Rapture Cake

Okay, so the world didn't end at 6pm, thank God, so I put a cake in the oven and then I put it in my tummy.  I have never made a pineapple upside down cake before, but I had been craving it so I went online and found a recipe at Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen.  I have learned I can trust Pioneer Woman with food every time.
I just took this cake out of my oven.  OMG, it is so yummy!!!  Mine isn't as pretty as this picture, but it was definitely easy and quick.  There is most certainly some rapture going on in my living room.

Maw-Maw’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Added by bradfordbaker on April 6, 2011 in Cakes, Desserts

Prep Time 10 Minutes Cook Time 35 Minutes

Servings 8

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

• 1 stick Butter, Unsalted
• 1 cup Flour
• 1 cup Sugar, Granulated
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ cups Water, Cold
• 3 whole Eggs (large)
• 1 cup Brown Sugar (loosely Packed)
• 1 can (20 Oz. Size) Pineapple Tidbits, Drained
• ½ jars (10 Oz. Size) Maraschino Cherries, Drained

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Melt the butter in a 9-inch cake pan. This takes about five minutes in the preheating oven.

While the butter is melting, combine the following in medium bowl using a wooden spoon: flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cold water, and eggs.

Take melted butter out of oven and sprinkle (in the order given) the following over it: brown sugar, pineapple tidbits, and cherries (arranged prettily).

Next, carefully pour the flour and sugar mixture into the pan.

Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. I usually start checking at about 25 minutes just to make sure not to over bake it. (Plus I’m a bit impatient.)

Once fully baked, remove from the oven and let rest for 3 minutes. Invert cake onto a pretty glass plate. (I usually need to scrape a little of the brown sugar off the bottom of the pan. I put it on the cake or sometimes just eat it. Yum!)

Miles' Birthday Trip - Part TWO, NYC

In all my travels to New York City, I have never once gone to a museum.  I always wanted to go to but there was always so much else to do AND being from the DC area, I'm so used to free museums that it has taken me awhile to warm up to the idea of having to pay for the privilege.  This was the trip I was determined to change this trend, and we chose the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  By the time we got ourselves up and moving and fed and into Manhattan it was already noon so we only had 90 minutes as we were meeting Katy at the St. James theatre at 1:30pm.  We were very specific in our desire to see the Picasso exhibit though, so 90 minutes was just enough time.  Needless to say there are rooms and rooms of other stuff there that we would both like to see, but at least we've made a start on NY museums.  The Picasso exhibit was lovely.  He had a huge body of work and worked for many many years, so there was a very broad variety of works to see.  I have to say that I liked his ink portraits of his "bar buddies" that he did when he was 18 better than any of his later works.  They were very detailed and small, about the size of a coaster, which means they would probably fit in my budget better as well.

After Picasso we found our way back to the front of the museum and hailed a taxi to take us to the St. James to meet Katy.  We were about to see Miles and Joseph's first ever Broadway Play!  We chose American Idiot which is based on the Greenday album of the same name.  It was a hard charging show that never slowed down.  We all really enjoyed it and we bought the soundtrack on our way out the door.  It starred John Gallagher Jr. who also starred in Spring Awakening, my all time favorite Broadway show.

It was about 3:45pm at this point and by now our donuts from the morning had worn off and we were all starving.  We had dinner plans for later but decided to grab a snack at Dallas BBQ.  My friend Nicole met us there and we had some yummy vittals.  Miles ordered the hot wings and we were all surprised when full wings came out, not just wing pieces.  It was a huge platter of food, but being a growing teenager he hoovered right through them and is still talking about how good they were.  We all enjoyed our food and catching up with Nicole and Katy.  Nicole had even brought Katy a floaty pen which is Katy's favorite thing!

Our next adventure was unexpected and delightful!  My dad's first cousin Carolyn moved from Miami to NYC many years ago and for the most part we had lost touch with her.  Recently she found me on Facebook and contacted me asking if I was interested in family tree information that she had collected over the years.  Of course I was interested!  I know lots about my mother's family, but very little about my father's so this was very welcome news.  I had met Carolyn at least one other time in my life, when I was five years old she was visiting my grandparents and she taught me to tie my shoes.  I thought she was SO cool.  I let Carolyn know that we were coming to New York and she asked if we would be interested in touring her husband Mitch's music studio.  Mitch is a music producer.  Of course we said YES!  So after our snack we called Carolyn and headed to the studio on 9th Avenue.  Mitch and Carolyn were absolutely adorable and we loved spending time with them.  They greeted us at the elevator outside the studio and welcomed us with open arms.  The walls of the studio were covered with photographs of the celebrities who had recorded there.  His studio has been there for many years.  The building is an Art Deco building from the '20's and the windows even open, which is so unusual in offices these days.  We sat in Mitch's office and enjoyed a view of the Hudson River.

