some travel, some fun, all me
My latest obsession. ALLIOLI.
It is pronounced a – ee – olee and it is DEEEEELISH. Also seen here in Spain as aioli. It is a garlic mayonnaise dip frequently used here in the restaurants and a friend invited me to dinner the other night where this lovely dip was sitting on her table. And she bought it at the store! I immediately went to buy it the next day. It is perfect for potatoes, bread, grilled meat, rice – really anything. Maybe I throw a dollop on top of my cereal today.
Where have you been all my life!? Hello, I love you! I am talking about my new friend, the watermelon. Why have you all been hiding this from me? Okay, perhaps it could be me. I have NEVER liked watermelon, unless it was filled with vodka and we were at Lake Carl Blackwell.
But then I read it wasn’t a fruit, it was a vegetable. I am confused (doesn’t take much). The Oklahoma State Senate passed a bill on 17 April 2007 declaring watermelon as the official state vegetable, with some controversy surrounding whether a watermelon is a fruit. Oh my lovely state of OK, what in tarnation!? Thinking it’s a vegetable, and the official state one at that! You guys have been hanging out at Lake Carl Blackwell a leeeetle tooooo long.
So, like I said, it was never one of my favorites. But the other day I was at the supermarket in Campos and they had sliced watermelon for sale. It looked mouth-watering delicious so I bought one. As soon I got home I cut off a slice and took it out to the pool. I nearly slapped myself for keeping this adorable fruit vegetable out of my life for so long. It even looks great next to the pool, it’s like the chic summer fruit, er ….veggie.
I’ve been trying to add more fruits and vegetables to my meals. Actually, veggies I am pretty good about adding with dinner. But I have always had a problem with adding more fruit to my diet. And the watermelon is a great addition. It is really good for you!
Watermelon is very cleansing, alkalinizing, diuretic and mineralizing. It’s a very clean food–excellent for flushing out the kidney and bladder, taking out waste materials. And because the juice is easily digestible your body easily absorbs for all its minerals and nutrients.
Watermelon is loaded with antioxidants–namely Vitamin C and A–which fight off free radicals, prevents cell damage, and inhibits cancer or abnormal cell growth.
Watermelon is also incredibly high in the two phytochemicals beta-carotene and lycopene (even more than tomatoes!). This combination prevents heart disease, prevents asthma, helps arthritis, prevents arteriosclerosis, and lowers the risk of many forms of cancer (including prostate, lung, colon, and bladder).
The rind of the watermelon is even better with tons of minerals and chlorophyll.What the heck does chlorophyll do for you, doesn’t sound like it would be good. But! No matter WHAT it is, fruit or veggie – just stock up on it and pronto!
If you are anywhere near the town of Padstow make sure you have a reservation at Paul Ainsworth Number 6 restaurant. You will find it at 6 Middle Street, Padstow, Cornwall.
An interesting spot where there are several different dining areas, we sat in the small room in the front. It was Felix’s birthday and I wanted to find a good restaurant, but actually hoping for something great. And we got even better than that. Here is how they describe the restaurant – At Number 6 our cooking is all about making the most of what’s on our doorstep in Padstow. Our menus are based around brilliant local, seasonal ingredients, cooked in a simple modern style with a Cornish influence. Everything we serve in the restaurant – from the bread to the chocolate truffles – is made by our team of chefs.
Not only was our food the best dinner I have had in months but the presentation of everything from my perfect vodka martini (finally! someone could do it right on this side of the Atlantic) to the appetizers to the sweet “Happy Birthday” message in chocolate on the dessert tray. Our waiter, who we later found out was the assistant manager, was not only knowledgeable in wines, how the food is made but was also really witty and a fun person to talk to – and usually Felix and I never really want to chat with the staff. Don’t know if you have figured it out yet, but what a great restaurant!
My first course was deep fried oysters. And Felix had goose parfait de foie gras. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. Sorry about the pics, but all we had was the cell phone camera. Just think how much more you would be hungry if I had the good camera.
Didn’t get pics from the main course (oops). I had the veal with chips (that would be fries to you) and bday boy had the beef. Look how happy we are with the evening!!
