Five on Friday

Happy Friday!  The kids had their first day of school (yesterday for my daughter, today for my son) so summer is officially over for us. Thank you Hurricane Ida for bringing us torrential downpours earlier this week! Fortunately, we were lucky and didn’t experience basement flooding or lose electricity, like many other families and businesses in Westchester County. My daughter has her first field hockey games of the season today and tomorrow (yes, they play or practice on Saturdays!). We have a long weekend with Labor Day and the Jewish holidays, so we have a quick one night getaway planned. I would have liked to go away for a longer trip but……field hockey. Even though school is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, my daughter still has practice. Gotta love varsity sports! Here are five from this week:

1. Waterfalls – Sunday we drove up to Albany to visit John Boyd Thacher State Park. We hiked the Indian Falls Trail and got to see some waterfalls! The last time we visited this state park was back in 2017 and this trail was closed, so I’m glad we got to hike it this visit. You don’t often get this close to a waterfall!

2. Reading – I am still slowly getting through We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry. It’s not a bad book, it’s just a slow read, if that makes any sense. I hope to finish it this weekend and am looking forward to some fun, lighter reads that I just picked up from the library!

3. Cooking – This week some of our favorite dinners included Roasted Stuffed Peppers with Chickpeas, Goat Cheese and Herbs. These were a bit time consuming to make but tasty.

I also made Roasted Potato Tacos with Chimichurri. This recipe is a family fave and one that I make often.

4.  Watching – my husband and I are watching Top Chef Portland (season 18) on Hulu.  We haven’t had cable for years so haven’t been able to watch it. Now, that we got Hulu (thank you Olympics), we’ve been trying to watch an episode every night. We have many seasons to catch up on!

5. Eating – we stopped at Subculture in Albany, a vegan deli.  We had such tasty eats including this Buffmac Crunchwrap. It was buffalo chick’n, mac & cheese, tostada shell, lettuce, tomato, onion and ranch dressing in a pressed tortilla. And it was all vegan! Check out my Instagram post to see the rest of our tasty eats!

While we were at Woodbury Commons on Saturday we had lunch at Shake Shack.  I do love their ‘Shroom Burger! We tried the hot honey fries too but I wasn’t a huge fan.

6. Drinking – I know it’s not officially fall yet, but I did try a Starbucks Apple Crisp Macchiato. It was actually pretty good and did give me fall vibes!

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Tuesday I posted September Events in Westchester County.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! We had an eventful weekend. Thursday night we drove to my parents’ house in Rhode Island. My nieces were there so the cousins got to all spend some time together! I have no idea why I didn’t realize a hurricane was coming though! Although we had planned to stay until Sunday, we ended up driving home Saturday afternoon.  Rhode Island got hit by Henri pretty hard, and my parents lost power early Sunday morning. Fortunately, they stayed in their condo in New York for several days. Here are five from this week:

1. Beach time – fortunately, we did get to the beach Friday morning.  It wasn’t too crowded and the kids had a great time.  

2. Reading – I love reading at the beach! I started reading One Last Stop until my daughter preferred it over the book she was reading, We Ride Upon Sticks by Quran Barry.  So, I am now reading her book and she is reading this one!

3. Cooking – this week we enjoyed Cherry Tomato Pasta All Vodka.

I also made Baked Farro with Summer Vegetables.  This was a bit time consuming to prep but was tasty!

And these Falafel-Spiced Chickpea Flatbreads are so quick and easy to make and so tasty!

4.  Watching – I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I binge watched the entire season of Cooking with Paris. It was bad but I had to keep watching! 

Up in Rhode Island we watched Vivo with my nieces.  It was a good movie that even my teens liked. 

5. Eating –  We tried this chorizo seitan that we found at Shoprite in the breakfast burritos I made for dinner one night. It added some great flavor. They also had a seitan bacon and a traditional seitan which we want to try.

We also made oven s’mores at home since we didn’t get a chance to make them in Rhode Island. They didn’t get the toasty brown color (we were too impatient to broil them for a little bit), but they were still VERY good!

