactly of spirulina? It was muted but strong enought o distract me with every bite from the sweet & salty peanut goodness. I was in my car when I gobbled it down, but it looked pretty much like a wider, flattened Kashi TLC chewy bar. This was odd. And when I wasn’t distracted by the mystery flavor, I noticed it was almost all sweet and very little salty. Oh well. 

Being single is all well and good…but couples can be pretty cute too.
What could be mingling with the Fage?
MANGO!!!! Oh, yum. These were perfectly ripe and juicy and wonderful. Despite my obsession with them, I don’t often buy them fresh because they tend to be pricier. But as I walked into Whole Foods, lo and behold – cart after cart of mangoes on display for 5/$5!! It was a good day.
That mango is a bit of a philanderer – he was also seen canoodling with oats last night:
[Almond milk, flaxmeal, and cocoa powder may or may not have also been involved.]
And he didn’t leave ’til this morning!
Scandalous!
Ridiculously long-stretched metaphor aside, this was a seriously delicious bowl of overnight oats. Mango + chocolate=love. Maybe star-crossed lovers?
The next mingler was:
Amazing Grass Green SuperFood in Lemon Lime – the “energy” drink powder.
Schmoozing with frozen banana and cherries, almond milk, spinach, vanilla and a dash of cocoa powder.
I actually kinda liked this. The combo wasn’t perfect (but actually I liked the cocoa powder), but it was pretty tasty. I definitely think it gave me energy, though – I drank this before leaving for a dinner party I was helping the caterer with (serving, plating, etc.) for some more food service experience. When I came home, I was still pretty wired and not as wiped as I expected for being on my feet for 4 straight hours! Quite impressive, Amazing Grass!
Speaking of that dinner party, please at some point this summer make these:
Grilled peaches. Cut in half, place on grill. Easy, pretty, delicious. Emphasis on the latter.
On with our couples!
Justin’s Honey Peanut Butter.
First spotted with sprouted-grain toast and cinnamon…
Then getting friendly with a cracker…
 The verdict? I liked this much more than the honey almond butter – I could taste the honey a little better. Overall, it’s a really decent peanut butter. Nice mouthfeel, and a very classic taste – you think peanut butter, this is that flavor. But, it wasn’t good enough to knock over my dear Naturally More, so I probably won’t be purchasing the jars. Those packets sure can be handy, though! And I’ve heard about Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut butter…NUTELLA with natural ingredients??? YESPLEASE.
I have also discovered that tempeh makes a wonderful sandwich.
Just a leftover block of tempeh with spinach, mustard and S+P on sprouted grain bread. This is my favorite kind of thing to eat because it does leave me full, but not heavy. It lasts me a long time but I never have that super-full-feeling in my stomach. Love that :)
Single Taken Smoked Salmon salad:
Spinach + arugula + smoked salmon + tabbouleh + capers + mustard + balsamic. The only thing it was missing was goat cheese…other than that, yum. Sure made this single girl’s tastebuds happy!
~Namaste~

Restaurant Review: Sagra

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Thank goodness I have a family who can eat Italian food any day of the week.
Tonight, we decided to try out a brand new restaurant tht’s just opened up in my town (Dedham, Mass): Sagra.
[For anyone who lives farther away in Mass, there is another one in Somerville!]
Now, not gonna lie, part of the reason we went was so I could look into job opportunities – I want so badly to work in an Italian restaurant! If nothing else, to talk to patrons and use all my food-talk to explain the wonderful dishes. And wonderful they are!
No good Italian restaurant lets a table be without bread.
This was goooood. Garlic bread, light on the garlic. I actually liked that – it makes it more versatile, so anyone opposed to having garlic-breath (or just someone on a date) won’t have to worry. It was very much like focaccia, although the texture seemed a little denser to me than usual. Maybe it’s just their way of preparing though. The beauty of bread is that the same 4 ingredients can make SO many different things!
Oh, and also, that it goes with cheese.
This is not just any cheese. This is ricotta spiked with parsley and orange zest in a ring of olive oil. The olive oil was very light in flavor, which I didn’t totally dig, but this ricotta was pretty incredible. The orange and parlsey combo gave it such a wonderful, fresh flavor! It meshed really well with the creaminess of the cheese. Forget cream cheese – I will have this on a bagel, please!
To start, we ordered my absolute favorite – bruschetta tradizionale. I have been craving it lately – honestly, I’m surprised I haven’t made it sooner myself! Bread + olive oil + fresh veggies. Hard to go wrong.
And Sagra’s was no exception. I loved the grilled bread, and the added arugula underneath (I always eat the garnish!). Could have used a little basil, but that’s my only issue. I love the funky-shaped plate it came on, too! At this point, I was starting to worry that I wouldn’t have any room for my dinner…
But I can generally make room. Especially when goat cheese is involved.
I was feeling some greens, so I ordered the Spinaci Caprino salad – spinach, radicchio, goat cheese, Turkish apricots in a raspberry vinaigrette. I added grilled shrimp to it, because…well, it’s shrimp. That’s just a given.
This made so happy. Unlike SO many restaurants, the amount of dressing was perfect – enough to taste it and, well, dress the salad, but not so much that it was overwhelming [or caused soggy spinach....serious pet peeve of mine.]. The goat cheese was good goat cheese, and the sweetness of the apricots and raspberry complemented the bitter radicchio very well. It was massive, but I ate most of it :)