Ain’t I cuuuuuute?? And now for the dessert. This was a platter that had a sample of every dessert they had, it was listed for two people to share. We barely made a dent, but it was chocolate, creamy, rhubarb, pop rocks delicious!
I can’t wait to go back!!
I cannot seem to get enough of In-N-Out burgers. Have you had one? If you are anywhere near one, I hope you are heading there immediately. But, do you know the secret words for special orders? I didn’t until this weekend in Vegas, went with Jeannie and after doing the casino rounds we got hungry.
I mentioned In-N-Out, Jeannie had never been and that was all that was needed for the decision. Jeannie heard from a Cali friend that you were supposed to order your burger “animal style”. I believed her 98%, 2% thought she was just wanting me to look like an idiot ordering. I told the drive-in speaker box,
“Two cheeseburgers, and I heard to order them animal style, is there such a thing?”
“What? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” (silence with me looking at J like she is gonna die) “Just kidding, so two burgers, animal style.”
Dude, that was one of the best burgers I have ever had. Animal style means mustard-cooked beef patty with grilled onions, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes and special sauce they call Spread (you can get it in packets like ketchup too). It is pure awesomeness on a bun. Here is our order:
Sorry for the blurriness of the pic, my mom’s camera sucks ass.
So, first secret is animal style. You can do this with fries too:
Oh holy crap. How freakin’ delish does that look? Thank the Lord I didn’t know you could do that to fries as well. Would have gained an additional 5 pounds to what I already did.
And a few more secrets I found out for your taste bud pleasure.
1. 2 x 4 is a burger with two beef patties and four slices of cheese. You can also do a 3 x 3, a 4 x 2, whatever meat/cheese combo your lil heart desires. Apparently you could go as big as 100 x 100, but they’ve changed the rules and a 4 x 4 is as big as they will go now.
2. Flying Dutchman is two beef patties and cheese, that’s it. No bun, no pickles, nada.
3. Grilled cheese is a cheeseburger without the burger. You can also order this animal style. Sounds good, but I still like my meat.
4. Protein Style is a burger wrapped in lettuce instead of the bun for you Adkins freaks out there.
5. Neapolitan shake is a combination of all three flavors (chocolate, strawberry and vanilla) into one shake. They’re so thick the flavors stay separated. Triple Yum!
6. This last one is not about the food but about the paper utensils. There are bible verses written in small print on an inconspicuous part of the item. It is not the actual text but the book, chapter and number of the verse. See if you can find it.
And there you have it my fellow readers! Go get your special order. You can thank me for it later.
NYC take three. Or should it be, take thee? I LOVE LOVE LOVE NEW YORK CITY!
Our last full day together, sniff sniff. The next day everyone will be flying back to their kids, their husbands, their normal routine. Except for me. My travels are only starting. But the Loos weekend in NYC was coming to an end. Again, sniffles.
Hurry it up gals, we got people to see and places to be. And what would be a trip to Manhattan without stopping at Central Park? It would be NOTHING. Nothing I tell ya.
Awww cute lil horsey. Is the taxi dude checkin’ me out? Or the horse?
Birds on a wire. (In front of the Plaza hotel)
Eight Loos. On a Rock. In Central Park, Manhattan. USA.
I always love a ride on the Central Park Merry-Go-Round. Yeehaw!
After the funness at Central Park we walked to the East Side to grab a burger. Cheeburger Cheeburger. And a Bloody Mary. Or Two. Most of the gang still needed to buy some tchotchkes, so back to Times Square we go. Bess and I needed no more New York themed stuff so since it was WORLD CUP month, we headed to the closest bar for a Bloody Mary. Or Two.
We did NOT go to Olive Garden to watch the game. GO GERMANY! GO USA! GO SPAIN!
Our good friend and SHS ’89 classmate, Kary, works at Shaffer City in the Meatpacking District. He was going to cook us up a dinner made specially for us. Yippee! If you go there, be sure to ask for Kary the chef to make your dinner. You will not be disappointed. I don’t have pics of everything from our 7-course meal, but here are a few of the deliciousness that was served up by the friendly staff.
