A must if you are in St. Thomas.

Back in March we had the pleasure of going to St. Thomas to attend a wedding. The bride is originally from St. Thomas so of course we asked tons of questions about what to do and most importantly where to eat. One of the top recommended places to eat in St. Thomas is Cuzzin's.  On our last evening in St. Thomas we decided we had to go and see what Cuzzin's was all about.

We both started off with an appetizer. Ron had calypso wings which came with this spicy, sweet and tangy sauce. I had an order of conch fritters which came with a spicy aioli. Both appetizers were extremely tasty and flavored just right. I still think about the wings and fritters.

After about 15 minutes of trying to narrow down what we wanted as our main course, which the hardest part was figuring out which 3 sides we wanted with our meal. That's right you get a choice of 3 sides. We had a good laugh at the table because it was next to impossible to choose 3 sides without having at least 2 of them be carbs. So Ron decided on jerk chicken with potato salad, mixed vegetables and mac & cheese. I had shrimp creole with potato salad, mixed vegetables and rice & peas.

Our meals were so good and we were very satisfied with everything. I wish there was a Cuzzin's in the Baltimore area. We have pretty much decided that St. Thomas hasn't seen the last of the Ditzels so I'm sure we will be visiting Cuzzin's in the future. If you take a trip to the island please do yourself a favor and have a meal at Cuzzin's.

People really read my blog :)

Here recently I have been told that people enjoy my blog especially my restaurant reviews. It really makes me happy to know that people are reading my blog and enjoying it. I know I owe you a few new post/updates and I promise to get some pictures and comments up about the trip to St. Thomas. If you are reading this....THANK YOU!

I'm not lucky, I'm blessed...Are you ??

I had a thought the other day and that thought was that most people really don't know how blessed they are. I think that there is a sense of entitlement in all of us, but to what we feel we are entitled to is different for each person. I am blessed to have had a great upbringing where I never had a need and my parents made plenty of sacrifices to makes sure I had a good life. I am blessed to have a great husband that loves me regardless of my flaws. I have a job, good health and great friends and family. I do consider myself to be blessed, all the things previously mentioned are not a given. At some point in most of our lives we think that those things are givens and we are entitled to them.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying that people aren't grateful for their blessings but I do feel that some of us take our blessings for granted and should really step back and think about the fact that not everyone has the same blessing bestowed upon them.

Here is a short list of blessing that some people would like to have but may never get. So if you have at least one of these you are probably blessed

• An education
• A Car
• A home
• Good Friends
• Loving parents
• Children
• Pets
• A job/career
• Good Health

There are some that may say that they have made these things happen on their own but I am of the belief that there is a higher power behind all blessings big and small. No, I am not some holy roller or super christian. Just a girl that is thankful for her blessings and hopes you are thankful for yours.

My birthday dinner at Blue Agave.

Every year for my birthday Ron and I go to a restaurant we have never been to before. This year we made reservations at Blue Agave. Blue Agave is best known for their selection of tequilas. So in true ditzel fashion Ron and I both started out with a margarita.

I went for the Grandarita: El Jimador Blanco, Patron Citronage, Pomegranate & Fresh Lime. This was one of the best margaritas I have had in a long time. If you ever go to Blue Agave, please do yourself a favor and partake in a Grandarita. 

Ron Decided to try the Prickly Pear: El Jimador Blanco, Prickly Pear Puree, triple sec and fresh lime. If the grandarita is not your style my second recommendation would be the prickly pear.

Just like most Mexican restaurants you receive chips and salsa to start the meal. At Blue Agave you get 3 types of salsa. My favorite was the salsa verde.

Next we decided to split an appetizer and have the Entreme Surtido: chipotle shrimp corn cake, chicken flautas, chile/cheese tamal, queso stuffed jalapeno, shrimp quesadilla, fresh guacamole and salsa. Overall the appetizer was ok. Neither of us were really impressed but maybe a more seasoned Mexican food eater would appreciate it. We found that most of the items lacked seasoning. 

We also split a bowl of their chicken tortilla soup. Ron and I have both had tortilla soup from many places so we figured we would try it at Blue Agave as well. What a mistake, the soup was not good and we were very disappointed. We couldn't pinpoint what we thought was wrong with the soup but neither one of us enjoyed it and therefore we did not finish it. 

Since we had a bad taste in our mouths from the soup we felt it was time to order our second round of drinks. This time we went for the white sangria......Blue Agave definitely got back into my good graces with the sangria.

Now on to dinner. I went with the Burrito de Carne Asada: Grilled skirt steak rolled with black beans and cotija cheese. Served with Agave rice and red chile sauce. YUMMMMMMMMMM. I would totally go back for this burrito. 

Ron had Enchiladas Verde: Pulled chicken with Mexican cheeses in green chile sauce topped with slivered red onion and cotija cheese. Served with Red chile rice and refried beans. Ron loved his meal and would absolutely eat these enchiladas again.

