Arizona Dreaming on such a Winter's Day

At any moment now I am expecting the carriage to arrive, traversing across the frigid Siberian plains and gliding to a stop in front of the ice castle in which I wait patiently, wrapped in heavy furs, for my Dr. Zhivago to appear.

I am so damn cold.  And for all I know I could be in Siberia right now, with the white covered plains blinding the sky outside, the cold wind seeping in all the nooks and crannies of my house, and the snow that seems to have covered the entire earth.  But unlike Julie Christie in "Dr. Zhivago", I'm not able to escape the scene and yell "Cut!"  So I do the next two best things: turn the heat up to a balmy 76 degrees, and begin some serious Arizona dreaming of my trip only a few weeks ago.

And what a delicious trip it was.  Presently, I am going to salivate over one particularly yummy meal I enjoyed in the Valley of the Sun, and on a clear day that promised to hit 76 by afternoon.

My mother and I, though usually quite adventurous in our food travels, found ourselves returning again and again to the same place for lunch.  It was that good.  And not only did we become repeat offenders ("Where should we go to lunch today, Suzanne?"  "Oh, I don't know, how about Brio's?"  "Excellent choice!"), but we ended up ordering the same thing.

It would go something like this:

Mom: "I would like to order a glass of Pinot Grigio."
Me: "Ditto."
Mom: "Oh everything looks so good on the menu, what should I have?"
Me: "Ooh, tough decision" (said in a French accent ala Kevin Kline in "French Kiss")
Mom: "I think I'll just have the Chicken Crusted Salad again."
Me: "I think I'll just have the Salmon & Asparagus Salad again."

Then we clinked our glasses in a toast of all things wonderful in this world, namely us, two great gals who really are on the ball when it comes to enjoying the wide world of delicious food.

Yup, my mom and I are two ladies who know how to live a large life in a small body, no doubt about it.  And even in my current state of coldness, I am warmed by the thought of soon again being in my home state of AZ and in the company of my mother (headed back in February!), no matter how many Russian -- I mean Wyoming -- winter days I have to live through until then. 

And just for the record, I hated the movie "Dr. Zhivago"...what woman in her right mind would hole up in a Siberian ice castle, with minks covering every part of her body except her eyes, just in the hopes the good doctor would show up, no matter how good looking he was?  If I were Julie Christie, I would've hijacked the carriage upon his arrival and headed due south towards warmer places and bodies...and certainly better food.

May your warm weather dreams keep you toasty this winter!

Suzanna Quintana, Holistic Health Coach & Certified Foodie

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Table for One: Why I love Lulu's

Though most days you'll find me at my own kitchen table for lunch, once in a while I am compelled to escape (usually on cold, crappy, winter days) and seek the cozy nook I call my own at Lulu's cafe.  Table for one, please.

I am equally fond, of course, of dining with friends & family, but there are those moments when a meal demands to be enjoyed alone: just me, a book of crosswords, and an Alaskan Amber Ale.  Heaven.

My last visit alone (sometimes I'll take the kids when I'm feeling generous), I scored my usual round mosaic table in the corner, proceeded to get out my crosswords and pen, ordered a beer, and then took a moment to stare outside at the flakes falling, reflecting on the beauty of the scene (and grateful I was on the opposite side of the glass). 

While I waited for my meal - Lemon & Cilantro Hummus with whole wheat Pita bread - I took a sip of beer, figured out a five-letter word for "King of France", glanced around at the other diners who chatted away, and felt my stomach grumble in anticipation of the food to come.

With the beer's help, I felt like I was taking a mini-vacation from my life.  Then, when my meal came, I ate slowly and deliberately, enjoying the flavors and the tastes of the hummus and pita bread, combined with taking a sip of ale to wash it all down.  It was as if I were the only customer in the cafe (and may I give a shout out to the staff at Lulu's who always make me feel this way).  Sometimes it is in such moments where a surge of pure happiness can be found.

And I finished my crossword puzzle, just in time to match my last sip of beer.

