a breakfast Pioneer Woman would be proud of

Or dinner, rather.

(And yes, I know I shouldn’t end a ‘sentence’ with ‘of,’ but it’s not really a sentence, and it just wouldn’t sound the same any other way.)

ANYWAY….

This is what ‘cooking’ (a.k.a. piling things on top of one another) looks like in my house right now. Can I just say that Pioneer Woman has a dream house AND a re-done ‘lodge’ with a potentially nicer kitchen than her own? Seriously jealous. Not that I ever want two houses to clean. EVER.

So, I decided tonight would be ‘breakfast for dinner’ night since it was supposed to be sometime last week when we had no food in the house (does anyone else revert to pancakes for dinner when you have nothing else??), but it never happened. I’ve been dying to make PW’s Lemon Blueberry Pancakes since they appeared on her blog awhile back, and when they were included in the new cookbook, I put them in the rotation ASAP.

Note the plate of pancakes ON TOP OF the yogurt maker. (I also made bread and hummus today, in addition to yogurt–AND I had a class, AND swimming, and two dog walks, and two loads of laundry, and vacuuming–whoever wonders what I do to fill up my time, well folks, that’s where it goes. Unemployed Holly doesn’t know how employed Holly ever made it.)

I can’t tell you how sick I am of the yellow light in our dining room…. And the tiny kitchen. And the carpet…I’ll stop before I a) bore you, or b) start sounding like a whiny brat. CAN. NOT. WAIT. UNTIL. DREAM. KITCHEN. WITH. NATURAL. LIGHT.

The reason I say P-Dub would be proud is because I also made canadian bacon and eggs with salsa. Well, I eat eggs with salsa, Andrew doesn’t. But since he didn’t even start eating eggs until we went on a backpacking trip in the Boundary Waters a couple years ago, I’ll take it.

I hate to admit it (I really do), but they were a bit anticlimactic. Good, definitely, but not so amazing that I can’t wait to have them again. Andrew said they tasted like a blueberry muffin and that the blueberry flavor overpowered the lemon. I told him he didn’t know what he was talking about since he a) doesn’t even really like muffins (according to him), and b) doesn’t eat blueberry pancakes. EVER. He’s a bit of a purist; plain pancakes, vanilla ice cream, strawberry yogurt, no mayo or mustard… Whatever he is, it’s BORING. (But I love him…)

All in all, they were pretty good and I’m glad I have another serving in the freezer, just waiting for me to drizzle a bit of my ginger maple syrup on them… Because ginger goes so well with both lemons and blueberries!

And, in case you were wondering if we had any more counter space to spare…

Nope, not so much. Dishes done compliments of Andrew, who has become dishwasher extraordinaire. Seriously, he does them in the morning before work as I’m packing up his breakfast and lunch, then he does them immediately after walking in the door after the gym as he dumps his lunch stuff into the sink and I’m in the kitchen making dinner, and then (if I haven’t gotten to them yet), he picks up after we eat where he left off while I was prepping dinner! Whew! WHO IS THIS MAN?

If you like lemon and you like blueberry, make the pancakes. If not, make Foster’s Market’s Panama Pancakes…you won’t regret it!

Easter weekend

Happy Belated Easter! I had all sorts of fun things to blog about this weekend, but kinda took the weekend ‘off’ and this is my first chance to sit down (Not really, I still have TONS of schoolwork to do, but this is somewhat time-sensitive, too. If I wait too long, it will be old news!) and type it all out.

There was LOTS going on this weekend for us, with Andrew’s grandmother visiting and Abigail home from school…

I ran in the Bunny Hop 5K…and scored SECOND PLACE in my age group! Holy smokes! Seriously…despite some of my recent PRs here and here, when I saw the 1,011-runner crowd lining up, all hopes of placing went right out the window. In fact, I was having a bad morning due to a sudden neck spasm and stress (what else is new?), so I really had to pep-talk my way through the entire (almost all uphill, if that’s possible) race.

The neat thing was that the course went right by Andrew’s parents’ driveway! I waved as I passed the first time… (I’m in pink and purple.)

Andrew’s family (and the dogs!) came out to cheer me on…

Here I am on the way back, just a 100 yards or so from the finish. LOVE my purple running pants!

Andrew was convinced I’d placed in my age group (based on the small number of ladies who finished ahead of me), so we waited around for what seemed like forever at the finish for them to post results.

At least the oranges were good and even the store-bought oatmeal raisin cookies were decent. Andrew ate my hot dog, but I caved and got another one and ate about half when the results still weren’t posted…

Sure enough, I DID place–I got SECOND! Prizes for the Bunny Hop are chocolate bunnies, which, despite their appropriateness, are (in my mind) a bit counterproductive. Carolyn had the brilliant idea to throw mine in the freezer and use it to bake with later. It’s currently crushed into small pieces and chilling with my other chocolate.

