The Ritz: A Food (and Drink) Diary!

Two weeks ago, my work held a two day conference at our local Ritz-Carlton. I organized the event, and we all had such a blast! The people who work at the Ritz are some of the most competent, professional people I've ever met. The conference went very smoothly, and there was plenty of time to explore the amazing food and drink options offered.

For our first day, late afternoon conference, we served freshly baked cookies, along with a sliced tropical fruit platter.

Enjoying a late afternoon glass of white wine in front of the ocean!

Dinner that night at the downstairs restaurant, Burlock Coast, was fabulous! (Info can be found here.) The rum-based cocktails packed quite a punch, and the fried oysters were divine!

The mini dessert station following lunch at the next day's conference was amazing!

Mini Key Lime Pie:

Mini Lemon Cheesecakes:

Mini Dark Chocolate Charlotte Shooters:

Heavenly!

And later, some delicious strawberry daiquiris (with floaters!) by the hotel pool on the 7th floor.

And finally, a delightful surprise in my room from the thoughtful guest services, a mini fruit basket!

Piña Colada Cupcakes!

A few days ago I decided to bake up some Piña Colada cupcakes, recipe courtesy of the always interesting Cupcake Project. I was intrigued by her recipe which included coconut milk, pineapple juice, shredded coconut, and actual chunks of crushed pineapple. The frosting was a cream cheese based frosting with a dash of coconut cream. The amount of coconut rum in this recipe is small but the flavor definitely comes through. I enjoyed them but next time would go without the chunky bits of pineapple; although they resulted in a really moist cupcake, the cake was a bit too dense for me, although this was many of my co-worker's favorite aspect of the dessert.

Strawberry Shortcake Trifles!

The dessert I made last was perfect: easy, delicious, and just enough for two! I had seen a new technique for making whipped cream on Pinterest, by using an immersion blender to whip up heavy whipping cream in less than 30 seconds. I was amazed! Heavy whipping cream along with a heavy dose of powdered sugar, blended to perfection in no time at all! I used stemless wine glasses, and layered the trifle with the whipped cream, diced strawberries, and broken up pieces of an old-fashioned donut I picked up at the grocery store (yes, I was too lazy to make the actual 'cake' component!). Pretty and tasty! I think my man wolfed his down in less than 30 seconds too ;)

Bourbon Honey Pears

I find myself constantly inspired to bake or cook from all the lovely foodie pages of blogs that I have 'liked' on Facebook. My newsfeed is always full of gorgeous cupcakes, delicious-looking dinner ideas, and fabulous drink recipes! Yesterday's dessert was no exception - Bourbon Honey Poached pears from Cook Bake Nibble!   A booze-infused sweet dish? I'm so there!  

Fruity Ice Pops!

About two weeks ago, I was browsing foodie blog pages on Facebook, and this delightful picture from Divalicious Dishes caught my eye:

How beautiful does that look? So colorful and refreshing. I immediately wrote in my planner "Crate & Barrel" and sure enough, days later, I had my own set of ice pop molds:

The next step was to get ingredients for the fruit pops. I decided to start simple and make two layers, one with pureed strawberries, sugar, and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and the other with pureed blackberries and a touch of honey. I love using my Magic Bullet for anything fruit-related (I gave up on my actual juicer a long time ago!) so this was certainly no exception.

After filing the molds (which filled surprisingly fast - I had leftover blackberry puree and lemon juice!), I popped them onto the handy red tray and put them in the freezer. And yesterday I pulled them out:

I took one out and put it in my favorite over-sized wine glass...

 ... and added some of my favorite Pinot Grigio (Santa Margherita!)

It was the perfect summertime drink for extremely hot and humid weather. Yum! Love the color combination here. I can't wait to try other fruits, like mango, peach, blueberries. Delicious!

Source: Divalicious Dishes!

Juice Day 8!

Today's juice contained half a peeled cucumber, 6-8 large pieces of watermelon, and 2 kiwis. It was very refreshing but needed a little sweetness so I added some from my coworker's juice (red grapes, watermelon, blueberries) to make it taste better. In the future, I would just add more watermelon to this juice, or maybe even honey, since it is such a great natural sweetener.

Juice Day 7 & Macarons!

Inspired by my work ladies who make far more superior juices/smoothies then I, I packed my grocery cart with feel-good fruits and veggies after work today. I made an easy one to sip on before dinner, using 1/2 pint of blueberries, 2 bananas, and 1/3 cup of vanilla almond milk.

My dad came back from a business trip to Manhattan today and brought me back macarons from my favorite NYC bakery, Maison Laduree! There are two coffee, two chocolate, and one pistachio. The coffee is my favorite.

Balsamic Chicken and Caramel Cookies!

My parents just got back from a week long trip to California. They traveled to Napa Valley, Sonoma, Sausalito, and San Francisco (I know I'm jealous!). They visited gorgeous wineries and stores, specifically this incredible one called Olivier. They brought me back a lovely pomegranate balsamic vinegar and lemon olive oil (preserved lemons inside the bottle - so cool!). I wanted to use both the liquids in a dish and found the perfect recipe from my friend's blog Test My Recipes.

The pretty bottles....

