Best of 2010: Travel Edition...

OK, so ya know how I said New Years Eve makes me a little sad??  Well, the one thing that cheers me up about New Years is LISTS!  There are top 10-20-50 countdowns everywhere you look:)  And since I am a LOVER of LISTS, I thought I'd compile a few of my own:)  First was my Top 10's: Traveling/Eating Out Edition:)

Top 10 Dishes of 2010:

#10- Pastrami Sandwich:  Schwartz Deli, Montreal

#9- Sourdough Pancakes: Saranac Sourdough, Lake Placid, NY

 #8- Wisconsin Buttery Burger (says it all, doesn't it? :) : Steak 'n Shake, Various Locations

#7- Pork & Figs in a Brown Sugar Glaze:  Coltello's, Crosswicks, NJ 

 #6-Roast Pork with Broccoli Rabe & Provolone: DiNic's, Philadelphia

#5- Pulled Pork:  Arthur Bryant's BBQ, Kansas City, Missouri 

#4- Sliders:  White Manna, Hackensack, NJ 

 #3- "The Volcano": Ninja, NYC

#2- Scibeck Sizzler: The Shopping Bag, Burlington, Vermont

 #1 Dish of 2010:  Steak Mofongo:  Raices, San Juan, Puerto Rico!

And you know we take our desserts very seriously...so it's only appropriate we have:

Top 10 Desserts:)

#10- Stuffed Cupcakes:  The Petite Cafe, Nutley, NJ 

#9- Sticky Toffee Pudding:  Capt's Grill, Salem, Massachusetts 

#8- "Concrete" Custard:  Ted Drewes, St. Louis, Missouri 

#7- Maple Peanut Butter Cupcake:  The Sugar Shack, Lake Placid, NY 

#6- "The Great Pumpkin":  Franklin Fountain, Philadelphia 

#5- Chocolate Chip Ice Cream:  Hoffman's Ice Cream, Point Pleasant, NJ 

#4- Crumbs Cupcakes:  Crumbs, New York 

#3- Franklin Fountain Hot Fudge (on ANYTHING:) : Franklin Fountain, Philadelphia 

#2- Pina Coladas:  Raices, San Juan, Puerto Rico

(might as well be a dessert:)

#1- Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake:  The Stand, New York City 

And since we like to find fun & unique places as we go, I thought one more list was necessary:

"Top 10 Best Atmosphere"  

#10- White Manna:  Hackensack, NJ

#9- Saranac Sourdough:  Lake Placid, NY

#8- Cafeteria Mollorca:  Old San Juan, Puerto Rico 

#7- Kitchen Little:  Mystic, Connecticut

#6- Fireside Steak House:  Lake Placid, NY

#5- Ninja:  New York City

 #4- Pappy's Smokehouse:  St. Louis, Missouri

#3-Sunset Bar & Grill:  Maho Beach, St. Maarten

(Don't know if the food was good, but the "entertainment" is top notch!:)

#2- Franklin Fountain: Philadelphia, PA 

#1- Don Jose Hacienda:  San Juan, Puerto Rico 

Hope you liked the list as much as I had composing it:)  Lots of good memories:)  I'm planning on making a Top 10 Dinner/Dessert list...so stay tuned if you like lists as much as me! :)  hahhahhahahahaha....

Hope you guys have fun plans for tonight!  We're just staying in with friends...and some champagne risotto & rum cake;) hhahahahahhaa...and I'm very proud to say I ACTUALLY tackled my New Years Resolutions for this year:

1. Start a blog  (hahahhahahaa-check:)
2. Balance a yoga pose on my hands

...and in class on Christmas Eve, I suddenly realized I was OFFICIALLY able to hold Crow! Better late than never, right???;) hahahahahhaha...I was sooooo excited:)  What's your resolutions for 2011???  I'm still thinking of a few, but I know #1 is to work towards being even MORE healthy next year! :)

Hope you guys have a VERY Happy & Safe New Years!!!  Have a wonderful time counting down to 2011!! 

Coltello's = Awesome:)

So I just came home from one amazing dinner.  How amazing?  Try 2 1/2 hours worth of amazing;) hahahhahahaa...I LOVEEE a relaxed dinner with NO RUSH, it's just the best:)  And we had this lovely dinner at Coltello's in Crosswicks, NJ....

OK, OK...so I might be a little biased since this is my cousin's restaurant...BUT that doesn't change the fact that this is one CLASS A dining experience.  Dominic, the executive chef, is outstanding! :)

How beautiful is the dining room alone?? 

My best friend & I were there for our annual "Christmas date" with our Mom's, which meant: more people = more food to try:) hahahhahahahaha....

After we placed our order, the bread showed up at the table.  And was this traditional bread?  Nope.... 

Try grilled bread with red pepper, olives, artichokes & grated cheese.  Is this a way to start a meal or what???

For our appetizers, we decided to split 2 for the table.  First was one of the night's specials:  A heirloom tomato, basil and manchego cheese flatbread.   Fantastic....

However, the gold star appetizer of the night was the pork medallions & figs in a hazelnut brown sugar glaze...

