I’ve spent the last week tweaking the recipe to make it just right and have it taste most similar to my Abuela’s Avena, and I think I finally got it!

If you enjoy rich and creamy, stick-to-your-ribs oatmeal, not the watery or instant kind, try this homemade recipe…you too will quickly get hooked! (I must warn ... Read More »]]> Translated from Spanish to English, Abuela’s Avena means grandma’s oatmeal. On my recent trip to Puerto Rico, I enjoyed many bowls of oatmeal (sadly not my grandma’s, but very close it), and since I’ve come back, it’s the only thing I’m craving for breakfast these days.

I’ve spent the last week tweaking the recipe to make it just right and have it taste most similar to my Abuela’s Avena, and I think I finally got it!

If you enjoy rich and creamy, stick-to-your-ribs oatmeal, not the watery or instant kind, try this homemade recipe…you too will quickly get hooked! (I must warn you, it is made with whole milk, evaporated milk and sugar- so if you are counting calories, you may want to substitute for skim milk and sugar substitute, but I guarantee it won’t taste the same). I think my Abuela would be very proud!

ABUELA’S AVENA RECIPE: Courtesy of Grandma Lydia
(Makes 4-6 servings)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup oats
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick

How to Make:
Soak the oats in the water for minimum of 30 minutes, and if you have time, as much as overnight. Next, take the soaked oats and water mixture and blend in a blender for 1 minute. Add that mixture to a pot on medium-high heat, then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring everything to a boil while stirring constantly, then reduce heat to medium and let simmer for another 3 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and discard. Serve immediately and enjoy or in Spanish…Buen Provecho!

Written By: Lori McNally of Chic Galleria

Here’s a list of the wineries I visited over the July 4th Holiday weekend out on the North Fork, and a little about what I thought of each of them. My two favorites were McCall and One Woman. Shinn was also very cool, but more for its indoor space ... Read More »]]> Many jet setters are unaware that the North Fork of Long Island in New York is considered Wine Country (basically our own version of California’s Napa Valley or Santa Barbara’s Wine Country but in New York). In fact, there are more than 30 wineries to choose from, each with its own personality.

Here’s a list of the wineries I visited over the July 4th Holiday weekend out on the North Fork, and a little about what I thought of each of them. My two favorites were McCall and One Woman. Shinn was also very cool, but more for its indoor space than outdoor which is a waste if you get a nice day. I like Bedell (and its related property Corey Creek). The one to stay away from on this list, in my mind, would be Raphael as it’s too corporate. I hope to visit more of them in the near future…so stay tuned for Jet Set Smart’s next North Fork Wineries List.

1- Shinn Estate Vineyards: This place has good wines and a nice laid back feel. It’s located on Oregon Road which is a pretty road, and is not on one of the two main roads on the North Fork, so I feel like it’s more secluded. Tasting hours are Monday-Sunday 12pm-5pm.

2- Raphael: The setting here is as if you are in an old Italian villa in Tuscany. It’s beautiful and is considered (by many of the locals) to be one of the best tasting rooms on Long Island. They have very good quality wine at a reasonable price. Tasting hours are Sunday-Friday 11am-5pm; Saturday by appointment only.

3- Bedell Cellars: Bedell has a huge outdoor deck complete with a tasting bar and a great view of the vineyards. The inside is decorated in a modern style with some interesting art. If it’s a nice day, I’d highly recommend grabbing a seat outside, grabbing a bottle, and just enjoying the setting. Tasting hours are Monday-Sunday 11am-5pm.

4- Corey Creek Vineyards: This is the sister vineyard of Bedell at only a fraction of the size. The view from the porch at Corey Creek is one of the best on the North Fork. The rows of vines seem to extend endlessly. The tasting room itself is fairly… should I say “intimate”? While Corey Creek doesn’t lend itself well to large parties (buses are not allowed), I’d definitely recommend it for smaller parties or couples. Tasting hours are Monday-Thursday 11am-5pm, and Friday and Saturday 11am-6pm.

