5 Star Gnocchi

After reading Kristin's blog posts the past few days, I've been inspired for some good Italian food.  She's posted some fun pictures of gelato, pizza, paninis and vegetables and they've been making my mouth water.  I had a big chicken in the freezer, vegetables in the fridge and gnocchi in the pantry.    And this is what I made!  Doesn't it look delicious?

Ready and armed with ingredients I began to cook.  I roasted a chicken, which I think is quite simple and fool proof.  Season with salt, pepper and herbs under the skin, rub with a little olive oil and roast uncovered 350° until thermometer reads 160°.  Then let rest for 15 minutes or so.  Perfect EVERYTIME.

For the pasta, I decided to make gnocchi primavera.  I had been reading Kristin's blog and thinking about her, and since gnocchi is something she really enjoys (at least I assume she still does!) AND I had some in the pantry, I thought I could make a light, healthy delicious accompaniment to the roasted chicken.

I chopped/sliced some onion, garlic, asparagus, broccoli, celery, carrots, cherry tomatoes, spinach and basil.  I sauteed the onion in about 2T of olive oil for about 5 minutes, then added the broccoli and cooked for about 2 minutes.  Then added the asparagus, celery, carrots and cherry tomatoes.  I sauteed these for a few minutes adding about 2T of the chicken drippings that I had strained.  It was getting very fragrant at this point.  I added the garlic and cooked for about 1 minute - (I don't like burnt garlic so adding it at the end is a good way to add flavor without the burnt taste).  Next I added the spinach and gave it a quirk stir and removed from heat.  I like my spinach wilted and the residual heat the pan did a fine job of wilting it without overcooking it.

Meanwhile the pasta water (fresh cold salted water) had come to a boil and I added the gnocchi.  2 minutes later they floated to the top (indicating they are done) and I scooped up and added to the vegetable mixture.  Then gave a quick toss, sprinkled with salt and pepper, added some fresh basil and sprinkled with about 1 T of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

This meal was definitely one of my better ones and I will surely make it again.  And the peanut gallery says it's fabulous.  And to me, that's high praise!

interesting blog

Thanks to my sister, I just found Melodee's blog.  I enjoyed her post today Don't Go Changing, if you check it out I think you just might enjoy it.

looking for motivation

I have lost my motivation to do much of anything this afternoon, so instead I choose to blog.  There are so many things I should be doing:

1. Laundry (never ending I know, but starting it would be a plus)
2. Start prepping dinner (seeing that it's already 4:01 and the chicken is still semi-frozen, dinner is going to be late tonight), 
3. Clean up office so I can find my desk (distressing that I just can't keep it neat and organized - the daily flow of incoming mail/paperwork apparently gets the better of me)
4. Sort through pictures from our trip to Florida
5. Pay bills 

This morning started out with at nice breakfast with Jake at Tams.  We had a good heart to heart about a lot of things and cleared the air on some issues that had been bugging us both.  He has his apartment lease through the end of July and will then move into the TKE house.  I am really glad they finally have a house.  It was their original house and after a different fraternity lived in it, it's now theirs again.  I think there is so much to be gained from living in a fraternity.  Being part of a fraternity (or sorority) is a great experience.  So many people give it a bad name and I don't think it's deserved.  I will save my rant on greek haters for another post.  The bond and friendship that is developed in a fraternity/sorority are second to none.  Though Jake has been a TKE for over a year now, they haven't had a common living space.  But that is changing in August!  Woo hoo!  I just hope Jake doesn't get the really scary, dark, dank, basement rooms.  Personally I don't think they are fit for human living!  The rest of the house will be nice once some windows, dryall and rooms and repaired and painted.

The day progressed to listing some items on eBay.  I opted for 24 hour sales because I don't want a sale ending on a weekend, especially not a 3 day holiday weekend.  I learned that the hard way on a previous sale.  Already have watchers and bids - this time tomorrow I should be a couple hundred dollars richer.

After a quick lunch of a pickle (my breakfast with Jake was still sitting with me) I went out for a walk with Kathy.  I haven't walked in a while and it felt good.  3 miles in 70 degree temps.  Nice, very nice.  She and I have such a nice friendship.  I enjoy her company thoroughly and we chatter about big things, little things and everything in between.  I won't see her for quite a while though, she is living with Bill and Danny on Friday and will return on the 11th.  I am leaving the 11th and returning the 16th.  I am going to miss our walks, talks and coffee get togethers.

