Tag Archives: travel

Blog

New Mom Real Talk Edition 8

May 22, 2015 Keep It Sweet 4 Comments

Family Vacation and Tips on Travelling with a Baby

We had the BEST time in Florida last week. It was our second time flying with L (last time at 5 months, this time at 7 months) and luckily he did well again. This trip was so wonderful for a lot of reasons. We started off with a few days on the West Coast with my family. My parents had rented a house for the 6 1/2 of us to stay in. That part of the trip was pretty easy to manage in terms of taking care of a baby. Plus, there were quite a few other people around who wanted to play with the little monkey. The second half of the week we stayed at a hotel with Matt’s parents on the East Coast. It was also so fun and nice to be somewhere with someone else to clean up after you, but there are obviously a few other challenges when you stay with a baby in a hotel.

Before our first family flight, I had done some searching online and found a few blogs that gave great tips on packing and preparing for a plane ride with a baby (some helpful posts are pinned here). A few of you have asked for advice on this as well, so I figured I’d give some general travel tips that I found really helpful.

1) Before you do anything, make lists. I started making lists of what to pack for L weeks before we went away. I actually did this on my phone so that any time something popped into my head I’d add it. This was broken down into items I needed for the plane, items to pack generally and then a few things to ship or buy when we arrived (more details below).

2) Plan to ship or buy. This goes for you or for the baby. No matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise, there is a LOT to pack for travelling with a baby. Beyond the basic needs like a week’s worth of diapers and wipes there’s the stroller, car seat (we learned the hard way on our first trip that not all car seat’s are created equal, L HATED the rental car seat), so many outfits, bottles, potentially pumping supplies and on and on and on. For this trip, Matt shipped his golf clubs with a few toys tucked inside as well. I actually had planned to place a Diapers.com order but it didn’t work out so we just stocked up on diapers at the grocery store the first day.

3) Pack extra. Especially in your carry-on. Diaper blowouts don’t happen often anymore, but on the return flight from our first trip, there were two on the plane. And did I mention that I was travelling alone with L for that leg of the trip? Don’t worry, by the second time around I felt like a pro in the airplane bathroom. Never mind the fact that we landed in a snowstorm and the two of us were drastically underdressed to be waiting outside for a bus to our car. But I digress….

4) Prepare for challenges and limitations in a hotel. Call your hotel ahead of time to make sure you can get a fridge in your room or have the mini bar emptied out for use. If you have bottles or pump equipment to clean, consider splurging on the sanitizing wipes or make the bathroom sink work for you. Push the limits on laundry. We do so much laundry for L at home, but away he was re-wearing PJs and other items if they weren’t a mess. I also washed things like bathing suits out in the shower. Also call ahead about a crib solution. In the house, we were able to rent a crib (I was really happy with Happy Baby) and the hotel provided one (although it wasn’t full size so check to see what you are getting). We also brought our own clean sheet for the mattress.

5) Add extra time for the airport. Seriously. First of all, you never know how long security will take etc. Second, there are all sorts of variables with a baby. Will they need to eat? Will it be one of those feedings where it somehow takes forever? Will there be a surprising but necessary diaper change? Will you need to buy food for yourself? Of course, you don’t have time or space to pack your own meals;-) Regardless of whether you need that time or not, it is SO much less stressful this way. We planned way more time than we really needed and didn’t have to rush at all. I’d rather have a few minutes sitting in the airport restlessly than sweat dripping down my back as I run for the gate with a baby and alllll of the stuff.

Everyone always asks… L’s hat is iPlay, it’s the best!

6) Curbside check-in. Like I said, you have a lot of stuff. Even after shipping golf clubs, I had a backpack and the diaper bag. Matt had a big carry-on bag. We had the stroller and car seat. Oh yeah, and there were two checked suitcases. Watching us carry all of this was quite the comedy routine. Take my word for it, a few dollars for curbside check-in is worth it. Just note that you have to get out of the car with the baby if you are checking your car seat.

7) Wear the baby through security. More free hands, just do it.

8) Bring a selection of small toys or snacks for entertainment on the plane. I had a large ziplock bag in my diaper bag (easier to access that way) with 4-5 small toys (obviously including Sophie). L is young enough that we didn’t have to worry he’d get too bored on the flight with that selection. I also packed “puffs”, carrot pouches and extra breast milk just in case.

9) Take advantage of the seatbelt sign being turned off. First of all, if your baby is tired, it’s so much easier to get them to sleep while moving and walking around. Second of all, it’s a great way to provide a new form of entertainment. Babies love to look around and see new things and people. Plus, you will make some strangers’ days with cute baby smiles up and down the aisle.

10) Don’t worry about germs. Or just relax about them. The baby needs to be able to play and you need to be able to enjoy your vacation. Let the germ fear go for the time away at least!

11) Get creative. We didn’t have a high chair (I kind of dropped the ball on a high chair travel solution) except for when we went out to eat. Since L makes the most massive mess of all time when he eats, we had to think a little bit outside of the box. Feeding him sans clothes on a towel ended up being our go-to.

This goes for things like naps and bedtimes as well. In order to maximize the time where we could enjoy ourselves, we had L sleeping in the stroller for quite a few naps and even some evenings. You’d be surprised what a baby can sleep through! Live music at a restaurant? Not a problem! He would have been pretty miserable if we skipped the sleep time and we wouldn’t have been happy skipping evenings with our families so this was a good compromise for us.

12) Have fun. It’s vacation, enjoy it! Things certainly are different with a baby and not exactly easier, but I swear everything is ten times more fun.

Best sister ever

The boys

L’s Great Great Uncle! Hi, Arnie;-)

A little beach time with Matt

L’s first time on the beach

So much love

L loves his Poppy!

Matt’s family and L’s Great-grandma

L’s (third?) cousin came to see him

My best friends from Emory’ met us for breakfast, the BEST

Future husband and wife

*This post contains affiliate links*

Blog

Great Places to Eat in Cape Cod

July 10, 2014 Keep It Sweet 10 Comments

The best lobster rolls and ice cream in Cape Cod!

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw much of the food we consumed while in Cape Cod a couple of weeks ago. We basically made it our mission to seek out amazing lobster rolls and ice cream on a daily basis. What is the point of vacation if you aren’t enjoying great food?

We stayed in Provincetown but also visited a couple of other areas so I’ve included them below as well. A week of beautiful weather, delicious food and relaxing with my husband really made this a perfect trip.

Lobster Rolls

We actually ate at The Canteen twice; once for lunch as our first meal and later in the week for dinner. Their lobster roll was full of fresh huge pieces of lobster that were stuffed into a soft eggy roll. Other standouts on their menu included the crispy brussels sprouts (first time I’ve enjoyed brussels sprouts since being pregnant!) and the miso ceasar salad (no photo), it was a special.

Since I’m pregnant (duh), I tried to share a lot of the fish dishes with Matt (I wanted to limit the mercury I was consuming). The only place I ordered my own lobster roll was at Native Cape Cod Seafood and it was completely worth it. The fries were just okay but seriously, that lobster roll was perfect in every way. So much lobster meat on one little bun. Matt actually enjoyed a couple of different salads there including the ahi tuna below. Everything was insanely fresh. It didn’t hurt that we got to eat on a dock overlooking the water.

What I love about Cape Cod is that some of the best food was served out of a shack or stand. The Red Shack in Ptown was no letdown! Matt enjoyed their California Lobster Roll (they had a few fun options) that had bacon and avocado on it. The huge chunks of lobster were served on a Portuguese bun. I had a salad with lobster chunks that was fresh and perfect.

Ice Cream

It’s no secret that I’m an absolute ice cream fanatic so of course I enjoyed it at least once every day while away.

