A birthday with a foodie

A trip to the big apple with a foodie, a photographer, a wall street analyst and a web designer. All have something in common " they want to eat"

 Their mission find authentic, vibrant and unique  places. From food trucks, street food, restaurants, cafes and pubs. They only have 48 hours to enjoy, taste and tell us what they found- and by the way it just happened to be the foodie's birthday. 

Even if it is closed now, it is still one of the iconic facades you don't forget about in Soho. I have seen it in movies, fashion magazines and  books. It's nostalgic to pass by, I adore the green window store.

Little Italy is a must visit especially for their delicatessens, followed by Nolita just to visit a trendy cafe or a new bar.

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Chinatown a destination for having Dim Sum, this time I am planing to have a green tea ice cream and to try the hot mini cakes from the Street food cart.

I will be posting about my experience of all the places were l'll be eating. In my mind I am just looking for authentic food and a destination with a good vibes.

Eating at my friends house

Sicilian Caponata, It was delicious and  additive. An appetizer to serve with crusty bread.

The cabbage rolls are stuffed with rice, onion, lemon and tomatoes.

This Jalea is like a marmalade made out of the coffee berry, just before it becomes a dry coffee bean. It is from Guatemala, I liked with Manchego cheese.

These lovely little boxes are black teas called Te Chirrepeco also from Guatemala.

They add a cinnamon stick to the boiling water.

I fell like I was in France having the little Sushi (that's his name) sitting at the table, he is so well  educated. It's so cute to watch his face expressions.

My friends gave me the recipe of this Sicilian Caponata, It is from an Italian book by LilianaTommasini. I like to have it on a  toasted baguette like a bruschetta. The recipe is perfect!

Ingredients:

8 lbs small eggplant

2 lbs Spanish onions

1 whole celery

5 cups sliced green olives

2 cups capers (drained)

3 28 oz. cans of diced plum tomatoes

2 tbsp. sugar (to taste)

2-4 tbsp. white vinegar (to taste)

3-4 tbsp olive oil (for frying onions and tomatoes)

vegetable oil for frying eggplants

salt

Preparation:

Wash eggplant and peel if desired.

Dice eggplants in large chunks.

Layer in colander, sprinkle with salt between layers.

Let drain for approximately 2 hours.

Meanwhile slice celery (leaves included) and cook in boiling water until soft (do not boil if you like the 'crunch' of raw celery).

Slice onions and fry in olive oil until soft, add tomatoes.

Break tomatoes with wooden spoon.

Let cook for five minutes.

Add sliced green olives and capers.

Add sugar.

Taste the mixture. It should have a sweet and sour taste.

If it is too sweet add vinegar one tablespoon at a time and taste again.

Drain and pat dry the eggplant.

Heat oil in deep fryer on medium heat until hot enough to fry.

Deep fry the eggplant in batches in vegetable oil until browned.

Drain on paper towels.

In a very large bowl (or bowls) layer the sauce mixture with the eggplant.

Let cool.

Then mix until all the ingredients are well blended.

Wash and sterilize 8-9 16 oz. mason jars. Fill jars and cover. Caponata can be stored refrigerated up to one month. The caponata tastes better the next day once the flavours have had a chance to settle and blend.

ROYAL WEDDING PREPARATIONS

How can I not talk about the royal wedding of Prince William & Catherine. If I was living in London when Diana married Princes Charles. I was a Fashion Design student when they were dating but at that time my interest was how the wedding dress designed by Elizabeth  Emanuel would look like. Nowadays my curiosity goes towards food and table preparation. 

The Royal Wedding cake is designed by Fiona Cairns, It will be a traditional fruit cake decorated with flowers expressing the meaning of emotions in a coded way: by the language of flowers used in Victorian times.  

The master of The Household's Department is at the kitchen in Buckingham Palace getting ready for the Royal Wedding. These are some of the samples of canapes prepared for the reception. The menu will probably be in French as they usually do in all the Royal Weddings.

My love for England started when I was a student living in Brighton with my family. Later I moved to London and studied Fashion Design and then moved back to Venezuela. Of course I still do love their cream teas, pubs, local markets, bakeries and even fish and chips. My memories are of the country side, little towns, the smell of rose gardens, Hyde Park and Knightsbridge where I had my first job in a Scottish store selling kilts and learning the tartan names just in front of Harrod's.

Would you like a cup of tea?

This is one of the reasons I like France

Because of their cuisine reaches to every one even to school lunches in France.

Their menu is a five course meal for lunch.They are concerned about the children having the pleasure of eating, sitting at the table, sharing and having a conversation. Kids have at school bouillabaisse, escargots, mussels, while Americans kids at school eat pizza and hot dog.  All food are made fresh locally and well balanced: they even have hors d'oeuvre. This makes me want to live in Paris.

