Ice Ice Baby...

I hope I didn’t burst too many people’s bubbles when I first announced (in my last blog) that I am not perfect…haha!  And precisely for this reason, it is important to treat yourself every now and then.  But what do you do when your weekly treat snowballs into almost daily and when sugar is your (okay, my) heroin?  You cut out all simple carbohydrates COLD TURKEY for a few weeks (or longer), and then sloowwwly cycle them back in. So, this means…eat small meals often (2-4 hours depending on your activity level), always with a little protein.  This ensures that you’re satiated and that your blood sugar levels remain steady throughout the day, so you’re not tempted to eat something sweet because you’ve allowed yourself to become famished! This takes some planning, but it’s totally do-able and your body will thank you for it.  Nuts are a great on-the-go snack that you can pack in small Ziploc bags to munch on.  Just remember not to overdo the nuts.  A small handful should do the trick.   Small doses of nuts are high in good fats, but good fats are still fattening…so easy does it!   Also, include in your diet plenty of fresh, rainbow-colored vegetables of the non-starchy variety.  This way, you are getting all your nutrients in without the accompanying sugar rush that you get with starchy veggies and fruits!   Also, ladies who enjoy fragrances with a vanilla base can probably stand to lose the scents that smell like dessert for a little while.  I am one of those ladies.  Every time I spray on Comptoir Sud Pacifique’s Extreme Vanilla, I start having visions of cake and ice cream.  Just a thought, do with it what you will…hehe!

Having said this, I promised my readership a June blog about sorbetto and espresso and well, a promise is a promise!  :-D    I’m no quitter!   So, sit back and enjoy my tips on the best places to catch some relief from the scorching summer days that are upon us!

I did, in fact, go off the deep end and have a scoop of the chocolate orange sorbetto at Pazzo…. before the week was up.  OOoohhh, it was GOOODDDD.  It was so lush and creamy!   Anyone who considers themselves the “gelato type”, in favor of a richer, more sinful dessert…should try this sorbetto.  You will forget that there is no cream/ egg/ milk to speak of in the ingredients list.  It is INCREDIBLE.  Incredibly edible. Sophisticated flavors of dark chocolate with a substantial orange flavor throughout.  It tastes very much like those chocolate candy sticks (orange candy dipped in dark chocolate) you might’ve turned your nose up at as a child, unless you were a child with a refined palate- I, for one, was not!   The only chocolate in my childhood vocabulary consisted of Hershey’s chocolate kisses and Cadbury eggs every Easter! 

Up next on the gelaterias-to-visit roster:  Scoops and Bulgarini.   Keep your eyes glued!

<3 <3 <3

Affogato, anyone?

Ciaoooo my lovelies!!!  :-D

So, my mission this month: to find the best espresso and sorbetto in L.A.  Also, a bit of a paradox since my other mission is to seriously lean out and get more defined after gorging myself on pizza and gelato in Italy last month… eek!  Anyone who knows me,  knows well that I don’t indulge in any white sugar or much caffeine (save for green or white tea).  I don’t eat white sugar of any kind and haven’t in years and I hadn’t had coffee in probably two decades…UNTIL, that is, I went to Italy and all sense went out the window for the 12 days I was there.  And now… well, now I’m sure I’m addicted and need rehab.  I had made peace with myself in advance of my trip. I would have dairy while there and I REALLY took this and ran with it!  OK, so I’m not perfect…who is??? I totally enjoyed every minute of it and have no regrets. Now it’s time to rein myself in and so I shall!  So…sorbetto and espresso.   Back to the matter at hand!

During my Italian trip, I would have 3-4 espressos daily.  “Un caffè per favore!” was one of the first things I learned to say.  I figured I could always sleep when my holiday was over!  Three neat little sips and I would be done.. and WIRED!  No sugar, no milk…just delicious, bitter yumminess!  I was worried that this would be one bad habit that may just stick post-trip, until… I tried my first American-made espresso last week at Swork in Eagle Rock.   Kha-tooey! Così schifo!  Salty and sour makes a delicious potato chip.  But an espresso?  Not so much!  I was slightly relieved that this may not become a bad habit after all.  Americans can’t make a good espresso, I thought…yay!

My next try started with a text from my friend Jose “So, when are we meeting up for dinner/ lunch?”…it was originally supposed to be “Sorbetto Saturdays” in keeping with my fitness mission.  It was a Wednesday when he texted and I immediately began to have visions of gorgeous tubs of creamy sorbettos in all the glorious colors of the rainbow.   Did he say dinner? I suggested Pazzo ( http://www.pazzogelato.net/ ) in Silverlake and he was into the idea, YAH!  So, we first met at Flore, which is a vegan café right across the street.  I ordered a huge hunk of their vegan chocolate strawberry cake…I couldn’t (didn’t want to) resist!   The cake, we would share.  I hate sharing food (as most people who have dined with me are well aware), but I figured this would be my little compromise…trying to be good. FYI:  The cake is the only thing at Flore I’ve had which is AMAZINGLY GOOD.  The food, I can do without.  Then we walked across the street to Pazzo and there it was… a shiny happy technicolored display of gelatos and sorbettos in flavors like pear, pineapple, blood orange, white chocolate raspberry, mandarin stracciatella!  I had heard great things about this place, so I had a feeling it was going to be good…and mmm MMMM GOOOODDD it was!!!  I had heard through the grapevine that Pazzo also makes a great espresso and it was indeed AWESOMELY GOOD!  Easily as good as I’ve had in Italy!  Deliciously bitter, not at all acidic and with a beautiful rich muddy foam on top.   Also, the size of the espresso was about 4 times the size I had in Italy… apparently, we Americans like our coffee supersized too, haha!  The sweet waitress told us they use a brand called Weaver’s saying “they just know how to roast beans up there in Oregon” … in my research, I actually found they’re a California based company.  Who cares?!  They make damn good coffee!!!   I used my espresso high later that night to maniacally jump rope for almost 30 minutes straight.  If you haven’t tried it, you should!  Now, for the sorbetto… smooottthe (not in the least bit gritty), creamy, oh sooo good going down!  I had the limoncello which was perfectly tart but not so much that you have to squint your eyes before you swallow, haha!  I also had a scoop of the raspberry dark chocolate chip.  I had heard that Pazzo have a dark chocolate orange sorbetto which I was hoping to try.  They didn’t have it the night we went, so this fruit chocolate combination alllmost fit the bill… though I still prefer chocolate paired with orange!  Tart raspberry with jagged little crunchy bits of dark chocolate.  Tangy, fresh and sweet fruit flavor…creamy and crunchy textures.  HEAVEN in my bocca, I tell you!  I love that Pazzo change up their flavors all the time according to what’s in season.  Can’t wait to go back next Wednesday to try something new…yummy yum YUM!!!

Tip to all you Intelligentsia lovers.  Next time you don’t feel like standing in line, grab your coffee at Pazzo.  It can get crowded there too, but they don’t take themselves as seriously and the lines are still usually shorter.

Buon Appetito & stay tuned for more espresso/ sorbetto reviews coming your way this June (I'll be sad when June is over... haha)!!!

<3