Aaaaaa! (dirondacks)

I am making it official: 

I am reestablishing my connection with the Earth.

You read it here first!

After a few short hikes in the Adirondacks, I have decided that after my half marathon, this is going to be my exercise of choice.

I appear to have gotten lost somewhere along the way; 

How could I have forgotten how beautiful and grounding it is to explore the outdoors!?

Now, don't get me wrong;

 I'm not talking about throwing away my running sneakers just yet...or, dear God, camping. 

Helllllllll, no.

But, I will definitely be maximizing our time out of doors this summer!

Is there anything as clean as the Adirondack air!?

Aaaaaahhhh!

That sky!

I could have sat here for hours...if the bugs hadn't found us! 

Even the marshes are beautiful!

Stupid stump...messing up my reflection shot...
Still pretty though!

The men exploring a possible pass to the other side

Lost in thought

Elias caught a teeny tiny toad and he carried the entire way.
I can't believe he didn't squish the poor thing!

It was such a lovely day for a walk.

Even though my son made Todd carry him home and exclaimed without remorse "I hate this!" 

We will be back!

Gulp

It has been ages since I've been drawn into an actual book. With chapters.

How dare you compete with the stack of magazines on my coffee table?! 

Pinterest!? 

Picture books?! 

Bath time?!

 Breaking Bad?!

Well, with that being said, I am hooked on a new author; Mary Roach. 

She reads a bit like a research paper, but an interesting and funny research paper.

With book titles like "Stiff" and "Spook," respectively covering the topics of cadavers and the afterlife, how can you go wrong?

My friend Becky turned me onto her a few weeks ago, and I am currently devouring her newest book 'Gulp.' 

For a foodie that really only likes to read non-fiction, and the more honest the better, this book appears to be written solely for me.

The first paragraph of the Introduction pulled me in instantly:

In 1968, on the Berkeley campus of the University of California, six young men undertook an irregular and unprecedented act. Despite the setting and the social climate of the day, it involved no civil disobedience or mind-altering substances. Given that it took place in the nutritional sciences department, I cannot even say with confidence that the participants wore bell-bottomed pants or sideburns of the unusual scope. I know only the basic facts: the six men stepped inside a metabolic chamber and remained for two days, testing meals made from dead bacteria.

This was the fevered dawn of space exploration; NASA had Mars on its mind. A spacecraft packed with all of the food necessary for a two-year mission would be impracticably heavy to launch. Thus there was a push to develop menu items that could be "bio-regenerated," that is to say, farmed on elements of the astronauts' waste...: (p. 13, Roach)

Hooked.

The 1960's seemed hip, but I guess everything in retrospect is romanticized to a certain degree.

Hopefully these 6 men can look back at this experiment and laugh...

Call me wimpy, but there would be no compensation worth enough...

Bleccchhhhhhhh!

Nonetheless, I look forward to the next 314 pages...

Romper Room

I am not quite sure how I feel about the whole romper trend...

A few weeks ago, a group of my girlfriends and I went to a wine tasting at one of our favorite haunts.

There was a girl there that was absolutely hammered and wearing a red romper.

Obviously, she became the ass-end of a few jokes that night, but I'm not 100% sure if it was because of her idiotic behavior, the fact that she did bumper booper down the stairs, or her bright red romper....

I guess I'm saying that the romper didn't help her case.

But I'm still torn.

On the right person, I think they could be very cute!?

Yes?!

Tory Burch Baja Jumpsuit

Tory Burch Portofino Jumpsuit

Anthropologie Diamont Jumpsuit

Anthropologie Long Weekend Romper

Anthropologie Tiered Lace Romper

Loft Petite Floral Print Romper

So, what do you guys think!?

It must have been the bumper booper....

Ahh nuts!

I knew I should have never, ever, ever started to experiment with this concept; 

sweet and spicy candied nuts....

but now I am in too deep, 

and extremely addicted...

 The love affair began when I found something similar at Homegood's...a sweet, crunchy, 

candy - nut concoction.

They were so good that I hid them at the back of my cabinet, out of view from any potential snackers.

I ate them all.

I loved them, but I kept thinking that something was missing...heat!

So I created a mixture of what I think is my perfect mix of sweet, salty, spicy and nutty.

Feel free to adjust the ingredients to your liking. These are so quick and versatile.

Eat them warm right out of the oven...
Or put them in a sealable container of some sort and save them for about a month. 
But don't worry...they won't last that long anyhow.

Oh, those little crumblings on the bottom of the dish!?! 

