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Dinner by Lucini

August 16, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 45 comments

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a representative from Lucini Italia products asking if I wanted to try their Tuscan Chickpea Frittata mix. I love trying new products, so I of course said yes. Imagine my surprise when I came home from the Healthworks picnic last Tuesday and found a HUGE box full of items from Lucini. I kept digging through the packing materials and finding more and more, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soups, sauces, salad dressing, and of course the chickpea frittata.

I couldn’t wait to get back to NJ and into my kitchen to get started with the delicious-looking gifts I received. Last night was our first night home in ages, so I made a quick and tasty dinner featuring Lucini products.

For the salad portion of dinner, I made one of my favorite simple combinations, romaine, red onion, and local heirloom tomato topped with Lucini’s Fig & Walnut Savory Balsamic.

I love that I found local heirloom tomatoes at Trader Joe’s as I missed the farmers’ market on Friday. I love my heirlooms!

The main course was Tuscan fiery chili frittata with Tuscan marinara with roasted garlic. This was super easy to make, just add water and olive oil, mix, and pour into a baking dish. Next time I would use a larger baking dish; I spilled the mixture on the VERY hot oven and had to turn everything off for the cleanup as you do need to preheat it to 500.

Once the frittata was cooked and set, I topped it with the marinara and some grated parmesan cheese.

Soft, hot, comforting, and spicy, I loved the frittata. I had never had this before, and it reminded me a little bit of polenta. I loved how savory and satisfying it was. And I can’t wait to have a slice on top of salad for lunch today.

In other news, I bought a juicer over the tax free weekend, and I can’t wait to start drinking fresh juice a few times a week in addition to my veggie smoothies. Last night I made one with carrots, bok choy, apples, and lime. Delicious!

With fall coming, I love that feeling of renewal, and part of that is definitely getting back into a better workout routine and really nourishing myself, all while still savoring summer, of course. Getting ready for fall makes me think all about new beginnings, new clothes, and this year a new class, my wine class at the Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center at BU.

It’s also a great time to do some shopping for the home, new kitchen appliances, bedding, and maybe even dining room furniture. To help one of my lucky readers with that, CSN Stores is offering a $50 gift card to one lucky reader. They have SO much great stuff; I would love to win this giveaway!

To enter: Leave a comment responding to the question below. If you have Facebook or Twitter, link back to this post there as well as on your blog if you have one. The giveaway will end on Saturday, August 21. Good luck!

Even if you are, like me, no longer in school, do you still feel that new-ness when fall starts approaching? What do you to to welcome it?

Technorati Tags: Food, frittata, giveaway, Italian food, salad

Tags: Food, frittata, giveaway, Italian food, salad

A Monday Giveaway

August 9, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 35 comments

Boston’s first Food Truck Festival was certainly a meaty affair! The South End Open Markets made room for a caravan of food trucks serving, for the most part, a meat-lover’s dream. There were many vendors including Speed’s Hot Dogs, M & M Ribs, the Sausage Guy, and another hot dog truck. The lines for all of these were enormously long. Luckily, the line at Grillo’s Pickles was short, short enough for me to return twice for their spicy, crispy pickles.

These pickles are pretty amazing, though I would love it if they served whole pickles, deli-style.

The line was also short at another favorite of mine, Equal Exchange Cafe. Their nutty, buttery roast is always delicious and always doing good. So my day started off with pickles and coffee, the breakfast of champions!

The Food Truck festival was a great idea in theory, it is an event that might have been better saved for cooler weather and laid out a little better so to avoid maddening, crisscrossing lines. More veggie options would have been nice too. I think I went into the event expecting it to be like the FoodBuzz Festival street food event, which was a little off. At any rate, I was hungry, so we headed over to the market part of the open markets.

I admired some of the jewelry and other wares for sale, including these dog bowls made out of old wine boxes. You know that I will have one of these for my someday dog.

I spent some time drooling over Marie Galvin’s stunning hats and fascinators wishing I had an occasion to wear one to.

And then we got down to food business. You can always count on The Herb Lyceum at Gilson’s to have fresh, amazing food. We shared the Herbal Spring Roll, a crunchy fresh roll that feature’s Gilson’s fresh herbs and comes with a flavorful peanutty sauce.

We also shared their BLT which paired salty bacon with chewy focaccia, perfect summer tomatoes, lettuce, and a bit of mayo.

