Summer Archives - Page 3 of 4

Community Pancake Breakfast

July 6, 2013 by Susan Leave a Comment

Have I mentioned that Hertford, the town my family’s cottage is located in, has many similarities to Andy’s Mayberry? On any given day you can walk down the main street and get three scoops of ice cream for 70 cents. (It used to be 25 cents when I was a kid. Darn inflation.) You can get fresh squeezed Lemonade for 50 cents. You can sit on benches in front of the quaint little court house and watch people pass by. There’s a handful of antique stores and a historic hardware store. My family owns the little Carriage House Tea Cafe in the midst of town serving the best chicken salad you will ever eat. Oh and the town is particularly proud of the fact that is has the only “S Bridge” in North America, not to mention the local icon: The Turtle Log. (Yep, it’s a log. And turtles sit on it.)

It’s definitely got charm and I’ve been lucky enough to spend a good chunk of my summers down here, splashing around in the water and enjoying the sunshine. But this morning was a first.

Community Pancake Breakfast.

My dad, Godmothers, my Mom and I piled into the car to head to one of the cutest little building you will ever see. We had a mission: All you can eat, pancakes and sausage, for $5.

Challenge accepted.

My dad, extremely serious about he plain pancakes and no sausage meal.

Jean, proud of her pancake successes!

You learn to socialize with all the “neighbors” quite quickly.

For the record, I ate a mere 5 blueberry pancakes. I expected better from myself but hey, this girl is going to have to fit into a wedding gown in 4 months and 3 days… No need to go too crazy.

#notpaleo

Signs of Summer…

July 5, 2013 by Susan 3 Comments

I hope you all had a lovely Fourth of July! I also hope that you are as lucky as I am and that you will be enjoying a Four-ish Day Weekend! The sun has finally come out and I am finally enjoying my vacation on the river without the help of the Lifetime Movie Network.

I want to keep this short and sweet, as I have more of a lather-up-in-tanning-lotion-priority than I do a be-a-blogging-rockstar priority. Sorry friends. I love you, but sunshine on my shoulder really does make me quite happy.

So here’s some images from yesterday’s celebrations.

American Flag and the Pirate Flag… Pretty much sums us up!

Floating, Laughing, Drinking. Happiness.

My sister and mom.

It’s all fun and games until someone falls into the river…

My mom’s dog, Lacey. Too cool for school.

Yes, my bike has streamers. Pink ones.

Brown Dog’s Bathtime.

Someone had enough to drink…

Fireworks across the river.

Frozen Fourth of July Treat

July 4, 2013 by Susan 2 Comments

For the record, I’m that girl. The girl who has a macbook pro, an ipad, an iphone, and even an old dell laptop… but I still try to carry my imac with me as much as possible. For some reason I absolutely dread doing anything creative on my macbook pro. I need a big screen. I need to spread things out, digitally. I need somewhere to hang my hat.

That being said, Happy Fourth of July! In between all the rain and storms yesterday, I was baking away! It was my mom’s birthday (which you will hear about in a couple of days) so our favorite orange cake was in order. But with today being Independence Day I figured a festive holiday treat was also necessary! Without further ado, let me introduce you to one of the most delicious Fourth of July dessert this side of the Mississippi.

I guess you could call it a Fruity Frozen Berry Flattened Trifle.

I found a recipe years ago, that I just can’t seem to re-find, online. It was for the most delicious trifle I’ve ever had! This go round though, I decided, with the mugginess and ultra-humid weather we’ve been having, it would be even more of a winner if I could turn it into a frozen treat.

So I did.

Here’s what you need:

Two Sleeves of Graham Crackers

One stick of Melted Butter

One Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (For a slightly lighter, less rich taste use fat free)

Approximately 8 ounces of Greek Yogurt. Four-ish of Pineapple Greek and Four-ish of Lemon Greek. (Again, for a slightly, less rich taste you can use normal yogurt)

An average sized lemon to zest and squeeze the juice

One 8 ounce Container of Thawed Cool Whip

Half of an Angel Food Cake (I did store bought)

Approximately 1.5 cups of Fresh Strawberries

Approximately 1.5 cups of Fresh Blueberries

**Please keep in mind that I love to cook and bake but rarely do I measure anything. I just do it. It drives my fiance crazy. And then I think “Man! I should’ve documented and measured so I could blog it!” All of the ingredients are approximations and depend on the size dessert you make. I used an 18×12 inch cookie sheet.

Take the Grahams, double ziplock bag ’em, then smash them to bits! Add the melted butter and mix into the bag.

On your cookie sheet, spread out some wax paper. This makes for a much easier cleanup. Lay the buttery grahams out and press them down hard. Making a make-shift crust. I popped it into the oven, on 350 degrees for about 5 minutes to help bind it. {Not sure if this is necessary or not though since you will be freezing it.}

In a separate mixing bowl you need to mix your yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, zest the lemon until you don’t feel like zesting anymore, then cut the lemon in half and squeeze it’s contents into the bowl, sans the seeds. Then blend in the Cool Whip.