We spent the day relaxing at Andrew’s parents’ house and running errands on Main Street. We wanted to show grandma the new cupcake place, and while there, I picked up this little guy:

Perhaps the most memorable event was our dinner Saturday night, and, as usual, I got no photos. We ended up at a local hibachi grill/Japanese Steakhouse/sushi bar due to our large party (8) and lack of pre-panning (it was 6:30 and we were trying to find a restaurant without an hour wait). Can I just say the Layers aren’t big on change, ethnic food OR fish??

Let’s just say that if Carolyn’s face had frozen they way she was turning up her nose at the menu, she’s be one unhappy camper. In all honesty, Andrew and I were pretty nervous–we’d taken everyone here thinking it was akin to a Benihana, but it turned out to be about 95% sushi and sans-hibachi tables. Our table ended up with five chicken teriyakis, one beef teriyaki, one soba noodle and one edamame order with an Alaska roll. Can you tell which one was mine??

The night wasn’t a total loss; we ended up in a room of our own and had a few good laughs, and everyone got to experience a few things out of their comfort zone 🙂

Happy Easter morning! I got up early to cook breakfast 🙂

I made the Clinton Street Baking Co.’s buttermilk waffles (thanks for the book, Susy!), maple-roasted bacon and fruit. I even made the maple butter from the cookbook and it. was. divine. Even Andrew loved it.

As always, we did Easter baskets. Andrew’s is full of junk food and candy. I threw in a Bananagrams game, thinking it would be a good 2-person game for the house.

Andrew (as usual), went way overboard with my basket this year:

He collected all sorts of my favorite gourmet/health foods, like sweet potato chips, Luna bars, flavored seltzer, Starburst Jellybeans, Ritter chocolate with Marzipan (Heather introduced me to it before we moved last year)…

…brie and special topping…

…I’ve been DYING to try this chocolate bar since I saw it in a Food Network magazine like two years ago!

Dave sent me home with some Cadbury creme eggs last weekend, and I broke into it Easter morning! (I was good; I only ate half, though.)

Andrew particularly liked his tangerine-flavored Jelly Belly carrot. I had to force him to eat one before church… Seriously, who has to be forced to eat ONE jelly bean EVER? I wasn’t going to eat a bunch of candy all alone!

After church (we accompanied the Layers), we rushed home to finish our contributions to the meal and walk the dog before heading back to their house.

Butter ‘lambs; are a big deal around here. I saw them at the grocery store a week or so ago and wondered where they’d been all the other Easters of my life. Not where I lived, apparently.

I made caramelized pear, sage and orange biscuit bites, a recipe I found in a cookbook of Susy’s last time I was at her house. They were pretty darn good, but I don’t know if I’d make them again.

I also made Pioneer Woman’s Tres Leches cake for dessert. I. CAN’T. STOP. EATING. IT. Seriously. I had two pieces yesterday and two pieces (so far) today. Not good.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out before Abigail had to head back to school. I studied for my Micro test (I have THREE tests and a quiz this week…say a prayer for me, people!).

The rest of the family played ‘bean farmer,’ which I believe is really called Bonanza.

Andrew taught grandma.

Carolyn opted out and instead searched for dishes on the iPad.

After a light dinner of sandwiches and leftovers–not that anyone was terribly hungry–Andrew and I headed home to rescue the puppy and prep for the week ahead…if only I’d had another day off!

I’ll be up for air sometime on Thursday!

i miss ‘us’

That phrase was uttered by our good friend, Dave Diercks, this past weekend during our recent trip to Ohio.

And then it was seconded. And thirded. (Is that even a word?)

Anyway… Here are some highlights from the trip! (As usual, I didn’t take enough pictures…so I’ll do my best to describe how we used a door as a table, and my two-scoop ‘small’ sundae.

-We brought cupcakes! I’m a huge fan of Firefly, the new artisan cupcake shop on Main Street here, and we wanted to gift Emily and Dan with goodies. Since Emily and I are trying to be good and watch our calories, we decided we’d save our splurges for Graeter’s and Rita’s. But, Dan and Andrew can indulge! We brought a ‘chocolate-covered strawberry’ for Dan and a Vanilla Bean for Andrew. The picture doesn’t do them justice…they’re packaged in their own little cellophane bags with the cute Firefly card on the front.

-As usual, we stopped at Chick-Fil-A in Erie for a late lunch. I really had been craving CFA…I got a 2-strip kid’s meal with fries….

…and a small cookies and cream milkshake to drink! I love them 🙂 Andrew actually did a decent number on the shake, so I probably ended up having only 3/4 or less of it anyway.