Mitch and Carolyn had made reservations for all of us at their favorite restaurant just up the street, Ralph's.  We still had Nicole with us and though she attempted to back out as she felt it was a family thing, we convinced her to stay with us.  We had a lovely dinner at Ralph's, Joseph declared the fetticine alfredo as the best he'd ever had.  We shared a bottle of wine with our meal and then we all ordered desserts which got shared around the table.  Mitch snuck back to the bar and paid the check when we weren't paying attention, which was super sweet of him.  You would never have guessed that we had all just met, it really felt like we had known each other for years, we really were family.  When we finished eating we decided to walk a little and burn off some of those calories.  Carolyn told us that there was a free concert up the street at Lincoln Center so we headed up there.  Sure enough there was Caribbean music echoing from the buildings and a folks of every age dancing in the aisles!  We even saw a guy who was a dead ringer for Albert Einstein kicking up his heels!  I think the name of the band was Mazza Pucci, but don't hold me to that.

After the concert we asked Mitch and Carolyn if we could see their Manhattan apartment as I had always wanted to see one.  They have such a reputation for being shoe boxes and I wanted to see if the rumors were true.  I have to say that although their apartment was small, it was delightful.  I really loved it, it was plenty of room for two people and the location couldn't be beat!  We can't wait to hang out with Mitch and Carolyn again, we had such a good time!

We left the apartment and walked Katy back to her train and then Nicole and the rest of us walked over to the PATH station to head back to Jersey City.  As usual it was well after midnight before we got back to the rig.  Exhausted we fell into bed and didn't stir until 11am.  We called Nicole as she was interested in seeing this RV park in her town that she had never heard of before.  She walked down to where we were and hung out with us for a while.  She even drove the rig from our parking space to the dump station!  Then she directed us to a local diner that she had recently discovered and I had what may have been the best grilled ham and cheese ever!  We walked down to the waterfront to walk off our breakfast and then we said goodbye to Nicole and set off on the next part of our journey!

Miles' Birthday Trip - Part ONE, NJ

School is finally done for the semester and it is almost Miles' birthday so we gassed up the Rallye Girl and headed out of town again.  We had been planning on this trip ever since we bought the rig, as I had asked Miles first thing where he'd like to go for his birthday.  He chose Boston.  I can honestly say I was surprised by the answer although I shouldn't have been.  To be more specific he wanted to go to a clothing store in Boston.  The name of the store is Johnny Cupcakes and the reason this shouldn't have surprised me is because years ago when I took him to NYC for his first visit he wanted to visit a clothing store there as well (Bape).  My child is a clothes horse, what can I say?

By the time we got out of Strasburg it was almost time for Joseph's online class so we got off 66 at Front Royal and parked at the Cracker Barrel.  CB is one of those places that welcomes RV's and you can actually park there overnight if you like.  We were just there for dinner and class though, no overnights yet.  Miles and I amused ourselves on our computers while Joseph took his class.  We had the generator running and the AC on so we were quite comfortable.  

Now you may be wondering how we were all three online at the same time in a parking lot.  Well I am very happy to announce that we are the proud owners of our own little MiFi hotspot!!!  We had gotten so frustrated with searching for free WiFi and with trying to connect at campgrounds that advertised free Wifi but then had such a weak signal that we couldn't even check our email.  We are very pleased with our purchase and so far it is working like a charm!  

When class and dinner were done we hit the road again.  I assured Joseph that he didn't have to drive through the night.  We were headed to Asbury Park, NJ first, but we didn't have a reservation at a campground that night so there was no rush or exact destination.  Once we got north of Baltimore he started showing fatigue and was ready to find a place to plug in for the night.  

Now another aside about our other favorite gadget on the rig.  Our GPS.  We originally bought a GPS on our trip to Myrtle Beach before we even bought the rig, because we had gotten lost on that trip and didn't want to repeat our mistake.  We called that first unit Jill because that was the name of the voice we chose.  Although the unit was supposed to have all sorts of cool features, like traffic notices and exit ramp notifications we never really saw those features work.  I thought I just hadn't found the right commands and didn't really worry about it much.  Several times we would change roads without Jill's permission and she would do everything in her power to MAKE us go back and do what she said, but for the most part we were satisfied with her work.  One day though she simply stopped working altogether.  When we tried to turn her on she just blinked at us.  We weren't sure what was wrong, but the next time we went by a Best Buy we stopped in to see what could be done and the girl immediately took it back and gave us a new one.  Needless to say we were thrilled, it was less than 2 months old and I now know that it never worked correctly because as soon as we plugged the new unit in things were MUCH better.  We changed the accent on our new unit to Australian female, her name is Karen and we like her much better.  She doesn't seem as bitchy when we ignore her instructions for one thing.  ;)  For another thing, she tells us our exit before we get there.  I tell you all this in order to tell you that one of our favorite features of the GPS is the ability to find us a campground.  If you'll recall, on the way home from SML she found us the Shenandoah Valley KOA near Staunton, which was a fabulous place!  This time we weren't so lucky, but it wasn't Karen's fault.  She found us what looked to be a lovely campground near Elkton, MD but when we got there (after midnight) it was dark and locked and there was a gate with a code lock, so we couldn't even find a spot on our own and pay in the morning.  Luckily we had passed a Walmart so we back tracked a few miles and hunkered in there for the night.

