it was a green kind of weekend

I’m not Irish. Nor do I really “dress up” for holidays. (Well, I’d love nothing more than uber-festive Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, but not everyone is up for that in my families. Sigh.)

But there is something about St. Patrick’s Day that makes me want to pull out all the stops and (tastefully) adorn myself in green. Maybe it’s the spring weather. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m already a huge ‘green’ fan. Maybe it’s the few ‘strategic’ green articles of clothing I own.

Anyway.

We’re having phenomenally good weather here this week (which is a boon for the parades and things), and so to take full advantage of it, I decided to run outside. In green. You see, for the last few (maybe four or five?), I’ve been running a 10K on, or in honor of, St. Patrick’s Day in head-to-toe green. Wright-Patt ABF always had their St. Patrick’s Day run (and I was a sucker for those lunchtime base runs), and even after separating from the military, Susy and I still participated in them until I moved last year.

Well, it’s just more than a 10K (6.3 miles, to be exact) from our driveway in Orchard Park to Andrew’s parents’ driveway in East Aurora. So, I ran there. I packed up a gym bag, my phone and purse and sent them all with Andrew so I could shower after at his parents’ house. It actually worked out perfectly; Andrew often goes into work for a few hours Saturday morning and then we like to meet up in EA for lunch/coffee/walking around/errands/hanging at his parents’ house, so this eliminated the second car I would have driven to get there. SCORE!

Which brings me to the POINT of this entire post: the green.

Sadly, despite thinking about snapping a photo during my run, I failed to actually take a photo of me in my running get-up and didn’t remember until I was half-naked and jumping in the shower. Sad.

Just imagine neon-green Nike running shorts, a light-green 3/4 length shirt with a light-pink “Speed Demon” printed on the front, paired with my hot pink “Suck it up, Cupcake” sweatband and sunglasses (thanks mom!). That shirt was perhaps the best Goodwill find yet. You get the picture.

With the nice weather, I busted out my favorite shoes on the planet:

We went to Arriba for lunch for outdoor seating and enjoyed Margaritas and tacos. I had wanted something light, (I would have been fine with a banana and yogurt) but Andrew doesn’t often request Mexican, so I wasn’t about to turn him down. And, in fact, we both ordered the single tacos, which I feared might not be enough, but it was plenty! I took half my grilled chicken taco home (essentially a taco salad on a burrito shell, minus the cheese), along with half the sides I ordered (corn pudding, because it’s AMAZING, and black beans). Score one for healthy options at what could have been a calorie-bomb AND portion control! I even went easy on the chips and salsa 🙂

Not to mention, Andrew ordered the carnitas taco, which is a seasoned pork taco filled with a pineapple salsa and cilantro cabbage slaw… Holy Smokes! He inhaled it. Let’s just say he’s counting the days until he can go back.

Afterward we walked about the village, popping into stores here and there. I needed more honey, so I got a bottle of the local stuff at the co-op’s mini-Market. We picked up a bottle of Rose at Salut, the new wine store, and I indulged in an ice cream cone from Fowler’s. (Hey, at least we walked a TON.)

We came home and promptly became bumps on logs and continued watching season 1 of Big Bang Theory, borrowed from Carolyn.

We did, however, manage to take a walk to Vincenzo’s, the local Italian Ice place in the Orchard Park village, for a post-dinner treat. They even welcome dogs INSIDE and have treats for them, too!

Please note my GREEN PSU sweatshirt 🙂

Check out my running outfit for Sunday morning: same shorts, different shirt. I mean, if one actually HAS neon green running shorts, you gotta take full advantage of them this time of year! (That, and the amazing weather!)

After church and lunch with friends, we headed all headed to the parade downtown.

We definitely saw some interesting things… Mohawks, various combinations of green and festive hats, sunglasses, tights…. You name, we saw it.

The parade was mostly marching bands and Irish dancing groups. Irish dancing is, apparently, very big around here.

There really weren’t all that many “floats.”

At least we got a nice shot of us 🙂

I’ve had a great spring break and weekend and am SO NOT READY to go back to ‘real’ life…

how we spent our saturday

There was baking. There was snow. And gym-going. And car-repairing. And cake-tasting. And, finally, a little ice skating.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Andrew’s truck had been on the fritz since Monday morning, and in the course of the week, Andrew and his friend Bart (featured here at Waldfest and here at the ‘beach’), diagnosed the problem as being the fuel pump. (Bart used to work on race cars in college–like, REAL race cars–and is an engineer at Moog and one of those super-brainy-but-cool types, so I felt like we were in good hands.)

So, after lots of research and You Tube “how to replace a fuel pump” video-watching, Andrew and Bart made plans to replace the part Saturday morning.

Company on Saturday morning = BIG BREAKFAST!

I decided to make pancakes AND waffles (waffles keep better in the freezer) and maple-roasted bacon.

Bart and I like chocolate-chip pancakes, so I added mini-chocolate chips to ours. I even had whipped cream on hand, too–SCORE!

Waffles staying warm in the oven… Side note: I’ve been doing this for awhile now (using the oven to keep waiting waffles crisp and warm) and in just this past issue of Cuisine At Home, someone wrote in and offered this EXACT TECHNIQUE in the reader advice section, and got $100 for it!! Note to self: wrack brain for something to suggest.

I set the table with three kinds of nut butters, Kefir, plain yogurt, orange segments, pineapple, butter, maple syrup, ginger maple syrup, orange juice and bananas. And that’s not including the main courses…

We all enjoyed breakfast before the boys headed outside–did I mention it finally snowed–to start the car project while I tackled clean-up.