The first night of our trip I was actually pretty full from dinner and almost skipped dessert, but when I saw that there was a Burnt Butter Brownie Brown Sugar ice cream flavor, I pretty much ignored my stomach and made a very good decision. This ice cream from The Nut House was creamy and super flavorful. I just love that they had such a creative flavor.

Before going away, I did some research and couldn’t wait to try Ptown Scoop; they are known for their creative flavors. I sampled a few others but ultimately had to get the Graham Central Station (graham cracker flavored ice cream filled with a graham cracker swirl and milk chocolate honeycomb crunch pieces). You can’t tell by the photo but there were lots of fun crunchy pieces in there. Matt actually got the same flavor in a sundae.

We actually went to Lewis Brothers twice. On the first visit I had this Low Fat Chocolate Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt and the next time I had the perfect soft serve cone. The people who worked there were really nice (and very patient when I asked how often they clean their soft serve machine). All of the ice cream is homemade, though I didn’t try the regular so I can’t really say how it compares to the other places we visited.

Matt and I almost never order the same ice cream flavors, but when I tried his cone of Coffee Oreo at Buffy’s in Chatham, I HAD to get the same. The coffee flavor was nice and strong but not overwhelming, the ice cream was creamy, and the Oreo chunks were massive.

And finally, one of the most intense ice creams I had (definitely the heaviest) was this peanut butter ice cream from Cape Cod Creamery in Yarmouth. There were chocolate and peanut butter chunks and the peanut butter flavor of the ice cream was perfect. I didn’t think I’d be able to finish the cup but who am I kidding, I can ALWAYS finish my ice cream.

Other notable places to eat in Cape Cod:

Matt and I both loved Rock Harbor Grill in Orleans. It is a local gastropub-style restaurant with a more creative menu than I would have expected from a strip-mall location restaurant. Instead of bread they bring pretzel rolls to the table with a super addicting side of honey mustard butter. I had a portabello mushroom sandwich (also on a pretzel roll) and Matt ordered salad. Simple dishes that were actually really, really good. If it wasn’t so far from where we were staying we would have gone back.

The Beachcomber in Wellfleet was actually a lot of fun. The restaurant is massive and they have a huge bar that overlooks the water. Apparently it turns into a night club in the later hours but we were just there for the dive atmosphere and fresh seafood. Matt enjoyed a few things from the raw bar and then we shared fried clams and lobster roll. It wasn’t the best meal we had but really good and a fun place to go.

And in case you thought I only take pictures of food on vacation, here are a few other photos from the trip.

Before dinner shot at our B&B

I found it hilarious that we went to see a windmill

Taking advantage of the Provincetown Film Festival

We had Herring Cove Beach to ourselves in the morning

Blog

New York City Ice Cream Tour Part 2

August 7, 2013 Keep It Sweet 9 Comments

Looking for the best places to get ice cream in NYC? I’ll tell you which ones are worth the visit when your next sweet tooth hits! This is part 2 of 2 in the first of many NYC ice cream tours. You can find part 1 of the New York City Ice Cream Tour here.

On the second half of our ice cream tour, there were a four more places that I hadn’t been before. The first of the four was Francois Payard Bakery for Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches! I am a huge macaron fan, so I was excited to see how they translated into a frozen dessert. Sidenote: There were a ton of other sweet and savory items that looked and smelled delicious. We were on an ice cream mission, though, so we didn’t try any of them.

There were four flavor options. You know how I feel about coconut so I had no interest in trying the Coconut Mango sandwich. The Chocolate Sorbet option sounded good but we decided to try the more interesting Pistachio Raspberry and Strawberry Cheesecake.

I’ll preface this by saying I am not generally a fan of pistachio macarons. I find that they are often grainy in texture. Upon first bite of that version, I thought it was okay, but once I tried the strawberry flavor, it was clear that the pistachio macaron ice cream sandwich was mediocre at best. The texture of the macaron was hard and the ice cream, while flavorful, wasn’t all that creamy.

[Elizabeth and Rachel instagramming the day away]

That Strawberry Cheesecake Macaron Ice Cream sandwich, however, deserves a gold star. The shell remained chewy and crisp while frozen, and the ice cream was creamy and delicious. The cheesecake flavor was mild, not overpowering at all. Would I say this is the best way to eat ice cream in New York City? No. But if you are at Francois Payard, these are definitely worth a try!

Next up was Victory Garden for goat milk soft serve. This was the closest we got to frozen yogurt that day, but really, it was far from that. The goat milk soft serve was really creamy and just slightly tangy.

We sampled all of the flavors and while they all tasted good, they didn’t necessarily match their description. The Key Lime Pie was somewhat nondescript. The Chocolate Rosemary was more chocolate and almost no rosemary. The Salted Caramel was really the only flavor that matched its name. Not that they were bad, just slightly misrepresented.

The people at the shop were really nice, though, and this is overall a great option for someone looking for a creamy frozen treat, especially if you don’t eat dairy! The three of us shared a cup of Salted Caramel and Chocolate Rosemary and certainly enjoyed it.

Soft serve for three!

After Victory Garden, we headed over to L’Arte del Gelato in Chelsea Market for our final gelato of the day. We sadly said goodbye to Elizabeth but were joined by Emma, my favorite ice cream expert!

I didn’t get many pictures here, partly because we were starting to get exhausted, but more because the gelato “shop” was hectic! There was a constant line and crowd thanks to the location and quality frozen dessert.

I barely remember what I sampled but I ordered Banana and Stracciatella. Emma, Rachel and I actually all had our own cups here, but all picked Stracciatella as a flavor. Rachel paired hers with Cherry (which was SO good!) and Emma paired hers with Mascarpone (she liked it but I didn’t try it). I loved the Banana because it was completely fresh tasting, not artificial at all. The texture of all the gelatos was nice and creamy. Frankly, though, after a long day, it didn’t necessarily stand out to me as something special.

And the final stop, Je & Jo! It was a good thing we had a long walk from Chelsea Market to Hell’s Kitchen because I was able to work up some desire for a little more ice cream at this point.

I was exited to try Je & Jo because they offered something unique and fun, cookie dough ice creams of MANY varieties. Each options is served in a cup reminiscent of a dixie cup (when was the last time I had one of those?!). Each cup has one flavor of ice cream that is layered in the middle with its own cookie dough flavor. This is not your traditional cookie dough ice cream!

Given that I had gone seven stops without ANY peanut butter at all, I decided this was the time for me to go all out. What better way to end the day than with the combination of two of my favorite foods, peanut butter and ice cream? Despite a combination of both peanut butter ice cream and cookie dough, the nutty flavor wasn’t too strong. It was very tasty but not as creamy as some other ice creams. Emma commented that it could be a result of the way they pack their cups soft serve style.

Rachel went all chocolate on this and said it might have been a bit too much chocolate. Emma chose the Pimm’s Cup which was apparently a little too boozy. I tasted it and thought it had a nice refreshing citrus tone.

Overall, would I go back to Je & Jo? Maybe if I was in the neighborhood and had a huge ice cream craving, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way. The concept is great, the flavors are good, but not exceptional. Although, I have to admit, this picture of the Peanut Butter ice cream with Peanut Butter Cookie Dough has me craving another serving!

I’m a little sad the tour is over, but I WILL be planning another one in the coming months. While that night all I wanted was a big serving of veggies, the next day I was ready for ice cream again. Let me know if you want to be included in upcoming tours!

Blog

New York City Ice Cream Tour Part 1

August 2, 2013 Keep It Sweet 21 Comments

Looking for the best places to get ice cream in NYC? I’ll tell you which ones are worth the visit when your next sweet tooth hits! This is part 1 of 2 in the first of many NYC ice cream tours.

