Honeymoon Eats Roundup

I’m still recuperating from the wild blogaversary…just kidding! Here’s a rare weekend post because since the honeymoon, I’ve been to New York city and Charleston and have so much to catch up on! I photographed all my meals on the honeymoon. I’ll spare you a week’s worth of delicious three course meals but I wanted to document our favorite dishes.One of the beauties of cruising around Europe was that I got to eat anything I wanted and since meals on the boat are included, I never cheaped out! The downfall is that we weren’t ever in these amazing cities (Florence, Rome, Naples, Palma) at dinner time. Mr. J and I hurried to get  to see all the sites we possibly could in each place so we rarely even stopped for food! Eating buffet breakfast before entering the city kept us full anyway.

We got in the habit of relaxing poolside after running around all day and before dinner. Then, here’s where it got tasty. We would make a cheese plate and go to our balcony to watch as the ship pulled out. That is the life I tell ya.

honeymoon_cruise_cheese_590_390
Now, let’s get to the meals. I had this pear salad with blue cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. What wonderful combos of flavors.

honeymoon_cruise_pearsalad_590_390
My number 1 best meal I had was risotto with shrimp. DELECTABLE. I think I ate every bite. I loved the arugula on top. Remember risotto is on my list of dishes to make soon.
honeymoon_cruise_risotto_590_390
Mr. J’s favorite meal was this angus pot roast. It was falling off the bone and he was really happy with this choice. Also, this guy loves any meat that comes with sauce/gravy.
honeymoon_cruise_potroast_590_390
I ate fish at every opportunity I had. One really good one was tilapia over peppers and potatoes. The sauce was light but creamy and the fish was cooked perfectly. It didn’t look amazing but it was soooo good.
honeymoon_cruise_potroast_590_390
Mr. J had a NY strip that he liked a lot too.
honeymoon_cruise_strip_590_390
Our favorite desert was a bread pudding with sticky toffee sauce. It was sweet without being sickeningly sweet and the egg flavor came though. The top was crispy, the underneath was soft, and the sauce was sticky…wow. There wasn’t definition from one bread chunk to another.
honeymoon_cruise_breadpudd_590_390

All the meals were really good. I love Norwegian Cruise Line because of their freestyle dining options. We could show up to dinner at any of the restaurants at anytime and be seated alone. This was especially nice after racing around the cities and taking time to relax by the pool. I highly recommend NCL and hope to go on another soon (hint hint, wink wink)!

Spanish Winery Tour & Tasting Fun

One of the most fun cities on our honeymoon cruise was our visit to the city of Palma. Mr. J thought just saying Island of Majorca was pretty fun before we even got there.It was a surprise of sorts because my research suggested this coastal resort city wasn’t going to be as touristy or have as many sites we had to race around to get to.In Florence, Rome, and Naples we did our own thing since the excursions seemed too rigid and slow for us who wanted to see everything (read as: run around every minute we had in each city). In Palma, we opted for a winery tour and tasting the cruise offered and it was awesome. We went to Macia Batle Winery.
honeymoon_winery_view_390_590
The tour was super informative. I’ve been on winery tours before and I love them. It was so impressive that the tour guide was originally from Germany. She moved to Spain a few years ago. She’s fluent in German, Spanish, and English. Makes me feel like our education is lacking.

We saw the bottling machines and all the wine barrels. Some hicks on the tour were surprised that wine is stored for lengths of time. Wine aged? Shocking!
honeymoon_winery_label_590_390
I LOVED that they have local artists or artists with connections to the area design the labels. The art was hung throughout. I wanted to buy prints but they don’t sell them. What a cool souvenir!
honeymoon_winery_art_590_390
Now for the tasting…They had snacks too. I loved this place!

