Results matching “rose” from Jeanette Hada's Wellness and Happiness Blog

After an excellent appointment with my midwife's assistant/doula in Menlo Park, my friend and I headed to downtown Los Altos to indulge in something light and sweet at Satura Bakery. If you've not yet been, I highly suggest taking a trip there on a Thursday afternoon. After eating one of the best choux creams in my life, we walked over to the farmers market. This is one of the rare markets that stays open later in the day. We sampled different types of flavorful cherries that were sweet and not the least bit sour, hearty Jersey Brand milk cheeses, super sweet sweet peas, and dark juicy red strawberries. I left with five small, but crisp and sweet, organic white peaches from Kashiwase Farms, organic Spring Hill Farms garlic curds (made from fresh mozzarella), and also one of their pesto jack blocks, melt-in-your-mouth roasted rosemary fingerling potatoes (we ate those there), and a small basket of unusually pointy, but remarkably sweet strawberries!! Oh, and I also purchased five of Satura's choux creams for Naoki -- three vanilla and two green tea flavored. Forgive all of these foodcentric posts. Occupying my mind most of the time is food, house hunting for friends/clients and ourselves, and this baby.

If you're going on a cruise, I would recommend Royal Caribbean. Their level of service, cleanliness, on-board entertainment, and food is amazing. This was our third time cruising with them and we had the best time ever! The weather was gorgeous. One evening as the sun set, a full moon rose at the same time while dolphins swam next to our ship, the "Serenade of the Seas". Guiltily I must admit, my favorite time was spent on the ship. This cruise was an incentive trip we earned earlier this year. Can't wait to see what the company has planned for our next incentive! Interested in coming on the next trip? It's always more fun going with friends (old and new). Here's a quick slideshow of a few of the pictures I snapped with my Treo phone... Enjoy (you can turn the sound off by clicking the speaker icon) Places we visited were Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallerta. The last two ports were wonderful and I'd be tempted to fly to PV again for a short vacation. The food and people were lovely there. The other two cruises we went on were to the Caribbean (The Bahamas and Jamaica) and Alaska (Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan). Hopefully the next cruise will be aboard the new ship "Freedom of the Seas". Our ship the Serenade was twice the size of the Titanic and Freedom is twice the size of the Serenade! They have an ice skating rink, boxing ring, shopping mall, rock climbing wall, wave pool to surf (yes, that's right surf!), and so much more. Oh yeah, one of the best acts on the ship was an excellent magic show by a magician named Chad Chesmark. He and his show was beyond amazing and I had a stomach ache for the rest of the night from laughing so much! Though this cruise was a gift from the company I work with and partly a vacation, there was an informative and interesting health and business workshop held every day on the ship. Of course it was optional and part of the luxury was being able to watch it in our room!

Ever since returning from Taiwan in 2005, I've really enjoyed the ritual of having a cup of tea after dinner. There was a particular mulberry tea from there that I loved, but finished off within the first few weeks after our return. If I have the chance to visit again, I will make a special trip to purchase the same brand again. Other mulberry teas just don't seem to have that same deep flavor. Mulberry leaf tea is known to be good for lowering blood pressure and maintaining blood sugar levels.

The tea I had this evening was made with ginseng and dried pink rose hips. I was a little put off when I first opened the teabag as it smelled like potpourri, but after brewing it for a few minutes it made the prettiest and most aromatic cup of tea. Rose hips are high in vitamin C and can also be eaten. The ginseng teabag that you add separately has a flavor that takes getting used to. It's definitely an earthy tasting brew.

Sunday was an interesting and relaxing day. I had the pleasure of catching the last day of Camille Rose Garcia's exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Art. Her stunning art is a vibrant display of sparkles and intense color.

The movies and dramas I enjoy most involve food. I love stories that center around cooking and people coming together to eat. It's even better when they take time to admire the dishes or ingredients.

