Playlist Thursday: All In The Family

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Kelly — 3 Comments ↓

Playlist Thursday is back! That means it is time to link up with Pavement Runner. This is an awesome link up I always try to partake in because I get to see songs that I might not have otherwise heard of and I always end up adding at least one song to my running playlist. Make sure you head over to Pavement Runner to check out everyone else who contributed this week.

Playlist thursday teal

Today’s theme is: Family. I picked bands that have some or all of the members as siblings. I hope you enjoy!

SOMETHING OLD
Artist: Heart

Title: Alone

Side Note: Two of the women are sisters, thought not both are original members. I love a ton of Heart’s songs, so it was hard to pick just one song. However, Alone is the one that is on my playlist the most! (I can also be seen belting this at the top of my lungs in the car FYI)

Quotable:
Till now I always got by on my own
I never really cared until I met you
And now it chills me to the bone
How do I get you alone

SOMETHING CURRENT
Artist: The Band Perry

Title: Done

Side Note: All three members are related, Perry is their last name. Their songs can be a bit dark, whether they are upbeat or not, but I still love them!

Quotable:
Mama always told me that I should play nice
She didn’t know you when she gave me that advice
I’m through, with you
You’re one bridge I’d like to burn
Bottle up the ashes, smash the urn
I’m through with you, la ti da
I don’t wanna be part of your fun,
Don’t wanna be under your thumb
All I wanna be is…done

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER
Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR)

Title: Fortunate Son

Side Note: I don’t know that this song hits many running playlists, but it has gotten me pumped since high school, like the angry kind of pumped. The Fogerty brothers were both a part of CCR and are amazing!

Quotable:
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes

Year of Baking: Joy the Baker’s Cream Cheese Poundcake

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Kelly — 18 Comments ↓

After fasting and Greek Easter and a birthday/mother’s day weekend, I feel like I am 100% back on track again!

I’ve been back to my post-workout Oats with Designer Whey protein powder!

pre-mixing

I accompany that with some water and coffee!

For lunches I always have some leftover roasted veggies, or recently, sautéed spinach with a turkey burger, egg, avocado and roasted broccoli!

I wolfed down the broccoli before I took the pic, whoops.

I’ve also had hard-boiled eggs at the ready and sliced fruit for snacking.

Before I got back to my clean eats, I made a poundcake for Greek Easter, from the Joy the Baker cookbook – Cream Cheese Poundcake!

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1.5 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1.5 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven at 325F, making sure a rack is in the center
2. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan for later
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside
4. Beat cream cheese until soft and pliable
5. Add butter and sugar and beat until fluffy, approximately 3 minutes
6. Add the vanilla and stir until blended, then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating at medium for 1 minute each
7. With the mixer on low, slowly add in the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated
8. Stop your mixer at that point and fold together the batter with a spatula
9. Spoon into your prepared pan
10. Bake for 30 minutes. After that, rotate the cake, and if it’s browning too quickly, move to an upper rack (I did not have this problem)
11. Bake for another 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
12. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.

It should last for up to 4 days at room temperature, well wrapped.

Notes
I LOVED this recipe. I needed something easy and simple to pull together for Easter and this fit the bill.

While we didn’t eat a ton of it at Easter, Nick and I took it home, I popped it in tupperware and put it in the fridge, and it is even more delicious a little chilled, my favorite is a small slice topped with Dark Chocolate Dreams from PB&Co.

Nick also might have stuffed a piece in his mouth when he came home starving after a night out, might have.

I definitely plan on making this again, I think it would be a great base for summer strawberry shortcakes!

Check out more recipes and daily eats at Jenn’s link up for WIAW!

Do you like pound cake? What’s your favorite summer dessert?

Defining What’s Beautiful

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Kelly — 19 Comments ↓

This post and my participation in the What’s Beautiful Campaign is sponsored by Under Armour through Fitfluential. My opinions and goals are my own.

I am sure you have all heard by now that Under Armour is having round three of their What’s Beautiful contest, due to some technical difficulties I do not have a team page, YET, but I will.

I think this is one of the most important campaigns I have ever come across, so I’d like to share a bit of my story with you all before I get to the details.

