Valentine’s Day Treats – Restaurants And Roses

No sooner is the busy Christmas and New Year period out of the way, our thoughts turn to the feast of St Valentine’s Day, celebrated on 14th February by lovers the World over!

Through the dark, cold days of winter, it is an excellent excuse to gladden our hearts, show our romantic sides and dream about the warmer weather of summer.

Traditional love tokens are greetings cards, chocolates and red roses, followed by a secluded table in a local restaurant for your favourite meal and a special moment with your loved one.

But what are the origins of this particular feast day and why do we most often associate it with food, flowers and cards? Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Treats – Restaurants And Roses”

Dakota’s Steakhouse Is A Dallas Gem

I am certain that Dakota’s Steakhouse, opposite Dallas’s Fairmont Hotel at the corner of Akard and San Jacinto streets, may be in the running today to be considered the finest dining spot in the DFW metroplex, certainly for lunch. I have eaten there half-a-dozen times in the last twelve weeks; I have never been disappointed. Indeed, I’ve been delighted each time, and I’ve decided that the venerable Dakota’s is doing a better job than many of the newer (and flashier!) additions to the Dallas dining scene.

I first was a guest at Dakota’s more than twenty years ago, at a dinner for twelve in honor of a visiting diplomat from Peru. The venue itself attracts attention, and there is indeed an interesting story behind Dakota’s magnificently lush underground space. Dakota’s was built in 1984 by the Lincoln Property Company, which built a sleekly modern glass tower that still stands next door. The owners wanted a signature restaurant at street level, but the land on which the building went up was purchased from a neighboring Baptist church, and the deed contained a legally binding clause that absolutely forbade the sale of alcohol on the former church grounds, in perpetuity. Continue reading “Dakota’s Steakhouse Is A Dallas Gem”

Do You Like Crabs? San Francisco Restaurant Review

This weekend was a long weekend. It was Memorial Day weekend. We wanted to have something notable, because it was 3-day-weekend. As any other weekends, we went to 24 hour fitness for exercise in the morning. We took a 2 classes of exercise in our fitness club, Boot Camp and Dance for 2 hours, sweat some. We came home from exercise, took shower, relaxed, then call the restaurant for reservation.

This restaurant is “Tanh Long”, in Sunset, San Francisco. We have known this restaurant famous for Crabs. Since we both love crabs, we decided to go to this restaurant.

“Tanh Long” is the sister restaurant of a restaurant in downtown San Francisco, “Crustacean”. “Crustacean” is high-class, business setting, and relatively expensive restaurant. My office colleagues took us to “Crustacean”. The master chef of Crustacean told us about the sister restaurant “Tanh Long”, which is more family oriented type restaurant with almost same menu as Crustacean. Continue reading “Do You Like Crabs? San Francisco Restaurant Review”

Setting Up a Natural Amazon Themed Aquarium

Most of the freshwater aquarium fish we find in our pet stores originate from the tropical river of the Amazon in South America. The Amazon has more variety of fish and plant life of all the rivers in the world put together.

The amazing variety and beauty of Amazonian fish and plants is what drew me to this style of aquarium. I have fallen in love with creating Amazon community tanks and re-creating the environment and natural eco-systems of this river.

The diversity of the Amazon River and its many streams means there are infinite ways in which you could create an Amazon theme, and the style and decor of your aquarium setup will depend on what sort of fish you wish to keep.

Today I will focus on setting up an Amazon themed aquarium suitable for Angelfish or Discus. These fish can grow quite large so it is recommended to have an aquarium at least 150-200 litres or more in volume. They are also rather peaceful fish, so are very suitable for the community tank, so long as follow a few simple guidelines. Continue reading “Setting Up a Natural Amazon Themed Aquarium”

Zermatt, the Eternal Alpine Snow, and a Peek at Switzerland

Mont Blanc stands proud as the highest Alp. Yet one of the most photographically reproduced is Matterhorn with the village of Zermatt at its feet.

When I first saw Matterhorn from the ground up, I felt as if I was looking at a solidified ardent flame. A native who saw me look at it with awe said: “You can climb it,” as if it were nothing. I laughed…not at him but at me. I wouldn’t dare think of trying that.

In Zermatt, as well as other places, locals show off their skill by the number of times they have climbed the Matterhorn; although, many fall numerous times. A local had climbed it more than 300 times. His wife shrugged: “Useless to say how many times,” she said. “The mountain is going nowhere. It stays there and only the workless (also meaning worthless) do the climbing.”