After my walk, Sarah and I had fun looking at ratemyprofessor.com to check out potential profs for her upcoming classes at UW this fall.  She originally registered yesterday for 3 courses, but changed them all today.  She was kind of bummed because the communications class she wanted to take was open to FIGS (freshman interest group - which she is not doing) only, as was the psych class.  Also finding courses to work with the different times of lectures and quiz sections was a bit challenging.  But in the end it all came together.  Her courses seem very interesting and the professors got good ratings and she is happy.  Her fall schedule is Archeology 101 (exploring archeology), CHID 110 (Question of Human Nature) and Philosophy 120 (intro to logic).

Here is a picture of Sarah's graduation from PHS earlier this month.  I think it's rather nice and evokes good memories of a fun weekend.  Isn't this a great family shot?  I sure think so!
 
If you are wanting to catch up on Kristin's adventures in Rome check out her BLOG.  I think you'll enjoy it, I sure do!


Now, if only someone could light a fire under my read end so I could be productive.  I really need to find some motivation and get some stuff done!

Dockside at Snook Inn

After our great dinner at Snook Inn we posed for a family picture on the dock. A lovely evening and a great picture to remember it by.

almost 6 miles high

I am sitting in 21D en route from Orlando to Seattle approximately 30,000 feet up in the air.   They are offering free wifi through July so I decided to test it out.  Hopefully my aging laptop battery will make it through a few posts before dying.  I am really curious as to how we are connecting the internet so high in the sky.  I understand how it works on land but in the air?  We must be going through a satellite or something.  Oh well, I figure it's like TV, just accept that it works.  Reminds me of when I was a kid, I used to think little people were inside my clock radio singing.  The science behind how things works is really cool and often unimaginable.

I am on the aisle (because I get up to pee frequently) Sarah is in the middle and Jim by the window.  I love that the airplane seats now have adjustable headrests in coach.  First class has had them for years, it's about time us peons in the back get a quality seat!  Nice to be able to sleep without getting a major crick in my neck.  Though with free wi-fi I might be dinking on the internet and not sleeping.  Sarah is engrossed in a book, but I give her 30 minutes and she'll be asleep - she is like a cat, sleeping whenever she has the chance.  We've been calling her kitty or kitty cat of late!

It's nice to be going home, well kind of, I could have stayed on Marco Island for another week.  I want to go back.  I want to go with my sister for a girls getaway.  Yesterday was our 4th day on Marco Island and it was wonderful.  We didn't have anything planned and our beach guy, Ty, saved us 3 chairs/umbrella in the front row close to the beach.  We woke up around 7:30, ate breakfast of yogurt, bananas and ham slices.  I got to have my coffee on the balcony and read the US Today.  We headed to the beach around 9.  The sun was shining and the water warm.  We dozed, we read, we swam until 1:00 when we went up to the room for some lunch.

In the morning Sarah and I did take a long walk down the beach - we were gone for over an hour.  We saw lots of interesting things.  Diving pelicans, dolphins, lots of little fish and oodles of shells.  We also saw a one footed seagull.  It had two legs but one leg was a stump and the other had a foot.  I wonder what happened to his other foot?  But he managed to get around and fly, walk with the other seagulls.  We saw an old couple walking slowly through the sand.  The woman had a walker and her husband was trying to help her push it.  Rather difficult through the sand!   On our walk I was very intrigued by the people I saw.  People of all ages, shapes and ethnicity.  The common factor was that everyone was having fun.  AND it seemed that most everyone was comfortable in their own skin.  Many folks had cute fashionable swimsuits, but many did not.  And it was okay.  People were having fun, enjoying their families, friends, the warm air and warm water.  People exuded more self confidence in a bathing suit at the beach than I would have thought.  It was very refreshing.  I wonder if it's because most people realize they'll never see each other again?  Whatever the reason it was nice.  People had piercings, saggy skin, wrinkles, lots of jiggly fat and it just didn't matter.  What did matter was that everyone I saw was smiling and enjoying themselves.  And what's not to enjoy about one of the most beautiful beaches in the world?  Especially while enjoying it with people I love.  Sarah and Jim.  Just wish Kristin and Jake could have been with us too.  We miss them.

We were expecting an afternoon thunderstorm, as we'd had them every day so far.  But hardly a cloud in the sky and not as humid as previous days so perhaps no rain was coming our way.   I went back down to the beach at 3, in time for the smoothie handout - smoothie of the day was lemon ice - delicious!.  Every day at 3 pm they pass out smoothies to all guests at the pool and beach, we've had coconut, strawberry and now lemon ice.  Lemon ice was my favorite!  We lingered in the water for the remainder of the afternoon.  It was heavenly.  And the rain never came.  We went up and showered at 6:30 and went to dinner at 7:30.  Snook Inn was our dining destination this evening and it was a perfect night for dinner there.  The restaurant is located at a marina.  Dolphins swam near the boat slips, the sun was setting in a brilliant orange glow.  And the temperature was warm.  Jim and I had the all you can eat seafood buffet.  They had king crab, which was succulent and sweet, shrimp, oysters, tuna, grouper, frog legs...oh my it was delicious.  Reminded me of a place called the Seven Seas in Vancouver that we went to on a trip in the late 70's.   Sarah got a delicious steak sandwich so she was happy too!