The South End Open Markets always start the day off right. After, we did some Trader Joe’s shopping for the week, especially to get the hubby well stocked since I am going to be working from my mom’s in NJ later in the week while she recovers from surgery. Prior to that I have a Healthworks blogger event, a lunch at Sibling Rivalry, and lots of work to do. . . it’s going to be a busy one!

Now for the giveaway! I know many of you have been reading blogs that were participating in the Athenos “Change for the Feta” month in July and loving all of the feta creations. Athenos has offered one lucky reader a coupon for free feta plus a neat little salad pod for taking salads on the go. All you have to do is leave a comment letting me know your favorite or most unique way to use feta. If you are on Twitter and not following me, please go ahead and follow. And if you have a blog, please link back to this post. And if you haven’t “Liked” Travel, Wine, and Dine on Facebook, I would love it if you would, thank you!

I would add feta to my recent tomato pie. I made it with blue cheese, but I definitely have friends who would prefer feta, and this would be a perfect dish for entertaining.

The giveaway winner will be announced on Friday. Good luck everyone!

Technorati Tags: Athenos, Boston, food truck festival, giveaway, pickles, South End, SoWa Markets, The Herb Lyceum

Tags: Athenos, Boston, food truck festival, giveaway, pickles, South End, SoWa Markets, The Herb Lyceum

Siggi’s + A Soup Recipe

June 17, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 25 comments

It was on a visit to Iceland last year that I first discovered Skyr, a delicious and creamy thick yogurt. Wikipedia says the following about Skyr:

Skyr is an Icelandic cultured dairy product, similar to strained yogurt. Technically it is a very soft cheese.

Since I have forever been a fan of more natural European yogurt over the typical overly sweetened American varieties of my youth, I spent our days in Iceland excitedly eating Skyr a few times a day. Hey, it’s the little things!

Fast forward a year after our trip when I am scanning the yogurt selection at Whole Foods and see the clean, sophisticated little cups of Siggi’s yogurt in flavors completely unique to your usual yogurt scene.

Since then, I have tried Siggi’s vanilla, plain, and orange & ginger yogurts, the orange & ginger being my favorite because of its tangy citrus flavor and a hint of gingery spice. Somehow, Siggi’s makes something that is incredibly rich and filling completely fat free. . .with 16-17 grams of protein per container. Siggi’s is all natural and made from milk that comes from grass fed, hormone free cows.

Being a fan of the yogurt, I was more than a little excited when Judith from Healthworks invited me to meet Siggi himself! A yogurt celebrity at my gym? I was there!

Healthworks and Siggi’s teamed up to give out some free samples and coupons, and I of course took them up on their offer! I will be having a blueberry Siggi’s for breakfast this morning.

The best part, of course, was meeting Siggi himself. I was surprised at how young he is! I am not sure why, but I pictured him to be much older.

It turns out that he and Judith were born on the exact same day, same year and everything!

I enjoyed the opportunity to chat with Siggi about Iceland, yogurt, eating habits of Americans and my blog. He was so nice and kindly gave me some coupons for free yogurt which I will be sharing with you at the end of this post. But first a summery soup recipe using Siggi’s yogurt:

With yogurt on the brain and a bunch of carrots past their salad prime, I decided to come up with a cold soup recipe utilizing plain yogurt as the base. Siggi’s would work great, as would any thick, plain yogurt.

Chilled Spicy Carrot Soup Ingredients:

8 large carrots, chopped into small pieces

1/4 cup red onion, chopped into small pieces

4 cloves garlic

3 TBSP Olive Oil

2 cups yogurt

1 cup organic vegetable stock

1 TSP each, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, and chili powder

sea salt to taste

Coat the carrots, whole garlic cloves, and onion in olive oil and toss with cinnamon, cumin, chili powder, and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees until the carrots are soft. If the garlic looks too brown, remove it early and set aside. Burnt garlic is the worst!

Once the veggies are cooked, set them aside to cool for about 20 minutes, then toss in the food processor and puree until completely smooth. Allow to cool for another 20 minutes; if you are in a rush pop the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes. Once it is fully cool, stir in the yogurt until the mix is completely combined. At this point, give it a taste. It will be thick, but you may like it just the way it is. If you prefer to thin it a bit, stream in vegetable stock and stir until the soup has reached the consistency you desire.

I loved how creamy and cold this soup was, and the spices I used complimented the sweet carrots well. I will definitely be making this again, maybe with butternut squash in the fall.