For those of you who weren’t bombarded by my all-day instagramming and tweeting last weekend, you missed out on many, many pictures of ice cream. Truth be told, we didn’t end up going to any traditional ice cream spots, but for the purpose of searching for quality frozen desserts in New York City, it is necessary to loop gelato, fancy soft serve and ice cream sandwiches into the mix. In the next trip I’ll be sure to focus on more of the quality hard stuff, especially when I expand the tour into Brooklyn. Maybe next time I won’t be as lazy and will actually bring along my DSLR. All of the photos here were taken on my iPhone.

The tour started early on Saturday with Rachel in Soho (we worked our way up and through the Lower East Side / East Village over to the West Village and then up through Chelsea and Midtown West). The first stop was il laboratorio del gelato, convenient since they open in the morning!

Overall takeaway was that the gelato was delicious but the service and atmosphere left something to be desired. The store itself was originally set to be for production but they had so much space that they threw in a scooping counter as an afterthought. The factory-like setting definitely matched the tone of the woman working behind the counter. They have a strict 2-tastes / person rule (there are a LOT of flavors to choose from). Even after we explained that we were on an ice cream crawl and despite the fact that there was no one else in the store, Rachel wasn’t privy to just one more sample. You would think that in certain conditions exceptions can be made.

But the gelato, it was good. Dark Chocolate and Banana on the left for Rachel, Mocha Chip and Mexican Cinnamon on the right for me. I also tasted pumpkin which was very squashy in flavor (in a good way). The fig was very good as well.

Next stop, Melt Bakery for ice cream sandwiches. We got there just as they were opening and there were only a few flavors to choose from, but the people who worked there were so nice and passionate about what they were serving that I was completely won over.

One of the employees told us that we had to try this ice cream sandwich, passion fruit ice cream with vanilla shortbread. It wouldn’t have normally been my first choice but I really enjoyed it. The shortbread was buttery and salty while the ice cream was creamy and refreshing.

One of the highlights of the day was meeting a fellow ice cream lover who was there to buy a slew of ice cream sandwiches to take home. He loved that we were doing an ice cream tour and generously treated us to the ice cream sandwich. It was so sweet and unnecessary… who says New Yorkers aren’t nice?

Hi, Rach!

My happy place.

Stop number three was the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop where we met up with Elizabeth. This shop is pretty well-known and famous for the Salty Pimp, a giant cone of vanilla soft serve ice cream, lined with dulce de leche, sprinkled with sea salt and dipped in chocolate.

The shop was full of unicorns and packed immediately upon opening.

I couldn’t go to Big Gay without trying the Salty Pimp

And while the Salty Pimp was tasty, for me, the American Globs stole the show. Vanilla soft serve ice cream, crushed pretzels, chocolate dipped. Yeah, exactly.

The three of us shared the two cones which was plenty for the tour. Each one was pretty large.

American Globs, get in my face.

Next up, our fourth stop took us to Fresco. Fresco is a cute little gelato shop much smaller and more inviting in décor than il laboratorio. From the website “Fresco Gelateria, located in the heart of the East Village, offers a modern twist on the traditional slow churn process by combining quality ingredients and progressive flavors.” There were far fewer flavors than our previous gelato stop, but we were welcome and invited to taste as many of them as we wanted. Between the three of us we probably tried all of them!

Maybe it was the three ice cream stops before hand, maybe it was the warm weather, or maybe it was just Fresco’s unbelievably creamy sorbet, but that day I went against everything I believe in and chose sorbet over gelato. Does that even count as ice cream? Trust me, their gelato is pretty amazing, but one taste of the Passion Mojito sorbet and I was sold. Usually looked over (by me) as a cop-out dessert, I couldn’t help but go for it.

The three of us shared the cup of Passion Mojito, Mango and Strawberry. The strawberry was good but mango was exceptionally creamy and flavorful without being overly sweet. Not to mention how pretty the trio of flavors were. If I still lived on Union Square I would be there all the time.

Part 2 coming soon!

Blog

What to Do in San Diego, Part 3

June 4, 2013 Keep It Sweet 10 Comments

Previous San Diego Posts:

What to Do in San Diego, Part 1

What to Do in San Diego, Part 2

Well, I pretty much dropped the ball on my San Diego recaps. I would have let it slide, but we ate so well while we were there and I didn’t want to keep all of it to myself….

While eating gigantic pancakes was quite enjoyable, one of the things I love about California is all of the delicious healthy food options. Among those options are acai bowls, apparently a huge trend on the West Coast. I would describe them as a thick antioxidant-filled smoothie topped with fresh fruit, granola and other fun toppings of choice. They are commonly found at juice bars and starting to become popular in other parts of the country (though still not easy to find in NYC).

Well, to say we became obsessed would be an understatement. Matt and I went to Juice Kaboose towards the beginning of our trip and made it back at least two or three more times after that. Juice Kaboose is a La Jolla juice bar known for its acai bowls but also touted as being the first to offer a pitaya bowl. Honestly, I don’t know a lot about all of these super fruits, but apparently pitaya is even healthier than acai. Oh and it is also this gorgeous color (acai looks more like a chocolate shake in color)!

I tried a couple of variations but their Original Pitaya Bowl was my favorite. Matt also got on board and was so taken with the whole world of the juice bar that he was even doing ginger shots and wheatgrass shots. The people who worked at Juice Kaboose were so nice and friendly. They also didn’t make us feel stupid when we asked a million questions about what we were ordering.

But alas, balance. We might have started one morning with gigantic pitaya bowls, but it did not stop us from indulging in some crazy ice cream sundaes later on.

If you ever take a trip to San Diego, I highly suggest spending a day in Coronado. It is such a pretty town with a gorgeous beach. The day we went the weather was too cool for laying out but perfect for walking along the water and just sitting to soak in the California sunshine.

Oh, and I have to mention this crazy intricate sand castle that was there to celebrate the hotel’s (Hotel del Coronado) birthday!

So after building up our appetite, we stopped for lunch but really, it didn’t matter where we went or what we had there because all I could think about was dessert. Kathy had told me that we needed to go to Moo Time Creamery and wow, so glad she did.

The ice cream shop was actually adorable but I was so distracted by the huge variety of options they had. There were so many ice cream flavors, sundae options, etc. that it was really hard to decide what to order. After a few tastes of different flavors, I settled on a sundae with peanut butter ice cream and double dark chocolate ice cream, whipped cream and Oreos. I usually stick with frozen yogurt when I am out, but this ice cream was completely worth it.

Mine was pretty amazing, but I did have order envy after I saw Matt’s gigantic sundae. He had vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, Oreos and whipped cream. Not only are there Oreo crumbs in there, but there are also at least four whole Oreos.

Lucky for me, Matt couldn’t finish his entire Sundae so I picked up where he left off. Yes, I can pretty much out-eat anyone when it comes to dessert.

I really can’t believe we were in San Diego three months ago. Thanks to Krissy, I also enjoyed meals at these restaurants:

Davanti: We actually went here with Krissy and her husband which was so fun! The food was also delicious… everything was good but I still remember the brussels sprout salad as being extra amazing.

Neighborhood: Everything we had that night was good, especially my black bean burger (not usually a noteworthy item)

The Cottage: I highly recommend for brunch! Matt had one of the egg sandwiches, I had a version of eggs benedict with roasted tomatoes, and we shared a lemon ricottta pancake

And finally, I highly recommend a scenic hike at Torrey Pines. It wasn’t as intense as our first hike. but the views were gorgeous.

Blog

What to Do in San Diego, Part 2

April 9, 2013 Keep It Sweet 10 Comments

While my favorite part of travelling is exploring a new city through its food, I love getting some physical activity in the form of a long hike with gorgeous views almost just as much.

Well, after eating pancakes like this, it is kind of necessary. I’m actually fairly new to hiking, but I really do love it. It can be physically challenging, but it is also the best form of free therapy. Fresh air, vitamin D, and a couple of hours to just think or talk about life. Oh yeah, and take endless photos.