My mom ordered a verdi misti (mixed greens salad) to start [she needs her greens too]:
A truly excellent simple salad. The dressing was just a balsamic + oil, also very well proportioned. And the best part was the addition of fennel! LOVED it. Really added a nice crunch and fresh flavor (yup, I stole several bites ;) .
Her entree was too pretty not to show off:
The special risotto: Golden Beet risotto
The risotto was very well done, with a very strong parmesan flavor – very much like mac & cheese with rice instead of pasta. You couldn’t really taste the regular beets – but you sure can see them! That yellow thing would be a bog ole roasted golden beet – and it was de-LISH. We’ve already decided to look for it at the Farmer’s Market (which opens next week – I’m.SO.excited.). It was a little sweet, with a nice smokey flavor from the roasting, and went so well with the strong cheese flavor and rich creaminess. On top are “hen of the woods” mushrooms – I’d never heard of that type of mushroom before, but they sure were tasty! I just love that deep, earthy tasty of mushrooms. Again, a perfect addition to this dish. A little fresh parsley and black pepper, and my mom was quite content. As was I to steal a bite or three.
My brother got a rigatoni pasta dish with broccoli rabe (which I always forget how much I like, but I do!), red peppers, and sausage. He was unimpressed, but I loved it – took my right back to Florence. AND, our waitress studied abroad in Rome when she was an undergrad and, well, I get really excited when I meet someone who’s had a similarly amazing experience in Italy. We bonded over mutual loves of Nutella.
Speaking of Nutella….
Nutella Bread Pudding. Boom.
I’ll be honest, it wasn’t as hazelnutty as just straight chocolatey, but that did not stop me from helping my brother polish the plate clean. This was lick-the-plate good (I refrained…but it wasn’t easy.). Although I have one teeny tiny criticism – that white scoop was supposedly “hazelnut semifreddo,” but it was really gelato/ice cream. Semifreddo is much more mousse-like, light and airy. It was definitely hazelnit though – it had big chunks of what tasted like caramelized hazelnuts in it and was heaven on a spoon. As was most of this. Cakey, chocolate, melty, moist…if you go and just get this, that would be acceptable. My cooking professor always told us that you judge a restaurant by its desserts – and in this case, Sagra gets a big fat 4 stars.
Why have I never made bread pudding before? Hell if I know, but I think it’s high time that changed. Mission: Bread Pudding is ON.
~Namaste~

Mango-Pesto-Choco-WHOA!

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You know you’re a blog-addict when: you don’t update for one day and it feels like forever!

