Coming backAs I sit here at my laptop, I think ... "How am I going to do this?" Where do I start? What am I going to talk about? HOW am I going to even begin writing about the journey that I have been on?
Countless times have I started typing and set aside a few words, a paragraph or two, or even a whole page. Though, I never did post. I didn't think I was ready. Thoughts, feelings, insights, etc... entries in my email or journal, in personal texts, on scraps of paper, or swimming in my mind. And I am finally deciding to bring it all together. To share my burdens, my joys, my strengths and weaknesses, my insights, ... my life; this blog is no longer just about food. And if there's an ear out there, I am blessed. And perhaps I can bring truth to your world, as God has brought it to mine. Truth. About our purpose here. Truth. About my struggles. Truth. About my joys. Truth. About health. Truth. About our world. There are so many lies we were born or taught into believing and their manifestations are far beyond UgLy. But when we learn the Truth, we can make the changes we need to be better for our Lord and Savior. The changes that perfect us and make us new. I am becoming new. It is no easy journey and I am certainly not through, but I will no longer let the waiting period dictate the postponement of sharing my story. And so let it begin. This is my story... |
"Food is an infinitely rich subject, and there's always something about it to understand better, something new to discover, a fresh source of interest, ideas, and delight." |
I hope all of those interested are able to keep up with my blog because here comes another post! (And it hasn't even been one week!) For those waiting on bated breath, this past weekend Joe took me out on a date to Artist Point () at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. Now this is no ordinary 'quick service' type of meal nor that of 'average fare'. Oh no no no. This is a more extravagant type of meal. Our evening started out with a glass of Riesling for Joe and a glass of blended Merlot/Cab for myself along with sliced sourdough bread, olive oil, and butter with pepper chips on top. Soon after the bread came, we received our appetizer of mussels that were bathed in a garlic broth. On top, they placed a crostini with a creamy garlic spread and micro-greens. The meat in the mussels was of the succulent, salty and garlicky type. Joe's wine was better fit to this dish since white wines are served best with seafood. But pairing wasn't so much of an issue with our entrees. For our main courses, we ordered Alaskan Salmon served over pearl-like pasta with vegetables, a creamed pea spread, and a sweet nutty spread of sorts. The other entree was a Meat Trio of wild boar sausage, venison steak, and bison steak all over a spread of creamy mashed potatoes. There were roasted pearl onions next to the venison steak and a tart berry sauce on the side, which was well paired with the steaks. The Salmon was cooked medium with the perfect flaky texture and the steaks were cooked to the most appropriate medium rare temperature so that they were an almost buttery, melt-in-your mouth when eaten. Except there was just enough chew to satisfy you. Now, as you may remember, when it's your birthday at Disney, you get a free dessert. Since Joe's birthday was the next day (and he was wearing his birthday pin) he received a blackberry and raspberry cobbler with fresh berries on top, topped off with a homemade wild berry ice-cream and a light-up buzz light-year toy. By the evening, we were stuffed full and happy. After a bit of walking around, we called it a night. A wonderful night. The next day it was Joe's birthday and so having the day off, I was able to go to church! Afterwards, we went to The Boardwalk with some friends, ate a packed lunch, and spent the day in Epcot. The great thing about Disney is that no matter how many times you go in there, there will always be something that you've not experienced or seen. For instance, Impressions in France or the show in America (before which a group of performers sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Glory, glory, Hallelujah" A capella style. It was a jaw-dropping, BEAUTIFUL performance.) Lots of walking around and a ride on Maelstrom and soon it was dinner time. For dinner, I took Joe out to BJ's Brewhouse (http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/), which was perfect for him because the Tiger's game was on. HAH! We had another 3 course meal starting on spinach, artichoke, and feta cheese-stuffed mushrooms topped with crispy bread crumbs and a lemon pesto sauce as well as fried artichoke hearts with a lemon and garlic aioli sauce. For dinner, we ordered their California burger which came on sourdough bread with avocado, roasted green chilies, pepperjack cheese, chipt mayo and ranch dressing and thickly cut fries. The other entree (remember the best way to enjoy a restaurant is to split everything!) was parmesan-encrusted chicken with broccoli and white cheddar mashed potatoes. The chicken was surrounded by a buttery lemon and Chardonnay sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh basil. And THEN for dessert (remember that free birthday dessert? YUP.) we shared a salted caramel Pizookie. Aka a cookie of caramel, pretzel, and white and dark chocolate chips topped with vanilla bean ice-cream, dark chocolate squares (Ghiradelli), and creamy caramel. Another decadent night and I've been eating salad ever since! Well more often than not. Because... Today was our Christmas in May party at work. We had a huge spread of food and gifts for our White Elephant gift exchange. Several bottles of