Keeping it Fresh in the Kitchen

Homemade Tomato Sauce
- just in a recycled Prego jar

One of the most vexing things about wanting to eat healthier, is that healthy eating is not always convenient, and it is definitely not cheap. A KFC snack pack costs less than a salad, a good healthy soup can be hard to find and buying a slice of cake can be less aggravating than buying a slice of watermelon from my regular watermelon guy. I mean, watermelon guy, while I appreciate the compliments and yes, maybe I am your angel who has fallen from heaven, I am still not going to marry you. lol. I just want a slice of watermelon.

I decided against eating out this weekend, which of course meant putting in some effort in the kitchen, cause if you want to do it right, you often have to do it yourself.  I really was not in the mood for doing it myself but was not in the mood for taking a drive to get it either, or spending a lot of money to do so. So I sucked it up, and ventured into the kitchen, on a hot Saturday afternoon.

I decided in the name of freshness and ease, to make my own pizza yesterday, where I could control the type of crust (whole wheat, as opposed to white), the amount of cheese (a drizzle as opposed to a torrential gooey downpour), the toppings (fresh as opposed to crap from a can), and the tomato sauce, which in the whole quest for freshness, I decided to make from scratch, rather than buying. I must say, my tomato sauce was da bomb. Using fresh tomatoes, awesome amounts of fresh garlic and basil, salt and black pepper to taste, and no sugar or preservatives, I now have a Prego jar (the last insult) filled with this awesomeness.

I also had a fresh, light pizza without all the gunk, and a lot of onions, garlic, tomatoes, and spinach, with some bits of deli beef and feta to keep it sexy. And since I am also not drinking alcohol still, I used the last of my grapefruits to make a fresh non-alcoholic spritzer, with fresh grapefruit juice, a bit of ginger, Angostura bitters and club soda. Small yaay. And I did not have to get dressed up or leave my driveway to get it.

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Sensuous Lunch-Time Getaway at Aioli

Truffle fries - delicious

So as many of you know, I love food - good food - and so restaurant adventures, among other foodie outings, are always a great thing. So when friend extraordinaire, Leslie Ann invited me to Aioli again, having missed the first opportunity because I was chained to the corporate grind, well...I was certainly not going to be a fool twice.

My first outing to Aioli was fantastic and so I was very eager to see what was in store today. The good folks at Aioli are preparing to launch a new lunch menu, with brand new options, unlike anything on their awesome dinner menu, but just as fun and exciting. Food should always be fun and exciting. What is even more exciting is being among the first to test and taste the menu-to-be as guests of the Chef's Table. Small yaaay.

The menu supports quick lunches, which are perfect for those of us who have really busy days and short lunchbreaks. First there are french fries. French fries, you say aloud. Yes. French fries. But not every french fry is the same and this truth was confirmed the moment I sampled the truffle fries - "crispy truffle infused shoestring French fries", and my personal fave, the Tuscan fries - "Extra Crisp Baton cut French fries tossed in garlic chevril butter and shaved parmagiano reggiano". 

The Tuscan fries were my winner among the three, which also included classic french fries. I had most of those Tuscan fries, friends. I confess. The diet went on a break around 12.30 this afternoon.

Up next - pasta. I love my pasta, so I was eagerly anticipating the pasta options on this test menu, which the table shared. First up, a lovely Pasta alla Marinara - a wonderfully fresh combination of pasta, tossed with fresh garlic, Shallots, Marinara and cherry tomatoes and garnished with parmagiano reggiano and micro basil. I loved the freshness of the ingredients, with those cherry tomatoes being the most succulent gems ever.

Pasta alla marinara

Then there was the poulet y pesto. I love pesto but had actually never had a creamy pesto but I did enjoy the fussilli pasta tossed in a creamy pesto with moist cubes of chicken.

Poulet y pesto

My winner in the pasta competition was definitely the final pasta dish - Pasta di Funghi, which featured pappardelle pasta tossed with a sexy variety of exotic mushrooms, cream, parmagiano reggiano and truffle. If you are a mushroom lover, you have to have this. Your lunchbreak will never be the same.

Pasta di funghi

You may think it was over by now, but...it was not. We still had to taste the sandwiches on the proposed lunch menu. I had actually planned for today with a regular 5am workout, and a bowl of watermelon for breakfast.

