I'm going to let the photos mostly speak for themselves in this post. I gave myself an out of town weekend to visit sissy in Beantown. It's the end of her 7th week in dental school and she took her first exam on Friday (and aced it, might I proudly add!!), so we decided a catch-up weekend was in order.
There's something so charming about the northeast in the late summer/early fall. The leaves on the maple trees (those early birds) are already starting to turn and fall, giving the still mostly green expanses of trees along the highways a few vibrant hints that autumn is coming. As New Englanders we always cling to these tiny moments of perfectly balanced autumn days (temperature: a dry, clear 65-70 degrees and sunny; landscape: a firey blaze of warm colors; air smelling like crispy earth, burning wood, and somehow like pumpkins...) because we know that a single frosty night or a particularly heavy, unseasonal rainfall can destroy that balance and eliminate autumn from existence entirely, shooting us straight from balmy summer to lifeless, icy winter before we even have time to dig our sweaters out of the cedar chests in our attics.
With all the nostalgia that this transition from summer to autumn tends to bring, we naturally decided to honor it with a trip to the Big E (Eastern States Exposition). This fair is something that we would do yearly as a family when we were growing up and have the fondest memories of. As adults, our lives having taken us a bit farther away from the Springfield area, yearly trips turned into more like once every 3-4 years... Needless to say, this visit was long overdue.
Each state in New England is represented with it's own separate house, each filled with stands and kiosks that feature the famous things about each state...mostly food items! (Connecticut is seriously the biggest disappointment that ever was...boasting stands with Legos, Timex watches, and insurance carriers... Seriously, Connecticut?! sigh...) So, in keeping with our natures, Jus and I decided to make our trip to the Big E a food tour of the state houses. We strategically planned out our eating so that we would be sure to have room for everything and not have to miss out on a single thing! In order, this was our journey:
Maine: baked potato with fresh churned butter, sour cream, and Massachusetts: vegan chili
Maine: lobster roll woman really selling it!
Maine: lobster roll (HOLY MOLY) and Vermont: fresh pressed apple cider
Henry's Kettle Korn from the "Craft Common" (where they feature the late 1700s farm houses)
We sampled from 8-10 of the kettle corn stands before deciding that Henry's was the best!
The perfect balance of crunchy, salty and sweet! Mmmm, piping hot kettle corn!
Maine: wild blueberry crisp
no caption needed for this...mmm
In between the kettle corn and the wild blueberry crisp we saw some people with these glistening skewers of something incredible... On closer examination (and after "interviewing" some people who were munching on them) we discovered they were smoked, wild salmon fillets on a stick. It may have tied the lobster rolls for the best food of the night. It was moist, chewy, smokey, peppery, just delightful on so many levels. So fresh. Great impulse purchase--definitely wasn't on our "food plan" for the day, but a fabulous surprise find!
We also bought a couple of loaves of the MOST delicious (oat, dill, onion, seedy, sweet, savory, etc etc etc) bread from the Massachusetts house, and some jars of lemony Maple Pumpkin butter from Sidehill Farms in the Vermont house. We passed up the gorgeous, butter ears of corn that New Hampshire offers, figuring we would be OD'ed on corn at that point, and also (perhaps it's the dental school influence?) passed up the famous maple sugar candy from Vermont. I skipped the famous Big E bakery that has the most fabulous, gigantic cream puffs and eclairs...but not on purpose, only because I forgot that I wanted it until it was too late!
New Englanders everywhere were in their element at the fair this weekend--drinking pumpkin spiced and miscellaneous other fall-inspired beers from local breweries, watching woodcarving demonstrations, staring in awe at the giant, half-ton pumpkins--and we couldn't have been happier to end the day than we were as we came around one of the farm buildings, side-stepped some steaming piles of horse poop (live, county fair-esque music floating through the air at us from off the nearby stage) and looked up to see one of the most brilliant sunsets this northeast sky has seen in a long while.
Well, I've been pretty good about working out these days, making sure to get at least some form of exercise in each day. Some days are easier than others, let me tell you. Especially if you have someone with you. Many of you know that I've been hooked like a maniac on Living Social (check out livingsocial.com if you want to get addicted like me)...well, earlier this summer there was a Boot Camp deal for something like 85% off the list price. Said Boot Camp would have the participants doing jumping jacks, push-ups, sprints, squat thrusts, mountain climbers and all sorts of other hellish boot campy things at 6 AM--Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Obviously, I love the idea of getting up at 5 AM in the summer, while it's still dark out and the birds are still snoring... so I signed us up. Yes, us. You don't think I'd be doing this alone, do you? Oh no no no...of course not! I dragged my mother along... hehehe >:) (<--- devilish grin?)
