Meal Plan

With the last four weeks of summer staring me in the face and this week's Week in the Life project just about finished, I have been reflecting on what has become my summer "routine." A summer day seems to come in one of three forms.

1. Working on a work-related project
2. Vacationing
3. Being lazy

On a vacationing day, I eat out. Not much more to say about that.

On a lazy day, I wait way too long to eat anything (because I'm busy being lazy) and then scrounge around the house for whatever I can find. If I don't find something I order Chinese or go to McDonald's. These days aren't conducive to good choices.

On a working day I generally work crazy hours on any number of projects, drag myself to an expensive post-work stop at the grocery store for random dinner ingredients, cook at 7PM, and start all over the next day. Sometimes I manage to eat a toaster waffle for breakfast. I often have fast food for lunch. These days aren't healthy, planned or stress-free.


This week is a working-crazy-hours week. I need some normalcy (and to not spend much money) this week and am thinking I will find it in a meal plan.

Sunday:
Asian Chicken Kabobs (adapted from a steak kabob recipe)
Restaurant-style Smashed Potatoes

Monday:
Grilled Chicken and Corn Salad
Fresh bread


Tuesday:
Chopped Greek Salad
Grilled Chicken
Fresh bread


Wednesday:
Roasted Pepper, Sausage, & Summer Squash Gnocchi
Tossed Salad with Vinaigrette

Thursday:
Dinner with Stephanie
Carrot Cake

Friday:
Lunch w/Vicki
Grilled Shrimp with Garlic & Beer
Tomato & Red Onion Salad
Fresh Bread


Saturday:
Dinner theater with Mom & Sister

Breakfast:
Toaster Waffles
Cereal w/ Fruit
Iced Coffee

Lunch & Snacks:
Hard-boiled Eggs
Yogurt w/ granola
Chicken Wraps
Seafood Salad
Veggies & Dip

Other things to come:
Menu ideas for upcoming Jane Eyre dinner party
Re-cap of last week's mini-break to MN with Angie
Pictures of my CA mini-album (sans photos and ephemera)
Re-cap of my summer reading
My adventure with Week in the Life

Summer Dozen: Update

Remember my summer dozen - the twelve things I wanted to be sure to do this summer?

Since there is about one month of summer left, now seemed like as good a time as any to check-up on myself.

The Original Summer Dozen:
Build a summer playlist. Haven't started this yet. Did solicit some assistance on Facebook and got virtually no response. Have been listening to Mumford & Sons, Adele, and Bon Iver - all new to me.

Make macarons. Will make these for the upcoming Jane Eyre party. 

Play along with Week in the Life. Am doing this now. 

Learn to crochet Granny Squares.  Haven't thought about this since I typed it on June 10th. 

Grow tomatoes. In progress.  

Read Jane Eyre. In progress (and saw the movie).

Visit San Francisco. Done. And enjoyed.

Discover a signature summer drink. I did realize that I like rose wine, and I have been making Vietnamese Iced Coffee almost every morning. 

Eat healthy. This is going so horribly that I should just pretend I never even wrote it.


Unexpected Summer Joys
And, for each of the things I haven't finished (or even thought about) there have been other things that have ended up in my life that have been equally wonderful.

Picking strawberries

 

A road trip to enjoy an entire day of grocery shopping

I found a couple of great books - The Kitchen House (I'm listening to it right now) and Blood, Bones, and Butter.

Angie and I greatly improved upon a recipe to discover what might just be the best salad ever.

 

A few education-related projects that have been incredibly challenging and rewarding

Adding to the Summer Dozen
And, there are, of course, things that I still really want to do before the summer is over that never made the original list.

• Go to the drive-in movies
• Visit the Farmers' Market at least a few times
• Get a few over-due weeks (along with the summer) done in my Project Life album
• Finish my mini-album from Seattle
• Finish my mini-album from CA
• Have a shrimp boil. (And remember where I saw the recipe for a shrimp boil that made me really want to have one. Although, this one looks delicious. I do think, though, that the one that originally inspired me was on Ezra Pound Cake.)
• Go on the boat with Brad at least once
• Visit Em, Justin, Mirielle, and Henry

SFO: What I Drank

Friday: Napa
Katrina's friend Tim served as our tour guide for Friday's Napa adventure. I am eternally grateful to Tim! Without him we could have had a very confusing and touristy day. Because of him we had a great itinerary, a safe way to travel, and excellent companionship.


Here is a little list of where we were Friday.

 At St. Clement (an unscheduled stop)

Etude

Opus One

Heitz
No photos. . . sorry. Wasn't terribly impressed but did like the Port.

St. Clement

Peju
This was our last stop of the day. Thus, the crazy picture featuring some random people we met at the tasting bar.

