Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

I don't think it was a coincidence that I was born on Cinco de Mayo and my absolute favorite food is guacamole, not to mention I love margaritas. My mom also tells me that all she ate while she was pregnant was Mexican. It was meant to be. Yes, today is my birthday and I love that I was born on this patriotic celebrated Mexican holiday. And in the spirit of guac...I'm sharing my favorite Mexican restaurant in Cleveland: Momocho

For years Rick and I have complained about the lack of good Mexican food in Cleveland. But then we met the guacamole at Momocho. Every time we go, we love it more and more. They have a terrific Happy Hour (Tues - Friday 5:00 - 6:30) 1/2 off golden margaritas (which I can confirm are good, especially with the red salt), 1/2 off Tecate, and 1/2 off Taquitos (which is the best thing on the menu!).

I could go on and on but just go and try it for yourself (if you haven't already). My recommendation is to start with a juice, the traditional guacamole, and either split a taquito with someone or have your own. And then most importantly (I can't stress this enough) - get the Capirotada for desert. I'll let the before and after pictures do the talking on this one:

BEFORE

AFTER

Good News, I'm not Sedentary

Read more here, but my final count on Friday was.....



Get Steppin!

The company I work for started a Get Fit challenge. For those that wanted to participate, they sent a pedometer (to measure how many steps you walk each day) and a log book (to record your daily progress in the competition).

Did you know....
You should aim to achieve 10,000 steps per day? I didn't. Here is the breakdown of activity level based on steps per day: (Sources: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Step Index from the American College of Sports Medicine)

How depressing is the word Sedentary for your activity level? I'm so afraid that I'm going to be Sedentary! So today is my first day wearing the Pedometer and as of 11:00 am, I'm at....

Do you think I can hit 10,000? Stay tuned.

Cleveland Scoop

No, this post isn't related to the Mitchell's ice-cream I ate last night. But I can confirm that their seasonal Peanut Butter Chocolate Covered Pretzel yogurt is AMAZING. Did I mention Mitchell's is in walking distance of our house? Ugh....

This is actually much more exciting than ice-cream. While getting my haircut yesterday, I got some scoop on Cleveland - specifically West 25th. I knew about most of these but all the chatter got me really excited so I thought I'd share for those that weren't in the know.

Coming Soon!!!
Market Garden Brewery & Distillery
Same owners as Bier Markt, Bar Cento, & Speakeasy so you know it will be good. Supposedly, it's going to be similar to a traditional Beer Garden (like in Germany). Basically an open-air area where beer & local food are served. The rumors are flying and I hear it might have a retractable roof? Probably a smart idea for a Cleveland Beer Garden. Location: 1947 West 25th Street (right next to the West Side Market)

SOHO Kitchen
Chef Nolan Konkoski (same Chef as Tartine Bistro, which we love!) is taking over the former Lelolai Bakery (which is actually very sad, because they closed after 10 years and that was one of our favorite lunch spots). But, I'm excited about SOHO (short for Southern Hospitality) which is supposed to open by late summer. Who in Cleveland doesnt' want a little Creole and BBQ?!?! Location: 1889 West 25th Street

Crop Bistro (is moving to W. 25th)
As listed on their website:  
It’s official, Crop will be open through the end of April on West 6th Street so that we can focus on getting ready for our next chapter. Thank you to all of our customers and friends  for just shy of four great years in the Warehouse District.  We truly appreciate your unwavering support that has made us successful. Please check back for details about our opening in Ohio City later this summer.  
New Location: 2537 Lorain Avenue (on the corner of W. 25th & Lorain, across from the West Side Market)

West 25th has so much goodness already, I can't wait for these spots to open up. Talking with my friend Chris (Cleveland native, Temporary NY'er) he said, how great would it be to have juices at the Beer Garden & walk over the bridge to the Tribe game? Yes, please.

Can't wait!!!

Happy Easter!

