super sunday

What a weekend I’m having!

Saw good news on the scale this morning; only FOUR more pounds to go!

We tried a new church today. We sat under a tent (something they are doing for the summer) and there was some decent music. Not sure we really liked it, so the search continues.

Here’s my post-workout breakfast:

OIAJ!

It was fabulous! Here’s what I used:

– 1/4 C old-fashioned oats

– 1/2 C water

– 1/4 C milk (added after cooking to thin the oatmeal out)

– 1.5 tbsp leftover Trader Joe’s Sunflower Seed Butter

– 1/2 tbsp flax seeds

– 1/4 C blueberries (YUM)

– 1/4 C Great Harvest Groovy Granola (double YUM)

Andrew and I enjoyed our breakfasts (I made him a mango/peach/orange juice smoothie) in the car on the way to church.

Afterward, we toured a friend-of-a-friend’s house that’s coming up for sale soon. We aren’t excited about it; it isn’t really what we want and it’s above our price range. It does have potential and a great location, but still.

We’re going to a local German Festival today; here’s to German beer and great German goodies!

collards…for the last time (at least while we’re in the hotel)

I whipped up a pretty snazzy dinner (if I do say so myself) last night for us.

I roasted salmon (in the toaster oven!) with salmon seasoning, made Southern-style collards (Wegman’s was out of smoked ham hocks, so I bought a smoked ham steak and cut it up) and warmed some of Great Harvest’s Rosemary and Olive bread for dipping.

We finished off our last bottle of what we call the “blue wine.” It’s a German Riesling we found at the Class Six on base in Ohio. They stopped carrying it shortly before we left; I’ll have to look for it here. It’s a very fruity, very sweet, crisp wine we both like. I don’t prefer to drink rieslings with dinner (too sweet), but Andrew loves them, and since there are only two of us and we don’t drink wine with dinner that often, it’s slim pickins’ sometimes. Whatever is open is what we get. Interestingly enough, the name of the wine is “Burg (which means “castle” in German) Layer.” Isn’t that funny? It’s a sign, I just know it.

This was the third time in about two weeks I’ve made collards. I bought them at the farmer’s market and they came two per bundle. All I can say is–a bundle is BIG. It took up half a shelf in our small fridge for days. I used it first to make Cuisine at Home’s “Succotash Fried Rice,” which is a southern take on traditional fried rice. Instead of peas and carrots and scallions, it has lima beans, red pepper, onion and tabasco. I served that with pan-fried cod. Andrew liked the rice–a victory! Then, I sauteed some up in a little chicken stock with a splash of vinegar at the end and served that with Caribbean Jerk chicken. The chicken was pretty spicy and the collards were only OK; Andrew is not a huge fan. OK, he’s not really a fan at all.

Let’s just saw he’s been whining and complaining for the last week about eating collards.

So, last night, I decided that I needed to make collards “for real.” As in, the Southern-style, sweet, hammy, salty version. (Andrew likes to say I’m from the South since I’ve lived in a bunch of Southern states a few times and spent almost all my life south of the Mason Dixon line–a stark contrast to his lifetime spent in snowy western New York.) As I said, Wegman’s was out of ham hocks when I went the other day, so I made do with a cut-up ham steak and threw it and the remaining chopped collards into a pot to simmer for about an hour. I used Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Salmon Seasoning for the fish, wrapped it in foil and roasted it for about 30 minutes. I LOVE that salmon seasoning. While I enjoy making much of what I use from scratch, it’s great in a pinch and gives salmon what I call a “steak house flavor.” Not that it tastes like steak; it just reminds me of the kind of thing you could get on the menu at a nice restaurant–something complex and flavorful that I couldn’t necessarily recreate at home easily.

ANYWAY…long story short, Andrew ended the meal saying, “Those collards weren’t too bad.” Another victory!

The only downside to cooking in the hotel? There is absolutely NO ventilation, which means the smell of whatever I make lingers. A lot. Currently we’re getting sweet/smoky/fishy wiffs every time we enter the place after being gone for awhile. If only I could bake a pie in here…

they came, they saw, they ate pt. 2

Emily and Dan visited us this weekend. I couldn’t bring myself to lug around Andrew’s huge camera (sad), so there are very few photos of our weekend (even more sad.) Emily sent me a couple and we had a couple, taken in the room.

Guess I’ll just have to paint very good word pictures for you all…

We were blessed with INCREDIBLY good weather this weekend. Picture blue skies, white fluffy clouds and high temps (high 70s to mid-80s). They couldn’t have come on a better weekend. In fact, our Ohio natives thought we’d been lying to them this whole time about how cool and comfortable it is here in the summer.

