Let me hear you say "ahhh"

I have been mulling over what to write about this week and just been hitting a wall. A big writer's blocky wall. All thick with gooey-ness keeping me from spluttering brilliance for all to read. I debated talking about the lull you feel after a long vacation, the splendors of not traveling with children, and I think I even kicked around the idea of talking about unusual hotels again... But I went to an outside source and tapped into my dear beloved's brain and he gave me a fun topic I don't think I've touched on, comfort foods.

Ahhh comfort foods. They can really be anything. I think mine is whatever is fun to cook. In all honesty for me, it's more fun to prepare a gorgeous meal that's going to be delicious. Now there's certain foods I excel at preparing, asparagus, yep we are a good team, and chicken. But the one dish I think I make that's a generic comfort food that makes everyone happy is one taught to my by my best friend, and chef. It's a simply casserole of squash, and gooey cheese. It is so fattening, and god bless your soul if you are lactose intolerant, but damn it's so good.

I needed another reference for someone's comfort so I asked the brilliant Harold, and he said two simple words, Peanut Butter. Two simple decadent words oozing with luscious promise, because when it comes to peanut butter pretty much any food is made better in it's company. It comes in so many different shapes and forms and no matter what it's delicious splendor whisking you away from all your worries and stress. For those blissful moments you devour the scrumptious treat from heaven.

Seeing as an outside source gave me this topic to discuss I decided to keep going with that avenue and asked another outside source what was their chosen comfort. Needless to say my idea that savory was a great method of comfort dining, I was off. Harold had his love for the buttery composition of the peanut, and a friend of mine with candy, well gummy bears was the example given. Yet another hat tip to the world of sweet when it comes to nomming your way into the thralls of comfort, who knew.

I think it breaks down to this. Comfort food is what you reach for when you're feeling like a kicked puppy and all you want to do is curl up on the couch with your favorite *fill in the blank* get snuggly under a blanket and then veg out, be it with a good book or a something on TV  It's food that makes you let out a sigh, and when you bite into it, you feel that moment of tranquility where all your worries about the world and stress drip away and you're filled the deliciousness of your favorite dish, and all you say is "ahhh".

Floating on Air.

Ok we all know that New Year's Eve is the night to go out and party, and it is believe me I know (I'm still planning my attack for all the parties I want to attend that night). But what about New Year's Day? I think we all dismiss it as a day to recover from the wild night prior to it, but why can't New Year's Day, be the day you use to set the tone for the rest of the year? I, of course, am going to issue a challenge! Make New Year's Day something special for you so that you start the year off with a bang. I am challenging myself to plan the most romantic date possible for my main squeeze before he has to go back to the desert and get back to his larnin'. 

I sat down with the genius who guides me, Harold (cha-ching!), and we brain stormed over what would make for a wonderful date in good ole big D. Initially we tossed around restaurants, he highly recommended Adelmo's Ristorante off Mckinney, they apparently have a very cozy spot for lovers to dine and smooch on the second floor, the food is out of this world too. But it seemed that if you're planning the perfect date, a bed and breakfast feel is what you want. It has to be something where you feel whisked away from your life and plunked down into a fairy-tale written just for you (and no that doesn't mean go to Medieval Times, put on a crown and run around screaming I'm a princess). 

We narrowed down the list of perfect settings for the perfect date to three locations, the criteria was that the hotel had to be lavish and luxurious, it had to have a restaurant with one of Dallas' finest dining, and it had to be an amazing location. The three who made the list were the Stoneleigh Hotel, the St. Germain, and of course the Adolphus.

Let's start with the Stoneleigh, it's a classic hotel that silver screen actors from the 40's used to flock to as it was the hotspot to visit when one came to Dallas. It's one of the staples of lavish Dallas history as it has been around since the 20's and with it's new reservations it's got the feel of a brand new starlette fresh from a 1920's movie screen. Along with the phenomenal accommodation that will make you stay tucked away in your room, there's the Bolla Restaurant located in the hotel. This uptown dining delight is under the watchful eye of  creative Chef Cesar Gallego's. For those of you who are budgeting after the holidays and worry that such a fine establishment is well outside of your price range, they offer these amazing four for forty menu's, it's a prefixed menu with a four course meal of some of the Chef's most innovative creations for your delight at such an affordable rate that it's ridiculous!

