Greetings from the West Coast!

The view from my room!

Hi there! Hope you all are having a great week! I'm safe and sound at my destination and I thought I'd share my journey with you all. I had a great flight to the west coast, which included a two-hour layover in the awesome state of Texas. I love Texas so much and even just being in the airport makes me so happy! Since I'd been sitting on the plane for 3+ hours, I knew that I wanted to spend my layover walking around the airport. I deplore sitting at the gate for more than 30 minutes before a flight...it makes no sense to me to go and sit and then stand and board the plane and then sit on the plane. That's way too much sitting for me (and super bad for your circulation, hips, and heart!)! Since I had an entire airport to explore in two hours, I did just that! I found 5+ Starbucks in one terminal of the airport. Everything is grander in Texas! Since I had enjoyed some coffee before my first flight took off, I was most definitely in need of zero caffeine. But, I typically have this tradition of getting frozen yogurt during any layover that I happen to have. So, here's the deal. I'm super weird about only eating apples, carrots, and the occasional luna bars during flights, especially super long flights, and my stomach can barely handle anything else when I fly. It all started back on a flight from Newark to Denmark and then to Lithuania. My stomach was freaking out the entire flight and I literally did not eat for a day. When we stopped in Denmark, everyone on our trip (my cousins and I were traveling with a group of 26 people) went to a bakery in the airport to get danish. To make a long story short, I couldn't even bear to look at any piece of danish. I was so sick to my stomach! A few days later, on our puddle-jumper propeller flight from Lithuania to Poland, the same feeling happened to me! I ended up sitting next to a 23 year-old multi-lingual law student from Belgium and he ate my enormous ham and cheese sandwich on a crusty baguette that the stewardess had served all of the passengers. My seat mate and my cousins cheerfully munched away on their sandwiches and I sat in my seat, practically paralyzed by this indescribable feeling in my stomach. I happily handed over my sandwich to the kind Belgium student and he eagerly accepted my offer, stating that he had "an iron stomach." I sat there in awe...how could everyone around me stomach these sandwiches? What was the matter with me? Well, I quickly remembered the British Airways flight from Paris to Philadelphia (with a layover in London's Heathrow Airport) that involved being fed every fifteen minutes. NO LIE! First, it was a salad. Then it was some nasty pasta with a potato (I am not kidding!), then the crew realized that although it's lunch time in England, it's breakfast time in the East, so it's time for some croissants and fruit and yogurt. Now, it's time for lunch, but since we've already eaten lunch (and breakfast!), it must be tea time. Then it was time for some shortbread! Nasty mcnasterson let me tell you. I couldn't even look at the food on my tray table, and eventually, my dad let me get up and walk around the plane with him. He then started asking me "Why do you think you feel so sick? What would make you feel better?" and my response was "I have no idea why I feel so sick to my stomach. Maybe it was something that I ate? I don't know what would make me feel better. I'm sure I'll feel fine once we land." And of course, my nine year-old self knew that I would feel better when I was on solid ground, and that was precisely the case. When the same feeling occurred seven years later on those flights to Denmark, Lithuania and Poland, I knew that I would feel better once we were on the ground.

Lucky for me, I no longer feel queasy during flights (fingers crossed that my stomach continues to tolerate flying!) and I'm able to stomach apples and carrots and the occasional luna bar. With all of this said, I was starving by the time I landed in Texas, and I didn't want to eat anything dense or heavy because I didn't want to upset my sensitive stomach! Alas, frozen yogurt was the only thing that would fit the bill. After walking around and scoping out all of my options in several terminals (there was Häagen-Dazs, Freshens, Red Mango and Smoothie King to name a few) I finally decided to go with Red Mango. I had never had this frozen yogurt before and it was absolutely delicious! I sampled the original (way too tart!) and the vanilla bean (perfect!). I ordered the vanilla bean with blackberries and it was the perfect traveling treat! It was slightly sweet and very frosty, which is exactly how I like my frozen yogurt. I can't stand when frozen yogurt is too creamy, because then I just feel like I'm eating custard, when I really just want frozen yogurt! So, the entire point of that story was that you should try Red Mango vanilla bean ASAP. It's so good!

Use Yelp to help you find the nearest Red Mango...it's so good!

I arrived at my destination and settled into my hotel room overlooking the beautiful pool and ocean. I was starving (it was 12am east coast time!) and I had been traveling all day, so I ordered room service. I've NEVER done that before and it felt so indulgent, but I was starving and I either had to go to bed immediately or I could have dinner and then have a few hours to enjoy my evening. I clearly chose the latter. And oh my goodness. It was one of the best meals I've ever eaten! It was a mango avocado salad with a chili vinaigrette and grilled salmon. They served me an enormous portion of grilled salmon and I barely ate half of the filet. It was SO good, though! I have to remember the combinations of those flavors...they were incredible!