-While I was “setting up” my food in the car (I have a method), I realized it would make a perfect blog post. “On how I eat in the car” coming soon.

-OK, here’s where the pictures begin to fail me…

-We made another stop near Dublin (skipping Jeni’s! A travesty!) for a Starbucks run for me. Using the blessed iPhone, we found not one but TWO in grocery stores just feet away from where we were after taking the wrong exit off the highway… thank you, Jesus! AND, the nice lady behind the counter was offering samples of their vanilla scones. LOVE samples.

-We got into the Wilhelms’ around 8 p.m. and bounded into welcoming arms. Within moments we were perched on the couch, debating the age-old question, “To where will we go for dinner?” Silly us, we thought maybe we could quickly come up with a place with little conversation… One thing we’ve realized is, the six of us (particularly the four Wilhelms and Layers) are PARTICULAR about our food. And not necessarily in a bad way; we just really want to enjoy our meals, especially those together.

-The Wilhelms had been anxiously awaiting our arrival so we could go out for a nice, long, drawn-out dinner, which they’ve dubbed a “Layer dinner,” in honor of yours’ truly. A “Layer dinner” is one in which you order drinks, then appetizers…and then shoo your waiter away and don’t order dinner until you’ve eaten said appetizer, and then you might even stay for dessert or coffee afterward. They are infamous and can last upwards of two hours if you do it right. Truthfully, these dinners started for us on or first trip to Europe, where people have long dinners all the time (in fact, often you have to flag your waiter down to even order your food, and they wouldn’t dream of rushing you out the door). Now, if we have the time, we make it a point to stretch out our meals as often as we can.

-We almost unanimously voted for Thai 9, one of our favorite places to eat downtown, and got as gussied-up as our packed-clothes would allow. We started with drinks (Belgian wheat for me, hard cider for Dan, cocktail for Emily and I can’t remember what Andrew had….) and appetizers. Andrew and Dan split the chicken spring rolls and Emily and I split the crab rangoon–my mouth is watering just recounting the details!

-I LOVE going out to eat with Emily. Our tastes are so similar, so we typical end up splitting one or more dishes. This is something I can RARELY (if ever) do with Andrew, and it makes it so nice for me so I can enjoy multiple things on the menu. I hate having to choose! Emily and I wanted exactly the same things–pad thai and sushi–and that’s exactly what we got.

-Unfortunately, we were all too full by the end of dinner to splurge on Thai 9’s homemade coconut ice cream topped with fried banana pieces and honey (if you live in Dayton, you must order that as soon as possible), but it felt great to say “no, thanks” and leave without being over-stuffed.

-Emily and I are also early birds and exercisers, so we enjoyed a light breakfast the next morning while doing the first DVD session of our Bible study, before hitting up the workout room at their apartment complex. Thirty minutes on the treadmill flies by when you have someone to whom to talk! (Ain’t that the truth, Susy?!)

-The primary reason for the trip to Dayton (although who needs a ‘reason’ to visit friends?), was to meet little Aiden, Dave and Jen’s little boy who was born in January. We arranged to meet them at Panera for brunch. Isn’t he a cutie??

-After we ate (I splurged and got a cinnamon crunch bagel with honey walnut cream cheese–haven’t had one of those in YEARS–and smartly ate the top half and forced the bottom on Dan to prevent myself from eating it), Dave headed to his track meet and Andrew and Dan took Aiden home while Jen joined us for some shopping.

-We MADE OUT at TJMaxx! M philosophy is that a true workout-aholic can never have too many items of workout clothes, and that is the place to go for a bargain. I scored tons of awesome stuff, although the terrible overhead lighting washes everything out. All of those colors are so vibrant–I couldn’t resist any of them!

-After bagging our finds at TJMaxx, us girls headed home to pick up the ‘two men and a baby’ we left behind and raced over to Dave’s track meet at Cedarville University. Dave throws the javelin and is competing for a chance to go to the Olympic trials this summer. He ended up scoring a 68-meter throw at this meet, which is just 10 meters shy of qualifying for a spot at the trials, and the most he’s even thrown in a season-opening meet. Go Dave! Check out his facebook page for more information; he’s also involved with Athletes in Action (a Christian organization geared toward outreach in the field of athletics) and is partially sponsored by PowerBar!

-It was pretty chilly, so we scooted out of there as soon as he was finished and headed back to chez Diercks, or as it’s affectionately called in our circle, ‘the cave.’ Seriously, between their huge comfy couches and lack of natural light in the living room, it’s very ‘cave-like’ in the coziest way possible.

