Delicious Bytes

Shrimp Stir-Fry and my Shrimpie!

2011-06-06T23:56:00.008-04:00

I know I'm a naughty blogger. It's been a WHILE. But I got so sick of taking pictures of restaurant food on the road, and who wants to see another room service Chicken Caesar or Amy's TV Dinner?? So, I've spared you all the hideous travel bytes I've had for the past several weeks.

I got home tonight after singing 10 days in hot and humid Tampa! We recorded a cd due out in August, too, and I made a whole slew of new friends, and got to catch up with old ones. University of Southern Florida (USF) is a very nice campus, with pretty palm trees, woody paths, and lots of cute birds and turtles.

Despite running into too many cockroaches (I could never live in FL with all those creepy crawlies!), and eating not the world's greatest dining hall fare, we all still had a fun time!

Needless to say, the first thing I wanted to do (after a wicked long nap) was GROCERY SHOP!! We decided on "Chinese". That is, my fake version of takeout. I made a yummy Shrimp Veggie Stir-Fry with Quinoa, and we even heated up some yummy Chicken Veggie Eggrolls from the frozen section. Happily, there are loads of leftovers for tomorrow, too!

Stir-fry has a false reputation for being an easy meal. Maybe I'm just a horrible cook, but I have screwed up more stir-frys than I care to admit. Too often the tofu gets squished, the veggies wilt, and shrimp gets tough, the pan gets watery. So many things can go wrong and make you wish you had just ordered in!

Tonight, I actually got it right. :) I think I just didn't make some of my old mistakes.

-Spring for the fresh shrimp. Putting shrimp in frozen can make your s-f all watery! Plus, the fishy water gets into the veggies and it can be nasty. Today I paid a little more than usual ($19 for just over a pound of large shrimp) but it was worth it. They were soo good!

-Don't add the shrimp until you are ready to eat!! We waited until the egg rolls were golden and crispy in the oven, and the quinoa was fork-fluffy. The veggies were just done enough- still crispy and bright in color, the table was set, drinks were poured, and then tossed in the shrimp. I even took off the tails first, for easy eating.

-Don't over cook the shrimp! It took 2 minutes max. They were awesome. Yum.

Quinoa is a yummy protein-packed substitue for rice, too. Try it!

During dinner, my cousin (who I've always called Shrimpie) texted me! :) :) I can't wait for our big family party on July 4 to see everyone, including Shrimpie, who just finished her freshman year of college. Love you, Shrimpie!

Refuge des Fondus

2011-04-15T08:01:00.006-04:00

This restaurant in Paris (found on one of the hilly, windy streets in Montmartre) actually has it's own FB Fan Page. "J'Adore le Refuge des Fondus". Seriously. And I'm joining it.

I've been obsessed with visiting this place ever since seeing a hysterical pic of my girlfriend sucking on a baby bottle full of white wine. I was crazy excited when I learned it was our first destination in Paris upon my arrival last Monday!

We found the place and waited only a little bit for a spot for the 6 of us. Look how teeny it is!

Super hot, and crowded, and loud- patrons are squished together and half of them (usually the ladies) have to climb over the tables to sit against the wall. Not as scary as you'd expect, but definitely out of the ordinary!

We sat down and immediately were given some snackies and a fruity sugar-laced aperitif. Off to a great start! Especially after a long day of train travel.

Then came the baby bottles. Haha.

We ordered the 2 things on the menu: Cheese and Meat Fondue. The meat (chunks of raw beef) comes in a bowl with a bubbly hot metal fondue pot of oil for cooking. The cheese came all lovely and swirly in a red cast iron pot with cubes of potato and bread for dipping.

We ended up going through 2 bowls of meat and several baskets of bread. It was a HUGE meal!

I've read that it is a bit of a tourist trap, (although the evening we were there it was packed with Parisiens), but the whole experience is not to be missed.

At the end of the meal we had ice cream and fruit salad.

And luckily, after 2 baby bottles, I was able to make it back over the table!!

Such a fab restaurant, I know I'll be back someday!

Currently in Aix-en-Provence after a quick 3 hour train ride on the TGV from Paris. I think I slept the whole way, and ugh, I totally woke up suddenly with my mouth wide open! So embarrassing! :D Mouth breathing is a total pet-peeve of mine, and here I was, sound asleep and mouth-breathing in the First Class Voiture with all these stylish Frenchies. Hahaha!! I could totally fill another blog with all of this American girl's awkward European moments! :)

Singin' in Seattle

2011-04-07T05:28:00.006-04:00

Hi DB readers!

Yes, it's been AGES since my last post, but I just wanted to check in! I'm currently in Amsterdam, but spent the past 2 weeks singing in Seattle, Vancouver, Kansas City, and New York! It's a whirlwind month, and despite getting sick (!!) I'm still having a great time!

Nothing too fancy to report on the bytes end of things... but I did catch a few pics while I explored the famed Pike Place Market in Seattle last week.

I ate a few of these guys: Dungeness Crabbies!

They were selling them in little dixie cups in the fish market, covered with cocktail sauce. I have to admit, I'm love Chesapeake Blue Crabs, which are eaten with nothing on them but Old Bay Seasoning, but the cocktail sauce was alright. I also had a delish Raw Oyster Shooter.

They say the best way to explore a city's eats is to ask the locals for their faves. This was easy for me, since one of my closest buddies is a Seattle area native! She told me to check out the fresh pressed fruit rolls. I tried the strawberry, kiwi, and cherry, along with a couple mejool dates. Super sweet, but fresh and covered with shredded coconut! They were a little hard to find among all the fruit stands, but I managed!

She also said I had to head to Le Panier, a French bakery (I had a croissant!), and Piroshky Russian Bakery. The line for this place was out the door and around the corner!

I had the time, so I waited and ended up with an Egg, Spinach, and Cheese Piroshky.

It was AWESOME, but I could only eat a few bites. Too filling on a long, uphill walk back to my hotel!

There were so many vendors to check out! Flowers, seafood, fruit, veggies, candles, art, jewelry... I sampled some things, but made sure to avoid this one. Ew!

From Seattle we headed up to Vancouver to perform at the University of British Columbia. UBC has to be one of the most beautiful campuses in the world. Truly. Woods and water and mountains!

The bytes situation left a LOT to be desired, but the views more than made up for it.

For Wendy

2011-02-05T23:47:00.012-05:00

HAPPY 2011, Delicious Bytes!

Yes, I haven't blogged since 2010. I know, I know... look! My blog was starting to stress me out. I know that not all bloggers spend their lives in front of a computer screen, but I was starting to feel like I had too much pressure to get posts done! Instead, I stopped cold turkey for more than a month- and I am glad I did it. I need the break!

My college friend, Wendy, posted about a scrumptious vegan apple crumble she baked, and she mentioned me and my abandoned blog. So, Wendy... this post is for you. :)

For those of you not in Boston... THIS is what I've been dealing with for the past month. In fact, no wonder I haven't been blogging- I've been shoveling snow instead! By the way, this picture is from several weeks ago... by now, the snow on either side of the sidewalk is over twice as high! Yes- as tall as my shoulders. NUTS.

Besides singing and shoveling, I've been busy with many other things, too... let's see:

I went skiing!

I went ice skating 3 times!

I went to a fun concert! (Check out Olafur Arnalds live if you can!)

I watched the first seasons of Big Love and Louis CK

I went to a pub crawl birthday party!

And, I ate many delicious things:

I ate homemade kimchee, pickles, and meatballs! (Thank you, Amanda and Tyler!)

Tried my first authentic ramen at a Ramen House! (Mmmmm, Sapporo Ramen!)

Ate pumpkin oatmeal again!

Baked banana bread!

I've been having minor health issues, though, and my doctor pretty much insisted that I try cutting out sugar and wheat for a while. SO.... for the past week I've been sugar and simple carb free! Doing great so far, and feeling very energized. Maybe she was right about me eating too many sugary and wheaty carby things! It's only a temporary adjustment, though, and before too long I'll be adding in some of my favorite sugary, carby foods: bananas and oats, anyone? :)

Do any of you read The Fitnessista? Gina is one of my favorite bloggers. I have been reading her blog, pretty much daily, for almost 2 years. I love it! She eats this way a lot, so if you want any ideas, check her site out!

Anyhow, I've been living off some usual things for me: kale, eggs, beans, zucchini, broccoli, tofu... but, I've tried to incorporate more nuts, lean meat, and fish into my diet. I don't mind so much shelling out the extra $$ for organic free range meat or seafood, especially since I usually eat it so sparingly.

It can be tricky to find sugarless, carb-less options when you're on the go a lot like me, so I spent 2 hours tonight prepping meals to last for a few days. It paid of last week, definitely!

Behold! Six hard-boiled eggs- For breakfasts to-go, or to chop up in salads.

Ground beef + zucchini + garlic powder + chili powder + salt 'n' pepa- taco salads minus the taco.

Had one for dinner tonight. Yum.

It had half of this guy.

Plus heirloom cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, and salsa verde from Trader Joe's.

Lastly, I poached 4 chicken breasts- 2 to save for meals, and 2 I cooled and chopped into a Tarragon Chicken salad.

Should be good on kale as a lunch or dinner!

Do you all find that you are just as dehydrated in the winter as the summer? The heaters dry me out, and all the snow and ice just makes me thirsty!! To help keep me drinking enough water, I've been scoring fancy sparkling water on sale. Just nice to change things up sometimes, you know?

And now, let me introduce you all to our new roommate: Lillian the Harpsichord. My roommate named her, and she's going to be living in our dining room for a few months. Yippee!

K guys- hope to be back before too long!

New Years on the Cape

2010-12-31T18:20:00.016-05:00

Happy New Year's Eve from Delicious Bytes!

The DB girl is enjoying the holiday on Cape Cod with M... {perhaps more on him later} and we are having tons of fun eating, relaxing, going for walks... Tonight's plans are pretty low-key, but will involve cupcakes, leftovers, prosecco, and perhaps more domino's. :)

While breakfast was baking, I took a couple shots from the deck this morning in my Uggs and pj's.

Doesn't the above shot look like the sky? It's actually the ice on the top of the water!

For breakfast this morning, M made me his mother's recipe for Rice Pudding. YUM!!!

Breakfast Rice Pudding

2 C cooked white rice

1.5 C whole milk

2 eggs

1/2 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla

sprinkles of nutmeg or cinnamon or both!

Beat eggs, add sugar and vanilla, and mix in the rice. Stir in the milk, and pour into a baking dish. Top with spices, and bake 45 minutes at 350, or until set. YUM!!

All done!

After breakfast, we played another mean round of Domino's. First one to 250 wins... and so far I am NOT doing well. But, it's fun and I'm practicing my math.

After breakfast, we headed over to a nearby beach. We found lots of poor, unfortunate creatures along our walk. Walking on the sand is a good workout!

We had lunch Wicked Fire Kissed Pizza. I loved the Mulligatawny Soup! The flavor combinations of apples, curry, and lentils really warmed us up after our long, chilly walk on the beach. For my main entree I had the Scallop BLT personal pizza. It was pretty good, and we have half of it for leftovers tonight.

We stopped in our Cupcake Charlie's on our way home. Can't wait to dive into these guys!

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you have a delicious evening!

Snow Snow Snow!

2010-12-27T21:25:00.010-05:00

Ever since Christmas, we've pretty much been snowed in.

We lost power for 15 hours, but my Dad has this awesome generator, so even though we didn't have a working phone, and we had to keep the electronic usage to a minimum to preserve energy, we were never without heat. Our poor neighbors! I think most of them went to stay with friends last night to keep warm!

We even had trouble driving because the roads in our area weren't plowed until after the storm. However... we have THIS. :)

So we were okay.

Even though we've been snowed in and plans to shop, ice skate, see a play, and visit friends have been sidelined (plus I managed to sprain my back! ouch!!) we're still having a good time. Our Christmas dinner is the perfect example. My sister played with this silly spoon...

...and my Dad grabbed my Mom's food with his special silly fork. Hahaha.

The dinner my family made was yummy!

Mom made a huge prime rib roast (free-range and hormone-free), and we had an assortment of veggies for Dad: okra in tomatoes, turnips, sweet potatoes, and the best thing ever! Crescent Rolls!

Pretty Christmas Dining Room!

After a day of heavy eating (prime rib and strata in the same day!), all I wanted the day after Christmas during the blizzard was a big pot of oatmeal. Luckily, my Mom had this in the pantry: Steel Cut Oats!

With a fork and some elbow grease, I turned one of these...

into this for the best sweetener ever.

Added some walnuts from the Christmas nut bowl, plus some raisins, and we all chowed down watching Ocean's Twelve on tv.

Later on, Dad and I headed over to the stables to feed "The Boys"; our horses 'Kota, Nietzsche, and Dante. They are so pretty! They were glad to have visitors and they watched Dad plow the driveway out.

Hay is so delicious!!

Tomorrow I'm probably heading back to Mangetout for lunch with my girlfriend from high school. She recently moved back home from Paris, yay! I had a fabulous lunch here last summer, remember? Anyhow, afterwards, we might hit up our fancy schmancy local mall. They have really amazing stores, like Claire's and Hot Topic. Oh my... why am I such a snob?? :)

Home for the Holidays

2010-12-25T19:18:00.007-05:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I hope everyone's had a great day! Here's a few snapshots from our Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas breakfast this morning.

I think the house looks really pretty this year!

Check out Dad's new stocking I bought him at The Alamo while I was singing in San Antonio earlier this month:

Have you ever seen such a big shell? It was taken from the South Pacific by a Captain in the Navy during WWII and my parents found it at an antique shop.

