my birthday!

Last Saturday, we went to the Gansevoort pool to celebrate my birthday! It was amazing and special thanks to everyone who attended...the Gansevoort is my favorite Miami pool and I think its safe to say good times were had by all. And, naturally, we ended the afternoon at 8oz!

homemade ceviche

My apologies for not photographing the process. Alas, here are pics from the end result. There are so many different ceviche recipes online, we kinda improvised. We ended up using

1 cup of lemon and lime juice, squeezed from fresh fruits

1 piece of mahi mahi

1/2 lb shrimp

1/3lb tuna steak

1 cucumber

1 tomato

1/2 cup fresh mint and cilantro

1 lg onion

1 cherry pepper

Basically, the seafood was seared (we didnt want it completely raw), then mixed in with the veggies, herbs, and pepper. Stir together, set in the fridge, and let sit. Ideally, 2-3 hours is best, but we were so impatient we waited about 20 minutes.

On the side, a 1/2 lb of mussels, cooked for 3 minutes in a sauce of butter and olive oil, and served with saltines and hot sauce.

sunday cooking

Yesterday, I decided to make something for Novio since he often gets homesick and misses Colombian cuisine. After failing miserably at arepas, I went a little easier on myself and made sopa de arroz y carne.



dice 2 large potatoes...then 1.5 lbs of beef



then pour 7 cups of water, 1/2 cup of peas, and 1 chicken buillon cube, salt and pepper, into a large pot with the meat and potatoes 



bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 50 minutes. Then mix in 1/2 cup of rice ( I used Uncle Bens pre cooked so that I didnt have to cook it as long...or use a seperate pot. Gotta keep things simple!). Continue simmering for 5 minutes.

Pour into a bowl and top with fresh cilantro! Im pretty sure I want to put fresh cilantro on everything now its deliccccious...!

something new: swedish meatballs

I'm not sure why, but I got out of work hoy and wanted something totally out of the blue for dinner, something that I'd never made before. Entonces, I sat in bumper to bumper rush hora traffic and got to googling. After a few minutes, I'd found it. Swedish meatballs atop egg noodles--and better than the kind you get at IKEA (fyi I LOVE those!). I think they turned out great! Tasted dern good, too.

You'll need:

1 lb ground beef (or turkey)

1 egg

2.5 cups bread crumbs

1 bag egg noodles

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2-1 cup beef broth

Spices as you like: salt, pepper, dill

First things first, preheat the oven to 325. Next, you gotta get over touching raw meat. You have to physically mix 1 lb of ground beef with 2 1/2 cups of bread crumbs and 1 slightly beaten egg:



Once it's all mixed, start rolling it into little balls. 1 lb should give you about 15-20. Then, warm a large skillet on medium heat and melt 2 tbsp. butter, then brown all the meatballs in the pan. This will take about 10-15 minutes.



(you'll want to just keep rotating them so most of the surfaces are browned...tedious I know)



When they look like the picture above, you're ready to transfer them so a 9x9 baking pan. Once in the pan, pour 1/2 cup (I did a whole cup) beef broth. Let the meatballs bake in the broth for 30 minutes. After that, leave oven on, take out the pan and pour 1/2 cup of heavy cream and sprinkle some dill weed. Stir everything together, as if you were making a casserole.



Put back in the oven for 15 minutes. In the meantime, bring water to a boil atop the stove for the egg noodles (I used whole wheat egg noodles, about half the large bag). These take about 7 minutes to cook, and they will be ready as the meatballs are done. I also poured what was left of the beef broth into the water the noodles boiled in for added flavor.



Last, take everything out--drain the noodles, stir the meatballs into the cream and beef broth base and serve atop the noodles. It should look something like this:





Mmmm delish!!! Enjoy! Later this semana I promise to post things mas interesting than what I eat. :) Feliz Lunes!!

easy does it: omelettes 101

Every girl (and guy for that matter) should know how to make the perfect omelette. Why, you ask? Because it's unbelievably EASY and because people love them. So next time you host your friends, family, or significant other...whip up some omelettes!

