Better TV: Healthy Recipes with a Touch of Sweetness

I started off my 30s with a bang with an appearance on the nationally syndicated morning program The Better Show. On the show, I showed the amazing hosts Audra Lowe and  JD Roberto how to prepare two healthy recipes with a touch of sweetness to help you stay in line when you're trying to eat better. I first made a Roasted Root Vegetable Quinoa Salad with Dried Fruit & Nuts (which JD was a big fan of) and then followed it up with one of my favorite healthy dessert recipes: Baked Honey Spice Pears with Fresh Ricotta (which, again, JD ate completely during the break!).

I had a great time on the show as the hosts and everyone from the production team were super fun to work with. I'm looking forward to more appearances on the show in the future! Though the show taped last week, it aired today, which was perfect because it is my birthday and I felt like it was a fitting way to start this new decade of my life. Particularly since TV work is something I definitely want to focus on more in the coming year!

If you weren't able to catch the segments when they aired, you can watch them online in the clips below (after the jump)

I'll also be posting both recipes tomorrow (just want to get some photos first). These are a couple of Eugene's favorite dishes that I make and he's been super happy to have the fridge stocked with them. For the show I made one version on air, but had to have another batch ready in advance, hence...double batches of everything!

Thanks for watching!!

xo

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Alejandra on Telemundo

So last Friday was a fun day at Always Order Dessert headquarters! I was interviewed and featured in a segment on Telemundo here in NYC. They contacted me because they wanted to do a feature based on a class I recently taught on the subject of cooking once for the whole week.

We filmed the segment at City Cookhouse (the amazing commercial rental kitchen here in NYC where I teach my cooking classes and host private events), and during the taping I demonstrated a few recipes and techniques that folks can use in order to prepare a week of meals in just a few hours of cooking. I talked about menu planning and selecting recipes that use similar ingredients as a way of streamlining your cooking time. The recipes I demonstrated for the taping were mini beef & mushroom meatloaf (prepared in muffin tins for easy serving and reduced cooking time); a chorizo, bean, and veggie soup, and a Latin-style ground beef saute called "picadillo" that can be served on it's own as an entree or turned into burritos for lunch the next day.

It was a fun morning with only a tiny mishap when I accidentally sliced off the very tip of my thumb (I was using a borrowed knife that was a bit dull and it slipped on a tomato)...ouch! When you spend as much time as I do in the kitchen, accidents are inevitable (the burns and scars are actually a mark of pride), but it's a little unnerving when it happens on camera! Thankfully it wasn't live. The reporter and cameraman helped bandage me up and we shot the rest of the segment without drawing any more blood (plus one bright blue restaurant band-aid).

I should note that while the interview was arranged directly with the producer, my dad is actually the anchor for this newscast. The funny thing is that I didn't tell him about it and a few days after it was all setup, my dad found out and called me. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to be on the news?!" he asked excitedly. I honestly thought he already knew!

We ended up working the fact that I'm his daughter into the package so that at the end the reporter asked me what my dad likes to eat and then I signed off by blowing a kiss at him on the camera (which you'll see on the video below). He then explained that I was his daughter on the air and the weather and sports anchors Andrea and Veronica, (also long-time family friends), commented on my cooking and treats, which they've experienced over the years.

Watch the segment that aired (in Spanish):


And click the image below to watch the web extra with my extended interview + tips (in Spanish):

I'll be sharing the detailed recipes later this week!

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Forget Japan. I'm big in Holland. And Italy.

Some of you already know that when not puttering about in the kitchen or on this blog, I work as a magazine editor for the international editions of Cosmopolitan magazine. Working with international mags is a pretty cool mixed bag of a job, and occasionally, I get some tasks that are really fun.

Most recently, one of my editors in Holland wrote me and asked if I could help her gather a list of some New York City "hotspots." Basically, with the upcoming release of the Sex and the City 2 movie, (for which yes, I already have tickets), they wanted to do a piece featuring some "real" New York girls sharing their favorite spots to shop, eat, and dance in the city. She also asked if I could include my own tips in the list.

I got to work and contacted some friends and fellow bloggers to contribute. I interviewed about a dozen girls total, and I actually ended up with pages and pages of tips. Naturally, due to space constraints, the magazines could only run a few suggestions each, but I'm sure we'll find another great use for the other interviews in the future.

