Monthly Archives: September 2011

Houston Wine Fest + Epic Meal

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On Saturday afternoon I headed to the Houston Wine Fest with my aunt Diana, uncle Juan, and cousin Andrea (Andie). We bought tickets through Groupon a few weeks ago. There was no way we could pass this event up! The event was held at Sam Houston park in downtown Houston. It was a pretty day but HOT. We didn’t realize it was in high 90′s- otherwise we would have worn different clothes.

The groupon ticket included admission and five drink tickets. Basically for one ticket you would get a “taste” of the wine whereas a full glass cost several tickets. Some booths were very strict with their tastings and poured 1 oz. Others were very generous and filled about half of the glass. Andie and Luis bought more expensive tickets that included 10 drink tickets each. Unfortunately Andie’s hubby couldn’t make it so we had extra drink tickets. The four of us ended up splitting 35 tickets!

The park was filled with charming historic houses, big shady trees and a few palm trees.

The above picture shows these cool wine holders made from stone. They were expensive though.

Andie is a painter so she loved the community painting. I tried my hand at painting too. See the 2 bottles on the left? The shadow work was done by me. Clearly, I need art lessons.

We found the cutest booth that made a lot of different products from recycled wine and beer bottles. We all fell in love with these serving platters. Andie and her parents decided to each buy one. As we were browsing the booth my aunt told me to pick one out and bought me one as a gift. So nice of them!

The hot sun + wine drinking left us exhausted. We headed home after a few hours ready for a nap! Later that night we went out to dinner with family friends visiting from Mexico City. We had an epic meal at Pappa Bros Steak House in the Galleria area.

I started out with the Steakhouse Salad:

field greens, sliced apples & oranges with Roquefort cheese & candied almonds tossed in a shallot-champagne vinaigrette

I want to try to recreate it at home. It was delicious. We also had fresh, warm bread placed on the table. {Warm bread + salted butter = heaven}

Earlier in the night, Andie and I had seen amazing looking desserts being brought out to the other diners. We wanted to make sure we had room for dessert so we decided to split an entree. Since I’m not a big fan of steak- we opted for the broiled Atlantic salmon.

Broiled Atlantic Salmon with jumbo lump crabmeat, shrimp, capers & tomatoes in a white wine sauce

Again, this was fantastic. The table split mashed potatoes, roasted wild mushrooms, creamed spinach, and truffle steak fries. Um yeah, regardless of splitting the salmon I was stuffed.

However, once the dessert menu was placed in my hands there was no way I could turn it down. The server warned us that the desserts were big so we should plan on sharing….

New York Style Cheesecake with sour cream sauce and fresh strawberries. This picture doesn’t do this cheesecake justice. I think our jaws dropped when it was brought to our table. It was about 6 inches tall. I didn’t try this but I heard it was amazing.

Key Lime pie with raspberry sauce and assorted fresh berries. Again, I didn’t try this dessert but according to my aunt and uncle it was great.

Creme Brulee with assorted fresh berries, salted chocolate cookie and hazelnut tuile. This was the dessert Andie and I chose. I’ve only recently become a creme brulee fan so I don’t have a lot to compare but this was easily the best one I’ve ever had. The fresh whipped cream was so good!

And finally, this was the Milk Chocolate Marshmallow Mousse pie with vanilla malt sauce and almond toffee pieces.

It was such an amazing meal filled with good company. We stayed until about 12:30 and then left in a food coma. In fact I remained full all day yesterday. I had zero appetite from the indulgent day before which is very rare for me.

Hope everyone had a great weekend- I sure did.

Internship + Weekend Update

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This week marks the final week in my first clinical rotation. I really like the dietitians at my hospital. They are all extremely knowledgeable and care about their patients. I feel comfortable asking them for help when I’m having trouble determining the appropriate nutrition interventions. I’ve enjoyed working in the ICU. It’s very interesting and every day is different. Of course, it’s a sad environment and I have to learn to not get attached to patients. I remember during my undergrad medical nutrition therapy course I didn’t think I would like nutrition support. It seemed boring to do calculations for tube feedings and parenteral nutrition. I like educating patients and making meal plans, not necessarily figuring out which formula is best for them.

