As many of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook know, last week I had my latest and greatest food challenge to date! I made a 50 person wedding cake for some good friends of ours (after just moving to our new place 4 days earlier!). I was inspired to make the cake because A) it was for friends and B) it was for a very casual reception. Had I been asked to do this by strangers, or for a typical reception, I likely would not have been so bold, as I am not really known for baking, and also because I don’t have any cake decorating skills (or tools) to speak of. I would have NEVER done this a year ago, because prior to then, I never baked. So I just want to shout out to all my Daring Baker buddies to thank them for all the support over the last year and a half and helping me to become more confident in baking! I will never forget the good times we had!

The reception was at a large open air pavilion on the beach, here in Saint Augustine. A few weeks before the reception Roberto and I were out to dinner with the Bride and Groom, Lela and Bubba, and I asked them where they were registered for gifts. They said that they weren’t and all they really wanted as gifts was food for the reception. They were planning a simple BBQ affair with all the trimmings. I asked about a cake – and they didn’t have one. So I asked if they would like me to make the cake as our gift to them. I offered because I really felt that they should have a cake, and be able to do the cake cutting ceremony together – one of the highlights of every wedding reception. They happily accepted and we decided on a carrot cake, as it is both of their favorite.

I had some doubt after the fact, but I decided I was going to focus on making a tasty cake, even if it didn’t end up looking too pretty. That took the pressure off. I had never made a big cake and I had never made a carrot cake before. But I was doing this for good friends, so I stayed focused on that and it was just going to be one of those labor of love deals.

The first thing I did was ask around on Twitter to see of any of my baking guru buddies had any great ideas for ways to do this, and for great carrot cake recipes. They had to be tried and true. I got a lot of suggestions for baking cupcakes. But after thinking about it, I figured that would probably take me a lot longer. I wanted to work with the cake pans I already had (and I only have one cupcake tray) and avoid having to buy anything. So I decided to do a large 13×9 rectangle, a 9” square and a 9” round and then stack them. I decided on a recipe that my friend Toontz from Okara Mountain sent me from one of her recipe books (can’t remember which…). I chose it because it was simple and straightforward and came highly recommended. I did make an addition of raisins and crystallized ginger to the recipe. I also decreased the amount of oil and added water to thin the batter. If I had applesauce on hand, I would have used that instead.

The cake ended up being delicious and a huge success! It was nice and moist, with lots of goodies baked in. I added a bit of ice wine to the cream cheese frosting, which added a nice dimension of flavor – and making it a bit more sophisticated and wedding-y tasting – it also made the color of the icing almost iridescent. I decorated the cake with red Gerber daisies, which were part of their invitation design and some Ginger Sweeties from The Ginger People (I also added some ground up to the cake batter). Those were a HUGE hit. The Bride sure loved those ginger hearts! I noticed on The Ginger People website, they are now $4 a jar! So if you like ginger, you should pick some up!

I got a lot of compliments, and the Bride and Groom were very pleased. I was really happy with the way everything turned out, right down to the decorations – which was the part I was most worried about. But I took the clues from their invitations, and did decorations based on the colors and design. When in doubt use flowers! They are beautiful, don’t require any skill on your part, and are always classy! I also made them two small cupcakes to enjoy on their one year anniversary. CONGRATULATIONS, Lela and Bubs!

Carrot Cake (for one 13×9 inch pan – for the 3-tiered cake for 50 people I tripled the recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups pure cane sugar

2 cups organic AP flour (I used King Arthur)

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup nuts (I used mixed), chopped

2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup baking coconut

½ cup of dark raisins

¼ cup crystallized ginger, ground (I used Ginger Sweeties from The Ginger People)

3 organic eggs, beaten

1 (7-ounce) can crushed pineapple and juice

¼ cup of grapeseed oil (or veg oil)

1/4-1 cup of water (as needed to thin the batter)

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Frosting:

8 oz. Cream cheese (I used a lowfat -and it was FINE)

4 cups organic powdered sugar

¼ cup organic butter

dash of salt

2 TBS ice wine – marsala would work good too

METHOD:

Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nuts, carrots, coconut, raisins and ginger in a large bowl. Stir in eggs, pineapple AND juice, oil, vanilla and water. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 13×9 inch pan. Bake at 350 F for 35-45 minutes. Mix together frosting ingredients and spread over cooled cake. Frosting can be made ahead. Additionally, if anyone is interested in The Ginger People products, here is some contact info. Nicole is awesome and would be more than glad to help you with your ginger needs!

