Harbour Island

Where have I been you ask? I've been missing my blogging friends, swamped with work-related projects, stressing out with future decision-making, and between all that my hubbie and I managed to take a quick trip to the Bahamas. I can't even express how needed this trip was! We chose to visit Harbour Island, a small island off of Eleuthra, in the Bahamas. What an absolute gem Harbour Island was. Famous for it's Pink Sand beaches, we decided to go see it for ourselves and indeed, the sand was powder pink and absolutely pristine. The beaches were the prettiest we have ever seen- clear blue ocean water, uncrowded beaches, and completely luxurious. We found our little piece of heaven here.


In the middle of our relaxing days at the beach, these horses would stroll along, hoping that a tourist would be taken away enough to want to hitch a ride! Thankfully they only strolled by once and of course, no one chose to ride! What a scene though!



We stayed at the gorgeous Rockhouse property that exceeded our every single expectation and beyond! The service was outstanding, the rooms were immaculate, and the food was spectacular. We couldn't of chose a better place to stay and satisfy our foodie palettes. Dinner began with this beautiful golden beet salad with grapefruit, pine nuts, creamy feta, and a citrus emulsion. What a perfect combination of flavors.


Then we opted for the lump meat crab cake- creamy and light at the same time with the freshest crab flavor. Served with a red pepper cream sauce and tomato vinaigrette, we savored every single bite!


Finally, Harbour Island being famous for their Grouper, we couldn't resist ordering their most prized specialty. The grouper was flaky and buttery and completely dissolved in your mouth. The Grouper was broiled and served atop fava beans, pomegranate seeds, and sweet pineapple slices. Talk about local food perfection!


Harbour Island cannot be missed! Jetting off to this jewel of an island makes you feel like you are a million miles away from chaos and is a romantic and classy way to spend a couple days in pure relaxation bliss. I'm refreshed and ready for what lies ahead! Hope all of you are well and Happy Spring!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to my fellow bloggers! I had to share with all of you what my hubbie just surprised me with at work! Roses are my absolute favorite and those fire and ice roses just make me melt, good job sweetie! R and I decided to stay in and have a romantic dinner by candle-light of course. On the menu:

Appetizer: Tomato Bruschetta with fresh mozzarella on a fresh baguette from the bakery
Entree: Seared Honey Scallops in a Sweet Corn Coulis with a Sweet Yam Souffle
Dessert: A light and fluffy Tiramisu
Wine: Our absolute favorite- Rombauer Chardonnay 2005

I'm counting down hours until I get to go home and begin the celebration with my sweetie. Hope you all have a wonderful night and I can't wait to hear about all of your foodie creations!

Stuffed Portabella's

After going to Whole Foods and splurging on this piece of Mahi Mahi for $18.00, I just HAD to think of an equally praise-worthy side to accompany the succulent and flaky piece of Hawaiian fish. I have to say my most favorite veggie is the mushroom and after seeing the Portabella beauties, I just couldn't resist. I usually just grill the Portabella's, slice them up, and savor every smoky bite, however this time, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to make something hearty so I decided to stuff the Portabella's with a tangy tomato mixture. And boy did these stuffed Portabella's prove that a perfectly grilled Mahi Mahi fillet isn't the only superstar! I grilled the Portabella's for a couple minutes to enhance their smoky flavor and in the meantime, I sauteed a mixture of onions, crushed tomatoes with Italian seasonings, balsamic vinegar, and bread crumbs. I put a layer of ricotta cheese inside each Portabella cap, topped it with the tomato mixture, and finished it off with a layer of grated Parmesan cheese. I popped them in the oven for 20 minutes and out came the most delicious and savory Portabella's that just bursted with flavor in every bite. It was the perfect special side-dish to that "special occasion" entree. So simple yet elegant and delicious, just what I like best!

Fruit Kolach

Yet another one of my Czech favorites! A mixed fruit kolach (or pie) with loads of fresh berries and white nectarines. What better way to kick off the New Year? This Czech kolach is simple to make and can be enjoyed for dessert or even, which I prefer, for a Sunday breakfast. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year, 2007!


Just roll out a basic Pate Brisee dough and top with whatever fresh fruit you have on hand. To make the fruit even tastier, we like to add sugar, a dash of rum, and some lemon zest.


Cut out half-inch wide strips of the dough and layer over fruit in a criss-cross manner. Bake for a good 40 minutes at 375 degrees and there you have it! A kolach that prepares you for the summer bounties that are soon to come!