As tempting as it was to order another drink and finish another puzzle, I knew doing so would defeat the beauty of the moment...not to mention the Alaskan Amber came in a huge glass and I wasn't up to walking home in the snow.

If you happen to live in Sheridan, Wyoming, or ever stop by for a visit, I highly recommend visiting Lulu's cafe for breakfast or lunch, even if your table is a party for more than one.  And if you do drop in, and notice a blond woman bent over her crossword puzzles with a beer in hand, by all means say hello.  I always have time for a friendly "Cheers" to a fellow diner.

Here's to you and hoping you get plenty of chances to enjoy your own company as well as that of others!

Suzanna Quintana, Holistic Health Coach & Certified Foodie

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Suzanna's Simply Super Supper...and a glass of wine

Coming up with a title for my latest blog was easy as I looked at the photo of my delicious meal.  I didn't intend for it be a tongue-twister, but my supper was truly super, and simple, and my name is...you're getting the picture.

This is how it happened.  My husband was working late and so my two boys and I would eat without him.  I love asparagus.  My kids don't.  I love red potatoes.  My kids don't.  And since it's all about me, I decided to make what I was craving, and cook up something separately fabulous for them.  This isn't usually how I function, and I am by no means a short order cook for my children, but on this particular evening I was determined to have asparagus and red potatoes and nothing or nobody was going to stop me...dammit.

What made my dish so fabulous is that it was so easy, and so healthy, and so dang tasty!  I didn't need meat, or bread, or anything else except a glass of red wine to compliment the meal.  Here's how easy it was: I boiled a few red potatoes (leaving most of the skin on), then sauteed them in vegetable broth, letting the potatoes soak up the broth before adding more.  This way, I didn't need butter or salt since the broth provided all the flavor -- Brilliant!

Asparagus is easy to prepare.  I lined fresh spears on a baking sheet, brushed them with olive oil, and broiled them for a few minutes.  I can eat asparagus plain, but this time I made a little dish of hollandaise to dip them in.

While my 8-year-old was setting the table, my 10-year-old poured me a glass of my favorite red wine (as you'll see in the photo it was a little much, but I wasn't complaining).  I returned the favor by putting together an equally fabulous "kids meal" which consisted of corn on the cob, grass-fed organic beef hot dogs, a cup of purple grapes and a cup of applesauce.  Am I an awesome mom or what? (at least that's what I am trying to convince my boys of)

Drum roll please...here is the masterpiece:

And since I am so brilliant, I also made enough potatoes so my husband and I could fry them up in the morning with our scrambled eggs...though we traded the wine for orange juice.  Just as well.

I ate every single bite on my plate, eating slowly, savoring the flavors as though it were my last meal on this earth.  And as it turned out, I also drank all the wine my son had poured.  Suzanna's Simply Super Supper would have been a tad difficult to say after that.

Here's to you and your cravings, may you give in to them all!

Suzanna Quintana, Holistic Health Coach & Certified Foodie

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Mastering the Art of Vacation...or rather, the Art of Eating on Vacation.

I have just returned from nearly a month in Arizona, visiting my mom (the only reason I would go to Arizona in the summer) and enjoying the wide world of food not available to me in my little hometown.

And it has occurred to me, after thinking back to all the wonderful meals I enjoyed, that I have indeed mastered the art of eating on vacation.  No one enjoys a good meal more than I do, and so certainly no one could have enjoyed three and a half weeks' worth of meals as much as I did.  In fact - and you might want to hold your breath on this one - I only ate lunch at my mom's home one time in my entire visit!  Looking back, I'm not quite sure how I got away with that, but I might admit to a little mischief every morning when I skillfully constructed my lunch plans when no one was paying attention.

My family, of course, also benefited from my food desires.  I took my boys to several different restaurants and encouraged them to try new things (I am an anti-kids-meal type of mom, and will gladly pay a few extra bucks for my children to enjoy "real food").  On one of our visits to the Kona Grill, my 10-year-old discovered he likes Miso Soup, and proceeded to swallow all the green onions, seaweed, and tofu that comes with it.  My 8-year-old also loves the stuff, though he eats only the broth and skips the tofu (he might have learned that from me).