Ok, so that exciting something I mentioned last post?
Drum roll please….
I HAVE A CAR! With four wheels and an engine and everything. SO EXCITING!!!! Pictures to come, of course (it rained cats and dogs pumas and St. Bernards today). Still thinking of names – need to drive her around a little more. YAY!
Saturday was blissfully uneventful, starting with this:
Fage yogurt + applesauce + some random apple cinnamon granola I found, with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Ok, actually, this wasn’t too good. The applesauce totally killed the wonderful thickness of the greek yogurt and only left the tang, and…well, one of my less enjoyable creations. Live and learn! And it was rather pretty :)
 Unfortunately, my brother’s Saturday didn’t begin quite as happily. The lucky devil had to be awake and alive at 7:30 AM for his SAT. EW with a capital E. He was very much in need of sustenance when he returned from the ultimate brain drain, so we went off to…
First of all, love the slogan. So true.
When I was in high school, my biffle (BFFL, in word-form) and I discovered this place when we took the T into Boston to go shopping for sweet prom dresses and were hooked. They have some A-MAzing fries, and for a looong time they were the only place I knew in Mass. that had sweet potato fries!!! One of my faves :)  They also have great burgers (you can get beef, turkey, homemade veggie, or chicken breast!) and yummmmy smoothies. I wasn’t too hungry, but I did steal several fries of both varieties and sip a yummy mango smoothie.
I have to tell you about my improvised dinner!
I just mixed some tuna with dijon mustard and tabbouleh, threw it on some greens/slaw, and drizzled with some olive oil and herbs – SO good! Tuna and tabbouleh make a truly wonderful combo – I highly suggest trying this ASAP. (Works with salmon, too!)
Today was pretty fun, minus the random thunderstorms that lasted for 2 minutes at a time. I like thunderstorms – just not the kind where rain pours down onto your new car whose windows you may or may not have forgotten to roll up. Keeps a girl on her toes!
My dad makes either pancakes or waffles every Sunday morning (my brother’s request), but I usually sleep too late to partake. This AM, I was feeling a pancake, so I whipped one up myself. We usually have Bisquick, but today he had used Fiber One’s pancake mix. Just add water and go:
I halved the amount for 3 pancakes to make just one big one and try out the F1 mix – and I’m glad I did. It was, well, not good. It was really dry and unpleasantly crumbly, and even cinnamon and maple syrup couldn’t fix it. Sad. I need to make Jenna’s or Kath’s p-cakes, pronto. Real food is always better anyway :)
Breakfast also included a bunch of melon (I could seriously eat a whole melon a day in this humidity) and this guy, in honor of the end of yogurt week:
Meh. If I liked cherries more, I would have liked it more. The flavors are dead on though – the cherry and vanilla and very present and well-balanced. And – no fruit-on-the-bottom! Although the few I have had recently, like other Stonyfield and Chobani flavors, don’t bother me as much as I remember. Probably because it’s fake-ingredient-free – it just tastes like jam that I often just add myself!
Took my new baby for a test-drive to the gym for some ellipticalling – btw, Glee + NSYNC make some of the best gym music ever. In fact, I’m waiting for Glee to do a 90s episode – boy bands, Britney, Spice Girls, oh my! Tell me that would not be epic.
Unfortunately, I did not eat enough before the workout; I was definitely lacking in energy today. I usually go later in the afternoon, and I think it makes a biiiig difference. I don’t like eating too close to the workout, but it’s really hard to get the timing right sometimes. We made a pit stop and Whole Foods and my madre and I got lunch, including this:
What is that odd yellow thing in my sushi? MANGO!!!! This was mango+salmon+cucumber+cilantro. Ohmygod, genius in a box. The flavors were just perfect together – and some of my favorites! Sweet citrusy mango, fresh cool cilantro and cuke, and the tasty sweet salmon = to.die.for. Would be pretty easy to make on your own, too!
My parents hired me as personal chef tonight (no complaints here, I’ve been itching to cook!), and I made one of my favorite pastas from my cooking class: trofie al pesto e pescatrice!
-400 g fresh pasta (trofie is that particular twisted shape, holds the flavors better in this dish)
-300 g cherry/grape tomatoes, de-seeded & cubed
-500 g monkfish – I used swordfish both times I’ve made this and it is de-LISH.
-1 spring onion (or leek)
For the pesto:
-20 g fresh basil
-20 g ricotta cheese
-10 g pine nuts
-1 garlic clove
-1 Tbs parmesan
-4 Tbs cold water