5- Laurel Lake Vineyards: This is a must stop on your wine tour. It is a very small place and not on the very fancy side but the wine speaks for it’s self, plus the two outside decks face right out onto the vineyards. Tasting hours are Monday-Sunday 11am-6pm.

6- Pellegrini Winery: I would say this winery was okay. Most of the sitting area is in a large patio area that’s pretty much enclosed by the tasting room building. There are only a handful of tables that actually taste the vineyards. As for the wine itself, nothing to rave about. Tasting hours are Monday through Saturday 11am-5pm.

7- Pugliese Vineyards: Pronounced (pull-yay-zee). The scenery here is nice, you can sit outside and look out onto a pond filled with koi fish while you are sipping your wine. We enjoyed a nice bottle of Sparkling Merlot, something I’ve never had before, and it was refreshing and light. Tasting hours are Monday through Sunday 10am-5pm.

8- One Woman: This winery has only been open for a little over a year. It is a winery and vineyard run by one woman and her daughter. It’s definitely rustic and beautiful, and the wines are fantastic. Tasting hours are Friday through Monday 12pm-6pm.

9- McCall Vineyards: This is also a new winery; their tasting room (set in a beautifully restored barn) just opened in May of this year. They only have three wines so far and they are all very good.

Written By: Lori McNally of Chic Galleria Magazine

Day 2 and up bright and early (not yet adjusted to the 13-hour ahead time difference)! I started the day off with a morning walk around Cheongdam Park in the Cheongdam-dong area of Seoul. This park is absolutely gorgeous- it’s like a forest right in the middle of this concrete metropolis! This certainly helped me build up an appetite, and I was lucky enough to find a street vendor right outside of the park (I love eating street food in other countries).  I ordered what everyone else was eating- something called special toast. Special toast is an omelet ... Read More »]]>

Day 2 and up bright and early (not yet adjusted to the 13-hour ahead time difference)! I started the day off with a morning walk around Cheongdam Park in the Cheongdam-dong area of Seoul. This park is absolutely gorgeous- it’s like a forest right in the middle of this concrete metropolis! This certainly helped me build up an appetite, and I was lucky enough to find a street vendor right outside of the park (I love eating street food in other countries).  I ordered what everyone else was eating- something called special toast. Special toast is an omelet with scallions and carrots which is served on grilled white bread with ketchup, mustard, and sugar! Yup, sugar! Who knew it would taste so good on eggs??? It was amazing! I washed it down with coffee flavored milk- again, just like the locals were drinking.

Next, into a cab and onto Rodeo Street…Rodeo Street is also known as the “Fashion and Art Street” or “Yuppie Street” since a lot of professionals who are in their 30′s are mostly the ones who shop here. On Rodeo Street you can find more than 50 shops for imported foreign name brands (like Louis Vuitton and Gucci), local fashion designers’ shops, and 30 art galleries. Just be aware that you will find high prices for clothes and coffee which can be 3 or 4 times much as in other places! I found a little handbag that wasn’t terribly expensive at a little boutique called Boy + Supermarket (it’s inside the black shopping bag).

After a morning of walking and shopping, it was time to head to the Noryangjin Fish Market for some really fresh fish. Noryangjin Fish Market is Seoul’s largest and oldest fish market, with more than 700 shops inside. You can find every kind of fish you could imagine- all pretty much caught just a few short hours before. The place is very cool to see! We went to a stand that Danny and Lilac know about, and they ordered a huge flounder and a small octopus.

We walked downstairs to a small little restaurant where we sat on the floor and were served our fresh fish. The octopus is still moving when it’s served to you ( a testament to how fresh it really is)…very weird! I have to say, other than the squirming sensation which is a bit bizarre, it was quite good. I felt like Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel! This was also my first sashimi experience- it was AMAZING! What have I been missing out on for all of these years? I would never have thought to order the flounder, but it was so fresh- like butter! Our lunch lasted for two hours and included all the sashimi and a fish soup (made with the bones and the fish head)- it was very spicy, but very good!