The sun is very exhausting and we were in bed asleep by 10 pm.  We packed up after dinner last night so that we could enjoy our last morning at the beach today.  We lounged beach side from 8 until 11 then showered and headed out by 11:45.  We stopped at Crazy Flamingo for lunch, we needed our seafood fill.  I got the blackened grouper sandwich on garlic bread and Jim had the fried grouper basket (fish and chips).  We shared some conch fritters.  Sarah had another steak sandwich, which was even better than last nights.  We were well sated for our 4 hour drive to Orlando airport.  We made it the airport at 4:20, returned the rental car, checked in, waited in a long security line and made it to the gate by 5.  Our flight boarded at 5:50 and we took off at 6:30.  It's been a long day so far, but lots of fun.  Now, I'm sipping a glass of chardonnay while typing this post 30,000 feet in the air.  According to the flight status tracker of flight 19, we are somewhere above Arkansas right now.  Still a long ways to go. ;)

Balcony bliss

 

We are leaving in 4 1/2 hours. So this is my last morning to sit on

our balcony, sip coffee and read the paper all while surrounded by the
warm air and beautiful view of the gulf of Mexico.
Definitely want to return here.
I wasn't able to post last night about yesterdays adventures. I will
do tomorrow and upload more pictures too.

sunsets

The past 2 days have been so much fun.  The sun has been shining every day along with a few thunderstorms for added excitement.  The rain comes down hard and fast, but it's warm so no complaints here!  And it only lasts about 30 minutes to an hour.  Today it had 2 different rain spells so we were in and out of the water three times, which meant 3 different changes of suits!  Temps are in the low 90's and the water temp is rising each day.  Monday started at 85 degrees and today it's 88.  I really like that there is little surf here.  It's like walking directly into a lake.  We saw 2 dolphins today about 30 yards from us.  When I saw one fin I was thinking maybe it was a shark, but thankfully another fin came up next to it and they proceeded to arc through the water along the shoreline.  We were told by the hotel staff that there are sharks out there and to be aware.  Once I realized they were dolphins I was very relieved.

Yesterday started off with 3 1/2 hours at the beach.  We swam, sat, walked, read, napped and relaxed beach side.  We had purchased cheese, crackers, yogurt, cereal, granola and milk at the store on Monday night, so we noshed on these items for breakfast and lunch.  At 1:30 we left for Port of Islands Resort where we met up with Captain George for a Manatee eco-tour.  He was very knowledgeable of the Ten Thousand Islands that make up this area, the manatee & their habitat, birds, alligators, the history of the area.  The boat could take 6 but we were the only ones, so we had our own private tour!  We saw numerous manatees, which are basically giant sea cows that eat vegetation - grass, seaweed etc - natures vacuum of the sea!  They weigh up to 2000 lbs.  They are very docile and slow - a top speed of 5 mph.  Their biggest threat is man and their boat motors.   We spent 90 minutes going through the mangrove areas and canals of Marco Island viewing manatee and even found an alligator.  It is mating season for alligators and so the females are busy building their nests and out of view.  Apparently they are very noisy and aggressive at night during mating season.  During the day, they mainly sun themselves and stay out of the way.

We stopped at Snook Inn in hops of seeing the numerous dolphins that hang out off their pier.  But the weather had other plans.  It rained so hard that we opted to sit with many other folks at the covered outside bar of Snook Inn.  Turns out it was happy hour, so we had some beer and Sarah had free bread with butter.  We were all happy!  Funny that it was still so very warm and everyone was in shorts and tank tops enjoying cold beer while just a few feet away the rain came down in sheets.  It was raining so hard we weren't able to walk to the end of the pier to see the dolphins.  Perhaps we will get back there tomorrow!

When we got back to the hotel, the weather cleared and we went swimming for a bit and went to The Little Bar Restaurant a few miles away in Goodland.  This place looked so sketchy from the outside and was in a really bizarre remote area, and if it hadn't been for the great reviews on Tripadvisor and Urban spoon we NEVER would have set foot in there.  We are so glad we went.  The food was top notch.  We started with steamed muscles, conch chowder and grouper balls.  For entrees I had sauteed soft shell crab, Jim had sauteed butterflied shrimp with panko topping and Sarah had prime rib (of course! 2nd night in a row, 3rd night of prime rib on the trip!).   By the time we left, the place was quite crowded.  Definitely a popular spot.

