holybelly café

In times of hardship, it's important to remind ourselves that the pain and struggle is only temporary. Each coming day will not seem so dark nor so cold. The same is true of the sunnier periods, too, though. Saying so may seem pessimistic, but I think it's an important prerequisite to genuine gratitude. I've been concentrating on counting my present-day blessings now that I'm on the brink of another transition (internship --> thesis research). Let's begin with my first chocolat chaud of the season á la Holybelly, shall we?

To me, hot chocolate is cozy comfort materialized and sweetly made edible. I'm thankful, too, for evergreen-cool road trip stories, the daily possibility of stovetop apple-banana oatmeal, email reminders to download the latest New Girl or Grey's Anatomy episode, catch-up cocktails with girlfriends, falling asleep to really hard rain (an upside to Parisian autumns), unexpectedly good hair days, flirting while my heart flutters, clean clothes straight from the dryer, lazy Sunday mornings, countless inside jokes with coworkers, thoughtful packages from my parents, la chance to explore a new city for the first time (more details to come), and wine tasting, beer tasting, and chocolate tasting... all in the same week. I musn't forget to express my gratitude for Kinfolk gatherings either:

(Photo Credit: Hebe Wilson)

(Photo Credit: Hebe Wilson)

Photo Credit: Hebe Wilson

Photo Credit: Hebe Wilson

The Friday before last, I ventured to Holybelly for the first time. Lauren warmly welcomed me out of the humid-chill (a downside to Parisian autumns) with a cocktail of gin, cider, and, pear. I mingled with other friendly diners as I sipped. On the menu that evening: kale salad with hazelnut, fig, and fourme d'amberte, osso bucco served with wild rice aux trompettes de la mort, fruit pavlova, and apple tart. Multiple glasses of wine from Nico's family vineyard were enjoyed throughout. From these photos and description alone, you can probably sense how wonderful it was. What may not translate, however, is the very particular feeling borne from sharing a locally- and family-tradition-sourced meal with kind strangers just as passionate about these experiences as I am. The setting and atmosphere couldn't have been more perfect either. Lauren, Lise, Sarah, and Nico's talents converged beautifully at the latter two's café, now earnestly serving Melbournesque "delicious food & coffee" by the canal. After last Sunday's coffee date with Lorelei there, I'm looking forward to making even more convivial memories. So, so thankful. What's on your gratitude list?

at home in bogotá

¡Hola, hola hola! I have been practicing my Spanish for all of three days now... and I'm already feeling super confident ;). But, let's start at the beginning. Following a delicious, early-ish Mother's Day brunch (I'll share the meal itself soon!) my family dropped my grandmother and I at the airport.

I hardly ever fly mid-day, and was amazed at the beautiful views from the plane once we took off. Can you believe the photo above is of Queens? Yep, believe it. Then, fast-forward a 2-hour flight to Orlando, a quick layover (where we picked up salads for dinner), and a 3-hour flight to Bogotá, and we'd finally arrived. 

My grandmother's aunt (whom she considers her cousin because they grew up together) picked us up from the airport and took us back to her apartment. The drive was dark but the city already reminded me of San José and Quito.

I slept ridiculously well that night and woke up early to fresh-squeezed orange juice. (Imagine it, I drank it too fast to photograph). Soon after, we sat down for el desayuno. We began with a plate of sliced fruit.

Next, we each helped ourselves to a piece of bread that had been purchased that morning from the panaderia a few blocks away. I really love how this is the custom in so many foreign countries. And finally, chocolate and cheese.

Please bear with me as I explain :) This chocolate caliente, or hot chocolate drink, was prepared from the bars you see below and hot milk. When it was served to me, I was advised to tear up a slice of cheese into it and then enjoy it in between bites of bread. It was absolutely delicious. I'm not a big fan of sweet things in the morning, but I love chocolate at any time of day.

After breakfast, we showered and went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous day for it.

Along the way, we stopped into a mercado for an empanada. I've never had a Colombian one before.  The filling seemed to be made up of spiced beef and rice and the exterior was probably slightly fried; it was quite the tasty morning snack.