After lunch, we walked through some of the stands outside of the fish market, and of course had to try one of the popular things you will see for sale on the street everywhere here, a pastry filled with sweet bean paste…yummy!

From there, on to the 63 Building or 63 City- one of Seoul’s tallest buildings. It’s pretty cool to see. When you go, you get into a glass elevator and you can look out on to the entire city on your ride up. The view at the top is incredible! Seoul is huge- 10 million people, but it is such a wide, spread out city- it seems like the city never ends when you look out from here!

On the first floor of the 63 Building is a coffee/dessert place called Beans & Berries. We stopped in here for a Korean specialty- a bowl of shaved ice that has milk in it, and comes topped with ice cream and fresh fruit- delicious!

After the 63 Building, we went to the Hyundai Department Store. I know, you are probably thinking, “department store,” why would you fly half way around the world to go see a department store??? But, if you are anywhere in Asia, it’s something you must do! That’s because the department stores in Asia are nothing like the department stores back in the U.S. The stores in Asia are large , multilevel stores, with the bottom floor being a grocery store and a food court! The first floor is where you can find cosmetics and jewelry, the middle floors clothing, furniture and home goods, and the top floor is reserved for restaurants. If you want to see where Seoul’s fashions will be heading, then check out the Hyundai Department Store.

Dinner that night was at Phil Kyung Jae-a fancy traditional Korean restaurant where we were served a dinner fit for a king! This restaurant is located in the south part of Seoul. You wouldn’t really notice it from the street, but once inside, the place is gorgeous! The grounds of the restaurant are these beautiful gardens with trees and flowers. The restaurant used to be someones home, so there are different rooms, each decorated in stunning Korean decor.  It’s good to go with a large party because you get your own room. We got a room where we sat on the floor- the traditional way!

Dishes just kept on coming out- everything from beef to fish to pork to soup to raw crab and even steak tar tar- every kind of traditional Korean dish you could imagine! Our dinner was an experience that lasted almost three hours! It was incredible!!! What a great day in Seoul! Stay tuned for Seoul, Korea- Day 3 for more on Danny & Lilac’s wedding!

The hotel was the Grand Intercontinental Seoul- an elegant, very nice and extremely clean hotel. (Don’t judge ... Read More »]]> After the crazy flight experience leaving the U.S., I wound up losing a day of my time in Seoul, Korea. Instead, Continental put all of us up at the Nikko Narita Hotel at the airport in Japan for one night and put me on the first flight out to Seoul the next morning. It was so nice to finally get to my destination and check-in to the hotel which would be the place where I could rest my head for the next few days…ahhhhhhh!

The hotel was the Grand Intercontinental Seoul- an elegant, very nice and extremely clean hotel. (Don’t judge it by the outside, the inside is much nicer than you would expect looking at the bland exterior). The Grand Intercontinental Seoul is located in the Gangnam District- Gangnam means “south of the river”.  This area is modern and affluent and has wider streets than you’ll find elsewhere in Seoul and it also has a lot of high-end restaurants.

Underneath the Grand Intercontinental Seoul is the COEX Mall…The COEX is an enormous underground shopping mall (a.k.a.- a megamall) that has more than 250 stores, places to eat, movie theaters and even a club!

I stayed at the Grand Intercontinental Seoul for two reasons:

1.  It is right across the street from where Danny and Lilac’s wedding was going to be.

2. It was going to be one of the few western-style rooms I would get to experience on my two week trip to Asia.

The rooms are remodeled in a contemporary style using dark wood. The beds are firm and SO comfortable! The bathrooms are very spacious- a rarity in Korea. Believe you me, after sitting around at Newark for 12 and 1/2 hours before finally taking off, sitting on a flight to Japan for 14 hours, sitting on a flight from Japan to Korea for 2 and 1/2 hours, and sitting on a bus from the airport in Incheon to the hotel in Seoul for 80 minutes…all I wanted to do was dive into the bed and not get out for an entire day, but I knew there was so much I wanted to see and do in Seoul, that I headed right out the door, jumped into a cab, and went to Nam Dae Mun Market.

