What I’m Eating

Update:  This wine dinner was one of the best ones I have been to in Dallas.  We had some killer food and some very good wines.  Very generous servings of both food & wine.  A real value at only $60 per person.

I am going to a wine dinner tonight at La Fiorentina in Dallas.  The restaurant is Lombardi’s Tuscan steakhouse and is located in the trendy Knox Henderson neighborhood … The term Fiorentina is also used to describe the restaurant forte – a 24 ounces Tuscan style Porterhouse brushed with olive oil and herbs and cooked to perfection over aromatic wood.

Lombardi is generally known in Dallas for a slew of successful Italian restaurants, so this is a new venture for him.  We love the food, service, and decor there, so I’m looking forward to it.

Wine Dinner – March 28, 2012 – Menu

1) Reception – chefs selection of crostinis

Wine: Zonin Prosecco

2) English pea soup

Egg yolk ravioli, tarragon oil and pecorino

Wine: Trebbiano Villa Reale

3) Squid ink fettucine with crab and radicchio

Wine: Gavia Principessa 

4) Lobster salad

Baby potatoes, mache lettuce, fava beans, parsley and bacon with a shellfish dressing

Wine:  Guenoc

Victorian Claret

5) Venison and Juniper

Roast loin of venison, creamed spinach, fondant potato and Juniper Jus

Wine:  Barbera d’Alba Ruvei

6) Tropical fruit with limoncello sorbetto

Beverage:  Limoncello

Quote of the Day

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

– Anais Nin

 

My next movie

Chico & Rita is my kind of movie.  I always think Cuba is such a sexy venue.  And the jazz music should be wonderful!  It has an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Cuba, 1948. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and desire unite them as they chase their dreams and each other from Havana to New York to Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas. With an original soundtrack by legendary Cuban pianist and five-time Grammy-winning composer Bebo Valdés, Chico & Rita captures a defining moment in the evolution of history and jazz, and features the music of (and animated cameos by) Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Cole Porter, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Tito Puente, Chano Pozo, and others.

Buying organic – EWG Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce

My boyfriend buys most things organic.  But I shriek when I get to the register and see the bill for organic items.  So, I try to pick and choose what I buy organic.   The Environmental Working Group (EWG) publishes a list every year of the worst offenders as well as the cleanest fruits & veggies.  You can lower your pesticide intake substantially by buying organic for  the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables.  An example – celery tested positive for 57 different pesticides.

These are the Dirty Dozen.  You should consider buying these organic:

• Apples
• Celery
• Strawberries
• Peaches
• Spinach
• Nectarines (imported)
• Grapes – imported
• Sweet bell peppers
• Potatoes
• Blueberries (domestic)
• Lettuce
• Kale/collard greens

These are the Clean 15 and tested lowest in pesticides.
I buy these in the regular grocery section.

• Onions
• Sweet Corn
• Pineapples
• Avocado
• Asparagus
• Sweet peas
• Mangoes
• Eggplant
• Cantaloupe 
- domestic
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Watermelon
1
• Sweet potatoes
• Grapefruit
• Mushrooms

Red Bull Creater Died Today

Red Bull Creater Died Today.

Some interesting facts:

• Chaleo rose from a poor childhood to become member #205 on the Forbes list of billionaires.
• He was in his late 80s or 90, and died of natural causes
• Red Bull is now marketed in 164 countries and employs 8,300. The company has a Formula One racing team, and in March 2006, it purchased the New York/New Jersey MetroStars Major League Soccer team and renamed it the New York Red Bulls.
• A news release on the company’s website says that in 2011, the company sold 4.25 billion cans of Red Bull, up 11% from 2010.

Strange to admit but I’ve never had one!

Top airlines for in-flight wi-fi

Not all in-flight Wi-Fi technology is created equal.  If email access is a must (or you just can’t bear to part with your Facebook friends), choose your airline wisely.

Here are the top domestic carriers for in-flight Wi-Fi:

1. Virgin America

This is an airline known for its technological innovations and was the first to partner with Gogo to offer Wi-Fi on every single flight. In the first half of the year, Virgin America plans to introduce their faster Gogo’s ATG–4 service.

2. Air Tran

Ranked the top airline in the Airline Quality Rating study twice in the past four years, Air Tran aims to deliver an excellent experience to its travelers. They were one of the first to jump on the Wi-Fi bandwagon and are one of the only two airlines to offer fleet-wide Internet service.

3. American Airlines

Access is now on board all Boeing 767-200 aircraft and select MD80 and 737 aircraft. You can also use their Wi-Fi Widget within 24 hours of departure to find out if you’ll be able to plug-in on your flight.

4. Delta Airlines

Delta offers Wi-Fi on more than 2,200 domestic daily flights – that’s 70% of their domestic aircraft. They were also the first to begin installation on regional jets but are just getting that project off the ground. Go toMy Trips to check availability on your flight.

5. Alaska Airlines

Almost all of the aircraft serving the Lower 48 United States are equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi. In fact, only nine planes in the Alaska Airline fleet fly without Internet access. Tip: Make sure your laptop is fully charged since there are no plugs on-board Alaska Airlines flights.

