Five on Friday

Happy Friday and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Last weekend started with some potential snow Friday night into Saturday which resulted in the kids’ winter formal being canceled and my daughter’s SAT test being postponed. When we woke up there was not a snowflake to be seen! Here are five from this week:

1. NYBG  – Saturday we visited the New York Botanical Garden for my favorite annual event, the Orchid Show! As always, the exhibition was stunning with the most colorful, beautiful and unique orchids. It was so hard picking only a few photos of the flowers to showcase here! You can see my Instagram reel here.

2. Eating – This week I made a batch of Rice Krispy Treats. I love homemade Rice Krispy Treats. They are so easy to make and so good! 

We also stopped at Savor food court at The Westchester Mall and I enjoyed a salmon bowl with rice, sweet potatoes and sauteed greens from The Little Beet. Then my husband went and got a White Truffle ‘Shroom Burger and a Tiramisu Shake that we shared!

We were invited to the media preview of the new Crumbl Cookies that opened in Hartsdale today! We are very excited to finally have one of these shops in Westchester County!

3. Puzzle– This week I finished another puzzle. This was a 1,000 piece puzzle that I completed most of on the snow day. While I couldn’t find this exact puzzle to link to, all of the Hometown Collection puzzles have a similar country feel.

4. Snow Day – Tuesday we had another snow day. The weather reports were all over the place and after Saturday’s bust, I wasn’t so sure we were going to get any snow. We ended up getting over 7 inches of snow that fell throughout most of the day! The amount of snow mixed with freezing temps at night resulted in a 2-hour delay on Wednesday! It was so pretty driving into work on Wednesday!

5. CFP Exam – The biggest news for our family was my husband passing his CFP (Certified Financial Planner). He’s been studying for this test for an entire year! He took two-hour classes every Monday and Wednesday evening for almost the entire year. He had to pass a test after each of the seven modules before moving on. This is a national test only given three times a year. Of course, the test day he registered for was the snow day! We are so fortunate that his test location did not close because of the weather or he would have to wait until July. 

5. Cooking – This week’s menu included Mediterranean Braised Chickpea Rice Bowls, Gigi Hadad’s Pasta, Crispy Salmon Bowls (tofu for my daughter) and Slow Cooker Veggie Potato Hash.

6.Watching – Ted Lasso is back (Apple TV)! I haven’t watched any of the episodes yet but I’m very excited!

7. Quiz – I get Gretchen Rubin’s weekly 5 Things Making Me Happy newsletter and recently there was a link to this “What Type of Reader Are You?” quiz. Honestly, I didn’t need a quiz to tell me that I have a Bookish Personality, but the quiz confirmed it. 

ICYMI this week on the blog: 

Monday I posted 13 Things to Do at Bear Mountain State Park.

Thursday I posted about the new Crumbl Cookies opening in Hartsdale.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! We made it through another week! This week has been exhausting on so many levels. My teens were especially emotionally draining, I went to bed later than usual most nights and the kids had pretty busy schedules. I am hoping to be able to rest and recharge this weekend. Here are five from this week:

1.Pocketbook Bingo – Friday night I attended our PTA Pocketbook Bingo fundraiser. It was a huge event with probably close to 200 women there. Besides the BINGO games, there were a ton of raffles. While I didn’t win anything, it was a fun night out with some mom friends! 

2. Bear Mountain State Park – Sunday I went to Bear Mountain State Park. I was doing some research for an upcoming blog post. I’ve been to this park many times, but walked down to the Hudson River Dock for the first time. There is such a great view of the Bear Mountain Bridge from the dock.

3. Reading – This week I finished Mad Honey by Jodi Picout and Jennifer Finney Boylan. It was such a good read! I went in knowing nothing about the book, except that it was written by one of my favorite authors. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.

4. Cooking – This week’s menu included Spicy Mexican Halloumi and Black Bean Bowls with Honey-Lime Vinaigrette (we used a round white queso, in place of the Halloumi), Vegan Bombay Potatoes, One Spinach and Artichoke Orzo Bake, Vegan Bulgogi Bowl (I used Beyond Meat instead of the jackfruit), pierogies with roasted broccoli and homemade pizza. 