Nam Dae Mun Market is the oldest and largest traditional market in all of Korea. Here there are vendors that sell clothing, local products, and pretty much everything but the kitchen sink.  It’s a good idea to bring cash if you want to buy stuff because you can definitely bargain here! I didn’t shop much, but instead found a great little spot to have a quick bite to eat. This place was filled with locals all pretty much eating the same thing; ramen noodles in broth…kimchi and vegetables wrapped in rice and seaweed…and sweet sugar balls for dessert..they taste like zeppoles, but are much more dense…quite good!

The eating didn’t stop after this…that night we all met up to go out to one of the best Korean Barbecue restaurants in all of Seoul (I’m not making that up, it’s a fact according to Danny and Lilac). I wish I knew the name because it was amazing! We took off our shoes, sat on the floor, and ate steak cooked in the pit in front of us, liver, soup, salad and drank plenty of Hite- a Korean beer. After dinner, the coffee/cafe culture is huge here!

We headed to a really cute street called Shinsa street in the Sinsa-dong neighborhood where we had the best vanilla lattes and a chocolate waffle with ice cream for dessert. Lilac and I checked out the stores on Shinsa street- it’s lined with great boutiques for clothing, jewelery and accessories (very reminiscent of areas in Soho in NYC).  Stay tuned for Seoul, Korea- Day 2 and my first sashimi experience at the Noryangjin Fish Market!

Hey Jet Setters, I’m back! I was in Korea and Japan for the last two weeks and have to say that Asia was amazing! I can’t wait to share pictures and stories with you all very soon.

First, I want to tell you about the crazy flight experience I had leaving the U.S.  On Sunday, May 9th, I boarded Continental Flight #9 from Newark International Airport for a 14 hour flight en route to Narita International Airport in Japan. Shortly after take-off I heard a loud boom and then the plane started to shake, and it felt like the plane wasn’t ... Read More »]]>

Hey Jet Setters, I’m back! I was in Korea and Japan for the last two weeks and have to say that Asia was amazing! I can’t wait to share pictures and stories with you all very soon.

First, I want to tell you about the crazy flight experience I had leaving the U.S.  On Sunday, May 9th, I boarded Continental Flight #9 from Newark International Airport for a 14 hour flight en route to Narita International Airport in Japan. Shortly after take-off I heard a loud boom and then the plane started to shake, and it felt like the plane wasn’t climbing like it should have been. Next thing I know, the captain makes an announcement saying “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a problem with our hydraulic system…it’s not working, and so the back-up system has kicked in, but we will have to land again, but before we do, we must circle first to dump fuel.” Well, we circled for about 45 minutes, dumping 170,000 gallons of fuel (I later found out). People were throwing up all around me, flight attendants were running up and down the aisles…it was scary!!! Right before we landed one of the flight attendants made an announcement saying “Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be landing shortly, please be advised that our landing will be harder and faster than normal.” And it was! We hit the ground pretty hard, and the plane swerved right and then left (from all of the fuel still inside). There were emergency vehicles waiting on the runway for us (just in case), and they escorted us back to the gate.

We all got off of the plane (shaken and confused as to what happened), and were handed food vouchers to go eat while they determined what would happen. Continental decided to give us a new plane, and we finally left for Japan that night at 8:30pm! We all later found out that part of the wheel broke off during take-off, and so the landing gear couldn’t go back into position after take-off (hence why the plane couldn’t climb and why it was so shaky). We also later found out that what had happened to us on that flight made the news!!! Yes, it was on CNN and all of the local news channels! Click here to read about it. I have to say in all of my years of jet setting, this was the first time something like this has ever happened to me. It’s nice to be back home safely!

Written By: Lori McNally of Chic Galleria Magazine