Wednesday, Oui?

Rarely do we watch TV. Yes, there are times when we will mindlessly stare at the boob-tube with a stream of drool leaking out of our mouth but, I must say, it's rare that we watch more than 4 hours per week. However, one show we try to always catch is Undercover Boss. I, for one, can't watch the show without getting choked up. I love the American Dream.

Whenever we watch Undercover Boss I always piss and moan that the companies featured in the show are located in places inconvenient to us. I can't recall one episode that I actually said, "Oh, we have a _______ nearby; let's go next weekend!"

During our vacation, as I already mentioned, we took Xander for a few days. On Friday the 19th we picked him up in Portland and intended to return him to Portland on Monday the 21st. Instead, Aaron suggested we should see if my sister would be willing to meet in Freeport (um, Freeport Outlets? Yes, please!) I love Freeport for many reasons but mostly because L.L. Bean's headquarters is located there. I love L.L. Bean and every product they offer but, the store itself was actually built by Mr. Herbert W. Peace Sr., my precious Pepe.

After returning Xander we headed off to do some shopping (and load up on several President's Day sales). We did so much shopping, in fact, that we worked up quite the appetite. Resigned to eat at one of the same old restaurants we always eat at when visiting Freeport (I know, poor us) Aaron said, "I have a surprise for you... there is a Johnny Rockets in Freeport now!" Indeed, tucked in a new development, sat a shiny new Johnny Rockets restaurant!

Finally, I ate at a place advertised on Undercover Boss. Do I not have the very best husband in the whole world? Oui.

Menu Monday: Iya and Banana's Cinnamon Buns

While on school vacation last week my nephew, Xander, came down from Maine to spend a few days with us. We planned many fun things so, to give us the energy needed, we had a big breakfast every morning. Xander's favorite breakfast, by far-- homemade cinnamon buns!!

In recent months I've searched and searched for yeast-free-cinnamon-bun-recipes. I don't have a problem with yeast, I just lack the patience required to wait while it rises. So, my friends, as I get ready to go back to work after a much needed week-long-staycation please... enjoy my buns ;)

Ingredients:

Dough

• 2C white flour
• 3t baking power
• 1/2t salt
• 2T sugar
• 1/2C butter
• 2/3C milk

Filling

• 3T melted butter
• 1/4C white sugar
• 1/4C brown sugar
• 3t cinnamon

Glaze 

• 1/3C packed powdered sugar
• 1T milk

Instructions:

For dough - Sift and mix all dry ingredients. Add the butter to the flour mix. Mix with a fork or beaters until it is the consistency of cornmeal. Add milk (the amount of milk tends to vary.) Add until dough makes a soft ball, with a little dry flour mixture around the ball.

Roll out on floured board, in a rectangular shape. Dough should be about 1/4" thick. Add melted butter all over top of rolled dough.

Mix and then generously sprinkle mixture of sugars and cinnamon over the butter.

Roll the cinnamon buns, starting from the longest side, lengthwise. Roll tightly all the way up, slightly pinching the edges together.

Use a piece of dental floss or a sharp knife and cut the roll into 1" slices

Put on greased cookie sheet, with about 1/2 between each cinnamon roll. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until slightly brown on the top.

After the cinnamon rolls have cooled, add a white icing to the top. Serve slightly warm and enjoy!

 

February Vacation 2009

For vacation we had originally planned to go to North Conway but I refused to board the dogs so, instead, we did small day trips.

On Wednesday we laid around doing much of nothing. I read a lot, Aaron did some blogging, we went to Church to celebrate the beginning of Lent, and we (of course) did some wedding planning. Not much to report there except it was fun/relaxing and calming (we are usually SO go, go, go-- slowing down is difficult.)