So, the sandwiches. These were all taste sizes, mind you, and not regular sizes. I will admit, I am not a sandwich for lunch person, unless that "sandwich" is a wrapped roti. However, if you are indeed not averse to a sandwich for a quick lunch, then these three options were pretty damn good.

There was first, the Aioli Club -

The Aioli Club

...Aioli Club White Foccacia Bread layered with avocado, sliced turkey, sliced chicken, dehydrated bacon, Dijon mustard, Lettuce and tomato. That dehydrated bacon is the truth. It gave that sandwich a magic of its own - a really amazing flavour which I appreciated immensely.

Then, this was my favourite I think - the Reuben.

The Reuben

...Rye Bread layered with corn beef pastrami, swiss cheese, Saurkraut and dressed with Thousand Island. The dressing gave the sandwich a nice sweetness that complemented the savoury of the other ingredients.

And, the Louisiana Po Boy

Louisiana Po Boy

 ...Ciabatta Bread layered with Fresh fried Oysters, Cajun Aioli, Caper Remoulade, Butter Lettuce, Tomato and Pickle. Okay, this was awesome awesome awesome. The rest of the table thought it a bit too spicy but the kick I loved. Delicious.

Wicked LSJ also ensured we had dessert, and we shared a tiramisu cup, as well as a classic creme brulee and a Nutella brulee - delightful.

Creme Brulee times two

Lunch may never be the same again. The service as always was stellar so thanks to Marvin for being excellent. Apologies again to Jeremiah who let me call him Jeremy for about half hour without politely correcting me. And of course, LSJ for the awesome lunch experience and the power table of some of the amazing, beautiful women in my life.

And the cute chef for the eats and special care and hospitality afforded to us all. We had a great time.

And yes, I had to go back to work after all this. Isn't life hard?

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Fire and Brimstone for you Evil Weave Wearers

So a friend shared this story, about a pastor who has banned the evil among us from his church - the vile sinners being those women, those Jezebels who worship, not God, but the Indian and Brazilian Remy.  For the uninformed, the preacher man is referring to women who wear weaves. Yes...home boy is not a supporter of the "hair in a bag" revolution, and as he says, he is tired of the "phony ponies". To this end, he has declared a ban on all those women seeking God, but who have a weave sewn in or glued on.

Now I find the l'il pastor bright and farse because I do not understand what a woman's hairstyle has to do with her faith or with her quest for peace and salvation. Whether she is bald, rocking dreadlocks or 14" Brazilian Remy in 1B, that should not be his problem. Everyone has a right to self expression, whether it is via tattoos, piercings or hairstyles. You don't have to like it, but just accept it. Unless that weave has not been washed for weeks, and is rank smelling, these women are not hurting anybody.

I guess he does not listen to gospel music because I have seen the super fabulous contemporary gospel artistes, like Yolanda Adams, and they are rockin' the best Remy money can buy.

That being said, I do agree with Pastor's point where he says

I lead a church where our members are struggling financially. I mean really struggling. “Yet, a 26 year old mother in my church has a $300 weave on her head.

Yolanda Adams - rockin' that Remy

Here, I can co-sign with pastor, because I have seen it. It is all around me. You see them on the news, holding placards, saying they cannot feed their children, and life is hard, but they rocking EXPENSIVE Remy, have the best manicures, more gold than Trinidad James, and made up with the fake eyelashes, in the best brands. Again, it may be your right to spend your money however you like, but let's be real with the complaining if your entire look could feed said children for a month or even two. I have a job and I gasp at the prices of these "premium" hair types. Gasp and walk away. Ladies, you cannot eat the Remy and your kids cannot eat the Remy and sorry, but noone will take you seriously if you claim you are suffering but your hair, and the rest of you for that matter, cost as much as a monthly grocery bill for a small family.

So maybe pastor is just fed up of the women who come to him all done up, and complaining that God has forsaken them. I do not agree with our dear pastor, that all women who wear weaves have low self-esteem. I have rocked weaves and my friends can attest that I "over like" myself. lol. I just am not a hair person in the way that some women can keep their hair looking ultra fabulous at all times, and the ease and convenience of a weave done to my specifications is what sometimes works for me. So pastor needs to cool it.

I do agree with the author though, in that I hope that pastor is investing the same amount of energy in preaching the gospel, and counselling those lost members of the flock who may have been led astray by sex, drugs and other such vices, as he has been in admonishing women for their choice of hairstyle. Hair a Christian doth not make.