Mikuláš (Saint Nicholas Day)

Mikuláš, or otherwise known as Saint Nicholas Day, is a long-standing Czech tradition and holiday. As described by Czech's, "The charming tradition of St. Nicholas falls on the eve of St. Nicholas Day, December 5th. If you find yourself in Czech on that evening, you may run into a group of strange characters: St. Nicholas (Mikuláš), the Angel (anděl) who represents the Good, and the Devil (čert) representing the Evil. All wear costumes. Mikuláš looks a bit like Santa Clause whose origin was supposedly inspired by St. Nicholas. All three characters walk the streets, stopping children and asking them if they were good in the past year. Most kids say yes and sing a song or recite a short poem. They are then rewarded with sweets, candy or other treats, which are handed out by the Angel. Bad kids would be put in the Devil's sack and taken to hell, or would only get a sack of potatoes or coal instead of candy - of course this does not really happen!"

To this day, my family and I celebrate this holiday by making Mikuláš figures out of a sweet buttery bread. Each year when we visit Czech, we make a point of purchasing the proper spice used in flavoring this delicious bread- Czech cloves. Not only do the cloves act as a flavoring agent, but they also are used to decorate the famous figure, St. Nick. Happy Mikuláš to everyone and Na Zdravi!

Linecke (Linzer Cookies)

Nothing reminds me more of Christmas then our classic Czech "Linecke" cookies, or otherwise known as Linzer Cookies. These delights are however, more labor intensive then one would think. Rolling out the dough a million times until you get all of your shapes and cutting out a middle into every other cookie becomes quite time consuming! But in the end, it's all worth it! Soft and chewy with a sweet filling makes it a wonderful treat to enjoy during the holidays. The classic recipe calls for a raspberry preserve filling, however I of course like to experiment with other flavors as well. Aside from raspberry, I used an apricot preserve, a blueberry preserve, and also a pumpkin pecan butter that was surprisingly delicious! Na Zdravi to a wonderful beginning of the holiday season. Happy Baking to all of you!

Linecke Cookies

*1/4 cup butter, softened
*1 tablespoon oil
*3/4 cup sugar
*Grated peel of one lemon
*1 large egg
*1 teaspoon cooking rum
*2 cups of flour
*1 teaspoon baking powder
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*Fruit preserves of your choice
*Confectioner's sugar

Beat butter, oil, sugar, and lemon peel until light and blended. Beat in egg and rum until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to sugar mixture and stir by hand just until dough is soft. Divide dough in half, shape each half into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Between 2 pieces of wax paper, roll out on disk to 1/4-inch thickness, Cut out cookies using a round cookie cutter, Using a 1/2-inch shaped cutter, cut centers out of half the cookies. Place cookies 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden around edges. Transfer to rack to cool. Repeat with remaining disk, re-rolling scraps to get as many cookies as possible. Spread solid cookies with preserves and sprinkle cut-out cookies lightly with confectioners' sugar. Top each solid cookie with a cut-out cookie.

Mini Italian Meatloaves

I love meatloaf but I definitely do not love the full hour it takes to cook the meat loaf completely through. Yes, call me impatient, but for a weeknight dinner where hunger is heavily involved, an hour cooking time is really quite a commitment. Since I was not going to subject myself to not cooking meatloaf at all, I decided to bust out my muffin pan and make mini meatloaves in hopefully half the time. And what do you know, it worked! The meatloaves cooked perfectly through in 25 minutes flat and I thought the presentation looked much better than your classic slice. Due to my Italian style ingredients on hand, I opted for an Italian style meatloaf, which turned out so flavorful and delicious. I served the mini meatloaves over a warm roasted red-pepper tomato sauce, which ended up being the perfect finish. The best thing about cooking is all the different ways you can experiment and this particular meatloaf experiment was a definite success.

Mini Italian Meatloaves

* 1/2 pound ground turkey
* 1/4 cup oatmeal
* 1/4 cup milk
* 2 eggs
* 1/4 cup ketchup
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
* 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
* One handful cherry tomatoes, chopped
* 1/4 cup zucchini, chopped
* 1/4 cup carrots, chopped
* 1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
* 1/4 cup onion, chopped
* 1/4 cup green onion, chopped
* 1/4 cup basil, chopped
* Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a skillet, saute the tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, and onions until tender. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. In a large bowl, combine turkey meat, oatmeal, milk, eggs, ketchup, Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and basil. Add tender veggies to the meatloaf mix and combine well. Divide meat mixture among a well greased muffin pan and bake for only 25 minutes! Na Zdravi!