5.Watching – I’ve watched the first couple of episodes of Daisy Jones & the Six (Amazon Prime). While I wasn’t a huge fan of the book, I’m actually enjoying the show. Any one else watching?

I’ve also been watching Gilmore Girls. I never watched the show when it was on. I’ve only ever watched a handful of episodes. So far, I’m halfway through season 2 and I am really liking it. I can see why people are such fans!

6. Boy Scout Court of Honor – Wednesday night we attended my son’s Boy Scout Court of Honor where he was promoted to Star Scout. My husband and I were surprised at the ceremony when we were both given pins by our son for being parents of a Star Scout. He is now only two ranks away from Eagle.

7. Guilty Eats – Check out some of my most recent articles for Guilty Eats:

EXTRA Gum releases a new limited-edition flavor

Angry Orchard releases this season’s Wassail Wooden Sleeper

Win a trip to the HARD MTN DEW Livewire Spring Break Launch

March ALDI Finds

Catalina Crunch adds two new Keto-friendly snacks

ICYMI this week on the blog: 

Monday I posted about Hobart Book Village in the Catskills.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Hello Friday! My favorite weekday! It was a busy week with our first snow day! Here are five from this week.

1.Angry Orchard Wassail Celebration – Saturday I was invited to Angry Orchard’s Wassail Winter Fest. I’m writing a post for Guilty Eats about the release of their Wassail Wooden Sleeper and the celebration. It was a fun experience that included cider tastings and then partaking in the Wassail celebration.

2. Lunch Date – Sunday my husband and I went on a lunch date to Royal Indian Cuisine. I love their lunch buffet! They have so many vegetarian dishes that you don’t find on a typical menu. It had been months since we last had Indian food. I was so stuffed!

3. Reading – This week I finally finished Miss Cecily’s Recipes for Exceptional Ladies by Vicky Zimmerman. It was a great book about intergenerational friendship and cooking/food. I am almost finished with Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. I am about 3/4 of the way through and need to see how this book ends!

4. Cooking – This week’s menu included Broccoli Cheddar Noodle Soup, Portobello French Dips with Horseradish Aioli, Egg Burritos, Orechiette with Broccoli Rabe and Pizza. 

5.Watching – My husband and I only watch one episode of Shrinking (Apple TV+) a day and some days we don’t even get to watch one. But we are all caught up and need something to keep us occupied until March 15th when the new season of Ted Lasso begins! I know I gushed about Shrinking last week, but it’s so good! The episodes are only about 30 minutes so there is not a lot of time commitment.

6. Snow Day – Even though it was the end of February, we finally got our first substantial snow fall and the first Snow Day! There was no school or work for the kids and I on Tuesday. I took a shoveling break and made a snowman.

That night I also made oven s’mores! They are so quick and easy to make…no campfire needed.

7. Tri M Music Society Induction  – Wednesday night my daughter was inducted into the Tri M Music Honors Society at her high school. This is the third high school honor’s society that she is a part of now.

ICYMI this week on the blog: 

Monday I shared the March events taking place in Westchester County.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! I hope you all had a great week! It was nice having a shorter work week, since I had Monday off.  Here are five from this week.

1.First College Tour – Monday we went on our first college tour with my daughter! We visited SUNY Stony Brook in Long Island. It wasn’t at the top of her list, but she surprisingly liked it. Wednesday she toured Manhattan College, my dad’s alma mater. We have a whole list of additional schools that she wants to visit. I’m just finding it crazy that we are at this point!

2. Eating – Before we got to Stony Brook we stopped in Queens for lunch at the New World Mall. This food court has over 30 different Asian food stalls. We enjoyed vegetable soup with hand pulled noodles, a vegetable bibimbap and egg and chive dumplings.

Then we had an ice cream crepe with berries and bubble tea.