Can you say insane????  These things were just TO. DIE. FOR!  The pork was fork tender, mixed with the chewy figs all coated in the sweet & slightly salty glaze.  A-MA-ZING! :)

Next up was one of my favorites:  The Beet Salad!  Tender lettuce, salty & creamy Gorgonzola, crunchy pistachios & sweet apples and of course, beets:)  This salad hits ALL the right flavor notes! :) 

And for my main course (I know, we already were a little stuffed:), I had the pork chop with Rosemary Aujus with zucchini & roasted potatoes.... 

This thing was MASSIVE, yet still cooked to perfection.  Super moist, surrounded by the amazing rosemary aujus.  It just melted in your mouth.  Delicious:)

And yes...we were STUFFED to the gills...but there was no way we were passing up dessert:)  My friend & her Mom decided to try the tiramisu, while my Mom & I chose the Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake.... 

OK, OK....everyone sampled a little bite of everything:)  Because everything was just SOOO GOOD!  No one could get over how LIGHT both of these NORMALLY heavy desserts tasted.  The tiramisu was like a cloud and the supremely pumpkin cheesecake was just like air.  Needless to say, there wasn't much left of either of these guys! :)  hahahhahahahaha....

If you want a great meal, Coltello's is the way to go!  Great food, great service and 3 handsome fellows runnin the show:)  Love those guys and love this restaurant.  RUN there for your next special night out.  You will not regret it!

PS-And in other blog news, I've now added links to Twitter & Facebook for my page!  Please follow me, if you use either of those social networks:)

Wintery NYC..

What a difference a few months can make!!  I feel like it was YESTERDAY that we were overcome by the sun walking through the Green Market  (or even DYING of heat in June!).  Fast forward 10 seconds and now we're knee deep in snow for our trip to NYC today....

OK...I lied.  It wasn't knee deep....it was more like WAIST DEEP!!!!! 

hahhahahahaha...a good portion of today was spent leaping puddles and trudging up mini snow mountains when the snow puddles were just a little too large for leaping:) hahahahhahaha....



Thankfully it didn't take us too long to get to the Flatiron district and we headed straight into: 

We've been wanting to try Mesa Grill for sooo long!   (Bobby Flay's other restaurant;)

Thankfully, there were NO SNOW PUDDLES to be found inside:)  hahahahhahaaha....

Just a colorful decor... 

...and kitschy cowgirl lounge chair covers:)   

And after spending a few minutes drooling over the menu, we finally placed our order and shortly after arrived the bread.  But not just any bread:  Blue Corn Jalapeno corn muffins....ummmmmmm, ok?? 

I loved that these were SPICED, without being Spic-Y! :)  Sooooo good:) 

And thennnnn we proceeded to the 'house appetizer':  The Shrimp & Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale with fresh corn and cilantro sauce....

"Great" does not do this justice!  The shrimp ACTUALLY were flavored of the roasted garlic (I could smell this before it got to our table:), and the cilantro sauce was a perfect compliment to the sweet corn tamale.  We could have let happy just after this alone.  Soooo good!!! 

And it just got better from there:)  For my lunch, I had the Swordfish Club...topped with bacon, avocado, tomato & arugula.  To die for! 

And served with THE CRISPIEST FRENCH FRIES I'VE EVER HAD. Not one wimpy one in the bunch...they just put lunch over the top:)

Scott ordered the pressed roast pork sandwich with grilled red onion, ancho mayo & arugula...along with those crispy, crispy fries:) 

He said he really liked it, but I can't judge...I barely looked up from my swordfish:) hahahahhahaa....

And do you think it's impossible when I say it gets even BETTER?????  Well...it did:)

We'll start with Scott's dessert:  The Pear Buttermilk upside down cake with butterscotch sauce & Winter spiced ice cream...

I got exactly ONE bite of this dessert and it was HEAVENLY!  The top of the cake had a crunchy, almost brulee-like, top and smothered in the house-made butterscotch sauce, which formed a gooey SHELL over the spiced ice cream.  Heaven, right????

But alas, it was no match for my dessert:) 

As there was NO WAY I was leaving without a slice of the Triple layered Toasted Coconut cake TOPPED with COCONUT CREAM!!!!!

Now, slight confession:  Scott actually made me this EXACT recipe for my birthday 2 years ago and while the cream on this cake just MELTED in your mouth...I must say:  Scott's actual CAKE layers were just a littttle better:)  They were like air:) hahahahhahahaa....but I'm sure he was MUCH happier for a slice of this cake to just arrive in front of me then to tackle that recipe again:) hahahahahahhahahaha ....

And after THAT...we were STUFFED!!!!!  We were pretty happy to have to puddle jump our way back to Madison Square Garden for Wintuk!!

Really cute show and some amazing acts!!!  The highlight was the flurry of "snow" they tossed on the ENTIRE audience at the end:)  It was so cute:)

And after the show, we had had our fill with dodging snow and decided to head home.

Since I didn't get as much walking in as I had hoped (and since I was STILL FULL when we got home), I decided to break out my "Body By Bethenny" DVD for the 40 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes of weights & 5 minutes of "booty blast"....

And now I'm beat:) hahahahhahahaha.....

Are you guys enjoying your week??  I'm trying to savor EVERY. SINGLE. SECOND of our break:)  New Years is coming too quick for my liking...but maybe that's because I always think NY's Eve is a little sad mixed in with all that "fresh start" business:)  hahahahhahahahaa....

Oh well, hope you liked our NY recap and are having a great night!