About claudia

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So far claudia has created 181 blog entries.

SNACKY

The word "snack" used to conjure feelings of deep seated guilt and images of Cheetos, Doritos, Lays and maybe even a Slim Jim. For years I hoped that someone would create snacks that taste sinful, but don't fill your body with chemicals, preservatives, artificial colors and hydrogenated oils. I have a very long thank you letter in the works for Trader Joe's that keeps growing and growing because they continue to listen to our collective yearnings and make virtually guilt free snacking possible. My focus has never been low fat or low calories and even though organic is preferred, I [...]

By |2018-10-03T16:30:09-04:00August 19th, 2010|

MACCHIATO – WET

This is not the name of an Italian punk band, but my favorito coffee. I used to scoff and snarl, sometimes simultaneously, at people who ordered those half calf, non-fat, caramel, soy whatever the hecks at coffee houses... just like sushi in the 80's, I thought this was just Americans trying to be cool. I now love sushi, but I still try to keep my coffee orders simple. MACCHIATO, WET. The best coffee I ever had was in Spain. It was called a cortado. A cortado is essentially an espresso with a dash of hot milk. "Cortado" means "cut". In [...]

By |2018-10-03T16:30:54-04:00August 11th, 2010|

ANOTHER PU PU PLEASE

Aloha! My fella and I just got back from 7 beautiful days on the Big Island of Hawaii. I expected huge hotels, mumu-wearing tourists and lots of bad key chains. What I found was one of the most beautiful, topographically diverse and relaxing places I have ever visited. I have been to Maui twice, once to run the Maui Marathon ( I bring that up as often as I can) and the second time simply to explore. As majestic as Maui is, there is one thing inherently missing that I found on the Big Island and that is, the spirit [...]

By |2018-10-03T16:31:13-04:00August 6th, 2010|

CHAIN, CHAIN, CHAIN?

If Houston's, Bandera, Gulfstream, Rutherford Grill, West Beverly Grill, R&D Cafe etc. etc. are part of a chain, then chain me up! I will tell you that none of these restaurants belong to a "chain", but in fact, a privately held restaurant group. Hillstone aint no Applebee's. Fans would shudder at the comparison and rightly so. Houston's, now Hillstone, is one of my top 5 favorite restaurants. Stop gasping food snobs. Eat there and you will know why. I am going to share a few pics from Hillstone in San Francisco, followed by a list of reasons why I heart [...]

By |2018-10-03T16:32:43-04:00July 21st, 2010|

BAGGING SUSTAINABILITY?

How many of those fabulous eco-friendly, logo-branded reusable bags do you have? You can see how many I have in the photo above and that doesn't even count the ones in my car or hidden away in the closet. Re-usable bags are a great idea gone sorta wrong. I remember when Trader Joe's began rewarding customers who re-used their paper shopping bags by entering them into drawings where they could win groceries. That was a great idea. Whole Foods donates money to charity when customers bring their own bag or offers a bag credit. Today, every grocery store in America, [...]

By |2018-10-03T16:33:25-04:00July 13th, 2010|