wine were passed around, but the really hot item was a 2007 red, spiced Spanish wine with Monopoly 2000 and The Price is Right board games. I was smart enough not to try to steal that item because the people who still had turns to steal would have taken it from me. So I ended up stealing a set of 4 blended spices and a silicone measuring spoon with a brush as a handle (for 'painting' butter on your chicken (ie) when cooking chicken). If you're wondering what all was there to eat, we had roasted chicken, cooked broccoli, squash, green beans, and onions, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cauliflower and egg salad, macaroni and cheese, bread, and salad. For dessert, we had pumpkin pie bars, eclair cake (vanilla pudding with cool whip and layered with graham crackers and dark chocolate icing) - both of which I made - gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, rice crispy treats, chocolate fudge, chocolate mousse cake, watermelon, and no-bake strawberry cake (strawberries, cool whip, and graham crackers). Decadent? Always. Just remember, everything in moderation and make sure to stay active. ... Do you remember that coconut that I purchased oh so many weeks ago? Well I finally opened it! And let me tell you, it was quite the challenge. I first grabbed the small bowling ball-of-a-thing, rinsed it, placed it in a bag, and wrapped it in a towel. I then descended to the ground level of my apartment complex, out into the parking lot to use the concrete as my tool. From my neighbor's point-of-view, a 23-year old female (in a wine red colored dress) attempted to bust a huge coconut open and proceeded to lose coconut water once a few fissures formed. But then I asked him to run for a mug to salvage whatever was left of the coconut water since the protective bag also had formed holes. After collecting all of the coconut water, I banged the coconut a few more times and took it back to my apartment, but soon returned outside with a wooden club to crush it up a bit more. So at this point, I have coconut milk, broken chunks of coconut, a minced portion of coconut, and a pile of shredded coconut - all of which took a whole lot of effort. Lesson? When I need shredded or flaked coconut or even coconut water, just buy the darned pre-prepped thing. Otherwise I'll be spending 3 hours dismantling a coconut. So now I will just sip my hot apple cider, watch the Robinson's, and bid you Adieu.
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And so here we are again. Weeks later. No posts. Just a few words and pictures uploaded to facebook. And so we wonder "Whatever happened to Nicole?" No worries. I've been here. As always, life has simply been well ... not so simple but absolutely full of fun. Thus, let me indulge you on my indulgences! Just last Tuesday on my birthday (May 6), my sister flew in from PA as a birthday present. And I could not have asked for anything more. Thanks Ash. Love you sisterJ<3. That evening, we went directly from the airport to Ari Sushi for dinner (http://www.arisushi.net/). Since my dad could not be there (I mean I AM 17+ hours away!), he so generously paid for our dinner. Thank you Dad. I love you too! So for dinner Ashley (my sister) and I each ordered hot green tea, pork dumplings for an appetizer, and rolls for dinner. We shared a traditional Boston roll (snow crab salad, cream cheese, and cucumber) and each ordered our own signature rolls: California Dream (Avocado, cucumber, asparagus, masago, top with mango, salmon, tuna) for Ashley and my roll which may have been the Venus Roll (Shrimp tempura, krab, scallions, cucumber, masago, avocado, tuna, eel sauce, sumiso garlic miso dressing). Of course, the signature rolls were FAR superior to the typical traditional rolls that every Sushi restaurant provides. The CA Dream roll was more of a sweet and savory roll whereas the Venus roll was much more savory. In the end, we were both happy with our personal choice of sushi roll. Afterward, we went to my church for my class/bible study and SURPRISE! My boyfriend (Joe) bought me a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. For those of you who know me, I am pretty darn healthy, but that's not why carrot cake is my favorite cake. It's the combination of ingredients that makes it so appealing: carrots, pineapple (adds moisture - I hate dense, dry cakes. BLEH), raisins, walnuts, whole wheat flour (half this and half white if I'm making it), and cream cheese as a frosting. Afterwards, Ashley and I drove to Downtown Disney and just walked and enjoyed the atmosphere. Our night ended on a nice, calm note. Wednesday I started the day with a beautiful run (pictures below) and then headed out to Epcot with Ashley. We went on Soarin’, Test Track, Spaceship Earth, and a few other rides. We also walked around the whole park and prior to lunch, went to the front entrance to find where our Nana and Papa ‘left their legacy’ (their picture – also see below!). Seeing their picture almost caught my breath. My Papa (bless his soul) is still up and kicking well, but my Nana passed 9 years ago since April 24. I think of her with so many fond memories and great heartache, but knowing where she is and the fact that I’ll see her again always helps pick me up and allows me to keep moving forward…. We can’t focus our lives on the past because then we’ll never make changes in our lives and the lives of others. We’ve got to move on and be the best that we can be. Once lunchtime rolled around we headed to Italy in their Via Napoli restaurant (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/via-napoli/) and it was AMAZING! Now I have high expectations when it comes to