There are no cars in Zermatt. Transportation is possible by using the cog train and horse-drawn sleighs. Sitting in a horse drawn sleigh with a lap robe, which is a folded small blanket, with an eternal snow around is one of the most romantic things. Continue reading “Zermatt, the Eternal Alpine Snow, and a Peek at Switzerland”

Time For Your Honeymoon? Naples, Florida Is the Place

We might not have liked the way it was handled; but it was our parents and our immediate family whom decided it to be that way. They employed a wedding planner to do all the planning from the reception, the church, the food, to the details of the cake except for the Honeymoon. The honeymoon was definitely something that we wanted to have a say on it. Therefore we made it clear that it would be us who would plan for the whole honeymoon, but to be honest we didn’t have plan or a preference at all. My husband and I decided to have an unplanned honeymoon to make it different one, we wanted to be adventurous instead of having old fashioned honeymoon style.

To begin with, we spoke about different places to go to and getting ideas from everyone, some said, Spain, Barcelona, Rome, Paris in conclusion the typical places for honeymooners because of the romanticism and all. Since we have been to those places and don’t get me wrong they are beautiful and enchanting places, we still were looking for something different for a change. So after all the thinking and everything we decided to go to Florida unplanned, packed our bags, got the tickets, some phone calls and flew to Miami, Florida. Our worries started when we arrived in Miami airport we didn’t know what to do or where to go as our final honeymoon destination; we were basically honeymooners exploring a new world! But this was an exciting adventure and what we were looking for. Continue reading “Time For Your Honeymoon? Naples, Florida Is the Place”

Sunlight for Your Life

All life on the planet and everything in nature is dependent on the sun. Without the sun, there would be no life on the planet. All life is dependent on the sun. Plants convert the sunlight into energy, and all animals need plant life or other animals in order to live. All life in nature is dependent on the sun. We as humans are part of nature. We need sunlight just like everyone else.

Sunlight is essential for your life and health. This often brings up the concern of skin cancer. People are told the sun causes skin cancer and they should wear sunblock to prevent skin cancer. This is a big fat theory of the medical symptom and disease care profession. Skin cancer is on the rise because people are supposedly spending more time in the sun, and this is the supposed “proof” that skin cancer is caused by the sun. Did the experts happen to notice that most cancer is on the rise? Does the sun cause these cancers as well? Continue reading “Sunlight for Your Life”

French Country Inn Dining – The Silver Spring Farm French Restaurant in Flanders, NJ

Recently, the movie “Julie & Julia” has debuted on silver screens across the country and has reignited in many of us our passion for exceptional cuisine. While Julie and Julia of the movie explore the enormously challenging tasks of mastering French cuisine at home, my wife Fran and I had our palettes reignited for the equally satisfying joys of eating at a fine French restaurant.

But where to go?

Living 48 minutes from Midtown Manhattan and its seemingly endless inventory of elegant French restaurants, bistros and cafes definitely has its advantages; but this time we decided to aim our GPS West to see if we could discover a more “country inn” type of establishment to fill the bill.

We recognize that our Garmin Novi GPS is, in reality, a marvelous electronic Ouija board. We touch the screen, ask a question: Continue reading “French Country Inn Dining – The Silver Spring Farm French Restaurant in Flanders, NJ”

3 Easy Ideas For Christmas Cookie Decorating With Kids

One of the happiest moments I have with my nephews is in my kitchen decorating cookies to give away as Christmas gifts. They had more fun than I did, and the gift recipients enjoyed their homemade treats. Let me show you how to decorate Christmas cookies with your own kids.

The easier the process for the kids, the better. You need three things to get started: an easy sugar cookie recipe, simple royal icing decorations, and several different colored tubes of pre-made royal icing so that each child can share the royal icing.

Here is my favorite chocolate sugar cookie recipe to get you started.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies Continue reading “3 Easy Ideas For Christmas Cookie Decorating With Kids”

Decide This Year to Notice What Happens Outside, in Your Own Backyard, in Autumn

~The calm reading under the palm tree! There are so many places to find that makes writing fun, relaxing and new! Try writing under a palm tree, that’s actually a unique and comfortably novel place to write and pretty cool too, if you ask me… The fall season is a great reason to notice the changes in nature, animals and natural outdoor events that take place whether we notice or not. Decide this year to notice what happens outside, in your own backyard, in Autumn.

Whether you read the Psalms under the comfortable palm trees or study your French lesson, finding a relaxing environment is key to attaining perspective or finding a great place of inspiration.Living in a tropical climate has a lot of benefits as well as challenges, though I prefer to focus more on the wonderful elements that tropical living brings! Whether wearing shorts and flip-flops all year long is your habit or looking at the wild rabbits that are eating your garden plants and vegetables, just enjoy the natural environment and the place where you call home. Continue reading “Decide This Year to Notice What Happens Outside, in Your Own Backyard, in Autumn”