Tip of the Day - Kiwis

Cut kiwis in half for a built-in bowl!

“If garlic bread is the default bread that you serve at dinner – you’re *the shit*.”

The Beauty of Yelp

Do you use Yelp? 'Cause you should. Reasons?

1. Everyone goes out to eat.
2. Your opinions matter (but only when they're passionate).

Seems simple enough, doesn't it? Personally, I love Yelp 'cause I wholly encourage overly negative or positive reviews of anything. I used to be the kind of Yelper to give two, three and four stars - but lately I'll only ever give a place either one star or five. There really should be no middle ground. And if the place you're reviewing IS a regular, basic kind of place, then that really isn't the type of restaurant that requires a Yelp review in the first place.

I can't stand it when someone reviews something with phrases like "It was all right" or "The food was adequate." What the hell?! WHO CARES?! How boring of a person are you to think that this average experience you had MATTERS TO ANYONE ELSE? It makes me so mad. Especially when I get tricked into reading those types of reviews. I've learned that the greatly written posts are usually in the one star or five star category, too. And that makes sense! One star/five star reviews elicit passion and/or rage! And that's what everyone wants.

Conclusion? I want you to Yelp. But only when you have an experience that you must inform society about. 

Marta in NYC

This restaurant opened last fall inside the Martha Washington hotel and it's basically an upper-scale pizza place. The sole reason I wanted to eat here? Mainly because anything that Danny Meyer touches turns to gold  - and this place was no exception.

Marta is now officially in my top five pizza places existing in this fine town. (If you're wondering what the others are I would say they're Patsy's/Angelo's, Milkflower, Prince Street Pizza and Juliana's.) I beg you to go and see for yourself. The pizza was thin and the toppings were thick - is there really anything else you need in a slice? No. I'm telling you, no.

Cheapskate Tip: If there's a wait for your table, you should go to the bar next door (instead of the Marta bar) if you want to save some money.

Cupcake Genius

I stumbled across this idea online and WHO CAN I THANK FOR THIS REVELATION? 

“If you can think of five or more ingredients that you absolutely refuse to eat, then please consider yourself high-maintenance. And stop going to dinner parties.”

— #lizadvice

Palm Beach, Florida

My vivacious friend Jenn and I decided to celebrate turning 30 by going on vacation. When deciding where this little jaunt would be, we agreed that we would have just as good a time as Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt if we decided on Palm Beach in Florida. (It's normal to choose your vacation spots based on semi-popular movies from the early aughts, yes? YES!)

Here were our highlights:

The Tideline Resort & Spa

This was one of the very best hotels I've ever stayed at - providing you get a good room. The first room we stayed in had one bed, so we changed that to one with two beds and the second room was EONS more nice (and on a higher floor). The hotel also had direct access to the beach and an outdoor infinity pool. What the hell else could I possibly need? OH! And they made this drink (a Coffee Colada, a coffee version of a pina colada) that I will dream about for the rest of my life. Such a great hotel experience. And it's located right in the heart of Palm Beach, amongst all the ridiculously wealthy homes that line the shore.

Meat Market

We went here solely because of the list of sauces they had on their menu. If that seems like a dumb reason to choose a steakhouse, I don't think you know very much about how to properly eat a piece of meat. The meal was, as expected, amazing.

Rocco's Tacos

We had dinner here on our only night spent in West Palm Beach and the food was ridiculously good. West Palm Beach itself was, well, way livelier than Palm Beach. And by that I mean that it was filled with a younger crowd, a bit rowdier and a completely different experience. I'm happy we stayed where we did since it was a quieter/generally-nicer area where we were, so I'm glad we lucked out in staying at The Tideline. (Did I ever say the word rowdy in my twenties? I can't remember now.) 

Pistache

This French place gave us the best meal of the trip. I had their rock shrimp linguini with a Pernod saffron cream sauce and I'll never forget it. I know a detail like that really doesn't affect you in any way, but I'm noting it here incase I ever find myself in this restaurant again some day. I thought I hated saffron-anything, so you can see why I won't shut up about how good this all was.

Is it acceptable that most of these highlights are food based? Of course, you beast! Great vacations don't exist without exceptional food. 

“If you’re baking a cake and you buy store bought icing, you can whip that icing in a mixer and get four times as much icing as there was initially in the container.”

— #lizadvice

Tim Hortons & Nutella

Tim Hortons has partnered with Nutella! The items in question? Chocolate-hazelnut doughnuts and Nutella pastry pockets. I tried the doughnut and truthfully? It's way too sweet. And coming from me, I think that really says something. And the Nutella isn't really displaced very well - there's just a blob of it in the center. What's with that?

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Photo Credit: Tim Hortons

The pastry pocket (shown above), though? Such a delight. The perfect amount of Nutella is in that baby. Definitely get that one the next time you're in the mood.

They're both available all summer until August 30th.

Chia Seed Pudding

I can't tell you how much I love eating this pudding for breakfast - and it's not even bad for you (as long as you go easy on the maple syrup)!

Ingredients

• 1 cup vanilla-flavoured unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt (or whatever yogurt tastes good to you)
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, plus 2 teaspoons for serving
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1 pint strawberries, hulled and chopped
• Raw pecan pieces

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, gently whisk the almond milk, yogurt, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, the vanilla and a pinch of salt until just blended. Whisk in the chia seeds; let stand 30 minutes. Stir to distribute the seeds if they have settled. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. The next day, in a medium bowl, toss the berries with the remaining 2 teaspoons maple syrup. Mix in the pecan pieces.
3. Spoon the pudding into bowls or glasses; mound the berry mixture on top and serve.

This recipe has been adapted slightly from Food Network.