letters

Dear Self,

Things can only go up from here, so don't let yourself get too stressed out. What's meant to be will be, please try to enjoy it more than you have been lately!

Dear Pumpkin Spice MUFFINS,

You were so simple to make and you are so insanely delicious. You are dangerous to be around.

Dear September,

You're almost gone and we never made it out to go apple picking. We'll have to make plans for next year. Sorry, things have been kind of busy this month!

Dear Friends,

Our one year blogiversary is coming up on October 12, and we are going to be having a super giveaway!! For those who are into photography and cameras...let's just say you won't want to miss it!

leaf peeping

stopped in at my parents house to see milo <3

celebrating a birthday

Recently we celebrated the birthday of one of our sweetest friends, and as it is the coolest thing to do around here for birthdays, we all met up at the biergarten!

We were in charge of transporting the cake that her super sweet boyfriend baked for her.

Biergarten gives away free peanuts, so there are always empty shells everywhere. This particular shell was joining in the birthday celebration by supporting the cake.

Blow out those candles! Happy Birthday!

scotia diner

The Scotia Diner is a place I have driven by many times, but recently made my first visit to. Honestly, I was always a bit turned off by the funky exterior and awkward parking lot.

I thought the floor was so cool and old I couldn't resist snapping a photo.

Upon viewing the menu I was pleasantly surprised by how affordable their breakfast options are, and when M and I spotted two meals titled "The Hungry Man" and "The Hungry Woman" we knew we had to look no further.

Behold M's Hungry Man.

2 eggs over easy
2 pancakes
2 slices of french toast

bacon

sausage

buttered toast

and an extra side of bacon, because really, you can never have too much bacon.

But M thought his bacon was too overcooked...he likened it to jerky, and he found the eggs to be on the slimy side. He was also displeased to find the waitress had neglected to give him butter and syrup for his pancakes/french toast and didn't bring creamers for his coffee. And he had to flag her down for coffee refills. We were pretty much her only table, so that was a little annoying.

My Hungry Woman was a bit easier to handle:

1 scrambled egg

bacon

1/2 slice of ham

1 pancake

1 slice french toast

I had no complaints with my meal. Everything was tasty, the pancakes were fluffy and not dried out, but the best part: powdered sugar AND cinnamon on the french toast! Way to go Scotia Diner, for a cheap dive you do your french toast with class!

Overall, the meal was cheap and pretty tasty, and the outdated decor is just kitschy enough to be charming. I'm glad we gave it a shot!

This week...

...back on the Insanity workout!
...found an awesome place...to look at.
...received the blogiversary prizes in the mail...I can't wait to start this giveaway!
...made m a website for his business!
...drank a 32oz Can of Miller High Life on a tuesday night fir the pure kitchy novelty of it.
...my new schedule is kicking my butt!
...took a look at something that needs a lot of work, but could be totally awesome!
...I had an awful, stressful week than kept me from my google reader. I had almost 2000 posts to read when I checked it Friday night. I made my way through some, then decided to hit the clear button on my reader and my life. I will be back next week, hopefully in better spirits!

-- Post From My iPhone

suggestions

since this week has been all about our kitchen, here's some vintage inspiration!

1.  50's Kitchen Canister Set

2.  Antique Spice Tins

3.  Vintage Red Kitchen Scale

4.  Vintage Pyrex Friendship Bowl

5. Old Country Kitchen Star Colander

6. Vintage Salt and Pepper Shaker Set

letters

Dear Miyagi,

When you sleep you are so cute I can barely stand it!

Dear Self,

Enough with the Pumpkin Spice lattes! There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Dear M,

Halloween Kegger 3-D this year? ...can we pull it off? It's time to make decisions!

Dear Insanity Workout,

We haven't spent any time together in about a month....and a half.....or maaaaaybe it's been two months...yeah. Let's change that and make this a regular thing again!

baking with CAPow!

I mentioned a couple of weeks back that I baked some Nutella Macarons for M's sister and step-mom. Here's how it went:

Step 1: cutting the parchment paper to line the pans and drawing 18 circle templates on each sheet.

Meanwhile, make sure the eggs and butter are reaching room temperature.