At the very least, I now have a kick-ass long list of places I need to check out here in NYC stat!


The story just came out (in the June issue of Dutch Cosmo) and I thought I'd share it with you! (That's it above.) Cosmo Italy (another edition that I work with) also picked up the story (though they used different tips and featured a different selection from the girls I interviewed.)

Click on the pictures to enlarge them and see them up close. I think that a few of you may notice a some familiar faces on the list. Including fellow food bloggers Katy Atlas from Sugarlaws, Michelle Judd from Taste as You Go, Jordan Reid from Ramshackleglam, and Grace from GraceNotes NYC.


Big thanks to all the girls who generously shared their time and amazing recommendations!

By the way, my New York picks?

Ilili, which I wrote about here, is my current favorite restaurant in the city. (And I hear that they now serve brunch! Yay!)

Kashkaval, which I wrote about here and also recommended in this article in the London Times, is my favorite lunch and meeting-girlfriends-for-dinner spot. They also have delicious (and amazingly priced) fondue. Yum!

Sexy champagne bar Flute.

And for shopping, Century 21 (it's a battle, but you make out like a bandit when you persevere!) and Fabulous Franny's (truly fabulous spot for killer vintage finds and vintage eyeglasses. Very necessary when you like to throw retro-themed cocktail parties.)

xoxo

Alejandra

P.S. I'm totally adding "Big Apple Insider" to my official bio. ;)


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New to Always Order Dessert? Consider subscribing to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, or sign up to receive my once-a-week e-mail updates by filling in your address in the box on the right.

And if you ever need any entertaining or cooking advice, please don't hesitate to e-mail me.
Thanks for reading!

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I'm in Real Simple Magazine!

I spent much of this morning at work thinking up excuses to walk past my office mailbox. Located in the kitchen area near the water cooler and tea, it's usually more of an afterthought. I don't really get much mail at work, save for the occasional invoice (which goes straight to accounting) or--more often--catalogs from Pottery Barn and the Oriental Trading Company. Today however, I had a reason to keep checking. Today, the May issue of Real Simple magazine containing an article about my mom and me was scheduled to arrive!

It was probably about 11AM when I finally spotted it. I'd walked over to get a bit of milk for my cereal and there it was, its characteristically thick and wide body slightly curved in the narrow box. I grabbed it and ran back to my desk, rhw cup of dry cereal in my left hand, Real Simple flapping in the air in my right.

"It's here!" I breathlessly announced to my coworkers who knew all about it. I set the magazine down and flipped quickly to it, everyone crowding around me to see what the commotion was.



And then I found it! On page 240 part of the story called From My Mother's Kitchen, a 1/4 page photo of my mom and me cooking (though really, I was just stirring a pot of boiling water), a brief article, my recipe for Camarones Enchilados (or deviled shrimp), and--on page 241--a gorgeous full-page photo of my beautiful shrimp shot by the fantastic photographer Ditte Isager.

I was so honored to be part of this story. It's a Mother's Day piece that features six women talking about a treasured family recipe that they learned from their mother. I talked about Camarones Enchilados, which is a wonderful dish of shrimp stewed in a spicy tomato sauce.

You should read the article for the story, but what I will tell you (what isn't in the magazine) is that this has become one of my favorite things to make. I actually updated the recipe a bit from what my mother originally taught me (sorry, Mama!) by adding smoked Spanish paprika and serving it differently. She serves it with white rice, salad, and plantains; I prefer it on charred whole wheat tortillas with a side of sliced avocado and a bit of salty white cheese. The recipe in the magazine is my updated version, but sentiment comes straight from my mom.

Another cool thing to look out for: check out the wooden pilon (Spanish for mortar and pestle)that is on the shelf above the stove I'm cooking on. That's my real pilon that my mom got me in Puerto Rico several years ago; I use it regularly and I brought it with me to the photo shoot.


The photo shoot was one of the most fun parts of the whole thing. My mom and I filled bags with clothing we wanted to wear and we met the team from Real Simple at a gorgeous loft down in the West Village. They welcomed us with an amazing breakfast, did our hair and make-up, and helped us choose outfits from what we'd brought.