Thursday we had planned to go to Boston but got a late start to the morning. We decided to go to the New Hampshire Natural History Museum which was small, but very informative. It was nice to see what New Hampshire has to be proud of, how we started off as a State, and all things "Live free or die." We walked all around the city, going in all sorts of shops and searching in the nooks and cranny's of each small business. With cappuccino in our cold little hands we took the time to do really look at Concord, and the shops downtown-- we usually just run into a store to buy a specific item and run out ignoring the charm of the Capitol City. Later, we went to Olive Garden (we were craving pizza) then off to the movies to finally see, He's Just Not That Into You.

*Now, a small disclaimer about this movie. This film is getting some women in an absolute *uproar.* "It gives women a bad name," "That's not how we act" and on and on and on. Truth is, I (personally) have felt a few times exactly how some of the women in this film felt. If you can get past that it is simply a movie, not a documentary, not an intervention, not a movie to watch for dating advice, then yes, you can enjoy it for exactly what it is.

Friday we did, indeed, go to Boston. We started off at Fanuiel Hall (my favorite place in Boston, so rich with history) then ventured to the Old Granary Cemetery (part of the Freedom Trail) where Paul Revere is buried. There are several other famous headstones (John Hancock- signer of the Declaration) and some stones that date back to 1600's.

While in the area we drove to Matt & Nelson's new house (Congratulations!!) and stopped by our favorite store, Trader Joe's. We picked up Honey Sesame Almonds, 3-buck-chuck, and some almond butter, things I can't find anywhere else (cheaply). If you don't know Trader Joe's... it's an amazing organic, natural, whole foodsy store. I know it seems cheesy, but we are hoping to get a picture in front of every "TJ's" in New England.

We ended the Boston night at another favorite: The Cheesecake Factory, where we engaged in pure unhealthy bliss.

I think, in this picture, my exact thoughts were "OMG, that is sooooo good"

Saturday is a whole other story, which I will write about soon :)

February Vacation wrap-up, Aaron's 30th

We got back from North Conway late Wednesday night. I had work on Thursday, but Aaron had the entire week off because it was school vacation for the Manchester School District. I left him a list of chores to do, one of which was to bring the sexy cat for a hair appointment on Friday, which he did; Rocko came back a new man.

Come the weekend, it was back to celebrating. Aaron's birthday was Monday, March 3rd. His 30th birthday. I, of course, had big plans for him. We woke up early and went out for a big breakfast, then off to get a couples massage, it has become a tradition that he gets a massage on his birthday. What a great time, boy oh boy did we need it, just laying there for an hour at the mercy of a massage therapist after skiing, ice skating, and hiking just days earlier was heaven.

After an hour, we managed to peel ourselves from the soft blankets and heated table to head to Boston. The Molloy's and myself had made reservations to take Aaron to the Medieval Manor. OMG, if you haven't been there, it is a must see. Jim, Aaron's dad, called ahead of time and got Aaron's name on the King's menu. I will explain exactly what that means later.

The Medieval Manor is a dinner/show combination. When you get to the castle you are put in a "holding tank" of sorts where you buy booze and wait for your party to be called. When they call you, you're let into the courtyard of the castle and seated near the "stage." The person who is your server is also a member of the cast, and they give you a certain number of tokens. The tokens correlate with the number of people you have in your party (we had 6). Each token represents a pitcher of beer or a carafe of wine.

You get 6 courses, all of which you have to eat with your hands. YOU DO NOT GET SILVERWARE and if you ask, they will humiliate you from the stage. You have to request the King's permission to go to the bathroom, or the right is earned by a member of the audience. For example, Aaron had to do the "I'm a little teapot" dance on stage in front of everyone to earn the right for the entire restaurant to go to the bathroom.

The show is actually really amazing. The servers/actors do a great job of putting everything together while still serving you, it's a comedy, and the tap is flowing. The show is really interactive with the audience, and they keep it really small. We made our reservations almost 2 months in advance!