Since we were stuffed we decided we wouldn't have dessert but we would have another drink. May I introduce you to the Iguanarita: El Jimador Blanco, melon liquer, triple sec and fresh lime. It was a great ending to our meal.

If you are in the Federal Hill area you should definitely stop in Blue Agave just stay away from the tortilla soup and head straight for the drinks.

http://www.blueagaverestaurant.com/index.html

My last 20-something birthday.

On February 5th I will be turning 29 and I have to admit I am kind of sad to see my 20's coming to an end. So many things have happened to me in my 20's that only have one more year left in them makes me feel some kind of way. When I sit back and think of all the things I did just from 20 - 28 years of age I can only think that 29 is going to come in and go out with a bang. Let's take a look at some of the great things that happened in my 20's.

• At 20 years old I bought my first new car. Me and Chelly Celica are still going strong.( April 2002)
• At 22 years old I started bartending at SSMC and I met my future husband on my very first bartending shift( Sept 2004)
• At 23 years old I graduted from college(December 2005)
• At 23 years old I starting working my first full-time job(January 2006)
• At 23 years old Ron and I started dating (December 2005)
• At 24 years old I went on my first cruise and flew for the first time (Sept 2006)
• At 24 years old I finally flew the coop and moved into an apartment with Ron( Oct. 2006)
• At 25 years old  got engaged (April 2007)
• At 26 years old bought my first home (March 2008)
• At 26 years old I became Mrs Ditzel ( June 2008)
• At 27 I was a bridesmaid for the first time ( May 2009)
• At 28 I became a godmother ( June 2010)

I know there are probably a ton of things I am forgetting but that is my short list of things that were great about my 20's. I think 29 has a lot to live up to that's for sure. I plan to make my 365 days with 29 great and an all out adventure through life.

Restaurant Week....A trip to Blue Hill Tavern.

January 21st kicked off the first day of restaurant week for winter 2011 in Baltimore. We usually try to go to one place that we have never been before. Last night we went to Blue Hill Tavern in Brewers Hill. It was myself, Ron and my mom. My mom has been a few times with her job since they have had their office Christmas party there the last 2 years. I digress, the atmosphere made me feel like I was somewhere other than Baltimore. The decor was very casual but yet contemporary. So let's get to what this post is really about, the food. If you are a foodie I would recommend giving Blue Hill a try.

For the appetizer/salad course my mom had the Pork Belly which comes with braised granny smith apples, onion, and spiced anjou pear sauce. I tasted this divine piece of pork and it was beyond delicious.

Ron and I both had caesar salads. I know what you're thinking. Please don't judge us :)

Next came dinner. My mom had the Black Cod which was a 7oz Miso glazed filet of black cod with shrimp and spicy soy soba noodle stir-fry. The cod was very tender and had great flavor. I didn't taste the noodles but my mom said they were definitely spicy.

I had Shrimp and Grits :) This meal is described as stone ground grits, andouille, soffritto, shrimp ettoufee. It was absolutely one of the best meals I have eaten in a while. I could probably eat this meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Ron went a little traditional but with a classy flair and had the Tavern Burger. This burger is Kobe beef, brioche, aged cheddar, fried onion and spicy ketchup goodness. He added bacon to really complete the flavor profile.

Usually I am not a dessert person but since we were at a new place I figured, why not end on a good note. My mom and Ron both had the same thing, Chocolate Silken Pie which is Oreo crust with, decadent silken chocolate topped with vanilla chantilly. It taste as good as it looks. Ron was in a chocolate coma when we left.

I went with the Candy Bar, which has a pretzel cookie crust, peanut butter mousse, caramel, chocolate ganache and vanilla ice cream. It was the perfect pairing of salty and sweet. One of my favorite parts of the dessert was the dollop of marshmallow fluff on the plate as well.

Overall the food had great flavors and I would definitely go back to explore other items on the menu. I felt they were a bit pricey for the portion size(disclaimer: we didn't do the rw prefix menu). Our meal for 3 ran about $160 with tip and there was 1 cocktail which is not pictured. I think if you are up to try something from the new American cuisine than Blue Hill Tavern is where you want to go. Oh I almost forgot, they have complimentary valet which was nice since it was so frigid last night.

Another adventure in the kitchen.

I love, love, love to cook and bake so you should look forward to many post about new recipes I have discovered. I follow a few food blogs and one of my favorite blogs is The Pioneer Woman's blog. I highly recommend her blog and her cookbook.

So this past weekend I tried pioneer woman's recipe for chicken tortilla soup. I have only ever made Rachel Ray's recipe before so I was curious to see how pw's compared. Overall the flavor was pretty good. Ron said "It's no Qdoba but it's alright". My only complaint was the time it took to cook. Once everything is in the pot and simmering it was over an hour before we could dig in. Here is the recipe http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/01/chicken-tortilla-soup/. Here are a few pics for your visual pleasure....YUMMMMMMMMM