I don’t think I have ever used the words “thin, fit or skinny” do describe myself, even though today I may not be the thinnest girl on the block, I know that I am fitter than I ever have been. I am also not great at accepting compliments, whether it be about a run or someone telling me I am pretty (just ask my husband).

I wish I could say I was surrounded by women who were supportive and uplifting about each others bodies and accomplishments my entire life, but unfortunately from doctors to close family members, most of the women in my life as a child, teen and young adult were the opposite. I was called fat by female doctor, by family members, by the people who were supposed to be my friends. I took up smoking and that is when I lost the most weight and was at my lightest weight, but I wasn’t healthy or fit.

Moving out on my own, finding a gym, a supportive trainer and network of gym goers, helped me initially lose a good chunk of weight. I started working out regularly, bur I didn’t find my drive or passion until after I had B. Then I really found a group of (mostly) women who shared the same goals and passions that I did.

Under Armour is taking this network worldwide with their What’s Beautiful campaign.

From the UA site:

What’s Beautiful is a community and a competition to redefine the female athlete by setting epic goals and pushing past where we’ve ever been and where we thought we could go. Join us. Set your own personal goal. Then document your journey by posting videos and photos that tell your story from start to victory.

We’ll continuously post challenges for you. But that’s just the beginning. Show us your journey. Show us what makes your story the one that stands out from the rest. If you meet your goal, set a new one. Make it even bigger. Prove to everyone, and yourself, that you have more than what it takes.

Complete challenges and share your journey; join teams for additional challenges, support and motivation.

Sounds amazing right? My goal was announced awhile ago, PRing my half time by 20 minutes. Since the What’s Beautiful campaign is only 8 weeks and I won’t be running my half by then I will make smaller goals for each week, goals that will inevitably push me out of my comfort zone and assist me in getting faster (so I can reach my BIG goal).

To join:
Sign up as an individual, and join teams to encourage and support other in your small and large goals. Once my technical issues are sorted out I will link to my team!

The sweet extras:

Every week Under Armour will give away swag bags full of gear to women who are seriously getting it. They’ll also feature profiles on their home page and in the “Top Performers” section of women who are really setting an example.The three women with the most epic personal journeys will win a trip to Costa Rica for four days of yoga and surf lessons, with spa treatments, massages and meals prepared by a personal chef! Not a prize to be missed, you don’t have to be a blogger to enter, all women of all abilities are welcome to join!

Craft New York

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Kelly — 8 Comments ↓

First, Happy Birthday Sister!

I want to preface this post with the fact that all photos were taken with my iPhone camera, I didn’t have my DSLR with me, but I loved this meal and needed to share with all of you, but the pictures do not do the food justice.

For Christmas, my Dad and his significant other gifted Nick and I a nice dinner in New York City during our visit. I decided on Craft

We made our reservation for Sunday night, we arrived a few minutes early and were still seated right away. The restaurant was full but not packed and not too loud. The restaurant had that perfect romance lighting, darkish but you could still read your menu.

Our waiter was at our table right away to take our drink orders.

Paloma – Tequila, Combier Pampelmousse Rose, and Grapefruit Bitters

It was delicious but very strong. I loved that they poured it table side. Nick ordered the Bee Sting (Bourbon, Fresh Ginger, Cardamom Honey, Regans Orange Bitters) right up Cait’s alley.

They also delivered bread with the drinks and we had a bunch of different choices.

Then the chef sent out an amuse bouche, beef tartar, Nick usually never touches this type of food. I made him try it, and he actually liked it. It was seasoned well and fresh.

For our meals we decided to share 2 appetizers, 2 side dishes and to pick our own entrees.

Appetizers:

I picked Wild Arugula & Lemon Salad, that also had pine nuts. Nick chose the Pork Ravioli & Steens Cane Syrup.

My favorite was definitely the salad, I ate almost the entire thing, it was lightly massaged with the lemon and neither flavor took over the dish. The ravioli was good, but it was too sweet for my preference.

Clockwise from the left: Roasted red snapper with a sun dried tomato sauce (my entree), American Wagyu Coulotte (Nick’s entree), Spring Garlic Risotto, and Sautéed Swiss Chard.

At first when the brought the sides (the risotto & swiss chard) the dishes were small and I was like hmm that’s kinda pricy for that size, but I was FULL after a small portion of each. We ended up leaving almost half the risotto at the table we were so stuffed.