Well, truth be told, she's been sort of upstaging me at these tri-weekly meetings. Granted, it takes her "mature" body a bit longer to get up and started than mine (I have more torque on the tires, you see) (...if she's reading this I hope I'm not anywhere too near!), but she more than hangs in there for the entire hour, out-lasting people 20 years younger and looking good doing it, too! It's nice to see the sun rise in the morning, too, and watch (and listen to) the world wake up. There's something so peaceful about being up before the sun, when everything is still dark with a hazy layer of late-summer mist hovering above the ground; it really reminds me of India, except there are no surprise peacock sightings around here.
Also, I love to force feed her vitamins after each session. (She hates swallowing pills.) She accuses me of being a pain in the vor, I bat my eyelashes and tell her I can't help wanting her to live forever. ;)
The other day, drawing fitness-y motivation from another source, I followed Jarod to the gym for a CrossFit workout called Fight Gone Bad... watch the following video for either motivation or a complete and utter psych-out, depending on your mindset! (Ok, nevermind, I can't embed that video...so just follow this link: deadly workout and get excited...) (Note: I scaled down the weight from 75lbs to an EZ bar (25lbs) to ensure I wouldn't need to leave the gym on a gurney.)
Here's the workout if you don't want to/can't watch that video: 3 rounds, 1 min each--max effort, with 1 min rest after each round
Wall Ball (14lb)
Sumo Dead Lift High Pull (75lb)
Box Jump (I did a 12" box)
Push-Press (75lb)
Row (calories)
ANYHOW...if anyone reading this successfully completes, or even attempts, this workout, PLEASE post comments below!! I'd love to know that I wasn't the only one whose entire body was shaking after this.
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Well this leads me to my next topic: the insanely delicious, next-level protein shakes I've been blending up every day.
I def drink mine with a straw...but I can't say I garnish them like this!
Ok...let me start by saying I have the worst sweet tooth of anyone I've ever met in my life. It's not really a secret to most people I've been in touch with lately that I was eating ice cream every day for like 5 straight weeks (enablers all around me, I tell you!!) earlier this summer. This led Justine and I to make a pact (which I broke 2 times--that she knows of) to refrain from eating any ice cream until September 1 at which time we ate an entire pint of B&J (Volun-Tiramisu...see previous post). POINT: even an ice cream freak like me wouldn't be able to tell that these shakes were made from anything but ice cream!
I'm gonna share two of my favorite recent recipes with you guys. I use soy protein, but you can substitute whey or casein and it would probably taste the same!
Maple Walnut Shake
This one is a great "revver" shake for first thing in the morning! It boosts the metabolism and the fat from the walnuts keeps you full for 2-3 hours! If you make it exactly this way, this shake is under 300 calories with next to NO sugar!
8oz. vanilla light soy milk
1 scoop soy protein (Optimum is my fave brand--dutch chocolate)
a few drops of maple extract (I use this because mom is a baker and has tons of extracts in the cupboard, but honestly, if you don't mind the sugar you can probably add straight maple syrup....but these extracts really put the "next-level" in these shakes!)
15g. (or 1/8cup) raw walnuts
a few ice cubes
Berry Cinnamon Crunch Shake
This is my favorite post-workout shake! It has a great balance of carbs and protein to really restore the body and rebuild after a fight gone bad! ;) And a surprising cinnamony crunch to satisfy, so you won't mind drinking your meal...
8oz. vanilla light soy milk
1 scoop protein (chocolate or vanilla)
1/2 c. Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal
handful of frozen berries (any blend you like)
Ok, I said 2, but I have to add this 3rd one in there because it's really just that good:
Cocoa Coconut Amaretto
Yum. Just, yum.
8oz. coconut milk (sweetened or unsweetened...I like the green SO Delicious one, not sure which one it is)
1 scoop chocolate protein
1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
a few drops of almond extract
ice cubes
The extracts are what really make these shakes incredible. They add so much flavor and depth and your taste buds will thank you, I promise! Been contemplating maybe a mint chocolate one (using the mint extract) or perhaps even breaking into that rum extract and making a bananas foster shake!! AHHH! I will post a recipe if I manage this with reasonable success...
SOOO, I dunno...I can't say I've lost the weight yet from India/5 weeks of straight, daily ice cream eating, but I do feel a whole lot better. Fitter, happier, more productive....regular exercise at the gym....
