FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

100mm Macro Madness!!!

by

For as long as I can remember, I’ve never been able to wait for my actual birthday to receive my big present from mom.  And by not being able to wait, I mean my birthday is early May and I usually have present in hand no later than mid-February.  By mid-February, I without fail have an overwhelming need to own {insert obsession here}.  But not this year…

This year, I couldn’t decide on anything.  Two weeks after the big day and there still wasn’t one thing I could think of that I needed to own.  I had been entertaining the idea of a macro lens for quite some time, but wasn’t sure if it was worth the investment at this point in time.

Not being able to think of anything else, I decided to go to Best Buy yesterday to test out some lenses and shoot the shiz with the sales guy.  After a half hour of novice-ly questioning the surprisingly expert-ish sales guy, I knew exactly what I wanted.  I also knew that what I wanted was out of my price range.

I called my mom the second I stepped into my car and filled her in on all the important and not-so-important details.  She offered to pay for half, I gladly accepted.  We made plans to purchase the lens today.

I woke up this morning with lens on the brain.  She purchased the lens at the Clearwater store, I picked it up at the South Tampa store, all was good.  Chrissie met me at Best Buy and we carpooled to the Sweetwater Organic Farm to get our veggie on.

And what a perfect opportunity that was to test out my new lens!  I found that the automatic, no-flash setting and an outdoor environment meshed perfectly.  However…  after taking a few pictures around my kitchen, it was apparent that I have A LOT to learn!

Summer Cravings And A Giveaway!

by

A few nights ago, after my day o’ hot sauce, I was in serious need of something sweet.  And as nice as it would have been to end my day with an oversized bowl of coconut ice cream (that I didn’t have), all I could think of was how much nicer it would be to walk to a local ice cream/yogurt shop with one of my closest gals.

And when I came to terms with the fact that there’s no such thing as a non-dairy ice cream/yogurt shop, I took my pipe dream to the virtual world.  If anyone wants to start a non-dairy dessert delivery service in Tampa, I’d be your #1 fan!

But just because I can’t spend my summer ice creaming it up, doesn’t mean I don’t recognize your summer ice cream cravings.  That is why I decided to participate in a giveaway for Eversave’s Ice Cream Social event.

The winner of the Ice Cream Social giveaway will receive:

Contest Entry Instructions:

1.  Sign up for Eversave Tampa and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so (this is mandatory as this is how your prize will be distributed)

2. Follow me on Twitter and tweet “I want to win a free ice cream Save from @EversaveTPA and @FoodFash! https://foodfash.com/?p=2033″ and then leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so.  (If you’re already following me on Twitter all you have to do is tweet and comment on this post)

3.  Follow Eversave Tampa on Twitter and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so.

4.  Follow me on Facebook and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so. (If you’re already following me on Facebook all you have to do is comment on this post)

5.  Follow Eversave Tampa on Facebook and leave a comment on this post indicating you have done so.

The contest will run between now and 8PM EST on May 23rd.  Please leave a separate comment for each entry as each individual comment represents a number and a random number generator will be used to select the winner.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 24th.

Best of luck to you all!

Workin’ On My Fitness

by

Yesterday, my Twitter app notified me of the following mention, a shout out to great fitness friends.  Ahhh!!  Me?  Fitness?  Not lately…

Not in a loooong time actually.  The last time I regularly worked out I was a non-blogging, Dallas resident.  The combination of moving home and starting FoodFash left little time for working out (other than yoga Sundays).

Ironically, unbeknownst to @MyFitCoach, I decided to get back to it last Thursday by easing my way into a daily 20 minute shred with Jillian Michaels.  Cheesy, right?  Yes, total cheese, but I needed something quick and powerful that felt manageable with my current schedule.

After shredding 5 of the last 7 days, I felt ready for a run.  I headed to Val’s house after work and we set off to Bayshore.  We ran a song, walked a song, for 3-1/2 miles.  Then we walked to the Greenwise salad bar to pick up greens to use the assorted set of balsamics I gave Val for her birthday.

We doubled up awkwardly over the sink, sampling each flavor with a spoon.  They were all pretty good, but only some seemed salad worthy.  Val settled on red apple and I went for the fig.

I’ve had my health foodie head on straight for quite some time now, but it’s soooo nice to be finally be workin’ on my fitness at the same time!

Florida Misconceptions

by

A Dallas friend, Justin, was in town for business and I felt it was my duty to show him a proper meal after days of conference food.  He requested somewhere scenic, probably thinking that would be easier to come by than it actually is.

So that takes me to Florida Misconception #1: cities on the water have lots of waterfront restaurants.  I could only think of two (off the top of my head) that had outdoor seating, Hula Bay and Rick’s on the River.  Hula Bay was the obvious winner.  I was later reminded of Jackson’s, but I think given the option, I still would have chosen Hula Bay.

Derailing for a moment to discuss Florida Misconception #2…  Earlier this week, Chrissie mentioned her sister had an interest in flying from Southern California to visit Key West.  I asked “Really?  Has she ever been??”.  The answer was neither of them had been and she was SHOCKED when I informed her that Key West is bar-full, but oh so beach-less.  Florida has a gazillion beautiful beaches, none of which are located in Key West!

And back to the meal.  I hadn’t eaten at Hula Bay in a while, it’s kind of far and the first five times you drive there, you’ll feel like you’ve taken a wrong turn.  It’s that far.  It’s the BFE of Tampa proper.

But after this meal, it’s back on my radar.  I sampled some of Justin’s ceviche, partly because I was starving, but mostly because I’m having a difficult time resisting fresh seafood as summer approaches.  I don’t see myself being a full on seafood eater again, but being flexible does make the lives of my loved ones a little less annoying when dining out.

And that brings me to my meal.  I saw that they offered grilled portobellos as a side and asked if I could substitute beef for shroom and create my own “burger”.  So glad they said yes!  My grilled portobello and pineapple burger with citrus BBQ sauce was divine.  I ate the whole thing and all I can think about as I write is how soon I can head back out there and order another.