Even though my Dad has been vegan for about a month, my Mom still prepared our usual ham for Christmas Eve dinner.

For Dad we also prepared roasted sweet potatoes, rice, black eyed peas, biscuits, and kale salad. We also had random escargot in the freezer, so that was a fun addition to our meal! They were super buttery.

My family read the recent Strata post, so they suggested I make it for Christmas morning! This one turned out particularly cheesy because we used a cheesy ciabatta loaf! The strata just has ciabatta cheese bread, eggs, parmesan cheese, and kale. Yum!

Our neighbors dropped by with their annual Christmas cookie delivery. Thank you!!

Off to eat Christmas dinner! My sister says the prime rib is awesome. I can't really remember the last time I ate red meat, but I'm proud of my Mom for buying a fancy free-range, hormone-free piece of meat for our holiday meal. It DOES look good.

Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

Hugs, Chips, and Egg Nogs

2010-12-20T14:00:00.005-05:00

It's SNOWING in Boston! Yay! I don't have a garage for my car, so a ginormous snow storm would not be welcome, but these light, fluffy flurries are pretty without causing a huge pain for driving, so yay!

My concert season for 2010 wrapped up on Sunday and I am officially ON BREAK from singing for a while! Yay! Just a few more lessons to teach this week, and then vacation will start, too! I love the few days before Christmas- everyone's happy, friendly, excited to see old friends and family, or just to get a few days off from work!

My buddy living in Switzerland came to Boston for a quick visit this past week, too, and we finally had some catch-up time.

Beers at Tory Row in Harvard Square:

We also had a fancy schmancy snack together at her house before our respective dinner plans: Lays Ranch Kettle Chips with Perrier and Egg Nog. :)

Our fancy egg nog had rum, whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg. Since I had to perform the next day, I restrained from the rum, but mine was still delicious!

The week continues to be full of fun and festivities! Last night I had dinner in Davis Square at Flatbread Pizza Company in Sacco's Bowl Haven! So fun! Organic, unsual flatbreads served in a bowling alley! They are made with a 100% organically grown whole wheat! :) We wanted to bowl, but there was nearly a 3 hour's wait for a free lane. We sat at the bar and had a great view of the bowlers. Fun! :) We started the meal off with some serious beers. I forget the name of mine, Opa Opa something... it had lots of Christmas flavors. Spicy and Sweet!

We shared a large flatbread, and split it up half Jay's Heart (whole milk mozzarella, parmesan, fire roasted tomatoes, and herbs) and half the Carne Special of the Day. It sounded too unsual to pass up: Roasted Pork Loin with Gravy, Candied Carrots, and Mozzarella Parmesan Cheese. On a PIZZA!!!!

Loved it!!

Everyone enjoy the next couple days leading up to CHRISTMAS! YAY!

Singing for my Strata

2010-12-14T00:52:00.012-05:00

I made the most DELCIOUS breakfast this past Monday morning EVER! Well, maybe not EVER, but it was pretty much up there. I'm finally home from a rehearsal and the leftovers from my Strata rocked my face off. Yum yum yum.

Ever since seeing The Family Stone (you know... Sarah Jessica Parker with Luke Wilson and Rachel McAdams and Diane Keaton!) I've been kind of obsessed with trying Strata. SJP prepares it for her boyfriend's family as a holiday peace offering after a disastrous weekend, and in a hilarious scene the soggy wet raw strata ends up all over her clothes, the floor, everywhere! It's fabulous. In fact, you can see it at the end of this trailer:

As far as I can tell, Strata is basically a savory breakfast bread pudding. It's simple but well, the simplest recipes taste the best, don't they? Just take cubes of crusty bread, add them to a casserole with any cheese, veggies, or meats you like, and cover with an eggy milky mixture. Soak for a few hours, or better yet, overnight, and then bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees to perfection! The break soaks up most of the egg custard and stays soft in the center and gets nice and crispy and golden on top. Uh-oh. Gimme more leftovers, please!!

I've had Strata once before this, at one of my favorite joints in Boston: Trident Booksellers Cafe on Newbury St. It was pretty good, but since I didn't get to experience the whole process of making it, I wasn't as taken with it. Yes, it was yummy. But I had to make it to really love it.

For my Strata, I of course added my boyfriend: KALE. For some saltiness I added some shreds of prosciutto (after carefully removing lots of the fatty parts. I'm weird like that...) I threw in some fancy parmesan cheese, too. Oh, and my bread was just a lovely loaf of ciabatta from the supermarket. I sliced it into 1 inch cubes, and baked them for 10 minutes at 375. This was my roommate's idea from her family's Breakfast Casserole... probably very similar to Strata. It turned out heavenly!

Bread + Kale + Prosciutto:

With Custard Mixture (12 eggs+1/2 C milk + nutmeg + salt + pepper):

Getting happy overnight in the fridge:

All puffed up in the morning!

After baking! Smells amazing!

Our lovely table:

Alongside the Strata I served a couple pastries from Panera (Cherry Cheese and Apple Tartlet), grapes, and Strawberry Apple Tea from Tealuxe.

PLATE!!

Had to be the BEST Monday morning in ages!!

Deep in the Heart of Texas!!

2010-12-03T01:02:00.022-05:00

Hi guys! For the first time in 8 years I am not spending this week singing Handel's Messiah at Symphony Hall with my Boston buddies... so weird! I am, however, singing the same exact piece... in TEXAS!

A San Antonio ensemble is treating us like royalty, and put us up for 6 nights in the Hyatt Regency on the Riverwalk, 2 blocks from The Alamo! We've been making beautiful music, but also enjoying the warm weather and sunshine, Tex-Mex (hello Brisket Tacos!), and the luxury of the rooftop pool and hot tub.

Don't hate me! :) I also am lucky to be sharing this experience with 4 wonderful colleagues, and we've been having a great time together.

Ok.. onto the bytes.

Well, let me start with something UH-MAZING. One of the singers in the San Antonio Mastersingers, David, a multi-talented event planner/singer, baked me a personal Pumpkin Cheesecake! He brought it to our dress rehearsal and gave me my very own pie! This graham cracker crust was buttery and mouth-watering, but the pumpkin... oh wow. YUM. Foodgasm. Seriously. Pumpkiny, and cheesy, and creamy, with a touch of spice. YUM. Look how pretty, too!

I also had a great little late night meal at our hotel restaurant. This place is GREAT. They have a high quality menu, friendly classy service, a cool and trendy ambience right over the water, and it is CHEAP. Especially for a hotel. I had the Brisket Tacos tonight- yum!!! It comes with pickled onions, shredded cabbage and carrots, a gorgonzola cream sauce, and a few more veggies. It's to DIE for. And do you know what kills me? They are $2.50 each! $2.50!!! How? :)

My first meal in San Antonio came from Iron Cactus, a water-front restaurant on the Riverwalk. This place was appealing because it ddin't resemble a chain as much as many of the others. Also, there was a mariachi band wandering the restaurant and performing, and I wanted to dive right into the Texas culture! I had a GREAT salad (the Citrus Salad with grapefruit and blueberries, topped with a rare tuna steak and dressed with a lime tequila vinaigrette.) I want to try making this salad at home!!

I'm embarassed to report, however, that my lunch today was from Rainforest Cafe. :) Does this hopefully make a few of you smile? I've been dying to eat here since my sister went on and on and on about it when we were little- maybe she went to a birthday party there? I love how it's decorated on this inside like a jungle, and every 30 minutes there is a light show and the animatronic (I always say mentronical) animals come to life! We were seated next to two crazy monkeys, but had a perfect view of the creepy big tiger and a giant fish aquarium.

We wanted something small, since the plan was to swim laps afterwards. We settled on the AWESOME APPETIZER ADVENTURE, which came with chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, southwestern eggrolls, artichoke dip, and tortilla chips. It was $14.99 and was a good portion for the two of us to share. Nothing like a deep-fried creamy meal to kick off a day in Texas, I tell you!

Later I spent some time on the elliptical and bicycle of the rooftop fitness center trying to repair some serious damage. The hot-tub was also soothing, and I ended up singing a great dress rehearsal!

Tomorrow is opening night, but during the day we're hoping to finally tour this inside of The Alamo!

Do you all remember Pee Wee's Great Adventure? I wonder how many times a day someone asks those poor Alamo tour guides where the basement is! "There's no basement in the Alamo", people!! :) Hee Hee.

An Opera Thanksgiving!

2010-11-29T09:43:00.011-05:00

Hi all!

Good to be back blogging! A new MacBook Pro *may* have inspired me into getting back to the bloggie! Yay for Black Friday sales, and craigslist for finding my old MacBook a new home and bringing the total cost of my new Pro to $600!

I'm all done with an opera production, and I really miss my music buddies! We spent an incredible 2 weeks working long days together singing, dancing, wearing pretty costumes, and LAUGHING. Big time. This group is so great- love you guys! I basically ate nothing but steamed veggies with spaghetti or rice, chicken, and the occasional salad/sandwich/soup from Au Bon Pain. I used to not be a fan, but it's really delicious now! The one over on Boylston Street in Boston's Back Bay was recently remodeled, and they even take your order with an iPad! Fanciness!

The best meal of the last couple weeks was of course on Thanksgiving. The Opera Gods gave us the entire day off from rehearsal, and I slept the morning away in total bliss. I spent the afternoon and evening with my good friends and we had a splended meal together!

Instead of a turkey (there were only 4 of us), we had roast chicken... and let me tell you, this was no ordinary roast chicken. We used Mark Bittman's recipe from his cookbook, How to Cook Everything. Mark Bittman writes a column, The Minimalist, for the New York Times, and I have to thank my friend Sari for introducing him (errrr.... his existence, not Mark HIMSELF) to me.

From the How to Cook Everything website, here are the basic instructions:

1. Heat the oven to 450°F. Five minutes after turning on the oven, put a cast-iron or other heavy ovenproof skillet on a rack set low in the oven. Rub the chicken with the olive oil, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and put the herb sprigs on it if you're using them.

2. When both oven and pan are hot, 10 or 15 minutes later, carefully put the chicken, breast side up, in the hot skillet; if you're using garlic, scatter it around the bird. Roast, undisturbed, for 40 to 50 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh registers 155–165°F. 3. Tip the pan to let the juices from the bird's cavity flow into the pan (if they are red, cook for another 5 minutes). Transfer the bird to a platter and let it rest; if you like, pour the pan juices into a clear measuring cup, then pour or spoon off some of the fat. Reheat the juices if necessary, quarter the bird (see the illustrations on page 685), garnish, and serve with the pan juices.

What I love about this recipe is the science behind it! Usually the problem with roasting a chicken is that the breast meat dries out while you are waiting for the dark meat to finish cooking- but Bittman solves this problem by cooking the chicken on a hot cast iron pan, instead of on a roasting rack! And, pre-heating the pan gets it good and hot (hello! 450 degrees!) so that the bottom of the chicken, where the dark meat is, is seared and cooks quickly to catch up to the white meat!

We took his advice on adding wine and garlic cloves to the pan as we added the chicken.

YUM! and Done in less than an hour!!

The mashed potatoes were another hit of the evening, thanks to the incredible POTATO RICER! :) Oooooooooooooooh, aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Hee hee.

The French really know how to cook... :) Bonjour, Jerome!

Other delicious sides included green beans with garlic and olive oil, sweet potatoes with pear and apple, stuffing (made by the folks over at Formaggio Kitchen), lovely rustic cranberry sauce from local cranberries from Cape Cod, and red wine pan gravy.

My happy plate:

Quite the beautiful table, don't you think?

After dinner, we received a text message from the neighbors next door who were deep-frying their turkey! We were invited over to see the big reveal! I've been dying to see this in person, especially after watching an episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown acted out pretty much all the nightmare situations that can possibly arise. This MIT professor pretty much knew the drill, though. It was exciting!

Afterwards we came back for dessert. Pecan Pie and leftover Ice Cream Cake from my friend's recent PACS reception! Congratulations Ondine & Jerome!

Off to Texas tomorrow. Might be time for fish tacos or at least some guacamole!

Guest Post: 10 Tips to Make Food Taste Good

2010-11-22T01:23:00.006-05:00

The Delicious Bytes girl is in the middle of 2 straight weeks of 13 hour opera rehearsal days (with the exception of Thanksgiving Day off to SLEEP and BE QUIET), so needless to say, the poor bloggie has been a little lonely. I look forward to blogging again soon, maybe from Texas in a week! Perhaps some Tex Mex is in my blog future? Anyone know of a fabulous eatery in San Antonio I should try?

Anyhow, it was a blessing to be contacted by Cindy Cullen, creator of www.CulinaryArtsCollege.org, about writing a guest post! I hope you all enjoy it! I think her website is important, and I wonder if my cousin used it when she was applying to culinary school recently. If I had known about Cindy's website back then, I most definitely would have shared it!