In the morning we breakfasted at Waffle House and then headed on to our first destination of this trip, Asbury Park, NJ.  I had just seen a friend on Facebook mention the Silverball Pinball Museum and Arcade and knew immediately that I wanted to find it.  Of course Asbury Park was familiar to me as it is to any Bruce Springsteen fan and as it turns out the Stone Pony is diagonally across the street from the Silverball.  The deal at the Silverball is that it is a museum AND an arcade.  They have rows and rows of old pinball machines and arcade games, including skeeball in working order.  You pay $10 to get in and you can play all the games for free for an hour (you can also pay $15 for the whole day and go in and out all day long, but since we weren't staying we didn't need that option).  We plunked down our $30 for the three of us and got our armbands and headed inside.  I have never been good at pinball and today was no different, I suck at it.  

However, they also had Galaga which was my FAVORITE arcade game back in the day!  I rock Galaga, I even beat Joseph's high score, although I came nowhere close to the high score for the machine which they post on a little placard on every machine there!  When our hour was done (which felt like three minutes later) we went out onto the boardwalk and were planning to walk down to the water's edge and get our feet wet, but the "beach cops" had different plans for us.  Turns out that you have to pay to walk out on the beach there!  I didn't need wet toes that badly, so we turned around and headed to the rig, for some reason though the cops gave us the stinkeye until we were out of siight.  I'm not sure why they were so anxious about our presense, maybe they thought we were gonna turn around and bum rush our way onto the sand?

Our next destination was Hillside, NJ.  In order to tell you why I would be headed to Hillside, I have an embarrassing confession to make.   My guilty pleasure in life is the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo TV.  I have never watched the Atlanta version and I have yet to see the DC version but I love, love, love the OC, NY and NJ versions.  One of the Real Housewives of NJ, Teresa, just opened a pizzarria with her husband Joe.  On her blog one day (yes, I read the blogs too) she mentioned the address of the pizza place and said "If you are ever in the area stop by, Joe will probably be there and I might be there."  Well seeing as Hillside is very close to Jersey City where we were staying, how could I resist.  We found the restaurant with no trouble whatsoever, and even found a nice parking spot for the rig, not too far down the street.  When we entered we were greeted by a sweet man who was very enthusiastic about his menu and making sure we enjoyed whatever we ordered.  We could see Teresa's husband Joe sitting a table talking to some people, so he really does run his business in person.  We placed our order and sat down to wait.  The restaurant was beautifully decorated and a poster of Teresa and a copy of her book were prominently displayed.  When our food came they were HUGE helpings and totally delish!  Joseph got a steak and cheese wrap, Miles got paninini and I got veal parmesan.  The sauce on mine was amazing.  When we were done the cashier asked if we had come because of the tv show and we told him yes and described our rig parked down the street.  He asked if we had seen Joe which of course we had.  He asked if I wanted to meet Joe, which I did also, but I didn't want to bust in on his conversation, he was actually on the phone at this moment, so I really didn't want to disturb him, but the employee assured me that it was fine and called Joe over.  Joe was very sweet asked us questions about our rig and such.

If you’re in Hillside, New Jersey, stop by Giuseppe’s Homestyle Pizzeria at 1576 Maple Avenue!

Home is Wherever We Are!

When we left Smith Mountain Lake we decided to drive up through Bedford, VA. We had both been wanting to go the the National D-Day Memorial which is located in Bedford and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Once we got to town we decided to find some food first, so we drove around until we found a shopping center with multiple restaurants. One of the choices was something called Huddle House. I had never heard of HH but Joseph was familiar and said it would be right up my alley so that is where we went. We asked our waitress about free internet (we are learning to ask now). She confirmed that they did have wifi so Joseph ran back out to the rig to get our laptops. We ordered breakfast foods even though it was mid-afternoon and our meal was EXCELLENT! We even got dessert which we don't normally have, but their key lime pie seemed too yummy to pass up.

