just another typical ‘holly & andrew vacation’

Except for the harried schedule we usually ascribe to when overseas. I think both of us needed an ‘anti-schedule’ kind of trip this time.

We took off after our Manhattan Bagel lunch yesterday and leisurely drove along Hwy 98 through small town after small town before jumping on I-90. Along the way, we saw this sign:

We weren’t even in the turning lane and I looked over at Andrew, and he looked back at me. He threw the car into reverse, switched lanes and turned in. There is just something about our trips; I all of a sudden feel spontaneous and we’re such foodies that ANYTHING that looks intriguing is fair game. A random, old-school, obviously well-known chocolate shop? You bet.

Initially the ‘cashew glaze’ caught my attention, but we ended up leaving with a pumpkin pie sundae with hot fudge for me and bag of goodies for the car. Andrew chose some flavored candy sticks, white chocolate-covered pretzels and caramel corn; I threw some white chocolate-covered oreos and a small container of glazed cashews.

We broke into the caramel corn in the car and it was quite covered in caramel. I’m not a huge fan myself, but it’s definitely one of Andrew’s weaknesses.

We arrived at the Oliver Phelps Bed & Breakfast just after 3 p.m. and were shown to our room. I opted for the cheapest room, which doesn’t actually have a bath connected to the room (it’s just outside the door), figuring the money we saved would cover a dinner out or something.

The room is small and cozy and even has an electric fireplace, something I knew Andrew would love. He’s had it on ever since…

They have WiFi (sweet!) and while we could have rushed around and find something to do, we ended up lying in bed watching the news and falling in and out of pseudo-sleep until almost 5 p.m., when we got ready for dinner.

We knew we were going to Eric’s Office for dinner (I’d scoped-out restaurants beforehand) and when we saw it was only .8 miles from our b&b, I decided we should walk. I’ll admit, it was a bit chilly (and seemed WAY longer than less than a mile) but in the end I’m glad we did. The walk back wasn’t quite so bad.

Eric’s Office is a local bar/restaurant with a teeny-tiny dining area, which is why we went to dinner so early. While we waiting for a table, we sat at the bar with some beers and popcorn (dangerous! we had THREE bowls of it!) and watched ESPN…with everything going on at our alma mater, PSU, we’re pretty keen on catching as much news as we can.

We loved the atmosphere at Eric’s and it was a clear local favorite, pretty much a prerequisite of ours when choosing where to eat when on trips. Andrew ordered a pork tenderloin with a root-beer reduction, and I got beef tips and mushrooms in gravy served over blue cheese mashed potatoes, covered with crispy onions. It was a bit heavy, but the flavor was amazing. The atmosphere was really the best part; it was casual but not too casual.

After a crisp walk home, we snuggled in bed with come Dexter episodes before turning out the lights.

I had thought about running in the morning, but decided I needed sleep more than exercise after the week I’ve had. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as restful a night of sleep as I would have liked (the bed is a double and not a queen, and it’s always hard for me to sleep in new places), but I made it until 7:15 a.m., which is a good three hours more than all last week.

We headed down to breakfast by 9:30 in the high-ceilinged breakfast room of the b&b.

We were brought apricot walnut scones, coffee and juice to start. While a little sweet for me, the scones were a fantastic way to begin.

Next, a fruit plate of pears and blackberries drizzled with a cinnamon-balsamic reduction. Yum.

And the coup de grace: a strawberry/lemon/mascarpone mix sandwiched in a croissant, drizzled with a strawberry-balsamic reduction. The reviews online of this place all raved about the breakfasts; now I know why!

We’re headed out today to walk around the main ‘downtown’ area, visiting some shops and things, as well as the Christkindl Market, which is just across the street. Must walk off breakfast!

10-miler = 10-fold reward

OK, maybe not a “10-fold” reward, exactly, but I did have a great day!

I planned on doing a long run this weekend since we were in East Aurora. I LOVE running there. I have my usual routes, and sometimes I mix it up. Today, because I was going extra long, I combined my usual 4.5 mile route down toward the high school with a new “village perimeter plus some” route.

The weather this weekend was unseasonably warm (upper 70s!) and I probably could have worn a tank top if I’d brought one. It was beautiful and sunny and there was a hint of fall in the air. Despite the perfect weather, my run started pretty crummily…I blame it on the abundance of sugar I had the night before at Pumpkinville (two donuts–they were small!–pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin soup–which was more sweet than savory, unfortunately–along with fries and popcorn and M&Ms after we got home). So yeah, between that and my elevated stress level and lack of sleep (Hadrian never sleeps well at other people’s houses), I wasn’t exactly running on all cylinders. I was tired and with the first almost two miles being uphill, I could feel it.

Must stretch! I always do, and Andrew never does. I don’t get how people can NOT stretch. Turns out I must’ve underestimated my abilities this morning; I averaged about 8:20/mile, which is awesome! After a couple miles I did perk right up definitely felt that “runner’s high.”

I forgot my Honey Stingers at the hotel, so I had to scavenge for portable, energy-packed foods to take with me. Thankfully, I found some nuts and dried cranberries in the kitchen–SCORE! Go Mom Layer for having 100-calorie packs of walnuts and almonds! I threw in some M&Ms to make it like trail mix, but I didn’t end up eating any. In fact, for some reason, I didn’t need more than a couple bits of nuts–must have been that sugar overload. I carried a partially full bottle of water, too. I hate carrying stuff with me, but I hate being thirsty even more.