Nicole DeCarli
Marketing Coordinator
ndecarli@gingerpeople.com
(800) 551-5284 x225  fax (831) 582-2495

]]> http://www.leftoverqueen.com/2009/06/09/my-first-wedding-cake-project-carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/feed 55 http://www.leftoverqueen.com/2009/04/20/one-year-anniversary http://www.leftoverqueen.com/2009/04/20/one-year-anniversary#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:48:29 +0000 The Leftover Queen http://www.leftoverqueen.com/?p=1842 Pin it

That is right folks, the Leftover Queen and her King celebrated one year of wedded bliss yesterday. It is hard to imagine that our wedding, and Jamaican honeymoon were that long ago.

Seems like yesterday in some ways, but after reminiscing last night about all that we have accomplished in this year, it is amazing how much has happened in such a short period of time. This is one of the things I have enjoyed about getting older – how an event can seem both long ago and really recent depending on the angle you see it.

We spent the day re-living our wedding day as much as possible by going to the beach where our wedding ceremony took place, collecting sand and shells, and taking a 4 mile walk. The weather was gorgeous and we feel so blessed because looking out the window as I write this, it is dark and raining.

That walk came in really handy a few hours later, because we had dinner at the same restaurant where we had our wedding reception and we had an amazing meal, guilt free! The restaurant is called La Cocina and it is located in the Castillo Real Hotel right on the beach in Saint Augustine, Florida. We have been to a lot of the restaurants here in Saint Augustine since moving here almost 2 years ago. But La Cocina has always been good to us. These guys are masters at food styling and presentation. Every dish that comes out looks gorgeous…but how about the taste? The taste is also top notch. Their menu is varied and sophisticated, but also not the ordinary, which makes it such a great place to go.

Last night we enjoyed Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche as an appetizer. I fell in love with ceviche when we were in Jamaica, eating it at every opportunity. So last night, Roberto ordered it in my honor! Not only was it beautiful, but so fresh tasting. A great way to get the taste buds going!

For an entrée I had New Orleans Salmon with was a salmon steak on top of a potato cake, topped with shrimp Étouffée and a chive cream sauce. I don’t even know where to start with this one. Everything was cooked to perfection, and all the flavors worked together like a magical symphony, right out of Ratatouille, the movie (if you don’t know what I mean, go see the movie)! It was served with grilled asparagus. Since a baby greens salad comes with all entrees, I only ate half. But I also only ate half so that I could enjoy it again today!

Roberto loves sea scallops. So he had Sea Scallops wrapped in Orange Roughy and grilled topped with Beurre Blanc and served with a side of mashed potatoes, that were served piped in a beautiful tower formation. Again, the dish was delicious.

At the end of our dinner, we were brought out a special surprise from the kitchen, a nice piece of cheesecake with the words “Happy Anniversary!” written on the plate with raspberry sauce (which was exactly what they did when they served our wedding cake – except on that day it said “Congratulations!”). It was a wonderful way to end the evening…except that the evening wasn’t over. After dinner we had to slice into our year old wedding cake!

A rum cake with custard filling – and it was still good. The only thing that didn’t really keep to its original flavor was the icing, so we didn’t eat that part. But the rest of it was great. Our cake was made by DeFores Cake Design which is phenomenal!

So now onto our second year of bliss….”They” always say “Find your Bliss” and I feel very lucky to have already found mine!

Stay tuned, more Italian Adventures are on their way!

I am talking about this post of course. It could be taken the other way too. We are not “old” but we are not kids anymore either, so I guess you can take it however you like it!

However, the point is that we are in our second month of marriage (celebrating 2 months on Thursday) and I am just now getting around to posting about the wedding. It took us a while to get our photos, due to technical difficulties and then there was so much catching up to do when we returned. So sorry it’s late, but here it is! I already gave you a look at the honeymoon, but now it is time to write the story of our wedding day and all the wonderful vendors that helped us to make the day even more special. Plus, I know you are all dying to hear about the food and the cake.

I know everyone says this, but we had the best wedding ever. It was small and nearly everyone that we are close to was there to spend the weekend with us – Roberto’s mom, all of my parents, Roberto’s daughters, Gwen and Rachel, my best friend Jen and her family, and several other relatives and close friends. Just having all the people we love surrounding us, made it an amazing day.