I had just come back from Puerto Rico (hence my very dark tan in the photo; I'm not usually that golden). I had also been freaking out a bit because I happened to come down with a ridiculous and rather inopportune case of UV poisoning on the last day of the trip. You can't tell from the photo, but I'm actually covered in a prickly UV rash from my neck all the way down to my toes! I mentioned it the photographer and photo editors who assured me that the final photo wouldn't show it (Yay, Photoshop!).

After we shot our part, they let us hang around while they shot the food. It was my first time watching a professional food photography shoot and I was absolutely fascinated. The food was set up on a rustic wooden table next to one of the huge windows and the photographer stood up on a ladder to get the shot. It was exciting seeing the way that all the editors worked together to set everything up. I wish I could have a few assistants like that when I'm taking my blog photos! (Come to think of it, I also wouldn't mind having a make-up artist and hairstylist around to touch me up every few minutes. That would be cool too.)


I am, as I'm sure you can imagine, absolutely delighted! The subscriber copies of the May issue are already arriving, and it will be on newsstands this weekend. I'd love it if you pick up a copy and let me know what you think! Try the recipe too (it's a really good one). The article isn't up on their website yet, but the recipe is (they spelled it wrong on the site, though; it's enchilados with an "o," NOT enchiladas with an "a.")

And if you do try it and like it, it would be awesome if you'd let the folks at Real Simple know so. Because I would really love it if they were to ask me back. ;)

[Photo Credits: Scans from Real Simple May 2010 issue; photo of Yolanda Ramos and Alejandra Ramos by Ditte Isager; photo of shrimp in black pan by Alejandra Ramos]

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New to Always Order Dessert? Consider subscribing to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, or sign up to receive my once-a-week e-mail updates by filling in your address in the box on the right. And if you ever need any entertaining or cooking advice, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. Thanks for reading!

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Become a fan of Always Order Dessert on Facebook!

After much feet-dragging and lallygagging, I finally buckled down tonight and created a Facebook Fan Page for Always Order Dessert.

If you're on Facebook, I'd love it if you would become a fan. I can't promise that any special riches or good fortune will befall you if you do, but if you join, I'll totally owe you one. This means you'll have the right to demand special recipes or party-throwing advice of me and I will be forced to oblige. Sweet!

Join here: Always Order Dessert by Alejandra Ramos

Thanks!

xoxo

Alejandra

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What I Want This Year

After all my active campaigning for the Shorty Awards, I decided today that I want to take a couple minutes to share a few words about the way I use Twitter to both expand Always Order Dessert and my own personal brand, but even more importantly, about my (many!) goals for the site this year. This is a little different from my usual posts, but one that I hope will fill you in a bit on how I see and use and view my presence here on the Web.

I joined Twitter back in June of 2007 when I heard about it from a fellow blogger in the NY Bloggers Meetup group I created and used to run. He was raving about it so I decided to check it out. My first tweet was something along the lines of "Just setting up my Twitter..." but, I confess, that was probably about it for the next year or so.

Then, sometime in the middle of 2008, I started up again. I honestly don't remember why; I just remember that I suddenly really liked it. I loved the instant connection with people all over the globe. I followed every food blogger, food writer, chef, etc., that I could find and reveled in the direct access that I now had at my fingertips. I started conversations with bloggers I had previously only read, and it wasn't long before we were chatting regularly and helping each other out with recipes and ideas. The phrase "my Twitter friend" became a regular part of my vocabulary.


I know there are plenty of people out there who think it's a waste of time, but it really isn't. I've had some pretty incredible things happen in my life 100% because of Twitter. I've met great people that I now consider my friends. I've been invited to events I would have never heard about. I've gotten dinner reservations that I couldn't get through the phone. I made a pretty important Mashable list of Foodies to follow on Twitter that brought Always Order Dessert and my writing to the attention of reporters, publicists, and agents who have encouraged me to take further steps with my career. Even simply being linked to a great article or story that inspired me or moved me in some way--a link that I would have never seen had I not been on Twitter. These things (and a heck of a lot more) are proof to me that this site is anything but a waste of time.

