Juan Valdez Coffee

I am waiting for my flight home and as I was walking down the concourse I saw the first Juan Valdez coffee shop. Quiet an exciting moment in the life of this coffee afficionado. I couldn't help myself, so I stopped by and picked up a cup of non-fat latte. This was my first ever cup of Juan Valdez from their coffee shop and it was awesome. It wasn't as strong as what I make at home, but it certainly satisfied the java craving. Life without Starbucks is proving to be possible...who would have thought!!!

Fancy Food Show

I have been talking about this weekend for so long, and it is finally here - the Fancy Food Show in NYC. For the last four years, I have been coming to NYC and walking the floor of Javits Center, tasting and experiencing all that is new, fancy and delicious in gourmet foods.

In just couple of hours I will be one of 25,000 seeing over 2,300 exhibitors and 250,000 products including confections, cheese, coffee, snacks, spices, ethnic, natural, organic and more will be displayed at the Summer Fancy Food Show NYC. This show has changed it all for me, this is where love of food has developed and where I have started my journey of going from faux foodie to real foodie.

With my camera and exhibitor list in hand I am ready. I will be mobile blogging all day from the trade show floor so my blog is going to look all wacky, but no worries, when I get back to my hotel room tonight I will line it all up properly and it will all make sense. So stay tuned, as there will be some amazing foods discovered at the show today.

Amazing black potato filled with crab salad

I found my cheese heaven - Cheese Works

Breakfast of the champions - truly delightful

By far the best discovery at the show - new amazing pepper - peppadew

Most fulfilling lunch ever

Back on the trails

Last week I signed up for the ING Miami 1/2 Marathon and made a promise to myself to begin running...and I was up and awake by 6:30am and on the trails by 7am. The goal this year is to beat my time. I have consistently been running 11min/miles and I really want to improve to 10min/mile. So to do that, I joined the Gold Coast Runners Club and the SOBE NIKE Running Group and I am on my way. I also promised that I will train smart this time. I have full 7 months to accomplish this goal, which means: eating properly, running 3 times a week and 2x strength training.

To just remember that all of this started because of my BEFORE I TURN 30 list and look at me now, it's addicting...

So this morning, I went for 3.2 miles in the hot, humid, steamy Florida weather and by the time I returned I was soaking wet. Even though I complain a LOT about humidity, it felt amazingly invigorating to come home and finish a great run.

For breakfast I had a delicious bowl of maple oatmeal with flax seeds, left over fruit salad and a spoon of natural peanut butter. I promise, oatmeal was under the fruit salad. I love Saturday mornings as I cam make delicious and fulfilling breakfast and enjoy every bite of it.I am off now to run few errands and than finally relax by the pool...there are good sides to living in Florida :)

The love affair ends, we are breaking up

Well, the day has come, I am ending my love affair with Starbucks, we are officially breaking up on June 19th. As you may remember some time ago, actually not that long ago, "my" Starbucks announced closing of the store on Pines Blvd and Hiatus. A whole community got behind the store and did everything in our power to prevent the closing, but unfortunately, "the store is closing" sign is up and the door of my "home" are closing in a week. I have fought strong and hard, but have lost this battle...

I know it's only one Starbucks cafe that is closing, and that there are 3 others close by available, but none of them are on my way to work, I don't like drive-through and I don't want to go inside of Target to get a cup of coffee...and really, it's the people that made this Starbucks so special. So what do I do now????

Well, there are other options out there - McCafe, Dunkin Donuts, The Coffee Bean and home made JUAN VALDEZ.Yes, I have made a very difficult decision to start making my own morning espresso and the choice of coffee is JV. Recently, Chef brought me some from Colombia and my favorite so far has been "Volcan". It has a very intense taste, yet smooth, full body but low acidity. Once brewed, the aroma is very pronounced and it provides instant wake-up:) Just what I need in the morning.

So even though "my" Starbucks is open until next Friday, I tested one day this week and made my own coffee and was a very happy camper: got to work a little bit early, enjoyed cup of coffee during my one hour commute and saved some $$$. So perhaps this closing is not the worst thing that has ever happened to me, but still...I am heart-broken, disappointed and sad. So I have one week left to enjoy my time at "my" Starbucks and all my Starbucks friends at the same location before they all go to their separate stores...I wish them all best of luck and hope to see them around...I heard Juan Valdez is scheduled to open 5 stores this year in Miami, any in Pembroke Pines???

