New Recipes

This is not a totally new recipe. A co-worker from S-K days passed this one on from her culinary-trained daughter. Spinach and Strawberry Salad, with Poppy-Seed Dressing. 

Spinach-Strawberries-Toasted Almonds; I've added Avocado-Sweet Onion-Grilled Chicken. 

We loved the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes (with Blueberries) at The Farmhouse at Jessup Farm here in Fort Collins. Found a perfect recipe on the classycooking.com website. 

Photo via classy cooking.com

We did a take 2 today 🎬🎬, but with Toasted Almonds-Strawberries-Bananas. Absolutely divine. 

This next one is my creation. Mix one-jar of Dickenson's Lemon Curd with 7-oz 

container of Fage 2% Greek Yogurt. Layer with Graham Cracker Streusel (GC crust recipe; crumbled). Top with a dollop of Whipped Cream. 

Making this today. Probably will add a crumble of Feta Cheese to the White Balsamic Glaze. We'll use julienned Basil from our terrace herb garden, rather than Mint. Will be equally as good. Might even use Basil and Mint. 

Last Friday-Saturday we used a NYTFood recipe for bagels. 

Our results were quite good for the first attempt. Need to work on shapes. Have ordered a biscuit cutter through Anazon to help with that. 

Catching Up

We're approaching the end of our month+ in Fort Collins and while home sounds good, we've enjoyed a relaxing visit--just the right amount of activity, family, eating in new restaurants, entertaining...

We've spent most of our time planning for, shopping for, and feathering our nest.
We waited a bit for chair #3 to arrive...

And then, the first time we had guests for dinner, we decided we need to occasionally fit a fourth chair around our small table. We decided to order a variation of the Corvus Madonna (Overstock) so that the chair acts as a side chair next to the shiny red media cabinet.

We're feeling comfortable these days, realizing our next visit can be about exploring, adventuring, and meeting new people. 

This clock just arrived and will hang on our very blank wall above the couch. 

We've done a bit of entertaining--my niece and her husband visited from Chicago. We put together a huge Mexican feast and enjoyed that meal together at D+Ms. Only pic I managed to snap. 

The Fun Kids spent an overnight with us their last day of school before Summer break. We had great pizza at Cozzola's and on Saturday morning we made our first visit to the Old Town Farmers Market. Happily, we found some small radishes--memories of French markets.

The very best way to enjoy radishes--salt,  good butter, and a fresh baguette. 

On Memorial Day D+M hosted an indoor picnic and invited some international students. We ate All-American food, finishing off with an all-time favorite. 

CA and I are benefiting from our DILs garden. Sautéed Spinach is a family favorite--based on a Macaroni Grill version. 

We made Pasta Carbonara the same evening--using a technique we experienced first in Cagne Sur Mer near Nice. No worries--the pasta is very hot. The egg is rapidly stirred-in and creates a TDF creamy sauce. 

We spent some time with our niece JF and her newish (10/17/15) husband Cameron. Such great people. JF's  birthday was the day before they visited us. 

For dinner, our version of Georgio's (Crystal Lake) antipasta salad. 

O.K., so maybe I went a bit overboard on the cake! But, we rarely see JF and I can count on one hand the number of birthdays we've celebrated with her. D+Ms family stopped by mid-afternoon for a visit. 

I ordered a white cake (her 2nd choice), frosted simply in white, and took it from there. Since her favorite cake is carrot (not so much the Fun Kids fav and I made her one 5 years ago when we last celebrated with her), there were also Carrot Cake cupcakes. 

Plenty left to share with work friends. 

Our second Farmers Market visit. 

D+M's family spent several nights in the Black Hills right after Memorial Day. Loved everything--scenery, food, Mount Rushmore, wild animals... 

This purchase has already paid for itself. Car-to-elevator-to-flat; or reverse. Huge help. 

And finally, gorgeous roses from a DIL who shares generously.

Cadged Another Week at the Beach

We decided there was no compelling reason to go home as CA was able to move his pre-surgery tests to Friday. Yea! 5 more beach days.

Saturday, 3/5
After breakfast at Pocahontas, we spend a good bit of Saturday cooling our heels in the 10th floor lounge at Oceanaire. Very comfortably. We check in at Beach Quarters just after 4:30pm, and walk just next door for an early dinner at Waterman's, a long-time beach staple.

Citrus-glazed salmon for CA; chicken-vegetable curry with cilantro-lime rice for me.

Sunday, 3/6

We walk from our condo at 5th Street to 11th Street Taphouse for brunch. They have a fantastic Bloody Mary bar on Saturdays and Sundays.

We decide to share plates. We order a Baby spinach-shallot-shredded carrot-cranberry salad and crab-artichoke dip for our brunch. Excellent.

For dinner, we opt to enjoy wine and cheeses in our condo, and settle in happily for an evening focused on the Downton Abbey finale.

Monday, 3/7

We walk just across the street for breakfast at the Sunnyside Café. CA loves his pecan pancakes, and I totally splurge (again) on a Belgian waffle. Excellent coffee and food. We spend quite a lot of time with our electronic devices before moving on with our day.

By 3:30 we're at I Fly for my sky diving adventure. A fantastic experience!

I come away just famished, so we go directly to Taste for an early dinner. I enjoyed a Northender: turkey-Havarti-bacon-avocado on a baguette; CA chooses a roast beef-provolone sandwich. Superb! We buy a pecan pie bar (CA) and a very fat 7-layer bar (Me!) to carry-out for an evening treat.

 

Tuesday, 3/8

Who knew! Super heroes (full-sized) at Harris Teeter.

Crepe Myrtle. Soon it will leaf-up, and then bloom gorgeously.

One last dinner at Mannino's. Unbelievable lasagna, and their bread is excellent.

At sunrise, there was a college baseball team working out just beneath our terrace. Lucky guys!

And, just a bit more shopping.

Wednesday, 3/9
Time to head home. Sigh...