Enjoy, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

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10 Tips To Make Food Taste Better

The trouble with food is that it has to taste good or we’re not likely to eat too much of it; and the irony of it all is that the foods that taste best are the ones that are bad for health, which promote obesity and which bring on a host of ills. Now this begs the question - is it possible to strike a balance between taste and goodness? The answer of course is in the affirmative; we don’t have to compromise our taste buds in order to boost well being. So how do you go about making food taste good even as you ensure that you don’t sell your health short?

source

Don’t take short cuts to cooking food – when you try to hasten the process, you either botch things up or compromise on the taste.
Adding salt and other additives like MSG to heighten the taste of a dish are temporary measures that cannot be sustained for every meal or in the long run, so if you’re using them to enhance taste, desist from doing so.
Know a few tricks that help you effect damage control in the kitchen – for example, if a dish turns out to have too much salt, add a diced potato to absorb the excess salt. You can remove the spud once the broth or gravy is ready.
Know how to serve up a good-looking dish – when it looks good, you believe it will taste good, and the psychological suggestion really works.
Similarly, work on bringing out the aroma of food – when it smells good, it entices your taste buds and allows you to relish your food. This is why you feel that food tastes like sawdust when you’re down with a bad cold and a blocked nose.
A recent study has found that if you work hard for your food, it tends to taste better than ever before. So don’t just laze around and microwave a TV dinner; get down to cooking full meals that satisfy your body and soul.
Eat slowly and savor every bite and every mouthful – when you gorge your food, you’re not allowing your taste buds to enjoy the experience.
Don’t drown your food in ketchup and other condiments – everything starts to taste the same and sooner or later, you cannot eat anything without the sauces.
Avoid smoking before meals – cigarettes burn your taste buds and leave you with no taste at all, and if you’re a heavy and continuous smoker, you could end up having to eat bland and tasteless food no matter how delicious it is.
Forget the bottle – prolonged use or abuse of alcohol kills your taste buds and makes you feel like everything could do with a little spice or salt. You compound the problem if you’re used to eating spicy or salty food to complement the alcohol.

So there you have it – ten simple ways to make your food taste better; the next time you think your meal is bland, spice it up by following these tips.

source

Cindy Cullen is a Bachelors degree holder in Restaurant Management and also a formally trained chef, who created the site CulinaryArtsCollege.org to share her experience about her Bachelor's degree. As students couldn't find the right Culinary college for them while trying to pursue career in Hotel Industry, so Cindy created this site to help those students to inform them about the educational process, their degree options, some pitfalls to watch out for, and what to expect when attending a culinary arts college. As a well trained chef she is acquainted with different cooking styles and recipes of different regions. She also has the passion to write about different culinary art colleges , foodie people and food available around the world.

You can contact her at: cindycullen84@gmail.com

i miss you, blog!

2010-11-09T08:32:00.004-05:00

Early mornings + Late nights = Lonely blog. :(

Just a little bloggie love before rushing out the door:

Lovely Beet Veggie Soup (fresh from the garden!)- Thank you Catherine!

Spaghetti Squash!!! :)

Huuuuuuuuuuuge spinach salad with little mushrooms

Old Friend (almond milk+banana)

Oooooooh! The last of my heirlooms with cottage cheese! Yum snacky.

Lastly- naughty little girl who found the napkin holder- errrrr... KITTY BED.

Time to go!

Singing (I mean... EATING) in Philly

2010-11-05T16:44:00.012-04:00

I am such a lazy blogger! Oh well... it's been tricky getting used to having my hectic schedule again. Summer seems like it was yesterday, then that 20 days in Europe, then 3 weeks of hospitals and recovery, then the tour to Philadelphia, and boom! Halloween's over and I'm already preparing for holiday season concerts! Fastest autumn of my life!!

I had a BLAST singing in Philadelphia for a week recently with a bunch of Boston peeps. We were staying right near the famous Museum of Art (Rocky!!!) in the Fairmount neighborhood, and we spent 5 days eating our way through some of the best restaurants in the city! No, I did not have a Philly Cheesesteak. I had one years ago when I sang there, and it was super greasy and gave me a stomach ache. But, I did have great meals at the following spots:

La Colombe Cafe

We had delicious mochas and cappucinos at this cafe in Rittenhouse Square. The cups were adorable, the service was super friendly, and vibe was relaxed and fun for conversation, and the pastry was YUM!

King of Tandoor

This Indian restaurant was awesome! I had the Chicken Saag,

and my friend ordered what looked like an Indian version of Chicken Pot Pie (Chicken Dumpakht) , with a little heat.

I love the beautiful puffed pastry!

Later that night we met up with some old friends and had tea in their FABULOUS apartment. Disgusting- in Philadelphia you can get a 2 bedroom 2 story apartment with updated kitchen and porch for the same price as a studio in Boston! Maybe I should think about relocating? Seriously though, their place is adorable and so are their teacups!

I had some Gout Russe tea that was AMAZING. I have to buy some of this stuff!

Apollinare:

One of my singer friends knows the owner of Apollinare, a high-scale Italian restaurant so we all went as a huge group and had an incredibly decadent dinner... for $40 each. It was a total steal, and we were so grateful! As soon as we arrived they were passing around a bowl of black truffles to smell- gorgeous! And these lovely little appetizers... yum.

We tried basically every small plate offered on the menu, and for my entree I tried the classic lasagna, which did not disappoint.

Everything on the table looked amazing- Black Truffle Gnocchi,

Strongozzi alla Spoletina,

and lastly... an Umbrian chocolate cake came as a surprise!

Just when we thought the meal was over, we were surprised with Bananas Foster, prepared in front of us! :) What a memorable meal! Thank you, Shari! We really had a blast- we even sang for our supper!

Parc:

I tried to save money on this trip, but I HAD to try Parc. Some of my colleagues ate SEVEN meals there while we were in Philly! Can you imagine? :) I knew it had to be something special, and I was right. I ended up going TWICE on our last day. Sunday brunch, and for a late night meal after our final concert. For starters, the bread is fantastic.

For brunch I had the Eggs Norwegian- an eggs benedict with smoked salmon instead of ham. It was killer!!

Later that night, I had the French Onion Soup. I hate to say it... but it was just as good as the amazing final meal I had in Paris in September! And, it had double the cheese! :)

The next morning, we were all sleepy... but it being Philadelphia and all... SOMEONE made a point of having a Cheesesteak- a breakfast version with eggs!

Such a wonderful trip! I love you guys!

Back to my roots! (Is that a beet joke?)

2010-10-21T19:32:00.001-04:00

Happy to be pretty much all healthy again!! After 3 sad weeks sans singing, I'm down in Philadelphia singing concerts with a huge group of people; dancers, singers, and some wild instruments! Yay!

Although I stayed on the BEIGE diet for a while, I finally have veggies back in my life. Including:

Fabuloso Beet Salad with Tuna at Parrish Cafe, corner of Arlington and Boylston. Last Sunday was GORGEOUS in Boston so we wandered around the Public Garden after brunch.

Falafel on Greens take-out from SOFRA in Cambridge

Scrambled Eggs with Kale aand Laughin Cow Cheese (yum! how is that stuff 35 calories??)

And with this stuff...

... I made this stuff. Kale with Shoyu and Umeboshi Vinegar rocks it out with Tofu!

In addition to taking probiotics everyday, I'm supposed to eat yogurt. Ok, twist my arm, Chobani. Oh, and its even yummier with part of a Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchie cookie from the Belmont Farmers Market.

I was back on the run to rehearsals this week, so I made a big meal that lasted a couple days. I'm still on white rice, so added to it a little Farmers Market Marinara, Portabellos, Tofu, and duh, Kale.

With Crystal Lite and Apple Sauce before rehearsal.

Thanks for the ADORABLE Japanese tupperware, Celia!

Heading out to seek dinner in Philly in a few minutes. We are staying very close to the Museum! Rocky!! :)

Wonder what Eloise is up to back in B-town. She's probably doing this....

Thank you to my awesome roomie for kittysitting!

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The Backwards Diet

2010-10-08T01:32:00.014-04:00

Hi guys!

Sorry for the hiatus- life has been hard since leaving Paris 14 days ago. I went from pure happiness and joy here...... to sheer pain, tears, and beaucoup de DRUGS here:

I spent 7 horrible days at Mt. Auburn Hospital sick from goodness knows what... some horrid bacteria attacked my intestine and kidneys and I'm still getting over it. Two wonderful concert contracts down the drain, not to mention I missed 7 days singing in Miami, FL with some of my best friends.

My arms are all bruised up from the needles and what's worse... I had 7 days of strictly THIS: the Mt. Auburn Hospital Liquid Consistency Thin Diet.(Yes, I took a picture with my phone from my hospital bed, IV in my arm and all! Now THAT'S blog dedication...)

Just Broth, Apple Juice, Ginger Ale, Jello, Weird Orange Italian Ice, and Tea.

All I could stomach most of the week was a small cup of apple juice, and maybe a cup of jello each day. I was pretty much too high on morphine to even know what was going on!

Now that I'm out of the hospital, I'm stuck on THE BACKWARDS DIET.

Apparently my stomach can't handle even the teeniest bit of work right now, so all FRUITS, VEGGIES, WHOLE GRAINS, DAIRY, and FATS are FORBIDDEN. Yup. Craziness. The DB girl can't have oats, kale, or yogurt! Strictly white food. White rice, white pasta, white potatoes, white bread, white cereal, saltines, and poached chicken, steamed tofu, or eggs. Thank goodness my body is low on sodium, so salt is allowed! :)

My Mom has been here with me making me some nutritious WHITE meals, though. Thanks, Mom!!!!!

White Rice with Egg and Tofu

White Rice with Poached Chicken

White Pasta with Poached Chicken

Scrambled Eggs with Toast

My one allowed fruit is Banana. Cheerios + Bananas + Almond Milk = Yummy Change

A few days later I was able to eat something ORANGE!! A sweet potato!! :) Yay! Mashed sweet potato over spaghetti with chicken:

Probably the most exciting meal of the past 14 days, something RED! Spaghetti with tomato sauce! Not sure why I'm allowed plain tomato sauce, but not actual tomatoes. Something to do with the skin and seeds... This marinara sauce from the Farmer's Market even had big chunks of garlic. :)

I am so in love with my new bowls from Anthropologie! My Mom is awesome at "cheer-ups"! :)

We headed over to the Belmont Farmer's Market today, and although it was torturous to see all the fall veggies and apples, I was happy to meet the fresh pasta man! I scored white pappardelle, cavatini, and sweet potato gnocchi.

It's been hard to be eating this stuff this week, not only physically, since my body is still kinda weak, but also a bit emotionally. It's not that this food is BAD food, it's just that I've really done a makeover on my eating in the past couple years, and I honestly can't even tell you the last time I've eaten white bread or white pasta! I've really grown to love my whole grains, and I miss my kale salads so much!

Oh well, the most important thing is that I'm getting better. I always take my health for granted- it's been over a year since I've been sick, and I haven't had to cancel a performance since March of 2009. I feel so badly for all the patients still stuck in the ER or floor 8 at Mt. Auburn. I did have the best nurses and doctors ever! Thanks so much to Nurses Sara, Diane, Colleen, Mary, Angela, and Bob! And of course to my buddies Tyler, Amanda, Emily 1, Stefan, Emily 2, Scott, and Emmy for visiting me in my druggie stupor or rescuing me to the ER! Lovely flowers from lovely family and friends!

And to all my friends in FL- thank you for such gorgeous roses!

Back to regular life in Boston with this little girl.

We've been doing a lot of this together...

Love that paw!

Hope to post about the rest of my stay in Paris soon!

The American Cathedral in Paris

2010-09-19T13:39:00.001-04:00

I've been singing in church choirs for as long as I can remember... So many fabulous memories of them all, and they've definitely shaped me as a musician. This morning I had the unique opportinity to be a guest artist at the American Cathedral in Paris.

Although it can be hard to get up early on a Sunday morning for that early rehearsal, once I'm dressed up and out the door I'm usually in for a treat. Sunday morning walks are the best! I love the empty quiet streets and hearing the birds. Usually I'm in Boston for this walk, but today, as I came out of the Metro station I saw this:

The American Cathedral (Cathédrale Américaine) is right near the Georges V Metro, The Four Seasons Georges V, the Champs-Elysées, and... the Arc de Triomphe!

In English:

En Français:

I sang the solo in a super pretty Mendelssohn anthem with the choir, "O for the wings of a dove," which has been stuck in my head all day! What a place to sing, and such a friendly place to worship. So nice to make so many new friends and sing with some old ones!

So special to sing here! Reminds me of the National Cathedral in D.C. where my Grandfather was a docent. We sang some great old hymns today, too! "Be thou my vision..." Such a goody!

I am slightly bummed to have woken up with a head cold, but at least I got all set up with some French drugs! Rhume=cold.

My buddy went back to Switzerland after a teary goodbye, too! :( I saw this poster on my way home...

And decided to cheer myself up with one of these from PAUL, an outstanding patisserie. Strawberry Macaroon!

Tonight will be a boring, but necessary night in. Just me, jambon, baguette, thé, and a dvd of Harold & Maude. I need to get better for an upcoming audition on Wednesday! Bon soir de Paris!

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The Great Mosque and a Great Party!

2010-09-19T12:14:00.001-04:00

My buddy visiting Paris from Switzerland and I spent yesterday roaming around near the Great Mosque to St. Germain des Prés, along the Seine, by the Cluny... really all over! We bought posters and postcards and earrings and shoes and....food. :)

We had lunch at the Great Mosque! It was really beautiful, covered with mosaics, and smelling of spices and tea.

We had tagines for lunch, and here is my Agneau avec Aubergines, or Lamb with Eggplant.

If you've been reading DB for a while, you know I love coconut macaroons. Well, i've never had a French macaroon! I hope they taste as amazing as they look! Definitely have to try one before heading back to Boston on Friday. (Nooooo!!!)

Our girlfriend threw us a petite soirée with several of her Honey's colleagues from the Paris Police force! She had prepared for us an INSANE spread of food! Mini pancakes with a caviar spread, hummus with carrots, a selection of charcuterie, chips, bread with nuts and figs, pasta salad with chicken and spinach, and of course! Beaucoup de Fromage!

I may or may not have had a little of this! Ok, i think we went through a bottle of rosé, 2 bottles white, a bottle of red, and a bottle of champagne...

Great company, great food! And, lots of practice speaking French! I think we did pretty well!