Double sift the dry ingredients.

Pipe the macaron batter, then let for 15-30 mins until they don't stick to your finger when touched. Make sure to rap the sheet against the counter a few times to help encourage good pied!

Unfortunately, they didn't come out as perfect as I had hoped. The first batch was the perfect consistancy, but I didn't let them dry long enough so they cracked during baking, and didn't pied. The second batch I grabbed the wrong measuring spoon, so the dry ingredients measurements were TOTALLY WRONG. They didn't look right, but they still tasted amazing! 

I let the macarons cool, then filled the first batch with Nutella and the second batch with Peanut Butter Buttercream that I adapted from this recipe at Suzy Bakes.

If you want to try baking your own batch I totally recommend the cookbook I use: I Love Macarons. This book is super affordable, AND offers step by step photo instructions that makes baking macarons a snap!

cooking with M

M's signature dish is his authentic Crawfish and Shrimp Gumbo. Unfortunately, I'm sworn to secrecy on this one, so no recipe for this!

cooking with CAPow!

This week I'm going to share a few of our most recent cooking experiences. Today's recipe doesn't really have a name. I kind of created it after reading this post by Kari, and modifying it to my liking. M calls it Spinach Chicken, so I guess we'll go with that!

The only seasoning I use for this recipe is Adobo, you can find it in the Goya / "hispanic foods" section of your grocery store.

Thoroughly cook your chicken in the frying pan with a little olive oil and Adobo, then cut into bite sized pieces.

Dice a Green Bell Pepper!

Grab your frozen spinach and artichoke hearts!

Throw all your veggies in the frying pan, including the still frozen spinach. Sprinkle some more Adobo over the veggies.

Throw your chicken back in the pan with the veggies, and stir all ingredients until they are well mixed.

Cover, and bring to a simmer. I usually let this simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Plate and devour!

SPINACH CHICKEN

2.5 lbs Chicken Breast Strips

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 package Frozen Chopped Spinach

1 can Artichoke Hearts

1 Green Bell Pepper

2 tbsp Adobo Seasoning

Makes 5 Servings

This week...

...spent the weekend driving around with M
...explored downtown Schenectady.
...purchased some prizes for my upcoming giveaway... you guys are gonna LOVE it!
...went to an awesome night of comedy: Laughs on Lark 2! Great job guys!
...getting used to a new routine has made me exhausted all week long
...celebrated a friend's birthday at the biergarten.
...had an overwhelming feeling all week about just wanting the week to be SO OVER. Not fun.
...looked at an apartment with an AMAZING deck overlooking the river, unfortunately the deck was the best feature.


-- Post From My iPhone

suggestions

1. September Valentine

2. Vintage Hand Embroidered September Tea Towel

3. September Sock Yarn

4. September Field

5. September Wind

6. 14K Gold and Sapphire Ring

letters

Dear New Winter Coat,
I can't wait to wear you, you're so pretty. It almost makes me wish it would hurry up and get colder already. ALMOST.

Dear Friendly Brown,
Thank you so much for introducing Amaretto coffee creamer into my life!

Dear Future House,
I'm getting pretty impatient waiting to be able to find you. I can't wait until we have a place that is truly ours.

Dear September,
There are certain things that can only happen when you're around, and I want to do them all this year. I want to go apple picking, drink cider, and get an apple cider donut. Let's do it soon!

Cohoes Falls pt. 2

As we walked over to the observation deck near the electric turbine building, we passed this sign and the huge electrical tower below.

This is the view from the turbine observation deck. They have a system in place that diverts the fish in the river from being sucked into the turbine. We stood there for a while, thinking we might see a fish fly out of the little pipe, but it didn't happen.

Just in case you had the urge to hop the fence and go swimming, they had this safety reminder posted.

So calm and beautiful, you would never guess that there was a giant waterfall just a few yards to the left.

We headed back up to the first observation deck, where I noticed this sign. I don't know who would climb up onto a wall with barbed wire on it... but I guess they do, otherwise it wouldn't be there.

If you're ever in upstate NY and have the opportunity to make it to Cohoes, do not forget to stop by Falls View Park!