This is the only thing the Easter Bunny brought to Maplewood this year. A White Chocolate Easter Bunny from Malley's. Rick's childhood favorite.

And I think this is the first Easter I didn't have a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg for Breakfast. My childhood favorite.

It was a pretty quiet Easter morning at Maplewood, we opted to hang shades in our bedroom vs. exchange Easter baskets. Thanks to F&ML (my parents) who hosted us for Easter dinner, otherwise, it would have felt just like any other Sunday.

I couldn't resist sharing my niece Lucy Marie. This is at my parents house and that's my mom holding her while we all sit around waiting for her to say doggy & Harley because she's so darn cute when she does!

We Fancy: Hitachino Nest White Ale

It's about that time, when we switch from Guinness & Three Philosophers to Modelo Especials (in cans of course) & Holy Moses. Cut the limes, cut the oranges, the birds are singin, the sun is out and what's summer without good cold juicers?

We definitely have our summer favorites but a recent discovery took Hitachino Nest White Ale to the top of our list. We stumbled on this one at Bar Cento and later discovered it was noted in our "Worlds Best Beers" book.

Here is some background according to Worlds Best Beers author Ben McFarland:  The Kiuchi Shuzou company was established in 1823 in the tiny hamlet of Kounosu (Nest) as a producer of Japanese Sake. But in 1996, the company branched out to brewing beer. Having won numerous international awards, its range of bottle-fermented beers and bottles adorned with a funky looking owl, have developed a strong following in the US. It's a refreshing mildly hopped Belgian style Saison brewed using coriander, orange peel, and nutmeg.

How good does that sound? Trust us on this one, give up the Corona Light (if you're still seriously drinking those) and try it!  And...how cute is the bottle - love it!!!

The challenge is, it's not easy to find. We order ours from Grady's on Lake Road but they only order them in 750 ml bottles, approx $10/each. Whole Foods also carries Hitachino but only in individual 12 ounce bottles.

We are beer lovers, not experts so this is all personal preference. And we definitely recommend Worlds Best Beers for those that want to learn more (great gift too!)

Cheers!

 

Baked

I'm a wannabe baker. The challenge is, I don't have any patience. And baking requires exact measurements, slow pouring, sifting, all sorts of things that take precision and time. With that said, I love sweets and baking at home is actually much healthier than buying baked goods at the grocery store and/or your local bakery. I like to know exactly what ingredients are used and I love that my baked goods don't have extra dyes or extra ingredients to help shelf-life. I'm definitely not the next Carlos of Cake Boss (love that show) but I am getting better and the best thing about it is...practice makes perfect so guess whose sweet tooth has been getting a lot of action lately?

Knowing that I'm a wannabe baker, Rick bought me BAKED Explorations for Christmas. I was a little intimidated at first because my experience with baking cookbooks has been overwhelming but I quickly fell in love! This is truly the easiest cookbook to follow and these guys are foodies, can't you just tell? I love their witty writing and they don't make you feel like you need William Sonoma as your kitchen. In fact, they say in the Kitchen Tools & Equipment section that their kitchen once "overfloweth with useless, discarded, and unnecessary kitchen tools & utensils".

I've vowed to bake every recipe in the book (I've got two under my belt, one in the works) and rather than pressuring myself to do a certain amount of recipes in a certain amount of time, I just wait for something to come up (a brunch with family, Easter, a birthday, a Sunday night sweet tooth) and I pick what I feel like.

So far both the Double Chocolate Loaf and the Maple Cupcakes have turned out amazing! Double Chocolate Loaf being my favorite of the two (without the frosting, it was amazing just plain).

Without typing another couple hundred words on the topic. I have to just quickly mention that while in NY for St. Patty's day, I insisted that we visit the BAKED Brooklyn location - well worth the long walk over the bridge and can't-find-a-cab-catastrophe, the whoopie pies (which are next on my list) were amazing!!!

If you're looking for a gift for the baker in your life - this is a good one that won't break the bank!