My 18-year-old will try anything, and I dare say he has started to enjoy the art of the meal almost as much as I do (almost).

My absolute favorite meal, however, was when my mom and I visited a beautiful restaurant in Scottsdale.  After we ordered our wine (somehow our lunches morphed into two-glasses-of-Pinot Grigio lunches), we decided to share a seafood salad, although we could have had even one more woman at our table to share since it was so enormous.

I'll make this delicious story short.  Imagine this: a bed of dark greens lightly tossed with Louie dressing, layered with rows of crab, shrimp, lobster, eggs, avocados, tomatoes, green onions, and corn.

Enough said. 

Other tasty meals I enjoyed included salmon with asparagus over rice, salmon with asparagus over salad, roasted asparagus and grilled tomatoes over dark greens (are you sensing a theme here?), california rolls, shrimp tempura rolls, oriental cabbage salad, linguine with clams, and what I would call the perfect meal: salad, bread, and red wine.

Here's the problem, though.  As I write, it's just before lunch.  Where's the waiter?  Where's the menu?  Where are my two glasses of white wine??  Instead, my two youngest are in the kitchen creating some concoction involving tortillas, cheddar cheese, and a can of carrots (don't ask).  I suppose I'll meander in at some point and throw together a salad or something, sans salmon or asparagus.  But when you're as good at something as I am (eating on vacation), it's tough to come back to the real world.  Maybe for just a few days I'll transition by dreaming of all the delicious food I tasted...starting with that seafood salad.

Wishing you all the best food your next vacation has to offer,

Suzanna Quintana, Holistic Health Coach & Certified Foodie

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I left my heart...and stomach...in San Francisco - Part Two

As I write, Journey is singing in my head: When the lights go down in the city, and the sun shines on the bay...

Now, you might point out that it has been several weeks since I returned from my vacation with my mom to San Francisco, but I'll let Eddie Money finish that song for me: I wanna go back, and do it all over...

The food, the wine, the weather, the company (no one travels as well as my mother) -- this trip begs to be shared.  Last time I showed a picture of my incredible lunch in a quaint little French restaurant just off of Union Square, and I also hinted at more details to come regarding this very interesting combo: my mom, a martini, and a ballroom.

In order to fully appreciate this lovely tale, you'll need the backstory:  My mom moved to San Francisco in 1963 from Europe, two weeks after JFK was assassinated.  Among her many jobs was that as a secretary at the Bank of California, at a time when women dressed according to season, and men took two-hour martini lunches.

Being with my mom in her city by the bay (and where I was born) was a magical thing indeed, if only I got to catch a glimpse of what her life was like "before baby" - aka: me. 

So it was only natural for our first night in the city to be spent at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, on the top floor in the Starlight Room.  For old times' sake, my mother opted for a martini.  I certainly hadn't inherited her adventurous drinking spirit, because I stuck with my favorite standby: a glass of champagne.

We laughed, we giggled, we shared stories and told tales, and eventually ordered another drink...

Then the band began to play.

And our stomachs began to rumble.

We decided to head downstairs to the famous Scala's restaurant, hoping to find another great meal to fill our bellies.  Unfortunately, we found out there was a over an hour wait...oh what's a couple of gals to do?

Head back upstairs to the Starlight Room, of course.

This time we each enjoyed a glass of champagne, and soon the dance floor filled up as the band played "Good Golly Miss Molly" -- I grabbed my mom and we headed out for a spin (It's not exactly easy, however, to lead a woman after too many martinis).

Dinner finally came in the form of mussels (for my mom) and linguine with clams (for me)...plus another drink, this time a glass of red wine.

What I do remember of dinner was absolutely friggin' delicious.  I wish I would've taken a picture of the meal, however, since it stands as only a fuzzy memory.

This night could only be topped by a pleasant walk, arm in arm, and uphill, back to our hotel.  It took us a little longer to walk the block and a half back, but I'm sure that crooked line if stretched out only proves we got a little more exercise after our decadent evening.

