The Cook & The Cork!

I am not sure how this awesome little restaurant in Coral Springs came upon my radar, but I'm glad it did! I stopped by for happy hour with a girlfriend, and we definitely enjoyed the wine, good and general ambiance.

The Cook and the Cork offers a great happy hour deal on wine - we drank Greystone Cellars Cabernet for $5 a glass, and this was a tasty red that I had not had before. I did not think too highly of the bites options on the happy hour menu (too few options), so we turned to the small plates / appetizers section of the regular menu. It was definitely pricy, so I wouldn't classify this a true happy hour spot, but definitely a great place for a date night or special dinner.

Octopus and potatoes in a spicy sauce, and tempura shrimp. Yum!

Complimentary chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream, with a peanut butter sauce.

Bento 5

New year, new bento box! My baby girl loves these fun snacking-style lunches at school. I purchased this YumBox on Amazon!

Using silicone cupcake liners makes packing a lunch the night before a breeze! I also purchased these on Amazon.

• Golfish
• Sliced purple grapes
• Sliced strawberries
• Sliced cantaloupe
• Cheeze-its
• Diced chicken nuggest
• Small sunflower butter & grape jelly sandwiches cut into a mini flower shape (you can also find those on Amazon)

Update: cute new tupperwares from Forever 21!

Tostones!

One of my beautiful Dominican friends invited us over for a very traditional meal, needless to say I ate about twenty tostones, YUM!

Paris Morning Bakery!

This new bakery, Paris Morning Bakery is interesting, and a little odd. Even though it's named after the French capital, and most of the decor inside is on theme, there are alot of Asian style pastries, drinks and appetizers.

Curry & Wine! (Lucky's Market)

My new favorite grocery store is Lucky's Market! They have an awesome wine/beer/coffee area, and you can sip any of those while you shop! I picked out a fun new bottle of red, from Spine Road Winery and some fresh veggies to make my vegetarian curry with. I used zucchini, spinach and cannellini beans to simmer in coconut milk, curry spice and other spices.

P.S. I got my awesome "I'm Not Like A Regular Mom, I'm A Cool Mom" wine glass from this amazing Etsy store here!

Banana Walnut Muffins!

Recipe: https://www.littlesweetbaker.com/bakery-style-banana-nut-muffins/

West Palm Brewery & Wine Vault!

Wine Vault?! Sign me up! This place is phenomenal. Located just off the waterfront area on Clematis, this dog-friendly beer, food and wine restaurant is definitely a fun place to check out.

Link: https://www.westpalmbeer.com/

Shortbread Tea Cookies!

I saw this recipe video on Facebook, and I thought it was so adorable! These were a little tricky to make - I had to add an extra egg to the dough to make it workable, but I love the flavor of shortbread and that definitely came through. I made more of a chocolate ganache for dipping, I heated chocolate chips with some heavy cream in the microwave until melted, and then dipped the cooled cookies into it.

Recipe: https://aseasyasapplepie.com/chocolate-dipped-shortbread-tea-bag-cookies/

Vegetarian Bolognese!

Although we are not a vegetarian or vegan household, I do enjoy switching it up in the kitchen and making entrees that feature more veggies instead of meat.

When I came across this recipe for lentil mushroom bolognese, I was hooked! I served it over spaghetti squash and it was definitely a hit.

Recipe: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/vegan-bolognese-sauce/

Updated: 9/20/18

I had some mushrooms and zucchini to use up the other day, so I did some Googling and came across this recipe for mushroom zucchini bolognese! Recipe link here!

Purgreens!

My office discovered Purgreens by accident. I needed to order lunch for a meeting, and the people flying in requested salads. I was scrambling to find a local salad place highly ranked on Yelp (my go-to site) and Purgreens came up. We tried a variety of bowls, salads and wraps, and everyone raved about both the freshness of the ingredients, and the quality. I ordered a super food bowl and topped it with grilled salmon - yum!

Link: https://purgreens.com/

Tanzy!

After checking out the latest exhibits at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, and having dinner at Kapow, my friend and I decided to go elsewhere for dessert and one last glass of wine. Tanzy is such a fun spot - the decor and lighting are wonderful, and the menu is eclectic.

We opted for the coffee styled donuts and we were not disappointed!

Update: 2/15/19:

Tanzy has a decent happy hour menu, but your palette would be better served ordering off the regular (and pricey!) menu. Their burrata appetizer plate is the best, and their meatballs in San Marzano tomato sauce is a lovely appetizer choice to go with some red wine!

Nov 2019:

Kapow Noodle Bar!

Kapow is an old favorite haunt of mine. I love the concept of Asian tapas, and I think their location in Mizner Park, next to Dubliner, is perfect. The food is always on point, and they have fun cocktails to try!

Link: https://kapownoodlebar.com/

Il Paesano Market!

I don't know how I came across Il Paesano's Facebook page, but I started following it a few months ago. This is a small, mom & pop-owned Italian deli market in Ft. Lauderdale, about 30 min south of me in Boca. I saw that once a month, they host an amazing dinner, usually featuring an entree cooked in a giant wheel of Parmesan! Well, my interest was certainly piqued! This was right up my alley. I corralled my mom and godmother to join me, and we had a great time last week!

Link: http://ilpaesanomarket.com/

Mint gelato with chocolate chips!

Mini Cannoli!

Risotto ai funghi!

The WHEEL!

Antipasti!

They have a lovely wine selection!