#19 - Travel somewhere else on my bucket list

One of my favorite geographic locations on Earth is the Caribbean.  The island life, the sand, the sun, the palm trees, the turquoise water... I love it all.  I am a Cancer Water baby, and thus, the Caribbean is my "home"...

And I'm lucky enough to have visited many Caribbean islands in my short life span.  But, what might be surprising is that Jamaica is NOT one of those islands...

So, naturally, when a group of friends said they were going to Jamaica for a birthday party weekend, I jumped on the chance to go. And it turned in to one of the most fun vacations EVER.  (Which says a lot considering I had just been to the Galapagos islands, and have done many girls weekends to Miami, Vegas and Key West!!!)

We started our vacation with mimosas at the airport :)

We took a long bus ride to the resort...

Upon arriving at our (all-inclusive) resort, we immediately ordered our first drink...

We dropped our bags off in our hotel rooms, and discovered the mini bar - they restock the bottles every other day...

We immediately changed in to our pool-gear, and took our first group pic :)

And then we took our second drink and went to the beach to relax :)

My view....

We swam in the ocean....

That night, we discovered that we could refill our own wine... from a wine barrel!!!!

The next day, we hung out at the pool...

We got drinks at the swim-up bar at the pool...

And hung out in the jacuzzi... of course, still drinking :)

We played cards at night...

Don't worry, we tried to keep our legs closed....

The next day, we piled on to a bus with Marlon Brando... and the next five hours were the most fun I've had in a long, long time...

After the bus, we boarded a giant catamaran...

We went snorkeling :)

We climbed a waterfall and took many group shots...

We immersed ourselves in cold water...

I tried to look like I was in a tropical forest....

And we had fun....

After climbing the waterfall, we boarded our catamaran and went on a booze cruise...

....where we partied like one percenters...

My girlfriend Katrin is a hottie... and rocked her red bikini :)

After another amazing bus ride singing songs with Marlon Brandon (Rum n Red Bull!), we took a photo with our fellow bus riders... and we kept the party going... SO MUCH FUN!!!!

A great pic of the buffet line :)

We danced to some horribly bad music...

But hey, we tried to have fun...

Later, we went to dip our toes in the ocean...

I hugged the palm tree :)

The last day, we drank coconut juice straight from the source!

This was one of the most fun vacations I've ever had... from good friends to good food, great drinks, an awesome boat ride followed by an awesome bus ride with amazing people having so much fun... it was just epic.

Thanks to Katrin, Dave, Nada, Will, Elianne and Bargav!!!!  I had an amazing time... and I can't wait for the next vacay!!!

Seriously, when is it???  8-)

Grilled Green Tomatoes with Corn and Pepper Salsa

I love tomatoes.  One of my fondest memories is of padding barefoot through my parent's backyard in Alabama towards my Dad's garden on a hot summer day and picking a sun-warmed, ripe, red tomato off the vine, and taking a big bite.  Juiciness ensued.  Flavors exploded.  It was indescribably phenomenal.

This past week, I made a "pilgrimage" to Jersey City after work to get dinner from my favorite food truck, the Cinnamon Snail.  The Snail was parked at Grove Street, where apparently on Thursday's, there is also a farmers market.  As I was weaving my way through hipsters and women with strollers, my eye found a table of green tomatoes... and it was love.

See, I've had a recipe in my recipe book for years... and I've wanted to make it, but I couldn't find green tomatoes in my local supermarket... so when I saw them, I bought them, immediately, and never looked back.  I got home, created a shopping list for the rest of the items, and set to work!

This recipe is originally from Shape Magazine, and it's touted as being 123 calories per serving, so not only is this a yummy use of farm-fresh green tomatoes, it's healthy...

