my masterpiece

Have you noticed that I've been pretty crazy posting the cake I did for my baby's first birthday!!

Vera's first birthday theme was Flamingo!! we had awesome pool floats, and tropical inspired decorations. 

my mom made this amazing pinata!!

I worked Really hard on this cake, honestly I was really impressed with the results! I'm proud of how it turned out!

During the months leading up to the big day I practiced the technique I wanted to use for the cake, which was the chocolate drip! I had never tried it before so I read about it and watched tutorials on youtube and instragram... these were my prototypes...

made for my mom's bday

chocolate blueberry

Then for the decorations of the flamingo cake I used meringues and macarons that I also made myself! the meringues were lemon flavored and the macarons had mango cream cheese filling...

I think I did a pretty good job! and took lots of pictures to show Vera when she is older!

xo

neighborhood breweries

It is so comforting ... at least for me... to know that I don't have to travel very far to find amazing beer. Seriously! just a few years ago my closest brewery was Funky Buddha in Ft. Lauderdale! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Funky Buddha but driving an hour to get there...not so much! Then came Wynwood, and all the amazing breweries in Wynwood, which is way, way closer but still not in my vicinity. And then came M.I.A Beer Company to my rescue and I felt golden!! Love, love M.I.A. it is definitely our go to!
But now I am super excited to say that I have more "neighborhood breweries" , like right there!!! neighborhood breweries....Yay!! and they are awesome!!
Ok, ok control excitement, lol! options! options!

So, there is Lincolns Beard Brewing right off Bird Road, tucked away in the arts district, which is a really cool area to check out. I love this place! Its very spacious, inviting and they have such great beers!

The location works out perfectly for us since we take Vera to swimming classes to a place right around the corner. Guess what we do after swimming on Saturdays? 

The space is large with a second floor and also an outdoor area which will probably be my spot come "cooler" months. 

The other super cool brewery is Biscayne Bay, this one is even closer to me, closer than my beloved M.I.A!! ....decisions, decisions..

Such a beautiful space...truly one of the nicest ones I have seen. They put a lot of thought and attention to every detail, seriously... like..the taps in the bathroom!!

What?

We had such a great time here, amazing beer, good food, super nice beertenders (shout out to @brew.babe) such a super cool gal...i think we have a lot in common ;)
And most importantly, Vera really did have fun!

Now the hardest part is deciding which of these places to go to...hmmm

xo

when you make your favorite

I've been obsessing over French Macarons, they are by far my favorite cookie! and yes, that is exactly what they are... a fancy cookie.
I really don't know many people who would be intimidated to bake cookies, but I Was, about this particular special cookie. If you look up a recipe online you will find hundreds of variations, complexities, and crazy techniques. Why? from weighing ingredients for precision to fluctuating oven temperatures to achieve the right texture; I was just scared to mess up the one thing I really wanted to make.
But I just went for it and I did it....and the results....awesomeness!!

I am super proud of myself, it may seem like not very much but this is huge for me...they came out fantastic and on my first try!!
I have been following nutmegandhoneybee on instagram for a while and was so in awe with all of her work. She makes the pretties macarons that I've seen. I decided to watch her macaron tutorial on her youtube channel and found that it look easy enough for me to finally try it.

She is such a cute girl with lots of personality, and her casual, no-fuss way of making macarons convinced me that I should give it a try.
The instructions are super easy, no crazy measurements or anything like that, really just straightforward.

  I used lemon extract to flavor the cookies and used different fillings...strawberry marmalade, orange marmalade, and dark chocolate ganache. They were delicious!! I seriously can't wait to try other flavor combinations...nothing stops me now! Yay!!

xo

saturday in Wynwood

Just sharing a lovely Saturday we had in Wynwood. As new parents we are still adapting to our life with a baby. Trying to still enjoy some of the things we used to do more often before and also bringing the baby along with us.

We decided to go to the art walk, something we had not attempted yet after the baby. In the past this used to consist of bar hopping and standing in line to get food from food trucks, and of course checking out some art.
This time we went really early, before the crowds and to ensure parking! We went to only two places for drinks, visited my friends' gallery; then went home early before the rain and the chaos.

First of, so happy to finally visit J Wakefield. Ever since they opened I have been wanting to go. So, I loved it! I am super obsessed with the place. I totally geeked out  as soon as we walked in . I mean awesome beer and Star Wars art? who wouldn't? 

We had some really amazing beer, I'm super in love with the Peaches and Cream Ale, you can really taste the peaches in this one. Vera also seemed to have a good time, she enjoys people watching and as long as she is fed she is content!

happy baby, happy daddy!

we drink, she drinks

We also stopped at Box Elder, such an awesome place. It is a craft beer market with beers on tap!