Future Stops:
Cakebread
Duckhorn
Nickel & Nickel
Stags' Leap

Saturday: Russian River Valley (Healdsburg)
Saturday (after having lots of bread and water with our breakfast), Katrina and I met up with Lauren (and our driver, Rod) for a day in the Russian River Valley. The atmosphere was more relaxed and less crowded than Napa. And, it seemed like the views were better; everything was just a little prettier.

Acorn
Acorn was definitely the most educational of all of our stops. We took a tour of the vineyard with Betsy (the owner) and learned all about planting, grafting, and harvesting grapes. I am glad it was one of our first stops of the day.

J Vineyard & Winery
Probably my least favorite stop of the tour. I didn't care for the sparkling wine or the atmosphere.

Copain
Mentioned in previous post as place we had lunch. Didn't care much for the wine here. . . sure did love the view, though.

Rochioli
Have no idea why we didn't take more pictures here. Some of my favorite wines of the trip. I could have / should have bought all three we tasted.

Twomey
Don't remember being crazy about the wine here. . . the view was beautiful (not sure why there aren't any pictures of it).  To be fair, though, this was one of our last stops of the day. I had tasted a lot by this point.

Longboard
Rod, our driver, suggested this as our last (unscheduled) stop. The wine was actually really good, and the branding was fun.

Future Stops:
Merry Edwards Winery
Freeman Winery
Anthill Farms
Silver Oak
DeLoach
Harvest Moon


I'm certainly still not a wine tasting expert, but I do have a few pieces of advice to offer from my two days of drinking and visiting.

1. Drink lots of water and bring food. It was handy to have some bread along on Day 2.
2. If you don't like it you don't have to drink it.
3. Make appointments.
4. Get a driver.
5. Bring along your favorite friend and her favorite friends!

SFO: Where (and What) I Ate

As previously mentioned, I am still hoarding the memories from my trip to CA. It isn't so much a "What happens in Napa stays in Napa" sort of thing; it's more of an "I don't want to make any of you jealous by telling you about how much fun I had" sort-of-thing. Or, maybe it's an "It was such a magical time that I can't quite explain it" sort-of-thing.

Either way, I don't want to really talk about it.

I do, however, have a mini-album (another failed attempt at a Scrapbook on the Road - to be shared in another post) to fill with the memories from the trip. I feel like I will forget where we went (specifically where we ate and drink) if I don't write at least a little of it down.

So, today I will share a little list of where Katrina and I (and sometimes Tim or Lauren or Bryan) ate - with plenty of food photography, of course.

Please know that many, many of the pictures came from Katrina. I must give credit where credit is due.

 Heirloom tomato pizza, Plant

 Latte (with honey), Plant

Raw Raspberry Cashew Cheesecake, Plant

Appetizers (Polenta fries, Asiago pastry olives, Cheese plate) at Ottimista Enoteca

Wednesday:
Caribou Coffee, Snack, MSP Airport
The Plant, Lunch-ish, Pier 3--San Francisco
Ottimista Enoteca, Dinner-ish--San Francisco

 Lunch - clam chowder in a bread bowl (I failed miserably at eating the entire bowl)

 the scene at Boudin

Kara's Cupcakes - I went with banana caramel (not pictured)

Appetizer, light dinner in Chinatown (pot stickers, I think)

Light dinner, Beef & Chinese broccoli in Chinatown

Thursday:
Bodin, Breakfast, San Francisco
Castagnola's, Lunch, San Francisco--Fisherman's Wharf
Ghirardelli, Snack, San Francisco--Ghirardelli Square
Kara's Cupcakes, Snack, San Francisco--Ghirardelli Square
Hong Kong Clay Pot, San Francisco--Chinatown

Cheese platter (ordered with mac & cheese and sweet potato tator tats), 7PM Friday

Friday:
KC's Downtown Grill, Breakfast, Windsor, CA
Brix, Lunch, Napa (Yountville, CA)
Kin, Dinner-ish, Windsor, CA

Vegetarian picnic lunch (with an amazing view!), Copain Winery

Saturday:
Omelet Express, Breakfast, Windsor, CA
Copain, Lunch, Healdsburg, CA
Rustic, Dinner, Geyserville, CA

Sunday:
Starbucks, Breakfast, Windsor, CA
Perry's, Lunch, SFO--Terminal 1
McDonald's, MSP--Concourse G

And, a few random anecdotes about food. . .

I failed miserably at eating the bread bowl that came with my clam chowder. Next time I need to go in with a better strategy, one that doesn't involve spilling chowder all over the bread bowl.

Notice the absence of food pictures from Friday. Now, realize that we were drinking wine all day. A cheese plate, mac and cheese, and tator tots at 7 PM (the first meal since a delicious lunch around 1PM) was not the best possible plan.