Lately when we have been planning our trips, we look for a couple of hikes to go on and try to make sure at least one of them is somewhat long and somewhat challenging. This particular hike on the Iron Mountain Trail was perfect for us. I think it took us about 2 1/2 hours or so. On our previous trip we did a 4-hour hike where towards the end, we got a little antsy.

Unfortunately my photos don’t even do it justice, but it was pretty cool to be able to see San Diego from the top of the mountain. I actually wish we had done this hike again while we had the chance!

Pancakes and eggs benedict apparently were the perfect hiking fuel, but afterwards we wanted something fresh and light. Matt was on a mission to eat as many fish tacos as possible on the trip and thanks to a recommendation via Twitter, we knew we needed to try out El Pescador Fish Market in La Jolla. On this visit (it was so good we went back later in the week), Matt had fish tacos (duh) and I had an incredibly fresh seafood-topped salad.

Matt probably won’t appreciate me sharing this, but he actually said that if he could eat like this all the time at home, he probably wouldn’t eat red meat. Shh, don’t tell him I told you.

California, I love you.

And speaking of fish tacos, Kathy had told me that we needed to check out Las Olas while we were in town.

And if you can believe it, this was the view from our table.

This actually ended up being a perfect early dinner for us. We stopped at Las Olas on our way back from Disneyland (yes, we went there!), just in time for sunset.

The fish tacos weren’t quite as good as El Pescador’s…

…but crossing the street after dinner for this was unbelievable!

I only wish I had my tripod with me, I couldn’t help but take a billion photos as the sun went down. How do people get to live here (and why don’t I)?

What to Do and Where to Stay in San Diego, Part 1

Wordless Wednesday: San Diego

Blog

What to do and where to stay in San Diego, Part 1

March 19, 2013 Keep It Sweet 15 Comments

Spring officially starts in a few days, but you wouldn’t believe it with the snow on the ground and freezing temperatures outside. This blast of winter in mid-March is making me wish I was back in San Diego!

We had such an amazing trip that I wanted to share some of our favorite places that we visited in the week that we were there.

Matt and I looked into a ton of different hotel options but ultimately decided to stay at Estancia La Jolla. We were convinced by the website’s photos of Spanish-inspired architecture and I’m happy to say that it was even more beautiful in person. I should have gotten more photos of the hotel, but I was too busy taking it all in and enjoying the sunshine.

Before we even arrived at the hotel, their hospitality was apparent through tweeting with them. When we did get there, they continued to impress us. Everyone at the hotel was nice and helpful. We were treated with a surprise bottle of champagne and chocolates that we enjoyed for a quiet night in with room service one evening.

Below is a photo right outside of their spa. Matt and I splurged on a couple’s massage and it was completely worth it. Before the massage, I was sitting outside by the fire in a fluffy robe reading my book, pretty sure that was one of my favorite afternoons.

While the weather in San Diego is unbeatable, I didn’t think it would be warm enough in February to go to the pool. Even though I dreaded the thought of putting on a bathing suit, the unseasonably warm temperatures that we had at the end of our week swayed me. How can you not want to live here?

Oh, and the food! We didn’t pick the hotel for its dining options, but I was more than impressed with breakfast. We had gotten a package that gave us a $25 daily breakfast credit so we had a couple of morning meals in-house. Can I just say this was one of my favorite hotel breakfasts ever? It was an egg white frittata with a bazillion veggies and chicken sausage. I skipped the cheese because there were so many flavors and didn’t miss it at all. A little avocado smeared on whole wheat toast with a slice of this frittata was a pretty great way to start the day. Matt and I actually shared it after the first time I ordered it because the portion was so big!

Speaking of breakfast, if you ever visit San Diego, you NEED to go to Snooze Eatery… and promise me you won’t be on a diet that day.

We actually enjoyed our first meal / breakfast at Snooze and what a way to kick off vacation. We had woken up at 4am that morning (well, pretty much every morning), so we had no problem arriving just a few minutes after they opened at 6:30am. The best part of that was missing out on the crazy wait that they apparently get every morning.

We first heard about Snooze from our friends who actually just got engaged this past weekend (!!!), but everyone else who knows anything about San Diego also said we needed to go there.

The first order of business was pancakes. They have an incredible variety of decadent dessert-flavored options on a regular basis, but apparently there is also a Cinnamon Roll option that isn’t even on the menu. Glad I had the inside scoop:-)

The best part? They let you mix and match! We were able to select three different flavors for our order and went with Sweet Potato, “Coffee and Donuts”, and Cinnamon Roll.

This photo is not a joke.

Both of us agreed that the sweet potato was the best one. The texture and flavor of that pancake were so perfect that you didn’t even need any toppings. The cinnamon roll pancake was a close second with its insane toppings (it is the one in front in the photo above). The coffee and donuts was just ok. The coffee dipping sauce was pretty amazing but I would have preferred another sweet potato pancake instead.

Supposedly there is also some crazy good peanut butter cup option but I didn’t want to get one that Matt wouldn’t share. Guess I just need to go back on another visit!

The other thing that Snooze is well-known for is its eggs benedicts. Honestly, this is not something I usually get excited about, but Matt loves eggs benedict and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to add some protein to the meal.

This is another place where you get to mix and match. We got one of the basic Ham Benedict III and one of the Chilaquiles Benedict.

As someone who isn’t a big red-meat eater and really could be vegetarian pretty easily, I have to say that the Chilaquiles Benedict was kind of lifechanging. The meat under the egg was just so melt-in-your mouth perfect and even though it sounds like something that would completely gross me out, it was seriously incredible. I think Matt was more excited about me liking it than he was about eating it lol.

Oh, and we scraped off most of the hollandaise because it was completely unnecessary.

We could not have picked a better way to kick off our vacation. This meal is my new favorite hiking fuel.

I can’t wait to share more photos (and food!) from our trip!

This is not a sponsored post. Matt and I paid for the hotel and meals and all opinions are my own.

Blog

Wordless Wednesday: San Diego

March 11, 2013 Keep It Sweet 15 Comments

My week in San Diego was nothing but wonderful. Here are some of my favorite snapshots…. more details on favorites to come!

Blog

Ad Hoc in Yountville, CA

August 13, 2012 Keep It Sweet 15 Comments

ad hoc had to be one of my favorite restaurants in Napa. You may be familiar with Thomas Keller, who is well known for the infamous Per Se and French Laundry. However, ad hoc is so different from those two restaurants, perhaps only overlapping in its high quality and delicious food.

While those restaurants are a more refined and very expensive exploration of French cuisine, ad hoc is a family style restaurant focused on seasonal comfort food. They have one menu of four courses every night and the only option you have is whether or not you want to add a supplemental dish to your main course. As someone who tends to be very particular about what I am in the mood for, I was a little nervous about what we might find on the menu (admittedly hoping for their famous fried chicken). My apprehension was completely unnecessary, though, as everything they served was delicious. It was actually nice to have someone make all of my decisions for me, too.

(I couldn’t resist tasting their fresh bread even though I knew I had plenty of food coming).

Our first course was a watermelon salad. The combination of watermelon, and savory vegetables was delicious, especially topped with a blackberry dressing. The kicker, though, was the unbelievable financier croutons. Did you catch that? They put cookies on our salad!!!

The second and main course was spice rubbed pork shoulder. I very rarely order meat in restaurants because I’m usually drawn to the fish and vegetarian dishes, but oh my was this good. The pork was so flavorful and spicy. It was served over a combination of rice and beans that Matt enjoyed (I don’t like rice).

My favorite part of this course was the plate of fried green tomatoes. They were firm but juicy and perfectly crispy on the outside. The sauce reminded me of tartar sauce and actually went really well with the tomatoes. I was a little disappointed I had to share these.