Because of the thickness of the yogurt and sheer volume of carrots, this was a VERY filling soup. Next time I would serve a very small portion as an appetizer or eat this as a light meal on its own.

Now time for a little giveaway. Three lucky Travel, Eat, Love readers will win 2 coupons each for 2 free Siggi’s yogurts.

All you have to do is visit Siggi’s website, leave a comment on this post telling me which flavor/s you would buy if you won, and link back to this giveaway if you have a blog. If you don’t have a blog, link back on Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks Judith and Healthworks for yet another really cool opportunity!

Technorati Tags: Food, giveaway, Healthworks, Iceland, Siggi's, Skyr, soup, yogurt

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One Year Blog Birthday

June 1, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 66 comments

Happy Birthday little blog! Time has passed so slowly and so quickly at the same time over the past year. In the life of a go-get-it type of person, patience is sometimes rare, and I have had my moments of wanting to give up this past year. I can’t thank YOU, yes you reading right now, enough for any and every time you stopped by this website over the year. Thank you! There’s a giveaway at the end of this big ol’ post to thank you a little more!

Lessons learned:

Photos are important. If you look back at some of my old posts, even a couple months ago, the photos are tiny and AWFUL. I am pretty proud of the improvement in my photos, even if a lot of times it is just because of chance and fiddling with the camera settings!

Every blog has its own voice. I don’t need to try to write like or live like or eat like anyone else. The more a blogger realizes this, the more he or she shines, and seriously, the more fun blogging becomes. It is a hobby for most of us, after all, though I would certainly take a blogging job!

Likewise, feeling jealous or competitive in the blog world is frustrating and pointless. It saps your own energy and takes away your voice a little bit. It may at times be hard to feel as though you are working hard at what you do and seeing other people get opportunities you would love to have, but it is all about patience, consistency and content. Keep readers coming back by writing what you love.

Community is key. I have had so many great opportunities to meet and get to know other bloggers. Events such as the Healthy Living Summit, the Foodbuzz Festival, the Healthworks Blogger Bash, the Austrian Wine Tasting, lunch with the Stonyfield CE-Yo or just running get togethers have really given me the opportunity to network, make new friends, share frustrations, and find great new blogs. It’s actually pretty crazy how many bloggers I have met in real life! I also have loved having the opportunity to “meet” bloggers through my Friday Foodie Feature. . . and I need Foodies to feature for upcoming Fridays! Please email me if you would like to be featured!

Over the past year, I have also observed lots of blogger trends. As I kind of jump back and forth between being a healthy living blogger,a foodie blogger, and a wine blogger, I have to say that the most trends came from the healthy living world. On one hand, it’s great to learn about so many new foods/exercises, but on the other, it’s kind of interesting to see how much “jumping on the bandwagon” there is. And I am totally guilty of doing it too! As long as it’s a healthy bandwagon, I say get on board.

Trends I have adopted:

Green smoothies – all the way! I swear by these and their contribution to my overall health,energy levels, hair, skin and nails. I am drinking one right now: kale, blueberries, almond milk, banana, ginger, maca powder
Amazing Grass: I was a convert after my first taste. I KNOW that no matter how hard I try, I am missing things in my diet. Trader Joe’s Super Red Drink Powder is a very close second to Amazing Grass now in my diet.
Almond butter: I prefer to it peanut butter, but I think I have overdosed on this delicious stuff.
More natural, organic food. I did this before, but the year of blogging and lots of blog reading has REALLY got me looking at where my food comes from. Everybody wins!

Trends I never really got:

Smoothie in a Bowl (SIAB) and Oats in a Jar (OIAJ): never really saw the excitement of either!
Jillian Michaels: I just can’t watch her videos, I just can’t.

What trends have you adopted from the blogging world, and what trends have you bypassed? I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic!

And now for the giveaway! I have worked with so many great companies over the year that have generously allowed me to do giveaways: Honest Tea, Good Health Natural Products, Blue Diamond, The Olive Press, Cabot, Equal Exchange, and Olivia’s Organics to name a few.

This one is from me to you: one lucky reader will win wine and cheese, a $25 gift card to wine.com and a $25 gift card to Cabot. It will, as always, be a random drawing which will take place this Saturday, June 5.

To enter:

1) Leave a comment on your favorite and/or least favorite blog trend!

2) If you have a blog link back to this giveaway.

