Banana Azul Hotel, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

We drove through the mountains (covered in rain forest!) to get here from San Jose. It was gorgeous.

The beach at our hotel.

The view from our room, that's the water to the right.

Hibiscus are everywhere, in the most vibrant hues I've ever seen.

Why again can't I just live here?

On Monday we're going ziplining in the rain forest for Ricky's birthday, and then we're taking a trip to Panama.

We never would have come here if my dear friend Bethany hadn't recommended it.

Thank you. ♥

San Jose, Costa Rica

We stayed overnight in San Jose at a hotel called Casa 69. Great little place. The city is somewhat crowded and a little dirty, like any big city, really. Right in the middle of that chaos is the secluded, peaceful little hotel. It smelled like lime blossoms, and that made me happy.

♥

Costa Rican coffee is the bomb diggity. Citrusy and floral, with virtually no acidity (for all my fellow Starbuckians out there reading).

Botfly, I forgot about you.

As our Costa Rican vacation draws closer, things are coming to mind that I had failed to address before.

Do I need malaria pills?Do I need a typhoid or yellow fever shot?Have I HAD a typhoid or yellow fever shot?Poisonous snakes?Do monkeys carry rabies?Will my hair straightener work?Oh, and this horrifying little sucker.I don't believe in god, but this is the devil. The botfly.She lays her eggs in your skin and the larvae live inside your dermis and eat your tissue.Seriously.Fascinating, amazing, awe inspiring... but still yucky and scary and enough to make me wear long sleeves in 90 degree weather.Read about the glorious botfly here, on Wikipedia, and more specifically the human botfly, here.

My birthday and lamb vindaloo

Yesterday was my birthday, and Ricky and I went to Destin. I found some great new books. I turned 24, which makes me 1/4 century old! (don't argue, you know we start at 0, not 1)

Baaahahahahaha. Seriously, that is an actual section of Barnes and Noble. Puke.

Ricky bought me this dress at Talbots, I'm in love with it. It's very (less crazy) Betty Draper. Even better, it's a size 4 petite! Love it too? Buy it here.

Tonight for dinner I made lamb vindaloo. I miss good Indian food, so tonight my nostalgia inspired me. Lamb chunks in a sauce of tomato paste, cider vinegar, garlic, onions, lots of chili, clove, cardamom, turmeric, cumin, and bay leaves, simmered for 90 minutes and served with basmati rice and naan.

If I had been wearing socks, it would have knocked them off. Fabulous.

confections, cooking, chocolate, and cats

Awesome alliteration, also.

Mini cupcakes (2.5 dozen) for Samm's son's engagement party in Pensacola. Vanilla bean cupcakes with vanilla butter cream that I tinted this delightful lavender color using Wilton gel paste food coloring in Delphinium blue. It's my new favorite.

A four layer cake, filled with cappuccino butter cream and iced with chocolate butter cream. Also for Samm.

Roast chicken with mashed yukon gold potatoes and brussels sprouts with pancetta.

Ziti carbonara.

Eggs, cream, cheese, pancetta, and noodles.

Yes please.

Chocolate and sea salt tart in a shortbread crust.

This is freaking fabulous.

Salvador, chilling in his basket of blankets.

I love his little face.

marrow bones

The other night I made beef shanks braised in tomatoes, lemon juice, red wine, and onions. I really just made this because I wanted something savory and delicious to serve over a lemon and black truffle risotto I made... but the beef shanks turned out to be the star. They literally fell apart when touched, and the best part?

That big, wonderful marrow bone you get in the center of a shank. I don't know if you've ever eaten marrow, but trust me, you should. It's like beefy, creamy, buttery goodness.

This is a re-constructed chicken saltimbocca. Chicken, spinach, prosciutto, and red pepper all in a parmesan cream sauce tossed with spaghetti.

♥

happy happy times

We leave for Costa Rica in less than 10 days. Then, once we get back, we'll have about 2 weeks before we head to Atlanta to see Anthony Bourdain on November 20th. That same day we're going to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta to see the Salvador Dali exhibit.I'm not sure that I could be any more exited about the next 30 days of my life.

maize maze

So, last year we went to the Sweet Season Farms corn maze on October 17th. This year we went on the 16th. I even blogged about it, 364 days ago.
I love it! It was way warmer this year, but the sun was shining and we had a blast.

On the way out to Milton, we stopped by Starbucks so I could drop off some cupcakes for my fabulous coworkers and pick up a pumpkin spice latte. With whipped cream, because finding your way out of a vegetable maze is a special occasion.

We saw the greatest truck ever...

... seriously, there was no way that my day could get any better at this point.

Us at the beginning of the maze.

It isn't fair, really. Ricky is tall enough that he can see over the corn, so he knows that I'm taking us in the wrong direction pretty much the whole time. We made it out alive, though.

Thank goodness.

pretty in pink

You can't really tell here, but these are in leopard cupcake liners.
Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream and sprinkles.

Because life is better with sprinkles.
♥

uninspired

I haven't been feeling very adventurous lately, as far as the kitchen is concerned.
Here are some photos of mediocre food. Yay!

Cashew chicken on jasmine rice. Chicken thighs, celery, carrots, homemade stir fry sauce, cashews, and scallions. Peanuts would be tasty too.

Pork chops rubbed with aleppo chili and annatto seed, kale braised in chicken stock and olive oil, and crispy fingerling potatoes. There's a little peach habanero salsa on top of that chop, too.
Tomorrow I'm making some kind of lemon-y braised beef shank dish. I'm a little excited.

nothing wrong with taking pictures in the dark

...pretty much because I don't want to be a douche bag and take pictures with the flash in a nice restaurant. To be honest, I waited until our waitress was out of sight before snapping these. I don't know what I thought.
That I'd get in trouble like that guy in the Louvre that one time?
That she'd accuse me of being some kind of culinary idea thief?
A spy?
Dinner time espionage. That's what we have here.

For our anniversary Ricky and I went to Fire.
If you live anywhere near Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, you should go. It was amazing.
They gave us complimentary champagne in honor of our anniversary. I liked that.
We had:

A bottle of Daedalus Cellars Pinot Noir. I'm a fan of Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs, as we all know.

Yellowfin tuna and beet ceviche.

Panko fried green tomatoes with celery root-wasabi remoulade and soy pickled shrimp.

Bricked chicken with a wild mushroom and preserved lemon risotto and parsley walnut pesto.

Hanger steak with arugula and radish salsa verde and truffle parmesan duck fat fries.
Duck. Fat. Fries.
Arugula and crispy oyster salad with lemon vinaigrette.
Bacon cake!
Seriously. Bacon infused chocolate chipotle cake with Kahlua anglaise, warm cherry compote, and crushed almonds.
This was indescribably good.
This place is fantastic. Very small menu, no substitutions allowed, and they didn't even ask how Ricky wanted his steak cooked. Why? Because the chef knows what he's doing, ya dig?
Word.