We were married early in the day, so we opted to have a Brunch for our reception. I have always loved brunch – there is something just so classic about it, not to mention very budget friendly.

Since we had a small guest list, we were able to procure a beautiful Spanish style restaurant to host it. Saint Augustine, FL is well known for its Spanish history. Although it was held by the British as well, before the Americans, it is the Spanish who will forever be associated with the place. You can see this influence reflected in the architecture all over town, as well as the street names. It is such a beautiful place. When you are coming over the bridge from the beach into downtown, if it weren’t for the American flag, you would think you were in Spain.

For this reason, we really wanted to show our out of town guests what Saint Augustine is all about – get into the spirit of things, since many of them were going to spend some time in the city either before or after the wedding and many of them had never been here before. Therefore, we opted to have our brunch at La Cocina Restaurant located inside the Spanish inspired Castillo Real Hotel . Early on in the wedding planning game, we went to La Cocina to have lunch. We were very impressed by the artistic plating they did. Although the restaurant is very wallet friendly, dining there, you feel like you are in a swanky place. The staff is very professional, helpful and makes really delicious food.

This was our HUGE menu on the big day:

Fresh Fruit Display with Kahlua Yogurt Sauce
Green Salad with Corn, White Beans, Tomato, Avocado, Roasted Peppers, in a Cilantro-Cumin Dressing
Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Salad
Eggs Benedict
Penne Pasta with Shrimp
Alaskan Salmon with Peppercorn Cream Sauce
Sautéed Chicken Breasts with a Mushroom Demi-Glaze
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
Sautéed Garlic Veggies
Garlic Bread
Coffee and Tea

*We also had Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. Our “champagne toast” was done with Moscato D’Asti. *

Everything was delicious. I especially loved the Tomato and Mozzarella salad which had a fantastic balsamic dressing on the side, and the Eggs Benedict, which were cooked to perfection. Also big hits were the salmon, the potatoes and the fabulous garlic bread! I had a bite of everything and I was not disappointed. If you ever are planning a wedding in Saint Augustine, look into having your reception at La Cocina, and be sure to ask for Norberto. Or if you are just coming here for a visit, be sure to check it out for lunch or dinner – it is rated one of the best restaurants in town.

Moving on to the cake. We had several cake tastings before we found the right bakers. As soon as we walked into
DeFores Cake Design and met with Kerry and Sandi, we knew. They had a cute table set up, with a tablecloth, flowers and two dishes with 3 different types of cake on it, accompanied by bottles of water. I had mentioned in one of my inquiry emails that we were looking for a Zuppe Inglese, an Italian layer cake with custard, chocolate and fruit. It is like a glorified trifle and a lot of people refer to it as Italian Wedding Cake (not to be confused with Cassata, a Sicilian cake that is also sometimes referred to as Wedding Cake). Most of the bakers we talked to, especially “wedding cake bakers” said it was impossible. But the amazing thing was, when we stepped into DeFores and asked what kinds of cakes we were sampling, they told us one was Zuppe Inglese. Kerry had baked it just for us, so we could try it. Not only that, but she had never made one before! Now that was amazing. Once we took a bite we were sold. The cake was tender, soft and delicious and the layers were creamy and full of flavor. One of the other samples was a chocolate cake with dark fudge filling. That was heavenly too, so we decided to make each of our tiers a different flavor.

The biggest layer was the Zuppe Inglese. Second layer was the chocolate cake with dark fudge filling and third layer – traditional for the 1 year anniversary, was rum cake with a custard filling! A nod to our Jamaican honeymoon. The cake had a simple, yet beautiful design – exactly what we wanted. No icky fondant here. Buttercream icing with a wave motif, and Sandi (the decorator in the pair) even painted seashells for the top. It was an exceptional cake. I am soo ecstatic that there is still some in the freezer awaiting us! I highly recommend DeFores Cake Design.

All of these gorgeous photos were taken by my friend and photographer, Keri Duesing. I met Keri when we were still living in Ocala. She is an animal and sports photographer who had assisted with many weddings. However, she is expanding her portfolio to include weddings, so we decided it was a perfect idea for her to do ours. She did a wonderful job and I can’t thank her enough. Her website is here (where you can see more of our wedding pictures too!) ,or you can contact her through her email address: krduesing@netscape.net

So we are going to go back in time a little with this post. I hope you all don’t mind the time warp this blog sometimes is! It is hard sometimes figuring out when to post what! The life of a food blogger is all about organization…and sometimes the lack thereof.