My goodness... How I woke up early to perform at a church service this morning, I'll never know! :)

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Picnic at Le Bon Marché

2010-09-19T11:34:00.001-04:00

My first day in Paris was spent among many friends! And, although our dinner at Le Marché in the Marais had been delicious, the simple picnic we enjoyed for lunch outside Le Bon Marché absolutely knocked it out of the park!

Le Bon Marché is a giant, luxurious department store in Paris with everything from Jimmy Choos to giant gourment macaroons. We spent some time browsing the shoe department and made our way to the gourmet market. OMG!!!!!!!!!!! I seriously could have, no WOULD HAVE spent all day here, but we were starving! We bought a couple things to share and enjoy in the nearby garden.

Perfect picnic spot!

Yes, more ham. I think by the time i make it home, Jambon might be my favorite food! I think i've come a long way from Schärding! This cut of ham was extremely lean and delicious, but don't worry! The butter slathered over the baguette more than makes up for it! :)

We shared a fabuloso Shrimp Orzo with Pesto and Veggies!

And, after a quick, successful, happy experience at Longchamp (A-hem! Lol) we made our way down to my gf's sweet apartment near the Eiffel Tower. How gorgeous is this??

And, she is growing peppers!!

I conked out for a nap, and she surprised me with the perfect afternoon snackie: THREE pastries to try. Pistachio, Chocolate Pear, and Almond. Yum, yum, and yum!!

Her fave:

Served with tea. The perfect day!

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First Evening à Paris!

2010-09-19T11:01:00.001-04:00

A few days back I took a little train from Diest, Belgium to Brussels and from there the high-speed Thalys train to Paris!

So happy to be ending my whirlwind trip in the most beautiful city in the world with many of my best friends!

After lugging all my crap to my apartment, my friends took me for a fabuleux first dinner in the Marais. The resaurant, Le Marché, was a little pricey, but we wanted to kick off the trip with something slightly fancier than a crepe-to-go!

Sorry for the crazy blurry pictures from this evening, but I rather like them! It was a magical night! I began with 6 Escargots! YUMMMM!!!!

And for my entree, Poulet avec Riz Basmati...

...lastly some Crème Brulée!

What's a meal in Paris without this?

After a couple extra celebratory drinks with our buddy at her Scottish Pub, my girlfriend and I dreamily strolled towards the Seine catching up from our first month apart. She moved here from Boston in August! AMAZING!

She took me by Hotel de Ville,

And we popped over to see a teeny little insignificant church.

Haha.

Yes it's blurry, but who cares?! I'm in Paris!! :)

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Snack-time in Scherpenheuvel

2010-09-17T05:05:00.001-04:00

After lunch, we headed over to meet up with the kids and Riet's Mom in Scherpenheuvel! What a great town! We fed the ducks, walked around the beautiful Basilica (where many tourists come because of a story of a medieval miracle here!), and ate a yummy snack of Waffles with Ice Cream!

Later on, since we had eaten a big lunch and mid-afternoon snack, the grown-ups had Chocolate Pudding with Cookies AND... DELICIOUS Belgian Kasteel Brown Beer. I thought I only liked light beers! This was dark and sweet and sooooooo good! Perfect for watching the Belgian "So You Think You Can Dance"!!

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lovely day in Averbode

2010-09-17T04:49:00.001-04:00

Averbode is sooooo pretty! Riet and I began the day walking and eating a fabulous meal in a nearby park.

The Abbey in Averbode! The monks make and sell delicious ice cream. I remembered it from 8 years ago.

Yum!! Fish and Mussels in a Wine Sauce (Gebakken Pangasiusfilet Meunière)

Famous Belgian Frites!!

A great morning and lunch with my old friend. Oh, and a few little new friends, as well! :)

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Von Salzburg nach Averbode, Belgium

2010-09-16T18:41:00.001-04:00

What a crazy journey! It only took 11 hours and 5 trains, but I made it to Averbode in Belgium where I stayed with my good friend Riet, her husband Gunther, and their adorable kids, Bjarne and Erin!

Check this out:

Salzburg > Munich
Munich > Frankfurt
(Train got messed up... Ended up going to Köln Messe)
Köln Messe > Köln Main
Köln Main > Brussels
Brussels > Diest (With Gunther! Yay!)

Then a nice car ride with Gunther to pretty little Averbode and their home.

I was so happy to be among friends for the first time in about 12 days! I was starving, too, since I had only eaten this during my crazy stressful SPAZTASTIC train calamity...

Of course, Riet had a gorgeous meal waiting! A Belgian specialty, Chickory Gratin with Ham, served with Potatoes.

No more singing competition = I can finally have some wine!!

Yummy dessert, vanilla pudding with a biscuit:

The nexy day? Relaxing in the country and EATING!! :)

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Hello Mozart!

2010-09-16T18:29:00.001-04:00

I decided my first stop after Schärding had to be Salzburg. Not only is it Mozart's birthplace, the architecture is stunning and the landscape breath-taking. You've got to gear yourself up though, cuz it is a serious tourist town. Busloads of people trying to experience The Sound of Music, nowhere to walk without bumping into someone with a camera, over-priced food...

Still, Salzburg holds a special place in my heart because I spent the summer before 9/11 here living with a family and, yes, studying singing. I made so many great friends that I'm still in touch with (Hi Gabby and Amy!), became proficient in German, had a fabulous singing lesson every day, saw operas at the Salzburg Festival, and became close with my host parents, Mutti and Vatti Dallinger.

It took about 2.5 hours from Schärding (quick change in Wels) and before I knew it everything looked familiar again!!

Btw... This is my second time writing this post. Blogpress crashes whenever I upload a ton of pictures to a post. So annoying! So... Here we go again.

Getreidegasse, where I had so many opera coachings upstairs!

My old school!

Despite rain and clouds, still beautiful.

Fave cafe, Tomaselli!

Trusty old Mönchsberg, still keeping watch.

All choked up remembering the magical night of the opening ceremony of the Salzburg Festval in 2001! Dancing by candlelight around the fountain!!

Best little spot to stop for a snack, Papageno Platz.

My buddy...

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Goodbye Schärding! Auf wiedersehen!

2010-09-16T18:19:00.001-04:00

Hard to believe I spent over a week in Schärding and that it is over! There was so much to do, no wonder it flew by! When I wasn't studying music, rehearsing, or performing, I tried to explore the area as much as possible, taking long walks, but making sure to rest a lot as well.

I didn't want to say why I was here before (I didn't want to jinx myself), but now that it's all over I can. I competed in the International Soloist Competition for Early Music Brunnenthal. In German it's quite a mouthful: Internationaler Solistenwettbewerb für Alte Musik Brunnenthal. Although the first and second rounds took place in Schärding, the final round, a formal concert, was performed in a baroque church in nearby Brunnenthal. It was pretty!

I still cannot believe the outcome. I knew it was a stretch to come this far for a competition, and there was a huge list of pieces to learn for it this summer, but I actually won first place!

I have to say, something about not being in my usual surroundings, it was easier to really focus on singing, probably since I didnt have the usual distractions; my cell phone... Real Housewives of Wherever to watch on tv, and no Eloise to play with. Gearing up to head out for the finals:

With our illustrious head judge afterwards:

The best accompanist a soprano could wish for... Merci, Eugene!

Weird dinner in the Biergarten after performing... Had no idea what I ordered and it ended up being a Hot Dog wrapped in Ham and stuffed with Cheese. LOL Managed not to spill on my silk gown, somehow, too. WIN!

I have to give a huge shout-out to Hotel Forstinger for being so wonderful. The room was inviting, but more importantly it felt like home because the owners were so warm and friendly. I had to give them my winning bouquet, they were rooting for me all week! :) They even sent me an email the day after I checked out to congratulate me!

Such a lovely town, I'm so happy I will be back to sing here next year!

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It's just a happy kind of day!!!!!

2010-09-11T09:46:00.001-04:00

I love Schärding! No seriously, I love it!!!! Well, it would be hard not to love everything today... This is the kind of day I'm having:

Sometimes it's just good to hear that you're awesome. :) And pretty statues don't hurt, either...

I hope everyone else has an equally amazing, awesome, unbelievable day, too!!!

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Eis Cream!

2010-09-10T14:33:00.001-04:00

Still hanging out in the Schärding! Roamed around yesterday and found a pretty path through the woods close to the Inn River.

It was a gorgeous day, and many people were out and about. The ducks and swans were having a good day, too! People stop and feed them all day long on both the German and Austrian side!

I wandered around for over an hour and then stopped for Some Eis! Austrians LOVE their ice cream, seriously. It's similar to Italian Gelato. I ordered Erdbeer, or Strawberry.

It's not my first Eis in Schärding, though. Several singers and I celebrated our singing with some fancy treats at a cafe on the Stadtplatz. I had the Pfirsich Melba, a Peach Sundae...

And my new buddy from Norway had a Waffel mit Eis.

Such a picturesque spot for such pretty desserts!

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Gettin' my veggie fix on, Schärding-style!

2010-09-10T12:11:00.001-04:00

Well, it's my fifth day here in little Schärding in Northwestern Austria, bordering Germany, by the Inn River. I know... Pretty, isn't it?

The first couple days here were pretty rough what with the jet-lag, singing stress, and multiple restaurant FAILS. But, I'm getting a handle back on my German, singing well, and finally having some veggies back in my life. They may not on par with my fierce kale salads back in Boston, but at least they're not fried!!

I've taken a few long walks in the past couple days, one to the neighboring town of St. Florian.

It was only about 2.5 kilometers to St. Florian, but the architecture was very different than that in Schärding. Instead of the colored buildings, I saw many adorable little houses like this one. These are more what I've been accustomed to in the other Austrians towns I've visited.

I also saw these guys!

On the walk home I stopped at a mega-grocery store, EUROSPAR.

I scored a pre-made salad and a pretzel from the bakery. I was so excited to have salad!!!!

And yes, i know it has HAM, but i told you so!!!! Schärding is totally HAM TOWN! It should be called Schinkening instead! Despite the ham, it was really good, probably cuz I hadn't had a raw vegetable for days.

I ate it in my hotel room and watched The Devil Wears Prada...errr I mean Der Teufel Trägt Prada. :)

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Today I walked to Germany...

2010-09-07T16:17:00.001-04:00

Seriously! Ok, don't be that impressed... It's only about a quarter mile to the bridge, and the Inn River crosses over into Germany from Schärding. It's no big deal, and there isn't any border control, just lots of people riding their bikes and driving to and fro all day long.

Here's the Alte Innbrücke (Old Inn Bridge) that I walked over.

And here is a lovely view of the town from the German side.

Close-up!

I can't get enough of these colorful buildings! This is the Silberzeile, or main drag:

More pretty colors from the wall along the river:

For financial reasons, I'm eating out only once a day. I've got some stuff from the BILLA grocery store, so I'm not starving or anything.

Also, Hotel Forstinger offers a yummy Austrian breakfast, so i try to fill up then. This morning i had a soft-boiled egg, a roll with cheese, and a bowl of fruit salad. Ill try to get a pic tomorrow!

Anyways, I spent nearly an hour this evening roaming around and looking at menus outside the restaurants. Schärding isn't only meat-crazy, it's HAM-crazy! Ham this, ham that. Everywhere on every menu, ham, ham, ham!! I'm not a fan, and the only ham I like is the one my Mom makes every Christmas Eve with her glaze. And even then am I super picky to cut a slice without ANY fat. Blehhhhhh! The ham all over last night's pizza was more fat than meat, lemme tell you. Tonight, I found a Mexican restaurant and, no joke, the menu had Enchilda with Ham Sauce!! Ham Sauce.

In the end I found a great spot, Lachinger, which is on the Silberzeile. It was cold and rainy out, so i ordered the Kürbissuppe. I dont know why, but i had the feeling this was a seasonal soup, and I was right! Kürbis means pumpkin! It was very rich and creamy.

For my entree I was happy to see a vegetarian plate. Feeling slightly intimidated to speak a lot, I simply placed my order, no questions. Im not trying to complain, and although it was yummy, it just wasn't the healthiest veggie platter I've seen. Lol Gemüseschnitzel und Kartoffeln. Veggie Schnitzel over buttery potatoes. schnitzel is deep-fried. Like woah... crispy as Chik-fil-A!

My server was nice, though, and she understood me as I fumbled through asking to take half to go. "Ich habe eine Frage bitte... Kann ich dieses nehmen mit?" and she said yes! So, at least I am all set for lunch tomorrow!

Bread and hazelnut spread is yummy, but might get a bit old.

Tomorrow's mission... GREEN vegetables. Baby steps, people. :)

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Veggies not so much... But Austria is pretty!

2010-09-06T15:04:00.001-04:00

Feels like ages ago that I left my apartment in Boston for the airport, but it was only last night!

I am in Schärding, Austria in a lovely hotel, Hotel Forstinger, but it wasn't easy to get here! Took a bus from the Munich airport to Freising, Germany...

Then a 2 hour train to Passau, Germany...

And lastly a shorter train over the Inn River to Austria and lovely old Schärding.

A quick, cheap taxi from the station and I was at the hotel! It's been welcoming weary travelers like me since 1606!!

All I wanted to do was SLEEP the day away, but after a little pep talk via Skype on the iPad, my buddy in Paris convinced me to get a snack and walk around. I snagged an awesome salty BRETZEL!

And I also bought some snacks at the nearby grocery store to keep in the mini-fridge. This chocolate pudding looks tasty!

I also bought HUGE bottle of water. Flying is so dehydrating!

Wandering around the town exhausted wasn't so bad because there is so much to look at! I love all the colors...