Following our stop, my grandmother, her aunt, and I went into la officina del turismo to plan more of our trip. Here's a peek: Armenia, Medellin, Cartagena, Latecia a.k.a. coffee plantation, colonial city, lively beach, and the Amazon.

An hour or so later, we came back to the apartment just in time for lunch. We had veal, white rice, potatoes, salad with avocado and fresh squeezed juice from tomates del arbol (a wonderful fruit we don't have in the United States). The meal reminded me of those we often ate in Cuenca in the best of ways.

Most of the remaining afternoon was spent relaxing. Bogotá has a very high altitude so our bodies needed time to adjust. As nice as walking had been earlier, I'd come back slight dizzy, somewhat out of breath, and with a headache. Woo! Reading the book I'd brought was a good antidote.

That evening, we went for a driving tour of another neighborhood. The photo you see above was of the forever long line for public transportation. Crazy, huh?

Eventually, we made our way to La Fabbrica. Upon seating, we decided to share a Malbec from Argentina the waiter recommended to us. Perfection.

As for dinner, I chose una sopa de lentejas to start and the Pescado Rugula to split with my grandma afterwards. I was very pleased with both. I must also note that the plates were presented beautifully, even though I failed to photograph them as such. It was late, I was hungry, I apologize :).

We wrapped up our meal with a lovely stroll around Parque 63. This square--surrounded by beautiful restaurants (save for McDonald's, obviously), bars, and shopping--is apparently "hopping" Thursday through Saturday. With that said, though bright, it was thoroughly mild and quiet on that Monday night.

And that brings us to this morning. Again, I had a plate of fruit, but in place of the bread, chocolate, and cheese, I had oatmeal with cinnamon and a camera-shy, soft-boiled egg. It was much more filling of a breakfast than yesterday's, and almost as delicious. I'd update you on the rest of the day, but I've run out of time. See you in Armenia!

warm wishes

'ello doves. I hope your weekend's been magical! My holiday was everything I'd hoped it be and more. 

Spending time with both sides of the family was a treat, the food was delicious in every way, and Santa was ridiculously good to me. Gotta love the Nice List.

Today, however, our focus has been on the trees (and the snow) outside. The entire northeast is in the midst of it's first real blizzard of the season. Above is the scene outside my bedroom window as of 3 p.m.; add about 8 more inches, wind, and some darkness, and you can imagine how it looks now. As a Syracuse grad I'm not at all phased by it, but the region as a whole is on high alert. To combat the cabin fever, my sister and I have been playing with our new toys: Just Dance 2 and Buzzword. To combat the chill, we've turned to our family friend's annual gift:

The best homemade hot cocoa mix on the face of the Earth. I can say that statement too, I've tried most others ;). I am enjoying it now as I do every year, each evening beginning on December 25th, and as follows...

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Wherever you may be, I hope you are cozy, safe, and within arm's reach of chocolate. Whether it's of the drinking or eating variety is up to you :).

vibrance returns

Hi there chickadees! I am now officially home for the holidays without anything to do! Except, of course, all of my responsibilities outside of school like: writing for GoBackpacking.com, interning at Fitness magazine, contributing to the Lost Girls, and blogging for you :). The wonderful thing about being busy? You never have to worry about being bored.

I'm going to pretend like this explanation isn't weeks late and just run with it... two Fridays ago I met Leslie for dinner at Bonobo's. If you're unfamiliar with this spectacular yet casual natural foodie haven, I'll provide an overview: Bonobo's is a raw, organic, and vegan restaurant in the Flatiron district. A sampling of their cult items include the: warm Coconut Chai, Spinach Avocado soup, Gorilla(-sized) salad, and Nori roll. As you can see, I ordered the latter with the their macademia nut paté.

From there, Leslie and I went a few blocks uptown to our inaugural Karaoke Travel Tweet-up. It was quite nerve-wrecking, I was officially the youngest one there, and yet all the while absolutely fantastic. I met so many fellow globetrotters who have had the most amazing of experiences and are still the lovely down-to-earth people that they must have always been. We even mustered up the courage to eventually sing "Don't Stop Believin'" to the talented crowd for which David voted us in Best Song Selection. Thank you to Alisha and Sosauce for all of the fun!

