March 2012 Archives - Balance & Spice

Blog Rhythm

I’ve been having a bit of a challenging time getting back into a blog rhythm (which may, for the record, be the hardest word ever to spell.) I felt like I got into my groove when I was in Australia, but since leaving for our vacation, it’s been really hard to get back into my groove. If you’re a blogger, what’s your blogging rhythm? How did you find it, and how do you find the balance?

Breakfast

Was an old favorite – pumpkin smoothie! As mentioned above, the blog rhythm is hard to find, and I keep forgetting to snap photos of meals. However, it looked very much like this…

Except topped with organic corn Crunch-Em’s, from Healthy Valley. Since trying to stop adding stevia to everything while on vacation (not easy at all, but I found myself having too much of it) I’ve found it hard to find a way to sweeten smoothies without adding too much (natural, i.e., fruit) sugar, so I played around. Into the mix went…

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1.5 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp raspberry all fruit preserves
1/2 tsp almond butter
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 dash good balsamic vinegar
pumpkin pie spice
vanilla

It was o.k…I think if I’m going to have smoothies in the future, however, I’d just suck it up and make a fruit instead of a pumpkin smoothie, as it just wasn’t sweet enough to be really delicious.

Today was spent prepping for my birthday party/bon voyage party that my parents are hosting tomorrow. I am so grateful and flattered that they want to do this, and the best part is getting to spend time with them chopping and prepping. My dad never does things half-assed, so we have enough food to feed about 80 people. It should be amazing, though!

Lunch

Was an Amy’s frozen indian meal. Boring, but totally delicious.

Tonight we head off to meet my cousin’s baby – I’m so excited! More coming soon from vacation, I promise – we still have another country to go!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: breakfast

I Love Birthdays. And Sleep.

30 Mar By Kat Reiner Leave a Comment

Yesterday’s birthday celebrations were fantastic. It started at 6am and involved being asleep and full by 9pm – what could be better than that?

Breakfast

It started with a nice big bowl of overnight oats. I read so many blogs while in Europe talking about overnight oats, and I I got a little jealous. They looked so gooey, creamy and decadent, I couldn’t wait to try my hand with them when we got home. I tell you, I didn’t wait in vain! They were delicious.

Into the mix went…

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup goat yogurt
1.5 tbsp chia seeds
3/4 cup ish almond milk – I didn’t measure.

I stirred these up and let them gel overnight. Then, in the morning, I topped it with a teaspoon of almond butter and some frozen cherries, as well as some vanilla. Finally, I finished it with about 1/2 a teaspoon of really good balsamic vinegar. It was truly delicious – creamy, gooey, and filling. Since I knew I’d have an early morning, it was so great to have breakfast all together.

My aunt Marcia came over for coffee, bringing me the cutest hat and shabbat candle-sticks to take to Australia – such a great gift.

Then, Ant gave me my birthday presents, which were fantastic and varied – everything from a gorgeous charm for my bracelet to an apron to a big bag of gluten-free flour. The highlight was a beautiful fountain pen.

Actually, I think the highlight may have been this shirt. Ant somehow managed to find my personality pre-silkscreened on a t-shirt. With the muppets. I love it.

Lunch

After going back to sleep for a few hours (what? It’s my birthday!) We went out to lunch with my parents at our old favorite sushi restaurant, Ichi-Ro. For lunch, I had a naruto roll with tuna, crab and avocado, and a seared tuna tataki.

It was fantastic – I love Ichi-Ro because there fish is always so fresh, generous portions, and they have such creative rolls and plates.

It was such fun to get to spend my birthday with my parents.

My mom made me cry by giving me a necklace I’ve loved since I was a little girl that she thought she’d lost. She found it, and gave it to me! My parents also had a beautiful bracelet made for me with the Serenity Prayer written on it. It was so meaningful, and looks gorgeous.

After lunch, mom and I went for mani-pedis. We went over to Dashing Diva, a super schmancy nail salon in our neighborhood.

I got a Lemongrass pedicure, with a parafin treatment and sugar scrub. It was divine, and smelled amazing. I also got a manicure for the first time in at least a year. It felt great!

After our pampering excursion, we headed home to relax before my parents headed out for a fancy dinner, and left Ant and me to our own devices.

Dinner

For dinner, we indulged in gluten-free pizza and gluten-free beer. Also known as heaven.

The crust was from Gigi’s, and was delicious and cracker thin – my favorite! Also known as a skizza (skinny pizza, I’m guessing?) it was truly the best pizza crust I’ve had since going gluten-free over five years ago. Somehow, they managed to make it both chewy and crusty. I will have sweet dreams of this glorious crust.

On mine went spinach, sauteed mushrooms in red wine vinegar, a bit of mozarella and feta cheese, and black olives.

Anthony made his traditional pie, which included roasted butternut squash, spinach leaves, feta and mozarella cheese, satay chicken, and pine nuts. I don’t quite get it, but somehow, it works.

I also indulged in a bottle of Green’s dubbel dark ale. Amazing.

We started watching Hanna, got half-way through, and were so exhausted that we fell sound asleep. It was perfect.

All in all, an amazing birthday. We’re also having a big good-bye/birthday party on Sunday, so it felt perfect to have a low-key day before that.

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Birthday Bliss!!

29 Mar By Kat Reiner Leave a Comment

Hi everyone,

We’re back in NYC, and so happy to be, because it’s my birthday!

I promise, more updates will be coming soon from the rest of our travels, adventures, and our return home, but for today, it’s time to stretch out, enjoy gluten-free pizza and sushi, and relax.