6. Buying – I had Michael’s reward money that was expiring this week. I ended up buying these fall/winter planner stickers to decorate my planner.  I currently have this planner.  While I don’t decorate it much, I thought these would be fun for the busy days coming up!

7. Getting Ready for Back-to-School – The kids start school next week. Yesterday, I went through my son’s drawers with him. He has grown so much over the past year and is almost taller than me! So barely any of his clothes fit him. He could care less, but I need to get him some new clothes for the start of school. I’ve just given my daughter money and she’s made several mall trips with her friends to get her back-to-school clothes. And I still haven’t bought any school supplies. So these are top of my to-do list this upcoming week!

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! Summer is slowly coming to an end and we are trying to enjoy every last minute of it!  Here are five from this week:

1. Kaaterskill Falls– Sunday we went on a family hike to Kaaterskill Falls in the Catskills.  The falls were a bit disappointing so we said we need to go back in the spring when there will be more of a waterfall! It was also very crowded! But it was time with the family well spent with no complaints from the kids!

2. Reading – This past week I finished two books, both which I recommend! The Henna Artist is a historical fiction novel about a henna artist trying to make a living.  I also read For Your Own Good which was a suspense book that was a quick and enjoyable read.

3. Cooking – This week we enjoyed this Mediterranean Tortellini Salad.

  And this Summer Coconut Chickpea Curry, minus the fried halloumi.

4.  Fillos – (gifted) Fillos sent me a variety pack of their shelf-stable, ready-to-eat pony protein packs.  So far, my husband and I enjoyed the Panamanian Garbanzos over rice for a lunch and we were both impressed! We can’t wait to try the other varieties to see which is our fave.  They make lunch or dinner super easy! 

5. Watching – This week I watched two out of three episodes of Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu. It is based on the book by Liane Moriarty that I read and didn’t enjoy a whole lot. But I’m always curious how book-to-television or movie adaptations turn out.

6. Eating – I’ve enjoyed lots of ice cream this week! Friday after work, my daughter and I checked out rolled ice cream  Milk Squared in Mahopac.  We shared the S’mores As galore Sundae, since I love all things s’mores. 

Sunday after our hike we headed into Saugerties for lunch.  We went back to Slices of Saugerties for this caprese Grandma slice that is so good!

Then we went to Alleyway Ice cream.  I was so happy they had Thai Tea Cookies and Cream. The last time we visited they didn’t have it and I’ve been hoping to try it ever since! It was my fave and tasted just like a Thai iced tea! We also had the Ube Heath Bar Crunch and Buttermilk Strawberry. 

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Tuesday I shared Trivia Nights in Westchester County. 

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! We had a busy, fun week this week.  The kids are enjoying the last couple of weeks of summer before school starts. Here are five from this week:

1. Comedy Club – my husband and I went to Levity Live at the Palisades Center Mall Saturday night and saw comedian Dusty Slay. I can’t believe this was our first time visiting Levity Live and it certainly won’t be our last. It’s not too far away and my husband loves comedy.

2. Reading –  Sadly, I haven’t finished any books this week! I’m in the middle of reading two, and will hopefully finish one of them this week. However, my daughter had to read a memoir for her required school summer reading and chose Brain on Fire. She read it in a couple of days and gave it to me to read…..I’m not the biggest fan of memoirs, but I think it will be good to read the same book that she did. And they made a Netflix movie based on it, but I’m not sure that it is still available to watch.

3. Cooking Demo – Monday night D and I went to a cooking demo and tasting at Meraki Taverna in Armonk.  These classes are held through WCC.  It was our first time taking a class.  The menu was vegetarian themed which is what interested us.  It was a fun and tasty experience and we plan on taking more classes!

4. NY Boulders Game – Tuesday night we went to another NY Boulders game.  It was fun until the rain came around the 7th inning and the kids didn’t complain all evening which was a highlight! I made this Instagram reel from our visit.

5. Cooking – We weren’t home for dinner several days this week, but I did manage to cook (I think on the two hottest days!). Some of our dinners included this Coconut Curry.

And this Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Cream Honey Mustard Vinaigrette.

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Monday I posted about Beans Cat Cafe.