3. Reading – This week I didn’t finish reading anything! I’m over halfway through my current read Miss Cecily’s Recipes for Exceptional Ladies by Vicky Zimmerman. This afternoon I’m picking up some library books that I had on hold that came in. I’ll hopefully finish this one over the weekend since I’m very excited to read some of the other books.

4. Cooking – This week’s menu included Sheet Pan Cauliflower Fajitas, Creamy Tortellini French Onion Soup, salmon with rice and broccoli and homemade pizza.

5.Watching – This week my husband and I finally watched the last episode of Fleishman is in Trouble. Although it was a sad show, we enjoyed it. The new show that we are watching together is Shrinking (Apple TV+). This show is both emotional and funny. Although we’ve only watched three episodes so far, we are really liking it!

6. Field Hockey Winter League – Sunday my daughter played her last field hockey winter league game. Next year, after the fall field hockey season ends she won’t be playing in any off-season leagues. 

7. Master Bedroom Renovation – We are in the process of redoing our master bedroom. My husband painted the walls, we ordered new furniture and he’s been putting in the new flooring. Part of the process has been going through our stuff and getting rid of things. We dropped off BAGS of donations to our local Goodwill this weekend. 

8. Teen parent meme:

ICYMI this week on the blog: 

Monday I shared a post about Kura Revolving Sushi Bar.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Hello Friday! I am ready for the long weekend! I only have Monday off but my kids have all of next week off. The weekend is filled with taking them to their various activities, but I’m hoping to fit in some fun. Here are five from this past week.

1.Date Night – Saturday night my husband and I went out for dinner at Little Sorrento in Cortlandt Manor. I think everyone else wanted Italian too because we had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. This Calamari Balsamico appetizer was so good! 

2. Eating – I picked up a falafel mix from Trader Joe’s this week and used it to make a copycat version of Chopt’s Kebab Cobb salad. Missing from the picture are the crushed pita chips. There aren’t any Chopt restaurants close by so I don’t get to eat it very often. This is my go to salad there, so I’m glad to have been able to make a close recreation. Plus, when trying looking to try to recreate the salad, I couldn’t find it on the menu, so I’m not sure they even make it any more!

Valentine’s Day my husband broiled lobster tails and we served them with jumbo shrimp (cocktail), mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus and Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits. I can’t remember the last time we ate at a Red Lobster, but we thought the biscuits would make a tasty addition to our menu. 

3. Reading – This week I finished reading The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros. I thought it started slowly but I ended up really enjoying this historical fiction/romance.

4. Cooking – This week’s menu included the above mentioned lobster tails and shrimp, Pearl Couscous Skillet with Tomatoes, Chickpeas and Feta, Crunchy Roll Bowls, One Pot Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Whipped Ricotta and homemade pizza.

5.Watching – I finished watching season 3 of Emily in Paris. I’ve also bee watching The Bachelor and my husband and I have one more episode of Fleishman Is in Trouble.

6. Looking forward to: Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s book Daisy Jones and the Six will want to watch the show coming to Amazon Prime on March 3. While I didn’t love the book, I am curious enough to check out the show.

7. Meme:

This is so relatable!

ICYMI this week on the blog: 

Monday I wrote about Hersheypark’s Best Price of the Year ticket deal.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! It’s been another long week and I’m looking forward to the weekend! Here are five from this week.

1.No Heat -Friday and Saturday the temps dropped drastically with the real temperature below zero degrees. Saturday we woke up to no heat in the house! Fortunately, we have a pellet stove that heated the main floor of the house. We were able to contact our oil company and they sent a repairman out. By early evening we got our heat back after he replaced the control unit of our furnace. But for most of the day it was pretty cold in the house. Fortunately, I was out running errands. 

2. Kohls – I’m not sure if the clearance sale is still going on, but I went to Kohl’s on Saturday (when we didn’t have any heat). They had a major clearance sale with an additional 50% off the already marked down clearance price! I got two pairs of shoes and several sweaters for myself for such a steal! 