Anyway, as you all know, the week before our wedding, Anna, Roberto’s mom came to stay with us. She is a food blogger and member of The Foodie Blogroll!

Her blog AnnaGarau.com features recipes from her native Sardinia. It is a great blog, full of wonderful anecdotes about Sardinia as well as beautiful pictures and she is quite the chef. It is in Italian, so if you want to check it out, and I recommend that you do, use one of those handy dandy translators like this translator from Google. You can even watch a video of traditional Sardinian dancing and singing – something Sardinians are known for. When she was here at our house, she was updating that post and we were having such a good time. I was really pleased to be able to have a “private” lesson with this great Italian cook in my own kitchen when she was here visiting us from Rome.

When I ask Roberto about his favorite foods that he remembers his mom making, the first thing out of his mouth is always Involtini or stuffed, rolled beef. However, he is always vague about exactly what her involtini are stuffed with. Out of desperation, once, I made these “involtini” stuffed with sun dried tomatoes, spinach and feta cheese.

They were delicious, but not involtini. So I was thrilled when Anna was here that she was delighted to show me how to make her involtini. She also made these fabulous eggplant patties that were very tasty. I am certainly making both of these again…in fact in honor of writing this post we are having leftover involtini tonight (The day I post this, may not be the day I wrote this…you know how the time warp is…)

It was very interesting going to the grocery store with Anna to get the ingredients. Many things that she is used to cooking with, just doesn’t exist here, or are not easily found, like pancetta (bacon that is not smoked) and butchers for that matter who can slice the meat super thin for involtini. So we had to be inventive. We got the thinest slices of beef we could find and we had to settle for bacon.

INVOLTINI

The first thing she did was chop a large handful of fresh herbs – parsley and basil. She mixed it with finely chopped onions, a minced clove of garlic and salt and pepper. There might have been a little bit of olive oil too… then she put a bit of this mixture, a thin slice of carrot and a thin slice of high quality parmesan cheese (thankfully we do have that!) onto each piece of meat and rolled the meat up, securing it with toothpicks.

Then she heated some olive oil and a little bit of butter in my cast iron skillet, placed a few sage leaves and then seared the involtini on all sides, cooking for about 10 minutes in a covered pan. Then she added a large drinking glass of white wine and another of water to cover the involtini and then cooked everything, uncovered, over a medium high heat until it reduced down into a “creamy” sauce, turning the involtini every few minutes to ensure even cooking.

The sauce isn’t really what I would call creamy, but it is a little frothy, especially with the cheese inside the involtini melting out and mixing with the wine. Anna says she always cooks beef with white wine, as it makes the reductions creamier and gives the meat a lighter taste and she just likes it better that way! We ate these involtini with my Pap’s Potatoes and Swiss Chard.
Yum!

Then she also made a favorite of mine, meatless meatballs, made from eggplant. They were so good, I wish we still had some in the freezer…

EGGPLANT PATTIES

Anyway, for this dish, she baked a whole eggplant in the oven at 400 F for about 40 minutes. Then after it cooled down a bit, she removed most of the seeds and put the eggplant pulp in the food processor. She added 2 eggs, some breadcrumbs, a large handful of fresh parsley, salt and pepper (there are no exact amounts here guys, just a occhio, to the eye) to the eggplant and processed it all together until it was well mixed, although still a bit chunky. Then she formed them into balls and dredged them in more breadcrumbs, smooshed them into patties, then placed them in the cast iron skillet with hot oil and pan fried them until they were crispy on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. They were soooo good. It made about a dozen.

She also made these lovely Sardinian pastries – it was cheese, soft cheese without flavor (we used havarti since the cheese she usually gets was unavailable), mixed with saffron and stuffed into a thin dough, kind of like phyllo, although the dough we made was a bit thicker. These pastries were then fried in a skillet in olive oil and served with a drizzle of honey. I wish we had pictures of this, but we did a video instead. They were great, froze well and made wonderful breakfasts when we got back from the honeymoon.

All I can say was that in this busy week leading up to the wedding, it was wonderful to be an on-looker and let someone else do the cooking. It was especially nice that it was Roberto’s mom. It was a great time for mother and son to bond in the kitchen and for both of us to learn some new dishes from La Cocina di Anna.
So I will just say Grazie, Anna! Bacione!

