laniloa

A slice of Fudgie the Whale...it's a whale of a cake for a whale of a dad.

Fresh everything bagel from my favorite place in NY with a side of painkillers for my tweaked back.

These caused quite a stir in Tallahassee when they first arrived claiming to be southern. Some folks at work and I did a side-by-side of the chicken biscuits with the CFA and hands down the CFA were better. The biscuits were lighter and without a pronounced shortening taste. The chicken had some zip to it. What cracks me up are the advertisements for a homemade tasting biscuit. I sure hope these aren't like what you have to eat at home.

Not a spatula, more like different sized ice cream scoops. Just scoop and go. You can find them at a lot of places such as this.

This one's easy...you use chopping boards to turn pans upside down to unmold cakes and brownies.I have scoopers I just use for cookies. I can think of many other things they might be useful for if I ever made those things but so far it is just cookies. Makes it much easier to get consistent size for even cooking.

Chocolate tortilla chips. Saw them at the store and had to buy since I love salty-sweet things. You don't really taste chocolate, more a hint of it as a finish. I could see these going down easily with a smoky salsa for a mole feel.

I have something similar that I got at Bed Beth & Beyond for less then that and they are always sending out the 20% off coupons. Works like a charm. Now I'm coveting one of the double decker models I saw at Target for maybe $20 because I rarely tote only 12 cupcakes. Don't think that one had mini-cupcake though.

Nah...just happy to co-opt ideas from mom and pass them along.

I had the pleasure of dining here last night during my super-quick pass through town. The place is absolutely stunning. It is wonderful to see food and service of Corduroy caliber finally showcased in a space equally worthy. I never really had a problem with the old place, but the new place is hands down a better package. The starters were calling my name so I had the chilled pea soup now with extra pork flavoring (in a good way). This is such a great harbinger of spring dish. It paired really well with my taste of my dining companion's crab custard soup and would make a great side-by-side tasting. I followed with the duck egg and leg salad and was not disappointed. Rich, salty, hint of bitter and crunch. It was also nice to see so many familiar faces both staff and diners. Congratulations and best wishes to Chef Tom and the whole crew.

How about a jello mold for the next picnic? Ice scuplture for your next party punch. The sailboats can swim in the moat.

And they had excellent strawberries. I picked up a pint and continued to shop. Then I tasted a berry and picked up two more pints. One was gone before I hit the Jersey pike on my way to NY. Also picked up asparagus, sugar snap peas, garlic scapes, and a granola bar.

Me either -- I wait for trips to family in NY. And while I like the salty oat cookie, the black and white is tied to so many childhood and family memories that it is just no contest. I alternate bites from the chocolate and vanilla sides.

I packed my scale today so it was my last chance to hop on until July. I'm down 3 pounds for my first month. It may be a little lower as I weighed myself after breakfast and several glasses of water - its 92 and HOT in these parts and I am having serious hydration issues. At the office, I would just keep refilling my 20oz cup from the water fountain but I just can't seem to remember to tank up at home. My next challenge. So, I didn't meet my goal for the month but I have been exercising pretty regularly and re-habitualizing the effort. I have an appointment on June 9th for new orthotics. I have made arrangements for gym use for the few weeks I'll be in NY -- until I get the new orthotics walking and outdoor stuff just won't fly. I definitely see a difference in my legs and have had fewer headaches.

