Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day in red, white and blue! Desserts are my thing and so I had to check out patriotic recipes to celebrate the day! I found a red velvet cake recipe (courtesy of Paula Deen's grandma) and a splashy berry crostada. Both were yummy! And here are the links to the blogs that I found both recipes on....

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/grandmother-pauls-red-velvet-cake-recipe/index.html

http://www.saltandchocolate.com/2009/07/fireworks-in-your-mouth.html

I had the fam over for dinner namely because I felt like cooking -- at 11pm after an exhausting day I ask myself WHY???? And then my tummy gives a contented little sigh and everyone's "ooos and aaahhhs" reminds me --- OH! I remember why I do it! I love to eat!

I actually set my alarm for 7 a.m. today because I planned to do some smoking.... No, not the Marlbourough kind, but the big slap of beef butt kind. I stoked up my new smoker and laid in a nice big 10 lb beef brisket that had been sitting overnight with a fabulous Weber Grill rub on it. I used some hickory wood chips and then had to stoke the think about 4 times during the day. It was kind of exhausting, but it did turn out wonderfully.

We ended up with dualing grills on the back patio as I did a nice little steam packet of veggies. I held back from doing even more veggies as I tend to do way too much. I figured I'd learned from the past. And wouldn't you know it - I probably could have used more beans or something in that packet as the bowl was pretty much wiped clean.

I mixed together green beans, carrots, red bell peppers, onions and then drizzled olive oil over the top and tossed on some fresh oregano and stuck rosemary all over in the packet. Then I carried the thing out and stuck it on the good old Weber Grill which was cozied up nicely to the side of my Brinkman Smoker. AHH - the smells!

The dualing grills - on the left we have the Weber Grill and on the right we have the Brinkman Smoker. Who can decide which is best!

I was so busy with the food that I never even did get pictures of the family:( Which there was even a new "baby". Andy and Liz have adopted a new little chocolate lab, Maverick, and so Andy brought him over (Liz had to work). We had the Nemeths, the Behns and the Lees - everyone filled up the back porch and had a great time eating and greeting!

Happy Memorial Day!

A Message From Pennsylvania...

We Found A Bridge!

So, we stayed over the weekend and had some time to do some "stuff" in San Francsisco. Dawn, my friend from college had joined me out west on my business trip so that we could do some sightseeing.

Biking the Golden Gate Bridge was one of our mighty feats. It was actually pretty exhilarating with the wind in our face and the breath being sucked right out of our bodies as we biked up hills that were at like 90 degree angles. San Francisco is a biking city, but I tell you, those people must have thighs of steel! I actually was quite pumped (excuse the pun) with the pedalling up those hills. It was quite a challenge to accomplish but quite fulfilling!

Following Dawn

On the other side of the bridge on the way to Sausalito

This was pretty intriguing. This guy did this art where he balanced these rocks on each other.

On the ferry going back to San Francisco from Sausalito

Alcatraz

The Ferry Terminal building - full of all kinds of really cool shops.

For dinner, we met up with Dawn's cousin, Andrea, and then headed out to the coast for dinner at The Cliff House. Its got a pretty interesting history.

http://cliffhouse.com/history/index.html

The views from inside were amazing and we came around 8ish so the sun was going down... it was absolutely beautiful!

This is the little fountain out front our hotel. Its this little duck pond with these fake ducks floating around. Pretty cute.

Another landmark that we went to was the Palace Hotel, we had afternoon tea.

http://www.sfpalace.com/garden-court

This is out hotel, the Triton Hotel.

Here's the hotel dog, Romeo.

Our last evening, we decided to totally relax and have an in-room massage. It was 80 minutes and they even massaged our hair! Weird but oh my word - it was amazing and we were completely asleep by the time they finished! Great way to end a great weekend!