When we got back to the hotel Jim washed his shirts in the bathtub.  Thankfully I had some tide packets.  Somehow he didn't bring enough shirts, and with this heat and humidity they were getting stinky.  So, he soaked, scrubbed and rinsed the shirts.  They hung to dry nicely on our balcony overnight!

We woke up early to get to Everglade City this morning for an everglade jet boat tour.  Captain Tony of Speedy's Jet Boat Tours gave us an hour ride and wow what an amazing experience.  We went through almost 2 miles of mangrove canals to a grassy swamp area that was so vast.  The jet boats are flat bottomed and loud, so we wore earcovers (look like big headphones) and saw many birds and beautiful scenery.  The boat went 30 mph, but felt much faster.  Captain Tony stopped periodically to point out things, educate us and answer questions.  We even saw an alligator!  Despite the loud noise of the jet boats, the swampy area in the everglades is peaceful and beautiful.  I still marvel at the fact the we didn't get lost.  Tony explained that no two trees look alike...I laughed, because the rest of us had no idea where we were and we thought ALL the trees looked alike.

We stopped at Crazy Flamingo for lunch.  It's a local joint in a goofy location that one would most likely pass by unless told to go there.  I had a blackened fresh grouper sandwich, Jim had fish and chips and Sarah had chicken strips.  It was very good and the folks in there were locals (and that's always a good sign!).  We made it back to the hotel by 1:30.  Beach side, pool side and shell scavenging...we did it all this afternoon admist a few rain showers too.  But when the sun was out - phew look out!  It was HOT.

Dinner tonight was at Sele E Pepe and I had sauted grouper with homemade paparedelle and aspapagus.  Sarah had homemade raviloi stuffed with ricotta and spinach and Jim had risotto with asparagus and shrimp.  It was quite good and this restaurant was in our hotel and the view was 2nd to none.  We snapped quite a few pictures of the sunset and enjoyed a leisurely meal.  Now, I'm finishing this blog post and will read for a bit and then head to bed.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this place.  Of all the warm vacation places I've ever been, this tops them all.  People are kind, it's slow paced and relaxed.  Could be because it's their low season. (pop 8,000)  during high season it swells to 30,000! Seafood is plentiful and excellent, beaches are white soft sand and water is warm.  And this hotel is awesome - can't beat our view!  The staff is friendly, the pool attendants, the free smoothies, the beach attendants,  it's so luxurious without being stuffy.


Only 40 hours left until we have to leave to head to airport for home.  Will be very sad to leave this place.

I leave you with two pictures from dinner tonight.  Check out the others on smugmug.

Oh the decisions

1) sit in a beach chair, read and enjoy the view

Or

2) swim in 85 degree water

Oh the decisions! ;)

Warm water and relaxation

Made it to Marco Island at 2:45 yesterday afternoon. The gulf water
is beautiful and warm - 85 degrees! Not a big surf here and NO sign of
the oil spill (not yet anyway).

We are on the top floor of the Marco Beach Ocean Resort. Our room
directly faces the ocean. I took this picture from our balcony this
morning.

Yesterday we frolicked in the sand and
swam in the ocean for the afternoon. I even let Sarah bury me in the
sand! It's fine, white, sugar soft sand sprinkled with shells here
and there.

Will post more pictures when I upload
them to the computer. For now, the beautiful beach is calling!

Bon Voyage!

Kristin is off to Rome! New experiences and adventures await.

Caffeine to push through to the end

Only 200 miles to go. Thank goodness for Starbucks and a tall skinny
vanilla latte with 2 shots!

Jake & Sarah at quiznos

Finally think I figured out how to post a picture and text to my
blog from my iPhone! Hope this works :D

Jake and Sarah both work at Quiznos now. Aren't they cute?
(random Blog post I know, but testing out my ability to post from my phone)!

road signs & scenery

In my previous post, I mentioned road signs that most of us probably never notice. Wonder how many other states have images that pertain to their state?

This is a picture of signage in Montana.  Notice the arrowhead indicating route 261.

This picture was taken in North Dakota.  Notice the side profile of an Indian marking route 3.

These two pictures are just pretty scenery in western North Dakota.

The clouds were so pretty, they looked 3D.  This was somewhere in North Dakota.

 In Illinois on I-90 they have mile markers every 1/4 mile on both sides of the road.  You can see one marking 70 3/4 mile on the right side of this picture.  Not sure why we need to know the exact mileage every 1/4 mile. 

