delicious | Pomelo girl thoughts

Iceland Day 4

Posted on August 14, 2015 by elemonated

This was both the best and worst day of the trip. We started out wonderfully with a lot of time in my new favorite town, Seyðisfjörður, where I finished the Iceland Day 2.2 post in the Hotel Aldan restaurant and had my first taste of reindeer, which was delicious. We kayaked for a couple of hours and met Mr. Hlynur Oddsson, our guide (the kayak guy, as informed by a waitress at Hotel Aldan) who was as kind and as funny as he was educational. Mr. Chokkattu was also able to wash our car for free, which is good because our little 2×4 was definitely begging to get clean after being covered in mud and dust from our drive. We also got to sing in Tvisongur, which we were told means “Double song/singing” and Mr. Chokkattu lent his lovely bass to the environment and I pittered out my minimally trained alto as accompaniment.

Later on, we had a delicious dinner at the Skaftfell visitor’s center, which also housed some interesting local art I recommend checking out if you go. Read More

Iceland Day 3

Posted on August 13, 2015 by elemonated

Obviously, I didn’t really go through with the updating every day thing because of the lack of strong WiFi and time, but I have finally finished editing day 3 pictures, so here you go! It was a little chillier on day 3 than the previous two days, and we saw a little less civilization and a few more sheep, which Mr. Chokkattu and I enjoyed. Day 3 consisted mostly of water and ice, but there were lots of rocks and mountains as well, and I’ll include a bonus gallery about mountain flowers too!

Iceland Day 1: Reykjavik

Posted on August 5, 2015 by elemonated

Iceland is so far beautiful, and glorious, and confusing at times. Reykjavik is lovely and eccentric and proud of its uniqueness, as it should be. Perhaps the business transactions we made today didn’t go down quite smooth (why exactly do we have to retrieve our wireless hotspot from above a post box underneath some stairs near a furniture store, and why do people think this is totally normal?!) but the people were welcoming, kind, and generous, and that’s all Mr. Chokkattu and I could ask.

Today, I saw all of these things!

Coldbrew’s on its way out

Posted on June 17, 2015 by elemonated

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/whats-the-best-way-to-brew-iced-coffee.html

Last summer’s ice coffee method sweetheart is slowly becoming both mainstream (since Starbucks has picked it up) and losing the favor of hipsters all across the country in favor of a method that’s a lot faster and requires way less planning: the pour-ov– I mean, the Japanese method.

Tom Ford Plum Japonais & Byrdeo Pulp

Posted on May 15, 2015 by elemonated

Review comeback: the fruit edition!

Atelier d’Orient Plum Japonais Tom Ford for women

Honeycomb Candy with dark chocolate and other nonsense

Posted on May 14, 2015 by elemonated

That’s what I did today with Mr. Chokkattu.

Recipe from the SORTED boys, whom I met the other week when they visited NYC for the Today Show, cheerily enough. I think I love them more now that I’ve met them. They’re a little shorter than I thought they would be, but at 5’1″ that’s not really a thing I can get hung up on, haha. This one’s my favorite picture. Credits to Mr. Chokkattu, linked above.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted on May 10, 2015 by elemonated

For the mother who puts up with all of my bullshit:

Happy Mother’s Day! ❤

Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce

Posted on April 19, 2015 by elemonated

I’m making Julian try this. His family can thank me later.

rachel eats

Even with the inevitable post holiday – back to school feelings it is nice to be easing back into the ebb and flow of our daily life, especially where food is concerned. This is one of our favouries, simple, judicious and delicious.

Marcella Hazan’s Tomato sauce with butter and onion

This sauce never ceases to surprise and delight me, a bit of soft red alchemy. Just three ingredients, a large tin of plum tomatoes – San Marzano if you can find them – a thick slice of butter and a yellow onion, peeled and cut into two. You simmer this trio together – slowly and steadily for about 45 minutes, a stir here, blip blip, a squash there – and something almost magical happens, the three ingredients come together into thick, soft red, full flavoured, velvety sauce, luxurious and simple at the same time.

The flavour is rather surprising…

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Miami, Florida: Day 3

Posted on March 16, 2015 by elemonated

I guess it’s really fitting that recovery comes with the smiles and the kindness of family. I have the smallest family out of the group I’m with, but I still feel that caring big family vibe when I decide to count my extended family and my friends, and their families, and I think this sort of inclusion, if sometimes grating and bothersome as families can be, was wholly invaluable to our activities yesterday. I mean, the first thing we did was go to the mall on a Sunday.

Dolphin Mall is gigantic and gorgeous and sure, it’s ultimately a shopping mall, but it also has a Dave & Buster’s, a bowling alley, a mini-golf course, and a movie theater alongside its dozens of sit-down restaurants and food court. It is the largest value retail shopping center in the Miami-Dade County. Plus, I needed a swimsuit that wasn’t from Goodwill. (And a top and two skirts from Garage, which basically doesn’t exist where I live.) Which reminds me, I still don’t have clothes for St. Patrick’s day. I need to fit that in somewhere.

Breyers Announces Switch to Hormone-Free Milk and Cream

Posted on February 9, 2015 by elemonated

http://www.thedailymeal.com/news/eat/breyers-announces-switch-hormone-free-milk-and-cream-other-unilever-ice-cream-brands-follow/20415

I’m feeling pretty good about this change. Breyers was my number one back when I was younger, and I was so disappointed when a lot of their ice cream became “frozen dairy dessert” after Unilever changed the recipes in 2006. The news doesn’t say anything about changing some of the frozen dairy dessert back to ice cream, but it’s good that the company is paying attention to consumers and aiding them on the quest to a less problematic diet, I guess. And who knows? Maybe one day Breyers will change everything back and my inner fat kid will rejoice in the nostalgia of it all. I still eat that natural vanilla when my throat is sore though (before you think this is odd, I know it’s counter-intuitive and likely completely counterproductive, but the main character in The Dark Side of Nowhere by Neal Shusterman does it and I’ve always been heavily affected by books.)

Until then though, I think I’ll stick with some local product, like ice cream from the Denville Dairy and Milk Sugar Love. And if I need a quick pint, there’s always the ever faithful Haagen Dazs, which has a more complicated ownership: while the brand is owned by General Mills, they acquired it when they acquired Pillsbury who bought Haagen Dazs in 1983, and it’s licensed to Dreyer’s/Nestle, so technically they make the product. Crazy corporate stuff!