Oh room service, you were so tasty...

This morning, I woke up and headed to my meeting, ate some trail mix, and then headed to the gym and I just had dinner and now I'm blogging. It's been super fun to be away for a day and I can't believe I head back east tomorrow. I will have spent two days traveling and one day at a conference! It seems a little crazy, but I was up for the craziness!

My afternoon snack...

I hope you're all having a wonderful week and tomorrow's Friday! Woohoo! I'm hoping to wake up early and head to the swimming pool for a dip and maybe even to the beach to put my feet in the Pacific Ocean! I'm so excited! Not too much on the agenda for this weekend other than a half marathon training run (more on that later!) and spending time with my family. Maybe I'll celebrate the beginning of December by baking some Christmas cookies? Who knows? But you can be sure that whatever I bake, if I do end up baking, will most definitely end up on this blog. Be excited. Be very excited! :-)

The pool and the pacific ocean in the background! 

Happy Friday, friends! 

xoxo

Hola desde el aeropuerto!

Hola! I'm blogging right now from my phone (my first time!) as I'm sitting at my gate getting ready to board my flight to a warm, sunny place! I'm heading to a sunny climate, not to visit family, but for a work trip. I'll be at a conference for the next few days. I absolutely love to explore new places and I'm sure that I'll post an update about my adventures when I return! Have a wonderful rest of your week! I'm going to go hop on my flight now! :-) xoxo

P.S. They're playing Christmas music in the airport! I'm in heaven :-). And I was able to find a cup of my favorite coffee...La Colombe is the BEST! So bold, yet smooth and flavorful. Success!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving place-cards that I made for our guests!

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! There are so many things to be thankful for this time of year! One thing that I was particularly thankful for this Thanksgiving was the bountiful spread of delicious food and pies! Since no Thanksgiving day blog post is complete without a recipe (or two!), I thought I'd share two delicious new-to-me recipes from my Thanksgiving. I came across these recipes and immediately knew that I had to make them. I hope you enjoy these sweet treats!

I'll start by sharing the history of this delectable Apple-Sour Cream Crumb Pie that I made for my family. According to the Martha Stewart Living Magazine, this is the original Bookbinder's 1865 pie recipe. It's slightly more time-consuming than your average pie, but it is well worth-it! It is dense and a simple sliver is more than enough to satisfy a pie craving. We hosted more than twenty people for Thanksgiving this year, and our guests were literally raving about this pie! This is by no means a reflection of my baking skills; this is purely a reflection of this delicious pie! You must try this recipe for an upcoming holiday party. I promise that you won't be disappointed!

Apple-Sour Cream Crumb Pie 
Martha Stewart Living, November 2012

For the pie dough:
1cup + 2/3cup all-purpose flour 
2/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 stick + 3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup ice water

For the crumb topping:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

For the filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
Pinch of kosher salt
16 ounces sour cream (I used light sour cream and it was still rich and delicious!)
2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 Gold Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch wedges

Directions: 
1. Make the pie dough: Combine flour, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse to blend. Add butter, pulsing until pea-size clumps form. With food processor running add ice water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until mixture just comes together. Shape dough into disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes. 

2. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface into a 15 inch round (1/4 inch thick). Fit dough into a 10-inch pie plate and cut excess dough to fit the plate. Crimp dough edges, or use your fingers to create a scalloped edge. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. 

3. Make the crumb topping: Whisk sugars, flour, cinnamon and salt together in a medium-size bowl. Add butter and combine with a pastry cutter. Stir in walnuts and form topping into large clumps with your hands. Refrigerate topping until ready to use. 

4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees with 2 racks in the lower third portion of the oven.

5. Make the filling: Whisk sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in sour cream, eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Add apples, tossing to coat. Pour apple mixture into refrigerated pie crust. 

6. Place an empty rimmed baking sheet (be sure to line it with aluminum foil for easy clean-up!) on the lowest rack in the oven to catch any drips and then bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes, until apples are golden brown, juices are bubbling, and the crust is golden brown. 

7. Remove topping from the refrigerator and crumble over hot filling. I took the pie out of the oven for a minute or two for this step. Bake until topping is browned and set, apples are tender, and the bottom crust is thoroughly baked, about 50 minutes. 

8. Remove pie from oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack, 3 to 4 hours.

9. Slice and serve. Enjoy! 

This pie was dense, delicious, and delectable! 