Tonight we are in Youngstown, Ohio.  A long day.  Traffic was very slow through Chicago despite a somewhat normal hour of 1 pm.  Took us over an hour to go 15 miles.  Spent 14 hours driving today.  Glad to be at the hotel in a very comfortable bed.  Tomorrow's travels will only be 300 miles.  Woo hoo!

1500 miles

Yesterday morning, Kristin and I departed our home with the goal of reaching Reston, VA on Tuesday.  That's over 2600 miles in 4 days along with losing 3 hours due to the time zone changes.  I am now sitting in a hotel room in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  Much better than the Best Western in Glendive, MT.  That had to have been the WORST Best Western I've ever stayed at.  The Country Inn & Suites in Eau Claire is clean, comfy and quiet.  I will definitely sleep well tonight!  Driving may not be physically demanding but it certainly is mentally demanding.  This is the 2nd time we've done this trip.  The first was in March when we drove from Laurel, MD to home.  Though we are taking the same route, the view out the car window is ever changing.

To say Montana is large is an understatement. It’s HUGE!  Driving across the 559 miles takes a long time, but the scenery is quite pretty.  I really wish I had my good camera with me.  The rolling hills are so pretty with many, many different shades of green.  I can definitely see why it’s called The Big Sky State. Unfortunately stopping for photos (with my little point and shoot camera) was out of the question because not everyone sees the value in photography.  The eastern part of Montana and western part of North Dakota were especially pleasing to the eye, with picturesque rolling hills and painted canyons.  I did stop at a scenic viewpoint and snapped 2 pictures.  The 30 second stop was not welcomed but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  Upon entering the middle of North Dakota the terrain flattens out, though it still very green and scenic.  It’s very calm and peaceful; somewhere I would enjoy coming back too and staying for a few days to explore.  North Dakota has funny town names, such as, Beach, Home on the Range, Can Do and Zap.  Maybe someday, when I get my RV, I’ll drive and explore at my own pace these beautiful places.  Probably alone though because not many share my joys of traveling and sightseeing in the US by RV.  But I will be able to stop at all the scenic view points I want and refuel with Starbucks without a gripe from anyone!

We stayed in Glendive, MT last night and thank goodness for Starbucks VIA.  I made myself a cup of instant coffee this morning at the hotel.  Seriously, Starbucks VIA is the next best thing to cup of Starbucks coffee.  Not at all like Folgers instant coffee, which I think is utterly disgusting and 'why bother' coffee.  I was hoping to find a Starbucks enroute, as my one cup of VIA wasn't going to cut it, but we had to go all the way to Bismarck before I could find a Starbucks.  Finally at noon I got a venti skinny vanilla latte giving me my caffeine fix!  However, this was another stop my traveling companion thought was “stupid.”  But I insisted as a coffee stop was non negotiable!

We zipped by the 60 ton Bison statue in Jamestown, North Dakota.  We had stopped to have some photographs with it back in March.  Despite seeing it before, it’s a pretty jaw dropping sight because it’s so big – even from the freeway!  As we approached Fargo, the easternmost city in North Dakota, traffic picked up.  Still not an issue, but lots more cars than earlier.  Freeways have been in good shape, some spots of road construction in Montana but traffic still moved along.  We split off of I-90 at Billings and went north along I-94, which resulted in less curves and shorter distance than following I-90.  In Tomah, Wisconsin (about half way between Minneapolis and Madison) I-94 meets back up with I-90.

Interesting tidbit about roadsigns - each state has their own unique way of displaying the route numbers, interstates, etc.  In Idaho it's a rectangle box with the shape of Idaho in it and the appropriate highway number displayed in the picture of the state.  Montana uses an arrowhead and North Dakota uses a side profile of an Indian.  Minnesota and Wisconsin don't have any noteworthy signs.  Curious what Illinois, Indiana and Ohio will have! 


Tomorrow's goal is to make it to the Akron, Ohio area.  700 miles or so for day 3.  1500 miles down, 1100 to go! More than half-way.  Yippee.

Pfft

It has been said that blogging is stupid and my blog in particular is pointless.  Well, if you feel that way STOP READING NOW.  I write for myself.  I don’t profess to be a good writer nor do I often write about anything newsworthy or exciting.  What I do is write about places I’ve been, what I’m thinking, people I care about. Sometimes I vent, but mostly, it’s all positive.  My blog may be pointless to some, but NOT to me.

 Here's to all the naysayers:

If you are still reading, thank you.  Feel free to leave a comment or two if something I've written sparks your interest.