Posts tagged #foodie

European Encounters | Cafe Strada

From Wandering to Lively Conversations 

Let me preface this with the fact that you cannot keep a European away from her gelato. So while wandering the streets of Downtown Dallas, my lack of self restraint led me to a lively coffee and gelato shop called Cafe Strada. In the heart of Downtown Dallas, it is conveniently situated right across the rather odd eyeball sculpture called the "Eye" by contemporary artist Tony Tasset (more on this in a later post!).

The best part of my visit to the coffee shop, however, was my fascinating chat with the owner of Cafe Strada, Gianpiero Lorenzo. When prompted to prepare his favorite drink on the menu, Gianpiero made me affogato. Have you ever had affogato? Oh, you should. Really. My affogato was made with a few scoops of Gianpiero's trademark frozen vanilla yogurt topped with a shot of hot espresso and whip cream. Yum! So worth going back for!

Posted on March 10, 2014 and filed under Travel Diaries.

An Apple a Day...

Well, Maybe Not These Apples...

And even though they are loaded with brown sugar and butter, the indulgence is oh-so-worth-it! They certainly made last night's Oscars a lot more tolerable for two of my closest friends. Over-the-top dresses, acceptance speeches and baked apples never tasted so good! Here is the recipe, if you would like to try them at home!

Ingredients

4 large gala apples

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup raisins

1.2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tbsp ground ginger

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375˚.  In small bowl, combine brown sugar, walnuts, raisins, butter, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

2. Slice ½ inch off top of each apple. With small end of melon baller or small spoon, scoop out inner core and seeds from inside of each apple up to bottom. Arrange apples, cavity side up, in 9 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Fill each cavity with 2 tablespoons brown sugar-walnut mixture. Sprinkle remaining brown sugar-walnut mixture on top of apples. Pour juice around apples.

3. Bake apples 30 to 40 minutes or until desired tenderness, rotating baking dish halfway through baking. Spoon juices remaining in dish over apples and serve warm.

Posted on March 3, 2014 and filed under Test Kitchen.