great food and I LOVE Italian cuisine so much that I drink tomato sauce out of the jar (hey, we’ve all got our weird habits). At the restaurant, we received bread with a delicious olive oil, a caprese (tomato, moz cheese, and basil – all fresh!) salad for an appetizer, and a pizza for our entrée. The pizza was the best part of the meal. The dough was a perfect balance of soft and crunchy, the sauce was bursting with flavors so fresh I swear they cooked them straight from the garden, the cheese was so moist you knew it was homemade, and the toppings just accentuating the pizza giving it its own unique flavor. Oh and the pizza itself was the Capticciosa with eggplant, artichokes, cotto ham, and mushrooms. With our meal, Ashley ordered Sangria (the only Sangria I’ve ever liked!) and I ordered a ‘cheap’ $7 glass of merlot wine. But cheap wine and Italy made for a delicious glass of wine that was quite possibly one of the best I’ve had. Since I had my birthday pin on, after dinner, 5 Italian guys and our waitress offered us a free dessert (a Madeline with whipped cream, rasp and choc syrup, and a lit candle) as well as singing happy birthday in Italian! I’ve yet to receive these pictures from my sister’s camera … After lunch we made our way to Magic Kingdom where we went on/saw Filharmagic, Space Mountain, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean (which we were stuck on for 30 minutes!!), and It’s a Small World. At night, we saw the castle show and the fireworks show and were soon out of there and off to bed! The next morning we ran over to Animal Kingdom and went into the Tree of Life for It’s a Bug’s Life experience, went on Dinosaur, and went on Expedition Everest. We walked through the whole park and before an afternoon meeting I had, we went to Sanaa for lunch! Sanaa take TWO! We were stationed by the windows again, ordered the bread service, and split an entrée which was one part shrimp, one part chicken, and one part blended rice. The dish was really good, but I couldn’t tell you what the sauces were. Again, since it was my birthday, I got a free dessert with a candle! There was no singing nor any cute Italian boys, but I would easily pass that up to have this gourmet dessert again! It was a strawberry sorbet/ice-cream with a pool of strawberry preserves in the top center alongside a thin butterfly cookie and two chocolate swirls, all on top of a lemon curd with small chocolate malt balls. If you ever go to Disney around your birthday, get a pin, wear it out to a Disney restaurant, and be amazed! In the afternoon we went to Hollywood Studios where we went on Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Roller Coaster. Later in the evening we saw The Muppets Show and Fantasmic, but not before we went into Hollywood’s cute coffee shop to pick up two cups of coffee and a muffin. The next day was far different than our past two adventures. We took a trip down memory lane to Venice and Sarasota, FL! We grew up vacationing down there with our family because our grandparents had moved down here. Sadly, neither of them are on this Earth, but the memories still remain. Ashley and I first drove to our friends Jan and Chuck (longtime friends with my grandparents) and had lunch together (sandwiches, chips, olives, grapes, and iced tea). After about a two hour visit filled with conversation, Ashley, Jan, and I headed over to my grandparents’ gravesite to pay our respects. Their ashes are in their urns and are buried in a mound where a large, white cross stands. In front of this stand is a plaque with their names and dates of birth and death. Other members of their church are also buried here. Once we laid the flowers down, we said our goodbyes and Ashley and I headed off to the beach that we knew all too well. It was a nice, relaxing, sunny day with tanning, swimming, and walking to the jetty for some pictures, food, and memories. Around late afternoon, we packed up, went to Trader Joe’s, and headed home. The next day I had work so my crab-red sister stayed in and relaxed in my apartment before I got back and started dinner. That night, I drove her to the airport and she was back in PA. It was an excellent birthday week and I just want to thank everyone for contributing toward making it one of the best. I love you all. … This past Wednesday I was invited out to the Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards (http://www.lakeridgewinery.com/) with four of my co-workers and our retired ‘mom’ of ANC (Animal Nutrition Center). Since we were her last set of interns (she (Nancy) retired after working 26 years with Disney), we all went out to her house for a visit to the vineyard and then lunch at her house. Another co-worker came since she missed the last outing with her group of interns. Once at the winery, we entered into a room to watch a 13 minute video about the history of the vineyard and the process of wine-making. Once the video ended, Gino (our most amusing ‘tour guide’) showed us around the vineyard from the grape vines to the rooms for processing and storing the wine. Once the tour was over, we were brought into the store where their wine tasting takes place (smart marketing!!... Loopy people + money + gift/wine shop = profit). Gino presented 8 different wines to us and walked us through the proper steps of wine tasting. And so, too, shall I walk you through those steps. But first, let me tell you a bit about the wine-making process because there are just too many interesting things not to mention for those ‘winos’ out there!! First, let me explain the types of grapes that they grow there: Muscadine grapes and some hybrid grape varieties. These are adapted only