We had to start with the best Friday night: Pasquale’s pizza and wings (you can read more about it here). We ate there and the pizza was a little greasy, but both Dan and Emily loved the wings. We walked off some of our meal and then visited Abigail while she was working at Fowler’s. Emily and Dan got to sample sponge candy and we sampled various flavors of ice cream before settling on our choices. We went out for another walk through the village, pointing out cute houses here and there near Hamlin Park.

I awoke bright and early Saturday morning and was surprised that our guests were up at just about the same time–before 7 a.m.! What is it about sleeping in an unfamiliar place that causes one to get up so early??

I went for a quick run, Emily did the elliptical and Dan ran on the treadmill. If you noticed that Andrew was conspicuously absent from the line-up, he was. He could have been found snoozing away in bed!

After our cardio session, Emily and I started up P90X yoga. I’d never done yoga for more than an hour, so I knew this would be a workout. Dan was a lifesaver and took Hadrian for a walk since he (the dog) was pretty much in the way no matter where he plopped himself.

Andrew did (finally!) get up and took Hadrian for a short run before we all got ready for the day. We all, dog included, piled in the car and set off for East Aurora. We left Hadrian in Andrew’s parents’ backyard and proceeded to downtown Buffalo to find a nice place to eat outside.

We chose an upscale (as in NOT your typical gyro place with neon signs in the windows) Greek place on Elmwood Ave. and were able to sit under an awning on their deck. I got the Monsoon Chicken Salad; it was filled with coconut-crusted chicken strips, strawberries, mango slices, dried cranberries, banana chips and walnuts. YUM. Emily got a hummus and white bean platter with rice and grilled veggies that looked awesome. It will definitely be somewhere Andrew and I will go again.

After lunch we headed across the border to Canada to see the falls. We scouted out cheap parking ($4) and walked to Journey Behind the Falls, a tourist attraction that allows you to go down and behind the falls. Andrew has always wanted to give it a try and so we figured now would be a great time. Emily and I weren’t huge fans of the tunnels or crowds, but it was kinda neat to see how powerful the falls are up-close. The worst part? The mist (a.k.a. rain shower) you have to walk through to get in and out of the building that houses Journey Behind the Falls. I DO NOT LIKE GETTING RAINED ON. I don’t even like running in the rain. I think it’s the sensation of cold water on my skin. Here are some of Emily’s shots:

I love how Emily can pull of the “giant sunglasses” look. I so cannot. I will say, thought, that my weight-loss has caused my face to become more and more square (or maybe heart-shaped?) and less round. Does that mean I get to buy new sunglasses to complement my face? (Don’t answer that…)

Dan must have, by far, the longest arms EVER. You can hardly tell they took this themselves (except for his arm in the shot, but you know what I mean). And kudos for getting the rainbow in the background!

We spent a few relaxing minutes in the grass near the falls and bird/squirrel/people-watched. Did you know they have black squirrels in Canada?

To continue taking advantage of the great weather, we ate in downtown Buffalo at the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery and enjoyed some cold beers and great good. I was craving a burger and fries, so that’s exactly what I got. Emily went light (or so she thought) and got the gouda soup, which was essentially drinkable beer cheese, but man, was it good! Dan’s jerk chicken sandwich was a bit on the spicy side, so we promised him a strawberry milkshake to cool things down. I enjoyed their seasonal blueberry beer and know Andrew and I will definitely be going back–the atmosphere and view were fantastic. On a side note: we’ve basically fallen in love with eating outdoors in nice weather, especially if we’re going out to eat. Lately, we aren’t even interested in places without outdoor seating. Does anyone else feel that way too? (I think Europe has ruined us for indoor eating forever…)

About a gazillion calories later, we were on our way to pick Hadrian back up after indulging in sundaes from Antoinette’s. They’re known for their sundaes and I couldn’t resist, even though my tummy told me to.

I went to bed early with a stomach ache and the others started watching our recent Netflix DVD: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.

Sunday morning we all got up and exercised again; Emily and I ran to the park (1.5 miles) while Andrew and Dan drove with Hadrian. The three of them walked around the park while I did another two miles, then Dan, Emily and I ran back home. We all jumped in the pool to cool down before getting ready for the day.

We ate blueberry pancakes (the best!) at Charlie’s Diner, toured Vidler’s Five & Dime and got drinks at Taste before we had to say goodbye to Emily and Dan.

We got back to the hotel and Andrew let out a loud gasp! We’d been FISHED!

Long story short: Jen and Dave have this huge fish pillow (above) from goodness knows where. Awhile ago, they, along with Emily and Dan, hid it in our bed at home in Ohio while they were all over watching a movie. Ever since then, we’ve been trading it back and forth unbeknownst to the recipients. Let’s just say I knew it was going to appear sometime this weekend–how could it not??

Guess we’re going to have to make a trip back to Ohio…