The fish was amazing. I LOVE red snapper and it was perfectly cooked with crispy skin. I even spread some of the sauce on the swiss chard because I didn’t want to waste it.

The wagyu Nick ordered medium rare, and it was cooked to perfection, it melted in our mouths, I am drooling thinking about it.

How cute are these dishes that our meals were served in? Every piece came in a different one.

We obviously had to have dessert.

Nick’s Chocolate Pretzel Tart. Served with peanut butter & vanilla ice cream. I actually don’t like pretzels so I didn’t want this one, but it did not have that over-salted taste I associate with pretzels.

The best dessert on the planet!

Chocolate Soufflé with caramel cream. This takes a little extra time to prepare so we savored our drinks while we waited. When the waiter delivered this gem you had the option to pour the cream on the soufflé yourself or have the waiter do it. I let the waiter do the honors and I let the cake sit for a minute before diving in. OH MY WORD. This was amazing, the cake was moist and their was a balance between the chocolate and the cream. I wanted to finish it but I had no room, I barely had room for half. I would go back for this dessert alone.

Since my dad called in advance, we didn’t get the bill, but with the bill they deliver you vanilla Madeline’s. We each had a bite and they were great, not dry at all and the flavor was phenomenal.

As we were leaving, the maiter d handed us banana chocolate chip muffins, for breakfast he said. Wow, that is some amazing customer service.

We did eat them the next morning since we missed the hotel breakfast, and they were impressed that after the evening the muffins were still full of flavor and were not dried out.

If you are looking for a place to eat in NYC, I highly recommend Craft. In fact I am trying to convince Nick that we have to go back soon.

Join Jenn’s WIAW party and see other great eats around the interwebs.

Year of Baking: Flour’s Snickerdoodle Cookie

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Kelly — 6 Comments ↓

I haven’t actually baked in a while, it was nice to get behind the mixer this week and whip up a few desserts for Greek Easter.

When I saw the Snickerdoodle cookie recipe in the Flour cookbook I knew I had to try it. When I was younger all the families in our neighborhood would bake a plate full of treats for each of the other houses for Christmas. Our neighbor across the street (aka my second parents) always made snickerdoodles and to this day I can’t have one without thinking of that time.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1.5 cups of granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for coating
2 eggs, room temperature
2.5 cups unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup ground cinnamon for coating

Instructions

1. Using the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed
2. Beat for 4-5 minutes, while occasionally scraping down the side of the bowl
3. When the mixture is fluffy, add the eggs, one at a time, beat the eggs for 2-3 minutes until fully combined
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt
5. Slowly blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture and then mix just until the flour is totally incorporated and the dough is evenly mixed
6. Scrape the dough into an airtight container and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 3-4 hours) before baking
7. When ready to bake, place the rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350 degrees
8. In a small bowl mix together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon
9. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and roll to coat
10. Place the coated cookies onto a baking sheet, spaced about 3 inches apart
11. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand
12. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown on the edges and slightly soft in the middle
13. Cool on a baking sheet on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then transfer cookies to the rack to cool completely

Notes

The recipe says that this makes 24 cookies, but the cookies were gigantic, I would actually make the cookies smaller and make at least 48 if not more. I n my mind snickerdoodles are 2-3 bite cookies.

I made the cinnamon & sugar coating and had a lot left over, I think I would make less next time.

The cookies were made on Thursday and were eaten on Saturday and Sunday, while they weren’t as soft as they should’ve been in the center (like they were the day I made them), they were a soft chewy and not hard so I will take that as a win.

I only let the dough rest about 3 hours, so next time I will definitely let it rest overnight.

Have you ever made or eaten snicker doodles?

What cookie has special memories for you?

A Tale of Two Easter’s: Part Two

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Kelly — 10 Comments ↓

As I explained in my last Easter post, Nick and I celebrate Easter twice. The Catholic Easter with my family and Greek Orthodox Easter with Nick’s, some years they fall on the same weekend, but more often than not they are a few weekends apart.

For this marvelous Monday I will show you a bit of our weekend.

We started our weekend with a great Church service with the family, even B wore his best outfit.