When we were finished we dropped the laptops off in the rig and walked over to a Goodwill Store and then a Tractor Supply store to get some shopping done. Then we headed back to the Welcome Center and WWII Memorial. Imagine our surprise to see two other motorhomes not only parked on the grounds but hooked up! They actually have 3 RV sites there for overnight stays!!! You can only stay one night but it only costs $25! We enjoyed the Welcome Center exhibits and then headed back to the Memorial. It was a very bright, hot day and there was NO SHADE. I wished mightily that I had an umbrella to use as a sunshade. (I have since added two umbrellas to the permanent rig inventory.) There was so much to read, dozens of plaques with long involved descriptions of the people involved. We read all of them for a while, but then it became overwhelming as did the heat and we had to skip through to the "important" stuff. The whole time we were walking along we could hear simulated gunfire from part of the exhibit. When we got to the part where the statues of boys were climbing up onto the beach it became more and more emotional. Realizing that most of those boys who died were only a couple of years older than my son Miles made me very sad and emotional. After catching our breath and walking through the rest of the sculptures we made our way to the gift shop. I love museum gift shops because they always have a nice variety of items that can be gifts for others. This time I was thrilled to find a book about the Boys of Bedford. If you are not aware, the reason the National D-Day Memorial is in the tiny town of Bedford, VA is because more men (boys) per capita were lost from Bedford than anywhere else in the U.S. Bedford lost a total of 19 boys in that one day alone. We also found some Marine pins for My Marine.

Soon we were pulling out of Bedford and headed back north towards home. The further we got from the lake, the longer our faces got! We did NOT want to go home. We did not want our time in our Rallye Girl to end. We stopped in Staunton to get gas and just on a whim I decided to get out our GPS and see what she could find for us. One of the most wonderful functions on our GPS is that once she has found a satellite you can ask her for local restaurants, gas stations, hotels and CAMPGROUNDS!!!! So I asked Jill where the closest campground was and lo and behold there was one within six miles of where we were sitting! Now picture this, we go driving down a dark country road. We see the campground sign which is also dark. We drive down a long winding driveway still in the pitch dark and suddenly we round a bend and below us in a bowl of a valley is what looks like a city of lights. Compared to the tiny, quiet state park we had been staying in all week, this place was a bustling metropolis. We couldn't believe our eyes. There were motorhomes and travel trailers and tents in row upon row. Most of them either had interior lights on, or exterior strings of xmas lights, or bonfires or all three! We pulled up at the office to see if they even had space for us and while Joseph was inside I sat in the rig with the windows rolled down and marvelled at the spectacle before me. There was a karaoke contest going where one song was was country and the next hip hop, there were teens running in and out of the camp store buying ice cream and such, there were dogs everywhere and little Seamus was trembling with excitement on my lap. Joseph came out a few minutes later after securing us a spot, there were only a few left so we were lucky, but the funniest part was that the reason our particular section was still empty was because there were no cable tv hookups down there...okay, I know we are freaks for needing wifi where ever we go...but cable tv? Really? Our spot was right by the river and yes we DID have wifi!!!! We were so excited it took us several hours to calm down enough to go to bed. It was probably 2am before we got into bed and we laid there talking and laughing for at least another hour. Somehow it felt like a reprieve, we didn't have to go home after all! Our vacation didn't have to be over! Now what is REALLY funny about this is that we are retired, so we are technically always on vacation...

We like to Eat!

After my last post about Smith Mountain Lake, I thought I'd write another one where I just discussed the restaurants we visited and the terrific food we ate. From the first time we drove through on our way to the campground I had my eye on a new place called Tuscan Tavern. I don't know why it caught my eye, it was in a strip mall and didn't look fancy or anything, but there was something about the name that called to me. At any rate, it was a couple of days before we actually stopped there, but it was worth the wait. We took the plunge for lunch one day, we were both starved and pasta was exactly what I was in the mood for. It turned out to be quite nice on the inside and was obviously new. Our waitress was an Italian lady of about 50 who was the owner's wife and the owner of all the recipes. I can tell you that her veal parmesian was the bomb! She took very good care of us and when we got to the register to pay we met her husband and found out the full story. I love family owned and operated restaurants like that where they feed you like you are family. They are very sweet people and we will definitely eat there whenever we return to the lake.

There were several Mexican restaurants in the area but the one that caught my attention was a brand new, huge place called El Torrito. We went there for dinner the evening after we had been on the water all day. We were hot and tired and sunburned and Mexican food seemed to just fit the bill. We drove the rig up into the parking lot and got ourselves dressed for dinner. On our way in the door Joseph noticed that they had free wifi! Since wifi had been hard to find this was good news, but we decided to worry about the computers later. We went on in and ordered our new favorite beer Bud Light Lime. We had bought one of the tall boys at the grocery store the night before and decided it was our perfect summer beer. Along with the beers came chips and salsa and our other favorite treat at Mexican restaurants...the white sauce! Does anyone know what this stuff is, other than yummy??? We love it, we discovered it at our local Mexican place and were thrilled to see it was available elsewhere! We each ordered chimichangas which have become my go-to choice these days thanks to my friend Wren. I don't know if it was the sunburn or the day on the water or what, but that meal was DELISH! The place was hopping so I'm glad to see they are doing a good business and will hopefully be around for a good long time.