3) If you are on Twitter or Facebook, give it a shout out.

Good luck, and thanks again for reading!

Technorati Tags: blog, Food, giveaway, Travel, wine

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The Olive Press Giveaway

May 5, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 57 comments

Before I get to the winner of the case of Honest Tea, I wanted to give you a little introduction for my next giveaway. As you know from my post on Saturday, I am celebrating Mediterranean Month with Oldways and the Mediterranean Foods Alliance. You may also know that one of THE most important elements in the Mediterranean diet, one that can lead to good health, great skin, beautiful hair, is olive oil. Olive oil is a very good fat that, when used in moderation as part of a healthy diet, can potentially lower risk of heart disease and certain types of cancers. Plus, good olive oil tastes great and is a satisfying addition to a meal!

I am SO excited that The Olive Press, with tasting locations in both the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, was willing to partner with me for a Med Month giveaway. Here is a little information about The Olive Press:

The Olive Press is the maker of America’s most Award-Winning Fresh California Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. Inspired by the olive pressing facilities in Italy and Southern France, Ed Stolman and Deborah Rogers, both olive growers and producers, opened a completely unique state-of-the-art production facility in Sonoma California, complete with an artisan gourmet gift shop and complimentary olive oil tasting bar. Dedicated to “all things olive” The Olive Press continually produces oils honored with accolades and awards from prestigious competitions both here in the U.S. and abroad.

The Olive Press was just recently awarded “Best of Class” “Best of Show” and “10 Gold Medals” at the prestigious 2010 Yolo County Fair Olive Oil Competition in April. Of the 10 Gold Medals, six of them were Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Arbequina, Mission, Sevillano, Italian Blend, Marquesa and Lunigiana Estate Certified Organic. Four gold medals were awarded to Citrus Olive Oils: Blood Orange, Lime, Limonato and Jalapeno.

As you can see, The Olive Press’s high standards have paid off, resulting in award winning, extremely high quality products.

The Olive Press is offering one lucky Travel Eat Love reader a $30 gift certificate to their store which not only sells their olive oils but also offers vinegars, sauces and spreads, and spa products to name a few.

This giveaway starts now and will go through Thursday, May 13.

To enter:

1) Visit The Olive Press website, shop around, then leave a comment on this post telling me what you would buy with a $30 gift certificate. While you are there, check out their recipes, blog, and news. It is a beautiful website!

2) If you are on Twitter, follow The Olive Press.

3) If you are on Twitter, tweet about The Olive Press giveaway with a link back to this page.

4) If you have a blog, link back to this post as well as to The Olive Press website.

5) For an extra entry, tell a friend. If they participate in the giveaway and mention you in the comment, you will have 2 chances of winning!

Spread the word! It is Med Month, and it is time for trying new and delicious Mediterranean inspired recipes, hopefully with some award winning ingredients from The Olive Press!

And before I leave you hanging any longer, the winner of the Honest Tea giveaway is comment #22, Rebecca from How the Cookie Crumbles! Rebecca please email me your contact info so that I can pass it along to the great people at Honest Tea.

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Thirsty?

April 29, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 36 comments

I have just the giveaway for you! Before we launch into a fabulous new giveaway, I bet you are all wondering who won the Cabot Coop cheese gift box?

It is Morgan from Live, Love, Eat, and Play! Congratulations, Morgan! Please email me at traveleatlove at gmail.com.

Thank you so much to Cabot for being willing to participate in such a fantastic giveaway. I look forward to trying more Cabot Coop cheeses AND to seeing you around at some events this summer. Who knows, I might need to come up for a visit!

I am so fortunate to have some great companies will to participate in giveaways, and this week it is Honest Beverages, creators of Honest Tea, Honest Ade, Honest Kids, Honest Kombucha, and Honest Mate. You may remember that I fell in love with Honest Beverages products at the Down 2 Earth Sustainable Living Festival in Boston a few weeks ago.

When I got home from the festival, I looked up the Honest Beverage website and loved their mission and commitment to corporate social responsibility:

Mission Statement

Honest Tea creates and promotes delicious, truly healthy, organic beverages. We strive to grow with the same honesty we use to craft our products, with sustainability and great taste for all.