I use the site to communicate and share about my day and what I'm doing. I also ask for help. Twitter can sometimes be like an amazing global customer service. Any question you have, guaranteed, there is someone out there who can answer it. Usually several people! I try to foster this by answering as many questions as I possibly can, and generously (I hope!) sharing my own different kinds of expertise (or even just experience) with the community.

If I had to pick between Facebook and Twitter, I'd pick Twitter without hesitation. I'd pick it because no other medium (not even this blog) gives me the kind of direct one-on-one communication with so many people. If you ask me something on Twitter, I will answer you. If you just drop me a note to say hi, I will respond. If you ask for help with a recipe or for suggestions on what to do with an ingredient, I'll gladly give it.


I will let you know right away that I'm not one of those people who instantly follow everyone back, but I have a good reason. Since I want Twitter to be about more than just collecting "friends," I need there to be some kind of connection before I will take that step. I really like to have at least some kind of basis before I follow someone. I want to open the conversation first. But I promise you that if you respond to me a few times or send me a quick hello and introduce yourself and are open in a way that's beyond simply sending out links or self-promotion, then I will follow you, guaranteed. Every now and then I send out a message that says "introduce yourself" and when I do it's because I really do want to know who is following me. I want to get to know you!

(And if you notice that we've been chatting, but I'm still not following you. Well then just ask me to! I probably just assumed that I already was. That's the amazing thing about the Web: nearly everything you want can be yours just by asking. The trick is figuring the who and how, of course)

I should also note that I'm the same way when it comes to e-mail. If you ever have any recipe questions, ideas for something you'd like to see on the site, questions about what to do with an ingredient, or are even looking for some party planning or entertaining ideas, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. Seriously. I freaking love answering those kinds of messages. Sometimes it might take me a few days to get back to you if I've gotten a lot of mail, but you can totally just forward me the note and follow-up. Nudge me all you want!


I've got a lot planned for Always Order Dessert in 2010. It's my goal to post twice as many original recipes as I did last year. I've already started working on articles about entertaining (primarily about entertaining in small apartment spaces like the one that I, and probably most of you, live in) that I'm really excited to share with you. I'm planning more videos, playlists, and events. It's my dream to have this site become major this year and I hope you'll all stick along for the ride.

I'm not sure if I've ever shared this with you guys, but I love this blog. I mean that. I love what I do here more than anything else that I do in my day (I'm including the cooking as part of what I "do" here). I joke around about it, but this site is totally my baby. Even when I'm at work and totally committed to what I'm doing there, the plans and ideas keep unfolding in the back of my head. Over the holidays I took a lot of time to think about the things I want to achieve this year and I've laid them all out here. You're welcome to take a look. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you have any ideas.

One of the best things about always ordering dessert after a great meal, besides the deliciousness of course, is that it gives you a little more time to relax and extend the conversation.

So let's do that. Let's keep talking. And (most importantly!) let's have fun!



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New to Always Order Dessert? Consider subscribing to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or sign up to receive my once-a-week e-mail updates by filling in your address in the box on the right. And if you ever need any entertaining or cooking advice, please don't hesitate to e-mail me.

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The Saveur 100

The 2010 Saveur 100 list was announced today featuring 100 of the best, most inspiring food-related things of the year. Saveur releases this round-up of foodie awesomeness every January, but this year they decided to mix things up by having their readers decide what makes the list. I decided to join the fray and submitted two ideas back in the summer (I distinctly remember doing it while sitting on my bed just before going to sleep), then promptly forgot about it.

A couple months ago, I started getting phone calls and emails from various Saveur editors letting me know that not just one, but BOTH of my ideas were going to be featured in the issue. I was stunned! They received 1,348 entries, which they had to narrow down to 100, and still ended up choosing two of mine! That, as Eugene so poignantly noted that the time, is "friggin' awesome." A few emails went back and forth while the editors had me refine my little articles, and then I sat back and not-so-patiently waited for the issue to be released. (I even went so far as to look up a copy of the 2010 Saveur editorial calendar in order to see the exact on-sale date!)

This morning I woke up to a couple very effusive thank you tweets from Sarah of Tastespotting.com, the amazing visual potluck of a website that was one of my entries and #11 on the Saveur 100. I quickly hopped out of bed to check out the rest of the list and saw that my second entry, wonton wrappers, was #45 (with a gorgeous 3/4 page layout at that!).

