Juicy juice

I know I just said I’m not writing that much in search of devoting more time to my PhD… but I’m already here and I’d like to share with you my story of the best breakfast I’ve had.

Definitely, some of my best food stories go back to lovely Madrid. This is one of those stories. It was an early morning, maybe not that early, Hubby and I were starving. Most of the restaurants were closed. We walked along Calle Mayor and then took the diagonal to the Plaza Mayor, one of the most famous squares. We got there and saw that only two places were open, Museo del Jamón being one of them. We continued wondering around, and went downstairs towards the place where the Mesones are. We walked up the street and got to a magical place called Mercado de San Miguel. Magical, of course, as most of you know by my posting by now, relating to the fact that there was a lot of glorious food there.

We walked around, and were kind of disappointed to see that the food there was mainly composed of tapas. There was however a small post that sold fresh juices. We went there and watched while the girl made a couple of juices for some people there. After careful consideration, we decided to get a juice and then return to Museo del Jamón for breakfast.

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Patiently waiting in line, Hubby and I were studying the possible ingredients. When it was our turn, the girls told us that we could select just fresh orange juice (OJ) or a mixture of OJ with a number of other fruits. Hubby ordered a juice composed of OJ, banana and strawberry, while I selected grapes, mango and OJ. The girl added a few ice cubes and sugar for Hubby’s, splenda for mine. Each juice was blended for about a minute and served on covered glasses.  They were both really tasty, cool and of course super fresh. Plus, I think really healthy.

We then went back to the plaza and sat happily at the Museo del Jamón. Now, I first thought they might say we couldn’t bring beverages from another place, but they didn’t say anything. Thus, this is of course a first positive point for them. We then read the menu, it was full of interesting choices… second point. After careful studying, Hubby selected a complete breakfast which included two fried eggs, bacon, toast and strawberry jam, plus an orange juice! I ordered what look as a tasty egg and ham sandwich, it included tea.

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When they brought the food, I was really excited. My sandwich looked just so cute with the egg yolk showing out a tiny whole made on the top bread. It tasted really good as well, I was enchanted! Hubby’s breakfast was not that bad either. He said it was tasty and he enjoyed the bacon that came along with it. And yes, he had his market juice, plus the orange juice included on his dish.

We were so happy with the results we repeated this combination for almost the entire stay there!

© mylunchanddinner 2012

I apologize

Hello dear friends,

I know I haven’t been writing much lately, but between Holy week and some other Holidays, plus I do have to start working more on my PhD, and it’s all driving me crazy! Well… Ok, I confess, I was a bit crazy already.

Now I don’t know if I am disappointing anyone or if it’s just a personal feeling. I will continue sharing my food stories, but I guess it won’t be an everyday thing as I have been doing for the first month. However, I do believe I will get back to writing more as soon as I have more advances on my dissertation.

Additionally, I have now on hold the Jamie Oliver Challenge. The main reason for this is that I just came to realize that I will be after all attending one of my friend’s wedding on a near trip to Mexico.  I am afraid my dress won’t zip up unless I loose 9 pounds! I’m a bit scared, but I do have two months to diet and exercise.

I guess this is about it for now, hope you all understand and don’t give up on me!

Take care everyone!!

 

Happy ending

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Hubby was planning where to go on Sunday since last week. He decided we were going to see the Ujarras ruins, go have lunch at a place where one catches their own trout and eat dessert at the Coffee Plantation Restaurant. So after breakfast and getting ready, we got into the car and off we went.  He was really happy to see that the construction in the highway were done and traffic was not that bad.  However, when we were getting close to Cartago, a small town we had to drive through, there were a lot of cars “parked” on the streets.  I started looking around and saw a large group of horses, more than a 1000 easily, and so got to the conclusion that there was going to be what the Ticos call Tope, a horse parade where all you see are horses walking.

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Given that Hubby was hungry, the amount of cars and horses got on his nerves, so we decided to give a u-turn and drive back home.  On our way back, he kept asking me where I wanted to go, but I had absolutely no idea. I started giving ideas with the help of a webpage that presents “all” the restaurants in Costa Rica, but he was not happy with the results. He then proposed to go to… McDonald’s. I was not very happy with his suggestion, but decided discussing the idea was going to be a waste of time.

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Getting in McDonald’s was a triumph. There were about 20 cars making a line for the Auto-Mac. The parking lot was completely full, and people were walking all around to get to their cars.  Once inside, I sat on one of the few tables that were free, and waited for Hubby to bring the food. After setting the food on the table, he went to get the beverages and ketchup. I sat looking at the fries and noticed that the big fries are a waste of money given that the amount of fries was exactly the same as the medium ones. The nuggets were good, crispy and hot. Now, this is not our first trip to MD, so I do have to warn you… if you want to eat there, you have to make sure the place is packed and there is a long line to order. In this way, you are sure you are getting fresh food just made, otherwise, they may give you a hamburger that has been sitting there for hours.

After lunch, we crossed the street to see puppies at the pet store, but here were none! I was kind of sad given that since I can’t have a dog at home because of the building’s policy, I like to at least look at them… After this third disappointment, we went to our car. I was still hungry… Hubby made a last suggestion; let’s go with the french guy he said.

I was so excited by the fact that I am sure my eyes glowed.  We got to Chez Christophe in about 4 minutes. We sat on a table at the terrace and enjoyed the good weather while waiting for the waiter. He soon came and asked our beverage orders; we both asked for tea. The waiter brought the tea box so we could choose. I picked a strawberry-mango infusion while Hubby grabbed a digestive tea.

I then proceeded to the counter, where my dreams came true. I couldn’t decide on what to order. I was hoping for a pain au chocolat, but true to be told once I was standing looking at all the desserts I completely forgot about it. I was supposed to go back to my sit and order the pastries, but I couldn’t help it, I had been seduced by the sweet looks of everything that was standing under the lights.  I asked the girl for a lemon pie and an apple tart.

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When Hubby saw my happy face while holding a plate, he decided to do the same.  He came back with a moccha cake, a three chocolate cake and a fruit pie. Now, don’t be shocked, all this delicious treats are made mini-size. It’s not like we ate a huge piece of each. It all looked lovely. I first had a try of Hubby’s choices… they were all really good, specially the moccha cake which had the perfect combination between the sweetness of chocolate and the bitterness of coffee.  The three chocolate cake was a bit too much for me, but Hubby loved it. And the fruit tart was tasty, sweet and just in the right size.

As for my pastries… the lemon pie was really delicious. The filling was soft, the bottom crust crispy. The taste of the lemon was enhanced by the sweetness of the crust. Mmmm, super good! The tart was even better, it was sweet, creamy, buttery and crunchy. It was the best of the best… just sublime! I think that a trip to Costa Rica wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t have a taste of this lovely sweet pieces of heaven. So don’t forget to visit Chez Christophe if you come visit… it is located just across the west side of Paco commercial center.

© mylunchanddinner 2012