Grilled Green Tomatoes with Corn and Pepper Salsa
Slightly modified from Shape magazine's recipe
Serves 4
Prep time: 15 mins; Cook time: 4-5 mins

Ingredients:
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
8 slices firm (unripe) green tomatoes, about 1/3 inch thick each
1 T dried Italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 ears sweet corn, kernels cut off
1/4 red pepper, finely chopped
1/4 green pepper, finely chopped
2 T finely chopped red onion
2 T finely chopped cilantro
1 T rice-wine vinegar
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t chili powder

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, mix olive oil, Italian seasoning and garlic.    Add tomato slices, rubbing marinade in.  Season with salt and pepper. Let sit for 15 minutes.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in another medium bowl.

3. Heat grill.  Cook marinated tomatoes 2 minutes or more on each side, until lightly browned.

4. Arrange grilled tomatoes on a platter and top with corn salsa.

Not only did I make this recipe according to plan, but I took it a step further and stacked two of the grilled green tomatoes with two red (ungrilled) tomatoes and 2 slices of fresh mozzarella:

Pretty stack! 

And it was gooooood.  Very good.

Key Lime Pie with Chocolate Crust

I love Key Lime Pie.  It's one of my favorite things in life.  Whenever it's on the menu, I order it.  If there is a Key Lime Pie martini, I drink it.  And with every bite or sip, I sit back and savor the tart flavors, and end up have a "When Harry met Sally" orgasm-like moment.

But I've never tried to make Key Lime Pie... and I don't know why.  Maybe I was subconsciously intimidated by the idea, envisioning it would be very complicated?  Or maybe it's just that I didn't have a recipe...

So imagine my delight when, in the January 2012 issue of Food & Wine magazine, I found a recipe... and it was from a 19 year old blogger.  A friggin 19 year old blogger made a friggin Key Lime Pie, and here I am, at the (ripe old) age of 30, and I hadn't attempted it because I'm scared?  Pe-shaw!! (not sure how to spell that, but I think you get my drift)

I originally wanted this to be part of my first "30 before I turn 30" challenge, but I ran out of time... so it seems fitting that it will kick off #18 Cook 30 more new recipes.

Without further ado... my very first Key Lime Pie, as adapted from Elissa Bernstein's recipe as published in Food & Wine magazine.

Key Lime Pie with Chocolate Crust
Difficulty: Easy!!!!
Makes One 10-inch pie

Ingredients:

For the crust:
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs (from 9 whole crackers)
1/3 cup sugar

For the filling:
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/4 cups fresh lime juice (from ~8-10 limes, but preference is from ~25 key limes)
2 Tablespoons sugar (ONLY IF YOU USE LIMES instead of KEY LIMES)
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
Two 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk

For the garnish:
Whipped cream for topping
Lime slices, thinly sliced, for garnish

Directions:
1. Make the crust.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 10-inch glass pie plate.  In a food processor, pulse the graham cracker crumbs until a finely ground, then add sugar and pulse to blend thoroughly.  Add the melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are moistened.  Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the side of the pie plate to form the crust.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Let the crust cool to room temperature.

2. Make the filling.  Juice the limes.  In a mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs.  Whisk in the lime juice, lime zest, and condensed milk until smooth.  Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake for about 20 minutes, until set around the edge and slightly jiggly in the center.  Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until very firm, at least 6 hours or overnight.

3. Get ready to serve. Take whipped cream, add to pie.  Garnish with lime slices.

4. Devour like a greedy goddess. Taste. Savor. Enjoy. Watch this clip and imitate (optional) ;)

Notes/Disclaimers:

• While you can buy a store-bought crust to save time (and the amount of dirty dishes that pile up)... I don't prefer it.  Making the crust was pretty easy... and it was SO delicious... so just do it, mkay?
• Speaking of the crust, Elissa's recipe calls for 1/2 cup finely ground almonds.  Oops.  See, my roommate and I always buy ingredients, use a teaspoon of it, and then the rest sit around in our cabinets and/or fridge for yeeeeears... so when I was shopping for ingredients, I assumed we had almonds somewhere.  And I'm sure we do, I just couldn't find them... so if you want, follow the original recipe and add almonds.  (Update: I found the almonds that I had forgotten I bought.  They were hiding behind a bottle of Bacardi.  Ha.)
• Key limes versus limes.  There's a whole big controversy over this one.  Enthusiasts will tell you that you can't beat key limes, and that it's not a key lime pie if you don't have key limes, and let me tell you - I don't care what they say.  I would have preferred to use key limes (mainly because it is a Key Lime Pie after all), but my grocery store didn't have key limes.  So, I went with limes, and I added just a teensy bit of sugar to help sweeten it up since limes are more tart than key limes.  Do as you like, my friends, do as you like.  (Plus, my pie tasted friggin delicious, so I don't care what people say)
• Whipped cream.  I'm not a big fan of whipped cream.  The original recipe calls for making your own.  That sounds great in theory, but I just bought one of those cans of whipped cream, and that's what I used.  But only because I'm taking this pie to a BBQ pool party.  If I was going to keep it all to my greedy self, I'd nix the whipped cream (and the crust, for that matter), and just spoon the delicious filling in to my mouth while sitting in a jacuzzi and having a hot cabana boy massage my back.  Wait.  Crossing fantasies, sorry...

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT.  My first Key Lime Pie.  Despite having some issues with covering it with plastic wrap (which took a few precious bits of filling off the pie and left it looking un-smooth), this was super easy to make.  Easy as pie, so they say :)

I can't stay away :)

As some of you may know, I just completed a “30 things to do before I turn 30 in 3 months” challenge. 

Yes, it was time consuming and a tad bit on the expensive side, but I had SO MUCH FREAKING FUN with it... it was a kick in the pants for me to live this beautiful life, chip away at some of the things that I've always wanted to do (but of course was always "too busy" to do), and help me celebrate the fact that I was turning 30, for Three. Whole. Months.

I had so much fun, and I loved blogging, and I found myself in such a sad state thinking that it was over...

So I decided, why the heck does it need to be over? 

So...

I'm gonna keep on going. 

If you are tired of hearing me bare my soul and innermost thinkings, then no worries - I'm no longer going to post my blog posts on facebook (except for this one!).  And for the few of you who actually expressed interest in continuing to read on... sign up to receive emails whenever I make a new post.  I have 30 things to do in 12 months, so expect one post a week (plus or minus) instead of the multiple posts that I was cramming in at the last minute  (hey, I had a DEADLINE!) :)

Without further ado...

30 things to do now that I’ve turned 30 (with one extra thrown in there for good measure)!
 ***Disclaimer!  Subject to change :)***
 

1. Become certified in Scuba diving
2. Teach a spin class
3. Read 30 more books
4. Dress like a superhero for Halloween
5. See a Steelers game in enemy territory
6. Participate in a Flash Mob
7. Create (and follow) a financial plan
8. Become conversational in Spanish
9. Take a stand up paddle board lesson
10. Do the “Insanity” 60 day challenge
11. Visit my parents in Alabama =)
12. Do a Tough Mudder / Warrior dash type of race
13. Go Paleo for 30 days
14. Go to a concert
15. Ride on the back of a motorcycle
16. Learn how to fly a helicopter
17. Eat at another 3 star Michelin restaurant
18. Cook 30 more new recipes, and blog about each one!
19. Travel somewhere else on my bucket list
20. Visit the NY Botanical Gardens
21. See "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway
22. Hang out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Rooftop Bar
23. Go to Peter Luger's steakhouse
24. Run a race (10K, half marathon or marathon)
25. Take a writing class
26. See Fuerza Bruta
27. Get more involved with a non-profit
28. Complete the counted cross stitch piece that I’ve been working on for years!
29. Take pole dancing classes
30. Learn how to change the tire on a car
31. Do something crazy

So, what do you think???  Am I crazy?  Are you excited?  Do you not care?  Don't forget to sign up for email alerts whenever I have a new post!!!  And get ready.... the next year will be the best year ever.