Baking Success - Blueberry Crumb Bars

Since I have been stuck in the house this weekend for various reasons I decided to "visit" my kitchen and put a recipe to the test. I finally caught up on all the Food & Wine magazines and found an amazing recipe for blueberry crunch bars. The recipe was in the 2008 December issue under holiday sweets, but with all the fresh blueberries in my refrigerator it seemed like perfect time to bake.

I laid out all the ingredients on the counter and kept looking at them wondering if I should do it or not, and I finally decided it was time to tackle this project.
Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chilled unsalted butter (I used 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Filling:
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup blueberry preserves
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

The oat mixture make a delicious crust for the bottom and a tasty crumble on top. Lemon is probably my most favorite as it perks up the blueberry filling. One of the reasons why I don't like cooking is because I am very impatient and the baking wasn't too bad, just about 40 minutes. Once the bars cooled off, I made some espresso and enjoyed every bite of it. The bars are absolutely delicious - chewy but crunchy on top, sweet but the lemon and fresh blueberries give it a little bit of a bitter hint, a perfect balance of flavors.

Perhaps I have found my calling in the kitchen!!!

Planning the Menu

One of the key components to healthy eating and a healthy budget is meal planning. Since I don't cook, my way of participating is to plan all the menus. I usually run them by the chef on Sunday mornings to make sure he will be in the mood to cook them late every night as we don't get to eat dinner on most nights before 8:30pm. Our schedules are crazy so at the end of the week we usually end up making only 3 or 4 out of 5 meals. With the collection of cook books and food magazines, I have access to great recipes, but somehow we end up with 3 staple meals and 1 new recipe. So for this week, we have following planned:

SUNDAY: Turkey breast, cranberry sauce, blue cheese, walnuts on chiabata bread sandwiches
MONDAY: Veggie Burger with grilled green/yellow/orange peppers
TUESDAY: it's a class night, mozzarella/tomatoes and basil
WEDNESDAY: Garlic marinated chicken, asparagus and red roasted potatoes(NEW)
THURSDAY: Dinner with my friend Ina (Chef will probably make something with eggs and chicken)
FRIDAY: Spinach gnocchi, chicken and tomato sauce

Have a wonderful and healthy week!

Slave of My Own Hair

About 5 years ago I was introduced to Japanese straightening and ever since than I can't live without it. About every 5-6 months I spend a whole day at the salon and get my hair processed and the final hair is amazingly shinny, sleek and straight. So today is that day...I am spending a whole day (9am-7pm) at the Salon Oggi with the hair master @tommyfl who truly does wonders to my hair. Since I know that I will be here all day, I bring my coffee, breakfast, lunch and snack with me. @tommyfl is very good at keeping me well fed, but since I am trying to make better food choices, I brought my breakfast (yogurt) and snack, but didn't have energy to make lunch so I will be ordering something delicious later.

Every time I come here I feel like I am moving in for a day, as I bring all of my magazines, movies and books. So today I will be reading "Bon Apetit, Clean Eating, Martha Stewart Living, Body & Soul, Marie Claire and Vogue". It's only 11am and I am finished with Bon Apetit and found some amazing recipes for the chef to test this summer. More about the recipes a little later.

So the process...well, it's long and exhausting but it's nothing compared to what comes after it's all done today. The most important part - I can NOT sweat or get my hair wet or keep it in the pony tail or behind my ears for 3 days. I have a special silk pillow case so my hair doesn't creases, and I sleep with 60F in the house and a fan on just so I wouldn't sweat or by any chance ruin my hair. So pretty much until Tuesday, I will be a slave of my own hair. And the reason I make myself go through this process is that for 5 months I have perfectly silky, shinny, straight hair that needs no work - I shower and brush my hair and it looks perfect.

Update I: The first step in the process is washing the hair and protecting the scalp (9am-10am)

Update II:The next step is applying the chemical solution and processing for about an hour (for me a little longer as I have A LOT of hair) (10:30am -12noon).

Update III: The hair has been processing for 2 hours and it passed a knot test (this is where Tommy make a knot and unknots it and hair is straight) and now I am eating lunch. I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture of my delicious chicken sandwich on multi grain bread. Now we will begin the longest part - flat ironing and it will probably go till 5 or 6pm.

Update IV: @tommyfl just finished flat ironing one side and moving onto the other. In about a hour and a half he should be finished with flat ironing and than the most crushing moment will happen - he will apply neutralizer on the perfectly straight hair and start all over again, but this time it will go by much faster. Needless to say I am still sitting in a chair, reading my magazines and catching-up on gossip and food blogs and seriously considering Bobby's challenge of push-ups and sit-ups.