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Wanted: A Vacation of Nothing

I read a post last week that spoke to why one has to disconnect in order to reconnect, and I truly believe that this is important, whether it is a lavish vacation, or a weekend in your house, with just you, a book and not much else. Sometimes the daily grind can get the better of us and we really put our emotions and mental faculties to the test.

So, while I just had the best vacation ever, I get bored quickly and on top of that, I am tired. The truth is, my last vacation, while amazing, was not relaxing or restful. I was Energiser Tourist - wanting to see everything and do everything that was recommended. It was lovely and while it recharged me somewhat, it certainly did not recharge my body and I did not have much downtime to truly recharge my spirit either. Between multiple walking tours, very early morning airport runs, and lugging the heavy pink bag across Europe, I was dead when I got back to Trinidad and even needed an extra day off to recover. Now the good vacation mojo has worn off and I am sometimes too snarky for my own good and physically, between long hours and this impossible quest towards fitness (and old age??), I am always exhausted, and can barely make it through after work drinks.

That being said, I always take a trip in the last quarter of the year to somewhere, and while I am totally not an island vacation type girl*, I am really feeling a vacation of nothing.

*I live on an island. I have been to other islands, including Oahu. Unless that island has some "wow" factor other than blue waters and white sands, I am really not that interested. For that, I can go to Tobago and be quite content.

It was actually the plan for my birthday vacation last year, before those plans were derailed when some ass decided that he would test the reinforcements on the driver's side of my car as I was on my way to my pre-birthday dinner. Yeah, last year's birthday was stressful and was mainly marked by multiple trips to the insurance company, the dealership's service bay etc etc. We will hopefully not have a repeat of this crap this year. I want a vacation of nothing.

Well, maybe not NOTHING. Let's not lose perspective. I need activity but it would not be the rabid tourist/sightseeing type trip. It would just be me, my Kindle, my Tablet (okay, I need to stay connected) and the staff of some nice resort where I can work out, cool down and lay back.

There are a lot of spa and fitness or retreat type vacations out there set against the backdrop of blue seas and white sands, and one I am quite amenable to at this point, as I sit here typing and stretching my strained shoulder and stiff neck and my sore muscles from a 5am run that I probably should have passed on today as I was too tired. But anyway...

Something like The Body Holiday. My friend honeymooned here and said it was perfect. I am sure it is muy expensivo, but one must aim high and if you need to bring it back down to reality, okay. lol.

If Tobago can offer me a full package of fitness, yoga and spoilage, then bring it.

I have been thinking a lot about St Maarten as well - an island vacation I truly enjoyed and would not mind doing again, though this time I would definitely stay on the French side and not the Dutch side. And if all goes well with the fitness plan, well...you never know what can happen on Orient Beach. :-)

Until then, going to exercise my credit card swiping at my friendly Hi-Lo supermarket as I need some food for all this healthy cooking I need to get back to.

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Random Foodie Fitness Friday and Fuzzy Footwear

It's Friday. Thank God. I have been a REALLY good girl the past two weeks. I have not had cake, chips, ice cream or any such nonsense for 2 weeks. I have not had alcohol in two weeks. I have had coffee but I think bad coffee should not qualify as coffee. I have been religiously juicing and drinking all sorts of vegetable and fruit concoctions every single day, and just releasing all the bad mojo from my life.

I have also had a pack of Chee Zees, but that was a desperate situation where I was stuck in traffic for too long, without a traffic snack, and just needed something. Anything. I have not had Haagie for TWO WEEKS!!! I have had a Haagen Dazs mini suffering in the freezer for two weeks  - begging to be savoured. No such luck.

I will be destroying that mini during the course of the weekend. Believe it.

So it has not been too bad. I have been working out regularly, and as tiring and annoying as working out can be (I really hate the process), I never regret it when it is finally over. My post-workout pre-breakfast goodie bag looks very similar to this one, with the only difference being that there are a pack of almonds and some dried cranberries in the jar instead of Wheat Thins. I think I am now over almonds, by the way. Sweet Lord. I may never eat another almond.

The healthy goodie bag.

My post-workout breakfast looked like this, with the elephant, which is not edible, by the way, and with extra almonds (see what I mean about the f...g almonds?), extra protein powder, a couple strawberries, lots of nutmeg, and of course lots of blueberries and almond milk.

