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A Trip of a Lifetime - Italy 2003

  • Spsteps1
    Synchronicity. It was just the right place to go, the right time in our lives, the right combination of every element involved. What a blessing to have the chance to spend 10 days with your father - as an adult - to speak of all kinds of things, to visit your roots, re-trace the steps of your grandfather (and his father) and encounter magic and wonder at every turn...

Another Trip of a Lifetime - Italy 2006

  • Img_9264
    Twice in a lifetime seems too much, but it was just as good the second time as the first. In many aspects, it was even better; closer with family than ever before. And flying back First Class because of an airline error wasn't bad either...

Butterfly World 07

  • Z_path
    A Saturday morning trip to Butterfly World in Coral Springs, FL ends up surpassing our expectations in every way. It was like walking into a dream.

Butterfly World - Again!

  • Bw39
    When Grandpa and Grandma came down to Florida at Christmastime 2007, we just had to show them how cool Butterfly World was.

Cape Cod 03

  • Zinnias
    Our first father/daughter trip together. We travelled up to Cape Cod to see grandparents and find Blueberries!!! And some seafood and ice cream and beach time and... unforgettable memories!

Cape Cod 06

  • Boo_nonnies
    The second father/daughter trip to the place of my roots. Magical and peaceful memories for a lifetime.

Fishing Pictures

  • The Fishin Barge
    When Andy's Diner opens one day, these will be some of the pictures on the wall...

Guest Chefs @ Andy's

  • Viet_lemongrass_chicken
    When the challengers come to Kitchen Stadium! One in particular keeps the pictures and the gastric juices FLOWING. Go Auntie! Go Auntie!

A Malbec Quest

  • Cavia
    Two friends strive to sample every Malbec they can find. Their opinions are those of amateur vinophiles, but their thoroughness is the stuff of legend!

Andy's Humidor

  • Juan Lopez Assortment
    It's my favorite way to end a great meal... out in the Florida Room, watching a ballgame or just relaxing!

La Luna Cigars

  • La Luna Cigars - Photo 4 - Signage
    A boutique brand on Calle Ocho in Miami's Little Havana. Known by locals and "Luna-tics" the planet over.

Padron Cigars

  • n_Padron
    Their tag line says "...quality is a matter of family honor" and they couldn't have written anything more appropriate. My Saturday morning visit produced a deep respect for the Padron family, a heightened appreciation of their quality products and the happy expectation of many a Saturday morning to come visiting some new friends.

Tabacalera Perdomo

  • f_perdomo
    It is hard to miss the determination and commitment of this cigar company. With over a dozen different brands, culminating in the legendary "Edicion de Silvio", the Perdomo family is dedicated to carrying on the legacy of their patriarch Silvio and the values he came to embody.

Deeply Delightful "Hondo"

  • h_Hondo
    If you are a Cigar Aficionado and will be visiting Buenos Aires in the near future, then you MUST visit "Hondo" in the city's sparkling new Puerto Madero area. Hondo means "deep" in Spanish and my evening there was DEEPLY DELIGHTFUL!

Fairchild Tropical Garden

  • Ftg8
    Lucky enough to live very close to this jewel of a spot in Miami.

Making the Most of...

the interminable wait for Tropical Storm Fay to do her thing, or not. It is the obligatory punishment for living in paradise: sitting for hours in front of the TV, watching the Doppler spin and trying to figure out what the implications will be for being on the "Dirty Side" of Fay. What does one do?

Blackolivetapanade

Make some Black Olive Tapanade and wolf it down on crusty pieces of fresh ciabatta.

Primitivo

Accompanied by a STELLAR $10 bottle of Primitivo. The wine buyer at Norman Brothers in Miami is an All-Star. Next storm update at 5 and 11.

Gettin' Creative at the Diner...

Came up with a cool one tonight in the Menu Lab... (that's what I call Sunday night when I cook things the kids might raise an eyebrow at... ;)

Jerkgrouper

Jerk-seasoned grouper on curried lentils with a heirloom tomato and cilantro salsa on top. KILLER.

This is How We Roll...

