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A Sweet Escape: A 3-Day Culinary & Crafting Retreat Hosted by Alejandra Ramos

This June, I'm taking a group of 20 readers and fellow food bloggers on a weekend culinary and crafting adventure in the gorgeous green mountains of Vermont. We'll be staying at Good Commons, one of my absolute favorite places in the world, which I'm incredibly excited to share with all of you. 

Follow the jump to learn more and register!

Packing Collage

I'm heading to Mexico for a few days to cover the Cancun-Riviera Maya Food & Wine Festival. 

It's going to be five full days of feasting--I can't wait to share it all with you!

I'm usually a terrible packer, leaving it until the absolute last possible second, so this time I decided to create a little packing collage on Polyvore, just the same way I would plan for a party. This provided me with a little inspiration for a packing "theme" and made it possible for me to streamline while still bringing everything I need.

For this trip, I'm going with a palate of navy, red, coral, and gold, with brown leather accessories (and my cowboy hat, of course!).

I'll be sure to share pictures and delicious recipes with you when I get back from the trip!

xoxo

Alejandra

The TASTE on ABC

Hi lovelies! I prepared a cozy Latin spice roast chicken (with extra-crispy skin), spicy Argentine chimichurri, and caramelized roasted rutabaga to enjoy for dinner tonight while watching the premiere of the new ABC show The TASTE.

Will you be watching?

Dessert will be a sliced of Nigella's Flourless Clementine cake (which I posted on my food blog, Always Order Dessert). That's where I write and share recipes daily so be sure to hop on over and check it out if you haven't yet!

Remember you can follow me on Twitter (@nandita) and on Facebook. Come by and say hello!

xoxo

Alejandra

12 Holiday Hostess Gift Ideas Under $40

Hop on over to Always Order Dessert to check out my favorite picks for fun unique hostess gift ideas under $40.

Donate a Recipe to Help Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts

As you know, folks in NYC and NJ were recently hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, and many lost their homes or were left without power and gas. There are many groups working hard to help, but I wanted to share a cool opportunity that I think many of you will appreciate.

There is a group called UWS Loves, based on the Upper West Side here in NYC. It's a small group run by a few friends who have basically turned their apartment into a donation headquarters. They have been cooking, baking, and gathering supply donations, which they are then driving down to distribute in hard-hit areas of Brooklyn on a daily basis. It's a simple grass-roots organization--just people who care helping out those in need.

I'm going to be spending my Friday and Saturday cooking trays of hot food and baked goods for them to distribute, and if you're in the area, I'm sure they'd love the help, but I also loved their "Donate a Recipe" campaign.

Described here:

"To continue to provide food made from our hearts, we are asking for donations of recipes.  If you are able to donate the cost of the recipe that would truly be special, it would be like you are here with us!  We are asking 25 dollars for a sandwich recipe, 40 dollars for a baked good, 75 for a side dish, and 100 for a entree.  All of the food is done in large quantities, so you would be feeding at least 25 people with your donation."

I think this is such a cool and direct way to help so just wanted to share that with you! If you want to donate, hop on over to their site or email them directly at: UWSLoves@gmail.com

Even if you can't donate financially, they'd love your tried-and-true recipes to cook--think dishes that are hearty, affordable to make, and which can be multiplied to serve large groups. And if you can afford to pay for the ingredients, too, even better!!

You can also help by following them on Twitter and Facebook, and sharing info about them with your friends. Since they're located on the Upper West Side, it's a great place for folks in uptown Manhattan to help out with Sandy relief. 

I'm going to be taking photos and sharing about my experience with them this weekend and will post that for you on Sunday. If you have any questions about any of the above, please feel free to email me!