Aspirations for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

We will never claim to be a perfect company, but we will address difficult issues and strive to be honest about our ability or inability to resolve them. We will strive to work with our suppliers to promote higher standards. We value diversity in the workplace and intend to become a visible presence in the communities where our products are sold. When presented with a purchasing decision between two financially comparable alternatives, we will attempt to choose the option that better addresses the needs of economically disadvantaged communities.
A commitment to social responsibility is central to Honest Tea’s identity and purpose. The company strives for authenticity, integrity and purity, in our products and in the way we do business. In addition to creating a healthy alternative beverage with a lot less sugar than most bottled drinks, Honest Tea seeks to create honest relationships with our employees, suppliers, customers and with the communities in which we do business.

Their story is very interesting; one of the founders is even a fellow runner! They saw a need for a flavorful but not necessarily sweet drink, and they went for it!

Honest Beverages is kindly offering a giveaway of a mixed case of their drinks to one lucky Travel Eat Love reader! As the temperatures get warmer, it will be nice to have something that is healthy, refreshing, and organic to get you through those runs and bike rides or even just for lounging around in the sun.

How to enter:

1) Visit http://www.honesttea.com/, then leave a comment here on which flavor you would love to try.

2) Link back to this contest post and to http://www.honesttea.com/ on your blog.

3) Tweet about the contest if you are on Twitter, being sure to mention @honesttea!

I will announce the winner on Wednesday, May 5th! Good luck everyone, and spread the word!

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A Delicious Discovery

April 22, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 11 comments

We have all been there, and some of us spend more time there than others. You know, completely stuck with a house full of somewhat random food, no desire to go shopping, and a growling tummy.

This was me two nights ago. My post-marathon legs did not want to carry me to the grocery store, and my poor husband is working 90 hour weeks, so I didn’t even want to ask him.

Enter the cabinet prowl. I pulled out the trusty old garlic, crushed red pepper, a box of whole grain spaghetti, a can of crab (I know, fresh is better, but I did have this on hand for crab cakes or salad. It’s actually quite tasty!)

I also had some capers left from my delicious Mediterranean bean dip, so I also got those out along with a can of tomatoes and a bottle of olive oil.

Crushed red pepper makes everything better.

Into the pan went the olive oil, several cloves of chopped garlic, and crushed red pepper. I sautéed those ingredients together until the garlic was soft and fragrant, then added the drained tomatoes, drained crab, and capers.

I simmered the sauce for about 10 minutes while I cooked the pasta, then drained the pasta and mixed it into the pan with the sauce so that the flavors could mix and mingle. Topped with crumbled goat cheese that melted throughout, this meal was so delicious! It tasted like something that I had actually planned and I would make it again. Zingy capers, sweet crab meat, and garlic went well with the slight acidity of the tomatoes.

Since I recently received a couple bottles of Laurenz V. Grüner Veltliner to sample, I thought that the sunny spring evening we were having would be a perfect time to pop one open.

Here is a little bit of information about Charming Grüner Veltliner from the Laurenz V. website.

“Charming Grüner Veltliner” by LAURENZ V. is not just another Grüner Veltliner from the Kamptal. It has its own wine personality; one that is beginning to take the world by storm! This wine calls up the strengths of its origins and expresses them clearly and distinctly. Its refreshing aroma seems almost light and airy, but in fact exudes depth and richness in finesse. On the palate are attributes of a wonderfully developed Veltliner: spicy, harmonious and structured – elegant, and with refreshing green notes (not overripe!) and a range of subtle nuances. A fresh and animated wine right through to the charming, delicately sweet finish.

I chilled this wine for only about an hour which ended up being a really good decision. I have been drinking white wine at a warmer temperature than I used to. Drinking it too cold can hide some of its flavor because it numbs your taste buds. Drinking the wine only slightly chilled allows for all of deliciousness to come out

When I first opened this bottle I smelled lots of crisp Granny Smith apple. The taste is so lovely, not too acidic and not too sweet. It went well with the pasta and also with the curry crab dumplings that I had the next night I think this wine would be excellent with Thai food, Indian, sushi, or even a nice grilled fish this summer.

Have you created any really surprising dishes just by rooting around in your cabinets or freezer? We would love to hear them!

Have you entered my Cabot Cheese giveaway? What are you waiting for??

Technorati Tags: Austrian wine, Food, food and wine pairing, giveaway, Gruner Veltliner, pasta, recipe, wine

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Giveaway Winner + a Cheesy NEW Giveaway

April 21, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 50 comments

Thank you to everyone who commented on my Boston Marathon recap. It was SUCH a great day, and I had so much fun sharing it with all of you. If you missed it, please do give it a read

I am excited to announce the winner of a $30 Equal Exchange gift card, Lindsay from Life with Lindsay! Lindsay, please email me at traveleatlove@gmail.com and let me know what email address the e-certificate should be sent to! Congrats!

