Category: Life

Amman, Jordan

The view from my hotel room at the W Amman hotel. Beautiful city, great hotel!

I think counting this trip I’ve been to Amman 3 times, and each time I stay at the W Amman. I love staying at this hotel, but know I should branch out and stay at different places. I can guarantee that each time the hospitality will be flawless and the food wonderful. This was a very short trip, but so worth it!

The W has this area of the hotel called the Living Room, there are several different layers and seating areas, but each one is unique and very comfortable. I found out on this resent trip that the pillows in the seating areas are hand crafted by local artists!! They are a wonder to see. I usually choose a secluded little corner where I can watch the people come and go. I also usually bring my iPad and sit and read for a few hours. I always get a coffee or sometimes some wine, but each and every time it is served with a smile!

On this particular trip I decided to eat in one of the hotel restaurants called The Mesh. I started with their version of French Onion Soup. The interesting thing about The Mesh is you can watch the chefs prepare the food as they are situated in the dining area. I was surprised to see them poaching an egg and was wondering what that was going to be placed in, to find it in my french onion soup was not what I was expecting. I do have to say that when the yolk flowed out into the soup it actually added a dimension to the soup that was not unappreciated. It added a silkiness to it.

The main course was Bouillabaisse. I had learned to make this in culinary school and while I thought mine had turned out quite nicely, this was by far better than anything I could have made. My only critique was that they didn’t send out more french bread to soak up the divine broth!

I’m saddened to say that this might have been my last trip to Amman, so I am regretting not taking more advantage of my short time there!!

This is the Baobab Tree of Kenya also know as the Tree of Life. It is found on the East Coast of Kenya. This tree is on of the largest, they can get up to 500 years old. Every part of the tree has been used from everything from food to medicine. It is also considered a super food!

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Living in Kenya

So I’ve been living in Kenya for nine months now, and let me just say, I LOVE IT!!! It is absolutely gorgeous here!! The people are absolutely amazing!!! The dish above is Pad Thai, you will notice the lack of peanuts, I cannot eat them. I’ll post more pictures of Kenya later!

Eggs Benedict with a twist

I made cloud bread, I used a packet of splenda instead of sugar when I made the cloud bread. I topped it with bacon, two fried eggs and hollandaise sauce sprinkled with cayenne. This was soo good and so easy to make.

I made the cloud bread the other day and just popped it into the toaster. I didn’t want to take the time to make poached eggs so I just fried them keeping the yolks runny. The hollandaise was store bought, I know cheating, but I had it on hand and I was hungry so again didn’t want to take the time to make it. I know lazy, but I don’t care! It was soooo good!!!

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

I sautéed red onion then added butternut squash and sweet potatoes and continued until the squash started getting a little color. I deglazed with pineapple wine (yes I did say pineapple wine), I added some minced ginger then filled with water just until the squash and potatoes were covered. I brought it to a boil, turned the heat down to low and covered it and let it go until everything was tender. I then used my immersion blender to get it to a creamy consistency and added some coconut milk, curry powder and salt and pepper to taste!! This is one of my favorite soups!!! So darn good!!!

Hello Fresh Take III

So this is Panko Parm Poulet with Potatoes over Baby Spinach in a Creamy Lemon Dressing. Of the three dishes I got out of this box, I like this one the least. I’m not sure exactly what I don’t like about it, but I only ate about a 1/4 of it. The potatoes were good, but not a big fan of chicken breast to begin with. I definitely didn’t care for the dressing, it was just sour cream, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. I tasted it as I was making it, and was just hoping when it was mixed with the warm oven roasted potatoes it would help it. Nope, it didn’t.

All in all I would say my first box was a success and I will try a few more!

Hello Fresh Part II

So this is my second recipe from Hello Fresh. This is Sweet Pork Tenderloin and Apples. Underneath the port loin is a Yukon Gold Potato and Cauliflower Mash. On top of the loin is a sauce made from sautéing gala apple in butter and oil, then adding chicken stock and letting it reduce. I seasoned the pork loin with salt, pepper and dried thyme and then browned it in a cast iron pan. I then placed it on a sheet pan in a 400 degree oven along with the sugar snap peas and roasted them for about 12 minutes.

I have to say this is really good and I am looking forward to having the other half for lunch tomorrow. I think I could probably get a third portion out of it, but I’m not going to.

So far I have to say I am pretty impressed with Hello Fresh!!!

Hello Fresh

Okay, so I’ve been hearing a lot about these services that allow you to order meal kits and they send them to you with recipes. You can choose your menu or let them. I decided to give Hello Fresh a try.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind I just got my first box today and have made one meal out of it. I am living alone so I chose the box for 2 thinking the second portion would be my lunch the next day or is most often in my case, I can eat like two people!!

My first meal was the Toasted Rice and Shrimp Bowl. Okay so it says for two, but OMG it would actually feed three maybe four! Now it has rice (I know this is obvious) and red bell pepper, garlic, green onion, soy sauce and sesame oil. Now I am not a big fan of green, red or any bell pepper because of the hard skin. This recipe didn’t call for it, but I roasted it on my gas stove, put it in a zip loc bag for a little while, then scrapped the charred skin off. This actually made a lot, and I have put the rest in the fridge for lunch tomorrow.

As this is right before the Easter weekend I’ll probably eat the other half sometime this weekend.

Now it gave me a whole lime and only needed one quarter to squeeze over the dish. I can live with out it, so I took the rest of the lime and made a Caipirinha out of it!! I have a bit of a buzz right now!! LOL. But when I was buying the Cachaca for the Caipirinha I also found Pineapple Wine!! Who would have thought this was a thing!!! I had no idea!! It is sooo good!!!

Oh so this dish?? Excellent!!! I look forward to trying the other recipes. I’ll let you know how they turn out!

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