Well here I am guys, trying to get back in the swing of regular, full-time food blogging. I am pretty caught up with emails from all you lovely folks out there – thank you for all your well-wishes, they are much appreciated. I have been hanging out and catching up with my peeps on the forum – we have this month’s Royal Foodie Joust underway. The voting has started, and as always, it is our biggest competition yet. You have one more day to cast the vote for your favorite.
Some lucky winner will not only get their personalized apron, but also some Tupperware prizes from Ben at What’s Cooking,
who is not only sponsoring the Joust this month, but also hosting it in my stead. So big props to Ben. *woohoo*

Now on to the food, because that is why we are all here isn’t it? For the food? Well I am going to start at the end – the honeymoon and work my way back to the wedding food and the week before the wedding. I am still waiting on pictures from the wedding, so it kind of defeats the purpose to discuss lovely food without proper documentation. So alas, we start at the end of this adventure into marriage.

So on to Jamaica. In all truth, Jamaica is a food lover’s paradise. Everything is fresh and delicious, from the fruit (Papayas and Mangoes like you have never tasted), to fish and even some of the best tomatoes!Let’s not forget the Blue Mountain coffee and the Scotch Bonnet peppers. There was just so much to try it was great. I sampled things that I had always wanted to try, and tried some things I had never even heard of before. We drank coconut water straight from a green coconut. We snacked on raw sugar cane, refreshed ourselves with sour sop juice, which was not sour at all, but milky and tasting like a cross between banana and coconut with a bit of tang.

We enjoyed the national dish of Jamaica – Ackee with Salt fish – which is made up of Ackee fruit – that looks like scrambled eggs and tastes very rich, and Cod, which Jamaicans call salt fish. I thought it meant salted codfish, but it was uncured. I liked it, but I think the ackee was a little too rich for me.

But the story behind it is great. I arranged for a private beach dinner to surprise Roberto. His birthday was in March and with all the excitement of wedding planning it was not that inspired of a celebration, so I wanted to make sure that he was recognized. So they set up a private table for us on the beach, surrounded by tiki torches. There were tropical flowers on the table and the path that lead us out to the beach was lined with votive candles. We enjoyed a delicious 5 course dinner, full of treats. It started with …

“I’ve got a new love baby, a new love, oh, oh oh” …besides my new husband that is… and it is Smoked Marlin Ceviche. Now I don’t know how something they is already cooked can be a ceviche, but I am gonna let this one slide because it is so freaking good. There were many new tastes and delicious things to be eaten in Jamaica but I must say this little gem was my favorite and I ate it every chance I could get – in sushi, as an appetizer, over pan fried grouper as an entree. Hell, I would have eaten it for breakfast or dessert, if they had offered it. This stuff was addicting. So smoky in its under notes, yet incredibly citrus-y in the high notes. It was like nothing I ever had – but the best was when they served it that night with an ackee fruit and lemon aioli over a slice of pineapple. It was pure heaven. I can honestly say possibly the best thing I have ever eaten, ever.

Next was a Cream of Carrot, Seville Orange and Ginger soup – creamy, refreshing and delicious, served in a coconut bowl. Then the salad course, a green salad with nuts, cilantro, feta cheese and passion fruit vinaigrette.

Then the Entree – 2 huge pieces of fish – Pan Fried Grouper and Salmon, with Garlic Shrimp, over Mashed Potatoes in a Lemon Buerre Blanc with Capers. Talk about fresh. Everything just melted in your mouth like a symphony.

Dessert was a chef’s choice trio: Chocolate Espresso Tart, Tropical Fruit Compote with Coconut Brittle and some kind of citrus pie that I can’t remember… mind you all of this was served with copious amounts of champagne. So that is my excuse!

Irie! The food was amazing as I said, but the service was great. Jamaicans are some of the nicest people I have ever met – always ready to laugh and smile and at the same time, almost everyone we talked to was a philosopher. The first experience we had of this was with our waitress that night, Carlene. We talked a lot in between dishes about family, roots and doing the best you can with what you have. During this conversation, when we were talking about her working at the resort, I mentioned that I really wanted to try Ackee and Salt fish. She also works at one of the restaurants at the resort, and said if she was working there tomorrow, she would talk to the chef and see of he would make it. So the next morning, we go over there, and of course it was there. It was so sweet and heart warming that she did that for me. We saw her there and she gave me a big hug and made sure I knew the dish was available.

