NYC with kids!

Years ago I started a blog about things to do, eat, and places to shop in New York City for all of the out of town guests I had over the 10 years I lived there.  It was so much easier to put it all in one place for them to look at before coming to visit me!  The posts are still up but haven't been updated much since I left NYC about 3 years ago.

Here's where you can go to find the info:
www.dahliasnyc.blogspot.com

On my way to NYC!

Now that I have kids, I thought I'd add a little to that by including all of the fun places I take my kiddos when I go!  Here's a list of my top 10 places to go with kids:

1.  Central Park Zoo
My daughter loves this zoo and especially loves to see the penguins and sea lions.  I love this zoo because it's small and manageable!  You can get it all in before naps!  This time around we went in the afternoon and got to see ALL of the animals!  We saw the grizzly bear, red pandas, snow leopards, penguins, and sea lions!  It was great!  We like to walk along 59th street afterwards and see all the horse drawn carriages and then have some lunch at the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle or my favorite Tomato Soup at The Smith in Lincoln Center!
www.centralparkzoo.com

2.  Transit Museum
We LOVE to go to the transit museum and go every time we're in NYC.  My daughter loves to play on the city buses and walk through the different trains!  It's located downtown Brooklyn and is underground just like going into the subway station.  Afterwards, we usually walk to the Barnes and Noble to use the bathroom and read some kids books!
http://www.nytransitmuseum.org/

3.  Brooklyn Children's Museum
This is an all day event!  There is soooooo much for the kiddos to do here.  There are water exhibits to play in, sand boxes, dress up and play areas, an area specifically for babies and toddlers to play in, special art exhibits, an outdoor greenhouse, the list goes on and on.  This is a FABULOUS place for the kiddos (especially on a rainy day).  They also have a cool, food truck styled cafe upstairs that's great for having lunch!
http://www.brooklynkids.org/visit/

4.  Children's Museum of Manhattan
We didn't get to make it here during this trip because it was closed for construction, but have gone several times in the past.  There are different floors of activities for the kiddos.  Lots of slides, transportation activities, puzzles, play areas, art areas, etc.  This is another all day event that is especially great for rainy days!  In the summer they also have a water area out back!  One of my FAVORITE dessert places is also located across the street if you have a chance to visit Cafe Lalo http://cafelalo.com/

http://cmom.org/

5.  Museum of Natural History
My daughter loves the dinosaur exhibit the best.  We like to walk through and see how tall they are and just wander through the different exhibits.  There is also a secret children's room (The Discovery Room) and story time that happens at the museum for those parents "in the know". You have to go early and get a number in order to enter.  The area is very small so they only allow a certain number of families to attend each story time.
http://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/families/discovery-room/

6.  Fort Tryon Park
I used to live up in Washington Heights and this park was one my FAVORITE things about living up there!  I still believe it's a hidden gem that not a lot of people know about.  There's a beautiful flower garden, gorgeous views of the Hudson and Jersey, playgrounds, grass spaces, The Cloisters museum, and the list goes on and on!  If you haven't made your way up there before - you REALLY should!  If you walk down the street a little there is a great little grocery store, coffee shop, and diner (Vicky's Diner) if you want to grab a bite!
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fort-tryon-park

7.  The High Line
This above ground park was built on the old train tracks that used to run through Chelsea on the west side of Manhattan. We love to go and just take a walk! It's beautiful to walk through and get a different view of the city!  We also love to get an artisan popsicle from People's Pops (we love the soursop the best http://www.peoplespops.com/ ) while we walk!
http://www.thehighline.org/

8.  Bronx Zoo
As a teacher in NYC I went to the Bronx Zoo twice a year, every year and the trick I've learned is to NEVER do the whole zoo in one day!  It's soooooo much more enjoyable when you learn about something specific, go see that exhibit, have a picnic lunch, and go home!  Then you can do it all over again when you read and learn about something else!
www.bronxzoo.com

9.  Subways, City Buses, and Ferries
My daughter is OBSESSED with anything related to transportation and although she loves the transit museum, she loves actually RIDING on these things even more.  Just getting on the subways, city buses, and even the ferry to Staten Island are all great experiences!  If you take the Staten Island Ferry across, you get a free look at the Statue of Liberty along the way!
http://www.siferry.com/

10.  Brooklyn Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge Park
We love to take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and see all the sights and hear all the sounds!  We also love to walk along the Brooklyn Bridge promenade and walk through the Brooklyn Bridge park.  These are all in the same general area, but are too much to do all in the same outing.  We love to get homemade ice cream from just under the Brooklyn Bridge (http://www.brooklynicecreamfactory.com/) and walk on the pier and see all the boats, ferries, and water taxis go by.
http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/

Now, of course, there are TONS of other places that are amazing for kids in NYC (hundreds of parks, splash pads, playgrounds, Intrepid Museum, etc.).  These are just the places I like to go the best!!!

Feel free to add more ideas in the comments box below!

Visiting Jacksonville?

I've only been in Jacksonville for 3 years and don't claim to be an expert on it at all, but there are a handful of places I always take guests when they come!  My closest girlfriends came down to visit me from NYC this past weekend and I had the chance to take them to some of my faves - some with the kids and some without!