When we were done eating we decided to see if the wifi signal reached all the way out to the far side of the parking lot where we had parked the rig. We were in luck! We were able to sit out in the rig with our puppy and relax in our own environment. We got some funny looks from patrons going in, I guess they thought we were weird for sitting there in a parking lot with our generator and lights on, playing on our computers. We didn't care, we were having fun! We love being at home where ever we are!

On our last morning at the lake we stopped into another place we had passed every single day and I'm so glad we finally did. It is called the Blue Bird Bakery and Grill and it is adorable. It is funny what you notice when you are on the road with no tv or internet for a few days. The first thing we look for now is free wifi, but we also hadn't seen tv in days and this place had big screens all along the walls and behind the bar. All the tvs were tuned to ESPN or CNN and we were getting our first news in days. The food was great and the waitress was very friendly and invited us to walk over into the bakery before we paid our bill...which of course meant we added some baked goods to our tab! Smart girl! We got some funny looks from other patrons for sitting there with our laptops. I'm sure they were shaking their heads at the fact that "some people" can't step away from the computer for five minutes...we have decided that before we hit the road on a long journey we are gonna have to install our own internet because we really do feel cut off when we can't get online.

Lime Chicken Picante does not contain Marinara Sauce

Tonight I am making Lime Chicken Picante for Mama and Joseph and Wren. I am receiving lots of help with all this cooking because I am the only one of the four of us who is currently working...not that the rest of them aren't busy, but they don't have to be at work for 8 hours a day, nor do they commute another 3 hours a day...but I digress.

I originally got this recipe from Rachael Ray's 365 No Repeats Cookbook, but I have modified it and made it even easier. We already had chicken and lime juice in the house so Mama is marinating the chicken breasts in the lime juice all day. I was checking the cupboards for the other ingredients and I said:

"Do we have any salsa?"

Mama: I have this (opens the fridge and holds up a jar of marinara sauce).
Me: No Mama, that's marinara sauce, I need salsa.
Mama: What's the difference?
Me: Well, one is marinara and the other is salsa.
Mama: But they are both tomato sauces...
Me: Mama, one is Italian and the other is Spanish.
Mama: They are both red, what makes them different?

Do I really need to explain this to her? She is a grown woman, she loves to eat, she reads constantly, does she really not know the difference between salsa and marinara?

Me: Marinara sauce is made with pureed tomatoes and Italian spices, salsa is made with chopped tomatoes and peppers and onions and Spanish flavors.
Mama: Well...
Me: Mama, I'll send Joseph to the store to get salsa, don't worry about it.
Mama: Okay, if you think there's a difference. You're in charge.

So, Mama is marinating, Joseph is grocery shopping, Wren is showing up and I am cooking. I will probably be the last one there, but they will wait, because I am in charge!

The recipe if you are interested is:
marinate chicken breasts in lime juice for the day or at least 30 minutes in a glass pan
pour a jar of salsa over them and bake in the oven for at least 30 minutes or until done
mix a package of Lipton Rice and Sauce Spanish Rice
open a can of refried beans and heat in the microwave
when the chicken is done, scoop a portion of chicken into the middle of each plate, cover with some of the salsa from the pan, put a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt on top, put refried beans down one side of the plate and spanish rice down the other. Ta Da! Super Easy! Super Yummy! Please don't use marinara sauce...

Orange Bowls or What I Made for Thanksgiving

I saw this idea online and although I used the same ingredients I made a much smaller batch. They turned out perfectly and were a hit at my Aunt's Thanksgiving Feast. I will definitely make them again. The hardest part was making the orange bowls, but that wasn't hard so much as a tedious. I have never been a fan of sweet potatoes or yams (didn't even know they were two different things before) but I did like this and wanted more when I finished mine.

Ingredients:
6 oranges
2 large sweet potatoes
2 large yams
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. orange juice concentrate
2 tbsp. honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
12 marshmallows

Directions:
Cut 6 oranges in half and remove the meat of the orange, creating 12 hollow bowls. Fill a 9x13 glass baking pan with all the bowls. Peel sweet potatoes and yams and cut into chunks, boil for about 15 minutes or until tender; drain and mash until very smooth. Blend the orange juice, OJ concentrate, honey, butter and cinnamon; stir into the bowl and and mix well. Fill each orange bowl with the yam/sweet potato mixture. Put one marshmallow on top of each. Put the pan in the oven for 20 minutes or so til the marshmallows start to melt and turn brown.

The Dock

Sheldon and I had a date night last night and it was so nice. First I met up with him and some of his co-workers at a local Irish Pub. There was live music and the bar was crowded but not packed. His co-workers were hilarious and they loved listening to me tell stories on Sheldon. After a few more beers for them and a yummy whiskey sour for me we parted ways and Sheldon and I headed out to dinner. One of our favorite restaurants is The Dock in Lansdowne. One of our first dates was to this restaurant and I have loved it every time we eat there. It isn't frou frou at all, but the food is original and completely, completely, completely YUMMY! If you ever come to my area, I highly recommend you give it a try. Sheldon always seems to choose the same meal, pork chops, but I have had something different every time. Last night I ate jumbo sea scallops with a chile lime glaze served over pasta with marinated tomatoes and lobster sauce. It was the perfect amount of food, I could have eaten more, but I wasn't still hungry. I would have gladly licked my plate if I could have gotten away with it!