to grow in the Southern climates (below TN) and survive well because of their resistance to disease and general adaptation to this hot and humid climate. To make white wines, the juice from the white grapes is pressed out and sugar and yeast is added to allow the juice to ferment. Red wine goes through a similar process, yet the grapes are first pressed and the skin, pulp, and juice all sit together to allow the liquid to turn red. Then they separate the pulp and skin from the juice, add sugar and yeast, and let the juice ferment (for minimum 8 weeks). The wine bottles are stored upside-down in crates for a few reasons: 1. The cork must stay wet to prevent oxygen from entering the bottle and oxygenating the wine (so it’s important to cork your bottle and store it upside-down or on its side at an angle if you’re not going to finish the wine all in one sitting); 2. The crates block any sunlight from aggravating the wine (so you should store your wine in a dark area); 3. The wine is stored in a fairly constant temperature because ‘wine does not like large temperature changes’. Considering champagne and its bubbly character, you have about 45 minutes to drink the bottle if you want to enjoy it to its full potential. So have a group of friends over or buy a champagne stopper to preserve the champagne for a maximum of 7 days! Another interesting thing that pops into my head is the fact that, in general, red wine is enjoyed at room temperature and white wine chilled. Chilled is an obvious one, but ‘room temperature’ is actually around 60 degrees. And to keep your wine at the ideal temperature? Use the stem of the wine glass! I feel like we constantly see people cuddle up to their wine glass, causing an exchange of heat from your hands to your wine. I am guilty of this myself, but am trying to change my ways. If you’re still with me, I’m going to move onto the actual wine tasting process: The Five S’s. 1. Sight: Tilt your wine glass and look at and through your wine to make sure that no specks are floating in it and that the liquid is fairly clear. If not, it’s likely that the wine is somewhat old and so has been contaminated with oxygen/oxidized. 2. Swirl: Holding your glass from the bottom (where the stem meets the base), swirl your wine to incorporate oxygen into it. “But wait, haven’t you been saying that it contaminates the wine?” Well yes, but that is if too much oxygen enters the wine. You will often see bulbs or “aerators” placed at the mouth of the wine bottle. This allows oxygen to enter into the wine for development of the ‘bouquet’, or flavor profile. Remember moderation. It’s comparable to yeast in dough. Some yeast (oxygen in our case) is necessary, but too much will cause destruction (ruin the wine’s flavor). Oh and don’t ever swirl champagne! Not sure why, but you shouldn’t 3. Smell: Do you sense a nice bouquet? Is the smell appealing? 4. Swish: Allow a small amount of wine to enter into your mouth and swish it around like mouthwash so to clear your palate of any former flavors. Ingest and move onto the fifth step. 5. Sip! Now you can drink your wine with class. When you sip your wine, you may want to suck in some oxygen too to get the full flavor of the wine. The wine that I chose was actually their Pink Crescendo which is “crafted using their traditional method champenoise. It’s a pink sparkling wine serving up lots of fruit, firm acidity and a long aftertaste. Pairs well with a rich dessert.” My favorite wines are typically of the red type – specifically blended wines or a nice bold and well-rounded cabernet sauvignon. After the winery, Nancy drove all of our loopy selves back to her house for lunch! She offered us those sweet wine drinks with strawberry and kiwi slices in the glasses. We started off with shrimp cocktail and had some crudités of black olives and cornichons (small pickles). The entrée was basically a sandwich bar: roast beef, turkey, ham, and pepperoni; cheeses including Colby jack, Swiss, Muenster, and provolone; reg mustard, spicy mustard, and mayo; multi-grain bread, lettuce, and tomatoes. For dessert (she was stuffing us full!) we had strawberry shortcake (aka Twinkies with strawberries and whipped cream) and Klondike bars. I will admit to having the st shortcake dessert and saying that it was actually really good, but I will never again have a Twinkie. At least, I won’t plan on it; I’ll make my own biscuit and cream for the dessert. By the end, we were all camped out on the couch and between the wine and food I took a little siesta. After lots of conversation, we all headed back to our homes around 5. The day was too perfect and completely rid of stress. We all need days like that. … So for a week and a half, I've been 23. How does it feel? Like 22. Probably will feel like 24 too! The only thing that really changes is the fact that I'm growing older. And yet age is just a number - it's really your heart and mind that determine your age. So I really can't say I'm just 23; I'm a child at the innocent age of 10 and and 'old soul' of ... I'll let you determine what 'old' is. This weekend is going to be a fun one. But stay tuned for that! |
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February 2017
"Food is an infinitely rich subject, and there's always something about it to understand better, something new to discover, a fresh source of interest, ideas, and delight."
From Pennsylvania to France to Washington DC to Florida, I've had myself many an adventure. Now it's time to indulge in the life of a Floridian. With great food, great friends, and great experiences, I offer you stories and pictures to take you away, into my world at Disney. Categories |