If you’ve ever been to our market, you’d know that we always have oranges and grapefruit samples available to our customers.  We also make our very own fresh squeezed orange juice and grapefruit juice.  Well, as I walk back and forth from one end of the market to the other, doing God knows what, looking very busy while I’m at it too by the way, I often sneak a couple of pieces of fruit. While most of the time, the “sample girl” is cutting up some kind of oranges, its always exciting when I catch her cutting up grapefruits.

Now, it’s not that I like grapefruit better than oranges, but there is just something about a sweet and tangy Ruby Red Grapefruit.  You just don’t know what it’s going to taste like.  I mean, you do, but until that segment of grapefruit hits your tongue, it’s almost like a game of chance.  Will it be too sour, or will it be just right?  The Ruby Red Grapefruits at the market have been coming in beautifully. They have a bright yellow skin with dashes of pink.  Now, the inside its something to be proud of.  These babies are the most glorious shade of scarlet red ever.

We’ve been going to the library a lot lately, so I picked up One Bowl Baking by Yvonne Ruperti.  As you know, I look for easy, quick and tasty as my guidelines when selecting a recipe.  I’ve never made bar cookies or crusts from scratch before.  So, I tried her Ruby Red Grapefruit Bars recipe and it definitively delivered the sweetness and tartness of grapefruits I love so much.   Her instructions were easy to follow and this book will now be in my Amazon wish list.  Hint Hint.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Bars, by Yvonne Ruperti

Crust:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
pinch of salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan

Filling:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 tbsp all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp grated ruby red grapefruit
1 cup fresh ruby red grapefruit juice
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp confectioners’s sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Butter a 9 in square baking pan.

To make the crust: In a large bowl, mix the flour, granulated sugar, confectioners’ sugar, and salt.  Add the butter and stir until moistened.  Firmly press the mixture into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan.  Wipe out the bowl.  Bake until the crust is a deep golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.  Mine took about 20 minutes to get a deep golden brown color.  Remove the pan from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 325F.  Let the crust cool briefly before filling.

To make the filling: Mix the sugar and flour, then whisk in the eggs and yolk until the mixture is smooth with no lumps.  Whisk in the zest, grapefruit juice, and lemon juice until combined.  Pour the filling into the crust and bake until the filling is just set, 25 to 35 minutes.  Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes, then cill until completely set, 2 to 3 hours.  Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into squares.

Best part of making this recipe was drinking the grapefruit juice. 😉

This year I’ll be focusing on running more trail races and a few 5ks.  I haven’t decided which ones yet, but the Trout Creek 15k on March 23rd and the Xterra Claw 10 M in April 27th are definitively good possibilities for trail races.  As for some fun 5ks, I’m signing up for the ElectroDash 5k in Tampa on March 21st and the Color Me Rad in Tampa on May 24th.

The Electro Dash 5k just seems like a lot of fun.  First of all, its a night race, so the weather should be nice and second of all, who doesn’t like glow sticks and all things neon.  Right? If you are interested in running the Electro Dash 5k in Tampa, use this special promo code (TAMPABAYBLOGGERS) for a 15% discount. Or you can enter our giveaway for a free entry.  Two lucky readers will win!

Something else I want to share with you is FitFluential.  About a year ago, I joined the FitFluential community in an effort to keep myself accountable to stay fit and possibly motivate others while having fun.  One of the benefits of joining FitFluential is the instant camaraderie between the ambassadors. These FitFluential Ambassadors will be your cheerleaders!  Another benefit is the fun perks you get along the way.  By joining you’ll be eligible to exclusive discounts and giveaways.  Best of all, there are no fees to pay to join. 

There are no requirements to join.  If you are a health fanatic or you just need that extra push to get out there and make some changes, please visit their webpage here and join.  But please tell them I sent you!  You’ll be glad you did.

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Last weekend we celebrated my mom’s birthday.  So on Sunday, the girls and I packed up and headed to the “east” coast to visit her. The girls were super excited to go because thanks to Martin Luther King Day and a teacher’s day, they were out of school for 4 days in a row.  That’s an eternity for two little girls.  Ever since I picked them up from school on Friday, they wanted to know what “big plans” we had for their mini-vacation.

For my mom’s birthday we always go out to eat.  So as soon as we got to her house we headed to Flagler Avenue in New Smyrna Beach.  Flagler Avenue reminds me of Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach with its whimsical, beach fashion stores sprinkled with fun restaurants around.   Last summer, we actually visited the beach but didn’t have the opportunity to eat.  I had promised my mom, we’d come back and she could pick a restaurant.

We headed to the Beacon Restaurant because of all of it’s yelp reviews, but we quickly realized they did not take credit cards and since I hardly carry cash with me we turned around and walked a few feet to The Flagler Tavern.  You might think why would I take two small children to a place named “Tavern”.  The answer is simple.  There seems to be two entrances to this restaurant.  One of the entrances leads to a pub-like establishment serving food, while the other leads to a very home-like establishment.  We chose the home-like entrance.

We started with their clam chowder and the conch chowder.  Both of which were amazing, but I think I liked the clam chowder better.  Then, we had a few appetizers: wings, steamed clams, quesadillas and their famous crab cakes.  If you go there, please order the crab cakes.

After eating so much yummy food, we headed to the beach to walk off some of the calories.  I should have known that it would be impossible to keep my youngest one out of the water.  Within minutes of us walking on to the sand, she was in knee deep in the Altantic.  Thankfully, she had pulled her leggings up.

Do you yelp?

What’s your favorite beach?