Edible Skinny is Back!

As much as we at Edible Skinny LOVE LOVE LOVE to explore this AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME world, sometimes a life event happens that makes a wandering soul pause for a moment.  

For last four months, I've been living in Florida helping my StepMom, Carol Jertson, make her final transition due to cancer and connecting with my Dad, Tony Thomas, in the aftermath of this event.  

It's been a nuanced and delightful hibernation from the world of travel, but it's time to hit the road again!  So look for the return of ES articles in the coming weeks!  Huzzah!!!!

Below is the online eulogy I wrote for Carol to keep you inspired to roam.  As you will read, Carol, a world traveler through and through, will be visiting many places posthumously as her adventures spirit still lives on! 

So here's to life being delicious, all your moments being postcard worthy, and hitting the road again! 

Carolyn (No Middle Name) Jertson 

Carolyn (No Middle Name) Jertson passed on Friday August 16, 2019. A patchouli-loving-free-spirit-at-heart human, this coincided with the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. 

It was a total Carol move. 

Carol passed in a room surrounded by friends and family all celebrating her greatness. The festivities included live ukulele music, tarot card readings, treasured photos, lavender and patchouli aromatherapy, and sparkly tiaras. Her last moments were holding her devoted husband Tony’s hand. 

A fiery redhead with sparkly blue eyes, Carol was born on April 28, 1960. Although she was the baby of the family, she was the childhood protector of her 3 mentally disabled older brothers. Smart as a whip, during high school in Wayne, NJ, Carol would ditch class and hop a bus to Greenwich Village to be part of “The Scene.” She believed it was there, not in a classroom, she would truly learn life. These adventures included ballet classes, low level drug dealing, and accidentally attending The Stonewall Riots. 

A lover of words, Carol graduated college from West Virginia University with a degree in Journalism. She was a Cub Reporter for The Times Beacon, an Editor at The Atlantic City Press, and Co-Founder of The Jersey Shore Currents, all in New Jersey. When she moved to Florida, Carol was the Neighbors Editor of the Miami Herald and a Digital Editor at BioNews. She was an avid reader of books, moving those around her to find inspiration in the written word. 

A world traveler she visited Notre-Dame Cathedral in France, skied St. Anton in Austria, and hiked the Cinque Terre, the Amalfi Coastline, and Dolomite Mountains in Italy. Carol strolled the canals of Venice, was spellbound by the Vatican in Rome, and snorkeled the deserted islands of the Abacos in The Bahamas. She adored America’s National Park System having visited Yosemite, Death Valley, Zion, Bryce, Arches, and Canyonlands with her husband and daughter Katie.

In the next year, Carol posthumously plans to travel to Montreal in Quebec, Alaska by cruise, the Camino de Santiago in France and Spain, and Burning Man. 

All Carol wanted was a world full of love. And luckily, she knew it when she saw it.

Carol would always ferret out the perfect item at a flea market or second hand shop, something that was special, something that others had put their heart and soul into. Homemade quilts, victorian tea sets, vintage dishes, and bedazzled tiaras were all treasures to her. She was a historian of things made and loved with tenderness.

Carol is survived by numerous Friends and Colleagues, 2 Adorable Cats Bello, the Lover Hitman, and Mazey, the Feline Princess, her 3 Big-Hearted Brothers, Roy, Danny, and Bobby, her 2 Daughters, Katie and Kelly, who both inspired by Carol are Professional Writers, and her Loving Pirate of a Husband Tony.

We’re all glad you finally got to go Uptown Sunshine!

A Tale of Las Cruces, Visiting The City Twice on a Road Trip From Vegas to Houston and Back

A Tale of Las Cruces, Visiting The City Twice on a Road Trip From Vegas to Houston and Back

By Kat Thomas 

“Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but in New Mexico the earth was the floor of the sky.” 
― Willa Cather

About a month ago Edible Skinny was lucky enough to visit the city of Las Cruces in New Mexico.  The city, on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, is located at the junction of Interstate Highways 10 (which is how I ended up there on the way from Las Vegas to Houston and back..) and 25 (of which it is the southern terminus).  Las Cruces is the state's second largest city, with a population of approximately 101,047 (2012 Census estimate in case you were wondering), and is the site of New Mexico State University.  Oh and the city’s name means "the crosses" in Spanish! ;-)

La Nueva Casita Cafe
On a lark, while driving through Las Cruces on the way to Houston, I decided to forsake favorite Fast Casual restaurant Chipotle for the local Mexican joint with the best Yelp reviews in town. What I walked into was the best Fucking tacos of my life in Las Cruces at La Nueva Casita Cafe!!!

Fresh, fresh, fresh is all I can say. I started with homemade salsa that’s actually spicy (which usually never happens as most restaurants dumb down their spiciness levels for the lowest common denominator when it comes to HEAT...).  The chips, also made in house, had all the nooks and crannies in all the right places.

This was an intro to the main dish: chicken tacos That BLEW MY MIND!  The chicken, marinated in local New Mexico spices, was moist beyond compare.  The guacamole balanced it perfectly with a creaminess interrupted by jalapeño and other spices of heat!  So if you’re looking for Mexican food the way God intended it (sorry Chipotle), this is your place!

Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces 
Ironically 4 days later I once again found myself in Las Cruces, NM. This time to spend a night at the FABULOUS (And Fabulously inexpensive) Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces.

Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces (also known as Hotel Las Cruces) is the premier Heritage Hotel & Resort in Southern New Mexico.  A welcoming oasis, the hotel was recently named one of the best hotels to book in 2019 by Travel + Leisure.  “The hotel’s earthy color palette, arched doorways, and tiled floors are quintessentially southwestern, while a lounge and outdoor pool offers visitors a place to wind down after a long day in the desert.”

The outside pool is absolutely stunning. I keep telling people it my hotel room would have been four times as much if it had been in LA and not the desert of New Mexico.  Plus the hotel is located in downtown, but the outside vistas overlook the striking Mesilla Valley allowing you to get the best of both worlds.

And for you space nerds, this Las Cruces hotel is honored to be selected by Virgin Galactic as the official preferred hotel and resort in Doña Ana County to service the astronauts and their families who will be traveling to Spaceport America.

So here’s  to life being delicious, all your moments being postcard worthy, and the best Fucking tacos of my life in Las Cruces!!!

Kat Thomas is the Editor in Chief of Edible Skinny, a site dedicated to making your life postcard worthy. She is also the CEO of the creative media company This Way Adventures. You can find more about both brands at http://www.thiswayadventures.com

The Best Donuts of Our Lives with District Donuts in NOLA

Let the Good Times Roll!!!   Edible Skinny was lucky enough to be in New Orleans for the last two weeks!  We had a fabulous time there and the extra pounds to prove it, much of which is the result of District Donuts.   Now, I openly proclaim that normally I don’t even like donuts.  I think they’re a ridiculous breakfast food that murders your blood sugar before the day even starts… but I’m now eating crow as all that changed with a Big Easy intro to District Donuts.

 

District Donuts located in the heart of the Garden District, far from the winding lines of the French Quarter, hands down make the best donuts I have ever had in my life.  Yay, that’s right I said that Café Du Monde (which I made sure to cross off my list of NOLA food activities… look for a post on that to come).  It’s an even bolder statement coming someone who has sampled sugar concoctions from the donut greats such as Voodoo Donuts in Portland and Kettleglazed Donuts in Los Angeles.

 

At District every calorie has been placed in their food with dedicated intention.  They do everything from scratch, down to their sprinkles!  Seven options are available daily, each more creative than the next, from Vietnamese Coffee (with Boba inside of it), Maple Sriracha, and Brown Butter Pistachio. 

District is also committed to micro-batch roasted coffee.  Their coffee partner is the Atlanta based 1000 Faces who only ever roasts less than 20 lbs at time.  Through a technique called profile roasting, individual coffee beans are roasted to find their sweet spot, a special profile of time and temperature variables are created and adhered to that offer their interpretation of perfection.  This means that they don’t use traditional terms like light, medium, and dark roasts.  (How cool is that?  They’re so cool they’re above classic coffee systemization…)

 

District opened in October 2013 focusing on creative donuts and sliders, the latter includes Fried Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Slaw and Candied Jalapeno, a Pork Belly sandwich on a Waffle Bun with Garlic and Anise-flavored Creole Mustard, and a Lemongrass Chile, Tofu, Cucumber, Campari Tomato with Sweet Soy Glaze (which BTWs is fantastic!).  A year later, the team opened District: Hand Pie & Coffee Bar on upper Magazine Street selling sweet and savory versions of the portable filled pastry. The team are set to open a new location in Lakeview this summer.  That will be the third brick-and-mortar for the company in three years.

 

District also has taken the ubiquitous concept of a food truck flipped it Crescent City style.  Their mobile wheels look like a New Orleans streetcar, but it’s really aStrEATcar.  Along with offering District’s donuts and sliders, there’s milk on tap.  In addition to serving great food, the strEATcar serves another strategic purpose, to help connect New Orleans children and teens in foster care with families.  100% of the profits from the StrEATcar go to support Crossroads NOLA, a local non-profit serving children in foster care.  This really is a streetcar you’ll desire.

 

So here’s to life being delicious and encountering the best donuts of your life! 

Celebrating Bday's with the Savage Life and Zedd at Encore Beach Club

Edible Skinny was lucky enough to spend our Sunday at Encore Beach Club rocking it out to DJ Zedd and celebrating the birthday of one of our favorite entrepreneurs of the Las Vegas based Savage Life.

 

Featuring a three-tiered pool complex that is lushly landscaped with pagoda showers, ‘lily pad’ water lounges, cabanas, and eight ultraluxe two-story bungalows, Encore Beach Club was named Las Vegas Dayclub of the Year by Nightclub & Bar’s Top 100.

  

Besides frolicking poolside, we lived savagely grabbing some much needed shade in one of Encore Beach Club's twenty-six cabanas!  Our oasis from the sun featured bottles of Grey Goose vodka and pineapple based margaritas, a view of the Las Vegas strip from a private balcony, and a flat screen television.  Not that we even considered turning the latter on, choosing instead to dance our hearts out as resident DJ Zedd played fantastico tunes. 

The Russian born DJ did not disappoint playing for almost three hours straight!   The Grammy winning Zedd made sure to drop his top hits such as Clarity (for which he earned his award for best Dance Recording) and Break Free.   

So hear's to life being delicious and always full of savage clarity.