We also opted to try the side of albacore tuna salad…. certainly not your traditional tuna salad! Again, we didn’t need more food, but Matt made a good point that we were there once and might as well try everything.

The third course was a cheese plate. There was toasted crusty buttered bread, lamb chopper cheese (SO good!) and a mint english pea spread of sorts. The three items together made for a perfect combination.

Last but certainly not least was a make-your-own sundae for dessert. At first I was disappointed that we weren’t getting a baked good (I figured we could get something Bouchon-like), but the homemade vanilla ice cream and toppings more than made up for that. I seriously considered licking my bowl but the waitress came over to our table before I had the chance to embarrass myself.

We very seriously considered going back to ad hoc again during the trip but unfortunately didn’t have a chance. Now Matt gets the menu emailed to him on a daily basis and pretty much every day we consider hopping on a plane to the west coast. This obviously isn’t a vegetarian or kosher-friendly restaurant, but for anyone else with minimal dietary restrictions, it is a must visit in Napa!

The winner of the KISD Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies is Jessica!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2012-08-13 23:06:47 UTC

Blog

Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco

August 6, 2012 Keep It Sweet 17 Comments

Most of you know by now that ice cream is my favorite food group. Well, tied with peanut butter, of course. I literally crave it all year round and on most birthdays choose ice cream cake or ice cream pie over any other dessert. Okay, in addition to other desserts.

The thing is, being a volume eater, I choose frozen yogurt or slow churned versions most days of the year. You know I only believe in eating calories that are absolutely worth it, so I have a hard time setting aside over 300 calories for a tiny half cup portion of typical premium ice cream. But show me an ice cream that is as flavorful, creamy and unbelievably delicious as that at Bi-Rite and any thoughts of calories are completely out the window. I don’t know the nutrition information for their ice cream but frankly, I really don’t care. Their ice cream is for complete unadulterated pleasure.

When we booked our trip to Napa, we didn’t make any plans until last minute. The exception, however, was that we knew we would be stopping for ice cream at my favorite place in the world (okay, maybe one of my top 10 favorite places). Even my husband who isn’t as ice cream obsessed as I am thought that was mandatory.

You see, we had visited Bi-Rite three years before on a trip to San Francisco when all of our friends who had lived there said it was a must-try. When I was back in San Francisco in the fall for the Foodbuzz festival, Joanne and I walked six or so miles from brunch to have ice cream for lunch (normal?). The amazing thing is that after hyping up Bi-Rite in my head and to everyone else over the last three years, the ice cream STILL exceeded my expectations.

Maybe it is that they start with real ingredients (ahem, roasted banana ice cream that TASTES like bananas, not some artificial banana flavor). Maybe it is that they use local dairy. Or maybe it is that they stick huge chunks of snickerdoodles into their ice cream (that is the ricanelas). All I know is, I’ve tasted many flavors (they let you sample as many as you want!) and every.single.one. was delicious.

On this visit, I had Malted Vanilla with Peanut Brittle and Milk Chocolate Pieces, Brown Sugar with Ginger Caramel Swirl, and Ricanelas. We may or may not have detoured there on our way to the Oakland airport (I told you I love that place)… and on that visit I got Coffee Toffee, Brown Sugar with Ginger Caramel Swirl (I had to get it again) and Roasted Banana.

Matt’s picks were Balsamic Strawberry, Salted Caramel and Cookies n Cream topped with hot fudge… smart man!

Eating ice cream this good is the only way I’ll pose for a photo after an early morning flight to San Fran. Hello airplane look.

Did I mention the to-go containers? I had to use every ounce of my will power not to take those with me for the plane ride. They even have ice cream cakes that sound like heaven. Now if you can figure out a way to get one of those to me on the east coast for my birthday in a couple of weeks, I will shower you with cookies forever. I don’t make false promises.

Go there!

Blog

A Week in Wine Country

July 23, 2012 Keep It Sweet 16 Comments

Last week in Napa was amazing! I didn’t realize how much I needed a vacation until I got back and found myself refreshed and energized in a way I haven’t been in a few months. Sometimes you just need that. Here are some highlights from our eating, drinking and relaxing. I’ll be sharing some more details on some of the places we visited in California in coming posts.

I love you Bi-Rite.

First meal in San Fran had to be tacos

Pretty winery

One of our favorite wineries, Matt is obsessed with their ‘05 Cab

Necessary

Before dinner at Farm

Good hiking

We made a friend

9 miles of hiking followed by a bottle of champagne = perfection (don’t worry, we hydrated too)

Ad Hoc make-your-own sundae, yes!

Mature.

What do you do when you have nothing to do? Drink champagne with a view

Bucket of donuts, enough said.

While in Napa, we stayed at the Old World Inn. This was our second visit so they welcomed us with a bottle of champagne! The people there are very nice and we had a great time on our trip, but I have to say, the inn wasn’t quite as wonderful as it was on our first visit three years ago.

Blog

Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia

May 2, 2012 Keep It Sweet 10 Comments

You remember that trip we took to Philadelphia a few weeks ago where we ate our way through the weekend?

Well, given the fact that I could live on ice cream, I was most excited for our trip to Franklin Fountain. An old school ice cream shop that models itself from the soda shops that used to be popular, what could be bad?

Well, you know how when you are excited about going to a restaurant and you quadruple check the menu online to decide what you want to order and you read every.single.review. to make sure you are getting the right thing? Wait, you don’t do that?

Well, that is the basic preparation I made for our trip to Franklin Fountain. I studied the sundae menu like it was my job (hmm as a food blogger, isn’t it?) and strategized on the exact best time to go during the weekend. Note to Philly fans – Sunday shortly after opening seems to be ideal, no lines at all!

I thought about what the ideal combination of ice cream flavors plus sundae toppings I could get that Matt would also enjoy. Aka, no peanut butter.

So when we finally were ready for our ice cream indulgence, I was imagining the ice cream of all ice creams and sundae of all sundaes in my head. This dessert (lunch?) was going to be mind-blowing.

Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I was really disappointed. I loved the décor, loved the menu, loved all of the old school details that were incorporated into Franklin Fountain… but when it came down to what really matters, the ice cream, I have to give it a “meh.”

Don’t get me wrong, the ice cream wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t mindblowing. As someone who would fly across the country solely for the purpose of some Bi Rite the ice cream just wasn’t up to par. I kind of felt like I’d rather be indulging in a big bowl of slow churned if the real stuff wasn’t going to be outrageously good.

We had the Vesuvius and the hot fudge and whipped cream were certainly delicious additions, but the coffee and cookies ‘n cream ice creams underneath were as standard as Breyer’s from the super market. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but after a few bites of the sub-par ice cream I called it quits and satisfied my craving with frozen yogurt instead. Crazy? Probably.

Have you ever looked forward to a meal so much that your expectations could not possibly be met?

Blog

A Weekend Getaway in Philly

April 18, 2012 Keep It Sweet 21 Comments

This past weekend was exactly what we needed. Two nights and two days of Matt and I doing only what the two of us wanted to do and of course that revolved around eating.

I had actually spend the first part of Friday visiting with my mom and getting in a pre-weekend TRX workout (sore much?) which was a nice treat. For some reason, though, the traffic from my Parents’ house in the suburbs all the way to the city was horrendous. That half hour drive took two hours so when I was greeted in my room with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries it was heaven.

We decided to stay nearby and went to the Oyster House for happy hour and dinner. Matt said these were the best oysters EVER and I was pretty in love with my crab cake. All crab, no filler, perfection! Matt also said the lobster roll was delicious.

Saturday morning “brunch” (who am I kidding, it was 8am, let’s call it breakfast) was one of my favorite meals all weekend. We went to Sabrina’s Café near the art museum and I’m now wishing we went back there on Sunday, too. The restaurant menu was extensive and I probably could have ordered ten other things and been very happy. Plus, our waitress was awesome. Anyone who is as passionate about food and dessert as I am (which she was), is an instant winner. She even gave us a list of bakeries to try while we were in town.