3. Reading – This week I finished reading Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica. This was an okay suspense read. Kubica’s books are either hit or miss with me. This was fairly slow for most of the book….until it wasn’t. 

4. Cooking – This week’s menu included BBQ Ranch Chickpea Pitas, Beyond Burgers with tater tots, Cauliflower Black Bean Tostadas, “Meatball” subs and Spicy Peanut Udon Noodle Bowls. 

5. Lunch Date– On the weekends, my husband and I sit and go over everyone’s schedules for the week – who has to be where when, who is going to be doing drop off/pick up for various activities, etc. To make this task more enjoyable we try to do this while we are at brunch or lunch. So, Sunday my husband and I went out for lunch at a new Vietnamese restaurant that opened in Mahopac called Pho Route 6. We shared the Vegetable Pho and the Shrimp Vermicelli. The pho was huge and delicious! It’s so nice to have a Vietnamese restaurant that is close to where we live!

6. Watching – I’ve caught up on the past two episodes of The Bachelor. I’ve also been watching Eater’s Guide to the World (Hulu) for my food and travel fix this week. 

7. National English Honor Society – Tuesday night my daughter was inducted into the English National Honor Society. This is her second academic honor society (she was inducted into the science honor society last year). We are so proud of her and all of her hard work!

8. Trader Joe’s Caramel Taste Test – I bought this caramel taste test box from Trader Joe’s before the holidays and then I forgot about it! I just found it and we enjoyed doing this taste test as a family Sunday night. Some of the caramel flavors were harder to distinguish than others. I’ve always said that I have a good sense of taste and I ended up winning by naming 8/12 correctly! 

ICYMI this week on the blog: 

Monday I shared my January 2023 reads.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday and Happy February! January flew by way too fast. I’m not excited that according to Punxsutawney Phil we are in for six more weeks of winter. However, I am hoping for some snow….or at least a snow day! It’s unbelievable how warm this winter has been. Our weekends are getting filled up with all of the kids various activities and commitments….including this weekend! Here are five from this week.

1.Weekend Brunch -Sunday morning, my husband and I went to brunch at The Brunch House in Mahopac. With the word brunch right in the name, you know it’s going to be good! It was our first time dining there. We shared these Huevos Rancheros and City in the Suburbs Omelet which has goat cheese and mushrooms and topped with avocado.

2. Eating – I’m not sure if I’ve posted about Trader Joe’s Vegan Beefless Bulgogi before. This is one of my faves for a quick and easy dinner. I serve it with rice, Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes and dumplings.

We also enjoyed these Crumbs cupcakes. Years ago they used to have shops in NYC. They ended up closing but recently started selling them at local Shoprite stores near me. They are very good! 

3. Reading – This week I finished reading an ARC, courtesy of NetGalley, of The Block Party by Jamie Day. It will be published in July. It’s about, as the title notes, a block party that doesn’t end well. As far as suspense/thriller books go I actually enjoyed this one!

4. Cooking – This week’s menu included these Cauliflower Tzatziki Bowls with Sweet Potato Fries, Chik’n sandwiches and fries, Gnocchi Bake, Tofu in a jarred Korma simmer sauce with roasted broccoli, rice and naan and Vegan Korean Beef Taquitos with dumplings and marinated cucumbers.

5. College Night – Our high school had an information college night for parents of high school juniors this week. It’s so surreal that we are at this stage of life with our daughter! Now I’m trying to plan out college tours, but it’s very difficult, since, as I mentioned earlier, our kids are very busy on the weekends!

6. Watching – I’ve watched the entire season of Street Food USA (Netflix) this week. I just want to travel around the country exploring and eating my way through the different states! 

ICYMI this week on the blog: 

Tuesday I posted about the February Events taking place in Westchester County. 

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! I’m so looking forward to the weekend! We have a fun date night planned for Saturday night. Otherwise, not too much else is going on, as of now, besides the weekend chores and cleaning. Here are five from this week.