Last Weekend of the Summer!

It was a GREAT weekend! It was our weekend withOUT the kids and it was my last free weekend before I start my new weekend retail job. I got to enjoy all my favorite things. Friday night we had an official date night. We went to a new restaurant that Sheldon has been dying to try. He loves brew pubs and had tasted Dogfish Head Ale at two different beer festivals. We were planning on going to the local Dogfish Head Ale House (I call it Dog Breath, cause that name is just a tongue twister!) in Seven Corners but when he went online to get directions he discovered that there was a newer one in Chantilly. We jumped in the car and headed over there. There was a wait but it was well worth it! The food was absolutely delicious! I had a burger and he had a steak sandwich and they just hit the spot. He was drinking the Chicory Stout which is coffee flavored. He loved it. I thought it was nasty, but I don't like beer that much to begin with, so don't ask me. That being said I drank the Festiva Peche because I discovered in Oregon that I like fruit beers. The peach beer was good, it had a sour taste, like lemonade but different. Kind of indescribable, but good and I drank the whole thing which is VERY unusual for me.

On the back of the menu was an invitation to visit the brewery in Millford, Delaware. Sheldon's eyes lit up and he crowed "ROAD TRIP!" as soon as he read that. We made a plan to hit the road by 8am on Saturday. We headed home and hit the bed.

Saturday I got up extra early to research the hours and directions to the brewery and to find some letterboxes in the area. The bad news was that the brewery was closed to tours for the weekend due to construction, but we decided to go anyway. We drove to Lewes, DE and walked around the lovely town. We found a really clever letterbox and then headed to the beach so that I could dip my toes in the ocean and watch the waves for a few minutes. Then (I know you'll be shocked) we found the Rehobeth Beach Dog Breath Alehouse. This time we ate corn and crab chowder and crab dip with french bread. It was also yummy and Sheldon was able to buy a t-shirt and a beer glass for our bar so he was thrilled. Shortly after that we headed home.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny and Sheldon headed off to work for a few hours so I enjoyed a lovely quiet morning of crocheting and catching up on my DVR shows and taking care of laundry and chores. I had started a baby afghan on drive the day before and I managed to almost finish it by the end of the day! I also did several loads of laundry, dusted, made pasta salad for work lunches and taco casserole for dinner. Late in the afternoon Sheldon and I were both working on our homework for our respective classes. I ended up SOBBING over my statistics class because I just hate it and the professor. Sheldon sat me down and went over percentages which have always stumped me and once I understood them I felt better. I still hate the class and the professor though!

We ended the night with me climbing onto Sheldon's lap while he was playing on Facebook and having a nice long talk about life and love and chores and all the important things in life.

So overall it was a fabulous weekend. I got to do all my favorite things!

Easy Stroganoff

I made a new recipe the other night and although it was a little bland for dinner that night let me just tell you that the left overs were beyond fab. I just ate the last of it and wish I had more. I am sorely tempted to run to the store and get the stuff...hmmm.

I have made another crock pot stroganoff that was delicious but I don't know where I got the recipe and I can't find it now. This one is truly easy.

one can cream of mushroom soup, diluted

one can beef broth

1 pound stew beef cut into 1" pieces

1 cup sour cream

The recipe called for 2 cups cooked noodles but I used 1.5 cups cooked rice, your choice.

Combine soup, broth and meat in the crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours then cook on low for 3-4 more hours. Stir in the rice and sour cream and cook on high for 20 minutes. I didn't think to do this until after noon so I browned the meat first and then just cooked it on high for the 4 hours and low for 2 more hours.

As I said it was a little bland, but marvelous comfort food.

Pacific Northwest Vacation: Day Two

Day Two (Friday)

We headed out of Seattle towards Portland. We had our eyes peeled for a breakfast restaurant. We discovered that Marie Callender’s which is a frozen food company in our area, is an actual restaurant out there. We stopped there and were so enamored of the yummy blueberry bread, that we actually took two more mini loaves with us. (I had the quiche which was yummy, yummy and I wish they made it for my local freezer section.) We left there and hit the highway. Seattle and Portland are not far apart at all but we actually took a detour. Sheldon had been researching things to do and had never been to Mt. Rainier in his previous visits. This was the first of many times that his new iPhone came in handy! We were able to use the GoogleMaps function to find our way. Much better than a map because it shows you where you are at all times.