The buildings are painted just as they were in the middle ages when the colors had meaning.... Blue was for a bakery, and green was for a guest-house!

This green building is my favorite so far.

In the past ive had a hard time finding food i love in German-speaking countries. Living in Salzburg one summer in college my host family fed me nothing but bread with honey and apple tarts! Yummy but not nutritious!

Im not big on fried stuff (Wiener-schnitzel), or sausages, or heavy gravy on noodles. And I've had bad luck finding yummy veggies on menus, usually having to settle for over-boiled brussels sprouts or iceberg salads. Lol I couldn't help but laugh at the Vegetarian Sandwich on my room service menu: cream cheese AND regular cheese??

I was too tired to roam around a long while so headed to StadtCafe close by. Ordered the house pizza, which came COVERED in meat, eggs, and jalapenos! I got some angry looks from my waitress as i picked nearly everything off the slices before eating, but well... After about 8 hours of sleep in 3 days i didnt really care!

Looking forward to my BED and waking up to explore some more. The veggies are out there, I just KNOW it! :)

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Chicago!

2010-08-27T02:00:00.001-04:00

What a whirlwind couple of weeks I'm having! Yesterday was a brief respite in Boston after the San Francisco trip (which I'd like to finish blogging on but the pictures are on my MacBook back in Boston!), and now I'm crashing at a music buddy's house in Chicago before an audition tomorrow! Don't even get me started about New Hampshire this coming Saturday and Annapolis on Sunday... EeK!

My Europe trip is looming only 9 days away, and I have so much to do in Boston to prepare, but I just don't have it. I also would like to be home to be closer to my girlfriend about to have a baby! It's sooooooo exciting! She and I at least got to have breakfast yesterday morning. We met up at Tory Row in Harvard Square, and turns out they have quite an impressive breakfast menu! I loved my fancy personal broccoli frittata, it was a great way to start off a busy day of errands and unpacking/repacking.

I also got my first 30th birthday present!!! I don't have a picture of it with me, so I'll keep you all in suspense a little while longer. ;)

My new roommate is moving in this weekend while i am away, so this morning I had to prep the whole apartment for her arrival, and the time went by so quickly before i knew it I was at the airport at noon without having a morsel all day! Naughty!!

I actually managed to find something halfway decent to eat in the terminal... Starbucks makes yummy yogurts with fruit and granola. I rounded the meal out with a banana and an unseen string cheese. Thank goodness for a giant Fiji water to last me through the flight, too. Singing the day after a flight is difficult enough without adding dehydration into the ordeal!

My generous host, a fellow singer and also talented director, podcaster, and foodie, picked me up from the airport in the late afternoon and brought me directly to Urban Belly for a late lunchie/early dindin. Cute logo, huh?

This chic little Asian-inspired restaurant features noodle soups, dumplings, and fried rice with delectable combinations, like pork belly and eggplant! I've never had pork belly (although I've seen a fair share of it on Top Chef) so I was open to trying everything my buddy recommended.

Of course, it was all yummy. The eggplant is so delicious, we had to get it as a side, as well!

But, the broth of the noodle soup was especially comforting. yum! I can't figure out links on this BlogPress app, but go to www.urbanbellychicago.com to check it out!

After have an entertaining evening watching my host podcast live with his colleage in the dining room, we settled in for a snack and trashy tv sesh. Curious about opera? Go to www.operanowpodcast.com and listen to these guys!

Anyhoo, we enjoyed yummy herbal tea from Trader Joe's and chocolate animal crackers during the latest Real Housewives D.C. LOVE the pig tray, Oliver!!!!

D.C is getting sooooooo juicy! I was shrieking at the last couple minutes when the drama at the table got so fierce and Michaele finally said something other than "wow, i know it's so fun!" or "I LOVE you!!" and what the $&#! does Tareq have to do with Mary's 23 year old daughter??

I also may have attacked some leftovers... Does that happen to anyone else besides me? You eat an early dinner, take home a doggie-bag, and somehow it doesn't make it to lunch the next day? =]

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

No Rice-a-Roni!

2010-08-20T13:41:00.005-04:00

Playing catch up again! Hi guys! I tried sending this from SF the other day, with no luck. Sigh... computer glitches! Looking forward to putting up some more stuff from the trip soon, including a fab dinner party, a day in Santa Cruz, and dinner at Tony's in North Beach! :)

**********************************************

Aug 19,

I had some seriously good karma the other day. I don't know what was up, but the craziest things happened on the way to San Francisco! I was boarding the plane, and I had paid a little extra for more legroom and a window seat for my non-stop flight on JetBlue, when all of a sudden there were two toddlers and a dad in my row, and a toddler in my extra legroom window seat. The Dad explained that I could have my seat, but I'd be babysitting for the next 7 hours, or I could have his seat... A CENTER seat, no extra legroom. GRRRRRRR. I mean, who does that?? and, why spend the extra money on legroom for toddlers??? Not wanting to be a jerk, I took his stupid center seat, which also had a broken tv screen... Awesome.

I got off the plane in SF, used the restroom, and was walking towards baggage claim when a woman ran after me with my purse!! I had left it in the restroom! Was it a reward for giving up my window seat?

A little while later I was on BART heading downtown, and the woman who had been seated next to me had just exited the train when I saw her purse on the seat next to me! I sprang up and tossed it to her just as the doors were closing! She called out, "Oh my goodness, that would have been a disaster!!"

Crazy turn of events, right?

So, I'm in SF, and the good karma is still with me. I'm having a great time visiting friends and my sister, and also getting a good amount of practicing done while my sister's at work. It's great wandering around her neighborhood on Union Street in Cow Hollow. Up her hill... and down.

Yesterday I ventured over to Oakland on MUNI and BART to have lunch with my old Oberlin roommate in Oakland!

We had sandwiches at Farley's East, a fab little cafe at Broadway and Grand. It was so great to sit outside and catch up! She had a huge veggie sandwich with yummy cheese and avocado, and I tried the Sandwich du Jour, a BLT with basil aioli pressed as a panini. Both were served with lemony salads.

We had a great time roaming around for a while afterwards, too. It was pretty.

I headed back to SF and wandered around Union Sq for a bit. I'll admit it... I bought a pair of "jeggings". Yup. Leggings that look like jeans. $15 at Old Navy, and I'm on vacay- why not?

I practiced for a couple hours until my sister got home tired and hungry. We decided on Pho delivery for dinner from Aux delices in her neighborhood, Cow Hollow. We both ordered the regular Chicken Pho, and a side order of dumplings.

Vietnamese dumplings are so different from what we expected... They were wrapped something like a huge clear rice noodle. Pretty tasty but weird-lookin'!

Nothing is more comforting than a huge bowl of chicken soup, though...

We ate in bed and caught up on Real Housewives of D.C. It's finally starting to pick up, too! More drama, please! :)

Patty pans!!

2010-08-14T15:18:00.005-04:00

The weather in Boston is soooooo gorgeous this week. Even though I'm stuck indoors practicing most of the time, I'm balancing it out with little bike rides and excursions on the bus to different parts of my new neighborhood. There's a farmer's market in Harvard square every Friday that I always forget about, but I happened to be catching up with a buddy at the Legal Seafood bar outside by the Charles hotel yesterday, which is directly next to the market.

As you might know already, I love me some patty pan squash. My Grandmommy says to look for the smallest ones, cuz they're the sweetest. I was so happy to see organic patty pans sold 5 for $2!! I'm serious!! The vendor was very kind, and also gave me a deal on 2 lovely heirloom tomatoes for $1.75.

I couldn't wait to try my squash!! I love their fun little shapes so wanted to keep them whole during the cooking process. Who could ever chop up a pretty patty pan? I had some new veggie broth i've been meaning to try, White Wine & Herb, so I brought about a cup to a simmer and dropped in my squash.

Covered, they only took about 6 minutes to become tender, and soaked up the broth, too. Yum!!!

Such a fab little veggie mini-meal!

Last night around midnight I enjoyed a lil' heirloom tomato with sel de mer. Summer is so great- I will really miss these little fresh veggie snacks in a few months!!

In other news, I'm excited to announce that I blogged this post from the BlogPress app for iPad!! My SONY net book was stolen in June, and since I do not have a smart phone, and my MacBook is slightly bulky for travel, I treated myself to an early birthday present! I have a feeling September is going to be full of birthday treats, but the tax-free weekend in Massachusetts was a good incentive!!

Ok... Here goes nothing! if you're reading this, you'll know the app worked!! =)

Trout!

2010-08-13T19:43:00.005-04:00

The other day I was on the phone with a good friend while he was vacationing with his family at the Grand Canyon. Our conversation led to fishing and cooking, and he told me about the amazing rainbow trout he would catch whenever he was in Utah. It reminded me how much I love fish, and made me wonder why I so rarely cook it! It's hard to mess up, takes seconds to cook, and you can get it for a lot less money than you'd think.

I headed over to Whole Foods, just praying that something would be on sale. As a rule, I try never to eat farmed fish, and WF was my best bet, although I look forward to trying out my neighborhood fishmonger, Frankie's Catch of the Day in Belmont Center, as well. What do you know, they had trout on sale!! I got 2 filets for under $4!! Yes, from Whole Foods. I know some stuff there is outrageously expensive... but I think you just have to know what to get and look out for bargains. Bulk bins and specials, my friends! :)

Got the trout home and wanted to go simple with it. Just a hot pan, butter (ok... Earth Balance), and oregano. YUM!! Served it with yellow squash that I threw into the pan after the fish was done and added more "butter". I always seem to forget about butter, actually. Nom, nom, nom, nom!!

A lot of yellow on the plate, but delish!!

Doing a lot of practicing lately, and getting my apartment ready for my roommate to move in. She's one of my oldest friends- in fact, she knew me before I was born, even though she was just a baby, too! Our Dads have been buddies since they were in elementary school.

I've also been finally getting around to putting some posters in frames. Another girlfriend gave me a gorgeous print of Fragonard's The Swing. I can't wait to visit her in Paris in September!!!

So pretty!

I'm so excited to finally have a roommate, and she's bringing two feline friends for Eloise- Skittle and Reese. Hopefully the girls will get along. Eloise will have to show them the ropes- like how much fun the bathroom is! :)

Most Adorable Cupcakes! :)

2010-08-10T15:38:00.005-04:00

Ok, so one of my closest friends is about to have her first- a boy! We're all insanely excited and a few girlfriends and I saw her to celebrate her birthday a couple days ago. We spent forever just standing around the baby's room having girl-talk and totally dying over the cuteness everywhere! Ummm, yeah, it's outta control how cute her baby stuff is!

Ok... food blog, not baby blog... sorry! So, one of my girlfriends brought along some adorable and delicious cupcakes. The craziest part? We all thought they were store-bought from one of those trendy new cupcake boutiques, like Sweet in Harvard Square.

Nope. She baked them, decorated them, and even wrapped them in adorable little baked good boxes. The sweetest little thing ever. Literally. :)

Here they are: Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Basil Frosting, with a sprig of Thai Basil from her garden.

photo B. Wells

The best part? Ms. Kay has her own domestic diva blog, as well! :)

Three Kitties at Home!

This girl rocks it out- she balances a busy home with husband and kitties, working as a singer and at one of my fave spots, The Container Store, and rocks it out in all thing fashion and culinary. She even made butter! :) Enjoy the blog, everyone!

Dear August, please slow down!

2010-08-08T12:53:00.012-04:00

Faithful DB Reader!

My apologies for slacking off with the blog this summer! I believe once September comes I'll have a rush of inspiration for posts, especially while in Paris. For the time being, though, I'm spending as much time away from the computer as possible. Work has kept me indoors enough in June and July, and so when I'm not practicing I'm enjoying every lovely August day on my bicycle, wandering around my new neighborhood, or just reading on my deck.

I scored some plastic Adirondack chairs from Target on sale for $16! Awesome!! They didn't fit in the car, but J set them in through the sun-roof, and I cautiously drove home with them sticking up through the car! It was quite an adventure... Thanks, J!

It's been too hot to cook, but I've been enjoying my summer squash with greens, grains, eggs or light pastas. I love love love summer squash! :) Meals have been super simple, prepared without recipes or hardly a thought.

I like poking around the bulk section at Whole Foods, and I bought some Mediterranean Cous Cous a little while back. It's technically a teeny pasta, and it's so yummy!! I cooked it in a little of my favorite broth (IMAGINE Organic No-Chicken Broth), added some squash and eggplant, served with steamed sweet potato and cilantro I hand-picked from a local farm, and ATE IT.

Speaking of a local farm, I took over a week of my friend's CSA at Waltham Fields Community Farm and am so thankful! I love this farm- my friends got engaged there! We not only got some fabulous veggies, but we enjoyed some fun time outside picking herbs and beans and flowers. So pretty!

Here's our loot.

Made for a great afternoon snack, too. We had a loaf of baguette with some Kale Chipotle Pesto from Maine, and carrots of Ranch. Yeah, might have been some Corona action, as well. ;)

To reduce my time in a hot kitchen this summer (no A/C!), I've been cooking a lot of the Farmer's Market stuff in big batches when I get it home. Potatoes, especially. Boil it up, steam it up, roast it up, and then store it for later. Comes in handy and, as I heard on NPR yesterday, it also reduces my "cookprint", or Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen. Less time with the appliances on = happier planet.

Summer is the easiest time to reduce your cookprint, so give it a whirl! This website has helpful tips, as well!

In addition to the mini-pasta, I love having a big batch of quinoa around. It takes hardly any time to cook, and it's sooooooooo good cooked in veggie broth! Woah! I threw it on some arugula with squash and Ranch dressing. Random lunch, but good!