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Photo courtesy of my brother-in-law

My mom drove down for the weekend and we spent Saturday together, I even stayed up for the monologue of SNL, that has happened in a very long time.

Sunday was Easter, we had dinner at my in-laws.

Some of mine (and B’s favorites)

Spanakopita and Tyropita

We also had lamb, steak, pastichio, lots of salad, guacamole, stromboli and many many desserts (which I will blog about soon).

How was your weekend? Have you ever been a part of Greek Easter festivities?

Agave NYC

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Kelly — 11 Comments ↓

Nick and I went to NYC a few weekends ago, the real intent was because I got him tickets to Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival, we decided to make a whole weekend out of it. I will say if you ever have the opportunity to see Crossroads the next time Clapton has the festival, DO IT.

Nick & Eric

I made reservations for brunch at Agave the next day. I first heard of Agave through Cait, and one of mine and Nick’s good friends actually went for brunch the previous weekend. Cait’s review (for drinks) was great, our friends (for brunch) not so much. I went in with zero expectations thinking it could go either way.

When we got there for our 12 o’clock reservation the patio area was packed and the front part of the restaurant was as well. We were brought into the back and it was EMPTY. It was so weird, we felt a little uncomfortable but just decided to enjoy our time together. Our waiter had a very thick accent so it was a bit hard to decipher what he was saying sometimes, but he came to our table right away and answered all my questions. +1 for service so far.

Nick and I both went with the pre-fixe eggs menu which was $24.95 for one of the egg entries and 2 hours of bottomless mimosa, wine or traditional Agave margarita (note the menu said blended margarita). You can get the egg items without the bottomless drinks for a lower price.

We started with some coffee, necessary after being out until almost 1 am

We both picked the house margarita but we were able to get them on the rocks.

For my meal, I ordered the Southwestern Eggs Benedict

with avocado, tomato and chipotle hollandaise, served with a side of potatoes and grapes…not together

The egg was cooked perfectly and the avocado and tomato were ripe, the hollandaise wasn’t too spicy (which I prefer) but the english muffin was a bit over toasted making it a little difficult to cut.

Nick ordered a Three Egg Omelette with cheese, chorizo and spinach.

However he received a Three Egg Scramble with chorizo, ham and mushrooms. Unfortunately, we realized it after he ate a decent amount and said it was good so he wasn’t going to say anything.

By this time we had finished our marts, but they were strong and I was already feeling the first one so we switched to mimosas. The wait staff were walking around with pitchers filled with mimosa and kept re-filling our glasses. To say we were tipsy was an understatement.

my favorite breakfast beverage

When we got the bill it had 20% SrvChg, and at this point I could not find our waiter. I ended up flagging down a waitress and she told us it was the gratuity so we didn’t need to leave a tip. I have never seen this before, and I don’t want to be that person that doesn’t leave a tip.

I will note that our section slowly started filling up 20 minutes after we arrived and was packed when we left at 1 pm.

After brunch we decided to take a long walk, because it was a gorgeous day, and also because we were buzzing. Thanks for a great brunch Agave, I most certainly will be back!

Link up with Jenn for more wonderful eats!

Compliments

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Kelly — 26 Comments ↓

Starting off the week with some marvelous things!

About a month ago, a high school teacher of mine started a campaign called 30 Days of Compliments. The idea was to compliment someone every single day for 30 days, it could be on Facebook, Twitter, a hand written letter, a phone call, etc… Not specific rules, just a way to remember (without it being a holiday season) to be grateful for the people in our lives.

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My family. I am grateful for them every single day. Nick who always supports my (sometimes foolish) ideas and makes me laugh and is a great day. B who turned my life upside down in the most amazing way, I can’t imagine my life without him.

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Siblings. My sister-in-law, her husband, my brother-in-law and my sister. They are amazing people, who always have our backs and are great aunts and uncles to B. Thank you for always being there.

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My dad & grandma. My dad went back to med school when I was in sixth grade, proof that if you want to make something happen you can. It’s never to late to follow your heart. My grandma who never lets anything stop her and is always on the go.

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My mom. Who always listens, even when I am wrong, and who taught me the love of books.

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My in-laws. For always being there and always helping out, and for spoiling B rotten.

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My trainer/great friend BZ and Amanda, for being my support system and pushing me beyond where I ever thought I could go.