We tried 3 wines and several foods. The wines were so good. This was just the perfect setting to be poured wine, and told about it, and had plenty to drink and ponder. Marcia Batle grows herbs, grapes (obviously), olives, and have honeybees so we had wonderful things to try.
honeymoon_winery_display_390_390
Their olive oil is delicious. I wished it was bread to soak it up more, rather than our crackers. Then they sprayed the crackers with wine infused fleur de sel. Ohh my salty goodness. Amazing. I bought some fleur de sel with rosemary and cannot wait to use it. Sorry for the blurry photo…I was so excited to see the food!
honeymoon_winery_oliveoil_590_390
They also served some tapanades…three of ‘em. I’m not a huge olive fan, but these were very good. I probably liked them more than usual because of what else was in them. The roasted red pepper one was my fav and it was delicious with the wine.

honeymoon_winery_spreads_590_390
The winery served a local pizza too. It had a crisp crust with peppers and artichokes on top.  I wasn’t a big fan. Maybe because we’d just come from Italy or maybe because the spreads and crackers were so good, but this just didn’t do it for me.
honeymoon_winery_pizza_590_390
There was jam made with their grapes. Delicious! This was on a biscuit-like cracker. It tasted more like grapes than any grape jam I’ve ever had. Ever. We had it with a dessert wine which was think and syrupy.

honeymoon_winery_jam_390_590

Marcia Batle had lovely frosted glass wine bottle lights and really creative decor. Now I want to try to make art out of my favorite wines. I was so in love, and so happy to be there. Mr. J and I left with a lovely wine-induced haze and lovely memories.

Sangria Kickoff

Before the honeymoon, I’d never been to Spain before. I’ve been to England, France, Italy, Greece, and all sorts of random countries in Eastern Europe but never Spain. Barcelona definitely made me want to go back. I loved it! It’s such a beautiful city. We landed, checked into our hotel, and immediately started to explore. I chose a hotel just steps off Placa de Catalunya. What a lovely area! It was also a holiday so it felt like our honeymoon was really off to a great start.We were starving and strolled past a bunch of out door cafes on las ramblas. We found a spot at one and began with some sangria. Ohh. The. Sangria. This is a half order! Mr. J tried it as well only because a when-in-rome mentality and loved it too!
honeymoon_barc_sangria_390_590
We each chose a dinner option for 3 house tapas and our choices of paella, pasta, or pizza. The tapas was heavy on fish, but I didn’t mind at all. Mr. J didn’t seem to either. One was a warm potato wedge with a sweet & creamy dressing. I liked it. Another was a crustini with tomato and a sardine. The last was a cold pasta salad with tuna. The sampler was good since we would’ve spent forever picking piece by piece.
honeymoon_barc_tapas_590_390
I went with the seafood paella. It was so good! I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I’ve always wanted to try and and I got my most authentic chance ever! There were huge shrimp (with the heads), scallops, muscles, and some sort of tougher fish…calimari-esque but not exactly the same. I could definitely taste the saffron but it wasn’t overpowering.
honeymoon_barc_paella_590_390
I loved it. I ate my first shrimp head since apparently that’s where all the flavor is. I’m not sure if that will happen again or not.

Mr. J got pasta that was good, but not as blog-worthy as paella!

I fell for Barcelona while sipping my sangria, munching on paella, and watching a street festival unfold before my eyes. I guess there were fireworks but I was too tired/jet-lagged to even stay awake until 9 PM (also known as when locals eat dinner).

Happy Halloween!!

Birthplace of Pizza

My honeymoon was simply amazing. Beyond words. We saw some really amazing sites in Italy and Spain and definitely have memories for a lifetime. I loved Barcelona and Florence. They were my favorites. I had such high hopes for Naples and wasn’t a big fan. It’s quite smelly and loud. I just hoped to see a charming town not infiltrated with tourists where we could wander, eat, and repeat.They’ve had a trash problem. It doesn’t explain the lack of ladies hanging their laundry out windows and the guys hanging around pizzarias I was looking forward to. This image in my head wasn’t the case. I mean, this is the BIRTHPLACE OF PIZZA! I thought it had to be amazing!We did have the most delicious pizza I’ve ever tasted. I have to tell you that before I relay our crazy pizza adventure.
honeymoon_nap_pellone_590_390
We found this pizzaria called Pizzeria Pellone that Anthony Bourdain went to. The pizza is to die for, but I’m also thankful that we made it out without losing cameras, or fingers, to an intense owner. Seriously. He was very scary and did not at all appreciate us tourists in his restaurant. At all. This blog seemed to catch him on a good day?