To. die. for...

These should definitely come with a warning label.

Recipe:

Makes enough to fill four 500 ml sized jars after snacking...

Ingredients:

2 cups of pecans

2 cups of walnuts

1 cup of chopped hazelnuts

1/3 cup of dark brown sugar

2/3 cup of white sugar

1 tablespoon of kosher salt

1 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper

1 egg white

The steps toward addiction:

1. Beat the egg white until foamy and toss into the nuts until they are shiny and coated.

2. Mix the sugars, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne and slowly add to the nuts, tossing to coat.

3. Line a large tray with parchment and spread out the nuts in an even layer

4. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Stir about half way through.

5. Remove from the oven

6. Taste one small piece of nut and never look back...

Enjoy!

This is a perfect Friday treat!

The Gracious Guest

 Imagine this: 

You are invited to a dinner party and the host brings out Spam sushi...

Would you say something? 

Would you eat it!?

I would instantly think I was being punked, 

but if not, I am not quite sure what I would do...

Pretend vegetarianism?!

Fake an emergency phone call!?

Obviously, this is all hypothetical, 

but when I saw this add in a cooking magazine recently, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Actually, I laughed...then I cried.

How can this food product be legal!?

Teriyaki flavored Spam...

On the flip side, it might be fun to serve to the less desirable dinner guest....

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a beautiful Mother's Day weekend!

We had a very exciting weekend here as we welcomed a new addition to our family, and very possibly my new best friend!

Please let me introduce you to our iRobot, the Roomba.

I love her.

Next to the espresso machine or the vibrator, this may be the best invention ever!

After it was fully charged, my husband and I poured ourselves a glass of wine and watched it clean away! 

Within hours our floors were spotless. 

And when she was done, she drove herself back to her dock to rest.

Hallelujah!

Who needs a cleaning lady when you can have one of these!?

It is probably recording our conversations and sending them to the Pentagon, 

but at least it isn't going through our shit, hitting on my husband, or gossiping about our dirty laundry around town.

Good job Todd! 

Happy Mother's Day to me!

Link for iRobots

Phew, all of this talk about housework has got me inspired...click! 

Let the cleaning begin Roomba!

ps. We are still trying to decide on a name... 

My son declared that it is a female robot....

I'm leaning toward 'Alice' (like on the 'The Brady Bunch'...), but Elias shot me down...

We would love to hear your suggestions!?!

Bring 'em on!

Keen-what!?

In attempting a semi-gluten free lifestyle, 

I created this fresh summer quinoa salad.

I believe the mixture of savory and sweet is what makes it most appealing.

If the weather ever decides to cooperate and actually warm up one of these days, this is a fresh,  healthy, and hearty alternative to the routine pasta or potato salad.

I look forward to making it over and over again this summer!

Give it a try!

Recipe:
Makes a huge salad for a large crowd. You may want to divide in half if you are only making it for your family or a few people.

Ingredients:
1 cup of quinoa cooked to package directions
2 cups of good, ripe strawberries, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
One nice chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 of each, chopped: red pepper, orange pepper, yellow pepper
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

The juice from one lemon and half of one lime
1 cup of good quality olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook the quinoa to package direction, toss with olive oil and lemon juice and let cool.
While the quinoa is cooling to room temperature, prepare the rest of your ingredients
Stir together and serve at room temperature.

Don't let this salad scare you. 

Even my potato salad loving husband showered me with compliments!

Enjoy!

Happy Friday!

We have yet to get our plants into the garden, but I am already on the menu planning stage.

I am hoping to drown myself in all things pickle this fall, so let the recipe collecting and experimenting begin!

This barely counts...but like I said, we are at the very beginning...

And, in honor of Friday, lets make it super easy. 

We'll just add some vodka to our pickle juice in the fridge....

Don't judge....

Name one person who does not love those teeny tiny Vlassic sweet midget pickles, and I will show you a crazy person disconnected from their youth.

I have been known to drink this sweet pickle juice right from the jar...

however, in my desperate attempt to be a sophisticated adult, I decided to put it in a sophisticated adult martini glass.

At least I can look the part, yes!?

Shake in a shaker with vodka and ice, pour into a chilled glass, garnish with a little snack of pickles, and you are good to go!

YUM!

Think of it as a dirty martini with pickles, instead of olives.
We can call it the "Dirty Pickle"....well, wait...maybe not...
let us brainstorm something else...

Regardless, I can't wait to try this with our very own pickle concoctions this coming Fall!

Have a great weekend everyone!