Here's a list of some must do's in Jax:

1.  Riverside Arts Market - We love to just go down here on random Saturdays and walk around.  There are tons of vendors selling things they've made, a live band playing music, and a small farmer's market.  It's right on the river and is completely shaded because it's under the 95 highway!  We LOVE to buy bread from JC's Daily Bread.  His bread is amazing if you get a chance to stop by (he gives samples).  We also love to buy pickles on a stick from Olive My Pickle!  It's my daughter's favorite thing to do!  You can get pickles for $1/pickle and stack them on a stick.  We discovered a new place this time around with a lovely lady that makes pepper jellies - they're AMAZING!!!!

Pickle on a stick

https://riversideartsmarket.com/

Here's the pepper jelly I was talking about:
http://www.mypepperjelly.com/

Pepper Jelly

                                      And the pickle place:
                              https://www.olivemypickle.com/



And the BREAD!!!
http://www.jcsdailybread.com/


2.  St. John's Town Center - There happened to be a Sip and Savor event going on this weekend when we went, but other than that, we just love to walk around. I MUCH prefer this to going to the mall.  When I have the kiddos with me, we like to go to the new area by the Nordstrom and get a fancy popsicle from inside the store Natural Life.  The Nordstrom eBar has fancy coffees and drinks too and there's a path of little fountains and rocks that I let my 2 year old play around.  We will usually take the walk all the way down and go to the Barnes and Noble where there is a Thomas the Train table that my 2 year old LOVES.

http://www.simon.com/mall/st-johns-town-center/stores



3.  Hawker's - My husband and I love this Asian Fusion Street Food restaurant down in 5 points.  It's one of our faves!   I prefer to get lots of small plates and share them with everyone!  My most favorite thing on the menu is the Curry and Roti (Roti Canai) served as an appetizer. This place always gives me a little feel of NYC!

http://eathawkers.com/menu/

4.  The French Pantry - LOVES this place!  I've only been twice, but both times have been phenomenal.  They aren't open on weekends and have very funny hours (11:00-2:15pm), but everything I've tried was AMAZING!  They are attached to a commercial bakery and everything is made in house.  Their breads and cakes and pastries are out of this world and the food they serve is very well made, simple, and as very large portions!  I highly recommend trying this place if you haven't!  Just FYI - the line to get in is usually VERY long!!!

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-french-pantry-jacksonville

5.  Black Sheep - This is another favorite of mine here in Jacksonville.  I happened to take the girls there the last time they were here, so we didn't go this weekend.  I LOVE their Little Gem Salad and sitting up on the roof top!  If you go when the weather starts to get a little cooler, they have a great seating area with fire pits that's perfect for the slight chill in the air.

https://blacksheep5points.com/

6.  The Beach - Of course you should take your guests to the beach!  I personally prefer Mickler's, but when guests come, we like to go down to Jax beach.  My favorite time of day to go is actually around 5pm when the sun starts to fall behind the buildings and the buildings provide shade on the beach!  This is perfect with the kids because my 2 year old loves nothing more than playing at the beach!  This way we don't have to worry about the sun being too strong and making sure she's in some shade!  Mickler's on the other hand, has parking, showers, bathrooms, and is wagon/stroller accessible!

Jax Beach:
http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org/visitors/special-events

Mickler's Beach:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34573-d8388424-Reviews-Mickler_s_Landing_Beach-Ponte_Vedra_Beach_Florida.html

7.  Old Towne St. Augustine - We love to take our guests down to St. Augustine and walk through Old Towne.  We also love to get a Kilwin's ice cream while we're there or a fancy Hyppo popsicle to cool off!  We love the little, unique shops and the old cobblestone (no cars allowed) walkway.  It's just nice to spend an afternoon and walk around.  There's also a GREAT playground located just past the visitor center near the entrance to Old Towne that our 2 year old loves!

http://www.oldcity.com/

Eggplant Roll Up!

My husband has been trying to consume less meat in a quest to be more healthy and take better care of our bodies.  So I keep trying new "meatless" recipes and to my surprise, most have them have been really good!  I found an eggplant roll up recipe on Facebook via the Tasty page as I was scrolling one night and thought I would try it.  Of course, when I went back to find the recipe, I couldn't and so I just typed Eggplant Roll Up in Pinterest and found tons of recipes!

Here's the link to the Pinterest recipe I used.  I also added onion powder, garlic powder, and fresh cilantro to my cheese mix!  After salting my eggplant slices to allow it to sweat (this takes the bitterness out of the eggplant), I pan fried them to brown them and allow them to soften.  The recipe says to put them in the oven, so I guess you could do either one!

https://www.buzzfeed.com/merleoneal/heres-how-to-make-lasagna-roll-ups-with-egg-plant?bffbtasty&ref=bffbtasty&utm_term=.em4APdEzN#.hpnGAgnp9


Here's how mine turned out!

Eggplant rollup after baking

Before baking in the oven

Eggplant rolled up before adding final topping

Ricotta cheese blend

Pan fried eggplant slices

When you're too busy...