I had an amazing egg white and cheddar scramble breakfast sandwich loaded with fresh veggies and stuck between two pieces of amazing Le Bus multigrain bread. The bacon went to Matt and I devoured the rest of the sandwich. The entire time I was eating I just kept saying, “I could eat this every day.” For someone who eats oatmeal with peanut butter religiously, that is saying a lot!

Matt had the Barking Chihuahua which was basically a gigantic breakfast burrito. He was also in breakfast heaven.

Saturday morning was beautiful so we spent the next few hours walking around and working up our appetites for the next meal. We also got to visit the Cake and the Beanstalk, a bakery owned by an old friend of mine’s husband. They just opened last spring so it was nice to get another person’s perspective on starting a business in the dessert world.

Lunch landed us at Reading Terminal Market, a foodie heaven. The place was slightly nuts but that is what you would expect on a Saturday afternoon. I kept lunch light with a build-your-own salad from the Mediterranean stand (sidenote: how did I get salmon on my salad for under $7?) to keep room for dessert. We shared a cake ball from Flying Monkey and a chocolate chip cookie and black and white cookie from the Famous 4th Street Cookie. The cake ball was good but different- it tasted like buttery cake dipped in chocolate. The chocolate chip cookie was good but not great (I’m especially picky about cookies these days) but I loved the black and white cookie. It wasn’t as light and cakey as the New York version but it wasn’t quite as dense as a sugar cookie. There was just something about it that had me wishing we had gotten a few more.

Saturday night’s dinner was a bit of a ridiculous treat. We were treated to a wonderful meal at 10 Arts. Highlights of the meal included A LOT of wine, Ricotta Ravioli, Octopus with Grilled Romaine and incredible beignets. The meal was supposed to come with panna cotta but I am SO glad I requested something different. I sampled Matt’s and it was just eh, but the beignets…. oh they just melted in your mouth! I may or may not have tried to eat the rest of the bourbon caramel with my fork when they were gone.

Oh and did I mention the fabulous gift we received? The incredible woman who was waiting on us gave us a copy of Eric Ripert’s new book… which he had signed. Love! I need to meet that man one day.

Sunday’s eats weren’t quite as exciting. We went back to Reading Terminal Market for a somewhat disappointing breakfast experience (I’ve never seen anyone so slow at making egg whites before). The highlight was my latte from Old City Coffee.

That afternoon we stopped at the Franklin Fountain, more on that later…

And then we finished the weekend off with a Phillys/Mets game. The weather was phenomenal but thanks to our last minute plan I didn’t have sunscreen and ended up with a sunburn. Who would have thought in April?!

A hot dog for him, a veggie burger for me.

The game might have been followed by a 4-hour traffic-filled drive back home but it was worth it!

On a separate matter, please consider donating to Share Our Strength as a part of the Great American Bake Sale. Jackie at La Casa de Sweets has organized a fundraiser to help end childhood hunger in America. Every donation will count as an entrance to win a dozen of my Black and White Blondies.

Blog, Recipes

Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies

April 13, 2012 Keep It Sweet 24 Comments

Even though I LOVE my job now and am so proud of how successful Keep It Sweet Desserts seems to be so far, I still look forward to the weekend. This week I crammed as much work as possible into Monday-Thursday so that I can spend three full days out of the kitchen and (for the most part) away from the computer. I seriously can not remember the last time I went for that long of a stretch. Even last weekend when I had some time to relax I still spent some of each day working and baking. Being a one-woman-shop has made me appreciate my free time on another level.

Weekend plans in Philly include dinners here and here but obviously the food I’m looking forward to most is ICE CREAM at Franklin Fountain. Although, this should be pretty fun for lunch tomorrow. Oh, you are wondering what activities we have planned. Nothing yet. We will probably spend the time in between meals walking off all those delicious calories. It’s all about balance, right?

Speaking of food, if you like cheesecake but don’t want to commit to a big slice, think about trying these cheesecake cookies posted on Fox today!

Blog

What I Learned at Foodbuzz and the Food that Came With It

November 10, 2011 Keep It Sweet 59 Comments

Last weekend I had an amazing time in San Francisco for the third annual Foodbuzz Festival (my first time going). Not only was it a long weekend full of delicious food and blogging tips, but it also was a weekend full of new friends and new blogs to read. I have so much to share with you but I’ll limit this post to some of the food conference, blogging and social networking-related tips (in no particular order).

1) There were a lot of tips for blogging, but by far the number one theme is to be yourself. Find your voice, find what you love, and blog that way.

2) Engage with readers. Respond to comments and emails. Comment on their blogs, too. When you do that, they will come back.

3) Take good photos*. Backdrops can be as simple as construction paper or crumpled parchment paper and as elaborate as fancy china and linen. Use a DSLR or an iPhone. Just make it appealing to the eyes. *more on that in an upcoming post

4) Instead of being jealous or comparing yourself to other bloggers, focus on doing everything you can to get where you want to be.

5) Use Twitter and Facebook to interact with others. Twitter is an especially good way to connect with other bloggers and readers. Don’t only use social media to promote your blog.

6) Jessica is just as awesome in person as she is on her blog. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to talk, but she was on a “taking your blog to the next level” discussion panel and her blog personality definitely came through in real life. Oh, and same thing for Joy.

7) Always charge your camera battery; no pictures for the first night of Foodbuzz #fail

8) Take a camera break; no camera for the first night of Foodbuzz also meant I could focus on meeting new people and enjoying the food.

9) It is perfectly acceptable to drink your chocolate.

10) String cheese can be eaten the next day without refrigeration. You never know when you may need a snack.

11) Fresh fruit tastes so good in between indulgent samples.

12) Keep packaged samples as a treat for later when you are going through foodie withdrawal.

13) In a sea of amazing foods to try, a vat of guacamole is still exciting.

14) Godiva chocolate is always a win. I was addicted to their pumpkin spice coffee but now I’m addicted by the truffles that inspired it.

15) Mini cupcakes are more fun because you can sample lots of flavors.

16) Burberry is even better in brownie form

17) Cinnamon caramel is heavenly

18) Don’t fill up on foods you don’t love, there are too many other foods to try.

19) Take advantage of the opportunity to meet awesome people. Some of the friends I made at Foodbuzz include Nicole, Audra, Krissy, Julie, Dennis, and Tina.

20) Find an awesome roommate who will spend as much time as possible eating their way through San Francisco with you.

Have you ever been to a food blogger conference? Do you have any tips to add?

Blog, Recipes

The Best Homemade Applesauce

September 15, 2011 Keep It Sweet Leave a comment

Before coming back from our weekend away, I had to take advantage of the apple picking available!

We went to Windy Hill Farm which had a decent selection of apples to choose from. I was really excited to see they had my favorite variety ready to go.

Besides the beloved Honey Crisp, we got a selection of Cortlands, Paula Reds and Macintosh. Macintosh apples remind me of being a kid. My family used to go to Lambertville and New Hope every fall to pick pumpkins, buy apples and run around the scarecrow maze. We always loaded up on the Macintosh apples.

This was my first time actually picking the apples from trees. They gave us a map and had very clear signs that made it easy to navigate through all the apple trees. Other than the bug bites all over my feet (note to self: don’t wear flip flops to go apple picking on a warm day), it was so much fun. I would have taken home bushels and bushels of apples if I could have.

We went with 1/2 bushel, maybe 7 pounds of apples?

Check out this slideshow to to see Matt’s favorite part of the apple picking!

View Full Album

I’ve never had a Paula Red before, but when the woman at the farm said they make great sauce our ears perked up. I like jarred applesauce in small doses, but there really is nothing like homemade applesauce.