I adapted her Balsamic Chicken recipe to incorporate the pomegranate and lemon flavors, and substituted dried thyme and oregano for fresh thyme and rosemary. I am not a mustard fan, so I swapped the Dijon for some Portuguese white wine (otherwise known as 'vinho verde'). I served the chicken breasts with a side of creamed spinach and it made for a very flavorful dinner!

For dessert, I made chocolate caramel sea salt cookies from Gimme Some Oven! I added some instant espresso to kick up the chocolate flavor. These cookies are a total game-changer! I have always been a total salt fiend in my savory foods, but never gave it a second thought with baking. I have thus been converted! A sprinkle of sea salt over anything chocolatey - sold! Love the idea.

Juice Day Six!

My favorite way to drink water since going to a fancy spa in DC last fall is with cucumber. It doesn't bring any huge flavor, more of a vague crispness and is generally refreshing, especially when South Florida temperatures are in the high 80's!

Next up I made juice with the following: red grapes, kiwis, yellow apple, red apple, lemon, baby carrots, strawberries, and cucumber!

Brie Cups!

I went to my friend's wedding last weekend, and one of the appetizers served during cocktail hour were brie and jam filled phyllo cups. Bite-sized, colorful, and tasty - basically, they stole my heart. I knew I had to recreate them and a quick Googe search led me to straight to Gimme Some Oven, aka my new favorite food blog! So today I made Brie Phyllo Cups and filled half with seedless raspberry preserves and the others with apricot preserves. They are so easy to make, look elegant, and are incredibly versatile. I had some fresh berries with the idea to place them in the cups, but in the end I didn't want to cram them - they are delicate layers of dough as it is!

Golden, warm, toasted - lovely!

Juice Day Four!

One of my lovely co-workers made awesome juice for today using kiwis, granny smith apples (nice tartness), green grapes, and pineapple. Yummy!

Juice Day Two!

I am getting more adventurous in the juice-making-department (and by that I mean I added a vegetable) and today's juice was lovely both in its deep orange color and varied ingredient list. Included:

• watermelon
• pineapple
• baby carrots
• lemons
• red apples
• bosc pears
• oranges

Juice Day One!

My girls at work are interested in Join the Reboot, a nutrition plan by an Australian named Joe Cross, who also directed the documentary "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead", which is about making dramatic changes in diet for a healthier way of living. I am the latest one to jump on the bandwagon, nonetheless the ladies and I have started with plenty of fruits and veggies and our fancy juicers. My first attempt last night included: 1 pint strawberries + 1 pint blueberries + 1 pint raspberries...

Made on 03/28/2012.

+ 4 red apples + 2 pears...

Together with my (daddy's) lovely juicer...

Yay!

And voilà!

Here is what I learned .... berries make beautiful colors for juice ... berries do not make much juice themselves ... berry juice is not very sweet ... adding apples to any juice will make it very sweet and delicious and thus making it unnecessary to add anything other than fruit! I am very much looking forward to adding different types of fruit and slowly incorporating veggies, starting with a citrus-carrot blend.

Berries & Cream!

Inspired by my über-healthy ladyfriend, I put together a work snack last night with no recipe (gasp!). It is healthy, yummy, colorful, simple, etc. Mix blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and 2-3 tablespoons of white sugar in a bowl and add 1/4 cup mascarpone, 2 (6 oz) containers of fat-free plain yogurt, 2/3 cup rolled oats, and a 1/4 teaspoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Made on 01/31/2012.

Not particularly lovely photos, but true deliciousness inside! :)

Triple Berry Cupcakes!

Berry Cupcakes!

Made on 01/28/12

Thanks to Cupcakes Take The Cake :)

Cran-Orange Muffins!

Cranberry Orange Muffins!

Made on 07/26/11.

Thanks to For the Love of Cooking! :)

What I have made thus far .... Tyler Florence Edition!

Lemon Pudding Cake!
Made on 06/07/11.

Blueberry Lemon Scones!
Made on 05/08/11.

And again....
Made on 09/10/11.

Thanks to Tyler Florence! :)

What I have made thus far .... Baking Bites Edition!

Baby Apple Pies!
Made on 11/24/11.

Before....

And after!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies!
Made on 04/05/11.

Thanks to Baking Bites! :)

What I have made thus far .... Giada De Laurentiis Edition!

Chocolate Espresso Cookies!
Made on 12/07/11.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies!
Made on 12/04/11.

Parmesan Frico (Wafers)!
Made on 12/03/11.

Mini Frittatas!
Made on 11/01/11.

Raspberry Ricotta Mousse!
Made on 09/17/11.

Mango Cheesecake with Basil Lemon Syrup!
Made on 06/01/11.

Pea Pesto Crostini!
Made on 12/31/11.

Italian Kebabs!
Made on 12/31/11.

Zucchini Flatbread!
Made on 12/31/11.

Thanks to Giada De Laurentiis! :)

What I have made thus far.... AmyBites Edition!

Turkey Sloppy Joes!
Made on 01/24/12.

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies!
Made on 11/28/11.

Snickers Cupcakes!
Made on 11/06/11.

Butterbeer Cupcakes!
Made on 07/15/11.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins!
Made on 06/16/11.

Strawberry Orange Muffins!
Made on 06/06/11.

Thanks to Amy Bites! :)