Mt. Rainier is incredibly beautiful and the mountains in Oregon and Washington are nothing like the mountains in Virginia. We stopped at a couple waterfalls and took pictures and then we went to the Visitor Center in Paradise. It was really breathtaking, and they had a lovely interactive display and a movie that explained the history of the area and the dangers of the mountain. Eventually I had to drag Sheldon away before he took off hiking with one of the groups that was headed up higher. I had packed as light as possible for the plane trip (didn't want to check my bag) and had no hiking boots or sneakers with me and I damn sure wasn’t gonna hike in my flip flops!

On our way back down we stopped at a lovely restaurant beside the road, the Copper Creek Inn. The menu said they were world famous for their blackberry pie and we soon found out why. The rest of the food was fine but the pie alone was definitely worth the stop! We left the mountain behind and headed into the outskirts of Portland and found our third hotel of the trip. Luckily this hotel had free wifi cause I was starting to really MISS my internet!

Pacific Northwest Vacation: Day One

Sheldon and I travelled to Washington and Oregon this week on a lovely vacation. The reason we chose this area at this time is that one of Sheldon's high school friends was getting married. I had never been to the pacific northwest before but Sheldon already loved it.

Day One (Thursday)

Actually we’ll start with the night before day one. We spent the night at a hotel in Baltimore because it was cheaper to park at the hotel than at the airport and because we wouldn’t have to get up quite so early in the morning. We woke up at 4:30am, which is my normal wake up time. Our plane left the ground around 7am. Luckily we were both able to sleep on the plane and it seemed like the five hour flight only took two hours. When we got off the plane in Seattle we were in for a shock; it was about 65 degrees! We were not dressed for 65 degree temps in July! We had both brought jackets but that did little to dispel the cold. A hot breakfast at a lovely cafe and some brisk walking made everything better. I had a sausage and egg croissant and Sheldon had vanilla French toast.

We walked through Pike Place Market, which is a combination craft show and fish market on the water front. We saw lots of pretty things but didn’t buy anything. Then we walked through town a little and found the Waterfall Park, which is a small hidden oasis in the middle of the city. It was a long walk back to the car but then only a couple of blocks to our second hotel of the trip. Once we got settled into the hotel we headed out again on foot in search of a brew pub that Sheldon had read about. It was the Pyramid Brewery and I got to taste the first of several yummy beers. This one was an Apricot Lager and I really liked it. After a few hours of beer and snacks and conversation we walked back towards the waterfront to have dinner at Elliott’s, which we had heard was worth the stop. It was a nice venue and the waitstaff was fantastic but the food was really nothing to write home about and it was very expensive. (Sheldon had raw oysters and steamed mussels and I had fried oysters.) We walked back to our room UPHILL and crashed.

Rambling Thoughts on the Sidewalk

I was just out on the sidewalk, walking down the street to a local deli for some grits, and these are the rambly directions my mind went...

>The weather here in DC has been so fabulous this summer it is almost indecent! It hasn't gotten too terribly hot and the humidity has been completely reasonable. This is especially good news since I have to sit on a street corner in the sun every afternoon at 3pm for 20 minutes, and when I get to my car I have no air conditioning.

>There are several bus companies here that offer cheap service directly to NYC. One of them picks up and drops off right outside my building. Miles and I have taken this bus and it is marvelous, they even give you a bottle of water when you board. Anyway, everytime I see a line of people out there I just want to run over and say "Have a great time in New York!! I'm SO jealous!!" So far I have restrained myself, but one of these days it will happen.

>Grits are manna from heaven. I love them. I especially love them when there are over easy eggs cut up on top with lots of salt and butter. I make no apologies for this

>I have become slightly obsessed with the Duggar Family recently. I started watching the show because I wanted to see how that family compared to the Gosselin family. Well, there is no comparison. The fact that the Duggar's popped their babies out one or two at a time means that they had breathing room between each one and that about half of their 18 are over the age of 10 and able to help with the babies. I love the show. I love watching the family interact. Michele, the mom seems so loving and patient and calm. I feel renewed just watching her. The one thing that sort of puts me off though is that all the girls wear skirts all the time. No pants allowed. Why? Don't get me wrong, I love skirts too, they can be much cooler and more comfortable and I'm so glad that maxi-dresses are in style because long full dresses are my favorite for comfort and modesty. Buy why can't a girl wear slacks? The the thing that occurred to me while I was walking was how lucky those girls are though. They don't have separate closets. When they take clothes out of the dryer they hang it all up in one central closet that everyone uses. This way they are not always moving clothes from closet to closet as children outgrow things. I think this is brilliant! Basically this means that all the teenage girls get to "shop" for an outfit every day from the whole collection of skirts and tops that the family owns.

>I bought a new top at Costco yesterday and I love it completely. It is a 3/4 sleeve, jewel neckline with little jewels down one side. The pattern is a funky blue/green/grey design. I absolutely adore it. I caught my reflection in a window and thought how this top is SO me!