This is what I am talking about. There is a spirit to the people of Jamaica that Roberto and I really had an easy time relating to. People there have had a lot of adversity in their lives, but most of the people we met, had used that to learn something from. They have taken it and embraced it, and risen above it. People were proud of their country and happy to talk about all sorts of topics relating to Jamaica, its culture, history and food. They don’t worry about the small things, and value love above all. This is Roberto with one of our favorite bartenders, Fraser, who hopes to move to FL for work. He is the same age now, as Roberto was when he came to the US. So we wished him luck and told him to be sure to work somewhere that his enormous skill, talent and personality would be appreciated.

Always sinting deh yah fi nym (There is always some food here to eat). Other foods of note were Coco Bread which is a soft delicious bread that accompanies a lot of Jamaican dishes, like one of our lunch favorites, Snapper baked in foil with onions and peppers. Also good was the Jerk dishes – we had Jerk Chicken and even a Jerk Burger. It was great to try Jerk in Jamaica – it is so different than the “Jerk” stuff we get here in the US. So spicy, but yet with a bit of sweetness to it. Delicious stuff. Also a local green called Callaloo was a favorite. It is kind of like spinach, but often eaten for breakfast, which I loved. Roberto even had callaloo risotto with dinner one night. Roberto also enjoyed Jamaican pizza – he doesn’t know how they learned but he says the crust is perfect. He enjoyed it several times while we were there, even for breakfast. For me, I loved the use of Scotch Bonnet peppers in so much of the food. I love spicy foods and this was great. Like in this remoulade dressing for grilled romaine. YUM.

Wanga-guts for sure! Ya Mon! – oh yeah, did I mention that we also took a Patois (Jamaican dialect) class…
Really fun stuff!

Then of course there were the drinks – frozen, shaken and stirred. This was a resort, so we enjoyed as much rum as we could take (among other beverages like wine, and cordials, and martinis) and we certainly had more than enough, it will be a very long time until I crave another frozen rum drink.

But my favorites were the ones that contained Papaya and Blue Mountain coffee! YUM. Roberto liked the ones with Coconut the best.

Did I mention Jamaicans also like to cook a lot with Rum? Like Italians cook with wine, so do Jamaicans cook with rum. But we were well behaved, no bangarangs, I promise.

Although, there are incriminating photos, I will not put them here of Roberto dancing on stage during one of the resort shows, Roberto singing O Sole Mio! at the piano lounge and both of us with a big snake wrapped around our necks….ok, well I guess its not so bad, so here you go.

Next time we go to Jamaica – because there WILL be a next time, I would love to see more of it. We really didn’t do much besides snorkeling, swimming, kayaking and taking boat and catamaran trips. But it was what we needed this trip. It gave us a chance to really relax and connect with each other away from the world at large.

Luckily we were able to see the Southern most point of Jamaica and on the way, enjoy the Pirates Caves – caves in the ocean, that we were able to swim into and explore a bit. The water there was about 25-30 feet deep and still crystal clear.

It was a gorgeous place and certainly a highlight of our trip. While snorkeling and swimming we saw lots of sting rays, tropical fish, starfish, sea cucumbers, coral, and someone on our scuba trip even saw an eel.

Also a highlight were the beautiful sunsets! There is nothing more romantic and beautiful than sitting on a beautiful beach, under swaying palm trees, holding your new husband’s hand and watching the sun disappear behind the endless sea.

disclaimer: no starfish were harmed in the writing of this article.

Hi Everyone!

Thank you so much for all your kind words, thoughts and well-wishes for our wedding day! We have not gotten our professional pictures yet, but here is a candid taken by my cousin, Patrick.

I am happy to report that Roberto and I are now husband and wife. I must say it turned out beautifully. There were a few minor snafus as there always are, but it was a perfect day in every other way. We spent a lot of lovely time with family and friends and of course we ate well from the day Roberto’s mom arrived from Rome all the way through the honeymoon! (as if eating well is a change in our normal routine)…

Currently I am sorting through loads of emails, making my way over to the Forum and slowly starting to make my presence online again. So bear with me, as I am still on Jamaica Time.

If you have emailed me directly about anything to do with The Foodie Blogroll, I may not get back to you personally – our first order of business after we get settled is to implement the latest features and all will be notified about the next steps and what you need to do. Until then, hang tight.

But in the meantime, you can look forward to food stories about foods we enjoyed with our family leading up to the wedding, as well as the wedding day food, cake and some new favorite foods from Jamaica. So stay tuned!