Next is the Adolphus. I shouldn't even have to tell my readers why the Adolphus is amazing because I have loved it so much that I think you have all come to love it too. However, I will never pass up the chance to gush about my beloved. The reason one should stay at the Adolphus is because it's one of the most romantic places in Dallas to be. The rooms are glorious and so comfortable with their french antique inspired themed. There's no need to leave your room because the staff is willing to bend over backwards to do whatever they can to make your room the absolution of a romantic getaway, but you should leave your room. You should get dressed to the nines grab hold of your significant other and go down to the French Room. There's nothing more romantic than sitting in a cozy table in the corner of one of the most beautiful rooms in Texas while serenaded by light piano music and devour eyerolling extraordinary five star dining.

Last on the list is definitely not the least but it is the smallest, which makes for it's very intimate feel and appeal (see what I did there). This hotel comes with the Harold stamp of approval, it's the Hotel St. Germain located on Maple. It's the only one of the three that is an actual bed and breakfast. It's decorated with a french theme throughout the entire estate and is truly marketed to lovers. The dining is a European themed candle lit restaurant that over looks the ivy covered french quarter styled garden courtyard. It's really the perfect place to go if you want the feel of being isolated in a romantic french cottage but still want the option of hitting the town seeing as Dallas has a lot to offer especially in that area. But again, it's the intimacy you're getting here, where the other two are luxurious and classic, this place is very cozy and small, there's only seven rooms in the entire venue!

I hope you all have a great and safe New Year's Eve*, and I truly hope your year starts off bright and inspiring. There's nothing more wonderful than the promise of a clean slate to start fresh. Happy New Year everyone!

*There's no excuse to drink and drive this New Year's Eve. AAA is offering Tipsy Tow: Even for those whithout a AAA membership, from 6pm-6am New Year's Eve/Day they will tow your drunk self and your car home for FREE. Save the number (800) 222-4357

Is being environmentally conscious only trendy on vacation?

I have been doing some research on Costa Rica and the option for Ecotourism keeps coming up. I have actually been noticing this a lot but it's really becoming noticeable as I search this vacation spot. I finally reach a soap box point because I'm a little aggravated with this.

I suppose a definition might help:

Ecotourism focuses on volunteering or "voluntourism" (don't get me started on that term), personal growth and environmental sustainability. Ecotourism typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. One of the goals of ecotourism is to offer tourists insight into the impact of human beings on the environment, and to foster a greater appreciation of our natural habitats.

Doing things that revolved around planetary awareness was reserved for the "dirty hippies", you know who I'm referring to. The woodstock, play in the mud, save the whales people. The people who used to go dumpster diving, not because they were looking for food, but because they knew the general public is lazy and doesn't recycle. When the term "ecotourism" hit the travel community I figured it was geared to people like that, that genuinely cared and loved for our planet all the time and finally earned a genre of tourism dedicated to their hard work.

After looking into and seeing what it cost I realized, it was not geared towards them. It was a method for the hip and trendy to make an even bolder statement that they are so with it, that they even take trips that help them save the planet. But does it? Yes it is great to go on a vacation that shows you how to minimize your carbon footprint but how useful is it to take a vacation if you come home and do nothing with it? I'm even one of these people, I came back from Montana all inspired by farm to table and farmer's markets, have I kept up with it, no... I am even guilty of throwing a plastic bottle in the trash..

Perhaps if someone is going to go on a tour designated for ecotourism, it should come with a contract that the traveler has to agree to take what they have learned on their adventure and apply it to their day to day life for at least six months. If we can't start doing something to better the planet with the information we learn on these gorgeous excursions then perhaps we should focus on going to the five star resort and leave the travel that could save the planet to those who aren't lazy and will actually make a difference.

Keeping my promise

Good morning readers! I hope you all had a good night's sleep, filled with dreams of delicious foods and time spent with precious loved ones. OK enough with the mushy stuff, on to business. Yesterday I spoke about the delectable food I had in Montana that was locally grown, and I made a promise that today I'd let you in on a handfull of places in the Metroplex that also did the farm to table dining.

                                                                 

The next on my list is also a soft spot for me, it's less than a mile from my house, Restaurant Ava. This new splendid restaurant is one of the best places in the Metroplex to eat, and in my opinion, the best high end dining in our little town of Rockwall Texas. They use farm to table products and free range chickens. The food is divine, it really is. Their lunch and dinner menus are sublime, but if you have a chance to stop in for breakfast I recomend getting their Shrimp and Grits (house cured tasso ham, oven roasted tomatoes, gulf shrimp, stone ground grits) for dinner I recommend Pan Roasted Chicken Breast (asparagus, french green beans, spanish chorizo, barking cat sweet peppers, patatas bravas).