Happy travels, friends!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Versailles: Can We Decorate Our Bedroom Like Marie’s?

26 Mar By Kat Reiner 2 Comments

On our first morning in Paris, we hopped out of bed, went for a nice run around the neighborhood (about half an hour), went to the market to buy ingredients for lunch and hopped on the train for Versailles. Actually, we hopped on a few trains for Versailles, as I have no sense of direction. However, we got there in the end!

Versailles, the chateau of Louis the XIV, is about 40 minutes outside of Paris by train. Louis hired architech Louis Le Vau and artist Charles Le Brun to create the model for all future palaces in Europe. Its 250 acre garden is the largest of all palaces in Europe, and is quite spectacular. By the time we actually got to Versailles, it was lunch-time, so we ate a salad that we had made that morning. (Boy, were we glad we brought it with us, at the food at Versailles was not cheap.)

Then, we started wandering through the museum-like chateau, stilled decorated to the 9’s with furniture, paintings, and statues from the time of Louise XIV and Marie Antoinette.

We were so impressed with the pink hall of entry. It was really gorgeous, and we were coveting that fireplace, let me tell ya!

The ceiling frescos throughout the chateau were divine. In every room was a different celestial scene, either of Mary and Jesus, or of angels, or of Greek Gods. Apparently, the kings didn’t particularly care which style of divinity they were cultivating, as long as they were powerful and colorful!

While the Hall of Mirrors was exceedingly impressive…

My favorite room by far was Marie Antoinette’s bedroom.

It was so sumptous, so elegant, and so…Queenly. I wouldn’t mind waking up each day in that room! (Unfortunately, if I did, it would involve being surrounded by a hundred strangers waiting to greet me. If they saw me drool, I might have to lead myself to the guillotine. (Too soon???))

We also loved the dining room set up, though again, it would be very strange to have people watch you eat every meal. I mean, with the amount of food I spill each day, it would be quite entertaining for strangers, but still.

When we tried to take a photo of ourselves on the stairs, this very adorable little lady offered to take our photo.

And then, we think she tried to make us pose. That, or we looked like total idiots. Either way.

After wandering through the house for a few hours, we enjoyed a stroll around the gardens. While they were beautiful, they were both freezing, and comparatively dead for winter. So, we said “adieu” to Versailles chateau, and started wandering around the town itself.

We stopped for a cup of tea and a vegetable soup for me at the most adorable little tea house. I really love tea on cold days, don’t you?

We wandered down this little street which had loads of adorable shops, antiquities, and markets.

Then, we enjoyed a stroll through our favorite tourist attraction – the markets! They had particularly lovely ones, filled with the freshest fish I’d ever seen. As in, I was scared it was about to jump out at me.

We were exhausted by the time we got back to Paris, but there is something we had been wanting to do since we started the trip. Something that was so decadent, so indulgent, so downright silly that I almost didn’t put it on the blog, for fear of mockery.

That’s right, we went to the movies. Specifically, to see the worst movie ever made. In 3D.

However, the movie theatre in Gay Paree is plush. Legit 3D glasses, red velvet couches, and a bookstore and bar downstairs made it for quite the date night.

Adieu et bon soir, my friends!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Europe, museums, Paris

Le Coupe Chou

24 Mar By Kat Reiner 2 Comments

Our first night in Paris was a truly delicious treat.

After arriving in our charming (and when I say charming, I mean Paris charming – which is to say, closet-sized) studio in the 13th arrondisement, we said hello to our hostess, quickly changed clothes, and hopped on the Metro to get to our restaurant of choice – Le Coupe Chou.

Le Coupe Chou (literally translated, the ”Cabbage Cutter”) has been alive and cooking in Paris since 1962. Three actors, Francis Lemonnier, Francis Nani and Christian Azzopardi, started the restaurant when they noticed the lack of wonderful eateries to go after the theatre.

My parents actually ate at Le Coupe Chou about thirty years ago, when they were in Paris themselves, so it felt like a real trip down memory lane to get to dine there. Stepping inside feels like walking into a special friend’s dining room, with old wooden tables and framed prints on the walls. To get in, you have to go down a little side-street, into a little door with the name of the restaurant printed on a simple bronze plaque.

The restaurant is warm, intimate, and upscale casual, with a huge fireplace, stone walls, and dim lighting.

To start, I had a glass of champagne, and Ant enjoyed a kir royal, made from champagne and cassis. ( I insist that I remember the Kir Royal was my dad’s drink of choice. My sister says it’s scotch. So, I now go with one or the other.) We then ordered their special, which was an appetizer and a main for around 30 euro. Not inexpensive, but still affordable considering how fancy restaurants get in Paris!

I started with the veloute of legumes, also known as a simple but decadently creamy vegetable soup. Ant ordered the terrine, which was basically a rough and meaty pate, served with a salad and gerkins. I ate the gerkins.

For our mains, I ordered the poppy seed crusted salmon with a side of ratatouille (which was delicious to the point of making me feel like the critic from the movie Ratatouille, reminscing about my imagined childhood in the south of France.

Anthony ordered the duck confit, with a side of roasted tomato and potato. It was incredible – the duck tasted like butter. Which, in thinking about French cooking, it probably was.

We had grand plans of ordering a cheese course for desert, but after our meal, we were far too full to eat another bite. The cheese had to wait for another day!

We had such a lovely time in Le Coupe Chou, and I highly recommend a visit to this charming and moderately priced restaurant whenever you’re in Paris.