40% fewer calories than processed sugar / 75% less carb intake

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Xylitol is a natural low-glycemic sugar manufactured from birch trees or other natural xylan-rich sources. It's metabolized independently of insulin and is safe for diabetics or anyone seeking a healthier lifestyle. No sugar highs or lows.

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Find it at your local healthfood stores (such as Whole Foods) or online at http://www.emeraldforestsugar.com

Find more information by Googling or visiting http://www.wikipedia.org

Blessed by beautiful sunny skies and warmer temperatures, I set out to attend this year's "Rivers of Chocolate" event in Saratoga, California. It was held at the picturesque Mountain Winery nestled high in the hills. We arrived early and were given tasty chocolates from Rocky Mountain Chocolates while we waited. Upon entering the event, we were handed commemorative wine glasses (to try the different spirits).

Since this was my first time visiting the winery, I anticipated a bunch of businesses lined up in an auditorium of sorts handing out samples of their chocolate specialties. What greeted us there was a lovely chateau, pitched white tents along the Plaza (including a few poolside), and a rustic two floored building, all housing the most delectable chocolate treats, savory dishes, and/or decadent icy dessert!

Warm bread pudding with white chocolate sauce from the talented young pastry chefs at Mission College, ahi tuna tartar on crisps from Spago, a variety of skewered items (cream puffs, rice krispie treats, strawberries, marshmallows, shortbread, brownies, etc.) to dunk under the white or dark chocolate fountains, tiramisu tarts, latte slushies, delightful cheeses from The Grapevine (Willow Glen - San Jose), Vemeer Dutch Chocolate Cream vodka over ice (two of the nicest ladies served these!), truffles laced with rose essence by Cacao Anasa, and the perfect chocolate coated marshmallow lollis by Schurra's Candy Factory were a few of the most memorable pleasures I indulged in.

On one floor, I fell in love with the Epoisses, a delicious and extremely soft French cheese, and on the second floor I went crazy for the chocolate port (Deco Port) from Sonoma Valley Portworks. Those two paired so wonderfully together, my dear friend was gracious enough to bring me to Beverages and More to pick up a bottle. (Yes, yes the true wine/cheese connoiseurs are probably balking at the combination, but my God I love it!) Now I need to wait til Tuesday to find my way to The Grapevine to buy that cheese!



















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Epoisses + Deco Port = LOVE

I just returned from an amazing night at the ballet. The opening was magnificent and truly like a Renoir painting come to life. Les Sylphides was my favorite performance of the evening, as I love Chopin. Nocturne in F major played as the curtain rose and all the dancers posed motionless behind a blurred, gossamer screen to give it a dream-like, diaphanous look. As that lifted, the backdrop was of a moonlit park with lush green trees. It was so breathtakingly beautiful -- I really regret not bringing my camera.

http://www.balletsanjose.org/

I had an interesting discussion this evening with a friend on the topic of natural versus synthetic supplements. We, well at least most of us, are conditioned to believe that natural is always better for us than synthetic; however, it appears that it would depend on which type of product we're taking and whether there are any allergies involved.

Take for example melatonin. I've read that the synthetic version (which usually comes in the form of a white tablet) is often safer than the "natural" version (frequently a brown speckled pill). There seems to be less of a likely chance of consuming a tainted supplement that might have had the hormone extracted from a sick animal.

In the case of vitamin C, here's a short paragraph taken from an article on ediets.com -

There has been a lot of hype about the superiority of vitamin C with rose hips or esterfied vitamin C, as opposed to the synthetic form, ascorbic acid. Is there any truth to these claims? The answer is no.

The body recognizes and absorbs all three types of vitamin C equally. Therefore, if you have been paying an extra three to four times more for the “natural” vitamin C thinking that it is of higher quality, think again and save yourself some money! The only reason why a person may want to consider taking a natural vitamin C is if they are allergic to citric acids. However, if you are allergic to pollen then you probably should take the synthetic vitamin C.

There's an incredible amount of information available on Wikipedia.org...