1.Weekend Getaway – Over the three day weekend my husband and I were able to get away for a long overdue night away. We booked a last minute stay at our favorite New York motel – The Roxbury. This time we stayed at their newer property, The Roxbury at Stratton Falls.

We stayed in Room 30 in the mansion, The Mill of the Frozen Falls. From their website, “Inspired by what the original 1790’s grist mill that was once at the falls must have looked like when it was encased in the magnificent ice formations that Stratton Falls becomes in the winter.” Everything in the room was white and sparkly! It was so nice to get away, even for a night and we love the Roxbury (you can read my post about the Roxbury here)!

2. Eating – While we were in the Catskills we enjoyed dinner at Peekamoose Restaurant & Tap Room. This wood grilled octopus appetizer was a fave. 

As was this homemade brioche donut with homemade vanilla ice cream. It doesn’t look that special, but it was so good!

On the way home from the Catskills we had lunch at Seoul Sizzle, a Korean restaurant in Middletown. This Dubu Salad was so good! We shared this salad (mixed greens with fried tofu cubes and a homemade sesame dressing) and a vegetable bibimbap.

3. Reading – This week I finished reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. This won the Goodreads award for Best Debut Novel and was a nominee for Best Historical Fiction. I read this without knowing anything about it. It was a really enjoyable read!

4. Cooking – This week’s menu included Simple Hoisin Tofu Noodles, Chik’n Sandwiches with fries, Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Basil Chickpeas and pizza.

5. Waterfalls – While we were in Roxbury, we were able to visit two waterfalls! I am a waterfall lover so I was in my glory! The first was this one on the property of the Roxbury at Stratton Falls. They have their own hiking path and waterfall for hotel guests only.

This second one is Mine Kill Falls in Mine Kill State Park. This is at the overlook – it was actually very cold out so we didn’t do a hike!

6. LEGO Botanical Collection – I just saw the newest additions to the LEGO Botanicals collection for 2023 and I am loving them! One is a wildflower bouquet, the other is a dried flower centerpiece. They are available for preorder now and I think would make a great Valentine’s Day present for any LEGO fans.

7. Winter Concert – My kids had their winter band concert this week. I always am amazed at how good their concerts are, considering they go to a fairly small school and the bands are small. They are both in jazz band, an after school club, so it was so fun to see them up on stage together performing (pictured above). They then played in two separate bands for the main concert.

ICYMI this week ok the blog: 

 Wednesday I posted about The Red Pepper Diner.

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! It’s been a week and I am excited for the long weekend! Here are five from this week:

1.Eating – Sumo Citrus – I wrote about these mandarins for Guilty Eats. I got a delivery this week to try them and they are really good! They are only available for a limited time, so if you see these in the store, I highly recommend them! 

For lunch this week I’ve been bringing this Mango Mandarin Sesame Shrimp Salad. Instead of the homemade dressing that the recipe included, I used Panera Asian Sesame Vinaigrette. I’ve made this salad before and it’s still as good as I remember!

2. Reading – This week I finished reading The Family Game by Catherine Steadman. I found the whole plot line to be pretty unbelievable, so it wasn’t a fave. 

3. Cooking – This week’s menu included Taco Pasta, our fave Swedish Meatballs with mashed potatoes, Vegan Chorizo and Potato Tacos with Salsa Verde, Pierogies with roasted broccoli and homemade pizza.

4. Watching – This week I finished Tell Me Lies (Hulu). I haven’t read the book by Carola Lovering and after seeing the show, don’t really have any desire to. I just read that season 2 will likely premiere sometime next fall which I’ll likely end up watching to see where it goes.

5. Puzzle – New Year’s Eve day I started this 3,000 Nickelodeon puzzle that I got for Christmas. Previously, the largest puzzle I’d ever completed was 1,500 pieces. This puzzle is so large and challenging!! I’ve been trying to work on it a little each day and hope to finish it soon. 

 ICYMI this week ok the blog: 

  Wednesday I posted about Time Mission. 

Sharing with Friday Favorites!  Have a great weekend!