The next day I found myself in Manhattan again to lunch with another favorite friend of mine, my former roommate, C and her girlfriend. We dined at Le Pain Quotidien by Bryant Park,. 'Tis a lovely Belgian chain that I cannot seem to get enough of. Or perhaps my praise should be more directed at the company at my table, an ecclectic mix of New Yorkers and tourists that ducked out the rain for a fresh bite to eat or a warm drink to soothe, and then, of course, the two Queens residents that I'd missed so very much.

I had the Black Bean Hummus Tartine served with Avocado, their Spicy Tahini sauce, and greens. Not gonna lie, I loved it, and just about licked my plate clean. Now, back to the present, I've been thinking a lot about food lately (surprise, surprise) and I'm pretty sure that I have some adjustments to make since my colorful diet before finals. In the past 10 days I've gotten negligent with pilling on vegetables and have been reaching for the salty or sweet snack foods instead.

I will share their beautiful  plates as I explain further. I feel sluggish and bloated and overall gross because of it and so I'm openly admitting to the blogosphere that I am in dire need of a refreshment period. What to I mean by that? I am making a vow to eat more greens, drink more tea, yoga more often, walk more frequently, and primarily live a more raw and vegan lifestyle. My body and I have had enough of all these refined grains and sugars that fueled me through the stressful end of the semester and we are ready to start anew.

I know that I mentioned going completely vegan on my video but I'm not sure if that's actually possible right now. What I am looking forward to is small changes in that direction. Why am I doing this? Because I want 2010 to be the best "me" year it can be and I don't want to have to wait until January 1st for that transformation to begin. Okay, okay, maybe that makes me spoiled but what can I say, I want self-vibrance and I want it now.

At lunch C enjoyed an authentic bowl of hot chocolate. There's no doubt in my mind that I too would have enjoyed it immensely but I know that it wouldn't have made me feel as scrumptiously balanced and energized as my meal and a large glass of water. Not to say that I won't continue to enjoy my two vices of chocolate and alcohol but I am doing so with a clearer mind, one that is not clouded with guilt but with sound decisions, one that likes to have fun as much as it likes to be healthy. Namaste to that.

eating for pleasure

"French women don't get fat, but they do eat bread and pastry, drink wine, and regularly enjoy three-course meals." And so begins the synopsis for Mireille Guiliano's wonderful story and guide, French Women Don't Get Fat, of which I have read, loved, and practiced for quite some time now. The "French paradox," enjoying food and life while staying slim and healthy was enough to get me to the bookstore but it's the reasonable approach to non-dieting and appreciation of gastronomy and wine that kept me interested. Having visited my best friend in the whole-wide world, Marie-Gabrielle, twice before I knew how very true it was. 

On both my 3-week visit and 1-week visit I ate, I drank, I savored, and walked, and walked, and walked. During the longer visit I actually lost some weight because of it. The combination of small portions of satisfying foods, most of the time healthy (fresh seasonal produce) and sometimes not so much (la galette des rois, my favorite French dessert of all time) paired with practicing ancient methods of transportation (walking, biking, climbing stairs) and responsible glasses of heart-healthy wine directly results in a healthy weight and happy disposition. Who knew?!

I've found that the same lifestyle traditions are true in Alsace :). Two nights ago was just about the perfect example of French dietary and culinary traditions (simple ingredients and methods = fantastic dishes). My host-mom, -sister, and I began our meal with a carrot soup spiced with a pinch of s&p, coriander, cinnamon, and parsley. It was delicious and with the ever slight trace of cream in my small serving, I couldn't have enjoyed it more.

Next came a tomato half bursting with a cold couscous salad that had previously been tossed with olive oil, parsley, and bell peppers. Yes, the couscous was left-overs, but my gosh, if you've got to get rid of food somehow is not recreate it into another tasty dish to make the whole idea of it that less miserable? This had "yum" written all over it!