Now that the Equal Exchange giveaway is over, I am excited to announce another giveaway!

I seem to find the Cabot Cheese table wherever I go, whether I am at the Newport Food and Wine Festival , Newport Vineyards Holiday Wine Festival, Wine Riot, or my own kitchen. I loooove their cheese and I love their way of doing business. Here’s a little bit of information from their site.

Cabot’s Cooperative Heritage

Cabot Creamery is a 1,200 farm family dairy cooperative with members in New England and upstate New York. We value our roots as a cooperative ~ and as a way of doing business.

So what does it mean to be a co-op? And why are we different?

Being a co-op, we are owned and operated by our members, which for Cabot are our farmers and their families.

As a cooperative, we emulate the Rochdale Cooperative Principles. We value community, quality, democracy and local ownership. Our owners serve on school boards and select boards. They are volunteer firefighters, planning commission members and Green-Up Day participants.

As Vermont is a small, intimate state, owners are also involved in making a difference at the state level, promoting our “working landscapes,” revitalizing our downtown economies and protecting our environmental resources which make Vermont, Vermont.

This is who we are and these are our strengths. Through our principles and actions we support the places where we live and do business. This is what makes us different.

I love that they are made up of small, local farmers and place such an emphasis on community. I firmly believe that this approach creates the best real food, and it certainly shows in Cabot’s cheeses. I am so excited that Cabot has offered to give one lucky Travel Eat Love reader a cheese gift box worth $25. Isn’t that exciting?

To enter:

1) Visit the Cabot website, and let me know by leaving a comment on this post what cheese you want to try OR what your favorite Cabot cheese is if you have tried them before.

2) Follow me on Twitter, and Tweet a link to this giveaway.

3) For an extra entry, follow @cabotcoop on Twitter and let me know either on Twitter or through a blog comment, that you are following them.

4) If you have a blog, link back to this post.

The chance to win starts now, and the winner will be announced on Thursday, April 29. Good luck!

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Life Goes Better with (White) Bordeaux

March 9, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 10 comments

Spring, spring, spring! It still feels like spring, and after a fabulous 10 mile run on Monday night, we decided to open the bottle of Château Fage 2008 Graves de Vayres Blanc Bordeaux sent to me by the Life Goes Better with Bordeaux campaign. You can read my post on the lovely red that they sent me here.

The white Bordeaux is a lovely pale straw color as you can see here on a sunny spring-like day

The nose was slightly floral and woodsy with a very mild citrus fruit taste. Its a very easy wine to drink, not a white that makes you pucker because its too acidic, and not at all buttery or oaky like a Chardonnay. It was perfect chilled for just about an hour as it was cold but still warm enough to really let all of those flavors come out. I am very grateful to the Life Goes Better with Bordeaux campaign for introducing me to another white wine that I like. With warmer days upon us, I have been looking at our wine rack and thinking we may have too much red I had never tried white Bordeaux before, and I love that I had the opportunity to try this bottle. Life Goes better with Bordeaux is hosting an event in Boston this May, and I am looking forward to trying more Bordeaux wine, both at the event and before then! If you haven’t checked out their website, do, as it provides helpful suggestions for Bordeaux wine based on the wines you already know you like.

Since it was such a lovely day, and I was feeling super fit and healthy after my run, I decided on simple salads with lots of yummy ingredients to go with the wine.

Its funny how I pretty much never get sick of salads, because I am constantly buying new ingredients to add to them. Its a great way to fit in many servings of fruits and veggies at the end of the day. Plus its a nice way to get out of cooking if you just worked a whole day and had a big workout

Our Monday night salad was a base of baby spinach (about 3 cups for each of us) topped with shredded cabbage, avocado, beets, pickled vegetables, olives, jalapenos, carrots, and Trader Joe’s mango chicken sausage. With all of those yummy flavors, you don’t even need dressing! The zing and the crunch of the pickled veggies especially bring a lot of deliciousness to the salad without adding any fat. The salad went great with the wine, and I suspect the wine would go great with any light meal or mild cheese. As the representative that sent me the wine noted, it would be great for a picnic! Ahhh dreaming of wine country picnics

What are your favorite salad toppings? Is a salad enough to fill you up as a meal, or do you like to eat something else with it?