The second pie that I made for this wonderful Thanksgiving holiday was a maple bourbon pecan pie. I usually just use the recipe on the back of the Karo Corn Syrup container, which is delicious and sugary and chock full of fat and sugar, but this year, I decided that I wanted to lighten things up a bit and I began searching for a healthier pecan pie alternative. In the past, I have found some cooking light recipes to be hit-or-miss...mostly hits, but occasional misses, so I really wasn't sure how this pie would turn out. But, I was reassured by the overwhelmingly positive reviews of the recipe and I decided to give this a try. I knew that with the additions of maple syrup and bourbon, the pie would have lots of flavor. And I knew that the flavors could all work well together. I just wasn't sure if it would live up to the pecan pie recipe on the back of the corn syrup container! Alas, I decided that I was up for the challenge! It turned out to be delicious and I definitely want to make this pie again! I used a store-bought pie dough and this pie literally took me less than ten minutes of hands-on time to make. It was a welcome reprieve from the labor intensive apple-sour cream crumb pie! Without further ado...here's the lightened up pecan pie recipe! Enjoy! :-)

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie 
Cooking Light, November 2011

1/2 package (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (I used Pillsbury)
Cooking spray
3/4 cup pecan halves (I used a few more than this)
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup maple syrup (use good quality, high-grade maple syrup)
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Flute the edges of the dough and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. 

3. Combine chopped pecans and remaining ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well to combine. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Layer 3/4 cups + of pecan halves on top of the pie and arrange in a pretty pattern. Bake at 350 degrees for 38 minutes, until center of pie is almost set. Cool on wire rack for one hour. 

4. Slice, serve, and enjoy! 

This was so tasty and so easy to make!

I hope you enjoy making these delicious pies! Happy Holidays! 

xoxo

Four Bean Chili

After a speedy 3.1 mile run on the treadmill (fastest time yet!) and an hour and a half long power yoga class in a studio heated to 100 degrees, I was ravenous and in the mood for an easy but tasty and flavorful dinner. I had seen this recipe for a twenty minute four-bean chili and I knew that tonight was the perfect night to give this a try! I arrived home with all of the ingredients at 8:45pm and guess what...I was fed and showered by 9:15pm! That's how easy it was to make this dish!

I used this recipe from Daily Garnish and modified it slightly to suite my palate. The recipe made 8 servings and I calculated the calories, fat, fiber, and protein and was absolutely flabbergasted! One serving of this hearty chili provides your body with 264 calories, 1.0 gram of fat, 15 grams of fiber, and more than 16 grams of protein. Just for comparison, one egg has 6 grams of protein and people claim that eggs are "protein powerhouses." Well, those people should make my delicious chili if they really want a "protein powerhouse." Anyhoo, I hope you'll try this recipe and enjoy it during cool nights ahead!

Easy Four Bean Chili

adapted from Daily Garnish

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped (I used one yellow and one orange)

olive oil spray

1 can great northern beans

1 can black beans

1 can red kidney beans

1 can white kidney beans

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes (with green chiles)

2 cups low sodium vegetable broth

1.5 teaspoons cinnamon

3 teaspoons garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large pot heated to medium-low and sprayed with olive oil cooking spray, saute onion and bell peppers until browned, soft, and translucent. 

Onions first...

Then onions + peppers.

Drain and rinse all canned beans and add to the pot. Add cans of tomatoes, too. Give it a good stir and then add the cinnamon, garlic powder, salt and vegetable broth. Give the pot another few stirs, turn the heat to low, and then go take a shower! Well, you don't really have to go take a shower (if you're clean!), but that's just what I did while the chili was simmering away on my stove. When I returned less than ten minutes later, all of the flavors had blended together beautifully and my chili was ready to serve! 

Lots of leftovers to freeze! 

I enjoyed a steaming hot bowl and then packaged up the rest to freeze so that this dish can be consumed post-Thanksgiving break. I'm looking forward to many dinners and lunches of this chili in the near future...how delicious and comforting?! I hope you try out this recipe soon...perhaps as a post-Turkey day detox? I think that sounds like a wonderful idea! xoxo

P.S. All of the ingredients for this chili cost less than $13 to purchase. ¡Una ganga increíble!

PINTA Art Fair!

Floria Gonzalez, Lourdes, 2012

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Hi there! I hope you're having a wonderful start to your week! I'm sure for most of you, it's an abbreviated week which is super awesome! So, I had the privilege of attending the PINTA Art Fair in New York City this past weekend and it was absolutely incredible. My cousin, Elena, had an extra VIP pass to the event, and I eagerly accepted the invitation last Thursday night. I was so excited to make the trip into NYC to attend such an exciting event! According to the PINTA Art Fair website, the event includes "the most prestigious galleries from the United States, Latin America and Europe." Each of the fifty galleries is invited to participate in this event and is instructed to display "museum-quality works representative of abstract, concrete, neo-concrete, kinetic and conceptual art." It was a fantastic exhibit of Modern and Contemporary Latin American art and it was great to see the works of so many artists. We lucked out and the event was very quiet on Sunday, which was the last day of the fair. According to one of the organizers, the event had been jam-packed for the past several days. Elena and I were free to browse around the fair without running into too many people. It was excellent! Because pictures are capable of saying 1000+ words, I'll let these images speak for themselves. The fair was awesome and I was so thrilled that Elena was so generous to share her extra VIP with me...what a treat! I hope to attend the PINTA Art Fair again in the future! Here are my favorite works from this year's show...enjoy!