Following those two crowd-pleasers came the main dish of fish balls in a cream sauce with a side of garlic spinach. I've only had fish balls once before, at Marie's grandparents house, but I still wasn't sure of what they were. That night, I found out exactly what I was eating, basically so I could then come back and explain it to you :). Fish balls are made using the flesh of white fish, in this case haddock, added to a mixture of milk, flour and seasoning, made into balls, and cooked into a homemade (usually creamy) sauce. I loved this plate, if not for the fish balls, then just for the fact that there was spinach. I adore spinach.

I was nearing the end of my appetite but obviously could not stop there... next up was the cheese plate! Of the three I was all over the brie, (hehe, that rhymes,) and relished the delectable cheese with a small piece of the multigrain baguette that my sister had picked up on her way back from class that evening.

And last, but certainly not least, was dessert. I know I've claimed that the French really relish their decadent desserts, and trust me, they do, they also understand that special treats are exactly that, treats saved for special occasions, or to fulfill a random need for a surprise or satisfy a craving. Tuesday did not call for a treat and so we had fruit cups, a mashed mix of apples, mangos, and passion fruit. It satisfied our sweet tooths, ended the meal nicely, and was reasonably healthy. Beat that chocolate mousse ;).

So there you have it folks, the way the French eat. Customs that, in my opinion, make for so much of a better lifestyle. Furthermore, using multiple plates, cloth napkins, and sitting down to make meal a family event literally brings a lot more to the table. Eating becomes a pleasurable part of the day, for relaxing and catching up with loved ones. I found similar styles of eating in Chile as well... I suppose the beauty of it all is mostly just lost on America then, huh? How much does that suck? Be the change you wish to see in the world :) whatever that change may be.

By the way, that was Wednesday's breakfast, lol, I guess I got carried away with the narrative O:). Moving on, my hump day was especially fabulous this week! My International Communications class (including Ryan and David, above) was held at the Council of Europe. Our professor is fabulous and fabulously connected so we were able to sit in on a Parliamentary Assembly featuring, as a guest, the Foreign Minister of Spain.

It was a magnificent experience, I felt so lucky to have even been there... and I promise there were more people sitting below it's just that by the time I realized that I should take a picture, most had left to eat lunch. I was on cloud 9. We were able to sit in the press box, then see the press room, get a tour of the TV and radio studios and meet a few important people. Speaking of, I was starving the entire time, but I suppose that's a lesson in planning.

Following our class trip, my friends and I walked briskly to a local favorite for a lunchtime sammy. I had smoked salmon on a baguette with olive oil, lettuce, and tomato. I basically devoured it... aside from the top piece of bread. I suppose it is possible to have too much bread sometimes, and when I have it available to me at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I usually like to keep it to a reasonable amount :).

I was looking forward to my café au lait anyway. Can I just say that this was some stupendous cup of coffee? Splurging on coffee every now and again is such a nice treat for me. You should see how excited I get :). I like having my caffeine fix, especially when it's not habitual, and therefore extra creamilicios and delicious when I do!

Last night, our table salad brought me back to my days in Santiago, Chile. I really did love it there and had such a wonderful time... I can definitely see myself having the worst case of nostalgia for the entire span of my senior year back at my home university! In the mean time I guess I'll just continue to be abroad :). This lightly steamed zucchini with dried onions and sesame seeds was an exquisite dish and I piled my plate high, next to the homemade pizza that my host-sister had requested and apparently, I took and deleted the picture of (oops!).

Afterwards I had my first taste of authentic Munster cheese! I was thrilled, I don't even think I've ever even tried an imitation one before. And I think I may have found my third favorite cheese (following Brie and Camembert). The smooth and creamy cheese is surprisingly pretty tame in comparison to it's strong aroma. It was glorious, if possible I'm considering day trip to nearby Ville de Munster, where it originated.

Dessert was honeydew melon, probably the one fruit that I dislike, so I opted out. A little while later though, as I was working through my academic read, Knock, a French drama, so that I could make it to my reading for pleasure book, The Other Boleyn Girl, I needed some chocolate. Yes, needed chocolate ;) do you ever get that? So I took some French cocoa powder, hot water, and milk and made myself some homemade hot cocoa.

Gotta run! I'm off to Barcelona. Hope you have a glorious weekend, my friends!