Now if you're in Dallas and you need something on Inwood and Lovers Lane, then you should go visit Rise no1. A beautiful french bistrow featuring souffle's, the brain child of my boss' dear friend Hedda Dowd. She and Chef Cherif are co owners of this beautiful and very green living restaurant. It's one of the most interesting and delicious places one can eat at in the Dallas area. They have really made it their mission to educate and demonstration the importance of utilizing the local agriculture for gastronomic arts. They prove that local is delicious. Everything on their menu is superb and almost every ingrediant is something grown in the local area. They also use recycled materials from their decorations to their linens, but that's a tale for another day.

I realize that sometimes eating out is a little out of budget, don't worry, farm to table can also be your table. "But Wide Eyed, I don't think I can go to a farm for food." is what you might say, but I anticipated that. Yes, even though the two restaurants I listed are reasonable in price, eating out every meal isn't very cost effective, nor is it wise to drive to a random farm in the middle of Texas and just start plucking away at their goods. I found that in the Metroplex all you need to do is take a little drive to a local farmers market. I instantly found three convenient locations. There's the Rockwall farmers market, it's open Saturdays from 8-12noon, unfortunately it is not year round (it ends October 8th, hurry and go visit it). Then there's the Coppell Farmers Market, a huge supporter of the Farm to Table movement, they are also Saturdays from 8 - Noon, I know they are not year round, but not sure when they close down for the season, I'm pretty sure it's in November. Finally there's the Dallas Farmers Market, it's been up and running for 70 years. You can find anything there, and it's something you could do as an all day event, it is open 362 days a year from 8am - 6pm, no excuse to miss out on it. 

There's so much more I could tell you about when it comes to Dallas and it's growing appreciation for farm to table eating, but there's not enough hours in the day to tell you all about the delights. I know that DISH on Cedar Springs is one of Dallas' new hot spots but unfortunately I haven't had a chance to visit it personally, but trust me, I will be doing some very in depth research on it and will report back with the quickness. Have a wonderful weekend gnomes, go out and see if you can find some down home cooking, be it in a farm to table restaurant or fresh farmers market in your own kitchen.

http://restaurantava.com/
http://risesouffle.com/

http://www.dallasfarmersmarket.org

http://www.coppellfarmersmarket.org/

http://mainstreet.rockwall.com/faqs.asp 

Why does this taste so good?....

Hello my favorite readers. I have returned from my fantastic vacation in Montana (I like to pronounce "Mon-ton-ya" because it makes it sound much more distinguished). I went there for the majestic mountains, and fancy pants national park, but was wowed but something that I often praise but I don't believe I truly appreciated until my recent venture.

You see my gnomes, my main squeeze is from the great state of Montana and when we visit there (all two times) I depend on him to be my Experience Director for the area seeing as I know nothing about it (however I see to know my way around much faster than he does). He knew where the great food was and where ever we ate and I was wow'd by the awe inspired food I noticed a sign in the window, it was a farm to restaurant sign explaining that the food I was eating was locally grown and raised near by. Now I have always given a "raise the roof" to restaurants who do that but it was the first time I noticed that the real good stuff was the local stuff. The best meals I had in Montana came from the food we bought at the local coop, and from this wonderful place called the Nova Cafe.

• Preservatives are bad. They are, the chemicals break down the nutrients in your food, and it adds CHEMICALS that serve you no benefit in your food. There's a reason your grandmother's recipe for apple pie doesn't require you to add yellow #5, it's not natural.
• It tastes better when you eat something local. There's a huge difference with something picked and cooked the next day verses something flash frozen and driven for days and stored for weeks before you even see it in your kitchen.
• Helps the community, you're not dishing out cash that doesn't help somewhere you have never seen, the money goes back into your community benefiting those around you and helps to improve your local way of life.
• Not to mention, all the cool kids are doing it.

Maybe we as Texans need to really start looking into where we can get some truly down home food of our own....

.... and that's exactly what I'll be posting about next time.

By interesting you mean generic?

In my search to find inspiration for today's blog, I did a search of fascinating places. The search engines all pulled up the same old same old. I agree that yes, Rome, Paris, and New York are all wonderful places that everyone should visit, but interesting thinking outside the box travel locations... No not really. It's like going somewhere and looking for the best kept secret of burgers in the big apple and being referred to Corner Bistro. It's a magnificent restaurant with some of the most mouth watering burgers ever created, but cutting edge? the newest thing?.... No.