One of my favorite, go to, quick meals is dumplings!  Like I said in an earlier post, my 2 year old LOVES Asian flavors and most especially, spring rolls and dumplings.  When we lived in nyc, the hubby and I went on a date night to an Asian restaurant (can't remember the name) after buying a groupon for a dumpling making class!  It was FABULOUS and actually was one of our favorite date nights!  Now, this was LONG before we got married and had kiddos and I actually had time to make dumplings from scratch! LOL!  Also while living in nyc, we discovered Trader Joe's dumplings and fell in LOVE with them!  They've got great flavors and seasoning and aren't bland, rubbery, or mushy like some of the other frozen ones I've tried from various grocery stores.

Now that we are married with 2 kids, one of my go to meals, is frozen Trader Joe's dumplings!  We always have several bags of these in the freezer just for these kinds of days.  Below you'll find pics of the two kinds we like best (Cilantro Chicken and Veggies and Shrimp).  I always pan fry these as per the directions on the back and I also ALWAYS make my own dipping sauce.  I've tried various pinterest recipes for my dipping sauce but tend to always revert back to the sauce part of the broccoli and shrimp recipe below (Feel free to also use this recipe another day because it is AMAZING and is also one of my go to, easy recipes!!!).  For the dipping sauce however, I do not add the cornstarch to it like the recipe says, I only do that when I'm actually making the broccoli and shrimp recipe.

These are the shrimp dumplings

Here's the recipe for the dipping sauce:
http://damndelicious.net/2015/01/16/easy-shrimp-broccoli-stir-fry/

My homemade dipping sauce

These are the chicken and cilantro ones

Here are what the two bags of frozen dumplings look like!

Sorry for the sideways photo!!!!

Eid Cookies!

It's that time of year again......Eid Cookie making!  My fondest memories of spending family time come during this time of the year...using the Lunar Calendar of course. It comes near the end of the Holy month of Ramadan where all the women in my immediate family and my extended family get together in Oakville, Canada and make a MILLION Eid cookies together.

For those of you that don't know, the Holy month of Ramadan (Ramadan being the name of the month in the Lunar Calendar in Arabic) is when muslims all over the world fast from sunrise to sunset for an entire month!  Fasting firstly from all food and drink, but more importantly, a large effort to be a good person, reflect on yourself, your life, your goals, your relationship with God, not lie or swear, and pray and pray and pray.

Now back to the cookie making....

So each year before the end of Ramadan we all gather at Nahla's house and have a "Kahk Convention" - Kahk is the name of one of the types of cookies that is made for Eid.  It is my least favorite and now that I make cookies on my own, I don't have a picture below of it, because I didn't make it....lol.   All the aunties and kids (me and my grown cousins being the "kids") all gather in Nahla's kitchen where she busts out her mother's old cookie recipes and so begins the process.  Each mom/auntie knowing their role of which part of the cookie making their good at and each kid also knowing their role and how to follow Nahla's directions.  This usually takes and entire day or evening and we're usually up all night laughing and talking and eating.  It's amazing and has become a tradition that I want to continue with my own family, especially when we can't make it up to Canada for it.

And so this year, once again, I wasn't able to make it to Canada and did it on my own!  I was lucky to have my mom in town to help me with the cookies and the girls and we also had the hubby and a friend come and join us.  So here are the pics of the amazing cookies we made all day yesterday!

One thing I realized while writing captions to these photos is the importance of sharing!  The reason why we make a MILLION cookies, is because it is also customary to share them with your friends, family, and neighbors!  We have already set containers aside to share with some of friends and neighbors!

The completed table of Eid Cookies!  The long sticks on the left are called Pitonsalee and they are for dipping in your tea in the morning.  Also more of a biscuit taste but made with cumin seeds.

Me and my daughter making Petit Fore cookies!

These are my family's most favorite.  They are called Uruss and they are more of biscuit stuffed with dates.

These are the finished Petit Fore stuffed with Apricot Jam and then rolled in sprinkles.

More completed Petit Fore

Petit Fore ready to go in the oven.

Petit Fore before the jam and sprinkles

Introduction...

I started this blog MANY years ago while living in nyc! It was originally created as a place to send all of my out of town guests for recommendations of my absolute favorite places to eat, visit, and shop while in nyc.  If you're headed to nyc, the blog still exists, and they're still most of my favorite places!  You may want to check their websites before heading there in case anything's changed since I left nyc!  Here's the link to check it out: www.dahliasnyc.blogspot.com


After getting married, moving to Jacksonville, Florida, and now having 2 kids, I've decided to have this page evolve to reflect my life these days! I have become a Pinterest queen and LOVE to cook something new from it almost daily! I also have a two year old and 8 week old that I'm home with and use Pinterest to come up with activities and ideas of things to do with them! I still consider myself a foodie and occasionally when I find a place I love here in Jacksonville, I'll post about that!

So here goes....to my new endeavour as a stay at home mom blog beginning!
(If you click on the title New Endeavours at the top, it will take you to all my blog postings)