Baking, not banking!

50 Ocean!

Four our fourth wedding anniversary this year, we went to have dinner at 50 Ocean in Delray.

They gave us complimentary La Marca Prosecco, which was sweet, and my husband ordered a pear ginger martini, which was delicious!

For appetizers, we ordered fried clams and smoked white fish dip. The fried clams were interesting, I had never eaten them in this way before: the kitchen removed the shells and just deep fried the actual clam meat itself. It was very good! We also ordered the appetizer special of the night - Caprese salad with lobster. This was easily the best dish of the night - the silky burrata cheese, fresh soft lobster meat, and light balsamic cream dressing was perfection.

We decided to share an entree, filet mignon with broccolini and lobster tail, in a Romesco sauce. This too was absolutely delicious.

The only bum note was the dessert - it was a mediocre chocolate cupcake with edible (?) gold sauce. It was certainly nothing special and I would have expected a higher caliber dessert from a place like this.

Crab & Lobster Ravioli!

As usual, I spent a good chunk of last Saturday morning perusing my two favorite grocery stores, Lucky's and Trader Joe's. At Lucky's, I picked up some fresh crab & lobster ravioli (I love the red striping on them) and at Trader Joe's, I picked up a tub of mushroom alfredo sauce. I combined the two for a lazy dinner at home Wednesday night, paired with a nice glass of wine, and it made for a perfect meal!

Valentine's Day! 2019

What a whirlwind holiday we just had!

First, Giuliana and I made some treats for her teachers and our friends. We cannot bring home made items to her school, so we made separate little valentines with goldfish and swedish fish for her classmates.

Then, my husband and I went to Houston's for Valentine's Day lunch:

And finally, we had friends over for Valentine's Day dinner at home!

Zinburger!

Zinburger is a fun burger-themed restaurant that opened up at Boca Town Center mall a few years ago. They have a great happy hour!

Vienna Cafe & Bistro!

Vienna Cafe & Bistro (located in Cooper City) is a great restaurant run by an English couple. The menu is eclectic - despite its name, there are no Austrian dishes on the menu. This is a favorite place for my mom and godmother, who usually get together there for breakfast on the weekends. We decided to try them out for dinner shortly before Christmas, and we had a great meal!

Hallacas! A Venezuelan Delicacy

My family has had ties to Venezuela for three generations. My parents spent a good chunk of their childhood/formative years growing up in Portuguese and Italian neighborhoods in Maturin and Barquisimeto, and both sets of my grandparents each owned and ran a Portuguese bakery in their respective towns. We're talking about Venezuela in the 60s, 70s and 80s - nothing like what you see in the news today in 2019. Beautiful, safe, prosperous - it was the place to raise your family and run a successful business.

My family speaks Spanish, and we enjoy traditional Venezuelan dishes from time to time - easy to do, considering we live in South Florida where Venezuelan bakeries and restaurants are plentiful.

My parents neighbors across the street are Venezuelan and shortly after the New Year, invited us over for a traditional lunch of hallacas. The closest thing you could compare an hallaca to would be a tamale. Hallacas are made up of corn dough with the filling including a protein (beef, pork or chicken) and other mix-ins (raisins, olives, etc).

Two Fat Cookies!

Two Fat Cookies has been my favorite local (Delray) bakery since they did my wedding cake back in 2015. I try to stop in around holidays to grab their seasonal treats - they never disappoint!

Here are some goodies from Christmas 2018:

Firecracker Tofu!

Pinch of Yum is one of my favorite food blogs out there. They post plenty of vegan or vegetarian recipes, but they look SO good, that even if you are neither a vegan nor a vegetarian, you will want to make them! I've made a few of their recipes, and have yet to go wrong. These ladies know what they are doing in the kitchen!

I came across a recipe for Firecracker Tofu (recipe link here) and HAD to make it. It was my first time cooking tofu at home, although I have ordered it from time to time in my pad thai or other sushi restaurant appetizer.

The key here is the firecracker sauce, made with peanut butter, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and spicy, garlicky chili pasta - I bought an Asian jar of this at Walmart.