Tuesday I shared my July Reads.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! It’s been a regular work week for my husband and I.  But the kids were busy too – my son has been taking two virtual art classes – game design and painting and drawing.  My daughter went to a local field hockey camp this week in preparation for the season to begin soon.  Here are five from this week:

1. Farmers Market – This past week was National Farmers Market week.  Saturday I visited the Pleasantville Farmers Market for the first time.  I’ve been trying to visit the different farmers markets in our area.

2. Reading –  This week I finished Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. This is a YA book written in poetic style verse about a tragedy that brings two girls together.

3. Cooking– this week I made Chili Garlic Tofu Bowls. I roasted some green beans instead of sautéing kale, like the recipe called for.

And I made Halloumi Hummus Bowls.  Or tried to make them!  However, I had to adapt the recipe quite a bit.  Over the weekend when my husband and I were doing the grocery shopping, I put a box of couscous in the cart. I go to make this dinner earlier in the week and cannot find the couscous! We checked all the cabinets, I checked my car, thinking it fell out of a bag. Nope, couldn’t find it! Luckily, I had orzo, which I substituted for the couscous.  Then the cucumber that I knew I had in the fridge turned out to be moldy.  So I substituted in an avocado.  Somehow, it all came together on the fly because I wasn’t running out to the grocery store mid-dinner prep. 

I also made a “crab cake” with the lion’s mane mushrooms I got from the Farmers Market.  There was only enough mushrooms for one, so I didn’t bother with the red pepper and red onion that the recipe called for.  But even this simplified version was so good!

4. Watching  – I’ve still been watching the Olympics! And I’m almost finished watching the latest season of Real Housewives of Orange County! It’s such a guilty pleasure.

5. Cat Cafe – Sunday my son and I visited Beans Cat Cafe in Beacon.  I already love Beacon, but this is another reason to love it! This is a cafe and cat lounge.  You pay a small fee to sit in the lounge and interact with the cats and kittens, who are all adoptable.  You can check out my YouTube video to see more!

6. Eating – When we were in Beacon we got to visit the Peaceful Provisions storefront. We picked up a Matcha Mixed Berry and a Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Fritter. Yes, they were as good as they look!

My son and I also had lunch at One More Bite. This is a Korean fusion restaurant.  My son had a fried chicken sandwich and I had this kimchi tofu bowl. 

7. Drinking – Friday I had Thai for lunch and had to get a Thai iced tea.  I love these and it’s been so long since I’ve had one!

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Tuesday I shared our Guide to Westchester County Farmers Markets.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! Can you believe that tomorrow is the last week of July?! We are half way through the summer. Saturday we drove up to the Adirondacks to pick our son up from Boy Scout Camp. Sunday was spent running errands, cleaning and doing some food prep for the week. Here are five from this week:

1. Farmers Market – Last Friday after work I visited the farmers market, Market on Market, at Ridge Hill in Yonkers.  I ended up getting empanadas for lunch from Leila’s Empanadas.

2. Reading –  This week I finished The Other Wife by Claire McGowan.  It was an okay suspense book.  I am almost finished reading the YA graphic novel When Stars Are Scattered.

3. Cooking– this week I made a corn quiche which I served with this avocado arugula tomato salad.

I also made this overnight blueberry French toast which was a hit!  

4. Watching  – The Olympics! My favorite events are always swimming and gymnastics.  But I’ve also really enjoyed watching skateboarding and beach volleyball! What events have you been watching?

We also got a subscription to Hulu to be able to watch the Olympics so I am catching up on ALL the Real Housewives! We haven’t had cable in years so I’ve missed my reality TV!

5. Eating – Saturday we took the kids out to celebrate my daughter getting a 3 on her AP world exam and my son returning from camp.  We went to the Mt. Kisco Diner, which is known for their outrageous, Instagram-worthy dishes.  My daughter had the Godfather wrap which is penne vodka and mozzarella sticks in a wrap. But she was especially excited about this salted caramels milkshake that she had!

