Mediterranean Miss

Archive for the ‘product review’ Category

Kalinihta my dear, neglected blogloves!
I’m of two minds when it comes from taking blogger breaks – on the one hand, I appreciate being able to focus solely on my friends and family, but on the other, I feel like there’s so much -you’re- missing out on that I’m selfishly keeping from you. This weekend was one such instance. I ended up going to one of my best friend’s cottages, and spent one of the happiest, prettiest weekends of my life by Lake Rosseau:

Lake Rosseau. Is this not idyllic? The cottages and boat houses were so quaint.

We spent so much time out on the water snorkeling, scuba diving (those of us who were certified), canoeing, docking, talking, laughing, and, oh: wakeboarding. Have you ever heard of wakeboarding? It’s simple, really. You strap yourself to a board and let a speedboat drag you up and out over the water so that you “surf” on top of it and ride the wake. Easy, right?

… not really. Hahaha! With serious encouragement, tips, and laughter (myself included, which is hard to do without drinking half the lake,) I finally made it to a standing position, and was able to ride the wake for a few exhilarating seconds!! Next time we go up, this will be me :

Not me - yet ^~ Next time I go I hope to stay up long enough to get a picture!

• Question: Have you ever wakeboarded? What are your favorite lake/beach activities?

Going canoeing over the beautiful lake was one of the most romantic things Andrew and I have ever done. I’m going to keep that in my treasure chest of favorite memories ^~ (note: yes, I appreciate how silly that sounds, but you should try it – it’s a nice thing to leaf through on a low day.)

Eats for the weekend were very straightforward and mostly at restaurants (I had lots of crab, scallops, and salads), so I decided to save my homemade recipes for you here. Cue the first, something straight out of my childhood that I simplified a bit so that I can eat it every day without needing to consider it an indulgence. Tuna Salad!

This puppy is so easy to make. Two stalks celery, two dill pickles, one package pre-drained tuna. Mix, brown bag, enjoy at work – bring a mint or two, though

When I was little my mom would make tuna salad sandwiches with crumbled pringles. My absolute favorite. Now I ditch the bread + chips, but it's just as good!

• Tuna with chips on white bread – interesting combo! Question: What were your favorite sandwiches as a child? Do you still eat them now, or have you amped them up a bit for better nutritional stats?

While we were up at the cottage, Caroline, another of my very best friends, treated us all to a snack: a Caesar salad made without the super-creamy dressing that I can’t stand. I recreated it immediately for my first dinner home. Can’t you see why?

This my friends is the best salad I've had in a long, long time. It's a decadent Caesar, but without the cream and about 23051 times the flavor.

Would you like to make this dish yourself? It’s easy. The lovely Caroline opted to share her recipe with all of us so that you can make it at home too! Be sure to comment with your meals, I know she’ll read them, and will appreciate your rave reviews

Caroline’s Caesar Salad

The Dressing:

• 2 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• 4 tsp salt
• Cayenne pepper to taste

To assemble:

Rinse, dry and cut up your romaine lettuce. Meanwhile, fry up some bacon. Toss salad and garnish with parmesan (or Parmigiano-Reggiano if you’ve got it, for sure,) and bacon. I used Reggiano and turkey bacon myself (Gasp! Meats! More on this in my next post.) The results, my dears, were drool-worthy:

Fit for a roman.

Just because I couldn't waste any of that amazing dressing.. when in doubt, green beans. Seriously.

Desserts and breakfasts have looked an awful lot like this to celebrate the fruit that is at the peak of its woefully short season: cherries!

A fresh berry dessert posing coyly in front of my vintage typewriter.

Cherry buckwheat porridge is a morning staple right now; this tastes so much better than it photographs.

When I got home, I was ready to rip into a lovely surprise in my mail from PlanetWise: samples of Feline Fresh!!!

Thank you so much to the folks at Feline Fresh! <3

I never thought I’d be the kind of person to get excited over litter, but let me explain. Feline Fresh is a natural ,chemical-free, pine-based alternative to clay litters. It comes in pellet from my experience with it, it works beautifully. The pellets absorb the liquid waste and emit a nice pine scent that covers up the scent of anything solid that sits conveniently atop it.

The product is 100% natural, which is important as your cat invariably ingests and inhales small amounts of litter (ew!). It is also biodegradable and flushable, so cleanup is really easy.

My favorite part, though? The fact that the pellets are large means that there is virtually NO tracking in my tiny apartment.

Thank you, PlanetWise! We’re all converts. In fact.. I think somebody has to try your product out right now:

Dolce on a product-sampling mission? ;3

• Question for you cat-owners out there: What kind of litter do you use? Do you like it? I’ve tried so many myself, and this is the best so far.

On that pellety note, I’m going to call it a night. I’m sorry for the delay in posts, but we have arrived yet again at magazine crunch time. I’m hoping to be back to my regular almost-daily self, but we’ll have to see! I’m on twitter every day though, so I know I’ll chat with you there at least!

Giveaway sighting!

Healthnuttxo’s puffin beanie giveaway <3

Good night my dears,