I just got back from a wonderful week in Miami courtesy of my girlfriend Nykki. There was plenty of food, fun and friends. I’ve decided that this will be a blog of mostly pics. We all know that ” a picture is worth a thousand words” and I hope you can see what Miami Life was all about for me.
Cuban Food….YES!
Padrino’s- Cuban Cuisine
A Nice glass of Moscato
Beef Empanadas
LaChun Asado
Celebrating 77 grand years with Bea Hines( Miami Historical Figure)
Mussels- Cozze in Bianco
Lobster Mac & Cheese
House Salad
Make a wish Bea
We wish you all the best
The Night Nykki Learned How to Breathe Fire
The Martini Bar in Hallandale Beach
Nykki Salsa dancing at The Marini Bar
My Miami Crew- Nykki, Pam and The Chef In Pearls
The Code Red Band at The Gardens in Fort Lauderdale
Groupies? Us? Nah….
And then there were 2- Pam & The Chef In Pearls
Jerk Wings and Fries at The Ginger Bay Cafe
My first time having “Sex on the Beach”…All this time it was a drink and not an activity. Who would’ve thunk it
Code Red at Ginger Bay Cafe
Trying to get in the last of my foodie tour
Garden Salad with a Miso-Ginger dressing at U-Sushi in Pembroke Pines
Tuna Roll-Sushi- U-Sushi
Thai Shrimp Fried Rice-U-Sushi
Chicken in Ginger sauce-U-Sushi
Mojo Donuts
The Assortment is unreal
More donuts
…….And even more donuts
The Log Cabin Bacon Bar
Delicious
So good had to get another
Shared a dozen of amazement
Random Miami
Dinasaurs in Miami
Palm trees in the Miami Night life
Water fountain at the Gulfstream
Are we in a scene from Knight Rider…K.I.T.T. is everything okay?
The icing on the cake for me was my chance to meet my favorite Reggae Artist Beres Hammond. Unfortunately No pics but that was okay because the hug and the brief chat was enough to have made my entire year. Thanks Nykki and Pam for helping me enjoy Miami. Can’t wait to return.
So what do you do when one of your best friends is in town and stopping through? Well I always plan to feed people. Problem… she no longer eats meat and she’ll be there in less than an hour. You do what I did. You create a cheese platter with Saregento’s new tasting cheeses.
One of my best friends, Lavern
It was a fun experience for us all. My cheese board included 4 of the 8 tasting cheeses Sargento has created: the New Zealander (hands down everyone’s favorite), the Aged Vermont White Cheddar (second runner-up in the list of favorites), the Parmentino (which I enjoyed with a slice of fresh pear) and the Medium Asiago. I included crackers, sliced pear and sliced apples one the board also.
My cheese board
New Zealander…taste winner
Aged Vermont White Cheddar….taste runner up
I look forward to trying the other 4 cheeses Sargento created in this line. I can’t wait to see what I will cook up with these cheeses. As it stands we still have some of the cheeses left over from last night and I’m thinking quick and easy. I see grilled cheese in our future with a blend of the leftovers on maybe a nice brioche.
I wanted to add something else to the pantry list, flatbread. I usually keep naan in my freezer. Naan or nan or khamiri is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread. It is typical of and popular in West, Central and South Asia. I keep them for times like today where i needed a quick fix for lunch.
On my last supermarket visit I decided to try Flatout’s Artisan Pizza Crust. I thawed one added sauce, spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, garlic and cheese (all leftovers from yesterday’s frittata) placed it on a lightly greased baking sheet for about 10 minutes.
Voila. ….lunch. Cut & plated and added some wine. It’s all about the pantry baby.
Okay so this post is a tad bit late…like a week late but I have committed to writing it and so I shall.
This year National Pancake Day fell on Fat Tuesday…how cool was that. Every year I participate in IHOP’s fundraiser for The Children’s Miracle Network with my kids. They give away a short stack while collecting donations for the group. My date that morning was my oldest child, Akeem. Nothing like some Mother-Son time : )
We enjoyed a lovely breakfast together and helped a good cause while we were at it.
Now the start of my day was good…pancakes and family..I’d say that was an excellent start to Fat Tuesday but it got better as the day went on. You see I was to have lunch with one of my inner circle( what I call my handful of TRUE friends). Now I know some of the most fun loving, life enjoying people and Nykki Burkes is one of them. For our lunch together I made Panko-Parmesan Encrusted Cod with a Brown Rice Pilaf and Steamed Broccoli. Now I tried to share the ease of making this dish with her but she was more interested in eating it than actually learning how to make it…gotta love Nykki
We chatted about new things, old things, lives she saved while flying and all the things that make being a flight attendant great and …..not so great. She had made some great plans for the rest of our day and I was looking forward to it. We decided to add one more to person to the mix (another inner circle member) my sister-in-law Sandy. We were definitely going to have fun whether we wanted to or not. Our first stop on Nykki’s agenda was a restaurant in the Inman Park area of Atlanta named Parish. I loved it from the moment we pulled up to the building. It’s the only remaining building from a 1890’s pipe factory. It had been restored to show off the building’s great structure and turned into a restaurant.
We went to Parish to enjoy some wine and that we did….along with a tasting from their small plates.We sampled the Pan-Fried Pierogis, the Black Truffle Grilled Cheese and the Rosemary-Garlic Fries. Let’s just say I’m definitely looking forward to a return visit. Learn more about the restaurant, their menu and extensive wine list at Parish
Our next stop on the Fat Tuesday train was Kat’s Cafe for Comedy Night. We had a wonderful host who kept in real and had us laughing all night. The drink special for the night was the Summertime Martini so we had a round or two…not bad for a special but Sandy ordered a Juke Joint and she said it had a nice kick to it. What we learned….drink special aren’t as strong as the other drinks they make( if you’re into strong drinks). We, of course, ordered something to eat…..the Bayou Pizza. It was soooo good. The toppings included tilapia, shrimp, onions & bell peppers with the right amount of spiciness…I would order that again. Check out Kat’s Cafe they have something going on every night of the week.
Bayou Pizza $ Summertime Martini
Well my Fat Tuesday was a blast with great people. Sandy & Nykki can’t wait until next time.
