Baking vs. Blogging

This week, baking has won. Instead of coming home, completing a few housekeeping tasks, and then throwing some words together to put up on the Internets, I’ve come home, set out ingredients on the counter, and got to making something delicious.

On Tuesday night, I made an apple spice cake with a brown sugar glaze. I had a bunch of apples left over from half a peck I bought, from which I’d already made one pie, and I wanted to try something new. I ended up using this cake recipe and this glaze recipe. It was a pretty good cake, though it was a little dense for my liking and I wish it had been more “spicy”… and also that the glaze had been more of a glaze, because it was delicious but too fluid to be very substantial.

(This is not a picture of my cake, though mine looked just like this)

Last night, I made an apple pie. I had made one on Sunday, but it was gone already. Plus, I wanted to use up the very last of the apples before they got too soft.

I love baking. I’ve become slightly known for it at work. They’ll eat most anything, but I think they appreciate something made at home with a little love… though they may not know there’s love in it, I wouldn’t bake without it!

The End of Summer

Even though the last day of summer was actually Tuesday, the end of our summer season took place on Saturday when we attended the last concert on our Mega Ticket.  And although it was technically fall, the sunshine beating down in the afternoon, making us all melt into puddles, kept it feeling like summer for the last tailgating of the season.

The headliner for the show was Sugarland.  By the time their Incredible Machine went on, the evening had brought cooler air and a definite sense that fall was upon us.  Their stage set was super cool, Jennifer Nettles has an amazing voice, and it was a really great show.

We are so thankful to have the opportunity to purchase the Mega Ticket and enjoy seven amazing country shows throughout the summer.  Saturday night was an excellent finale and I’m glad I got to share all the awesomeness with Casey, the love of my life and badass cornhole partner.

Helping fall along…

Since the weather is not cooperating and it was another hot one here in Northern VA, I went ahead and urged fall along at our house by making a delicious pumpkin treat.

I first made this last year when trying to increase my pumpkin dessert repertoire.  I found the recipe HERE on Tasty Kitchen.  Gosh, that’s a great site!

The recipe is called Pumpkin Cobbler.  Essentially it’s pumpkin pie without the crust but instead with a cake crumble topping.  Probably sweeter than pumpkin pie, but I’d say equally delicious.

Mom has already requested it for Thanksgiving and I’m sure the gents at work will enjoy it tomorrow!

Um, this is not fall.

Today is the first day of fall.  Don’t be confused if your calendar says tomorrow is when autumn begins, because they’re just referring to the first FULL day of fall.

Of course, the calendar isn’t the only confusing thing about this first day of fall.  The other thing here in NoVa is that it was almost 90 degrees today.  That is NOT fall weather and it’s not expected to be in the next few days.

If I wasn’t so ready for cool fall weather, I wouldn’t complain about sunshine and eighty degrees.  But it’s late September, not mid-July, and I’m ready for sweaters and hot tea and pumpkin pie.

So, hopefully once this hot weekend is over, the weather will change and we can move into the awesomeness of autumn.

Good Craving

Often times, cravings are for junk food.  But for me on Sunday and yesterday, and a bit today, it was for something fairly healthy.

For dinner on Saturday night at the Fair, I opted for some not typical Fair food.  My cousin is a vegetarian and I introduced her to the tent I knew offered veggie options.  She didn’t realize the Fair offered such a thing and was glad to find something yummy to eat… as were my sister and I.

Both my sister and cousin ordered what is called The Benevolent Burrito.  I got the spinach quesadilla.  It was served with the company’s funky salsa (we’d never seen julienned carrots in salsa before!) and guacamole.  My quesadilla was absolutely delicious and I’m sure I felt way better the rest of the night than I would have if I’d eaten something more Fair-typical… not to mention the fact it made me feel better about scarfing down fried dough later in the night.

Something about it’s deliciousness stuck with me, and on Sunday on the way back to VA I was wanting another one.  And then yesterday I was craving it too.  Fortunately, it is a super simple thing to make so I got the ingredients when I went to the grocery last night.

And since it’s easy and delicious, of course I have to share, so here goes:

Start with a spinach wrap on the griddle (I used the griddle because a sauté pan is too small for the wraps I got):

Sprinkle the wrap with cheese (we use mozzarella because it melts nicely):

Top the cheese with baby spinach:

When the cheese is melted, fold the wrap in half:

Cut it into pieces and serve with your choice of accoutrement:

I used pico de guaco, which is guacamole layered with pico de gallo.  It is super fresh and will last longer than homemade guac.

If you try this, I hope you enjoy it.  I know I have… both last night and tonight for dinner!