Start your water aboilin’ for the pasta. It takes a while.
I made the pesto first – you can use either a blender or food processor. Throw it all in with a little salt and blend ’til it’s a sauce. (Add more water if it’s too thick – although in my experience, 4 T is plenty!)
Deseed & cube your tomatoes now. If you want, you can add the seeds to the pesto to make it even creamier and get all that healthy lycopene :)
It’s probably a good idea to cook your swordfish before the rest begins. It’s not important how you cook it – pan, grill, broil. When it’s done, cute it into cubes and keep it near your stove.
Chop up the onion. I used a leek, and if you do – only chop up the bottom white part! The green outer layers you can puree and make vegetable stock/soup with.
Saute the onion (or leek, or whatever you’re using!) in some oil, then add the swordfish. The recipe says to cook for 3 minutes, but I didn’t wait that long (didn’t want the fish to overcook). Go with your gut – that’s what cooking is all about anyway!
Is your pasta water boiling yet? Good – throw in that trofie!
Now add your tomatoes with a little S&P to the onion-fish saute pan.
After a couple minutes, check your pasta. If you used fresh, it’s probably very close to done. Throw it in the pan and “quickly saute” – just toss it around and show it a good time ;)
Add the pesto sauce, mix, and plate into a perty bowl. Serve and watch as everyone bows to your sick-nasty-ill Italian culinary skills!
My mom made a nice green salad to go with it – can’t get enough green!!
I also made dessert – feeling ambitious today! I have been wanting to try Dreena’s Triple Layer Chocolate Cream Cake for a while – tofu frosting? This sounds too interesting to not try!
Because it was my first time and I wasn’t sure how much it would make, I decided to halve the recipe. I made two layers instead of three, also – rather thin layers at that. I also added some chocolate chips to the cake batter (had a tablespoon or two left in the old bag). Well, it wasn’t a total success aesthetically-speaking…
Oy. But, my mom helped me patch it back together:
Nothing a little strategically-placed frosting can’t fix!
Can we just talk about how amazing this cake is? Oh yes. And the frosting – WHOA! I love tofu, but I love it even more now that I know it can turn into deep, fudgy ganache goodness. When I was making the frosting (for which I used vegan chocolate chips and damn those are good!!), I kept tasting it and here is what I added:
-a good couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder
-a hefty tsp of instant espresso (coffee will make chocolate flavor much more intense – I do it in my oats all the time!)
-cinnamon —but this I regretted. Didn’t like it as much as I expected.
-fresh mint leaves – YUM!
It was a hit. Even my brother enjoyed it – and he would run the other direction of anything with vegan or tofu in the title. If you never make another cake again in your life, make this!!!
I’m not gonna lie – I had quite the breakdown today. I felt gross, my cake was falling apart, and that evil ED voice in my head was screaming about how fat I was. And I just snapped. All I want is for it to not matter so damn much. I know I’m healthy, and I’m just so tired of fighting against that stupid voice in my head. It’s so stupid that it can put me in such an awful mood so fast. I think this is another big part of why I am so focused on learning to east intuitively: I feel like if I can do that, I’ll be more connected with my body inside and out. I just don’t understand why I tolerate the negative self-talk – it REALLY pisses me off. Somedays it just feels like such an uphill battle. 
That said, I think this week will be Project: Positive Self-Talk. And I would love others to join me! At some point during the day, look in the mirror and be grateful for your awesome self – whoever you are right now. We all have flaws – they’re a pretty important part of being human! But, I know I’m pretty disrespectful of my flaws, and that’s just silly. They’re just as much a part of who we are as our talents, and they deserve a little more respect. Yes, sometimes they trip us up and get in the way. I’m such an obnoxious perfectionist, I’ve had many a sleepless night spent worrying about a test the next day or that paper due next week. But, it’s part of what makes me me, and I’ve accepted it. So, I look into the face of negativity and say: try me. It’s on.
Thanks for letting me rant, y’all. It helps to just get it out, ya know? I’m very interested to see how this project ends up…I’ll letcha know;)
In other news, I’m thinking of taking my blog in a new direction – still food and lots of it of course, but maybe a little more travel-centric? Well, I have lots of brainstorming to do.
~Namaste~