Airlines not making the cut

Of the major carriers, United Airlines, Continental and US Airways are seriously far behind when it comes to Wi-Fi. United and US Airways do have access on some aircraft, but Continental is dragging its feet on their plans to install Wi-Fi access. Southwest has already begun installation and promises fleet-wide access in 2012. JetBlue says they will launch the fastest system in the skies next year.

Style Blogs

I have always been attracted to “style”:

• stylish people – Johnny Depp, Lenny Kravitz, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kelly Wearstler, Colin Cowie, Pink Martini
• stylish movies – The Talented Mr. Ripley, A Perfect Murder, Down with Love, Audrey Hepburn’s films
• stylish places – Santa Fe, New Mexico; New York City; Paris; San Miguel de Allende

As I’ve gotten involved with my own blog, I have added to that list “stylish sites.”  Here are some of the sites/blogs I’ve enjoyed recently because of their high style factor:

• fashionsoundtrack.com
• cheapchicas.com
• hotelchic.com
• color-collective.blogspot.com
• fromtherightbank.com

What are some of your favorites?

7 reasons your diet isn’t working

I really like Prevention Magazine.  I always find something in each issue that is practical & immediately usable in my life.  The March issue outlines the latest research on losing weight or why your current diet may not be working as well as you’d like:

1)  You aren’t eating enough.  When you dip below 1200 calories per day, your body slows metabolism in order to hold on to its reserves.

2)  You reward yourself with food after exercise.  Are you overestimating how many calories you burned in your workout and underestimating how many calories were in your post-workout meal?

3)  You slurp diet drinks – In a 2011 study, diet-soda drinkers had a 178% greater increase in waist circumference over 10 years, compared with non-soda drinkers.  Artificial sweeterners can actually raise your insulin levels and lower your blood sugar and move existing calories into storage in your fat cells.

4)  Your friends are fat – Your chances of being overweight increase 1/2 % for every friend you have who is overweight.  Two reasons:  your perception of what’s overweight may change and/or the other person’s lifestyle and behaviors may rub off on you.

5)  You’ve eliminated wine – New research found that peopel who drank one or two glasses of wine daily gained less weight over 13 years, compared with those who do not drink alcohol.

6)  Your diet isn’t digitally enhanced.  New research shows that people who monitored their diet and exercise with a digital device that provides daily feedback lost more weight and stuck with their diet longer than those who used paper & pen.

7)  You’ve gone carb-free or fat-free.  The trick is to have a varied diet that includes healthy fats and good carbs such as fruits.  The vast majority of people can’t pass on birthday cake and pasta dinners for a lifetime.  It’s just not sustainable.

Number five is my favorite!

Jiro dreams of sushi

Can’t wait to see this one –  I think he has such a great face!

The documentary is about chef Jiro Ono, widely considered to be the world’s best sushi chef, who runs a small restaurant (10 seats) in the Tokyo subway station.   Despite its humble presentation, it is the only sushi restaurant in the world to be awarded a 3-star Michelin rating.

The movie, called Jiro Dreams of Sushi,  opened  in New York on March 9.   It currently has a 95% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

While it remains to be seen whether there will be Oscar buzz for this one, I probably can’t watch it without feeling the urge to go blow a fortune on sushi.

Saving Money for Better Things

This post details how I’m changing how I watch television – goodbye cable bill!

1) I am streaming TV thru the Roku LT – cost, $50 ( I used my Amazon Visa rewards points, so did not actually cost me anything).

CNET reviewed the Roku 5 days ago and here is their summary:

The Roku LT earned our Editors’ Choice Award for two major reasons: price and content. Roku’s $50 streaming box has a truly impressive lineup of content, including Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, Pandora, HBO Go, MLB.TV, NHL GameCenter, Epix, Crackle, Picasa, Flicker, Mog, Rdio, TED Talks, Revision3, TWiT.TV, NASA, and CNET. You can see a full list on Roku’s site, and the company has been aggressive about continually adding more content sources. YouTube is strangely missing from that list.

All of the content sources are great, but the Roku LT also gets many of the little things right that competing products don’t. The user interface may be a little bland, but it’s simple and easy to navigate, plus you can customize the layout of the channels. The same goes for the remote, which keeps only the essential buttons. (Roku’s remote now includes direct-access buttons for Netflix, Pandora, and Crackle.) The separate Channel Store is also a great way to offer a ton of content from partners without cluttering the main home screen.

Roku also offers several pricier models, but we think the Roku LT is easily the best value. The core streaming functionality is what makes Roku great, so most buyers don’t need to pay extra for a Bluetooth remote, microSD card slot, or USB port.If your main goal is to stream video and music from a ton of high-quality content sources, there’s no better value than the Roku LT.

2) I have a subscription to Hulu Plus (less than $9 a month) and to Amazon Prime ($79 per year; includes streaming TV/movies & ebooks).

3) I bought a HDTV indoor TV antenna – Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception.  It’s $38.79 on Amazon (I used my Amazon Visa reward points for this too) and it ships free with 2-day delivery … another perk of the Amazon Prime membership.  It has received 1582 reviews and a 4-star rating.

It’s small in size (inconspicuous) and will allow me to view all local TV free.  To see what stations you should be able to get with the antenna in your area, go to http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps.

I absolutely hate paying for cable and this will net me about $600 the first year (due to equipment purchases) and a higher amount in year two.  Hmmm … I wonder what shoes Valentino has put out for Spring.