Congratulations to everyone who made the list, whether as a contributor or as one of the listed. It's a fantastic way to start the year, and I'm stating now that it is officially one of my goals to actually BE one of the Saveur 100 within the next few years; whether it's my blog, my self, or one of my future books, I don't know yet, but it's definitely going to happen.

(Oh and needless to say, I cannot wait until I finally get my copy of the magazine so that I can read all the other amazing entries in detail. And, I admit, so that I can stare at my name printed in one of my favorite magazines.) Visit Saveur's website to check out the rest of the list or click here for an easy and simple pesto ravioli recipe featuring wonton wrappers (gyoza, actually, but it's the same idea), and feel free to brag in the comments if any of your entries also made it!

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About Last Saturday...

Early last Saturday morning, before the sun had even come out, I sleepily shuffled into the kitchen where I pulled an ice-cold block of butter and a dozen eggs out of the fridge. I left them on the counter and just-as-sleepily shuffled back to bed, snuggling up against Eugene who was sound asleep and completely unaware of what I'd been up to.

An hour or so later (once the butter had softened and the eggs had reached room temperature) I pulled out of bed again and got to work. I had a to-do list as long as my arm and very few hours to do it. At 1pm that afternoon, I was expecting a photographer who was being sent over by the New York Daily News to photograph me cooking and styling my food for a story in the paper about New Yorkers who chose their homes because of their hobbies. The main selling points in my case were the relatively large kitchen (that's NY apartment big, mind you) and the dishwasher (::cue choir of angels::).

The aforementioned butter was pulled out of the fridge because the reporter had asked me to prep a few things for the shoot and I figured I might as well bake a cake! I actually was filling an order for one of my regular customers who had bought one of my Italian Rainbow Cookie Cakes for her daughter's 13th birthday, which I thought would look lovely in a photo, and I also prepared a batch of espresso cocoa truffles (which I'll post tomorrow).

The big surprise came a little later after I'd finished cleaning the apartment, baking the cake layers, and had laid out my props to shoot the truffles. I hopped in and out of the shower and as I stood in my room with wet hair dripping all over my shoulders, the phone rang. It was the photographer saying that she would be over in 5 minutes--a full 45 minutes earlier than expected. I told Eugene to answer the door as I rushed to tie up my wet hair and throw on a dress. I was a bit flustered since I'd timed everything down to the minute, but she was nice about waiting for me to finish applying makeup.

Ultimately, I think the shoot went well. She took some photos of me spreading the cake filling and making ganache for the frosting. Then some photos of me styling and shooting the truffles. And finally a couple portraits of me holding a basin of truffles and smiling at the camera. She left about an hour and a half later, at which point I collapsed on the couch in pure exhaustion.

All week long, I waited for the article to come out with a mix of excitement and nervousness. The latter mostly because I was terrified of the photo being awful. It was scheduled to be printed in the real estate section of the Friday paper, so yesterday morning I had another pre-dawn wake-up as I rushed to get ready and run down to the bodega to buy the newspaper. I didn't open it until I was on the train, and it was there, squooshed between two other commuters, that my heart was a little bit broken.

They didn't run my photo.

The article was there; a full three pages with four large photos of the other people in the story, but not a single picture of me. I kept turning the pages and re-reading it to see if I was missing something, but there was nothing. I did appear in the words of the article; one sentence in the beginning and a nice little paragraph in the middle (although they got my occupation wrong; I'm a magazine editor, not a web editor), but the part that I'd been most excited about...actually having a photo of me cooking in the newspaper, was missing.

I told the girls at work about it when I got in (they'd heard all about the shoot and had also been looking forward to seeing the photo) and Eugene via IM. Like me, he was bummed. "After all that work and preparation you did! You barely slept!" We both commiserated for a while, he assuring me that it probably had to do with space issues and not, as I'd conjectured, because "I came out ugly."

"That's ridiculous!" he told me. "And impossible."

He assured me that this just wasn't my turn, but that I'll get another (bigger! better!) chance someday soon. With that assurance, I went about the rest of my day happily, only occasionally glancing out of the corner of my eye at the paper with a tiny sneer.

The article, if you'd like to read it, is here. It's actually a very cute story, even if it is missing my photo. ;)

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