Mr. J has serious camera equipment. Like paparazzi style with 2 bodies, multiple lenses, tripods strapped into a camera backpack which suggests he’s hiking across Europe. (Love you Mr. J!) He took the time to put one away into the bag and the other was strung across his chest before we went in. I had my camera in my purse so other than the camera bag, the guy wouldn’t have known I’m snap-happy around my food.
honeymoon_nap_box_590_390
This man stands guard at the front of the restaurant while his staff scurries around. We were seated in his direct view, by the door. He immediately came over and picked up Mr. J’s camera still strapped to him. This guy wasn’t having it. The other server said something in Italian and he finally backed off. Looking none to pleased. Mr. J remained calm while this guy practically manhandled his camera. Don’t mess with Mr. J’s dog or his camera.

I’m pretty sure they only answered me as to “where is the bathroom” because I asked in Italian.

We decided it best not to take any photos. It was that intense. We hadn’t even suggested that we would be taking photos. We ate the best pizza of our lives, finished our wine & beer and got out of there. Mr. J suggested we take the leftovers to go so at least we could get a photo outside. He’s always looking out for me.

honeymoon_nap_pizza_390_590
The bottom crust was so paper thin you’d never pick it up. The sauce was light and pink. It definitely didn’t have any herbs in it. The buffalo mozzarella was to-die-for. So good! Whole leafs of basil were crisped on top.

It was so filling. I don’t know how they each eat a whole one. We split one and didn’t finish it. I’ll remember the meal forever, and especially the pizza forever. I’ll try to recreate.

Perfect Sauce at Sauce

 

As often as I travel for work, I rarely blog about my eatings during those trips. Seriously. I worked four cities this year so far and this is the first one you’re hearing about. San Fran deserves it though. I simply adore the city and I always know there will be unexpectedly amazing meals coordinated by the local staff. Did you see this other treat in San Fran?
gelato_bridge_290_200
For the past two years we’ve eaten at Sauce, an unassuming little restaurant & bar in the Hayes Valley area. The menu features comfort food in a classy and sophisticated atmosphere. The food is not pretentious…it’s just all done really well.Feeding our large group, in a timely fashion, on a serious budget is no small feat. That’s why I greatly appreciate how generous and accommodating Sauce is.

Probably 90% of the group visited the bar before dinner. There were fantastic cocktails. I had my eye on a lemon-looking one garnished with a sugared lemon slice!

They started us off with the lincoln logs of portabello mushroom fries and fat boy ranch dipping sauce. AMAZING. These are so lightly battered and make you want to play Jenga when you see the tower. Ms. K who doesn’t even like mushrooms was impressed. We also got the meal going with some bruschetta. I loved it and could have enjoyed the appetizers as my whole meal.
sanfran_aps_290_200
Dinner was family style with salad, buttery carrot coins, brussels sprouts, veggie lasagna, and a side of meatballs.

I’m not a huge fan of carrots but these were so delicious. They were thin and warm with the littlest bit of pepper made them this memorable.

The lasagna was so good. It was cheesy and the sauce made it bright and really flavorful without being too acidic. The crispy edges made me swoon.
sanfran_lasagna_290_200
They served a really delicious chilled red wine. I knew it was coming so I hadn’t hit up the bar. The owner explained it and assured us it was meant to be chilled. Needless to say our table of 6 finished every last drop.

We even got dessert. I also knew this was coming from years past so I kept room. It was delightful cinnamon sugared donut bites with a vanilla burbon dipping sauce. Ooo that sauce! These were the perfect bites to finish the meal.
sanfran_dessert_290_200
I love this place and thought we were so well taken care of. The extras like appetizers, wine, and dessert were greatly appreciated. I loved every sauce we ate. The owner introduced himself and told us how happy he was to have us given his connection to the cause as well.