I loved the first tomatoes of the summer, of course. These heirlooms are amazing, and I never even enjoyed them with a meal. They make a fabulous snack, and I don't think I walked through the kitchen without popping one in my mouth! Needless to say, they didn't last long.

Still loving the Chobani Champions. Soooooo good, and come in chocolate and honeynana. I always top mine with a 1/4 C of cereal- I think this was Fiber One Raisin Clusters. The size is perfect, and I think the design is super cute, too!

Oh, and I made a little yogurt parfait last week. So pretty and delicious! Just layered Trader Joe's 0% Greek Yogurt with Kashi cereal and Agave Nectar. :) Eat this!!!

Meanwhile, Eloise loves her new house and is finally not afraid to sit by the windows. Yay!

Happy August, everyone!

Dad's Surprise 60th!!

2010-07-25T09:00:00.001-04:00

We pulled off such an amazing party for my Dad this month!

Dad had NO CLUE that my Mom and sister and I had planned a party with about 50 friends and family to share his 60th birthday. I don't know how we pulled it off, cuz my Dad is sneaky!!

We held the event at the Mystic River Yacht Club, which has stunning views of the Mystic River, the marina, and a pool! We had the party catered by Saeed's in New London, and they prepared some of my Dad's favorite Lebanese dishes. The theme of the party was actually a Lebanese Luau! Can you picture the silliness? Hawaiian lais, mimosas, spinach pies, kibbe, hummus, not to mention the ginormous hollowed-out watermelon full of fruit salad from Mystic Market, or the giant photo cake from Big Y.

How did we pull it off? Well, on his "real" birthday on Thursday we threw him a small family party, complete with MORE Lebanese food and another photo cake. Mom made kafta hamburgers on the grill and we had them with grilled skewers of zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms. The kafta (basically a Lebanese hamburger... ground meat + herbs + onion + spices) was REALLY good. I think kibbe and kafta are the only meat dishes I really crave! They bring back awesome childhood memories of my grandparents, too. The chocolate photo cake was yummy, but the best part about it was the photo. Look how cute my Dad and Godmother were!! :)

Oh, and did I mention how much my Dad loves horses?

Well, needless to say, Dad didn't have a clue that more festivities were to come. We must have had over 50 people there! I think everyone loved trying the food, and I think many people were unfamiliar with Lebanese fare. I wished that I had made little signs explaining each dish, but I didn't mind hanging out by the buffet (ok... and the spinach pies or fataye) to answer any questions people may have had.

Yay for old friends!

Oh, and the cake was almost gone when I got to take a picture of it! My Dad's horse was all eaten by the end of the party!!

I think that the best thing about this party, I mean besides getting to see tons of old friends and family, was the LEFTOVERS!! Seriously, the mountains and mountains of kibbe and hummus and tabouli and spinach pies was overwhelming, but wow... for days aftwards we could help ourselves to a Lebanese feast any moment of the day. My sister and I completely destroyed the spinach pies within 2 days, I think!

Who says 60 isn't awesome?? :)

Surprise, surprise!!

2010-07-23T09:00:00.004-04:00

O.M.G, like I am sooooooo excited! :) :)

I made a serious purchase today, and I get to enjoy it for 10 whole days! :) Need a few hints? Ok... here we go!

I'll probably eat this at LEAST once. (Sole meunière, of course!

I'll most likely shop somewhere like this on a daily basis...

Oh... I *might* see this, too. ;)

Can I tell you how much I love this picture?

Ok... ready to guess?

Paris? How'd you know??? :)

Yes! I'm renting a 1BR apartment on the outskirts of Paris for TEN DAYS!!!!! Paris is gorgeous in September, and I cannot wait for my trip! Get ready for some serious Delicious Bytes Frenchie-style!

Of course, the food and Eiffel Tower aren't the only things amazing about this trip. Did I mention my two besties will be there? One has lived there for years waiting for a visit, while the other one will have just moved a month prior (booo!), so we're all going to have a blast. Just so happens a few friends will be in town performing an opera, too- so that will be fabulous!

This trip will also involve two other countries... but I'll leave those for another postie. For now, I'm just day-dreaming of crêpes, la Musée d'Orsay, la Seine, moules frites, Saint Chapelle, and beaucoup de baguettes!!!

Summer

2010-07-14T13:19:00.008-04:00

Summer can mean a lot of things for the classical singer. I think for many (and me included) it gives a welcome break from the non-stop concert season. Some head to programs or summer festivals here and abroad (to perform, learn, or teach), some visit family while they can finally get away, some spend 3 months earning an 'honest living' at a temp office, some continue teaching and singing on a smaller scale, and for MOST of us it gives us a chance to reflect on the prior season and gear up for the craziness to come.

What do we want to accomplish in the next year, and what needs tweaking that cannot be easily tweaked during the concert season? What aria did we never have time to practice? Does the website need updating? Do the prior season's recordings need to be (sigh) actually listened to and organized? Do the piles and piles of music from last November's concerts need to be put away or recycled? Oh, and what about those e-mails to and from important people you never got around to sending? Auditions you meant to take? Headshots you meant to update? Competitions you meant to apply for? Ring a bell, anyone? :)

Well, at the moment I am... surprise, surprise... gearing up for a little audition. I flew to BWI yesterday, am enjoying a calm day of preparation at my Grandmother's house near Annapolis, and will be heading into D.C. in the morning for a quick little sing.

This is quite an ideal situation! :) I love that I can come down here for "business", aka- TAX WRITE-OFF, but still enjoy visiting family and friends. After the audition tomorrow it's going to be a bit of an Oberlin reunion, and I can't wait to see my girlfriends!

Onto the food.

I know we have great Farmer's Markets up in New England, but let's face it, people. You come down here (and I know Maryland isn't even the South...) but all of a sudden the tomatoes are divine, the peaches juicy. YAY!

My Grandmother and I, after a dip in the neighborhood pool, headed over to Diehl's Produce Stand in Severna Park. Wouldn't you know it, little Diehl's even has a Facebook page where they update weekly on what is at it's peak. They've been in business for nearly 40 years, and it's where my Mom's family has been getting their 'lopes, tomatoes, peaches, beans, squash, corn, and berries all that time. Yesterday we popped by for tomatoes and peaches, but stumbled across some gorgeous squash! We picked a few small yellow, 1 nice looking zucchini, and 3 cute little pattypans. I love those little guys! :)On my Dad's side of the family, the Lebanese side, eggs with kusa (or squash) is a favorite. So, this morning I whipped up a quick breakfast of kusa eggs to enjoy with my tea. Ok, it was more like around 1pm- but I'm resting today!

Chopped up 1 yellow squash, the larger of the pattypans, dropped it in a hot pan with a little cooking spray, and browned those guys up. Added a tiny dash of salt, too. When they were cooked through, I added 2 whisked eggs, and let them settle.

Confession: a little butter never hurt anything. Those eggs and squash were never happier- seriously!!Flipped it over (nearly a success), cut in half, and ate it. With berries. And had seconds on the berries with a chopped up 'lope. From Diehl's. :)

July already?

2010-07-02T12:10:00.006-04:00

How is this summer flying by so fast? JULY?????

My girlfriends and I kicked off the new month with a fun night of girlie talk, Chinese food, and ice cream! The 8 of us get together a few times a year, and craziness always ensues!! You might recall another of our parties from this entry.

We decided to keep it low maintenance this time, especially since one of our ladies is due in August!! :) :) We headed to P.F. Chang's by the Boston Common and met by the bar. The girl-talk begins instantly, of course, and doesn't stop for hours.

These pictures did not come out AT ALL, but we shared the Chicken Lettuce Wraps as an appetizer. For my entree I had the Buddha's Feast, which has a stir-fry of tofu and veggies in sauce and served with brown rice. YUM!Now, this news might be a bit distressing to some of my vegan/vegetarian readers, but I have to let it out. I had a chicken lettuce wrap. And, I had a turkey sandwich yesterday. And, can I just say that I feel better? I have REALLY mixed feelings about vegetarianism, and as you all know, I gave up red meat and poultry for Lent, and and continued on until this week. I also haven't had any eggs or seafood that weren't organic, cage-free, or wild-caught. But about a month or so ago, I started to just feel HUNGRY. Like, hungry and never ever feeling like I was eating what my body wanted. Weird, right? Now, I was never a huge meat eater, and I think I'm going to just try eating more eggs and fish (because even though I allowed them in my diet during Lent and beyond, I just didn't eat them very often...) and see how I feel. But, I saw the turkey sandwich on the menu and it just looked sooooooo good. And, yes, it tasted good, too. Of course, I can't help but think about the turkeys, and then I feel bad! And, goodness knows whatever chicken was in the P.F. Chang's appetizer probably spend its entire crummy life crammed into a cage without any sunlight or space to stand up and fluff it's feathers. Bleh. :( Anyways, more on that later....

For dessert we headed directly next door to Emack & Bolio's! Love this place!! I haven't had ice cream here in a really really long time. I have this great memory of a summer day back in grad school, walking around on Newbury Street, and I had this amazing waffle cone dipped in marshmallow and rolled in Fruity Pebbles. Seriously! So, I had to have that... with Banana ice cream. Yum. Too big, but delish!! I had to eat all of the fruity pebble part of the cone, of course!Earlier in the day I stopped in for a soy latte at Espresso Royale near Boston University. My gf was recording an aria to use as an audition cd when she moves to Paris (!!!!) so I needed a little late afternoon boost. Look how pretty my foam was! :) The Espresso Royale guy has some talent- and he was super smiley when he saw me photographing it.By the way, look who loves her new apartment?! Eloise is officially out of hiding, and loves sleeping up on the radiator cover near a window. Terrible lighting- what's up with my usually awesome camera- but still cute! Ok well, I need to down this Green Monster and then I'm off to the Charles Plaza Farmer's Market at Harvard. I am in serious need of a Farmer's Market. How is it July before I've had a chance to go to one??? TRAGIC!!!!!

MangeTout in New London, CT

2010-06-29T15:55:00.009-04:00

Hi DB Readers!

Apologies for the absence from posting- in all honesty, I just haven't been all that inspired. The apartment is too hot, I've been away, my camera is being a pain, and I have a lot of music to work on. Also, my new bicycle has been getting a lot more attention than my blog. Oh well. Delicious Bytes shall continue on, but probably on a smaller, less-frequent scale.

I've just returned from performing at the Connecticut Early Music Festival. This concert was at Connecticut College, which is so awesome for me because I went to high-school on this campus! The Williams School is a little private school set up on the hill, and we used to perform our Christmas concerts and have academic ceremonies in the arts center auditorium of the college. Singing here as an adult brings back a lot of fun high-school memories. My French teacher and her husband (who taught English, although I never had the honor of being in his class) ushered and attended and concert, and I performed with a bunch of my Boston peeps. Fun!!

During our few days there we tried several restaurants, two of which I've eaten in for years. Margaritas in downtown Mystic might be a cheesy Mexican chain, but I love it! My sister and I always chose this place for our 'report-card dinners'. Everyone's meals looked awesome. I had the Quesadilla Vegetariana... and a classic Margarita on the rocks with salt, but my girlfriend and I ate way too many of the complimentary chips and salsa and were sick the next day!For dinner one night we headed to Singapore Grill in New London. This place has BANGIN' sushi!! We ordered tons of rolls and it came to us on an elaborate giant sushi boat. The Dynomite Roll was pretty amazing- imagine a maki roll with cucumber, avocado, salmon, tuna, crab, and DEEP FRIED! The owner is super friendly and is always smiling and cracking jokes with the customers every time I come in. Compared to Boston, it is extremely affordable, too.

My favorite meal of the week has to be the Tofu Walnut Burger and Apple Tarte Tatin from MangeTout on State Street in New London, though. This lovely small cafe features an organic menu, heavy with vegetarian and vegan options, with freshly baked breads and pastries. There wasn't anything not to love about this place, including the owner who greeted us, took our dessert orders, and told me she used to work at Puritan & Genesta in Mystic (the area's small business natural food store). I love Puritan & Genesta! :)Check out their website! It states:

Mangetout Organic Cafe is committed to providing fresh, organic food prepared simply with the goal that hunger and curiosity should be simultaneously satisfied.

My meal started off with the cold Squash Soup with Peppercorns. On a hot day, this refreshing soup hit the spot, although the peppercorns were a tad overpowering. I was really looking forward to the Tofu Walnut Burger, though I was torn between that and the Tempeh Reuben Wrap. The bread for the burger was AMAZING!! A homemade vegan whole wheat focaccia! YUM YUM YUM. The burger also was great, and had a yummy dressing which they call Le Pink. :) It was a rather small portion for $7.25, but worth it for the organic ingredients! My girlfriend loved her frittata: Also... I think it's all a ploy to leave room for dessert... which at MangeTout is a NECESSITY. Holy moly. I wanted to try everything. I opted for the Golden Apple Tarte Tatin- buttery and delicious! Wow! I also tried the Black & White Chocolate Macaroon Tartlet, which is also out of this world, and gluten-free. The Almond-Orange Yogurt Cake was incredibly moist, and I had to take two bites off my girlfriend's plate! :) I cannot wait to head back to Connecticut and go back to MangeTout!

