The Flavors of Florida Keys: Wreck Diver-Style Lionfish {Partner Post}
Stretching only ten miles, the islands of Marathon are right in the middle of the chain of the Keys islands. Traditionally a home to fishing and marine activities and beachside restaurants, the city loves its stone crab, lobster, and other fresh seafood that come straight from its waters. Local chef John Mirabella has become one with the local seafood and community, immersing himself completely, so I asked him to take us on an edible tour of Marathon.
Calamari Casarecce with Herbed Tomato & White Wine Sauce
We are back from our adventure to Panama! We spent twice as much money as we had budgeted, but we learned a lot about what we will do for our NEXT trip. This was the first time I have looked forward to returning from a trip. Don’t get me wrong, the trip was amazing… and two and a half weeks off work- awesome! But, for once in my life I have a job that I love and a home that I look forward to coming back to. Most of all, I was excited to cook for myself again. By the end of our two weeks in Panama, we had eaten enough onion rings, fish and chips and tacos for quite some time. I was excited to cook HEALTHY options!
New York Restaurants: Le Bernardin
From America to Japan to Italy… and on to France (and my first Michelin 3-star restaurant!). I had wanted to go to Le Bernardin for a long time, but it was always a little out of my price-range. After some research, I realized that the lunch menu is very similar to the dinner menu, but WAY cheaper! So I bit the bullet and invited my seafood-loving friend for his birthday. It was quite the experience, but not exactly as I thought it would be.
New York Restaurants: Sakagura
I am officially on vacation! Well, I am actually sitting at the Las Vegas airport waiting for my 6 hour layover to be over. Luckily, I have saved up a handful of United Red Carpet Club passes; this means free coffee, free food and free Wi-Fi! I do have to admit that I feel a bit out of place, but it is still pretty cool. My next long layover is going to be in Japan, so I decided to share with you my meal from a Japanese sake bar called Sakagura in New York City.
New York Restaurants: North End Grill
With only a week until I begin my Asian adventure, I am realizing how many restaurants I have photos from. I want to share these great New York restaurants and my experiences with you before I forget about them! This post is the first of almost ten restaurant reviews I have for you. While in New York, I made it a point to try as many of Danny Meyer’s restaurants as possible. Being a part of the USHG family has some great benefits when you go out to eat!
Blackened Swordfish Tacos w/ Mango Avocado Salsa
It has been a rough past few days for me. On Friday I went swimming off one of the piers near Waikiki; while climbing up the rocks to get out, I slipped and stepped on Wana, a Hawaiian sea urchin. Let me tell you, you do NOT want to come in contact with a sea urchin. Ever. I had probably over 40 spines in my big toe and second toe. A nice local man helped me pull a lot of them out, but I still had a dozen or more that had broken off in my toes. After missing two days of work and spending the weekend soaking my foot in vinegar they are still not completely out or healed. Not to mention I also got almost 20 mosquito bites Friday as well…. Even in Hawaii, life is not always perfect.
Salmon w/ Crab Mash & Split Pea Gravy
Being a food blogger is great. I get to share my delicious recipes with all of you great people, plus I have them all stored in one handy place. I also get to participate in cool things like the Driscoll’s berry twitter event and Secret Recipe Club. On top of all that, I get to look at other food blogs constantly, all filled with AWESOME recipes. I have a notepad on my desktop that has been filling up with links to recipes that I “must” make. It is hard trying to think up your own original recipes sometimes when you are surrounded by so many other delicious ones! I have been on a spree lately making all sorts of things from other bloggers. This specific recipe is from one of my favorite blogs, Taste With the Eyes. She has complex recipes with awesome food photography.
Zucchini Wrapped Mahi Mahi w/ Tomato Aioli
Have you ever had your freezer melt and lose all of your food? Well, this almost just happened to me. I had all of my proteins in the basement freezer, including a bag of salmon, a bag of shrimp, a bag of mahi mahi, a 3 lb tri-tip, 2 strip steaks, 1 pack of bacon and 6 chicken breasts. While cooking dinner last week, my roommate came upstairs with a bag of dripping, melted, rotten bananas in her hand saying, “You might not want to eat anything in that freezer down there….” Of course, I immediately panicked. Luckily, the door hadn’t been open long enough to melt all of the proteins; I only lost the pack of bacon and two strip steaks. Now all of my proteins have a new home in my mini fridge freezer.
San Francisco Restaurants Pt. 2: The Franciscan
The second day of my birthday weekend in San Francisco was filled with (surprise!) more food, drinks and walking. The restaurant we went to on Sunday, The Franciscan Crab Restaurant, was right on the water in the Fisherman’s Warf. There were large windows all around the restaurant which provided beautiful views practically anywhere you sat.
Grilled Mahi Mahi w/ Olive & Shallot Tapenade
Since I have come home from Africa, I have had a serious case of the travel flu. I’m sure many of you had come down with this bug at some point in your life. You know that feeling when all you can think about is traveling and you would just love to get out and explore, just be anywhere but here. Well this time it has hit me hard. I have been planning my around the world trip for two and a half years from now. I have also been trying to squeeze some sort of trip in for the meantime.