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One of my best friends, for acting silly with me, going out for beers because we need a break and for always having my back no matter what. Oh, and for starting my obsession with running.

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Blogging buddies, for not being too scared to meet IRL, to have playmates with our kids, for showing me new restaurants, and for talking to me when I am having a bad day…or a good one.

My running coach, mentors and TNT teammates! I never would have been able to run a half-marathon without them.

To my Alpha Gams, especially my roommate, Corinne and big, Erin (sorry no photos none of them were appropriate ) for being such a huge part of my life. I wish we all loved footsteps away still.

To the 3 best guy friends a girl could have, and to our guardian angel, thanks for always keeping me on my toes.

To our friends and family for being supportive no matter what.

Who would you compliment?

Taste of the Nation Hartford

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Kelly — 18 Comments ↓

I was honored and excited to attend Taste of the Nation in Hartford almost two weeks ago now (sorry for the delay in posting, I needed a breather).

Taste of the Nation cost $75 for general admission and $125 for VIP, and those proceeds as well as those from the silent auction and wall of wine benefited local grantees to fight hunger in the Hartford area. Grantees included No Kid Hungry CT, Foodshare, Hartford Food System, and End Hunger Connecticut.

I was able to attend with Caitlin and Kaitlin and since Cait had a plus one she graciously brought my hubby.

Blend Love

Husband Love

Since the three of us were new to this (and the crowd was kind of overwhelming) we followed Cait’s lead.

Points of note: Next time bring a large tote to stuff things in and bring water.

Caitlin usually tries the beverages first and then hits up the food. I tried that method but new early on that this method wouldn’t work for me. My other tactic was to have one or two sips of each drink and one bite of each food item. This allowed me to try as many items as possible and if I loved something I indulged with no regrets, but if I disliked something, I didn’t feel rude.

Our first stop was at Agave where we indulged in Margarita’s which is appropriate since the first time Cait and I met in person we were celebrating meeting, obviously, and the fact that I just became a FitFluential Ambassador, with margaritas.

After we chatted for a bit, Nick, Kaitlin and I picked up this delicious treat. From Costa Del Sol – Chocolate Truffle with Caramelized Orange Crisps.

Hands down my favorite dessert of the entire night. The truffle was creamy and light while the crisps were not to hard and the flavors blended together wonderfully.

The next table had a bottle of Josh Cabernet Sauvignon, which Caitlin told me I had to try. It was the perfect pairing after the truffle dessert.

The next table had a gorgeous display, from Mystic Oyster Club

I have had two experiences with Oysters, one was amazing and one was terrible, I passed on the oysters this time but I will definitely visit next time we get together with our friends that live in Mystic.

The next table was amazing, it had a great line up of foods from Mill Restaurant Group, Kaitlin and I had this delicious Ahi Tuna on a wonton chip with corn salsa. One of my favorites, and of course I ate the whole dang thing.

Nick then tried both the following dishes:

It was cranberry bread with prosciutto and roasted duck (I think)

Chilled pea soup, you ate the cracker, which is topped with crab and then drank the soup out of the shooter.

Photos from Caitlin

Then Caitlin, Kaitlin, Nick and I all tried (separately) the Durigutti Reserva 2007 Malbec, one of my favorite wines of the night.

The next stop for Nick and I was Plan B Burger. I have actually been here once, a long time ago, and my sister-in-law, her husband and my brother-in-law have been before so I wanted to try. The burger was juicy and flavorful but nothing I haven’t had before (although after looking at their menu there are other burgers I want to try). The real standout was the hot dog. It was a mini hot dog topped with chili, cheese and green onions, it was amazing.

I took a really awesome photo of Cait enjoying hers.

I’m lucky she loves me, ha!

We went and looked at the Silent Auction and bid on a signed UCONN 2012-2013 Women’s autographed basketball. Sadly, we did not win it, the bids got pretty high towards the end.

After we digested for a bit we made our way into the next room. Our first stop was Thomas Hooker Brewing Company, Nick has actually been on the tour of the brewery for his good friends birthday, I however couldn’t go because I was pregnant, so this was actually my first tasting.

I love a nice, light and fresh summer beer, and this fits the bill. Don’t be surprised if you see one next to me in a month.

