Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Friday, August 24, 2012

Healthy Meals for Kids: Alice Waters Partners With Hyatt

Can vegetables and fruit be beautiful? After meeting Alice Waters earlier this week at Berkeley's Edible Schoolyard, I'm utterly convinced that they can be.

Waters has partnered with Hyatt Hotels and Resorts to create a three-course organic menu for kids. Here's what full-service Hyatt properties in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean will be serving up this summer, with Waters expected to dream up a winter menu next.

Salad: Romaine lettuce hearts with carrot curls and a radish rose, with lemon vinaigrette for dipping
Entree: Grilled chicken with pesto sauce, roasted potatoes, and cherry tomatoes
Dessert: Strawberry and orange slices served in a real orange cup



Photo Courtesy of Hyatt

The Alice Waters-inspired kids' menu ($16.95) is already available at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach and the Hyatt Regency Maui, with ingredients sourced locally according to the Chez Panisse founder's vision. Vacation calories don't count, we often joke. But as Waters pointed out Tuesday at the Hyatt media lunch in Berkeley, "[w]e have done a great injustice to (our youth) by feeding them food that isn't good for them."

Maintaining healthy food habits on the road isn't always easy when kids often have the option to order burgers every day. In Hyatt's new For Kids By Kids menu, the company has removed that temptation by taking the burger off its kids' menu. Though you can still request a burger off the adult menu (at half price for kids), the option just isn't staring children in the face at each meal.

If you've ever been overwhelmed by a bottomless buffet aboard a cruise ship or at an all-inclusive resort, it's clearly not just Hyatt hotel restaurants that could use a little bit of inspiration from Alice Waters. All this, of course, leaves the adults wondering if we'll get funny looks if we start ordering off the Hyatt kids' menu.

Below are some photos taken at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, where I could hardly believe that I was passing a bowl of hummus to the food legend herself.



Photos by Amy Chen

Friday, July 27, 2012

Summer Travel: 5 Travel-Friendly Sunscreen Products



When it comes to flying to a beach vacation or a lake getaway, you need some travel-friendly sunscreen products that follow TSA's 3-1-1 rule. From Miami to Croatia, I tested out some samples.

Top from left: Control Corrective Day Cream SPF 30, part of the Sun and Sport Travel Kit ($82) or about $25 on Amazon.com -- The 2.5-oz. bottle held more than enough sunscreen to cover my body on a recent two-day beach trip to Rovinj, Croatia, where I swam in the Adriatic Sea. Bonus: The watermelon scent is a refreshing break from the coconut smell of other sun products.

Supergoop! SPF 40 Sunscreen Day Cream ($16, www.supergoop.com) -- After suffering an allergic reaction to other sun products, I've started using this 1-oz. travel-friendly size for my face. I like that it rubs in easily and doesn't make my face feel greasy. I also used this while in Italy in June, when temperatures in Rome reached above 90. Best of all, it didn't streak when I splashed my face with water to cool off.

Bottom row: Supergoop! wipes -- These space-saving towelettes are helpful for applying sunscreen to your neck and other hard-to-reach places.

Coppertone sunscreen stick -- Unfortunately this sunscreen stick dried out my face, but it worked fine on my legs during a trip to Miami's South Beach.

Aveeno -- When in doubt, I go with the 3-oz. Aveeno for my face. It's easy to find in drugstores in your destination for under $10.

Photos by Amy Chen