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Tuesday I posted about the Dining Lab at Monroe College.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Hooray for Friday! Some family highlights this past week include my son getting dropped at Boy Scout camp in Brant Lake, NY (the Adirondacks) last Sunday. He’s been there all week and we go pick him up EARLY tomorrow morning. After being together so much from the pandemic and summer, we have really been missing him! My daughter got CIT of the week last Friday at camp. She also got her AP World History score this week and she got a 3! This is huge considering she’s one of only a handful of kids in her class who earned a passing score.  This was a busy week and today I’m sharing ten from this week:

1. National Ice Cream Day – National ice cream day was this past Sunday. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to visit the new to us rolled ice cream shop that I had wanted to go to.  Instead, I enjoyed a Haagen-dazs matcha green tea cone at home. One food that we always  have at home is ice cream!

2. Reading – I finished The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy E. Reichert.  It’s a contemporary romance with a supernatural aspect.  At first I didn’t think I’d enjoy it, but I ended up liking it.   

3. Cooking– This week we made broccoli rabe and provolone grinders, adapting the recipe slightly.

I served them with a watermelon arugula salad which made for a delicious meal!

We also had Portobello mushroom burgers.  I had to make these this week since my son doesn’t eat mushrooms!

4. Watching  – This past week we watched Minari.  This movie was nominated for several Academy Awards. I really enjoyed it! I also watched the entire season of My Unorthodox Life on Netflix.  I find the Orthodox Jewish community fascinating and Julia Haart’s story is pretty incredible.  

5. Dining Lab  – Tuesday night my husband and I had a date night at The Dining Lab at Monroe College.  It is a restaurant run by the culinary students at the school.  It was a unique dining experience and the food was delicious! A blog post will be coming soon!

6. Exercise – this week I finally joined our local Planet Fitness after a several year gym hiatus! I went for the first time yesterday….baby steps! I also played Just Dance on my son’s XBox and got a really good cardio workout in! 

7. Eating – I finally tried The Halal Guys at the White Plains Galleria. I had falafel over rice and it was good. But I think my favorite falafel is from The Falafel Place.

8. Drinking – My husband loves craft beer and is always looking for new beers to try. He really enjoyed this UFO Georgia Peach, which smelled like peaches but tasted very wheaty!

9. LEGO Flowers – My daughter’s boyfriend bought a LEGO flower kit. The two of them made the flowers and they split them so they each have a bunch. I thought this was such a clever idea – flowers that will never die!

10. Mall Jogger Mile Run – Last Saturday, PB Pizza and Beer held a Mall Jogger Mile Run race at the Jefferson Valley Mall. My husband and daughter decided to participate, while I watched (because I don’t run for fun!). They got free pizza and my husband got a free Mall Jogger lager, which they were promoting. It was a fun way to start our weekend!

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Tuesday I posted about the Museum at Bethel Woods.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! It has been a super busy week around here! My son turned 13 on Wednesday.  We officially have two teenagers in the house! We had a family party and his birthday dinner this week. We drive him up to the Adirondacks on Sunday for a week of sleep away Boy Scout camp. My daughter has been busy CITing at our local camp. Then she plays in a field hockey league two nights during the week. Everyone is busy and the summer has been flying by! Here are five from this week:

1. Family Party – Last weekend we had a family party for my son.  Since his favorite meal is breakfast, we did a brunch.  He was so happy to eat a bagel with cream cheese and lox! And I made a peach cobbler for dessert served with vanilla ice cream (along with cheesecake which was not homemade!).

2. Reading – I had to return The Things We Cannot Say to the library before I got to finish it.  So I’ll have to wait for it to come in again.  In the meantime, I finished You Knew Me When by Emily Liebert.  This was an older fiction book about friendship that I thought was an okay read. I’m currently reading The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy E. Reichert which I’m enjoying.

3. Cooking– This week I made a watermelon gazpacho that was tasty! I used the leftover watermelon from my son’s family party. It was a perfect hot summer night’s dinner since no cooking is involved.

We also enjoyed these Zesty Black Bean and Rice Burgers for dinner this week. The original recipe has them made as sliders, but I made burgers. They were delicious but took awhile to make with so many different components!

4. Watching  – My husband and I finished the last season of Bosch. It’s been a favorite of ours to watch together.  We are looking forward to the new, not-yet named spinoff with Bosch as a private investigator.