For this recipe, I used:

 4 eggs (with a dash of nonfat organic milk mixed in, for fluffiness)

2 pieces of salami

1 roma tomato

1/8th of a white onion

2 pieces of ham, shredded

1/4th of a large polska sausage link

2 slices jarlsberg lite cheese



make things easier on yourself by prepping your toppings prior to even cracking the eggs open



pour the eggs into a large skillet (i sprinkled in some pepper...i love pepper). Let this cook a few minutes on high. You'll see it bubble up some--I poke these down with a fork to ensure everything cooks all the way through. Pick up the pan after it starts bubbling and swirl the batter so it sticks to the sides of the pan. This is very important--this is how you will peel the omelette from the pan and fold it at the end.



add all the toppings into one side of the omelette. Let it cook about 1 minute and a half, and you notice the opposite side egg start to peel away from the skillet, grab a fork and spatula and carefully pick it up and throw it over the toppings (I messed this up like the first 5 times I tried it...so dont feel bad)



and voila! serve immediately. As you can see, I like so many toppings that mine kinda splits open anyway. Who cares! You're going to eat it anyway. I often pour a little hot sauce on it so then you really can't see its imperfections.

Best complimented with a rainy day and mimosas.

And also, you can see a 4 egg omelette comfortably serves 2.

my surprise!

When I left for the game yesterday, Novio told me he had a surpriiiiise planned for me for dinner. I came home to fresh shrimp and lobsters, and we had wine and champagne and caprese salad and it was all DELICIOUS! What can I say, I'm a lucky gal ;)

Fashion's Night Out 2010 Miami

Checking e-mail and came across this lovely reminder (as if I could forget!).... is anyone else getting pumped up for this?? Fashion's Night Out is TOMORROW, Friday September 10th. As the image suggests, I will be attending FNO in the Design District.  Let the outfit preparation begin!  I'll be sure to post my outfit for you all to see ;). It was tough choosing between the different local events, considering they stretch all the way from Palm Beach to Kendall. Personally, I like the funky downtown atmosphere of Miami's Design District.

As I'm sure you're all aware, this is the first year FNO has been celebrated outside of New York City. For a list of complete events/cities:

http://fashionsnightout.com/fno-elsewhere/



happy shopping/socializing and remmeber it's for a good cause!

housewarm-ish

Last night we had a couple friends over for an evening of food and drinks. Margaritas, Mexican food, card games...good times.











On me: Dress and belt from Forever 21, wedges from Target, H & M earrings, great-grandmother's turquoise  ring, vintage necklace.

leek & potato soup

I've been feeling a bit sluggish lately, and I've just been needing things to sloooow doooown a bit. Nothing seemed more appropriate than a vegetable-rich, hearty cream soup to soothe my hunger and calm my spirit. I found this recipe which is incredibly easy to follow.

Note:  Novio took one look at it and said, "that's filled with all those things I hate isn't it?" i.e.- he is not a huge fan of veggies. Hopefully the cream base masks that. I had second helpings--it is delicious!



A note about leeks: they harbor a lot of dirt and soil in that white base. Not only did I rinse them, but after the leeks were cut I rinsed them again with the help of a colander.

Then came the fun! I chopped (by HAND!) about a billion vegetables. Really it was one large white onion, 3 leeks, 2 stalks of celery. But it took forever. It may have inspired me to get one of those veggie dicing machines as seen on tv...



then, alas, more chopping (and peeling) of 6 potatoes



then, everything gets dumped into a large pot. Fill with a 32oz carton of chicken broth (low sodium of course!)



Then comes the easy part. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with parsley and mix in about 1 cup of half and half (this is what gives it a creamier texture). I guess the half and half is optional, next time I may try it without. Either way it's worth a 'go-round.  Enjoy!

huaca pucllana-fine peruvian dining

Our primero comida en Peru. The restaraunt is stationed on an archaelogical site in Lima. In between dinner and dessert (which you can see were both delectable! I had sea bass and mi hermano had the tuna), we toured the temple ruins.

We met some people from DC, and together we wined and dined like a motley crue of temporary expatriates.

Definitely set the bar for the rest of the meals we ate!

*Side note, as you'll begin to see in the trip's pics, I took full advantage of NOT blow-drying or hairstyling my mane at all.. which those who know me, know that I rarely indulge and usually just let it airdry. BUT, being in a country so in tune with being outdoors, hiking, and living in sweats and basics I definitely took to channeling my inner/outer bohemian



view from our dinner table....literally steps away



the sea bass....a-ma-zing



the tuna...yum yum



mi padre posing with the statues



and teaching a seminar it seems?



yo y mi hermano



mingling with the natives



my pyramid of chocolate mousse ;)

On me: Target top, Old navy hooded fur trim vest, Wet Seal jacket and fingerless gloves, Walmart scarf, vintage bag from my momma, Paper Denim and Cloth Jeans, Forever 21 knit hat, Nine West boots.