Monday night as soon as we got home, Matt got to cooking! With a little bit of my input, he basically made the applesauce himself. Let me tell you, it was amazing! I tried to save some to take photos in daylight but the applesauce was too good. We finished the whole batch for dessert. Oh and yes, this happened to be Matt’s birthday dessert… what kind of baking blogger am I?

Seriously, homemade applesauce with vanilla frozen yogurt was the perfect end to the weekend! You know, since I hadn’t had quite enough dessert yet.

[print_this]

The Best Homemade Applesauce

Yield: Makes ~2 cups of applesauce, serves 2-4

Ingredients

7 medium apples, peeled and chopped (we used a combination of Paula Reds and Macintosh)
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
the juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water

Cooking Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large pot
Cover pot and let cook over low heat for 10 minutes
Remove cover and stir
Allow mixture to simmer over low heat for additional 10-15 minutes stirring on occasion
Remove from heat when sauce has reached desired consistency (for a more chunky sauce cook for less time)

[/print_this]

Adapted from Heather’s Dish

What apples would you pick? Monica at the Yummy Life has a great list of apples that tells you what kinds are best for eating, cooking and baking.

Uncategorized

Ice Cream, Pizza, Cupcakes and Why My Pants are Tight

September 13, 2011 Keep It Sweet Leave a comment

This past weekend was pretty amazing.

After a fun summer of spending weekends with our respective families, it was a nice change of pace to have a weekend getaway just the two of us.

We headed up to Lenox, Massachusetts on Saturday courtesy of a wedding gift from Matt’s brother and his wife. We had two nights there and used every minute of Saturday-Monday doing something fun and out of the norm or just relaxing.

After getting settled in, we went on a hike in the area. I’ve never been hiking before, but now I have a new favorite form of exercise. Too bad NYC isn’t known for its trails;-) Other than the hike, we made it to the gym on Sunday for a spin class and Monday for another workout. It’s a good thing because the rest of our weekend pretty much revolved around indulging in the local eateries.

One of my favorite local vendors was SoCo Creamery. I’m pretty sure that their ice cream was made for me. I’m not sure I should tell you how many ice creams Matt and I had between the two of us over 2 1/2 days. If I could, I would have stayed in Lenox just so I could try their entire ever-expanding list of flavors.

On this particular visit, I had an order of Espresso Cookie and Dirty Chocolate, by far my favorites.

The ice creams are all rich and creamy with a real quality flavor component. On another visit I had blueberry with strawberry cheesecake. The blueberry looked and tasted like it was made from fresh blueberries that day.

Apparently I can find SoCo at some stores in NYC, not sure if that is a good or very dangerous thing. I’m trying to make myself forget before I get myself into trouble!

The way Matt and I ate on Sunday, you would have thought we were carb loading for a marathon. Really we were just carb loading for fun.

The day started with a visit to Berkshire Mountain Bakery. A special thanks to Brian for his recommendation! We tried both sweet and savory mini ciabattas to share. The Jalapeno & Cheese was amazing- fresh and chewy with the perfect amount of heat.

And of course I loved the Dark Chocolate! The bread wasn’t too sweet so you could really savor the rich dark chocolate chunks.

As we continued towards the town of Great Barrington, we stopped at a local farm.

I was so excited to see all of my favorite fall things!

They even still had some fresh-from-the-farm summer produce.

And of course baked goods.

Matt tried their famous Tangleberry Pie (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries).

Nothing like a piece of pie for a mid-morning snack!

One of my favorite things about the towns we explored was the focus on local food and fresh ingredients. Matt and I explored Berkshire Co-op Market, what I think of as a local Whole Foods.

The massive vat of organic peanut butter was enough for me to fall in love.

They also had a ton of options for bulk flours, beans, nuts, seeds, etc. More than I’ve seen in any Whole Foods!

Since they were dispensing Kombucha in fountain form, I figured I should finally give this hyped-up drink a try. Verdict? I liked it, but not enough to pay the normal $2.50+/bottle

After a couple of hours of strolling and exploring the town, I was very excited to be hungry for lunch. We ate at the infamous Baba Louie’s. They actually use sourdough crust made by Berkshire Mountain Bakery (where we stopped for breakfast) and have a ton of creative topping combinations.

We shared a small pizza that was one half Isabella (roasted sweet potatoes, roasted parsnips, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, fresh mozzarella and shaved fennel, drizzled with reduced balsamic vinegar and parmesan) and half Pomodoro Bianco (Fresh mozzarella, roasted portabellas, roasted garlic, tomatoes, red onions, chêvre, pesto and parmesan). The chewy crust was nice for a change but it really was all about the toppings for me. I loved the sweet potato mix.

While walking around the area after lunch, we stopped at the local kitchen supply store. What do you know, they sold cupcakes!

Barrington Bites is another local business. One of the owners was in the store baking her cupcakes and piping them for customers to see.

If I hadn’t been stuffed, I would have ordered a Peanut Butter & Jelly or French Toast with Bacon. Matt had a little room in his stomach, though, and chose lemon and strawberry cupcakes.

Both were moist with a very buttery buttercream frosting. I tasted the strawberry and couldn’t believe how wonderfully the fresh strawberry flavor came through.

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was sad to leave the area. It seemed like there were still lots of local restaurants and foods to try. Luckily we picked up a small stash of local candies to take home. Ok, I actually ate the bark Sunday night, but I tried!

What we did end up taking home was a massive amount of apples! More on that and some recipes to come:-)

I really enjoyed every minute of the weekend. My pants may be a little tight, but it was well worth it.

How do you recover from a weekend of indulgence?

Blog

Hello Summer

May 31, 2011 Keep It Sweet 42 Comments

Well hello, Summer. We are so happy to have you here.

I’m pretty sure I was wearing a winter coat a couple of weeks ago, but when Mother Nature sends sun and temperatures in the 80s you won’t see me complaining

No complaining when we make trips to the New Jersey farmstands

Not complaining about huge Jersey tomatoes

And especially not complaining about big juicy strawberries

Memorial Day weekend kicked off my summer in full gear with a trip to the Jersey shore. We had the most amazing weekend that included walks on the beach, walks around town, walks to CVS (do you see a pattern?), a family barbecue, and of course my favorite chocolates. All that was missing was my husband!

But, luckily, we had whipped cream vodka to entertain me in his absence! Whipped cream vodka + diet root beer = amazing. Try it!

And we were very excited that my earrings matched the glassware

My sister also brought her friend Jen to join the fun

Of course we had to take advantage of the gorgeous weather for a few backyard shots:

Dad and me

Sisterly love

Mom and her girls

And my favorite Uncle! Hi Marty!!!

How was your Memorial Day weekend? Has summer arrived where you are?

Blog

Puerto Rico Wedding Weekend

March 31, 2011 Keep It Sweet 21 Comments

This past weekend I was in Puerto Rico for my cousin’s wedding. It was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time with amazing weather, gorgeous pools and beach, and good food. The best part was that there was a great balance of spending time with my family (almost all of my mom’s family was there!) and pool time with my book (read one and a half books from the Hunger Games). Between the sun and the time dancing, drinking and eating with my family it was amazing. Here are some highlights:

Traditional Puerto Rican food at the rehearsal dinner: shredded pork, chicken, mixed vegetables and plantains (my favs!)

Birthday cake at the rehearsal dinner- my cousin got married the day after he turned 27!

Really impressive cake, moist and delicious with a whipped cream-like icing

Dancing on the beach at the rehearsal dinner

Pre-wedding photos

Matt and me

Picture with my mom, sister and grandfather

My dad and sister

Such a gorgeous bride and groom during sunset

Amazing backdrop to the ceremony

Reception photos

EAGLES!!! Philly pride:-)

They used the red velvet cake to cut, yum!

This is why I love my sister

Picture with the best man / brother of the groom

Matt with my cousins, uncle and friends

Such a happy married couple!