I hope school lunches in USA make a change, I do approve of  all the movement from Jamie Oliver's Revolution about educating and changing school systems, I feel sorry to see kids that don't even know that tomato sauce comes from a tomato or  potato chips come from a potatoes, that is very sad. I was lucky that when my kids where small we were living in Santa Monica, California  and  the principles of the school were that all the food had to be homemade and healthy, you weren't allowed to bring any kind of fast food and the meal had to be packed in a green way, no trash to throw away, little table cloths, fabric napkins, forks and knives they all had to be in small container. Even at children birthday parties there didn't allow soda, and cakes could only be sweetened with fruits. Maybe in Santa Monica everybody is more aware and informed towards the healthy lifestyle.

I raised my kids to be concerned, have knowledge and be curious of what they eat. People were amazed to see such small kids at the grocery store reading the labels of food products. Later we moved to Florida and that was a different story, my children couldn't understand why the school teacher would give them kool-aid and sweets as treats for good behavior in the classroom, even the pediatrician would give them sweets at check ups. They used to tell me: Mom they are all crazy how can they give us this, they don't know anything. 

This one of the reason I love France.

Now that I am not cooking, this what I do

I like my asparagus with a little bit of olive oil and coarse sea salt. I cook them for a few minutes and just like that they are super crunchy and full of flavor. I do not add any water.

Wild Alaskan salmon fillet, bought at Whole Foods

And just by adding these two sauces it turned into a delicious meal with brown rice.

Thats my dining room right now, and still all the china and kitchenware is packed.

It's been hard for me to cook like this, still under kitchen renovation, a little tired of eating in restaurants or eating food that doesn't require cooking at home.

These two sauces made my life a little simpler and easier: the peanut sauce with the combination of the soy ginger sauce just made my day.

My son Sebastian lives in Manhattan and has no time to cook but he tries his best to eat healthy, I just made him a list of all the goodies he needs to have to make a yummy meal in 15 minutes.

Of course those sauces were included plus the teriyaki and the garlic ginger one that could enhance any boring meal to an exciting dish in a second.

Lazy Sunday

    A carrot cake and cappuccino

    The weather was great for a walk along the boulevard

    Everything is so close to the beach

Lazy Sunday law of minimum effort, at least I try.

I went for a walk at Las Olas Boulevard,  "The Venice of the Americas". 

Noodle Panini is a little cafe were I had a spongy and soft carrot cake with walnuts, the place even has soups, pastas, salads and paninis. The cake is home made fresh and could be a craving for a Sunday afternoon.

I may talk with an accent but I don't think with an accent

This is my mom and Nicolas in Bethesda, the house was a chaos. She came to take care of the kids while I was in Caracas. I think she was making 'arepas dulce'.
I realized I could pass through all my life stages by just thinking about the aromas & flavors and those memories could become immediately real into my mind. 

    
This me while I was living in bethesda, I was red hair.


I have to admit I have been terrified to write my blog in english,
even I don’t mind to speak, writing is another issue. So please bear
with me, all my mistakes and horrific interpretations I may do from now on.

I will try my best to continue my blog in English, you may see some
words in Spanish from time to time if it doesn’t have the right

meaning to me in English. But I just want to tell you that part of my

language is universal, is all about celebration, food, eating, having
a bite, trying something new, shopping for food, cooking or just
thinking if my kids eats well now that they live alone.

I was born in Spain, raised in Venezuela, studied in England and I

am American citizen living now in Florida. Of course I have moved

about  forty times in my whole life just like a diplomat's lifestyle
but without being one of them. I started writing El mundo de Lola  in

my kitchen table when I was living in Bethesda Maryland going through difficult moments and I realized that going through my memories of food I could reach into a state of mind of good moments shared by dear friends and families.

Which at the end all was about a celebration, cooking, sitting at the

table, eating, sharing and having a wonderful time. So even now I just
moved again, but this time we are renovating the whole kitchen and I
am cooking free or just making easy food in a portable electrical

kitchen, which you will see, how a foodie lives without a kitchen, for
a while I hope...

Eating at work

This is the pasta that my daughter made yesterday at the office. Right now we're in the process of renovating the whole kitchen at home so we just have a little electric stove for easy to make food. Thank God our office has a nice kitchen.

When Laura is in the mood for cooking she is really good!!! Especially when you spend the day writing and talking about food. You need to eat desperately.

(I shouldn't eat on top of the computer)

Nicolas decided to come along with us to the office since we have a little yard. This is how he came back after running around outside.