Archive | Travel RSS feed for this section

Rex Cream @ Isabela

9 Jul

A few weekends ago,  I went on a weekend trip with my friend Rosani to the beautiful town of Isabela, located in the northwest side of Puerto Rico.   Isabela is where my grandfather’s family is from. 

We loved visiting Isabela when I was younger – to visit the family and to go to the beach.  Isabela is a surfer town so there are beaches for everyone.  We stayed at a nice resort, but we are locals and do not like to be confined to resort world.  When we went into town, it was sooooooo hot that my body only craved cold things instead of lunch.  That’s when we discovered this little ice cream shoppe called Rex Cream.  The place is called and it’s located in a side street off the Plaza.  Their ice creams looked like gelatos, but they are all done with milk, cream or water.  None of them include eggs.  These were sooooooo good that we went there 2 days in a row.

Rosani ordered Coconut the first day and Corn the second.  Here’s a picture of the Corn ice cream.  Can you see the pieces of yellow corn?  They can garnish them with cinnamon if you like.  They tasted creamy, sweet and made of real stuff… none of that crappy artificial fillers.  We have a place in Lares that supposedly was where the corn ice cream was invented… Rosani’s palette says the Isabela version is way better.

I went for something tangier – Tamarind and Passion Fruit.  Mine were more like sorbets.  Super tangy, super refreshing…  I ordered Tamarind the first day but the second day I got a combo cup.

Every time we went, we walked over to the Plaza to sit on a shaded bench and eat our ice creams.  Unfortunately, the feeling was not too lasting because the heat would melt our ice creams really fast.  But they’re sooo good, it was all worth it.

If you’re ever in the Isabela area, stop by Rex Cream and have a delicious ice cream in my name…

The Bounties of Vermont…

8 Apr

 

I recently visited Vermont for the first time…  The main purpose of my visit was to ski at SugarBush, a lovely ski resort right in the middle of Vermont.  My best friend’s dad has had a slope-side apartment there for the longest time, and it was this year the first time we’ve been able to sync our schedules and go together.

I am not the one to bring gifts or souvenirs back from a trip – but I like to purchase items that are indigenous to the place I am visiting…  so I need to share with you about these true Vermont beauties:

Vermont’s Maple Syrup

Oh goodie…  the variety of maple syrups can be overwhelming sometimes.  I learned about Vermont Fancy, Grade A Amber, Grade A Medium, etc.  I can get at home the Grade As, but I had never seen or tasted Vermont Fancy – so that’s what I bought as a souvenir.  I also bought some maple spread, maple butter and some maple candies.  You’ll be seeing some of these maple jewels in various upcoming posts… I see pancakes in my future… 

Vermont’s Apple Cider

We went past Cold Hollow Cider Mill…  but it is really hard to miss, because their cider bottles are EVERYWHERE!!!  Truth be told… I do not know the difference between apple juice and apple cider, but I LOOOOOVED this apple cider.  It’s like the freshest, sweetest unfiltered apple juice you have ever had.  If you’re ever in that neck of the woods, you need to try their cider.

 

 

Vermont’s Cabot Cheese

 I an a Cabot cheese lover.  What I love about Cabot cheeses is they explicitly mention in their packaging they do not use animal rennet in their manufacturing.  My favorite variety is the Extremely Sharp Hunter’s variety, which is as sharp as you can get here – to me, it’s perfect to eat with strawberries or green grapes.  We were able to go to one of Cabot factory store where we were able to taste test many varieties… and I found the Vintage Variety – aged for 24 months hand-selected by the company’s president… this is even sharper than the Hunter’s kind… it’s AWESOME!!!!  I just wish I could have been able to bring home a larger piece.

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

We visited Ben & Jerry’s factory tour one afternoon after skiing.  Even though most Ben & Jerry’s ice creams are not karma-free (because they contain egg yolks in the base recipe), they do offer a variety of organic flavors and fruit sherbets.  The new flavors we tried at the factory were AMAZING!!!!  And if you have a B&J shop nearby, stay tuned to their FREE CONE day coming up on April 29th.

 

It’s all right there on VT Route 100 – Visit and taste all the bounties Vermont has to offer… you can take a stab at skiing too if you’d like, you know…

 

The Best Spanish Olive Oil

5 Feb

This past Summer I spent a little over 2 weeks in Spain.  I visited Madrid, Pamplona, Zaragoza, San Sebastian, Barcelona, among others.  Near Barcelona, we visited this little town called Villafranca del Penedés.  It was a must we visited this town, as my friend Walter’s family is originally from there.  The proof – there was a street named after him… it was amazing.

 vacaciones-espana-julio-2007-361.jpg

But what I never thought I would find in Villafranca was one of the best extra virgin olive oils I have ever tasted.  As part of a tour to Villafranca and Montserrat, we visited the Bodegas Torres.  I was afraid this was going to be one of those tourist traps… but the local winery, well known for their Sangre de Toro wine and one of my dad’s favorite red wines, as a real surprising treat.   Besides the winery, Bodegas Torres has a gastronomy division named Torre Real which, among other things, makes olive oil made from Arbequina olives.  According to information I have read since then… Arbequina olives are the “crème de la crème” as Spanish olives is concerned.

 vacaciones-espana-julio-2007-200.jpg             vacaciones-espana-julio-2007-223.jpg

I brought back a bottle of this wonderful olive oil… and now, no other olive oil stands next to it.  I ration it so that I can enjoy it as long as I can…

 aceite-y-vinagre.jpg

To me, it’s the perfect olive oil to dress a salad, to dip great crusty bread or to drizzle over a soup or pasta as a finishing touch.  And the most amazing thing – this olive oil only cost me 5 Euros.  Not bad for such high quality.  They also make white and red wine vinegars.  I have not tried the vinegar yet – I have like 7 open vinegar bottles, so I would like to decrease that inventory before I open a new now.

I good friend from high school lives in Barcelona now and I have asked her to please bring me 3-4 bottles of the Arbequina olive oil when she comes to Puerto Rico in the next few weeks.  If you have access to this wonderful product, I urge you to try it.

Do you have any favorite olive oil?? Tell me all about it.