The best part was poor Aaron. As I said, Jim got his name on the King's menu so all night they were announcing that Aaron was turning 30. At one point Aaron had to go up on stage with another girl who was there for her bachelorette party. They were asked to put their hands behind their backs and given a long loaf of french bread to have a sword fight with. How does one have a sword fight with a loaf of bread with one's hands behind their back??? You can figure that one out. Needless to say, Aaron's long sword defeated the bride-to-be easily. He broke her ill-equipped loaf by his skillful ousting with his well endowed bread. The King called him "the poster child for Viagra" I got the whole thing on tape, but it is way too long to post here.

Matt & Nelson (it isn't too hard to figure out which one is Aaron's brother!)

Linda Molloy

Jim Molloy

Aaron, getting his "teapot" on.

Aaron, at Matt & Nelson's, half-in-the-bag.

We had an amazing time, and drank way too much. Later, after the show, we went back to Matt & Nelson's to drink more and have some cake. I provided the cake, Aaron wanted this gourmet $30 dollar cake from a french pastry shop, so we had that (I am usually pretty stingy, but for Aaron's 30th, I spared no expense.) Matt & Nelson put penis candles on the cake and it was hilarious. I have attached a video of Aaron "blowing" out the candles. Nelson's dad makes wine, has a small vineyard, and large wine cellar (what a shame ;) Later, we went to the cellar and Linda, Jim and myself had some moonshine. Yikes... one sip of that and I was two sheets to the wind!

On Monday, Aaron's actual birthday, I made him a nice meal and more cake for us! Whew, I better stop eating like this! Between Aaron's birthday and our mini-vacation, it was a week to remember!

I packed Aaron's lunch for school.

Poor Aaron had to go to work on his 30th.

I worked a short day on Monday to be sure I was home before him to prepare everything!

February Vacation: Day 5

We woke up early, heading down to my favorite part of the Inn, the breakfast nook. They serve everything you could possibly imagine in this cute "Funnyfarm-esq" eating area. I love the intimacy of this Inn.

Good thing we had a big breakfast because we were not prepared for what we saw when we went outside. Mother Nature delivered 18 inches of snow in North Conway February 26, 2008. I know there are many nay-sayers out there, but this my friends, is a dream come true for any skier. We checked out of our favorite Inn and it was off to Cranmore Mt!!

We skied for an entire day. The conditions were unlike anything I had ever experienced before, but unfortunately my knee didn't hold up that well. I fell the day before when ice skating. I did manage to get a full day of skiing out of it, but night skiing was out of the question.

We left the mountain and headed back to Concord... we were exhausted and could think of nothing but our own bed in our apartment. We love to go away, but love to come home too.
All in all it was one of the best (and cheapest) vacations we have taken in a long time. Although short, we filled it with lots of activities.

February Vacation: Day 4

So before I begin I have to tell you about how Aaron and I spent a ton of time, the night before we left, packing. We try to pack lightly, but when it comes to food, we don't skimp; I hate spending money on food. In order to understand why we packed so much food, you must realize that we were going to North Conway to go skiing, among other things, and food at ski resorts is so expensive. We packed very carefully, and left right on time. As we were traveling along the Kancamangus Highway Aaron realized he forgot our cooler with all the food in it, and I teased him relentlessly all week long.

Something that usually seems to happen to us, is that the weather never cooperates with our travel plans. It seems whenever we go somewhere, (Montreal for example), there is some kind of extreme weather situation. This time we traveled in a blizzard! Forecasts were calling for several inches, but we were bound and determined to go on vacation.

We arrived at our Inn, again we always try to give money to local business; and stayed at the Merrill Farm Resort (to see our last visit there, click here.) Once checked in, we called to make reservations to go on a sleigh ride. Our reservation wasn't until 4:00 so we had plenty of time to kill, and North Conway is the perfect place to kill time.

We stopped in at a great little cafe for lunch, town was so quiet because of the weather, so we had pick of any restaurant with very little wait. The name of the restaurant was something like the 'Stairway Cafe' and it was too cute for words. We split the most amazing wrap and french onion soup.

