Food Matters

Roughly three years ago, I started to follow Mark Bittman's "The Minimalist" column in the New York Times. It was my senior year of college and I had to learn how to cook for myself. I wanted it to be simple, nutritious, and cheap. I was introduced to flavor combinations very different to what I was accustomed to: greasy dining hall food or my dad's chinese comfort food. It was truly a milestone in my life and to this day, I still have my laptop in my kitchen and I follow his videos step by step while cooking up a storm. It helped me to cook nutritious, clean, and savory food. Only now I cook much more infrequently and snack on processed god-know-what junk wrapped in colorful plastic.

This brings me to my next point - I am ready to eat better. For as long as I could remember, my new year's resolution is to lose weight, lose the flab, and have that bikini body come summertime. The last time I was able to achieve this goal was in 2008 and that was because I realized that food matters. For two years, I ate unprocessed, whole, and nutritious foods and I was very much in-tune with what my body needed. Sadly, I've jumped off the health nut bandwagon for a multitude of reasons (change in social norms, grad school, new jobs, new city, relationship woes, you know - the usual) and I haven't been able to get back in the zone since.

I am ready to be inspired again, Mark, and it looks like my first step is to eat more veggies. To be honest, I don't have the time/money to cook as much as I did before, but I'll give it my best shot. Here is a toast to my new motto "no meat, no dairy, no problem".

Holiday Treats

It's that time of a year when my craving for sweets is beyond satiated! Here is a taste (pun intended) of some decadent desserts I've enjoyed the past couple of days.

Top to bottom:
Chocolate mousse cake from Martha's Bakery, my take on chocolate oatmeal cookies with a chocolate ganache, and churros with chocolate sauce from Havana Alma de Cuba

Montego Bay, Jamaica

The northeast wintry cold is making me wish that I was back in Jamaica!

Top to bottom:
zip-lining, lounging by the beach, and (most importantly) enjoying a rum punch by the swim up bar


We stayed at the Holiday Inn all-inclusive resort and it had all the amenities for a relaxing week-long spring break. Our itinerary was simple: enjoy local delicacies, tan by the beach, and take advantage of the open bar. The resort attracted people of all ages and for all occasions. I vividly remember crashing a bachelor party one night and then doing water aerobics with some older adults the next morning.

In terms of activities, we decided to go zip-lining, which was more of an adventure than expected. 10 of us were sitting in the back of a jeep, our tour guides were hanging on to the back of the jeep and we were positive that we were going to crash and burn. Seriously - we kept shouting that "this is armageddon!!" Luckily, we made it to the top of the mountains and I saw some breathtaking views of Montego Bay.

I am definitely ready to back to Jamaica. Only this time, I would love to explore Dunn's River Falls!