I had to write my route out on paper–too many lefts and rights! Disclaimer: I totally spelled “veer” wrong, and knew it immediately. I would normally correct it, but I was in a rush to get out the door. I’m not sure now which I would prefer; having it spelled wrong (above), or having corrected it and proving to all my friends that I really AM as OCD as they think I am.

Andrew and I have been craving Charlie’s Diner, and I figured today would be the perfect day to go–the weather was phenomenal, and I’d just burned like 1,100 calories running…

I enjoyed my usual post-long run Sprite–absolute bliss! I fantasize about Sprite while running sometimes. There is just something about how it tastes and quenches my thirst after a long run when water just won’t do.

BLUEBERRY PANCAKES! They have the best, hands down. Super doughy and sweet and GIANT plump berries! Seriously, they are that good.

We didn’t get there until after 12:00, so Andrew ordered lunch: a BLT.

We were hungry!

After lunch, we went back to the Layers’. Andrew headed off to work, Carolyn was off watching the Bills game with Ben and I enjoyed a fantastically quiet and peaceful afternoon in the kitchen. BAKING! (I also threw in some cleaning–we’d made such a mess in just two days!)

Pumpkin bread! (Andrew always hates it when I pose like this… He thinks it looks silly.) Oh well.

I used my mom’s interchangeable pumpkin/zucchini bread recipe. Except that I changed it around a made it healthier. It wasn’t my intention; I didn’t have butter, so I used both oil and canned apple butter (like applesauce), decreased the sugar (who needs extra sugar, anyway?) and mixed white with whole wheat flour.

I made one loaf plain and mixed raisins, oats and pumpkin seeds into the other.

After I started cutting them up, (of course I forgot to take a picture of both loaves still whole) I made a tasting plate of two teeny slivers. I had to make sure they were good…

I assembled a plate for the Layers and a baggie of half-pieces for the ladies who work the front desk at the hotel, then bagged up the rest for me!

Side note: Perhaps the biggest “reward” of today was signing our lease! The short story is that we found a small house in Orchard Park to rent and God has provided an amazing landlord who will let us have Hadrian and be flexible on lease terms (less than a year). I’ll post more details later, but I can say with certainty that neither of us thought we would be as excited as we are about going into a rental! We celebrated with more rewards–pizza and wings! (We are terrible, I know. But really, on what other day can I splurge like this than on a day I ran so much?) We tried out John & Mary’s, a place on Main St. The verdict: Not bad, but no Pasquale’s!

pumpkin for lunch…

…pumpkin BEER that is!

Don’t judge. What’s the difference between having it for lunch or for dinner? Seriously.

With fall just around the corner, pumpkin beer is EVERYWHERE. And I’m on a mission to try them ALL. OK, well maybe not all–I am only one girl and the hubby won’t help me, which leaves me to drink a six-pack all by myself–it takes awhile.

For those who don’t know me well, I am a pumpkin-FREAK. I love everything pumpkin and fall is my favorite season. So, pumpkin beer is just one of the many things I get to enjoy this time of year.

Today is my free day (whoo hoo!) and perhaps the FIRST Tuesday since starting school that I haven’t also had to see houses/get an oil change/meet a friend for coffee, etc… So, today really is free for me.

That doesn’t mean I slept in….but I did get some good studying in this morning, then hit the gym for some weights and 40 minutes of swimming.

I came home and made this:

Half a veggie/hummus/cheese sandwich with most of an apple (I gave Hadrian some) and ants on a log! Who’s had ants on a log in the last…I don’t know, TEN years?? Anyone? I had celery in the fridge and got inspired. YUM.

As I said, I’m into pumpkin beer right now. I really do want to find a go-to pumpkin beer/ale that I KNOW I like and can look forward to every fall. I’ve tried Blue Moon’s variety and don’t really like it. I know I like the Buffalo Bills Brewery’s version (their Orange Blossom Cream Ale is awesome, too!). (Side note: Buffalo Bills Brewery is in CALIFORNIA. Not sure why…can’t find anything online that explains their name. Grrr.) Last time we were at Wegmans, I decided to give Post Road’s brew a try, which is what I had today. Don’t really like it so much. It’s really “hoppy” and not pumpkin-y at all.

Next up: Southern Tier’s Imperial Pumking.

I first heard about it a week ago on Kath’s blog and was really intrigued by her positive comments. It doesn’t hurt that Southern Tier is brewed here in New York–it’s at the very southwestern tip near Pennsylvania. In fact, every time I see the “Souther Tier” label, it brings back fond memories of visiting Andrew while we were in college and I would drive along the Souther Tier Expressway on my trip from Philadelphia. So anyway, I’ll be trying that in the near future, as soon as I can get through the last two Post Road bottles…

On another side note, Souther Tier has TONS of different brews and their website actually has a great page explaining them all. You can get them all over, but our Wegmans has a “you-craft-your-own” six-pack option in which you get to choose from a bunch of loose bottles and mix and match. They always have a bunch of Southern Tier varieties, so I’m looking forward to doing that next time to try out a couple different ones.

I think one of things I love about food is the HUNT. As in, the hunt for my favorite beer, or favorite muffin recipe (remember when I made SIX different blueberry muffin recipes in one morning? Wish I’d been blogging then…) or favorite whatever. I love having a go-to recipe or restaurant. I love being a “regular.” It’s my dream in life that Andrew and I will be “regulars” somewhere here in East Aurora, maybe a few different places. Actually, the last time we were at Rick’s our waitress recognized us from the previous time we were there…does that count? And I’ve made friends with the owner of Taste, so that’s a good step.

I digress, but that’s the beer talking. Must let this pseudo-buzz pass before I start REAL work!