Underage family fun at Schnebly's

WINE TIME: Schnebly's has a fun open tiki hut area were you can bring your own picnic or dinner and enjoy free live music (like we did!). Be warned, it can get very loud, especially since a lot of people like to have large parties there. The winery has beautiful gardens and waterfalls for a lovely nighttime stroll.

Yes, it blows being underage, especially when everyone else is enjoying a nice glass of wine. Thankfully, my parents are a bit understanding and allowed me to sample some of the bizarre and oddly delicious wines Schnebly's had to offer. South Florida is known for its heat, the beach and tropical fruits. Logically, the creators of the winery decided to take advantage of these factors and make a wine blend from succulent native plants, including leeches, mangoes and avocados. I went on a tour of the grounds with my sister, aunt and uncle. The tour guide detailed their special fermenting process (which I understood because I taught myself anaerobic/aerobic respiration/ fermentation about a month ago for bio.) I learned that unlike other large wineries, Schnebly's does all of their bottling on site, from fruit to corking the bottle. I found this very impressive, especially with all their different wines. After the tour, my mom let me sip on a variety of wines, accompanied by chorizo and crackers. Despite it's notoriety at the winery and my personal love for the fruit, the lychee wine tasted quite syrupy and treacly. Similarly, Schnebly's had a coconut, guava and passion fruit wine that all tasted way too sweet! YUCK. Perhaps they would be better served as a dessert wines, not dinner. Even still, it's not that I don't like fruity cocktails- in fact, I love Sangria ( maybe that's because it tastes more like a grape fruit juice?), these wines just left me wanting a tall glass of water to rinse my mouth clean. They did, however, have a nice avocado wine that was drier and smoother that I liked. Overall, it was a fun time. I enjoyed watching my parents and uncle & aunt dance to music ( what a sight to see!) , the live atmosphere and temporary escape from the hustle of city life.

The Beach Burger

FISH FOOD: Above is a seafood burger made from fresh shrimp, scallops, conch, red and green pepper, red onion, celery and lots of hot sauce & lime! This tropical delight was served with a mango chili chutney on top of crisp romaine lettuce, red onion and tomato. Oh, and some sweet potato fries on the side. Yum!

I would be lying to you if I told you cooking this was easy. In fact, it involved haggling with a fishy man, a trip to the hospital and a lot of hot oil. Okay, so maybe it was a bit of a disaster but, one hell of a tasty one!

I write this still in my apron, a little hot (like a my burger) and a little sweaty (not like my burger) from a 2 hour cooking experience. Fortunately, I victoriously survived and conquered the 5napkins burger challenge burn, cut and scrape free... unlike my mother... but I'll get to that in a second.

Today I entered the 5napkins challenge and crafted my very own interpretation of a Miami burger. I knew I wanted to make something original to WOW the judges but still remain true to the flavors and spices that makes Miami...well Miami. After consulting various special individuals including my mom, dad, best friend (Ali) and her mom, I decided to stray away from the typical Latin route and go with a fresh seafood approach. "A conch burger!" I initially decided, but a conversation with Ali's mom made me realize that conch was going to be a difficult (and expensive $$$) item to buy.

With two grocery stores down, I finally struck gold (...well, actually fish) and found some fresh white conch at the Publix closest to my house. The old fish man behind the counter with an indistinguishable accent was quite helpful but tough like the pesky rubbery conch I purchased from him. He wanted to sell me that darn fish for $13 a pound! After buttering him up a bit, we made a little arrangement. I ended up buying 1/3 lb of fresh shrimp, 1/3 lb of fresh scallop and 1/3 lb of fresh conch. This small alteration in my recipe saved me a good $6! Win? I think so.

I was so excited to get out of the parking lot and home when it finally hit me.

No, I don't mean a car. I mean multiple cars. That's right, I was stuck in Miami's 5 o'clock traffic on US1. So both my fish and I broiled in my old black jeep. Did I mention the air conditioning doesn't work?

I immediately put my fish in the fridge once I arrived home. Mom greeted me and offered to make some delicious sweet potato fries for a side dish. I agreed to it and got down to work with her. She worked diligently and quickly on the sweet potatoes with a cutting board contraption while I searched for Old Bay seasoning. I warned her to be careful as the instrument she was using to slice the potatoes looked like a guillotine for fingers.

Twins, right?:

http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/297039689/multi_function_vegetable_slicer.jpg

http://www.magicandnoveltyoutlet.com/images/uploads/fingerchopper.jpg

A minute after I uttered the famous last words, I heard an "OW!". She had sliced her finger. I won't get into the details since some of you can only stomach food but, let's just leave it at "it was bad". I raced her to the urgent care center and a doctor treated her battle wound. Later, we returned home cleaned, sterilized and began cooking in the kitchen once more- this time more carefully.

At home, I simmered my fish burgers and mango chutney in hot popping veggie oil ( in separate pans, of course). I knew it was only a matter of time that I would get burned. Thankfully, that did not occur. Instead, all my struggles were finally rewarded with delicious tasting food that made even my wounded MVP mom smile with joy.

I'll post up my recipe tomorrow morning. But until then, you should definitely tell all your friends and family to "like" my "Beach burger" on www.5napkinburger.com/miamicontest because as you can tell, it was quite the beach to make.

Tonight's dinner: Nicoise salad

VACATION

Paradise in a container.

Rachel Ray...try to beat this 30-minute meal!

This is a simple and healthy fish meal that everyone loves!

Farmer's Market finds

This is a meal I made a while ago with ingredients I purchased at the Coral Gables farmer's market one morning. Featured is a fig and provolone ravioli with a homemade basil tomato sauce accompanied by sauteed mushrooms & zucchini. Savory and sweet with one bite!

GRADUATION from dinner to desserts

Here are some of the delicious desserts I enjoyed at my sister's graduation dinner.

On the left is creme brulee with whip cream and a strawberry. To the right, homemade doughnuts a la mode with whip cream and caramel drizzle. Yum!

ROBERT IS HERE

Honey, I'm home!

Coconuts!

In Puerto Rico, vendors would sell these chilled treats on the side of the road. Here are instructions to crack open a little piece of heaven:

www.howtoopenacoconut.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Cheers to the new year! Have a great and safe one!