Panacea Angelo's in Panacea -- On Ochlockonee Bay on US 98 on the east side of the bridge. US 98 is a great coastal drive hitting Apalachicola, Panama City, Destin, and the wonderful Gulf beaches at St. George Island, Santa Rosa, Cape San Blas. Had a chance to eat here last night. There is a great story to this place. It first opened in the 1940's and was built out over the water because the Wakulla County line stopped at the shore and Wakulla County was dry. By building over the water, enough of the place was technically in Franklin County and they could get a liquor license. The county line has since moved to the middle of the bay and both are now wet. The place was bay level and withstood over fifty years of hurricanes until Dennis claimed it. The pictures are astonishing. Besides waves crashing over the roof, someone was building a marina down the bay and the massive pilings skewered the building. The daughter of a guy who worked for me had married into the owner's family and for two years I'd been hearing tales of the rebuilding. It was totally swamped all last fall and then I somehow forgot about it. I had a good-bye dinner there last night and I'm pissed I didn't get my butt down there sooner. The restaurant is now on stilts and we sat on the deck overlooking the bay enjoying the great bay breeze and cooler temperatures (it was about 10 degrees cooler then Tallahasssee). The chef sent out an appetizer of fried green tomatos smothered in crab meat with a little cream sauce. I could have been very happy with just a platter of this. The tomato was very thick-sliced with a cornmeal batter and not a hint of grease. The crabs came off the boat that morning. After tasting that, I decided I needed an all crab evening. I had broiled soft-shells for my main with sides of hush puppies and crab stuffed summer squash. Yep, crab with a side of crab. The softies were done just right with a little garlic and olive oil. There were some lightly roasted onion on top that I brushed aside as it overwhelmed the crab. I went for the stuffed squash side because one of my dining companions raved about it. It was definitely good but just too rich and made for too much food. It could easily be a main. Good food, good conversation and a great sunset. As a bonus, we got to walk through the kitchen. The kitchen was easily the same size of the rather large restaurant and clearly designed by kitchen staff tired of working on top of each other. The chef told me that in the summer busy season they'll have about 100 people working there each night. The best part was going into the fish prep room and despite seeing grouper heads on every counter not smelling a hint of fish. The boats pull up and unload and they can hose the room down however frequently they need. This is a great family place now on its second generation and ready to withstand another 50 years of hurricanes.

Note to self...it does not matter if it is your regular day to weigh yourself, do not step on the scale the morning after a birthday dinner. Go directly to the gym instead.

Thanks! Nothing like packing on your birthday because you are just minutes (ok days) away from being out of this place!

Thanks! I will be cooking probably my last full meal in this apartment for my birthday dinner. After that, I'll be reheating leftovers to empty the freezer, cereal, or sandwiches and eating out. Birthday dinner will be a green salad with the last of the red leaf butter lettuce from the farmers market at work with a shallot vinaigrette. I picked up some NY strips today and will do the CI oven then sear method, will roast some asparagus, and have some olive oil mashed potatos. I'll crack open my last bottle of wine, a sparkling shiraz my brother turned me on to. Probably ice cream for dessert. Two friends will join me and take home various pantry odds and ends as their parting gifts -- spices, rice, pasta, canned tomato, coconut milk, etc. And I'll do some advance work in the gym so I can enjoy it without a second thought!

I celebrated my first days of freedom by adding 15% more time to my recumbent biking. I'm also gingerly starting to walk even before I get new orthotics. Since I am moving to one of the most walkable cities according to Walking Magazine, I need to get used to walking again. And I need to get used to walking in something other then sneakers. My shins and the area where my arches would be if I had arches are paying the price of the walking. There will be ice packs in my future. If I needed reminding of the sheer genius of orthotics after nearly 30 years of wearing them, I'm convinced. The biking felt good though. Now, I'm hot and sweaty thanks to running around in the 90 degree sticky weather and not in the mood for cooking a well-balanced dinner. Cereal it is!

Me too! But I had some Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc as part of my drink down my pantry project.

You need to stop dying your hair brown...while a nice contrast with the beard it makes you look too young. Happy birthday!

This has not been a great week so far. Travel plans changed, flights delayed, and exercise time greatly diminished. I thought I'd get to walk on the beach while out in Ponte Vedra the last few days, but the last nor'easter took most of the beach. Two days left at work. First thing I did when I got in from the 3.5 hour drive back about 30 minutes ago was set my alarm early enough to get in a workout before heading to the office. I suspect that by the time you see me, I'll look about how I did the last time you saw me because I gained about 5 pounds after that trip and before I decided enough was enough. Wait until December after I've been walking to school every day, have time between classes to hit the gym regularly, and no money for drinks!

Serious motivation problems this weekend. Pack, exercise? Pack, exercise? So I've cranked up the tunes and am actively packing.

for breakfast-- Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Honey Nut Shredded Wheat, Smart Start Maple, and Raisin Nut Bran for snack -- Honeycomb, Chocolate Chex, Cracklin Oat Bran

I was right, the easy weight is over. I stayed level this week but my clothes are decidedly looser so this may be the exercise switch kicking in. I travel this Thursday and Friday and the scheduling folks are trying to thwart any attempts at exercise on the road but I'm on to them. I have blocked off an early meeting Friday morning before my talk and that meeting will be me and the hotel gym.

I succumbed to the sirens call of ice cream today too. It was nearly 90 degrees out and I was running around and just needed a little something cool and sweet. I ate it, it was good, and then I let it go. But the rest of the week, Pacific Rose apples and carrots were my thing. Apparently I was in a crunchy kind of mood.