Whole Foods Holiday Menu Tasting Event (Phillips Crossing)

Recently I was invited to enjoy a sampling of the Whole Foods Market holiday menu. The event happened at the Phillips Crossing Whole Foods off Sand Lake Road and what a cornucopia of deliciousness it was! The variety and creativity of the prepared offerings along with menu planning assistance will surely alleviate the stress of any gathering. Bring on the festivities! 

To begin, I tasted a luscious French blue cheese called Persille du Beaujolais served with a honeycomb to balance the savory notes. I learned that persille means parsleyed in french and just describes the blue green veining throughout blue cheese. The creamery in France overlooks Beaujolais vineyards, but it was truly dreamy when I paired it with a white Vin de Savio Apremont, which is a top 10 holiday wine pick. I also found out that Whole Foods Certified Cheese Professionals can create a cheese and wine pairing menu just for the asking. 

Cranberry Walnut and Fig Stuffed Brie is a layer cake made of American artisan Brie filled and topped with cranberries and caramelized walnuts and fig spread. It was a beautiful presentation available in a small or large stack.

Next I tried the St James Smoked Salmon platter. Scottish salmon cold smoked with oak, with no nitrates or preservatives, only a buttery silkiness served with hot house cucumbers, red onions, capers, and sliced eggs, David, the Regional Seafood Coordinator mentioned that St James has a smokehouse in Miami-- nice to support local-- and that the salmon are fed a high quality diet, that I found palpable in the flavor. In addition, the company prides themselves on sustainability. 

The Sasasian Caviar served on bite sized blini with creme fraiche was outstanding. There were three types offered: Truffle Pearls,Trout, and Imperial and I liked them all! The pop of the lightly salted glistening eggs was a tantalizing treat for all the senses.

Of course there was moist roasted turkey and an array of accompaniments and options. Here's the Bell and Evans smoked Cornish hens.

72 hour Beef Short Ribs

One of my favorite sides were the harvest root vegetables, kale, tender brussels sprouts, and butternut squash with candied pecans and cranberries dusted with cinnamon.

There's also a hearty Vegan Field Roast En Croute as a meat alternative. Grains are used as a vegetarian protein combined with squash, mushrooms, apples and spices wrapped in an outer layer. It is a great alternative to soy based proteins.

Pumpkin Cheesecake was creamy, without being too heavy, and had perfect undertones of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and of course pumpkin. It is a creative twist on the traditional pumpkin pie.

Fruit Cake also was sampled and it was nothing like the much maligned variety. It was very moist, tender, and dark with the sumptuous, soft fruits used mainly as a topping. This Fruit Cake would definitely be consumed immediately and certainly not re-gifted! 

With so many wonderful choices from Whole Foods Market here's to happy holidays
and eating!

(Written by Florence R.)

Rocky's Pizzeria in Orlando, FL

I had lunch one afternoon at a restaurant called Rocky's Pizzeria located along Turkey Lake Road in a shopping center next to Wal-Mart. Pizza by the slice in Central Florida's strip malls sometimes seems like a questionable food adventure to me, just because I'm afraid of the turnover of the pies. If the pizza available for slices seemed past it's prime, I was prepared to order a sandwich instead. Rocky's had lots of customers when I walked in around 2:45, so I figured I wouldn't be eating a slice from the same pie that was made earlier that morning and was siting around all day long and decided to order their lunch combo.

The lunch combo included two slices of pizza and a canned beverage. I'm glad I did go with the pizza rather than a sandwich because these were very good slices. This New York style pizza had a thin, slightly crispy crust. The cheese and sauce had nice, evenly spaced proportions. Nothing was dripping off the crust, nor was there a lack of crust coverage. The cheese was slightly salty and although the sauce wasn't a standout flavor, it added nicely to the overall pizza flavor. The outside crust was brushed with a garlic sauce which was a nice surprise when I got an extra bit of flavor that I wasn't initially expecting.

Based on my first experience at Rocky's Pizza, I think they may be near the top of my list of good New York style pizzas near International Drive.

Lime Fresh Mexican Grill in Orlando, FL

I had lunch at Lime Fresh Mexican Grill in the Dr. Phillips/Restaurant Row neighborhood of Orlando. This Mexican chain has been in the area for a couple of years now, but I had not visited any of their locations until now. Unlike the other big burrito places, Lime had a set menu instead of the assembly line style of fast-food Mexican food that is done by Chipotle/Qdoba/Moe's.

I ordered the Lime Burrito. This consisted of a tortilla filled with chicken, refried beans, cheese, sour cream, and lettuce. The burrito was alright, although a bit forgettable. Nothing really stood out and for some reason the refried beans reminded me of a Taco Bell burrito. Other burritos on the menu did have black beans, but not this particular one. Nothing is wrong with refried beans, but it did have the Taco Bell connotation. The chips served on the side seemed a bit too hard and somewhat stale. Overall, the food burrito I tried at Lime Fresh Mexican Grill was alright for what it was, but I don't think I'll go rushing back to try them again anytime soon.

Pinkberry in Orlando, FL (Dr. Phillips)

Pinkberry opened their first Orlando store in the Dr. Phillips section of town last year. Some Pinkberry T-shirts were even given away here on this very blog because of the opening. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to Pinkberry's grand opening last August. Almost a year later, I still hadn't tried Pinkberry's frozen yogurt.

That all changed recently when I checked my email and saw that Pinkberry was debuting a new flavor by giving out free tastings. I figured this was a good excuse to finally give Pinkberry a try, and here is the result of my excursion- Salted Caramel Frozen Yogurt:

The caramel yogurt was topped with salt, molten caramel, and crepe flakes. I'm normally not a big fan of caramel, but the salty and sweet mixed together into a very nice flavor combination. Now I need to visit Pinkberry again to try more yogurt flavors!