Ella and my blueberry protein smoothie

And I wanted to share this photo, which has absolutely nothing to do with anything simply because it made me laugh.

Why? Well, this was regular footwear when I lived in London - indoor footwear - which to me seems quite practical. However, I was told by Boy that this is not sexy. He hated it actually. Hated my entire commitment to staying warm, over looking sexy. I get it cause I was always in layers and sweats and ALWAYS in fuzzy socks and my fuzzy slippers. My answer to him was "Turn the Damn Heat Up!" I think it's cute and the photo reminded me of his cheeky vehemence to my socks and fuzzy slippers and made me smile on this, the last day of a long and exhausting week. I am going to email it to him now and piss him off and remind him how awesome I am.

Happy Friday, everybody.

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Oprah, the Ugly Handbag and the Ugly Face of Racism

The Zurich store where they told Lady O where to park it

Today, I read an article about Oprah being snubbed by a salesclerk in Zurich, as the salesclerk made her own assumption that Miss O simply could not afford the US$38,000 bag.

Miss O - how many billion dollars is she worth again?

But this is not the issue - whether she can or cannot afford the bag.

Besides not knowing her customer was one of the most powerful and richest persons in the universe, the salesclerk clearly made an assumption based on the customer's appearance, and whether it was her race, or what she was wearing, that is just not cool. It happens right here as well. People make assumptions about you based on your ethnicity - whether you are black, white, Asian - there is always something that is ascribed to you because of your race.

The salesclerk probably made the assumption that this black woman, as nicely dressed as she was in her Donna Karan, just did not have the moolah to put down on a ridiculously priced, and dare I say, ugly handbag. But how dare she make that conclusion, and worse act on it? It's one thing to THINK it, but it is just malicious to ACT on it. It spits in the face of where black people have come after years of struggle against this same sort of nonsense, and it is just a basic contravention of the general rules of customer service - if you want to keep it simple and non-controversial.

This is a global news story because of the person it happened to, but it happens to a lot of us. I would tend to agree with Miss O that she was discriminated against because she was black. The shop owner's reasoning that it was a mere "misunderstanding" is insulting. Even worse, when she says Miss O was treated badly because the salesclerk did not recognise her. That makes it right?? So if she knew it was Oprah, she would have let her see the bag? What about if I - non-billionaire, average black global citizen - walked into this store? I would be chased out? Seriously!

Having experienced subtle and not so subtle racial antagonism on my most recent vacation, where for example, a bus driver in Rome refused to let me on a bus out of pure spite, I can relate to what Miss O endured. What is even more insulting is when people, in trying to brush off your personal experience and feelings after such an encounter, try to argue that you - black person - are "too sensitive", "not everything is about race", "sometimes you don't recognise you have a chip on your shoulder". These were some of the suggestions I got while trying to explain my feelings of humiliation and anger after such an encounter, by a well-meaning white person, who simply cannot understand and appreciate MY experience, in much the same way that I may not appreciate his.

The handbag at the centre of it all
$38,000?? Really?

It is sad that when I travel to some places, I am not just single global superstar, but I am the "black tourist". I am usually in the minority, and often singled out, for not always uplifting and positive reasons. So yes, Miss O - even as rich and powerful as she is - is just the black woman walking into a store, which maybe in the salesclerk's opinion, she had no right to walk into. The fact that we still have not one or 10 people like this in the world still, but millions, is heartbreaking - in a world we like to consider progressive, and in societies that consider themselves modern, progressive and rate on global satisfaction indices as some of the best places to live. Best for whom though?

It is sad that these types of experiences can sour your experience with a place. I met some of the best people in Rome but the few not-so-nice experiences threatened to sully my perception of the city because it is not just an attack on me, or on Oprah. It is an attack on a wide cross section of the global village - a village that often is not warm and welcoming to everyone living in it.

When not even my money can motivate you to not act hateful, then I have to completely re-evaluate my desire to visit your shop, your restaurant, your city or your country, because at the end of the day, my worth is more than golden, and if you cannot appreciate that, then I know where I can go. I don't think any of us, should subject ourselves to the ignorance and hatred of others, and we need to not just THINK about taking our worth back, but ACT on it.

And that girl was lucky anyone wanted to even see that handbag - black or not - cause the bag is fugly. I would not pay $38 for that, much less $38,000.