Settling In

2010-06-19T02:13:00.006-04:00

What a busy week! I've been teaching a lot this week out of the new apartment. Check out the music room! :) So nice. I'll be getting a roommate later in the summer, but until then I'm really enjoying teaching from home while school is out!Today I got some new headshots taken in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library. What a gorgeous day! We walked around the Copley Square Farmer's Market afterwards... no purchases, though. This diva was clean out of cash!Bytes have been pretty boring lately, I hate to say. I'm loving the combination of raw broccoli in the kale salads, though- I think it's so pretty to toss in those little florets! I tried a new dressing, too- a Blue Cheese made with yogurt. It's pretty tasty, although I think I still prefer my old school olive oil with lemon dressing. I tossed in some flax as a healthy topping, too.As Gina (The Fitnessista) would say, dinner the other night was a SALAD BEAST. Seriously. This salad may look small in the photo, but it was HUGE! Kale + broccoli + edamame + sweet potato + California Dr. Praegar's Burger + artichoke bottoms. I enjoyed this while we watched Bee Season with Richard Gere. WEIRD MOVIE. We just weren't feeling it.Eloise is settling in nicely, and discovered the bathroom this week. Water fresh from the faucet is sooooo fascinating! :)Oh... and of course I ate more So Delicious Plain Coconut Yogurt topped with bulk bin granola and fresh organic berries. Heaven.Best byte of the week? FIRST GREEN MONSTER IN THE NEW KITCHEN!!!! Check out my new blender, too! J traded me his blender for my ironing board/iron. I never iron anything- I'll admit it. This blender rocks! Spinach + banana + chia seeds + almond milk. Mmmmmmmmm. Kept me going all though a morning of lessons!I know many of you have asked to see more pics of the place. Well... it's just a little empty without a roommate, and I don't want to hang anything on the walls until she (whoever she is) moves in. But well... here's a few of the kitchen. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my pantry. I even have empty cabinets and shelf space. Now THAT'S a first.

Cooking with Lacinto Kale

2010-06-10T15:21:00.011-04:00

For some reason I've avoided trying Lacinto (or Dinosaur) Kale for ages! I don't know why... Ok, I do. It's darker in color, and reminds me of Collard Greens, which isn't my fave. But, it was on sale this week, so I decided to give it a whirl. I learned online that Lacinto (also Lacinato) kale comes from Italy, and is generally known as a less bitter type of kale, and easier to eat raw. Curiously enough, I cooked it! :)With both meals I pan-sauteed it after chopping it up into 1 inch strips. I love how it turns such a bright green with a little oil and heat. I seasoned it with a splash of shoyu and fell in love! I could seriously eat a huge bowl of this stuff every day. It does cook down a lot more than the regular kale I usually buy, but it still has more bite to it than spinach. Alongside some yummy flounder... I love fish, but it always falls apart on me! Any suggestions? Also with tomatoes and tofurky kielbasa...(Btw... fans of soda- try this new natural "diet" soda, Zevia! It's made with stevia instead of aspartame.)

I should also share this delish baked egg dish from the other morning. Pretty much the same thing as my dinner (kale, tomatoes, kielbasa) but with eggs, topped with cheese and baked for 20 minutes. YUM. This is nuts, but as I type this Eloise is curled up next to me hiding under a blanket. She's SUCH a scaredy-cat since the move! She never likes to cuddle near humans, and rarely sleeps under blankets, but since the move she won't leave my side at night, and will hide under the comforter all day!! Crazy cat. I hope after a week or so she'll get used to it! She won't even eat unless we bring the food to her. (The kitchen is REALLY scary, apparently...)What was that??What's down there??Food? :)Where's my old house???

Breakfast at Flour + First Meal

2010-06-10T07:30:00.004-04:00

A day or two after the big move, J and I were running an errand in Boston's South End, and we decided to have breakfast. I was pretty grumpy from living out of boxes, not having a hot shower for days on end (stupid hot water!!!), and realizing that my new SONY travel laptop got stolen, but was happy to stumble upon Flour, a bakery that J has been to quite a bit without me!We had a couple pastry items alongside breakfast sandwiches. I had a coconut macaroon (of course...) and J had a fluffy, sweet brioche bun. Both were awesome, but my egg + cheese + tomato + arugula sandwich was off the chain! YUM!!! The egg was crazy good- but came in a weird rectangle shape with a custard-like consistency. I did like it, though, and the roll it was served on was warm and crusty, and soft on the inside. This breakfast powered me through to go home and do some serious work on the new house!

Here's the new dining room! It's getting there! :)That day I headed to the grocery store for actual ingredients, not just prepared food items. I wanted to finally cook in my kitchen! I was tired, so we were still talking an easy meal here... but cooking nonetheless! We had whole wheat spaghetti, red sauce, meatless meatballs, a kale salad, and garlic bread. And, since I don't have cable at the new place, we watched a few episodes of Six Feet Under that I've been renting from the library.

I had so much fun in the new kitchen!! :) I know it's silly, but I snagged a photo of the stove boiling water for the first time. Haha. Dinner rocked it out. Old school and delicious. I loved the first few days of WF salad bar splurges, but I was ready for a hot meal, that's for sure.A day or so later it was time to christen the oven! :) J and I both were dreaming about nachos so we made some ultimate vegetarian nachos with meatless buffalo wings. We toasted the wings in the oven first, chopped them up, and sprinkled them across tortilla chips with cheese and refried beans. After melting everything together we topped them with lettuce, salsa verde, chopped black olives, avocado, and sour cream. Nacho, nacho man! :)

The Big Move

2010-06-09T00:29:00.012-04:00

Hi DB Readers! How I've missed you!

Thank you so much to Kat for writing while I was getting my life settled in my new apartment! It's taken about 10 days but I'm finally starting to feel at home, Eloise is literally sniffing her way around the house, and I now finally have an internet connection! Hallelujah! :)

The move was difficult, mainly because I was away working on two operas during the 3 weeks leading up to it. I was out of town, which gave me a couple really stressful days to pack everything up right before the actual moving day. And, I only had the moving day off, so I was working the whole time!I hired a great moving company, and despite showing up 3 hours late, they did a wonderful job and were very friendly. Despite absolutely loving my new neighborhood and apartment, I always have a hard time leaving somewhere that I've lived. Remember how cute my old place was? Well, it was hard to see it all change that day!After moving in, I was completely exhausted and frustrated to learn that I couldn't even take a hot bath! It took 5 days to finally get hot water in my new apartment, but when I did I was sooooo happy!

I was pooped from all the unpacking and lack of a nice shower that each evening I had nothing left in me to cook. For the first few nights I'm the first to admit I splurged on the Whole Foods Salad Bar. I think it's really funny to see what I chose each night, too. At first I was really stressed out and grumpy, and my food selections reflect that (fried food, cream sauces...) but as the week went by (and the hot water got turned on!) I chilled out and craved healthier foods (kale, whole grains, etc).

First night: Seafood Salad with mayo + Mac n Cheese + Fried Popcorn Shrimp + Beets +Veggie Quinoa- this "salad" was so huge that I had leftovers for lunch the next day!Second Night: Broccoli + Sesame Tofu + Eggplant Parmesan + BeetsThird Night: Kale + Beets + Wheatberries+ Okra+ Ed's Tantalizing TofuVisiting Whole Foods was also kind of fun each night because of the natural drama going on outside! There was also a crowd of people watching a nest of newborn red-tailed hawks learning to fly off the office building across the street! There are even videos on youtube about these guys! :)
I also had some yummy snacks upon moving in. Mainly pita chips with hummus and cheese crackers. Can i tell you how amazing these pita chips are?? I love Whole Foods 365 brand products, and I'm telling you these are the yummiest pita chips EVER! 365 Whole Wheat Pita Chips with Flax Seeds and Onion! YUM!!!!!!!!!! And alongside a huge tub of creamy hummus for $3.99- you can't beat it! Whole Foods can be really expensive, but sometimes you stumble across some great deals, you really do! :)The cheese and crackers were also pretty great- Z crackers with some creamy herby cheese. Breakfasts have been pretty much the same- coconut yogurt with some sort of fruit or granola. I am REALLY in love with the So Delicious coconut yogurt, but I was bummed to read in VegNews this week that of all the non-dairy yogurts, coconut yogurt has the least amount of calcium. :( Oh well, at least I eat tons and tons of kale to make up for it! My staple is the larger tub of plain yo, but I splurged on a little baby pina colada yo right after I moved in! DELISH with some chocolate granola! :) To save a little this week, I bought my granola from the bulk bins at WF, and I am really liking the Classic Granola, which was only $3.23 a pound! Oh, and yay for strawberry season!Stay tuned for pics of the new place and my first meal in the new kitchen!

Guest Post: Mexico on Acid

2010-06-02T09:39:00.006-04:00

Baroque Diva and I have sung gigs together in Boston and Miami, and besides both being sopranos who sing a lot of early music, we share a love of food and of sparkly jewelry (she's a good shopping buddy!). At the moment she's busy moving and getting set up in her new home, so I was excited when she asked me to write a guest posting for Delicious Bytes. So here I go:

Mexico On Acid

Unfortunately, not the fun kind. Like possibly as many as half of all voice professionals, I have trouble with GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease. This wouldn’t be so tragic if I didn’t love to eat so much. So it was with great dismay that I felt my GERD acting up to an unusual degree, just days before a long-anticipated musical tour to Mexico City. The idea of having to pass up moles, chiles, Mexican Coke (which is made with real sugar!), fried food, limes—basically everything good about Mexican food—made me want to cry.

For my first meal in Mexico I decided the heck with it; if I already felt horrible I was at least going to eat what I wanted. I ordered chilaquiles, which are fried tortilla strips covered in red or green sauce, crumbly white cheese, crema (which is basically sour cream but so much nicer than our American version), frijoles, and either egg or meat. Showing some restraint, I chose the green sauce because the tomatillo-based salsa verde is usually fairly mild, and also completely delicious. I was in heaven.

And then my stomach tried to KILL me. For the rest of the day. Since I was professionally obligated to sing well that week and therefore not have stomach acid ravaging my vocal chords, I decided to take it easy. And I found that it is actually possible to eat a GERD-friendly (or should I say, GERD-unfriendly?) diet in Mexico City.

I still sighed over friends’ pollo con mole and chile rellenos. But I found that even the milder cuisine of central Mexico is quite lovely. I ate lots of hand-made corn tortillas and lots of Mexican rice (which you can often find made with just veggies, no tomato sauce). Salad was unfortunately off-limits due to plan not to get sick, but there are plenty of cooked vegetables to be found, especially squash and nopales, which are the pads of the prickly pear cactus and taste kind of like tangy green beans but have a slight okra-like sliminess. Knowing that papaya, which is the only fruit I’ve never really liked, is a miracle-worker for digestion, I ingested gobs off it every morning at breakfast, and surprisingly came to like it.But the saving grace of the whole trip, the culinary experience that made me rally each day, was popsicles. Oh, the popsicles! Across the street from our hotel was an ice cream store with a large freezer case full of brightly-colored paletas, or popsicles. The milk-based ones are tasty, but the water-based fruity ones are even better. Full of big chunks of actual fruit and the whole seeds, they’re a safe and scrumptious way to devour the tropical fruits of Mexico. I had one or two every day; the man working in the shop came to recognize the crazy American paleta lady. Never in my life could I have enough guava and mango and guanábana and mamey popsicles, and by the end of tour I’d converted most of my colleagues into paleta fiends as well.

So, it turns out to be quite possible to enjoy the fresh and wonderful cuisine of central Mexico while on (stomach) acid; it just takes a little creativity and a dozen or so paletas.

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More info on Kathryn Mueller can be found at her website!

Last weekend in the Brookline!

2010-05-29T06:38:00.014-04:00

I've been dreading today for months! PACKING DAY.

I'm surrounded by 30 empty boxes, yards of packing tape, and piles and piles and piles and piles of stuff. Waaahhhhhh! Wanna see something funny, though? I love how packing makes you really go through your stuff. I found a ring from Coach that I thought I had lost, and I found a FLOPPY DISK with all my college papers on it!! CRAZINESS!! :) I put it in a safe place, how could I toss it?I made a WEIRD, but delicious and nutritious meal with random stuff in the kitchen we have to eat before the move. I used up 2 Gardenburgers, 2 eggs, a scoop of salsa, and a handful of blue corn tortilla chips. Who would have though veggie burgers were delicious broken up in scrambled eggs?The goal is to have this whole place pretty much packed up by dinner, so that I can go to bed early and relaxed and ready to go for the big day tomorrow. It's going to be a really long move!!

7am- wake up, walk to Coolidge Corner for a nice breakfast!
8am- meet moving truck over at address where I'm buying the new furniture
9am- hopefully be at my place starting to load the truck
11am- maybe on way to new apartment?
3pm- hopefully done unloading + furniture put together and able to eat a snack and lay down on my unmade bed for an hour or 2?
5pm- drive back into city and clean old apartment (boo!)
6:30pm- drop off keys
8- dinner, make bed, find pj's, FALL ASLEEP! :)

Memorial Day: ~~Unpack.~~ Oops! I mean, visit with unexpected awesome people coming into Boston! My sister's flying in from CA for a bachelorette weekend, my parents are coming too, and my amazing cellist friend from Rochester is driving down to buy a new cello! Unpacking can wait! :)

So... speaking of packing, look who got curious yesterday!! :)Eloise is now happy and safe in Connecticut with her grandparents. My Mom and Dad are soooooooo excited to have a kitty in their house again. I don't think my Mom is going to be doing anything but play with her for the next week. She's a spoiled kitty!