Of course these two had to get a picture with the Alaska Outlaw Whiskey. These two love their whiskey, and talk about it often. I love that they had it poured in their wine glasses, always classy.

The next stop was Joey Garlic’s, my in-laws actually get pizza from here frequently, and it’s okay (I prefer thick pizza) but these sandwiches changed my opinion completely.

Prime Rib on crusty bread with arugula and cheese. Delicious, the perfect bread to meat ratio and the Prime Rib was perfectly seasoned.

Rizzutto’s was hands-down my favorite table of the night, in fact we went twice. No regrets.

That in fact is a steaming meatball on a crusty bun, it was delicious. The meatball was full of flavor and juicy, I also love the sauce wasn’t super oily, which is my biggest issue with restaurant sauces.

Not only was the food delicious, but the 2 men running the table were super nice. I dragged Cait and Kaitlin back with us the second time since they didn’t go to the table on their first round and they were starting to put their things away. Luckily we each snagged a meatball and Cait noticed a kitchen tub of some chocolate looking thing.

Peanut Butter, Banana, and Chocolate Cheesecake. They also had homemade marshmallow to go on top but we were all almost through our dessert and passed.

I went on to try Layer Cake Pinot Noir, I have always seen this wine but I hate spending money on new drinks because I fear I won’t like it. Nick had the Shiraz but I wasn’t a fan, I definitely preferred the Pinot Noir.

Our next stop was City Steam Brewery. I’ve actually had their beer before, and I enjoy it so I decided to dabble in a little tasting. I haven’t had the Naughty Nurse before so I decided to try it. Side-note: check out their beer page, the have hilarious names like Czars & Girls.

It had a little bit of a bite, which was seemingly appropriate with the title, and I enjoyed the bittersweet finish.

I loved that they gave us beer cups, a lot of the liquors were being poured in the wine glass and I don’t like mixing.

We ended up meeting up with ladies at our next stop, Cavey’s. Cavey’s is a unique restaurant because it has both an Italian side and a French side. They had food from both sides.

Smoked Trout on crispy bread. I’ve never had smoked trout before and this was amazing and the perfect bite.

Whipped ricotta and ratatouille. The combination was amazing, my only complaint? Not enough chip for the dish. It’s okay Nick used some crusty bread to eat the rest of the dish.

Nick mentioned to us that he heard whisperings of a Lobster Burger, none of us heard anything, but lo and behold we wandered into the hallway on our way upstairs and we found a booth with an Edamame burger, a Veggie burg and you guessed it – a Lobster burger.

I tasted just the lobster, it was delicious. Not a lot of dressing and full of juicy pieces of lobster.

I had the edamame burger, I’ll be honest it tasted a bit under seasoned, I think with a pinch of salt it could be amazing.

Caitlin then led us to Firebox, her friend Kat said it was a must try.

Fluke crudo

Nick’s super picky about raw fish so he passed on this one, but I thought it was delicious, fresh and packed with flavor. They also had ONE of their drinks left. I forgot to write down exactly what was in it, but it had tequila and NO pre-made mixer, so it was a win.

After we walked around a bit we made our way upstairs to some of Caitlin’s favorite hangouts. The first stop was Millwrights Tavern, a place I’ve been telling Nick we need to go to.

Chilled pea soup, smoked salmon rillettes, and shoots

They were literally picking the herbs from the plants (that they brought in) right there, talk about fresh. I loved the smoky flavor with cold soup, there were a ton of textures and flavors brought out and just reaffirmed that I need to visit them.

The bartender was making a drink, the aviation, and served it in cute little glasses. It was made with gin, creme de violette, and citrus. It was a bit strong considering I was driving home soon, so I had one sip and passed it back, but I can see myself enjoying one of these in their bar.

The next stop was a place that I have been meaning to go to forever, Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant

Whipped Goat Cheese, Pistachio, Smoked Paprika, Tuna and Tomato

I wish this had been a one bite type of thing because there was so much food, I couldn’t try it all together. It was delicious, and now I am planning a visit so Caitlin and I can go to one of their wine dinners!

They also had some type of sangria, it was light and fresh and didn’t taste like it had any fake syrupy mixes, and that’s because it doesn’t!