 I want to challenge my clients I want to show them a whole new world of excitement they didn't realize existed, not send them somewhere they saw in a romantic comedy. Instead of doing the usual trek around Rome, why not go to Puglia? Puglia is this gorgeous part of Italy filled with olive trees, houses called Trulli's you'll never see anywhere else, and cliffs that are strikingly breathe taking. But I worry that rather than experience something so exotic, people would fixate on the fact that Rome is their comfort zone and never step outside the box. Cruises are the same way. The huge ocean liners that only troll a certain set of ports is far more popular than the Orion that takes you on an adventure around South Pacific.

There is so much to see in the world, I'm going to set a challenge. For your next vacation, step away from what you usually do and seek out an adventure. Don't go do something dumb and dangerous, but try something new, go somewhere you have never been before. If you need an idea, I know some pretty excellent people who can help you.

Food so good, you need to ask for forgiveness.

Well it's Tuesday, just a few days to get all my ingredients for my delicious dish of Ropa Vieja for my Cuban dish party. I cannot wait. Every time I think about how wonderful it's going to be my mouth starts watering. All those slow cooked dishes... It's sinful. Cuban's have mastered the art of making food divine in two very spectacular methods. The first (I'm making it first because this is how the dish I'm making... is made) is slow cooking. It is this art of putting all the most savory ingredients in a pot (or crock pot) and letting them do the cooking nasty all day till it's like tasty velvet. It's WONDERFUL! You can't go wrong, and unless you cook it for days you can't burn it, it just gets smoother and yummier. It looks a little scary I will admit but you quickly forgive the appearance once you taste it. Just pour over some rice and devour, I mean it! If it wasn't frowned upon to shove food in your face with your bare hands I would with Ropa Vieja... Oh how I would.

Now the second method is a very true and very Cuban method of making sure whatever it is you are cooking has the utmost delicious factor. It's the thought that if you smoosh something as flat as it can go the taste will reach it's most delicious potential. I was always amazed at how wide my Abuelita's dinner plates were. Now I realize that it wasn't because it was due to us receiving so much food, we got the same size dinner as anyone else was getting served by there families, but rather our food was so wide and so flat. The flatness seemed to bring out the rich garlic flavors and Caribbean feel to all our favorite dishes. It's the kind of food that makes you moan in happiness when you can smell it coming from the kitchen.

I figured something fun for my favorite readers would be to give you a couple great recipes to try out at home. Of course this is assuming I have readers...

First comes to you from my Abuelita's cook book.

Congri

• 1 16oz can black beans
• 1 small onion (my grandmother used white, I like sweet yellow)
• 1/2 green pepper (I also like to add yellow and red peppers) seeded and cut into strips or chunks.
• 2 garlic BULBS browned in olive oil.
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups rice

Blend everything together when the water begins to boil. Cover and cook for 30minutes.
On a side note, I like to add bacon too, it gives it a good extra "umph".

Tostones by Hector Rodriguez 

• 2 green plantains
• oil for frying
• salt

1. Heat oil to 350
2. While the oil is heating up, peel the green plantains and cut into 3/4' slices.
3. Fry the slices in the hot oil for 3 mins. They should be a light golden color and semi-soft.
4. Remove the plantain slices with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
5. When the plantain slices are cool enough to handle (about 1 minute), smash them into flat rounds.
6. Fry the rounds in the hot oil for 3 minutes. They will turn crisp and golden brown.
7. Remove tostones with the slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel. Salt to taste.

ENJOY!

Is Cuba too taboo?

I feel like I should start out by giving you a little history lesson about your favorite 'eyed traveler. I keep trying to come up with a great means of telling you about my family and the gorgeous culture I come from, but I thought a quick story from my grandmother's journal (that my aunt translated for me) would be much more fascinating.

In1925 the Spanish government wrote to Don Berriz Negrini  telling him they planned to auction his ancestral home in Spain but before doing so they wanted to offer him the chance to take back the Title of Marquis, the land, and home because he was the direct descendant. He turned it down, and decided to stay in Havana. Havana is were he had his wine store called "La Vina" (the vineyard). He ran it with his sons and later opened another location which his son ran for him


So there you have it, I'm Cuban, I come from a rich and exciting back ground with thousands of stories about incredible men and women, some brave, some just brilliant. So imagine my total joy when word of of mouth reached my waiting ears and I was told that we might be able to plan a tour there. The excitement made me explode. I started doing research, I watched so many documentaries that my boyfriend had to ground me from them. I was so, excited! There's just no other word for the feeling I had. 