Happy Holiday Eats

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Whoo! I just wrote my [massive] About Me page. Check it out…if you have, like, an hour. Ok, slight exaggeration, but seriously…us English majors can ramble!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!
Remember these? I couldn’t quite decide what I thought of them. 
Well, I was feeling some carbs last night, and took advantage of my mood to try one of these babies – naked!
I LOVE the whole flaxseeds – they add great texture! This waffle crisped up pretty nice, but was still good ‘n gooey in the middle. Yum. I do kinda wish the flaxseed were ground up – the body doesn’t digest it in whole seed form…but it does make for a fun texture! Just sayin’. Still, yummy nutty flavor. I can’t wait to try the Red Berry flavor. Mmmm!
Holiday-eve eats also included:
Luna Blueberry Bliss
Another ex-Luna Sunrise flavor to show up in the regular line. Tastes pretty much identical – blueberry-y with vanilla frosting on the bottom and oats sprinkled liberally on top (my favorite part – surprise, surprise ;)
I do caution people with light sweet-tooths–this could very easily be too sweet for a lot of people. Luckily for me, I have a sweet-tooth the size of the Duomo, so that’s often not a detractor for me.
I miss you, Duomo-dear!
Speaking of bars of the Clif variety, I tried another new one today when I waited too long to eat and was in danger of having a hypoglycemic attack:
I haven’t been thrilled with the Clif bars I’ve tried – the texture is a little odd and they are usually waaay to sweet for me (see above to see why that is a problem!). But, mint+chocolate is one of my favoritest combos EVER, so I figured this was a safe bet. And it was. Very similar in taste to the Luna Choc. Peppermint Stick, which is my favorite Luna flav, just with the slightly chewy texture of Clif. I enjoyed. My hypoglycemia is a big reason why I’m such a fan of bars – they provide an instant blood sugar boost when you’re desperate! Love ‘em.
The ‘rents took advantage of the gorgeous weather New England is treating us to and went off sailing on Sunday, so my brother and I went to dinner. At Whole Foods. Yes, I love it that much. Their salad bar = my Cloud 9.
I should get better about this – as in, wandering around both sides, looking at all the offerings, and combine different ones to make a fabulous, cohesive salad. But alas, that is a battle I have yet to win – I always walk out with a little of everything! Kind of my favorite way to. Lots of different, fun flavors. This was heavy - in weight and in fiber! Sat in my tummy like a rock.
I also picked up this guy (gal?):
Hint is totally unsweetened water that is flavored with the essence of various flavahs. I’ve had the honeydew hibiscus before and loved every sip. I just love that it’s not sweetened, yet still so flavorful! Super refreshing.
Despite all that fiber, my aforementioned massive sweet tooth was still acallin’…and whaddyaknow, but there is a JP Licks right in the same shopping center! It’s a Mass. ice cream chain that the most amazing soft serve ice cream ever, in the craziest flavors. And it’s fat free. Hard to argue.
I went for the Chocolate Chip Cookie flavor:
It was literally a cookie in softserve form. I could taste the buttery brown sugar of the dough. Perfect way to end the meal. I drove home very happy, belting out Glee between licks.
Today was pretty low-key. We had a lovely Memorial Day dinner with out neighbors – and MAN was it yummy!
We started out with a lovely appetizer spread of cheese & crackers and chips & salsa/guac. In fact, last summer (after I had gone back to school, sadly), they held a “guac-off” – one neighbor’s homemade guacamole against our other’s. Yes, I love on a 3-house “street” that is really a hill. Most people drive by and think it’s a driveway for the house in front ours. Nope! It was actually a really fun place to grow up. Like an extended family!
ANYway, dinner was goo-oo-ood.
Quinoa salad a la me:
As with many of my grain salads, I just kind of threw stuff together. But this one came out quite well!
-Cook one cup of quinoa (just follow the directions on the container – I used Bob’s Red Mill.). When it’s done, put it in your salad bowl.
-Rinse one can of black beans and throw in your salad bowl.
-Boil a couple ears of corn (or grill, if they’re still in the husk!). Cut it off the cob and throw it in the bowl.
-Add chopped grape tomatoes, grilled baby bell peppers, fresh cilantro.
-Saute a clove or two of garlic in a little olive oil and add it to the mix.
-For the dressing, I mixed lime juice, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. I seasoned it with garlic salt, a little pepper, chili pepper, ginger, curry, and cumin. 
Feel free to add whatever veggies to this you want, and experiment with spices. 
It will be better the next day, after all the flavors have melded together more. I also prefer these things chilled, so try to make it early and keep it in the fridge for a while before serving (this doesn’t always happen…no biggie!)
It was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself! I looove grain salads (hence the WF’s salad bar obsession). I love that you can do so many different things – they never have to be the same twice!
Our neighbor made these shrimp pizzettas:
The green one has cheese and fresh pesto (!!!), and the other is a “shrimp scampi” pizza, a little creamy with diced tomatoes and cheese. Yum yum yum!
My dad made some delicious, juicy BBQ chicken, but it paled in comparison to the main attraction:
LOBSTAH!
Yup, I’m a hardcore Boston chick – love me some of this shellfish. So good. I don’t even need the drawn butter…just a hefty tail, and maybe a little claw meat. One of the main reasons I could never go totally vegetarian. Just.so.delicious.
This beautiful meal was eaten under the [manmade] stars (aka, their table umbrella):
with a little canine accompaniment:
She likes lobster too. And chicken, and pizza, and appetizers, and…well, pretty much anything we eat. She finds it very upsetting when she is not included in the enjoying of the food. And she makes this known. But how can you resist that face????
[Answer: You can't. She very happily accepted chicken bites from the table, and a couple crackers. Spoiled rotten.]
Ok, I have a confession: this week happened to be a certain time of the month in which I eat everything that passes my nose with very little thought as to whether I really want/need it. It’s quite frustrating after a while, but after I accept that my hormones must sometimes be catered to and up the exercise a bit, I feel better. So, this week is Project: Conscious Eating. I know how eat intuitively, despite it being much harder than it seems it should be, but I’m going to try harder. It just feels so much better when you east when you’re hungry and stop when you’re not. I feel like I was getting really good at it in Italy, but it got harder, as it always does, when I came home to a full-size refrigerator and an endless supply of cereal and snackage. It’s a new month, a new day, and it’s never too late to start. So, I’m starting. Wanna join me? GO TEAM!
Happy June!
~Namaste~