Fayprep

We're "in the cone" here in South Florida, so we bust out the batteries, water, crank radio that doubles as a cellphone charger... and we wait to see if the Tropical Storm becomes a hurricane. The kids were supposed to have their 1st day of school tomorrow and it's cancelled. Think they're psyched? :)

The Calm Before...

With a storm on the horizon... you gotta relax and enjoy the calm

Blueberrymuffins2
I made the muffins again, but this time with REAL blueberries, not the little pellets that come with the mix. 1,000,000% improvement!

Homemadecroqueta

To those of you who know, that photo right there is priceless! To those of you who may not, that is a piece of a homemade croqueta - which just happens to be the most perfect company to Cuban cafecito ever made. These delicious croquetas were made by the mother of a friend and were stunning in comparison with the ones you buy. The taste of the homemade Bechamel, the balanced mix of ham and chicken... to die for.

Lightdinner

Dinner was a very simple combination of pizza with fresh herbs, some salumi and cheese to pick at and a nice red wine. Tropical Storm? Hurricane? Bring it on!

Extra Help...

Whew! Another crazy week, with a nice dinner of some ribs that I marinated in Cuban Mojo. I love marinating something the night before and knowing that when I get home from work, I've had some extra help making the dinner extra tasty!

Ribs_mojo

Speaking of extra help... Aunt Lily came through with the delivery to my office of a BIG ole pack of Cranberry Oat cookies! Oh, we ALL dug them! Can't ya tell?

Mm_cookies

From the Back of the Recipe File...

The inspiration for this was Tyler Florence's Ultimate Chicken Cacciatore, which I saw a few weeks ago as I was waiting for Jamie Oliver's show on Saturday Morning. I made one of those mental "that would be a nice dinner" notes. The boneless, skinless chicken thighs on sale for $1.99 a pound at Costco brought it back to the forefront!

Chickencacciatore
It sure was fantastic - was some oven roasted Yukon Golds on the side, and plenty of crusty ciabatta bread to sop it all up with.

My Reward...

I worked until laaaaaaaaaaate on Monday night. So I came back to my place and made a little sumpin' sumpin' just for me...

Plums

Roasted plums with Lactose-Free Breyer's Vanilla ice cream and crushed amaretto cookies on top!

Something to Go with the Wine...

After SUCH a sensational day, all I wanted for dinner was something to pick at, that would go well with the bottle of red that was already open...

Pizze08_portabello

I had some pizza dough that I had frozen and some leftover Amatriciana sauce, so I roasted some Portabello slices and added them on top along with some oil cured black olives and paper thin sliced garlic. Parmigiano all over the top... and I have enough left over for lunch at the office today.

Out of This World...

Morikami

I've been a big fan of fellow-blogger Blue Lotus for years now. She has a fantastic eye for photography and provides exactly the view of Tokyo and her trips that I would love to see if I had the chance to visit Japan. In 2006 and 2007 she did pieces on the Obon festival, which I thought was such a wonderful celebration. Honoring those of our family who have gone before us resonates with me deeply. This year, I decided to take it one step further and visit the Morikami Museum & Gardens in nearby Boca Raton. 

Morikami1
Let me just say that you immediately feel thousands of miles from Boca; you don't even feel like you're still in Florida at all.

Morikami11

The link HERE to their site does a much more exhaustive job at explaining the location. All I can say is that it is literally like taking a vacation in itself. A MUST-SEE for those of us who live near and far.

In addition to the acres of peaceful, Qi-filled gardens and settings with benches nestled to and fro, there was an an amazing display of Bonsai...

Bonsai6

And a killer cafe as well!

Morikami14

Hey, While Yer Up...

If you're going to be up in the dark on Saturday morning because of parental responsibilities, you might as well take FULL advantage of the extra time and make the best of it, right?

Bbmuffins

Duncan Hines Blueberry Muffin mix with strudel topping and "real wild Maine blueberries" (um, sorta...). I added some chopped pecans and some grated lemon zest to the batter in the hopes of making it more interesting.

Bbmuffins2

Actually, they're pretty darn good. And it's good company to the Cuban Cafecito. What's the best part? The gurlz will wake up to the smell of fresh baked goodies for breakfast. That ALWAYS makes the day start well!

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