But, unfortunately I found that the red tape one had to cross to take a tour group to this gorgeous place was just too much. I felt deflated and just sad. There is a lot about this country that is wonderful and hypnotizing. The whole island is like being taken to a beautiful time capsule, the cars are these amazing cruisers like you see in car shows. The architecture is brilliantly preserved true art deco from the 40's and 50's. And the food... Oh my god the food is so dynamic it is pure decadence. It's all this passionately cooked, slow roasted so the flavors come together in beautiful melody. There's nothing like it. And what is interesting about food cooked in Cuba is none of it is imported, it's ALL organic and all locally grown. It's just savory and delicious, for those of you who haven't tried a real Cuban dish (I'm not talking about something called a Cuban dish in a multi cultural ritzy cafe, I'm talking about a hole in the wall where the men play domino's on the patio) then you are missing out on one of the greatest pleasures in life.


I huffed and puffed about how sad I was that I wasn't going to be able to share my love for my families culture. And as stubborn as I am I decided NAY, I will not sit back and let a little set back like not being able to book tours to this gorgeous island hold me back. If I can't take the masses to Cuba, I will take them to my kitchen! I broke out some good old fashion Cuban recipes and come next Friday, I'm going to have people come to my home for a wonderful night of dining. Just like the Paladares in Havana I'm opening up my home for people to come and taste some of the most exquisite  food Cuba has to offer.  From Ropa Vieja, to fried yuca, and hopefully some Tres Leches.  It's been ages since I've smelled the sweet and garlic-y food that reminds me of my Aubelita's kitchen. I made this dinner a covered dish party so I'm interested to see what my friends bring over.  

Before I go, I'll let you in on a secret when it comes to the deliciousness of Cuban cooking, it's slow, it's all about bringing wonderful rich ingredient s together and letting them just fuse slowly. There isn't anything as powerful as the great meals you'll taste when you dine on some divine Cuban cuisine.

I think I'm a bad travel agent...

When I book a vacation, I try to find the best way to stretch my buck; leave on an early day to have cheaper airfare, get cheaper room and board so I can afford to eat at the best restaraunts and see the best locations. But when I book for my clients I treat them like I treat my own travels. I really make the dollar stretch as far as it can reach. I do my best to make sure they can do all they want and then some within their budget. See, that makes me a bad travel agent.

So I am not a bad travel agent, I'm a great travel consultant. I really seek out the value of the trip. I learned that if you have a range of one hundred dollars a day to three thousand, I can find you the best way to spend that budget no matter where you go or what you do. I can make a trip custom fitted to everything you like and nullifying all the little things that irk you about travel (except for TSA security checks, I can't make them not make you take off your shoes. I know I hate it too). But when I was a green little fledgling in this office looking around like an awestruck child, diving into the books on destinations like they were the first fairy-tails I ever read, I thought our job was to make you give US your budget. I didn't know I'd be so helpful. That by helping someone take their dream vacation to New York, I too would feel some since of over whelming joy knowing I made that happen. So damn, I guess this isn't all about being a money monger, more concerned about raking in the dough, it's about loving what I do and making sure I have clients who are so happy they don't want another consultant other than me.


Did I mention that I'm working on a fabulous trip to Tasmania....

What I learned this weekend.

Good morning little gnomes, I hope your weekend was wonderful and filled with fun. I did a huge boo boo this weekend I assumed that this little ole town of Rockwall was no big attraction, so waiting till the day of to book my reservations at the Hilton Bella Harbor wouldn't be such a bad idea. And like the time I thought it was cool to make smoke rings by waving a tissue above a candle, I found out I was wrong. It was BOOKED. Woe is me! I didn't get my poolside day or an umbrella drink! What a shame.

 I made it up to myself by devouring far to many crab legs and buying more movies than I could watch at the movie trading company! I feel that the lesson here is, that in no way should you put off booking once you realize what you want to do with your free time. I think it's important to get out and relax, and thanks to my poor planning I missed out on a great opportunity to do so. I think it's important to know this as someone who is going to be consulting people about their travels. I'm a "grab the bull by it's horns" girl now! Or perhaps a "get off your bottom and book it while it's available" girl.

When I grow up I want to be a Brewery Guide.

I mean look at the lodging alone.

I was given a list of the top six hotel locations in the world that specialize in breweries. Now I would never take something the wise and brilliant Harold Partain gave me lightly, but I must admit on this day I was a tad sleepy.

It only took a second, a blink of an eye for me to wake up and stare at the first hotel in awe, in total amazement of it's fascinating beauty. The Augustine, the majestic structure that haunts my dreams, I loved it the moment my eyes saw it. It's got this fantastic gothic design with a clean and homey interior. It brings together the feel of a mystical castle, and a hip new culture only Prague can bring to your life.