beet smoothie

Yes, you heard that right–a BEET smoothie.

It was good!  Almost too sweet…probably because it should really be called an applesauce smoothie with a little bit of beet puree.  But man, does a little go a LONG way in terms of color!

I loved the chewy bits of dried cranberries.  I chose this smoothie because I had all the ingredients on-hand, namely the beet puree.  I brought about 3/4 C of it with me with all the stuff from our freezer.  I still have some beet puree left, so I’ll be trying at least two other beet smoothie “recipes” in the coming days. I’m trying, in earnest, to use up anything I can that we brought with us.  Our meals this week (I’m finally going to go all-out and cook a bunch here in the apt; free hotel food be damned!) center around the last bits of random frozen meats and pantry staples.

We’re having:

-sliders with chips and fruit

-herbed salmon with orzo and tomatoes

-wheat berry salad with orange and mustard chicken

-quinoa with spinach, parsley and spring onions

The highlight of my day?  GROCERY SHOPPING!

reunion weekend

It’s Reunion Weekend here in East Aurora.  That means the 5K, sidewalk chalk competition and sale and, of course, all the high school reunions.  Andrew’s is tonight at a local bar, Wallenwein’s Hotel.  Hi Bob!

We started our day off with the RERUN 5K at Fireman’s Field.  It was the first time I’d been there, so it was neat to get acquainted with another part of the village.

Before:

After (VERY SWEATY):

Andrew ran with me–yay!  Well, “with” might be slightly misleading.  More like 3:33 minutes behind.

Andrew: “This heat and that hill in the middle killed me.”

Me: “What hill?  Oh, I suppose that was a bit of an incline…”

He threw his water at me.

I LOVE just-ripe bananas!  And the Braeburn apples.  Did you know New York used to be the apple capital of the country, if not the world?  Apparently Washington has overtaken NY’s production.  Oh well, more for us!

There was also a one-mile kids’ fun run.  Adorable.

Guess what?!  I won my age group!  HOLY COW! This was a shocker, since despite the small size of the field, it was FULL of “real” runners.  Not that I’m NOT a runner, but you know what I’m talking about.  Teeny sports bras and compression shorts abounded. The overall female winner (with an 18-something time) is a college runner at Bucknell.  At least five or six youngsters (16-20 year-olds) smoked me.

I ran the 5K in 22 minutes flat, which is definitely my best time ever.  So proud!

The awards were pint glasses and beer mugs.  I chose the pint because I love the size and collecting those with neat designs.  I picked up a couple colorful ones recently that are teal and brown and say “Buffalo Lounge.”  I can’t wait to use them in our future house.

Check it out!  Andrew’s high school track and cross country coach was the one handing out the awards–neat!

I’ve come so far as a runner from where I was in college; it’s hard not to be just ecstatic.

After the run we popped by the co-op.  Alix Martin and her team had started the mural project earlier this morning and I was supposed to take some photos of the progress.  I’ll link to that once it’s finished so you all can see!

We cleaned up at Andrew’s parents’ house, then headed over to Main Street for the sidewalk sale.  It’s an annual thing and all the shops along Main Street bring out their wares, as well as typical fair booths and festival food.

Look!  It’s Van Gogh’s “Starry Night!”

Kids hard at work on the piece that, I believe, took second place.

What fair would be complete without kettle corn?

Andrew passed on the popcorn in favor of…

…FUNNEL CAKE!  I was full of self-control and only had two bites.

It was pretty steamy out (even I was getting warm!), so the mister was a hit with those who didn’t mind getting a little wet.

We took a break from the heat and headed into Tuscany on Main, the newest olive oil and vinegar store in town.  They were having tastings and we loved it.  We’ll definitely go back.  I tried fig, chocolate, blood orange and cherry balsamic vinegars, pear champagne vinegar and garlic olive oil.  DELICIOUSNESS!

There was fencing…

…and chess demonstrations, just to name a few.

We’re headed out in a few minutes for Andrew’s reunion–must go get ready!

it was a homerun

…at least according to Andrew.  That’s what he says when I make something new (which is pretty much any time I cook) and he likes it.

DINNER!  Photo courtesy of Andrew.

I made a version of Maggiano’s famous fried zucchini appetizer.  It comes with lemon aioli and Susy and I could have eaten it 24/7 without stopping.  Seriously.

I found the recipe online at TaraCooks.com.  I chose it because it called for club soda in the batter instead of an egg.  I was out of eggs and I didn’t want to buy a whole dozen before my five-day trip to Phoenix.  Besides, I’d rather get my eggs from the farmer’s market or the co-op, and neither of those happen until tomorrow, which did me no good tonight.  So, club soda it was.  And it was 99 cents.  And it doesn’t go bad.  Sweet.

My cut-up zucchini was pitiful.  The skin was super thick and my knife is dull as all get out (with no way to sharpen it here!), so I wasn’t thrilled with the slices.  I got a few long ones, but they were all too thick, and then a bunch of smaller scraps.  Interestingly enough, the scraps turned out to be the best of the finished product.

BTW, I HATE glass cutting boards.  I hate the noise my knife makes each time I use it, and I swear it has contributed to how dull it’s gotten.  But, it’s what’s here.

I made the aioli, but not exactly as the recipe said.  I subbed plain lowfat yogurt for the sour cream (it’s what I had in the fridge) and dill seed for the dill weed.  I’m pretty limited here.  It was yummy; more yogurt-y than creamy.

Our salad fixings were on their last legs in the fridge, so I threw a basic green salad together for both of us with Garlic Expressions dressing.  Andrew loves it!  I love sprouts.  I especially love sprouts with ranch dressing or on veggie sandwiches with avocado.

I also included some of my canned goodies: Barefoot Contessa’s Roasted Apple and Pear Sauce, from her newest cookbook, How Easy is That?  I love this stuff.  It’s like dessert.  I canned a bunch for Christmas gifts this past year and it was my go-to dish to bring to events since it made so much and was so easy.  I love that it’s applesauce with a more intense flavor, which comes from the pears and orange zest.

To drink?  Buffalo Bill’s Brewery Orange Blossom Cream Ale.  You can get this all over (in fact, the first time I saw it was in a friend’s fridge back in Ohio), but I’m on a ‘local’ kick and only want to buy New York microbrews right now.  This is an awesome beer for those of us who like Blue Moon and won’t touch a Bud.

For the sake of calories, Andrew and I have been splitting a beer instead of having our own.  Obviously, there are lots of benefits to this; our purchases go further and we ingest fewer calories and alcohol.  Since I’ve lost weight, I’ve definitely noticed that anything I drink affects me a lot more than before.  Who knew ten-plus pounds could do that?  Drinking just portions of beers, or wine, is something I saw on KERF.  She’s always having just a little bit of something.

I fried up the zucchini and then kept it warm in the toaster oven.

The finished product:

It was no Maggiano’s, but it was a great way to use a zucchini that was languishing in the fridge.  Andrew, while he passed on the aioli, chowed the zucchini. Seriously.  Thank goodness, because I probably would have it he hadn’t!  What you see above, plus one long piece, is all I had–talk about some self-control!

So yeah, dinner was a hit.  HAHA, get it, hit?  (homerun…)  🙂