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Food Police to the Rescue

Lunch for work this week

Last night on the primetime local newscast, they showed a story where the city's health inspectors had closed down some more food establishments in the southern city. They have been out and about with a vengeance, ensuring that eating places have their establishments in tip top shape. Many, sadly, have not.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am more than slightly anal about hygiene and when that is married with food that I have to ingest, well...I am a nuisance.

With that being said, it is why I have an adventurous streak when it comes to cooking because my rule is "If I love it, I better learn how to make it". I stopped buying roti, for example, from all unsundry and through the amateur chef's Bible aka the Naparima Girls' High School cookbook (big up my alma mater for being awesome and global) I have been able to whip up a complete roti/curry meal for myself, friends and family, when I need to. That being said, I do still patronise roti shops, but the list of those shops is very, very short.

So when I saw the news item last night, it reminded me why I am drinking celery and spinach this week. It also perhaps provided extra clarification as to why I felt so ill on Sunday, since I had lunch from one of the nasty offending establishments that was closed down yesterday.  I typically avoid food courts like the plague but when this place in particular opened, I thought maybe they were above board. I guess I was wrong. Seeing some of the photos I was disgusted, and it goes to show that "having a name" when it comes to food, and having a nice modern and professional menu board and well dressed frontline staff does not mean what goes on in the back is up to scratch.

A pot observed in one of the kitchens yesterday.
A pot being used to cook stuff for us to eat!!!
Photo credit: Trevor Watson

I guess eating out is like love - your heart may get broken but you don't give up. You cannot cook all the time, and you cannot cook everything. Some may even repeat the saying we use here, "what doh kill, will fatten, and what doh fatten will purge", or yet another,  "what you don't know, won't hurt you". Well, I may not always know what's going on in the back there, chefs and cooks, but I am glad that the authorities are letting us know and I hope that they remain this vigilant about it. In the meantime, I will still eat out, though with serious discretion - though I wonder if I can get any more picky about it. lol.

And I have a salad and some veggies - last night's veggie/fruit cornocupia...

Apples, carrots, a small lime, celery, spinach, cucumbers.
To the juicer we go - yummy.

I have been doing really well with my detox but it has been hard. I decided to go full hundred yesterday and not have coffee, but that was an epic fail and I think I started seeing smurfs, gnomes and fairies by 9.30am. I immediately went to the office kitchen, where all they had was Maxwell House and Nescafe instant, and I made a cup of watery, creamless, near sugarless coffee. It was not gourmet but it did the job. I also got stuck in traffic heading back to South and had no snack, having eaten my banana in the morning. By the time I got home, I was about to eat the dog if he came near me. I ended up inhaling/destroying a pack of Chee-Zees before being grounded enough to juice the fruits and veggies above, and make a soup.

Just a few more days.

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Death of a Foodie Superstar!!!

Yesterday, I felt sick. Deep down sick. And I listened to my body and it was saying...no...it was SHOUTING...

Chile, you keep putting all sorts of crap in me and I have had enough of it, so take jammin'.

The last straw was probably girls' night on Saturday, where besides girl talk and buckets of laughter, we had sushi, wine and cocktails, and then ended the night with Belgian waffles and ice cream with too much whipped cream and girlish nonsense. It was a great evening, but...

I woke up on Sunday morning feeling like crap, and even though I still whipped up a more sensible brunch that same morning for las chicas, I knew I had hit rock bottom. The good times had to stop rollin'.

Honestly, I have not been taking very good care of myself for a while and the effects are seriously manifesting themselves now, through bad skin, weight gain (duh), lethargy and all those yucky feelings, so I am hanging up my cocktail glass and my knife and fork, and busting out my juicer.

I do a detox 2-3 times a year (remember this post-holiday detox moment), as it brings me back from the brink of destruction and more importantly, reminds me that I am at my best when I eat well, and by well, I don't mean overdoing it, but eating healthily. My mojo is gone and well, it's time to get it back. I made an emergency detour after work to run into Hi-Lo to get all I needed for this juice cleanse, cranked up the old juicer, and added celery, spinach, apples, cucumber and ginger to make a very refreshing and natural nightcap after a long work day. I know these are not the awesome food pics you have come to know and love but it's really quite delicious and all natural. I had a green frothy moustache after downing this number.

