breakfast

Palm Springs: the World’s Best Jetlag Cure

February 11, 2015 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

Those lemons…

The Jet Lag Cure: soft scrambled eggs with cilantro, avocado and radish salad with the sweetest grapefruit/pomelo…at 4am.

It’s so icy, cold and miserable here in New York. I’m doing anything to distract myself from my frostbitten misery so to help ease the pain of this arctic tundra, I’d like to ~~drink heavily~~ go back to two weeks ago when I was in the desert. After a long business trip to Europe, I met the family in Palm Springs for Sissy’s 30th birthday. Mom and Dad rented a big, beautiful house with a totally tricked out kitchen and BBQ. Keep in mind, the only thing I care about after these long, cooking-less business trips is making the most luscious, proper breakfast (because I wake up at 3am and have nothing to do. Thank you 9-hour jet lag!) and being in the kitchen as much as possible, so this was heaven.

The homeowners had a lemon and grapefruit (maybe a pomelo?) tree in the backyard that I was completely obsessed with…that’s basically the punch line of this whole story. Nothing else mattered really. Oh, except Sissy turning 30, our amazing adventure to Joshua Tree National Park, and Palm Canyon, and the fact that it rained in the desert. Those were pretty amazing too. But the real highlight for me was putting all that citrus to use, serving up seriously decadent and zesty meals like an al fresco lunch of grilled leg of lamb and a lemony red bulgar salad, and for dinner, herb and lemon marinated Mahi Mahi with a simple salad drizzled with lemon vinaigrette and cocktails made with vodka and fresh squeezed lemonade. Let’s just say, my family does not have scurvy.

Thank you, Palm Springs and your bountiful citrus trees! You definitely proved to be the world’s best jet lag cure! Can we go back now?!

Check out some pics from the trip, but first, the cutest pic of Sissy and me! Can’t believe she’s so…OLD! Jk…love you Kippy.

Can you even process the cuteness?

Together again after both being on business trips for most of January!

The view from Joshua Tree National Park

The great furry palms of Palm Canyon

Easy, Healthy Homemade Granola

June 5, 2014 by Eva Louise 2 Comments

Bathing suit season is now upon us and since most of my mental energy is spent lusting over Shake Shack Burgers, lobster rolls (Red Hook or Luke’s) and truffle pizzas I need to get really creative in veering my taste buds towards more healthful options this summer. Luckily, I love salads and vegetables (almost) as much, so finding bikini-friendly lunch and dinner options is mostly manageable. However, it’s the healthy breakfast replacements that really trip me up. No joke, I could be a professional breakfast burrito or bacon-egg-and-cheese-on-a-croissant eater. This means things like yogurt parfaits, fresh fruits or granola don’t have a chance with me. But alas, I discovered a loophole in my brilliant~~ly flawed~~ food logic. It turns out I love granola if I make it myself! So here’s my recipe for a super easy, healthy homemade granola. Not too sweet with plenty of nutty goodness, it (kind of) keeps me away from the good ol’ American breakfast.

Luscious granola collage

Homemade Granola

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup walnuts/pecans
1 cup sliced almonds
1.5 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup salted pepitas
short dry 1/2 cup of maple syrup (as in, don’t fill it all the way to the top)
1.5 T apple pie spice (or some combination of cinnamon, ginger, clove and/or allspice)

Directions:

Bake at 375 for 20 -25 mins. Stir after first 10 mins, then 10 mins after so it doesn’t burn. Let it cool then toss in dried cherries, ginger, apricots, cranberries or any type of your favorite dried fruit. Serve over low-fat yogurt or almond milk and you’ll be on your way to the best morning ever!

Israel Homecoming

August 12, 2013 by Eva Louise 1 Comment

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I’m back from the motherland – the beautiful, complex country of Israel! I was there this past week for 10 days on a Taglit Birthright Trip getting my Jew on. I was carted around the Jersey-sized country, to Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem, to the Golan Heights and to the Negev Desert in a big ol’ tour bus with 39 other Jews. I don’t doubt we barely scratched the surface of Israeli exploration, but I really felt like I experienced a lot of the country…And most importantly, I can say I ate my weight in hummus and shwarma on this trip.

I had high expectations for the food there, and save for a few janky Kibbutz meals, I was seriously impressed. My three highlights were Shakshuka, Ahi Tuna Fish ‘n’ Chips, and of course, ze Shwarma. Seriously, I freaking love shwarma. While there is no way I’d ever attempt making it, I can’t wait to attempt the Shakshuka and Tuna Fish ‘n’ Chips!

Photo credit shout out to my amazing new friend Justin Drazin, author of the Pillow Monster Series. (He took the pretty pictures, I took the food pictures.)

Shakshuska

Eggs baked in a scrumptious tomato, onion, pepper, herb mixture served with side salads and crusty bread.