Sierra Nevada Stout of the Union

Also new for me this weekend....I got UNTAPPD.. finally after all these years I decided it would be a good idea to document all the beer I'm tasting. That way I can add my notes, and just generally keep track. So since I have obviously tried a ton of beer before I got the app should I enter beer retrospectively or just moving on forward? Really not sure what to do about this.

xo

mother's day cooking day

This past mother's day my mom and I took a cooking class! It is hard to figure out what to give a person that has everything and I also feel that sometimes you just don't need more stuff. I have really been giving a lot of though on experience gifts. A gift that you will enjoy because it involves relaxation, self appreciation or insight.
While searching the internet trying to find the perfect "experience" I came across Ayesha's Kitchen. I thought it would be perfect! We both love cooking and we love eating even more!

Ayesha is amazing! Not only do you learn to cook the meals but you also fall in love with Indian cuisine! She is very passionate about cooking and teaching, one of the most enthusiastic teachers I have ever met.

She uses all natural ingredients and explains everything thoroughly. You also learn about spices and their health benefits, as well as how you can incorporate them in everyday cooking, not just for Indian recipes. The best part is that you can also purchase your introductory spice kit after class!

She has a variety of menus for each class that you can choose from. For this day our menu included Chicken Tikka, Chicken Biriyani, a yougurt and cucumber salad, a yogurt drink, and a dessert made from Paneer (cheese) and cardamom (which I am now obsessed with!).

 After she demonstrates how to prepare every dish in detail, we all go outdoors to enjoy the food! This is also a great way to meet interesting people, every person we met in class was friendly and interesting.
This would also be a perfect gathering for a party, we could reserve for a group of friends to celebrate a birthday! and maybe include some beer parings with the food!? Ok, ok, now I'm contemplating all the possibilities of the flavors and spicy notes of the food pared with some amazing IPA's !!

This was definitely a memorable experience, and with so many different menu's to try I just can't help thinking about booking another class with Ayesha.


P.S. check out her website http://www.ayeshaskitchen.com/home


xo

while in Panama

Our little family took a trip to Panama last week. We went to visit family and to celebrate Vera's baptism. We had such an amazing time, as always, and of course I got that feeling of staying there and not returning to reality.
Pretty cool things are happening in my home town lately....there is a ridiculously amazing boom in "craft" everything (beer, food, cocktails) and people are moving towards a more sustainable lifestyle.

We went to a market on Sunday and I was really impressed by the variety of artisan items for sale and the amazing food and beer. The idea is a "flea" market that rotates locations, usually unusual spots, and features unique vendors; it is called el mercado pop up. It reminds me of the Brooklyn flea, which I try to go every time I'm in NY.

Here are some pics so you have and idea...

Jerky!!

A lot of interesting things to see and eat! And there were also some local breweries ....

tres gatos cerveceria

central cerveceria

I'm really happy these things are happening in PTY, it is such a great, young city with so much to do.

We also visited Casa Bruja brewing which is one of our usual stops every time we visit. It's such a nice brewery and the beers are soooo amazing! They are also known for their collaborations with Stone Brewing and Cerveceria Insurgente from Mexico (Bruja Insurgente is my favorite!!)

Such fun was had by all !!

xo

wake and bake!

Many days I just wake up with the desire to bake something delicious...Usually the night before I go through the recipe in my head multiple times and I daydream about the satisfaction I will feel with the end result. It just makes me so happy to see people enjoy what I make. I think this is the main reason why I do it (apart from being relaxing) it is the look on people's faces when they take the first bite, the way they pause for a moment to savor and experience the sensations.

Lately I've been reading books about chefs and cooking, I'm not sure why but I tend to get into phases when it comes to literature genres. So now I'm stuck in a culinary phase. One of the latest I read  was The Coincidence of Coconut Cake. It was fun and witty and with a nice surprise at the end!.....the recipe for the Coconut Cake! I was super excited about this and of course had to make it.

The recipe is very easy and a lot of fun to prepare. I must say, I don't think I ever attempted to make coconut cake before and this really got me hooked! This cake turns out lovely! It is super moist but not heavy, it is also not overly sweet. The coconut flavor is definitely there but it is not intense, I must say that I did not use coconut extract as the recipe required, I only used vanilla. I think the coconut extract would have made a big difference! I will be using it next time for sure.
Another thing I really enjoyed about this cake was the toasted coconut, it adds so much dimension and texture. When you eat the cake the same day it is made, the coconut is still super crunchy and that just makes it so much more delicious! but eventually the coconut looses a bit of bite but it is still a really nice element.

 
 xo

P.S. On a different note, and just to kinda throw this in here, I'm super excited for this new brewery to open!! I just cannot wait!