Update V: So the hair is now completely flat ironed and the longest process is done.

Update VI:The heartbreaking part to all of this is applying neutralizer to perfectly ironed hair....It's on for 12 minutes and than shampoo and conditioning and the last segment - blow dry and touch up with a flat iron.

Update VII: And the final product - it's over. After exactly 10 hours I am finally on my way home with a perfect hair. Well, it will be perfect in two weeks once I get a hair cut and can color my roots. @tommyfl did an amazing job as always and he made this long excruciating day a fun and interesting and I have to admit it went by pretty fast. I just need to survive the next 48 hours.

I am off now to enjoy what is left of the weekend with the chef...cheers!!!

Lunch at My Desk

I pack my lunch every day for work for various reasons - there is no where decent to eat at the Port, it takes 20 min to get on and off the port, finding parking downtown is ridiculous, trying not to spend money since I buy Starbucks every morning and last but not least, I make healthier choices if I bring it myself. So today, I had a sandwich on multi-grain bread from the Fresh Market (which was on sale this weekend for $3.59 instead of $4.70), with organic guacamole, green peppers, tomato and turkey, veggie chips (the red pepper is my favorite) and the mini low-fat baby bell and of course water. I try to drink 3 to 4 bottles of water - it's my running 20oz bottle and than I mix in some green tea for the drive home.

Around 2pm, I always crave some chocolate. I bring a small piece of milk chocolate to satisfy my cravings, or otherwise I would probably attack the vending machine in the building as I have done it in the past (all due to stress eating around show time).

Today's lunch was probably one of the better ones and the only difference was the guacamole instead of mustard or butter and it proves to have been a great choice. I don't know my limits with guacamole but I was being very good and only used a spoonful. It was perfectly creamy and complementary to other foods in the sandwich. Guacamole is definitely going on my "must have" in the sandwich list.

Breakfast in the office

I had no time to make breakfast this morning so I grabbed the closest thing to me from the refrigerator - Wild Berry Smoothie from Stonyfield Farms. If you go to their website, they have coupons:)It's a lot of fluids this morning with my latte and all, but somehow it makes me feel good and healthy. Healthy breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day. Happy Wednesday!

Photography class

I finally decided to take a photography class. I signed-up for Photography I at the Miami-Dade College and my first class is tomorrow night. I am thrilled that I am finally going to learn how to use my fancy-schmancy camera and hopefully produce better quality pictures to share with everyone on this blog.
I have no idea what to expect from this class and what I will learn, but the notion that I will finally know what are all the buttons for on the camera will make a huge difference. Until then, enjoy my current creations.

Lazy Sunday

I love lazy Sundays and this was certainly a lazy Sunday....For the first time last week it was actually sunny and nice. I jumped out of bed and went to the pool and caught up with my foodie magazines - Food & Wine, Gourmet, Bon Apetit, Food Network Magazine and the latest, Clean Eating. You would think after reading about amazing foods that I would crave something really fancy, oh no, I craved pancakes. Wheat pancakes...

Soon enough the storms brought me in and chef was really kind to me and made a batch of most delicious wheat almond pancakes - made with love. We shared a late lunch of pancakes with all kinds of toppings - almond butter, raspberries, marionberry jam and maple syrup. The best rainy Sunday late lunch. I am pretending that it was somewhat healthy as it was wheat and all natural foods, but I certainly felt a sugar rush and soon enough I was in food coma on our couch. I guess this is why we call them lazy Sundays...

My dinner adventure

This past Saturday night, I was trying to relive my Portland experience, so I made mozzarella, tomato, basil leaves, cracked black pepper and balsamic vinegar and of course a glass of Oregon Pinto Gris (my latest obsession). OK, that glass, became two, but it was so refreshing, crisp and light, a perfect companion to my dinner. Even chef joined me in tasting my little replica of Portland dinner.
I used Burrata, a fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream that I bought at the Fresh Market. The outer shell was solid mozzarella while the inside contained both mozzarella and cream, giving it a unique soft texture.
This dinner hit the spot and thank you Shannon, for giving me courage that I can make this in my kitchen and this was all me...I can't really say I cooked dinner, but I certainly spent few minutes in the kitchen and put something together, yummy.... The leftover mozzarella, chef will use for the chicken parmigiana...should be another delic meal.