A Grand Weekend

The weekend in Vermont was fun filled and, what’s new, I already miss being up there!

On Friday late morning, Casey and I went to the Fair with his parents.  We did some wandering, enjoyed various shows in the entertainment tent, ate some lunch, and watched the start of the tractor pull.  To top it all off, we had some delicious maple treats, including a maple cream covered donut!

Mom, Dad, and Karen joined me at the Fair on Friday evening for some dinner and walking around.  After dinner, Mom and Dad headed home and Karen and I met up with Casey for an entertaining time in the Beer Hall.

On Saturday, Karen, Mum, and I got up to go to New Hampshire to help my cousins set up for their parents surprise 25th wedding anniversary.  It was a great party and I was glad to be there to help celebrate!

After the party, a bunch of us headed to the Fair.  We ate dinner, watched Logan (my cousin’s little boy) ride some rides, devoured some fried dough, and then some of us rode the big-people rides.

It was a grand weekend and I am thankful to have been able to get up there to share treasured moments with my family.  I’m also super glad it’s cooling down and becoming the wonderful autumn season!

The Tunbridge World's Fair

Casey and I are headed home this afternoon for the Tunbridge World’s Fair. Up until a few years ago, we hadn’t been in a long time, but it’s in the kind of place where things don’t change much, so neither does the Fair. This is most definitely not an insult, because the consistency is part of why I love it so much.

After our Fair hiatus, the past few years we’ve made the trip north and I’m again looking forward to all that crisp, cool fall days at the Fair have to offer. There will be plenty of time spent with family and friends, dining on many of the Fair delicacies, watching of tractor, oxen, and horse pulls, as well as meandering around the Fair grounds to take in, once again, all of its historical institutions. We’ll sip freshly pressed apple cider, browse the large produce entries at the Dodge-Gilman building, and enjoy the entertainment of the Beer Hall.

It’s going to be grand and I can’t wait to get up there and take it all in, cherishing the bliss that is Vermont in the fall.

First Two Weeks

I have been keeping track of my LSNED entries, but I haven’t actually written them in the journal I made yet.  Hopefully soon I’ll have some pictures of that to share, but for now I’ll just share the first two weeks of new things I’ve “learned.”

1. Today I was reminded that it only takes one to change everything.  One smile.  One kind comment.  One helping hand.  One day.

2. Today I decided I need to live my life as who I am already instead of wasting moments waiting to become who I want to be.  They may be the same person.

3. To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.

4. Food doesn't taste as good late at night.

5. If the sun is shining, it does you a world of good to get out in it.

6. I seem to become more homesick when my parents leave my house than when I leave theirs.

7. You must face the direction you want to go.

8.  Greater expectations rarely bring greater results.

9.  Laughing (at yourself) reduces the get angry and yell reflex.

10.  Fall might be my favorite.

11. On Saturday, it is far more satisfying to get up and get to it than to sleep in.

12. God can make all things new... including you... and yes, more than once.

13.  Cleaning the kitchen before bed makes for a much better morning, even if it means staying up a few minutes late.

14.  Attitude is so important.  It not only affects how the world sees you, but also how you see the world.

Chill night…

Casey is at class tonight, my household tasks are done (except cleaning up the kitchen, but as I had salad for dinner, that will only take a few moments), and I woke up in the night last night and didn’t sleep well after, so I’m pretty tired.  Therefore I’m thinking the rest of the evening will consist of relaxing (aka zoning out) a bit in front of the tube, writing in my everyday journal, and then going to bed extra early to read as much as I can before my eyes won’t stay open any longer.

Weeeeekend!

It is late, but it’s okay because it’s FRIDAY! This week was a short work week with the holiday on Monday, but it felt like it dragged on.. and it was pretty boring.

This weekend, however, will not be boring. Tomorrow we have the Trace Adkins and Toby Keith concert and then Sunday we are going to a Washington Nationals game with Casey’s company. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to rain on Sunday, which doesn’t make for fun baseball games, but we’ll just hope it rains in the morning and finishes by game time or that it rains late in the game when we’ll feel like going home anyways, ha!

The concert should be especially awesome because Trace Adkins and Toby Keith are super patriotic and tomorrow is Patriot Day. The Toby Keith concert has been on this weekend for years and he does an amazing job honoring and remembering our troops and the events of September 11th. Love it and looking forward to it… and also the cool, fall weather we’re starting to get!

Sons

Tonight was another wonderfully simple night.  I went to the gym this afternoon, came home, did some cleaning, worked on my LSNED journal, made dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and watched Sons of Anarchy.

