Conference Eats

This has to be the best I've ever ate at a conference!! My no sweets challenge has been thrown out of the window since I've been in Switzerland and every treat has been worth every bite. I'll get back to it when back in New York.

In no particular order eats over the week and also not everything...

Breakfast of muesli, toast, berries and nutella:

Appetizer of goat cheese mousse and it's salad + that roll, had so many of those rolls:

Apple tart with coca nibs:

Chocolate mousse sponge cake:

Black cherry cake:

Veggie option I took one evening when they were serving beef...never quite figured out what it was:

Poached eggs and salon + salad, another appetizer:

Blueberry panna cotta:

Tonight's menu features fondue so the appetizer is being kept as a mountain salad and fruit for dessert...there will also be more wine from the Aigle region.

Off to dinner,

Nicole

MIA

Hey bloggies,

Taking a break from blogging while I'm at a conference for Endocannabinoid research. Look at the view on the train to our destination town (it's in a remote location in Switzerland with this glacier in the background).

In my free time (about 3 hours a day) I've been going on short hikes and bike rides.

And as for my 30 day no sweet challenge, well it's been pretty much out the door!!! The food here is amazing and I haven't been able to say no to dessert or even the bread....oh so much good food!! Will post about it when the conference is over!

I'm enjoying myself here and pretty much throwing most food rules out of the window, but after my time in Peru and now Europe my pants are getting tighter than ever...so I will be documenting my food closely when I return to the states to make sure I get back into my normal eating patterns, need to still feel good in my bikinis, as for now I will continue to workout daily but enjoy the food-though maybe in a bit more moderation.

See ya when I can,

Nicole

It's a Blur

Less than 24 hours ago I was on the bus to Philly to meet up with my best friend Amanda.

Eat delicious pizza from Mama Palma,

and sipped on some equally amazing Melbec.

Look at this cork, how cute!

After dinner it was the big event!! Arctic Monkeys at the Electric Factory. The first time I saw this band live was 4 years ago at the same venue, but things were a little different back then. For one the place was pretty empty when we arrived and when I told people I was going to see the Arctic Monkeys, they asked "Who?". Last night the place was packed and the band was promoting their 4th album.

Unfortunately we arrived just after the opening act. Since when do bands go on at the ticketed time, in New York you're lucky if the doors open at that time. Hopefully The Vaccines will be around again this summer.

The Arctic Monkey's played a good mixture of new and old and unlike the last time I saw them at Terminal 5 in New York, Alex Turner had his act together and wasn't missing chords. Maybe he just does better when he has short hair ;)

Either way I left quite happy, especially since the band does encores. I left feeling like they played a decent amount for a $25 concert.

By 8:30 am I was back on the bus to New York! Whew, that fun and exhausting. Now back to reading for my upcoming conference and preparing for my family reunion. Would also really like to fit in a sweaty workout, haven't done anything but pilates all week...but at least moving is moving.

Catch ya later!

Nicole

Extended celebration

Well, I think I've sufficiently celebrated turing 25! The least healthy thing I had before the weekend commenced was this simple but delicious salad along with a side of spicy guacamole on Friday night when I met my friend Susan for dinner.

The rest of the weekend was filled with pizza, wine and cake!

For the cake I made a carmel cake following a recipe I found from Martha Stewart. Huge lesson learned during this baking experience, read the comment section. The recipe for the carmel sauce was poorly written and I was only suppose to use 1 cup of water not 2. As a result my first batch was too thin and I had to give it a second go.

Also, the cake itself was a bit small to me so I doubled that batch...again you have to do the same for the icing recipe. The frosting is pretty sweet but goes well with the light cake. It was made even better by my use of a fresh vanilla bean...after using the bean I might not be able to return to vanilla extract!

Finished cake :)

The cake was for my birthday dinner which my friend Ryan was kind of enough to throw.

The menu was middle eastern inspired and was so yummy that I forgot to snap photos until after we ate but included a risotto made with Israeli couscous, a quinoa vegetable salad, and homemade hummus.

Dessert, another look at my carmel cake:

I also picked up a chocolate angel food cake for a lighter alternative:

With homemade whipped cream for a topping:

Whipped cream brought to you by Matt!

Ciao-

Nicole

Astrid y Gaston

Hey all-

I actually have one more post about Peruvian cuisine, but I couldn't leave out Astrid & Gaston which is one of the top 50 restaurants in the world! And probably the best restaurant I've ever experienced!! Further for the price, I don't think it could be out done, I will never be able to dine like this on my budget in New York.

From the left to the right, friends of my fellow volunteer Joanne who is sitting next to me on the right. To drink I had a coca infused pisco sour.

After an amazing bread basket which include quinoa breadsticks, chocolate bread, and 3 others that I can't recall we had mini appetizers which include causas, plantains with crab on top, and in the cone tuna ceviche, if I recall correctly.

My main course, butter fish over a pea risotto and scallops on the side.

The meal concluded with a box of petite fours. In the front were coca alfajores, to the left chocolate and not sure the flavor of the other macrons, to the right on the stick was some kind of frozen jelly thing, unpictured or not pictured well were truffles, and chicha morada gummies.

After posting about this meal I'm ready to book my next flight back to Peru tomorrow...if only money and work were not an issue...sigh ;)

Cheers,

Nicole

30 day challenge

This morning I started off quite productive, as I do most mornings. I was up at 5, completed a quick bodyrock workout (plan on going to spin after work for some cardio-it's been so hard to get back in the gym mindset after being away for nearly a month now!!), had breakfast, began to clean my room (switched winter clothing for spring/summer), showered, and headed to lab.

Yogurt bowl:

Morning snack toast x 2:

and freshly squeezed orange juice:

I also cooked lunch before heading out:

Thai inspired dish, sauteed vegetables in sesame seed oil, added some coconut milk and about a tablespoon of peanut butter at the end and tossed with pasta:

Now I'm determined to keep the momentum going the rest of the afternoon! I need to work on my poster for my upcoming conference and get some other writing done.

Okay, so this 30 day challenge...it's been a while since I've done any. The last was probably over a year ago when I challenged my mom to see who could eat the greatest number of vegetables daily. This time around I'm challenging my aunt to meet any personal goal over the next month. I chose to tackle my growing sugar habit, so for the next month I'm eliminating sweets as in candy, cookies, and cake from my diet (with the exception of my birthday dinner this coming Sunday). In the past I've tried to minimize my sweets habit, however, this is not working in the present so I'm hoping by eliminating sweets completely I will be able to eat them in moderation once again in the future.

My aunt is aiming to increase her water intake and eat at least 2 vegetable servings with at least 2 meals each day.

Let the battle begin!!!

Cheers,

Nicole

Dinner Celebration #1

Hey Bloggies!

I'm not going to lie, being back in NYC with lab and deadlines isn't so fun, but the transition was made easier since I'm celebrating my birthday this week!

Monday I woke up to this lovely little chocolate cake from my roommate, it was amazing, chocolate mousse with carmel and nuts on the bottom, I think...in any case it was delicious!!

That evening I had a small/intimate celebration and was told not to do anything, which is a hard task for me. I survived by sipping on wine and eating aged gouda cheese (my favorite) and watching the dinner preparation.

On the menu, calamari and swiss chard:

Such a great night!

In other news, after writing the post about best dance videos I've become somewhat obsessed with Ciara, particularly her dancing.

But there could be worse obsessions...

Happy Hump Day!!

Nicole