Well the inner nerd in me actually likes the meticulous calculations. Go figure. Actually one of the things I struggle with is wanting to do everything “by the book”. I have to remember that I know more than I think I do- it’s okay for me to use my clinical judgment. There is no right answer. What matters is that you justify your recommendations. That said it’s only my first rotation so I am keeping an open mind! Who knows what other surprises I will find.

 

My classes are going alright. I’m taking Statistics, Human Nutrition & Disease, and Human Metabolism. The internship counts as 6 credits so together with my courses I am taking 16 credits total. The workload isn’t too bad, but it’s hard to want to come home and study after working all day. I obviously want to do well in my classes but right now my main focus is on the internship.   Stats is the only class that is a physical lecture. It’s once a week on Monday afternoons. The other 2 classes are online so it gives me flexibility as to when I want to do my work.


This past weekend was a lot of fun. On Friday night I went to the deadmau5 concert with my cousins who had an extra ticket. The concert was downtown at a small venue with a really fun environment. We snuck onto the floor for a few songs, but it was very hot. We decided to watch from our cooler less hot seats on the upper level. We didn’t get home until way past my usual bedtime.

 

(Sorry for the less than stellar iPhone pics)

The late night coupled with the hot environment and a few beers led to us feeling less than stellar on Saturday. We spent most of the day laying around watching old episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and doing hw. And it finally rained!!! I’m not talking just a few raindrops it was a real rain shower. On and off all day- I loved it. I miss the crazy thunderstorms in Minnesota. Houston is so dry- the leaves are off the trees for the wrong reason.

Sunday morning we went to the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining show. Not only did we have tickets for the exhibit, but also had tickets to see Paula Deen. She was hilarious and she is so nice.

BUT she didn’t cook! Her hubby and another chef spent most of the show making the recipes. She didn’t even talk about them other than to say this is the final product. She said that if we wanted to see her cook we could turn on the TV. I see her point but I was looking forward to seeing her cooking. It was still a neat opportunity.


Overall we came away disappointed from the show. For the money we paid it was smaller than expected and most of the booths were only selling their products. I get that they want business but if you’re at a food show you need to sample your product.

So there’s my life update for now. Nothing too exciting to report but I am hoping to have some fun news to share next week ;-)

 


Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

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It’s no surprise that I am a big fan of the sweet and salty combination. Chocolate with sea salt? Love. Salted caramel? Heaven. Peanut butter and chocolate? Delish.

Exhibit: My new obsession- Starbucks new Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino (Light)


I may not have always been a fan, but now there’s no doubt I love the sweet and salty party in my mouth. :)

There’s a famous compost cookie from Momofuku’s Milk Bar in Manhattan that inspired my desire to make a sweet and salty cookie. When I got the idea for a cookie that used crushed pretzels,  I didn’t know how well they would be received. In theory the combination of pretzels, peanut butter and chocolate chip sounded great. But would they actually turn out?

It’s a delicate balance between a touch of salt and overly salted.

I’m happy to report that these cookies are always a hit when I make them. I guess I’m not the only one who loves salted sweets.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

Yield: 36 cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

Some people have a sweet tooth others prefer salt, but with these cookies you won't have to decide. Crunchy pretzels, peanut butter and chocolate chips are mixed into a standard cookie dough. The dough is then sprinkled with sea salt right before baking. These cookies satisfy the sweet and salty cravings in all of us.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 sticks butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (unbleached)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 bag peanut butter chips
  • 1 bag chocolate chips
  • 2 cups mini pretzels, crushed (salted okay)
  • 1 cup salted peanuts, chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together.
  3. Add eggs and vanilla, scraping the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are mixed well.
  4. In a smaller bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.
  6. Mix slowly until well combined.
  7. Fold in the peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, pretzels and peanuts.
  8. Form the dough into golf-sized balls or use a small cookie scoop, and place on a greased cookie sheet.
  9. Flatten each dough ball slightly and sprinkle with sea salt.
  10. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
  11. Let cool on a baking rack.
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