Look! They’re twins! Bart brought over some extra work clothes and gloves (he does this kind of thing a lot), which was nice since the cold weather necessitated multiple layers.

…and multiple trips inside to warm-up and read directions. (Not sure why Andrew looks pregnant here, but since it’s him and not me, I’m happy!)

Bart, complete with knee-pads…

…Andrew, who was probably wishing it were just a bit warmer. After our mild week, they certainly did not luck-out on weather for the project.

After I took a snow-filled walk with the dog and went to the gym for a run, I rushed home to shower and get lunch ready for everyone. Thankfully, I had a great assortment of leftovers (I felt a little guilty serving guests leftovers, but by now, I feel like Bart is almost family, and Andrew’s dad–who had come over to watch the snowy repair job–IS family, and the leftovers WERE pretty special) like homemade coleslaw and roasted potatoes, along with homemade rye bread and sandwich stuff.

I dashed out the door after my last bit to meet Abigail, Carolyn and Andrew’s mom at Butterwood’s, a local bakery for some wedding cake-tasting! This, of course, would have been a perfect opportunity to take some photos for the blog with all the beautiful cakes and desserts, but, alas, I did not. I really waver between wanting to be a hard-core food blogger and photo-ing EVERYTHING, and on the other hand, trying to not let it take over my life. So, no pretty cupcake photos here.

We stayed afterward and got desserts and drinks–I chose a red velvet cupcake that was just gorgeous and tasted completely divine–thankfully, I still have half to enjoy another time 🙂

With the sourdough starter that I left out from making the pancakes and wafflers earlier, I made this focaccia.

We didn’t end up eating any that night, because Bart talked us into going out with him to ice skate! I so tried to stay behind to do the myriad things on my to-do list (you know, like take a chem quiz, finish two labs, write an article, write two blogs, not to mention a million other things), but at the last minute I couldn’t say no. I threw on some long underwear and ran out the door with Andrew!

We headed downtown for some ice skating (there is a free rink on the main thoroughfare in the city) and to check out some of the snowboarding at WinterFest.

Don’t you just love my scarf? Andrew got it for me to go with my coat for Christmas–beautiful! I’m LOVING the J.Crew Stadium Jacket we scored on Black Friday… It cinches at the waist and is SO FLATTERING. And it has a hood. I have never wanted a hood more than I have since moving here.

After skating, we headed to Pearl Street for dinner, and to warm up! My fingers were just about frozen, despite the awesome glove liners I got recently. I enjoyed their Cherry Wheat beer, some onion rings (really hit the spot), a roasted veggie sandwich and their completely splurge-worthy fries. Seriously, I could really just have their fries for dinner and be happy.

Bart recently discovered a new bar downtown that has a trivia night, so he brought us to check it out. It’s called Founding Fathers and IT IS AWESOME. I mean, the proprietor was wearing a tie–is that my kind of place, or what?!

There are flags and U.S. presidential history everywhere–it’s a smart-people bar (I may be a little rusty on my history, but Andrew and Bart aren’t!). Andrew and I have never really felt “at home” (well, who does, really?) at a bar since we choose not to drink all that much, but we (well, really just me, probably) have always wanted to be a “regular” somewhere, and this is the kind of place I could see us going to often. I’m not saying we’re going to go every Friday, but we’d like to give their trivia a try (it’s the first Tuesday of the month), and it just felt like somewhere we’d fit in.

It’s pushing 10 p.m. and I still haven’t taken that Chem quiz…

New Yorkers love their food

Andrew was remarking the other days about different foods that are unique to Buffalo. My mouth started to water and I thought perhaps yours might start watering, too.

1. WINGS. Couldn’t start this list without that one. They were invented at The Anchor Bar, but everyone has their own local favorite. We love Pasquale’s and those from The Bar-Bill Tavern, in East Aurora.

2. Beef on Weck.

3. Mighty Taco.

4. Sahlen’s hot dogs. They are amazing and you can buy them in the grocery store. Awesome.

5. Ted’s Hot Dogs. See above–Ted’s is a chain of hot dog stands and they serve Sahlen’s. Even our hotel serves Sahlen’s on their hot dog night. Really, hot dogs in general are all over the place. Some call them “red hots” and there are chains and stands all over. I don’t get it.

6. Pizza. Just like hot dogs–everywhere. Unlike Ohio or Chicago, there isn’t a distinct “style” around here–no exceptionally thin or thick crusts or weird toppings. People just really like their pizza. We love Pasquale’s, (see Wings) hands down.

7. Ice Cream. It’s everywhere, and I mean, EVERYWHERE. Andrew once told me he saw something on TV about how there are more ice cream shops/stores/stands in the Northeast than in the South (where it’s actually hot). It’s so true. New Englanders and Northeasterners love their ice cream! (I realize ice cream is not unique to Buffalo, but it’s still EVERYWHERE. I’m in heaven.)

8. Sponge Candy. It’s a little weird, but people here love it. It’s kind of like a chocolate truffle, and on the inside is an airy, toffee-like flavored candy that dissolves almost immediately in your mouth.

9. Schwabl’s. They’ve been open forever and it has that ‘old-fashioned’ feel. They’re famous for their beef on weck, but I didn’t think it was that special. Apparently they serve Hungarian Goulash on Saturdays, so we’ll have to make sure to try that next.

…and the one thing we CAN’T find much of around here: ETHNIC FOOD. There are some places, and we’ve tried a couple different Thai establishments, but there just isn’t the variety that you can find in other places. Sure, closer to Buffalo there are more choices, but trying to find ethnic food closer in East Aurora is pretty much impossible. And no, I don’t count Chinese take-out as ‘ethnic.’