Love oysters.
Meat, potato goodness in special sauce. Mmmmmm….
I was in heaven with the brownie dessert.
ALL of the Loos, with Kary, the chef. Thanks Goolsby!
Oh, you think that’s it? We are not done yet. The night is young. And the night calls for ….. KAROKE. Yo. Bring it 80s music.
DELTA DAWN WHAT’S THAT FLOWER YOU HAVE ON. COULD IT BE A FADED ROSE FROM DAYS GONE BYYYYYYYYYYY
Be afraid. Be VERY afraid. Susie and I are rockin’ the mic.
There you have it my friends. The incredible tales of the Loos take over Manhattan. Until next time. I am Loo Loo Loobird.
A little over a month ago I made my way back to the USA. First stop, New York City.
Almost immediately after arriving at my friend’s place in Park Slope, Brooklyn, we headed out for sushi and discussed upcoming events; Norah Jones concert at Prospect Park that evening and the itinerary for the Loos weekend in New York. The Whos? The LOOS! A group of eight rockin’ but diverse girls who went to high school together in the collegiate town of Stillwater, OK.
Shall we see what fun we got into? Part Uno.
Bess, Drew and I decided to brave the rainy rainy weather to see nine-time Grammy winner Norah Jones at Celebrate Brooklyn! in Prospect Park. I love Norah, she has an angelic voice and she can ROCK the guitar and piano. It was a soggy night with umbrellas strategically placed over one’s head to keep the rain off, and not stab someone in the eye. An impressive crowd still gathered and Norah told us “You have a beautiful bouquet of umbrellas”.
So far, five out of eight had arrived in New York. To make sure we started it off right we went to Grimaldi’s Pizza in Brooklyn for some delicious pie. Then we needed to work off all the pizza we ate. So off to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge!! I was super excited, after living in Manhattan for 2 years and the east coast for 4, I had never done this. Let’s GO!
Afterwards, a few silly pics on the NYC subway.
hehe. and ….
By now, after all of our shenanigans, Beth had arrived, we paid and got the keys to our Manhattan apartment rental for the weekend, we went to the World Trade Center site, wandered around the NYSE, bought some I HEART NYC t-shirts, and headed back to Bess’s place for some homemade enchiladas and margaritas.
Good day mate! Oh wait, that’s Australian. Cheerio old chap, wait, that’s saying goodbye. Top o the morning to you! Is that Irish?
So, back from another B-E-A-UTIFUL trip to England. The German turned another year, but he is younger than me so I really can’t make fun of age. Oh where are the days when I would play “Nobody likes you when you’re 23, what’s my age again?” by Blink182. Great band.
I have a new favorite – SCONES. Yum, double yum. I tried explaining that scones in british are biscuits in american, but biscuits in british are cookies in american. Got it? Good. Scones with butter and jam. Plus a few cups of Earl Grey tea. Heaven.
.
Portland, OR. A city that combines a bit of eccentric touch, with a granola feel and a dash of small town charm. But it could possibly be too big of a city for me, or maybe too spread out. The older I get the more I find myself migrating towards the quiet, the smaller areas with a dedicated lack of bright lights, big city. Except Manhattan, the only big city I truly would love to own a penthouse in….then again, who wouldn’t?
My time spent in Portland was relaxed. A lot of hanging out with the family: mom, dad, bro, sis-in-law, my nephew Avery and a humongous dog named Mr. White. I loved spending time with my family that I don’t see often enough. Here are some of the highlights from time well spent.
throwing wood chips on the slide; Avery and I going down the big slide together, me sacrificing my dry sleeves to wipe off the rain from the slides so Avery wouldn’t get too wet. But most of all, just unconditional love to a little boy that I love very dearly.
Food, food, food, I miss my American FOOD! My family favorites – steak and potato salad, chicken parmesan and cream cheese mashed potatoes, anything South Korean that JungEun cooks – all muy delicioso. But we also hit up some great restaurants:
GOING NINETY MILES 