While Caitlin was chatting with her friends, Kaitlin, Nick and I headed to Black Bamboo which is a Chinese Restaurant in West Hartford.

Spring Roll and Vegan BBQ Boneless Ribs

Sorry for the poor quality photo it was DARK in some of the areas upstairs. I contemplated not telling Nick that the ribs were vegan, he is a MEAT guy, but I did because I’m a nice wife. He decided to try them anyway.

We all agreed that we could have been fooled, the sauce was seemingly identical to boneless ribs you’d get anywhere, the only thing that was a bit off was the texture. Honestly, I preferred these to “real” boneless ribs, because the meat is usually stringy and tough.

The spring roll was also delicious, it wasn’t greasy and it was packed with veggies. I think I found a new favorite chinese restaurant!

My last beverage was from Grants!

Wild Hibiscus Punch: Avion Silver Tequila, Hibiscus & Ginger Liqueur, Cilantro Syrup, Fresh Grapefruit juice, and Rhubarb bitters

It was a bit too spicy for me, honestly I think it would be awesome without the ginger and cilantro, but I am not a bartender. The bartender also gave me advice to find the best cupcakes in the area!

We also hit up the sushi at Feng Ginza Group while upstairs, but that booth was packed so I didn’t get a picture. I’ve actually been to Ginza a bunch of times. I got to Nick to get out of his comfort zone and try sushi that had slices of fish on top of the roll and he liked it!

Our last dinner stop was Tisane Euro Asian Cafe

They had a delicious steak with noodles and veggies

And the cutest presentation. I am not usually a fan of asian style noodles but these didn’t have a ton of sauce and the beef was cooked to perfection.

Our last food stop was cupcakes, obviously. We went to Frosted Couture Cupcakes

Look how nicely they matched my outfit

I’ll be honest, they weren’t anything out of the ordinary, the frosting was decent and the cake was a bit dry.

Our very last stop was the Wall of Wine

For $10 you could pick any bottle and and all bottles were priced at $10-$50 and all bottles were donated.

Rinaldone dell’Osa, Morellino di Scansano

A tuscan wine that has notes of berries and anise. I am not sure I will like it (I don’t typically like anise flavors) but it was all for a good cause!

I was given the opportunity to visit Hartford’s Taste of the Nation event, but I would gladly pay the $75 General Admission ticket price, we are even contemplating going to the New Haven event.

Join Jenn’s link-up and see other delicious eat’s from around the blogging world.

Have you ever been to an event like this?
What do you think your favorite food and drink would be?

Year of Baking: Visiting Bouchon Bakery

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Kelly — 6 Comments ↓

When Nick and I were in New York there were two bakeries I wanted to try, spoiler we only made it to one of them. After walking for a few hours and some sight-seeing we came to the Bouchon Bakery in Rockefeller Center.

I’ve only made one recipe from the Bouchon cookbook for the year of baking. I’ll be honest, a ton of the recipes intimidate me, and a ton of them are very complicated. This visit, however, re-ignited my interest to try a recipe from there.

I asked for the Mixed Greens salad and it did not disappoint. Goat cheese, chicken, dried cranberries and apricots, pear, almonds and a light vinaigrette. It was so good. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be anything spectacular, but I am drooling thinking of the creamy texture of the goat cheese.

Nick loves him some chicken salad, but hates any added “stuff”, when we were at the bakery (2 pm) it was mobbed and Nick on the fly picked this sandwich without asking what was in the chicken salad. It had one of Nick’s no-no’s, grapes, but he actually really enjoyed it. I think it was better because the grapes were chopped and a lot of chicken salads have them whole.

Uh, how delicious do those desserts look?

If you know me, it is no surprise that I got the chocolate tart. The crust was nice, thin, and crunchy. The chocolate was smooth and creamy.

Nick has a thing for coffee cake. We ordered coffees and enjoyed our desserts outside…I will say though, that powdered sugar was blown’ everywhere.

I also got a vanilla macaron for a treat later. It ended up being my treat on Monday, after a very long few hours, it was nice to enjoy a delicious pastry.

Now that I have visited, I decided I definitely need to make the chocolate tart (and get a tart pan) and I really need to give macarons a try.

Have you ever been to Bouchon? Have you ever made a tart or macarons? Any words of wisdom>?