I took a moving break this week and saw Sex and the City 2 with some friends on Thursday night. I had to fight my way through the crowds headed to the Sox game (we saw the movie at the Fenway cinema), but it was still exciting being near the game. I'm going to miss this neighborhood! We had dinner at Chipotle beforehand and it was yum yum yummy! I had the Vegetarian Burrito with black beans, grilled veggies, a little rice, loads of lettuce, and guack. I also had a grapefruit Izze drink. Usually I don't drink soda, but this looked like fancy natural soda. It was good, but I kinda regretted all the sugary calories I ended up drinking- around 120 kcal. My girfriend is adorable, she always orders the kids meal when we're here or at Qdoba! :) It's a great deal though- for $3.10 she got a small cheese quesadilla, rice, beans, chips, and a drink! My burrito and soda were $9! I'm totally getting that next time! :) We love how the chips come in a cute little brown bag, too.
The movie was ehhhhhh... so so. I'm glad I saw it, and I definitely enjoyed watching it, but some of it was kinda embarrassing. I found myself really uncomfortable when Samantha was acting up. I mean, I'm used to her being all crazy, but I thought some of the movie was a little offensive, and especially since I'm of Arab descent, I thought it was unfair to paint the Arab nation they visited in that light. In the US these days we have enough going on politically to cause some Americans to get the wrong idea about Arab culture, and the last thing we need is a hugely popular movie fueling the fire! I know, I know... there's some truth to it, but in my opinion it was too blatant, and judgmental. My favorite scene (SPOILER ALERT!) was with Miranda and Charlotte when they were getting drunk confessing about motherhood! Charlotte is hands down my favorite!! I liked how this movie finally showed the not-so-perfect side of her! (I mean, I know she Poughkeepsie'd her pants in the last one, but this was even better!)After the show, we fought our way past the sad crowds leaving Fenway Park to Eastern Standard. We needed cocktails, stat! :) I had a cosmo, we shared the cheese plate, and then we had surprise birthday cake! It was Eastern Standard's birthday! I love this restaurant, and as a grad student I charged WAY too many oysters and cocktails to Daddy's credit card. (Sorry Dad!) Sigh... those days were awesome! :)

Oh my goodness... I don't even want to THINK about how much I'm spending tomorrow. Moving is so ridiculously expensive!

Well, ok, it's almost 8am... here I go! Enough procrastinating!

Farewell Brookline dinner at Lineage

2010-05-26T20:49:00.014-04:00

What a gorgeous night! It's currently 80 degrees in Boston, and we're getting ready to head out to Coolidge Corner for some fro-yo from Berry Freeze, but first I wanted to tell you about our evening!

Several months ago I donated to NPR and received a $50 gift certificate to Lineage in Coolidge Corner. This restaurant is so fancy that I've only eaten there once or twice since moving to the area 7 years ago, and both times my parents treated me! We've been looking forward to using our gift certificate for a while... I'm very impressed with our saving lately. The last time we ate at a nice restaurant was in January when we tried Ten Tables!

I was very excited about trying the Spicy Lobster Tacos on the appetizer menu, and the Homemade Cavatelli with Ricotta and Fava Beans as an entree- you see, I've been drooling over the menu online for a week! However, as soon as I saw the Three Course Seafood Tasting I knew I was going for it! I think my vegetarian diet lately has been great- and I've been saving a ton of money by not buying any animal proteins besides eggs the past several months, but I think my body was seriously craving some seafood. Yum!!

The restaurant has a fresh look, and I loved the sea shells as salt and pepper holders! Our rolls were hot from the oven and topped with sea salt. These rolls are really buttery and soft, and it's almost a good thing they only serve one per person- I could eat the whole basket! :)J ordered the Prime Steak Burger, served with Blue Cheese, Grilled Onions, and Fries. He loved it!My first course: Marinated Bluefin Tuna Crudo with mushroom broth and tempura snap peas. The broth was cold and very refreshing, and the tuna melted in my mouth!Second up was an adorable mini-casserole hot from the oven containing Oak-Roasted Mussels, Basil Cous Cous and a Tomato Broth, served with Crostini. I have never had large cous cous! So cute! This was also delicious, and comforting even though it was so hot outside.The final course blew me away. It was AMAZING. The Gulf of Maine Hake was baked to buttery perfection, served over Lobster, Fava Beans, and Celery Root. Remember my recent love affair with celery root? Yeah, well... it's far from over. :) Seriously though- this fish was to die for!!!We left the restaurant happy but not overly stuffed. I think we'll be up for fro-yo pretty soon!

Earlier today I had a snack of Ezekial Cinnamon Raisin toast with Raw Crunchy Almond Butter and a Banana. :) It's like dessert!And for dinner last night we used up some more pantry items- a can of crushed tomatoes and whole wheat pasta, with fresh okra and eggplant from Russo's. Made a yummy meal! :) I love how eggplant and okra thicken a sauce and make it "meaty" while still vegetarian.Oh... and today was great for other reasons as well! I snagged some brand new furniture on craigslist, and it's going to look fabulous in my new apartment!! How cute are these pieces?? A girl who lives a few blocks from me just finished grad school at BU and thought she would be staying in Boston. She recently bought new furniture, and then got a job in Seattle! She's selling this stuff for a steal! I'm getting the couch, the sideboard, and 2 small black side tables that look really cute side by side as a coffee table all for $350, and new they would total nearly $1200! Wahoo! The best part? She's moving at the exact same time on Sunday morning, so my movers are swinging by her apartment and picking up the furniture as her movers move it downstairs! :) Couldn't be more perfect!

I will be turning 30 in a few months, and I've never splurged on "real" furniture for myself. I've been lucky finding a few things on craigslist over the years, like my tv stand, and I bought myself a futon to sleep on junior year of college, but even that took years to pay off... so this is pretty exciting. I know IKEA isn't fancy- but it's a real sofa! I can't believe it! :) I think I deserve it for starting a new decade of life, and I'm looking forward to Sunday evening so I can start organizing things in the new place, definitely.

If you're wondering about Eloise, here's the plan. This kitty would totally freak out at the sight of moving boxes, so on Friday I'm packing her up in her little kitty carrier and she's going to Connecticut for a little while. My parents are super excited about cat-sitting, and Eloise gets used to being away after a day or two. When she comes back to Boston in a week or two, she'll have a new house! Let's just hope she doesn't scratch up my "new" couch! :)

First post-season meal! :)

2010-05-24T23:10:00.008-04:00

Well, I did it!!!! I made it through my entire 2009-2010 concert season without illness! This is a huge feat! I am so happy, and I have a feeling my first year of Delicious Bytes had something to do with it! I have been working as a freelance classical singer for 5 years, and until now I've always worn myself out to the point of either singing very poorly in a concert due to bronchitis or having to completely cancel an appearance. They're both bad, of course. It's a huge accomplishment for me, and although I know it has a little something to do with luck, I think regularly eating a nutritious diet has a lot to do with it!

I thought I was coming down with something a few days ago, but it was gone in the morning, and I made it through my final 3 performances of Joan of Arc without a hitch!! This doesn't mean I am on vacation, though. I continue to sing throughout most of the summer, but with actual days off in between, and without my usual rigorous teaching and educational/church performance schedule. Yay!

Today I came home from teaching and DID NOT drive to a rehearsal! :) Instead.... I pressed a block of tofu for 30 minutes, made asparagus quinoa with vegetable broth, and a fresh kale salad. :) It was AMAZING!!!! This is the best tofu I've ever made- I pressed it by weighing it down with cans on a casserole dish, then sliced it, sprinkled it with garlic salt and Emeril Essence, and baked it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.I think the lighting in my new place is going to be better... I love my current apartment, but the lighting is HORRIBLE! LOL

Breakfast has also been awesome! Organic scrambled eggs, blackberries, and a fiber-filled English muffin. Over the weekend I was still running around like crazy down in Rhode Island. On Sunday I had a little break between our matinee and evening performance so my Mom and I drove around looking for dinner. We didn't have a lot of time, so we hurried into a Chinese restaurant and I hoped for the best. I'm sorry to say that Golden Palace in Cumberland, RI is probably the worst Chinese I've ever eaten! Not only was my vegetable moo shi drowned in an awful stinky sauce, it was over-cooked and soggy, and served with really really gross pancakes. The moo shi pancakes are supposed to be the best part, not taste like paper! The ambiance was also really pathetic- I'm all for supporting family businesses, but not if the inside looks like a day care center. The bathroom was also not in the best shape. My Mom is nuts and ordered a completely fried meal of egg foo young with pork fried rice and an egg roll. Maybe the fried food was the way to go though, because she didn't complain about hers as much... Oh well.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to make another yummy meal using up some pantry items. We have a big can of crushed tomatoes and a container of red lentils, and I still have fresh okra and an eggplant to cook. Sounds like I could throw it all together and make something decent, right??

I'm in total denial that I have to have this whole apartment packed up in the next 5 days. WHAT??? LOL How is that going to happen on top of teaching? Mmmmm. Eloise has to go to CT to stay with my parents for a while, too. I think it would be way to traumatic for her to watch all her things packed up in boxes, and to this little kitty there's nothing scarier than moving furniture and loud noises!!

Wish me luck! I'll try to get another post in before leaving Brookline for Belmont! I'll miss being able to walk to Fenway Park and the Museum of Fine Arts in 30 minutes, but now I'll be close to Harvard Square, which is a part of Greater Boston I've never really become completely familiar with. Change might be good! :)

Asparagus Obsession

2010-05-22T06:38:00.014-04:00

Yup. I love asparagus!! I thought the chapter on asparagus in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was so awesome, and now I can't stop eating it!! Asparagus, as I learned last night, is a perennial plant (thank you David!), meaning that you plant it one year, and don't get any spears for at least another year! It takes a patient, skilled farmer to produce these guys, and they are only edible for a very very short season. Enjoy them while you can! My friend's new farm out in Sherborn Mass doesn't have asparagus, but I really enjoyed hearing all about it last night!

I mentioned a few days ago that I got some lovely purple asparagus on the cheap at Russo's and I couldn't wait to try it! We shared a yummy breakfast of steamed asparagus, eggs, and a bagel a few days ago. I love eggs with veggies!The plan for the rest of the asparagus is to make some asparagus quinoa with veggie broth this afternoon. I need some protein to get me through an afternoon of packing and another performance of Joan of Arc in Rhode Island tonight!

Last night I had a blast with some friends watching the Red Sox game (errr.... I mean yapping for 3 hours straight and singing random 90's hits) and grilling! We had such a yummy dinner!! Gorgeous bbq chicken and hot dogs, veggie burgers for me (I tried the Morningstar Tomato Basil variety), pasta salad with tomatoes + cukes + fat free feta, baked potatoes, regular fresh veggie salad, fruit salad (dressed with cointreau + honey), and various apps like carrots and snap peas, tostitos and salsa, and my fave of the night: nacho flavored air-popped popcorn! YUM!!! We were positively stuffed, but a few hours later wandered over to J.P. Licks for dessert! My buddy and I shared the "first summer sundae" together with both black raspberry and choco chip ice cream, topped with Heath bar, whipped cream, and cherries!! My buddy took a picture on her iPhone! :)I brought the fruit salad and it was my gf's idea to soak the fruit with Cointreau. YUM!!! Drunken fruit is always a good idea, be it fruit salad OR sangria. :) I also brought the veggie burgers... if I'm trying not to eat meat, I figure the best way to do it is bring my own alternative to dinners!Other recent bytes include.... kale chips... spinach tortellini topped with olive oil and cheese... and one of my faves:OH! And check out the billboard I found over in Cambridge a few days ago! :) Remember the sample package from POM Wonderful I received recently? Well, I look forward to trying out some of their recipes soon! I also love that Trader Joe's has started carrying pomegranate arils! There are a LOT of uses for the arils in recipes, as well! I'd like to try them as a simple salad topping or with yogurt.

Have a great weekend! Hope you have as much fun as Eloise!

Birthday Party at FIGS

2010-05-20T00:02:00.010-04:00

I am so bummed! Feels like I'm coming down with something- I have a terrible sore throat all of a sudden! :( It's no wonder with all the working and moving stress for months and months, it was bound to happen... but it still stinks! Although my concert season is dwindling out finally, I still have 3 performances of Joan of Arc this weekend, so it's not a good time for this! I'm going to take some Emergen-C before bed, so hopefully I'll wake up better tomorrow!!

Earlier this evening, before the stupid sore throat, I had a wonderful time at my friend and singing colleague Jason's birthday party!! His partner invited me on the sly a few days ago and it was such fun to surprise the birthday boy when I arrived! :) I wasn't going to miss this party- not only because I adore Jason, but because the party was at Figs in Charlestown!! Todd English has lots of fancy restaurants (Bonfire, Olives, P.U.B...) but the original Figs in Charlestown has been on my list of spots to try for YEARS! How exciting! Figs is known for fabulous gourmet pizzas- especially the Fig & Prosciutto, which also boasts a delicate rosemary crust, balsamic jam, and amazingly stinky gorgonzola. Good stinky! :) I am sure the whole combination is delish, but I removed my prosciutto. I have to say, this was the very first instance since giving up meat for Lent (and continuing to abstain ever since...) that I was very tempted! Thanks a lot, Todd English!We were treated to tons and tons of pizzas tonight, and I really enjoyed the Portobello (with sweet red onions, Fontina cheese, and truffle oil), and the Spicy Shrimp (with leeks and tomatoes). My friends enjoyed the Bronx Bomber (pepperoni), and Red Sox (loads of sausage!) and althought they were beautiful, I wasn't tempted. I would have loved to try the Crispy Eggplant pizza with whipped ricotta, so I'll definitely be back! Our meal also was accompanied by family style Caesar salads, and endless glasses of wine! Thank you so much, Frankie!!! :) The evening ended with a DIVINE birthday cake from Konditorei Meister. It was some sort of white cake with buttercream and fresh strawberries. There were even strawberries IN the cake between the layers!! Delicious. It's been about 2 hours since I got home- had to watch the season finale of Law & Order SVU with J- but I am still completely stuffed!!! Ok, off to take some Emergen-C and hit the sack.... HAPPY BDAY, FRIEND!!!