Cut up your strawberries and tear up the Angel Food Cake. You could cut it, but let’s be real… it’s way more fun to tear it up. More than likely it will take you back to your first birthday where they told you to run amok with the cake. DO IT! And do it so the pieces are small squares.

I highly recommend fresh fruit. Unless you are in Hertford, NC. In which case they “ran out” of blueberries. I have never made this with frozen fruit before but in my mind, they are going to be frozen in the long run - this should just save on the freezing process? (Bottom Line: Stick with the fresh if you can.)

On top of your grahamy crust, lay out some blues and straws… berries that is. This ensures that even when the top looks like the American Flag, your happy family and friends will get some of each fruit.

Put a layer of the Angel Food Cake down. Surprisingly this is AWESOME when frozen. Then smooth the layer of your fruity cool whip concoction on top of the cake.

Use your slices strawberries and blueberries to make the top look like the American Flag. OR, I think this would look just as pretty, scatter the strawberries and blueberries around like you did on top of the grahams. Use your creative juices to figure out your frozen treat decor.

Cover it up and pop it in the freezer. I let mine freeze through the night. It’s still a bit gooey because of the contents, but my oh my! You’re going to enjoy!

Happy Fourth of July Friends.

#thisisnotpaleo

When it Rains, It Pours: Rainy Vacation Day Activites

July 2, 2013 by Susan 1 Comment

Rainy-Vacation-Journal-Log: Day Two. Eleventh Hour. Twenty-Fourth Minute…

The conditions are still rough… the likelihood of a sunny vacation is dwindling by the moment. Although there is a tiny patch of blue outside that is calling my name. For at least five minutes before the grey clouds run it off. So I better make this quick!

I decided it was necessary to provide support and ideas to those who are also stuck in the same dreary situation. So here are a few must-do-rainy-vacation-activities that will help you relax and enjoy your time away from work.

Number One: Surround yourself with magazines. Magazines that you never buy. Magazines that are pretty. Magazines that do not make you feel fat. {Not gonna lie, I was pretty floored to see the Paleo Magazine that I had to special order last year (because Barnes & Noble didn’t even carry it!) on the shelf at Food Lion in little ole Hertford, NC!}

Number Two: Sleep in. Even when the cats knock things off the table at 6 am. Even when your room has 16 windows in it. I’m not kidding. It’s like waking up on the face of the sun. Minus the sun. Because we only have rain. This one is tough but it is by far worth fighting for.

Number Three: Visit your family. Family that may be nearby but is family that you never see. {Don’t worry about those other ones that you see all the time… you’re on vacation to get away from them right?!} I mentioned this yesterday. I went to visit my grandmother. In addition to awesome quality time with her, was fed quite well.

Number Four: Figure out how to work the satellite dish and watch cheesy lifetime movies. Or three of them. With your dog. On separate couches. {I now fear bringing children into this world after watching a few of those “She’s too young” and “My daughter was tricked by an online predator” types of flicks. Thank you Lifetime Movie Network for reminding me how cray cray this world really is.}

Number 5: You ~~may~~ will regret this one but you gotta do it. Eat random, unhealthy foods and beverages that may or may not fit well with each other. Eat them until you are full, then keep eating. You’re on vacation after all. And don’t forget to finish off all the cookies from yesterday. With Marshmallows.

I better get running if I intend to enjoy the few minutes of blue outside. Then I am going to Walmart to buy fake tanner. Because let’s be real, what’s summer vacation on the river without a tan?

A Monday-y Tuesday.

May 29, 2012 by Susan 2 Comments

Hello ~~Monday~~ Tuesday. Don’t you just ~~hate~~ love how today feels like Monday but it’s actually Tuesday? Sure, there are many pros and cons to this fact and feeling. However, I’m pretty positive the pros drastically out weigh the cons. I mean let’s be real - a “Monday” that leaves you an extra day closer to Friday is pretty rare and incredible.

So how was your weekend extra long holiday weekend? I have a feeling I am going to take a few days, eh, probably all week, to recap the amazingness of my weekend.

My New York Mets tickets arrived. I took my mom to eat “crazy asian food” and watched her use kid-choppies.

I worked my first wedding of the season. It felt good to be working but to be in love with the work I was doing.

I spent time with my guy. I spent time at the river. I spent two thirds of the weekend topless. As in the Jeep. I went to a cookout.

And I pinned a million things in my down time. So yeah. Pretty sure one post can’t recap the joy that this weekend brought me. If only today wasn’t a Tuesday that feels like a Monday though… A Wednesday that felt like a Monday would be even better.

Did you do anything exciting over this Memorial Holiday? Tell me about it! See you tomorrow for the wedding recap! xoxo