About that last part there, the watching of Sons of Anarchy, we just finished it a few minutes ago and I am in shock.  It was a totally intense season premiere and Casey and I are in agreement that it stinks we have to wait until next week to watch episode two!

I hate to admit I am so involved in a TV show, but it’s hard not to be.  When I first saw the previews for it, I was not interested at all.  But then Casey started to watch it (at the beginning of the second season, and then we Netflix’d the first season to catch up) and I watched it with him and I was hooked.  Sure it’s about a group of bikers, but it’s also about powerful family ties, the importance of the choices we make, with lots of action, responsibility, and passion mixed in.

It doesn’t hurt that I totally have a crush on the main character, Jax… but only his TV character, not the real person who plays him!

Recovery Night…

I’m not being a total slacker, but tonight has been kind of a recovery night.  The first day of work after a long, glorious weekend really takes the umph out of you.

However, even with little umph, I went to the gym this afternoon, came home and vacuumed, made dinner, and I’ll get the kitchen cleaned up when I finish here.  After that, I’m hoping to work on my LSNED journal and get more than a paragraph of reading in.

Even though it’s all simple stuff, I think it’s important for me to recognize even the small stuff I get accomplished during the day, especially on days when I’d rather be napping.  When all is said and done, I wont feel like a total bum, and when my head hits the pillow, I’m sure it wont take long for me to pass out asleep.

Awesome Labor Day Weekend

I got up Saturday morning and got straight to cleaning and tidying the condo.  I was glad to have a free Saturday morning to do so and I was especially motivated because my parents were coming in the afternoon for a visit.  When they arrived, things were looking lovely and it was awesome to be able to relax the weekend away without worrying about a dirty house.

After Mom and Dad arrived, we all just hung out at the condo watching golf.  Later in the day, Mom and I went to Borders to pick up a book, which unfortunately wasn’t in stock, and Dad and Casey went to Golf Galaxy.  We didn’t get back to the condo until later than we would have liked for dinner, but we whipped things together anyway and ate what we could at the late hour.

On Sunday morning, Mom and I got up and went to church.  It was a different service than usual because they did a “hymn sing” instead of a sermon, which was really excellent!

After church, we went back to the condo and picked up the “boys” to go and check out Manassas Battlefield Park.  It’s only a few minutes from our house and it was a great way to enjoy the gorgeous weather we were blessed with all weekend.  For lunch after the park, we ate at a local BBQ place.  After that, the boys went to play golf and Mom and I went to do a little clothes shopping and also made a stop at Michaels to look at paper and beads.  For dinner when we all got home, we had pizza.  We thought we might play some cards one of the nights they were here, but we are all so pooped each night that it didn’t happen.

We got up this morning with big intentions, but we ended up lounging around a bit before heading to Leesburg for lunch.  Mom and I stopped at a few shops, while Dad and Casey enjoyed some people watching on a bench, and then we ate at a restaurant called Döner Bistro, which serves German and Turkish food.  Casey had been wanting to go for some schnitzel, so we all got on board to try the place out.  Except for the not so good bratwurst Dad ordered, the Döner special Mom and I had and the schnitzel Casey had were good… as were the fries we all enjoyed!

 

After lunch, we came back to the condo and relaxed for just a little while before Mom and Dad had to head for the airport.  It was an absolutely awesome weekend and I’m so glad they were able to come down… I miss them already and I can’t wait to go home to visit them in just a few weeks!

Labor Day Weekend

Casey and I both have a three day weekend this weekend with Monday being Labor Day. My parents are flying down tomorrow morning to visit and I’m really looking forward to it.

Tonight I’m relaxing in front of the TV, right now waiting for Casey to come home from an afternoon golf outing. I’ve picked up a couple movies and we’ll have pizza for dinner. A typical Friday night.

Hopefully I wont sleep in too late tomorrow as I’d like to tidy up the condo a bit before my parents arrive. I’m not sure what the four of us will be doing this weekend, but I’m praying the weather forecast comes true because it’s promising to be gorgeous.

Beautiful Wedding Day

One of my closest friends, whom I’ve been friends with forever and ever, got married on Saturday.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a wedding and I was so glad Casey and I were able to make it up to Vermont to attend.

The reception was held on a piece of property owned by our friend’s family called “20 Acres.”  It’s also where he proposed to his bride.  As we arrived at the tent, the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful shade of late summer blue.

They were blessed with an amazing place to take professional photos and on such a beautiful day, the view was especially excellent.

We celebrated into the night, even after the DJ called it quits and most people departed for home.  When your with a forever group of friends, it’s hard to say “goodnight” early.