-Yet again, we foolishly thought we could pick our dinner option from a hat…literally. We all threw in names of various local establishments from which we could get take-out, and after turning our nose up at Chinese (what were you thinking, Dan??), a small contingent of us strong-armed the others into City BBQ. Dave did what he does best and placed our order online while I arranged who was going where to pick up food; Emily and me to City BBQ (don’t forget the sweet tea!) and Andrew and Dave to Kroger for a rotisserie chicken and Cadbury mini-eggs.

-Upon arriving back to the Diercks’ lair, we found a door (yes, a DOOR) being placed on their oversized ottoman and topped with a shower curtain/tablecloth. Don’t mind the handle, Emily… If only I’d snapped a photo…

-We were all enjoying our food family-style with Ghostbusters on the in background, when it hit me. These people are FAMILY to me. Like, seriously family. I mean, with whom else can you just sit and do nothing for hours on end, and it be totally fine? (Especially if you’re in the cave.) The six (now seven) of us have formed a bond like I’ve never had with anyone before, in particular in couples. There are others with whom Andrew and I share this relationship (Heather and Silas, for sure) and I think that’s why God brought us to Ohio. To make these lifelong friends. (And to be near Andrew’s grandparents, but that’s another story.)

-By 8 p.m. Emily and I were getting a little stir-crazy and ready to walk around after dinner, so we convinced Jen to join us on another shopping trip–this one to Goodwill! Beavercreek has the best Goodwill…there are NO good Goodwills here in NY…sad. So, we left ‘three men and a baby’ to go stretch our legs. I scored a pair of Gap trouser-jeans!

-We ended our night on a sweet note with a trip to Graeter’s, where I convinced the manager to give me two SMALL scoops (instead of only one) in my small sundae so I could have two different flavors. LOVE. THEIR. WHIPPED. CREAM.

-The next morning, we all met at First Watch (one of my absolute favorite places!) for breakfast before church. Again, Emily and I did our usual and split an omelet with pancakes on the side.

-Upon walking to our cars, Andrew and I realized we’d been fished! I know I’ve blogged about it before, but haven’t the slightest clue as to when or under what title… The short story: Dave and Jen own a giant stuffed fish and they (along with Emily and Dan) once hid it in our bed while we lived in Ohio. It’s been traded back and forth between us three couples ever since. The orange shirt it’s wearing? It says “East Aurora” and was how I dressed it when I shipped it back to the Diercks after we moved here. Gotta brainstorm its next trip to Ohio…this time to surprise the Wilhelms!

-Trader Joe’s is just across from First Watch… $86 later, we were stocked-up on goodies! Favorites? LOVE their chocolate-covered almonds, sunflower seed butter and a new find, chocolate-ship brownie bars with oats.

-Before heading out of town, Andrew and I stopped into the nearest Graeter’s to redeem our ‘Sweet Rewards’ points for a t-shirt. He always lets me choose. What a sweetie. Outside the doors, we met an Easter bunny!

-After meticulously choosing my shirt–I even made the young man behind the counter climb up and check the size of the one tacked to the wall–I settled for a child’s extra large (which was surprisingly big) hoping it would shrink.

-We resisted the urge for more ice cream (well, I had to resist; I think Andrew has willpower of steel!) in favor of a stop at Rita’s on our way out of town. I made the mistake of trying their new chocolate peanut butter flavor… (Back story: I grew up with Rita’s in PA and LOVE IT. Mango is my ultimate favorite. I try different flavors all the time, but mango is where it’s at.) Anyway, I LOVED chocolate peanut butter and all of a sudden couldn’t choose! It’s not like I could get one, knowing I could come back any time for mango. Thankfully, Andrew opted for a large mango, which allowed me to order a chocolate peanut butter gelati–which features their vanilla custard. I was in sugar heaven.

-We got on the road and had an enjoyable trip back to NY, filled with menu-planning and grocery-list making for me, (no Jeni’s AGAIN–we were too full of Rita’s!), a Wendy’s stop (apple slices for me, nuggets for him and a tiny Frosty to share) and then things went downhill. Emily HAD to remind me I’d forgotten to take some of the dark chocolate-covered raisins off her hands…which led to a crazy craving! We stopped at a gas station and ended up stocking up on Doritos, Swedish Fish (my favorite) and Hot Fries and an energy drink for Andrew. And I might have gotten into the cookies Susy sent home with me…

-We drove straight to Wegmans since I knew our house was devoid of food. Well, at least the fridge was. As in, EMPTY. No fruit. No yogurt. No bread. No nothing. If we didn’t shop now, we’d have nothing for breakfast the next morning, and since I had to pick up the dog IN ADDITION to my normal routine, there wasn’t going to be any ‘going out for breakfast’ for us.

-$123 dollars later…

-We’re all settled back in at home now (we should be, it’s THURSDAY) and I can’t believe this post took me so long… Notes to self:

-take more pictures!

-post along the way!

Here’s to next time 🙂