Alfredo de Stéfano, El Costillar, 2002

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Jose Antonio Martinez, El burro de planchar

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André Cypriano, Feet Over Coconut Shells, 2009/2011

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Rachel Valdés Camejo, Happily Ever After #1
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Rachel Valdés Camejo, Happily Ever After #2
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Rachel Valdés Camejo, Happily Ever After #3
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Rachel Valdés Camejo, Happily Ever After #4
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Luis Pazos, The Culture of Happiness / La Cultura de la felicidad

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Marianela Orozco, Isla, 2006
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Contanza Levine, Electrossa, 2005
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Rafael Soriano, Untitled

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Loló Soldevilla, Composition, 1955
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 Feel free to check out the highlights from this year's PINTA Art Fair! I hope you enjoyed these images! :-) xoxo

Seattle

Seattle is hands-down my favorite U.S. city. I love that you can be walking in downtown Seattle and you can see the Olympic Mountain Range. I love that in my sister’s old apartment you could see the Space Needle and Mount Rainier (on a clear day!). I love that there are so many outdoor hiking spots and I love the outdoorsy feel of the city. I love the fresh, clean, mountain air and the beautiful bodies of water that surround the city. I could go on and on...

My sister is in the process of packing up her things and leaving Seattle in just a few short weeks, so this trip was a farewell tour of our beloved Seattle for the two of us. It felt wonderful to be able to see the city for one last time together. We made our Seattle bucket list (tear) and checked off the items one by one. I will always remember this trip!

On Friday, we headed to Green Lake to run the 3 mile loop. It was chilly and cool and rainy, but we ran and stretched our legs in preparation for our Saturday road race. Green Lake is always on my to-do list whenever I visit Seattle and from the pictures below…you can clearly see why. In the summer, kids are swimming in the lake and diving off the high dives and year-round crew teams use Green Lake for rowing practice. It's an absolutely beautiful place! 

On Saturday, we ran our 5K and then went home and showered and then headed out to start our day! Columbia City Bakery had been on my to-do list for the past few trips and this time I was finally able to check it off! Everything was absolutely delicious! I ordered a small baguette with strawberry jam and it was absolutely delicious! Just a quick aside – during my EuroTrip in the summer of 2010, my friend and I stayed in this awesome hostel in Paris called St. Christopher's Inn. There were at least 10 other people in our room…we slept in bunks…but the bathrooms were super clean and the breakfast was free and delicious! Every morning (we were there for three days) they would have a big crate full of fresh-out-of-the-oven French baguettes that were still warm and served with delicious homemade jam. I would eat a baguette and jam every single morning with a cup of black coffee and I was in heaven. This breakfast at the Columbia City Bakery brought me back to those early morning hostel breakfasts. My sister ordered a veggie sandwich on a multigrain roll and I had a bite and it was delicious! We also split a few pretzels bites which were incredible. The next morning we both woke up craving those pretzel bites! That’s how good they were.

We look lovely...cold, wet, but so happy after our road race

From the bakery, we headed to the Olympic Sculpture Park to see Sandra Cinto's installation of Encontro das Águas. It was beautiful and so incredible and overwhelming. I loved seeing it in person! You can check out this time-lapsed video of the installation process. It’s pretty remarkable!

 We then headed to the Seattle Asian Art Museum to see an installation of Shirin Neshat’s, Tooba, which was part of Elles: SAM at the Seattle Art Musuem. It was super powerful and moving.

Then it was time for Easy Street Records to browse through their music. I love that place!Right across the street from Easy Street Records is Metropolitan Market. How beautiful are their flowers? We spent a good 10 minutes examining all of their varieties. So pretty!

For dinner we went to Flo, which is this delicious sushi place that I love. I loved that their menu mentions the idea of “flow,” which is something that I’ve mentioned on this blog. Super cool! 

We then headed to the mall and checked out Madewell. I’ve seen their collection online, but I had never been to an actual store. I loved all of their clothes!

Sunday was spent at the Ballard Farmer’s market. I really loved these pumpkin planters and I want to recreate these for my family’s Thanksgiving table! After venturing around the market, we headed to “The Other Coast” for lunch. They specialize in delicious sandwiches!

The following week, when we returned to Seattle, I saw the rest of the Elles exhibit, and enjoyed walking through the Seattle Public Market. My nephew enjoyed his very first piece of a baguette and my sister and I enjoyed yummy lattes. We spent the rest of the weekend nesting and cooking and walking and running and loving on each other. It was perfect! Until next time...xoxo