5. Puzzle – Last weekend I did this candy puzzle.  I started it Friday afternoon, not remembering that I needed my dining room table for the family party.  So it was a rush to get it done, but I did it. 

6. Birthday Dinner – My son chose The Melting Pot for his birthday dinner.  This has been a favorite with the kids! I even wrote a post about it.

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Monday I posted about the Too Good To Go app.

Tuesday I shared my June reads.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Hello Friday! I love short weeks! We had a great weekend up in RI celebrating the 4th of July, even though the weather was crappy, as expected.  It was great to see my sister and her family since they live in Maryland and we don’t get to see them very often. It was a very relaxing, laid-back couple of days. This weekend we will be having a family get together to have an early birthday celebration for my son. Here are five from this week:

1. Beach time  – I can’t visit Rhode Island and not go to the beach. Even though it was pretty chilly for most of the weekend we did make it to the beach twice.  One was just for a quick evening walk. We then went Monday morning before heading home since the weather finally cleared up.  It was still chilly enough for me to wear my sweatshirt, but my son braved the ocean with his younger cousins to go boogie boarding.  

2. Reading – I finished reading Too Good To Be True by Carola Lovering.  This was a suspenseful read! I just started The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer.  This is a heavier, historical fiction read that’s going to take me some time to read.

3. Eating – Blueberry Peach Pie from Carpenter’s Farm.

Raspberry Creme Kit Kats.  I love Kit Kats but I was not a fan of these!

Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  Love when co-workers bring in treats!

4. Watching  – I finally got to see In The Heights this weekend and I really liked it! For some reason, I didn’t realize that it was originally a Broadway musical.  

5. Winner Winner – I found out that I won a gift card to Whole Foods for participating in Love and Lemons monthly cookbook club.  I participated in June’s orzo salad (which was great for lunches) and my picture was randomly selected as the winner! If you want to participate, this month’s recipe is gazpacho.

6. Puzzle – When we were in Rhode Island the weather was cold and rainy on Saturday. My son and I did this 1000 piece puzzle in 3 hours! 

7. Playing – it is family tradition that we play Mexican Train when we are together in Rhode Island.  It’s fun and now all the kids are old enough to play! 

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Tuesday I posted about TBoy’s Bistro in Sleepy Hollow.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! It has been a hot minute since I’ve posted on the blog.  I switched to a different Bluehost service and what I thought was going to be a quick fix turned into an unexpected several week hiatus. I’ve been busy though and have a lot of blog posts coming up so stay tuned! 

Summer is in full swing here with the temps this week in the mid-90’s! The kids have been out of school and my daughter started her CIT gig at the local town camp. This weekend we are heading to my parents house in Rhode Island to celebrate the 4th of July.  This is an annual tradition for us and my sister and her family will be there as well. The weather isn’t looking great, but it will be nice to get away for a couple of days. 

Here are five from this week:

1.  Date Night – Last week D and I had a date night.  We went to Gleason’s in Peekskill for their trivia night.  My husband is really good at trivia. Me…..not so much.  I go for the food and the support!  This was our first time going to trivia night here and we came in second place!  It was a fun time and we will be back again.  

2. Reading – This week I finished The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren which I really enjoyed!  I’m almost finished reading People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry which is really good as well.  Both are perfect, light summer reads!  

3. Eating – This week I got lunch from Root 2 Rise, a new plant-based restaurant that just opened Monday in Pleasantville.  I tried the Dan Dan Bowl which was good, but was different than the traditional Dan Dan Bowls that I’ve had in the past. 

I tried Ben & Jerry’s limited edition Totally Unbaked ice cream.  It tastes almost exactly like what I remember Half Baked tasting like, so wasn’t that impressed.

The kids love acai bowls and we got them bowls this week from Shimmy’s Acai in Jefferson Valley.

4. Watching  – This week we watched Raya And The Last Dragon as a family. I’ve also binged the first season of Manifest on Netflix.  

5. Lake Time – Our friends moved to a new house and had a couple families over for a BBQ last weekend. They have lake access right from their backyard and I was able to kayak. The kids kayaked, went swimming and SUP. It was a fun time!

Sharing with Friday Favorites. Have a great weekend!