Have you enter my Secrets of a Skinny Chef giveaway? It ends on Friday, and my charity raffle for The ALLY Foundation and the chance to win a $100 Williams Sonoma gift card, in addition to a bunch of other great prizes, ends on my birthday, March 20! Since its charity Tuesday on Twitter, might you consider helping me spread the word today? I’d appreciate it!

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Sunshine, Food, and Wine

March 7, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 7 comments

Glorious weekend! Saturday was a feast for the senses, and stepping outside has never felt so good! I started the day off by blogging about spring, then read a bunch of other blogs and did some other bloggy work.

Then the husband and I went to Castle Island in South Boston. Castle Island is a beautiful place to walk, run, or picnic and provides a nice paved loop that juts out into the bay. I love going there not only for the views and the lovely ocean air, but also for the zillion dogs out walking and running! So cute. There is also a refreshment stand, Sully’s, that sells all sorts of delicious treats. If you live in Boston and have never been, I would definitely suggest going.

After our 2.5 mile walk, I went for a run and did a hill workout. I felt great! This weather makes me feel so much looser and more free, and I think more of my energy is directed to running rather than my aches and pains.

I was ravenous when I returned home, and French toast was all I wanted. I made a simple egg and milk blend with freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg for dipping the bread. Then we cooked it up and topped it with a mix of organic maple syrup and agave nectar.

We had our French toast with Trader Joe’s Organic Cranberry Green Tea. Since reading The 02 Diet (post to come this week), I have been trying to integrate more green tea into my diet. For some reason regular green tea makes me nauseous – to the point where I almost had to leave work one day. But this cranberry green tea blend tastes great and makes me feel fine.

After eating, we spent some time just lounging around the house with the windows open. My cats loved it.

This is Scout’s favorite time of year. She actually looks at the windows in the middle of winter and squeaks at me to open them.

Since the hubby didn’t have to work, we decided to go on a little date to celebrate the nice day with some food and wine. Since we have been talking about Morton’s a lot this week after my events post, he chose Mortons’ Seaport location for our dinner. We had previously only been to the Back Bay location and thought it would be fun to go somewhere near the waterfront.

We were able to get a reservation and were seated right at 7:00. Water glasses filled, and a giant loaf of bread served, we were then shown a presentation of the menu which involved a staff member going through the starters, sides, cuts of meat, fish, and any of the desserts that needed to be pre-ordered. Its fun to see how much attention is paid to the quality of the food.

We started with oysters on the half shell, of course. I don’t think we ever go to a restaurant that has oysters and NOT order them. These came with an entire little cup full of just horseradish, plus a separate cup of cocktail sauce. I was in spicy heaven!

I really wanted to have a couple of appetizers for my meal, as I often do. I ordered the tuna tartare which was stacked with avocado and served with a little side of cucumbers and tomatoes. I had a nice soy flavor to it, and the avocado and super fresh tuna went perfectly together. This was a pretty spectacular and healthy dish.

On the not—so-healthy side, the hubs and I split a wedge salad topped with homemade, out of this world blue cheese, tomatoes, hardboiled eggs, and crispy bacon. Quite obviously not the healthiest option on the menu, but it was oh so good. Morton’s does sides and salads incredibly well.

We each had a glass of wine with dinner. I stuck with the spring-like theme of the day and had a glass of Lunetta Prosecco. Light and bubbly, it was like honeydew melon in a glass. So refreshing. The husband’s wine, however, was amazing. He ordered the featured Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon, Krug 1881. It was blissful. A big, dark red Cab, it had a slightly woodsy nose to it and tasted of dark fruits. It almost coated the sides of the glass. If you can get your hands on a glass, definitely do!

After all of that, we were too full for dessert, and I was tired from so much fresh air! We headed home and watched some Mad Men before konking out at around 11.

I love how alive I feel right now! I normally find Sundays to be a little depressing, but today has been another great day of walking dogs at the MSPCA, walking around Castle Island, and I am off to a Yoga Nidra workshop.

I’ll be back later! Make sure to enter my giveaway if you haven’t already!

Technorati Tags: Boston, breakfast, Dining out, Food, giveaway, running, spring, tea, wine

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Tags: Boston, breakfast, Dining out, Food, giveaway, running, spring, tea, wine

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