Happy Valentine’s Day! This Onion Dip for Breakfast pair had an early start in celebrating Valentine’s Day by having afternoon tea at the Drake Hotel over the past weekend. In the Palm Court, the hotel’s strikingly opulent and beautiful restaurant, we sipped tea, champagne, ate …
[The second time around🎶🎶] We love Barcelona so much that we’re back drooling over these images. Shall we return to this vibrant city? Yes! “Ooooh, what’s over there?” That question has been my mom’s mantra for as long as I can remember. She’s the one …
I was recently in New York City, surrounded by tall buildings reaching towards the sky. I felt a sense of excitement while standing and looking up to the tops of the buildings. I also loved being on the rooftops, where one can see the entire city on a clear day, or kiss the clouds when it’s cloudy. I love New York!
Jay-Z, in the lyrics below, tells a great story that I could hear over and over again. Equally, I could visit that city time and time again. It makes me feel brand new. The lights do inspire me. New York!
Empire State of Mind ~ Lyrics by Jay-Z
In New York
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothin’ you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York
With Greece having been in the news lately due to all of the fires and evacuations, I’ve reminisced about our time there a few years ago. We traveled throughout the country and found it to be simply beautiful. At this time, I’m hoping that Greece …
Our family way of life is usually quite spontaneous. Our plans will have edges that keep us together but everything in between stays loose. Who knows what you’ll see, smell, hear or taste if everything isn’t charted out? Those who accompany us either love it …
Spring pasta? Why yes.
April in Chicago is the mixed-messenger. Warm one day, a cold snap the next. Spring rainbows of daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths grace every patch of dirt today only to be dusted with snow tomorrow. It’s less rainy and more hot-then-cold. So what do we eat? Pasta with a tomato sauce lightened by white wine, fresh fennel, squid ink, and delicious shellfish. Not quite a winter stew, not quite a summer seafood boil, but completely a spring delight.
Whether it’s shaped, string, or couscous, we have our fair share of pasta. This one’s a favorite because its sauce comes together in the time that this pasta cooks— 5-10 minutes.
The simple ingredients are elevated by the fresh fennel and wine. The shrimp and tender chunks of crab have that juicy crunch. Want to add another layer of the sea? Squid ink pasta is both stunning and nuanced. Who doesn’t love black food?
Recently, I was fortunate enough to be back in Istanbul after a twenty-five year absence. Some things had changed but, for the most part, it was as stunning as it had ever been. In addition to blue glass amulets to replace my original one broken …
Many moons ago, I spent a few glorious weeks in Spain and I tasted everything I could imagine. I mean everything. I could write a book on the dishes and drinks I enjoyed, each day brought one revelation after another. When I think of that …
Over the years, our traveling family unit has grown from just me and the parents to my brother to significant others and even the next generation. We’ve asked ourselves: if we go there, what will so-and-so like? This is just another reason why cities are at the heart of our travels. Sure, we hit the mountains, wilderness, country, and the remote but there’s just something magical about cities. We like the energy.
There’s of course Atlanta, arguably the capital of the New South. The home of Dr. Martin Luther King, the Varsity, and Coke.
And the city in the Aegean, Athens, that elevates its ancientness as its modern residents navigate the past. I lived there for a year and every day I learned something new. I could never get enough of the cuisine, especially vegetarian stews and luscious yogurt with puréed fig of thyme-scented honey.
And like most cities, Athens was always my base where I’d venture to far-flung places like Santorini, Crete, Patmos, and Istanbul.
Stay tuned to Barcelona and Berlin!