...(ba de ya) dancin' in September... (yeah, I did just open my first post with an Earth Wind & Fire reference! That's right people!) It seems like it really will be nothing more than a memory pretty soon...September is flying by and I'm revolting hard core against the end of summer. I managed to get a final beach trip in last weekend with an unexpected and interesting excursion to Westerly, RI (Misquamicut Beach) that included: surprisingly UN-Hurricane Irene/random late summer torrential rain-affected water, decent waves, heady snacks, and a great playlist (lots of Sgt. Pepper, Fleet Foxes, James Taylor, and this handsome deviland his killer voice that's been haunting me since June). Covered in goosebumps, white flecks of dried salt water, plenty of sand, and a September day's worth of sun, I reluctantly gathered up my things and left around 6:30...saying my last goodbye to the ocean until next year.
The beach and I had a good run this summer--I ran around on both coasts and even took a dip in a lake or two! Much more than in years past and I'm grateful for that. Maybe my next post will be on September 21 and I'll do a complete summer wrap-up...but until then, I'll get into what the past two weeks of this month have been about so far...
My handsome and talented baby brother celebrated an important birthday. Though in many ways he hasn't acted like a teenager in quite some time, he officially entered his twenties on Saturday.
I was sort of a bad sister; I conceptualized something awesome but then ran out of steam and let my mother pick up most of the slack...except for the decorating, which I nailed! (Obviously...check out those letters!) Boston Cream cupcakes (courtesy of Sandra Lee, except we used creme brule custard instead of vanilla pudding) because Jarod loved those doughnuts when he was little.
Saw a gorgeous sunrise over (the turquoise) mountains in Vermont (...anyone get the Llama reference besides Becca?) on our way up to see Phish's benefit concert for flood recovery (you can read a bit more about it here).We watched on the news early the next morning that over a million dollars was raised, which is just unreal. It was extremely special to be a part of something so major for New England, for the people of the beautiful state of Vermont, and (of course) to see Phish come home again with such a blazing sense of redemption and selflessness. Vermont's governor, Pete Shumlin, introduced the band and told the crowd of some touching encounters he had had with some of the community's residents that were hit particularly hard by Irene. The crowd of course had a few of your token wooks (I will more than likely be using that term again in this blog, so if you are unfamiliar check out urban dictionary!) but because of the way the show was announced (extremely last minute), and because of the venue being so intimate (Champlain Valley Expo outside of Burlington...it was basically a fairground!), and lotto-tickets being well controlled(most ticket sales were done out of the Flint box office which made it more accessible to Vermont locals)...the crowd ended up being full of these amazing, unexpected people, many of whom were seeing the band for the first time!
We met a farmer handing out organic, home-grown carrots to the queue into the fairgrounds; we talked to Ray--a Budweiser distro guy who lived on the hill next to the venue who told us stories about riding in a kayak with Carini and driving in golf carts with Fishman's dad after Lemonwheel; and the cute older couple behind us who were experiencing their first show... I couldn't help but keep turning around and checking out their expressions during the many high points of the show and some of the all out rock-and-roll moments (namely a SICK Julius during second set!).. ...it was a real treat to be back in Vermont seeing Phish 7 years down the road from the disastrous Coventry. My love for them as a band has only grown. Anyway, enough about Phish for now...this isn't a Phish blog, I promise!
Finally, let's explain this last picture: today's lunch. Another interesting sight September has seen is my increased attempt at veganism. This all started in February but has taken some twists and turns along the way. Obviously, the three months I was in India were completely vegan, although I very much doubt that the strips of bacon I ate at over July 4th weekend would count as upholding my vegan commitment. Nor would that pint of Ben & Jerry's Justine and I polished off in one sitting a week ago, I suppose. (But in our defense, it was limited edition! I'm sure if you know Teeny and I well you can guess which pint it is of these two that had us in fits of very dairy glory!)
Anyway, I'm getting there...slow and steady wins the race, right? Sister number 2 (Becca) did her part by introducing me to Alicia (Silverstone...not in person) and to vegan friends as well, but dairy does sometimes make a convincing case as well. Damn you Ben & Jerry...what's your problem?!
When I have the time to actually prepare food for myself, it's always vegan and always super rewarding. Today's lunch was a gooey quesadilla with chopped up pieces of this sort of bizarre "chicken" thing, Daiya "cheese" (a seasoned vegan's recommendation to me for the gooey, stretchy melt you crave in cheese), and a couple of Earth Balance slathered corn tortillas. Oh, and of course a pile of chunky guac. Wow...I did good!
Well that wraps up the past two weeks, September... In official fall fashion, tonight will find me in a cozy new hoody, tailgating at Rentschler Field to see our favorite boys in blue beat Iowa State. It's on ESPN if anyone wants to watch...although you'll miss out on the propane-grill-roasted tofu dogs if you stay at home! ;)
Happy phans watch the sunset over the Champlain Valley Expo fairgrounds