Quote of the night: “I don’t go to the casino to lose cupcakes” -Matt running back to the casino because he left his cupcakes there.

The day after the wedding, my sister, Matt and I went to Old San Juan to explore. Authentic Puerto Rican food might be the best greasy hangover food;-)

Puerto Rican bread

Fried pork tenders, fried plantains and onions

“Meat pie” (PR version of shepherd’s pie) with rice and plantains

I can’t believe that just a few days ago I was soaking up the sun in Puerto Rico. Now I am back to cold and rainy New York and daydreaming about the palm trees.

What was the last trip you took?

Blog

Back to Flex Mussels

March 13, 2011 Keep It Sweet 28 Comments

Living in NYC, we don’t go to the same restaurant twice unless it is really good. Last time we went to Flex Mussels, we had a wonderful experience, and I have not been able to get the deep fried whoopie pie out of my head since! So when our friends suggested Flex Mussels for dinner this weekend, I couldn’t say no.

The big difference last night, was that we went to the 13th Street location, where Zac Young, the famous pastry chef from Top Chef: Just Desserts, usually works. Well, not only was Zac there, but we actually met him and talked to him for a few minutes! Actually, Matt said hello and introduced us, and I kind of blathered about. I don’t really get excited about actors, but celebrity chefs are my thing and I was completely star-struck. Good thing I have a husband that was able to form complete sentences and ask to take a picture with Zac.

I still can’t get over how cool he was. If you watched Just Desserts, he is exactly like he was on the show. I did manage to ask him if he eats the desserts he makes, and he told me he actually just eats desserts, since they don’t have calories. Can you see why I love him?

Anyway, the food was just as good as last time. Matt and I shared the Goat Cheese Salad (“toasted goat cheese, simple greens, roasted beets, candied walnuts, apples”). The greens were crisp and fresh and there was a good balance of ingredients.

For the table we ordered a few things to share:

2 orders of Truffle Fries

The fries were crispy and flavorful topped with mixed seasonings and parmesan cheese. They were accompanied by an aromatic truffle oil.

Little Neck Mussels: “fresh chopped clams, bacon, red pepper, breadcrumbs, herbs”

These mussels were different from any mussels I’ve had before. I loved the texture that was added from the breadcrumbs.

Maine Mussels: “lobster, smoked bacon, corn, white chowder, parsley”

The Maine variety was extremely flavorful. If you like bacon, I’d highly recommend this version. We had this version last time and I’m glad we ordered it again.

Italiano Mussels (no photo): “calamari, roasted garlic, red wine, tomato sauce”

These were the perfect mussels for bread dipping. The red sauce was chunky and flavorful. The calamari were a little overcooked, but other than that these were great too.

Even though the salad, mussels and fries was more than enough food, we couldn’t leave without ordering dessert. I was so tempted to get donuts or the whoopie pie again, but I wanted to try something new. Everything on the dessert menu sounded amazing, but Zac had said that his favorite was The Flexy Cream Egg.

I usually shy away from panna cotta, it just isn’t my thing, but the dessert sounded so interesting Matt and I had to try it.

The dessert had a beautiful presentation.

A thin chocolate shell was filled with the panna cotta and topped with the salted chocolate shortbread cookie crumbs. Of course it wouldn’t be a Zac dessert without gold dust painted across the plate.

The panna cotta was creamy and flavorful but I especially liked the cookie crumbs- crunchy, sweet and salty all at the same time.

Thanks Flex Mussels and Zac for another terrific meal. We will definitely be back!

In other news, the Husband started a blog! Check out Matt Eats Food for his review of Flex Mussels and some of his daily eats.

Do you have restaurants that you go to repeatedly or do you always try something new?

Blog

A Night at Flex Mussels

November 11, 2010 Keep It Sweet 33 Comments

I may have stopped recapping Top Chef Just Desserts, but I continued to watch. The show actually got better as the drama went away, and viewers were able to get a glimpse at some extremely talented pastry chefs. The wide range of skills they have is incredible, from wedding cakes, to edible dresses, these chefs are pretty inspiring.

Zac Young is amazing and makes creative, delicious desserts. He will definitely be getting my “fan favorite” vote:-) Lucky for me, he happens to work at a New York City restaurant, Flex Mussels. When one of my best friends from college was visiting last Friday, who also also happens to be a huge Zac fan from the show, I had the perfect opportunity to visit the restaurant!

Flex Mussels has a wide variety of seafood dishes, along with over a dozen varieties of mussels. They also have a chicken dish which was perfect for my seafood-hating friend. The restaurant has a trendy vibe and is reasonably priced in the nice NYC-restaurant category.

A group of 5 of us went to the Upper East Side location for a 9:30 reservation. The place was packed which led to slightly slow service, but the food was so good we didn’t care. Matt and I shared the goat cheese salad plus two varieties of mussels: Italiano and Maine. I really enjoyed the food, but honestly, was saving room for dessert.

Unfortunately, Zac was in the kitchen at the other location that night, but the desserts were still designed by him so I was ok with that. Besides, it gives me an excuse to try the restaurant again.

The five of us decided to choose one donut each and have the waiter choose a sixth for us. He picked salted caramel and I am glad he did! It had a surprisingly complex flavor. My selection was fluffernutter and my friends picked blueberry, meyer lemon, chocolate and peanut butter and jelly. The donuts were the perfect ratio of filling to pastry, a taste of each in every bite. They came warm and fresh with a side of some sort of creamy glaze.

Of course we also had to try Zac’s famous deep fried whoopie pie.

O.M.G. I now wish I had a deep fryer. This was not the boring whoopie pie I have had in the past. It was moist and flavorful chocolate cake sandwiched with cream cheese icing that oozed out as soon as I sliced it. The crispy outer layer was delicious and added a great balance of textures. I’m not even sure what all of the sides were but I think the big scoop was coffee ice cream.

We may have shared this around the table, but I managed to take an extra piece for myself. It was too good to leave behind:-) Definitely one of the top five restaurant desserts I have ever had.

Overall, it was a great night at Flex Mussels. We all left full of delicious food and Matt and I resolved to go back for more mussels and dessert and hopefully catch Zac!

Have you ever met any famous chefs? Did their food live up to your expectations?

Uncategorized

Wedding in Boston

September 6, 2010 Keep It Sweet 12 Comments

This weekend, Matt and I headed up north for a wedding outside of Boston. We were there to celebrate Jon (Matt’s old roommate and close friend) and Ali. It was a great weekend filled with good friends and fun festivities, oh and good food, too.

Friday afternoon we had the chance to stop in Boston for some exploring along Newbury Street. I hadn’t been there in a long time so it was nice to get the chance to be tourists for a few hours. I must say, though, it is wrong to put cupcakes in the name of a store that doesn’t actually sell cupcakes…

No carbs and calorie free?!

That night was the rehearsal dinner where we got a taste of New England with a lobster bake! The meal started with salad, clam chowder, mussels and clams and then of course we had lobster.

My plate:

Matt’s plate:

We got really into it…

The dinner ended with traditional moon pies and baseball cakes to represent the bride and groom’s respective teams.

Surprise cakes from the groom’s sister (far right) and bride’s brother (second from the left)

Saturday night was the big event! Bride and groom under the chuppah

Matt is a pro at cocktail hours

And then, after my fair share of champagne, I think I overdid it on dessert. They had a chocolate and vanilla wedding cake with some sort of coffee filling and I think a buttercream icing. Between cake and the freshly whipped cream, I went a little bit overboard. Too much champagne + dessert buffet = room for improvement.

I try hard to eat intuitively, but sometimes desserts get the best of me! Something I am always trying to work on!

What are your food weaknesses? How do you stop yourself from overeating them?

Random Integer Generator

Cookie cakes, dessert platters, pop-ups and more!