Thank you, Mom, for a night I won't forget (at least the earlier part of it)...I must be the luckiest daughter in the world to enjoy such a peek into my mother's past! 

And here's wishing you great memories of food and family on your next vacation!

Suzanna Quintana, Holistic Health Coach & Certified Foodie

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I left my heart...and stomach...in San Francisco

One of the highlights of any vacation I take is (no shocker here): the food.  God I love to eat really really good food, and I especially like to eat it when it's being served in a quiet French restaurant at lunchtime in the heart of San Francisco.

It doesn't get much better than this: me and my mom, white tablecloths, soft music, French waiter, Pinot Grigio, baguette -- what more could a couple of fun gals want?

Then after much laughter and conversation came the masterpiece, otherwise known as "lunch".  My mother chose her usual favorite: crabcakes, which she kindly offered me a bite of.  All I gotta say about that is, sometimes it would be nice to be a cow (they have four stomachs, you know).  Yum!

For me, I was tempted by the Cassoulet, or the Roast Chicken with Pommes Frites (which are so much better than french fries, go figure).  But in the end my love of butter lettuce and shrimp won out and I ordered just that.  Here's what it looked like when it arrived:

The best part of my meal?  Well, I'm actually quite brilliant when it comes to manipulating the combination of eating fabulous food without gaining any weight.

Since I ordered a salad (did I mention the butter lettuce that melted in my mouth?), I was able to enjoy another slice of the sweet French bread, plus another glass of wine, and I still consumed less calories than any fast food meal out there!  God, I really am brilliant.

And might I add that the place to enjoy any type of seafood, baby shrimp in this matter, San Francisco is the place to do so.  In fact, my mom and I pretty much ate a busload of tourist's share of seafood on our vacation, not to mention we drank a vineyard's worth of fabulous wine.

Stay tuned for my next blog when I tell the tale of what happens when one woman (my mother) revisits her old stomping grounds in the City by the Bay (ooh baby did we have fun).  More good food and wine to come!

Here's to your next fabulous meal!

Suzanna Quintana, Holistic Health Coach & Certified Foodie

A Date for Lunch? Don't tell my husband.

Everything was perfect...the room was quiet, Brazilian music drifted romantically through the corners, soft light from a baby blue sky sifted through the windows, and fell into a pool of color onto the floor.  My stomach grumbled as I sat down to the table, anxious as I was for my date to begin. 

There was even a deer and her young outside, not too far away from where I sat (not a surprise considering where I live), making my lunch date all the more perfect.

With all the great restaurants, delicious food, and good company available in this world, there is still something to be said for the simple act of dining alone, and enjoying a dish made with one's own hands.  Sorry honey, but I preferred to date myself for lunch today.

To begin the celebratory meal, I followed my instincts, gave in to my cravings, and within ten minutes I'd whipped up a light lunch that filled my taste buds with happiness for hours afterwards.  It was so delicious, in fact, that besides praising myself aloud I also grabbed the camera to take a picture. 

Here is my masterpiece:

A photo certainly doesn't do my meal any justice, so allow me to make your own mouth water with the details:  I tore up some baby spinach leaves and sprinkled a touch of vinaigrette dressing over them, then added a few sliced organic tomatoes, but the real magic came in the avocado that I halved and filled with tuna.  Who knew only 4 ingredients could bring such joy?

The real pleasure, however, was when I sat down with the dish, a glass of sparkling water, and the deer, while Brazilian jazz played in the background.  I enjoyed myself so much that I nearly was late for work (which happens to take place ten feet away in my office).

In all the chaos and traffic of daily life, I have learned to never underestimate the peace and joy to be found in a date with myself for lunch...and the timing of the deer seemed almost magically planned, as if the Goddess above smiled down on me and knew I still would enjoy some company, knowing I'm attracted to the strong and silent type.

And so I end with a wish for you to enjoy that perfect lunch with yourself, even if it's without the wild animals.  Like me, you just might end up making even more reservations for that "Party of One".

Here's to your next fabulous meal,

Suzanna Quintana, Holistic Health Coach & Certified Foodie