I didn't take a picture of breakfast on Saturday morning. If I had you would have seen delicious omelets accompanied by lots and lots of toast and water.  Infer what you will.

I didn't take a picture of dinner on Saturday night. It was actually a little embarrassing. We ate at the (hanging my head in shame) Coppola winery. It looked a lot like Disneyworld, so dramatically different from the unique and character-filled places we visited all day. Not a good choice.

SFO: Defying Words

There are very few times when I am at a loss for words. I can usually think of just what I need to describe something, make a joke, ask a question, or be snarky.

I can't seem to think of what to say about my trip to CA last week, though.

I met up with Katrina in San Francisco on Wednesday and enjoyed five days of laughter, wine, food, friendship, lip gloss, wine, CA sunshine, wine, relaxation, and fun. Did I mention the wine?

Part of me wants to over-whelm you with photos, links, anecdotes, and words about every detail of our fabulous trip. Part of me wants to hoard it all for myself, saving up the memories for times I'm craving some sunshine, missing my friend, and desperately in need of some relaxation.

Until I find the words, I will just share a few pictures.

Layover

I am enjoying the people watching on beautiful concourse C in the Minneapolis / St. Paul airport. I have seen and heard many things I wish I hadn't including a man (in white velcro shoes) shouting loudly into his phone, "Let me talk at him!" and a woman wearing Zumba pants in a Coca-Cola print with Sketchers Shape-ups.

I digress.

I'm still digesting (both the food and the experiences) a fabulous Fourth of July weekend. It seems like I should process it all before I head off on my next adventure.

I'm so lucky to have Mike, Angie, Luke, and Dottie as part of my life. They just, basically, let me move in for the weekend.

The festivities started with pool-side Popsicles on Friday afternoon. Excuse Dottie's exposed parts. A suit that fits the girl on the bottom doesn't fit the girl on the top.

It continued with a modified Shrimp Cobb Salad for dinner. We quadrulped the amount of bacon, doubled the amount of shrimp, cooked the shrimp in the bacon grease, doubled the dressing, added cucumbers, added green and yellow peppers, added red pepper, and added (of course!) cheese.

The salad was a rousing success. Try it. Well, don't try the recipe. Try our version.

A little shot of the post-dinner mess on Friday.

Somehow, I didn't take any pictures of Friday night's strawberry balsamic jam adventure. Angie? Did you take any?

Saturday started bright and early with a trip to the Farmers' Market and butcher. I was trying to explain to Dottie and Luke (I'm not sure why) that some people and animals are vegetarians. Dottie shouted, "No!" and shoved a beef stick in her mouth. Geez. I love that girl.

After a little nap (for the grown-up and the kiddos), I embarked on a fun-aunt-Barb babysitting adventure. There was lots of swimming, more popsicles, and some coloring.

Dinner on Saturday night included this amazing cheese, bread, garlic dip concoction and steaks on the grill. The bread recipes suggests you jam one pound of thinly sliced cheese in the bread. You will get impatient, and you will think, "Sheesh. I don't need all this cheese." You would be wrong. Just keep jamming that cheese in there. You will love it.

And, after dinner Luke needed to go for just one more swim. Man. I love that kid. He can always make me smile.

Not pictured:
Sunday's day of rest
Memphis's sheer exhaustion after Friday and Saturday
Monday's fireworks extravaganza
Luke and Dottie's play date with Miri and Henry
Packing for CA

Right now. . .

Smiling about. . . 
Luke's third birthday party. It was almost a week ago, but I still can't get out of my head how very excited he was about all of it.

Listening to. . . 
Blood, Bones, and Butter (the audiobook)
Mumford & Sons
Bon Iver

Disappointed by. . .
Something Borrowed. I dragged Brad to the "budget" theater (tickets were still $4 each!) on Monday because I really wanted to see this. It wasn't that funny; it wasn't that cute. Kate Hudson's character made me nuts. And, the ending was ridiculous.

Looking forward to. . . 
CA on Wednesday! I'm excited to be in the same city as Katrina; it's been far too long! I'm excited to see San Francisco. I'm excited to learn more about wine. I'm excited to meet new people.

Savoring. . .
Jane Eyre. I'm preparing for the upcoming Jane Eyre-themed tea party (to be scheduled sometime in August). I am reading the book (a beautiful, cloth-bound edition) and went to see the movie on Wednesday.

Needing to. . . 
clean my bedroom and do some laundry.


Wondering about. . . 
fashion. Why is it so difficult to find clothes that are plain? I'm thinking things that are just solid colored without a weird pattern or cut or texture. I'm thinking timeless and classic. Said clothes also need to be reasonably priced and fit short, fat girl - which means J.Crew is out of the question.


P.S. I will work hard on being a better, more-regular blogger.