This week - lots of water, lots of fresh food, usually no caffeine but let's get serious, now. lol. I need my coffee. I will just have one cup instead of 2. Promise.

Annnnnd lots of sweat purging aka exercise.

I need to better manage and channel what little energy I have left into staying focused at the gym. I have enlisted my girlfriends as support and I have also done the unthinkable but something that is on my bucket list, albeit somewhere at the very bottom - signed up for a road race! Jeebus! Now don't get excited, I will not be running any marathons, as I think it is well known...WELL KNOWN...that I hate running. It's just a couple 5Ks but clearly the goal of getting back into all these clothes I have in my closet is not enough motivation. I think my Hi-Lo girls are tired of the pink t-shirt I have been beating every week, and let's not talk about the daily struggle of trying to decide what to wear and which outfit to recycle to go to work. And yet, that has not pushed me over the cliff towards ending the madness yet. However...public embarrassment, or rather, staving off public embarrassment is a great motivator, and yeah, that sense of accomplishment and all that after school special stuff.

No cocktails this weekend. No nothing. And it's a long holiday weekend too. Cripes! I will be home. With my Kindle and my juicer and my water bottle. Wish me luck!

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Friday Fun at Fanatic

Our chefs at Fanatic Kitchen Studio

So last week, on my regularly scheduled day off, I decided to strike against errands, work brought from the office, and hustling and have a DAY OFF. I started the day at Nichossa's Restaurant and Bakery Desserts, with a long, leisurely, and fun breakfast with the mumsy, and ended it at Fanatic Kitchen Studio, with great people and great food.

So while things have been going on at Fanatic for a while, I, in usual laggard style, had not been yet. See, after a long week at the office, and waking up at 3am every day, I go through these phases of petulance and bad-mind, where I rant, "I drive up the highway all week and nothing can get me on that highway on the weekend cause I am too tired", but there are only so many things one can do in the south of the island, and if you cannot eat another sushi roll, or do not fancy having wine served to you in a glass with a straw (yes!! this happens), you suck it up and fill your gas tank, and your coffee tank.

Anyway, the BFF and I moseyed on up to the Fanatic Kitchen Studio for an evening of food and fun. In what can best be described as an almost intimate and interactive cooking/dinner party, the Meet Me @Fanatic event is aimed at getting people to engage and interact the way we used to, sans technology, face-to-face. Do you remember those days? It used to happen around the same time we mailed actual letters to people. Needless to say, that was always going to be a hard sell in a world where everyone is plugged in, all the time, whether it is on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or whatever it is. The smart phones were everywhere, like gadgety gnats. Still, we did “log off” long enough to meet new people – some we did not know at all until that evening, and some we may have only interacted with over the interwebs. Special hello to the gorgeous ladies - Trinichow, Corey from Learning Patience and the bubbly, Introvertly Bubbly. What a treat to meet you all offline, and it was not even planned!

But the real highlight and the real draw was always going to be the food, from the pholourie battered shrimp, to the potato and fish cakes with curry mayo, to the trininista-five star winning pork loin stuffed with cornbread, goat’s cheese and cranberries. That pork was the truth!

Potato and fish cakes with curry mayo

Jambalaya - smelled nice but I did not have any as it had ochroes

The winning pork - pork loin stuffed with cornbread, goat's cheese and cranberries

Veggie Crostata - layers of yummy vegetables

The nameless cocktail was lovely. The "sangria" was...

There were live cooking demonstrations, a mixology demonstration and lots of chatting, as the small group of maybe 30-35 persons, boasted some great individuals. My one comment in aid of improvement would be directed at the drinks service, which was not the best, and could have used some additional bodies for support. As a "drinkie" (foodie, drinkie...get it? lol), I was mildly disturbed by this, as well as the sangria that was not really a sangria. But, the cocktails, when I got them, were splendid and thanks to a couple of the guests for the donation of vino to keep the evening going.

All in all, it was a nice way to spend one’s Friday evening. When I lived in London, there was always something different to do, and I love that we have feverishly moved away from the same old, same old here as well. So, kudos to the Meet Me @Fanatic team for a great concept for meeting new people in an environment conducive for doing so, as I always say, food is the equaliser. Looking forward to the next one.

Not going up the highway this weekend though. I am way too exhausted. Keeping the good times closer to home, but with great girlfriends, you don't need much.

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