>I watched "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" last night on Netflix and I highly recommend it! I wish there were gorgeous parrots flying around Washington! All we have are ugly pigeons and Presidential Helicoptors.

Turkey Dinner

Last week Sheldon and I bought a small turkey to roast. We had decided that we both love turkey and that it is a shame that it is only trotted out on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sheldon actually did all the cooking which is one of the reasons I love him, I like being fed without always having to do all the work! He roasted the turkey with a cut up lime stuffed inside and lime juice on the skin, about halway through the roasting time in put quartered potatoes (skin on) around the edge of the pan. Then he made Rachael Ray's cranberry salsa which consists of dried cranberries, chicken stock, onion and lime juice. It was absolutely divine. Since it was a relatively small turkey it only had to roast for 90 minutes or so. The next day we had turkey sandwiches for lunch, today I have leftovers at work for lunch and there is still plenty left for more sandwiches. I may even make some turkey salad. Sheldon threw the carcus out before I could stop him but next time I will make some turkey and rice soup in the crockpot for lunches. He's not a big fan of soup but I am!!!

Drug of Choice

Cheddar Biscuits from Red Lobster

How do I love thee, let me count the ways.

1. I love the smell of you wafting from the bag on the seat beside me
2. I love the crunch of your outer shell
3. I love the fluffy insides
4. I love how you melt in my mouth, no butter needed
5. I love how you entice me to have another
6. I love how you love me even though I am fatter than I have ever been in my life
7. I love how I can stop at RL and buy you by the dozen without being subjected to the rest of the menu
8. I love how a dozen of you are cheaper than a dozen donuts
9. and the taste, oooooohhhhhh the taste

Brand Preferences

BooMama just wrote a post about brand name favorites that caused quite a stir, many of us answered her with our own list. Here is mine:

Things really do taste different. My mama always bought generic or the cheapest of things, when I grew up I refused to EVER compromise when it comes to food.

Kraft Real Mayo - my ex MIL taught me to use only this. I do like Miracle Whip on sandwiches, but never NEVER in recipes.
Dannon Yogurt - cause it is the creamiest, its consistency is like pudding
Tide - cause my ex was allergic to anything else and now I’m just used to it
Jif - really does taste more like fresh peanuts
Natures Own honey wheat bread
Martins potato rolls for hotdog rolls and hamburger buns - I used to buy Martins bread too but I like the Natures Own because it is a little lighter and the slices are a little thinner
Dry Idea for more than 30 years
Helluvagood dips
Toms of Maine toothpastes - because I’m allergic to whitening ingredients and they are about the only brand that hasn’t added that to every tube!

I also only buy real butter, real maple syrup, whole milk and brown eggs.

My Sweet Sheldon thinks I’m kookie cause he doesn’t see the difference in brands, but you’d better not put anything but premium BEER in his fridge!!! :D

He just bought 2 GALLONS of fake syrup even though we still had a gallon, cause we might run out in this millenia and it was on sale.

May Resolutions

May Resolutions: hey, not bad, I did 9 out of 10 this month!!!!

1. Go to a Museum - Matt and I went to see the Jean Shin - Common Threads exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum here in DC. It was a really cool exhibit using recycled materials. There were all sorts of textures and colors and as we entered each room I would say, "Oh, this is my favorite." Each time we read the description on the wall we were blown away by the backstory. It was a VERY very interesting, thought provoking exhibit. If you live nearby GO!


2. Spend time with an Old Friend - I had the most amazing conversation on facebook with a bunch of folks that I went to high school with. I had had a dream about a friend of ours who died at age 42 of heart attack and we all remembered him with stories. It was lovely.


3. Try a New Recipe - http://sarahneverstops.blogspot.com/2009/05/bacon-bowties.html. Oh the beauty of bacon.


4. Spend Some Quality Family Time - had Mama, Cricket and Miles over for Mother's Day. It was a lovely visit, the first time Mama saw the new house and the first time we all saw Miles' new hair. Plus we gorged ourselves on PW goodies!


5. Make Sheldon Watch One Chick Flick - Somehow this man has managed to avoid every chick flick, but not for long. It is now my mission to make him watch my favorites. We started with Steel Magnolias. He said it was "Cute." humph.


6. visit my Mama - see number 4. :)


7. EXERCISE - walked for an hour Friday night and an hour Saturday morning in the neighborhood. Need to do it every day, but at least I started! (Yes I have gained ALL the weight back! YES, I need to do something!)


8. go letterboxing - yay! It is letterboxing season again. Sheldon and I found two in Pittsburgh! Oh what fun!


9. Sell Something I Don't Need Anymore - fail, but I at least made inroads in this, I did gather everything in a box in my office, now I just need to take pix and post them on craigslist.


10. Crochet or Cross Stitch Something - started crocheting a baby afghan for one of Sheldon's co-workers.