We also stopped at my favorite milk stand to get fresh farm milk. I love milk, and this little farm is adorable with fair prices, and they sell little maple candies that I can't seem to find anywhere else. We stocked up and were off to go ice skating and on a sleigh ride.

Nestlenook Farm is located in Jackson, NH. One of my favorite things about Jackson and Nestlenook is that you have to cross over a covered bridge to get to this small town. What a beautiful place. The minute you enter into the village at Nestlenook, it is almost like a time warp.

When we first got to Nestlenook, we immediately went ice skating. They have a huge pond with quaint bridges and music playing. The ice was perfect and there were little islands that had huts with fires burning. We skated for a couple of hours, then went and got some hot cocoa before our sleigh ride.

The sleigh ride took us all over the property of Nestlenook, rich with history and, as you can see, wildlife. The horses were well cared for and the old Austrian sleigh was comfortable, equipped with blankets to keep you warm. It was snowing lightly which made the ride even more romantic. We stopped once to feed the reindeer who lived on the property.

After our sleigh ride, we went to a few shops in North Conway then back to Merrill for tea time. The snow was really starting to come down, but that didn't stop us from going back out to find a place to eat. We stopped at Decades, but the wait was over two hours; so we went back to the Muddy Moose, where we often frequent when in North Conway. My meal was absolutely delicious. Aaron's was not, he said it was yucky and dry. He ate very little of it, but we decided to take it home anyway. Shamefully, I carry a sharpie in my purse at all times (in case if feel the urge to 'tag' buildings) so we clearly labeled his meal.

His yucky maple pork chop.

We retired pretty early, because we had a long day ahead of us. It snowing with no end in sight.

We needed our beauty sleep...

February Vacation: Day 3

On Monday, still tired from the hike, we didn't have much planned. There had been something we had been talking about doing for quite some time, and that was paint pottery. We went to the local pottery place, You're Fired, to begin a project.

I worked on a post-it holder for my office and Aaron has big plans for a mug he's painting. We are both perfectionists, so we weren't able to complete the project in one sitting, but that just gives us an excuse to go back... there is a ceramic snake I am eyeballing... perhaps I will paint that too. If you have never painted pottery, I have to tell you, it is so much fun! I will post pictures of our completed work eventually.

February Vacation: Day 2

It had been a long time since Aaron and I had done anything outside, and as I have stated many times before, I am happiest when I am outside. I love nature. I have always been that way. When we were small, my mom would have to drag my sister and I into the house after being outside since the crack of dawn.

We woke up Sunday morning, our second day of vacation, and I immediately knew what I wanted to do. It was a gorgeous day, why waste it doing chores or watching the tube? I stated, "Let's go on a hike." Something I love about Aaron is that he is always up for any adventure. I say what I want and he organizes/plans it. He decided Mt. Kearsarge in Wilmot, NH (practically our back yard) would be the perfect climb considering the current conditions (icy & snowy.)

We got all packed up and after stopping at S&W Sports for a new hat (I, of course, needed a new hat to match my new jacket) we were on our way. The ride up was beautiful. I really enjoyed this climb. It seems each hike I always say "this is my favorite mountain" (with the exception of Mt. Lafayette)

This is Kearsarge. It is about a 4-mile-round- trip hike. Very strenuous this time of year due to the conditions. Additionally, it is not accessible by vehicle in the winter, so you have to hike the auto-road to the base of the mountain which adds another mile each way.

This tree was at the base of the Mountain. I do love and often photograph trees. One of my favorite things about hiking in observing the vegetation and how it varies as you near the summit.

A view, about half way up, of Mt. Monadnock

Aaron says this summer I have to start carrying a pack too... I guess I have to use the "stair- climber" a little harder at Planet Fitness :( But I bet I can weasel out of it ;)

If you look in the very back, a clear view of snow-covered Mt. Washington. You could see several peaks from this spot: Mt. Sunapee, Pat's Peak, Crotched Mt., Mt. Monadnock.

All in all it took us about 4 hours. Whew! Some spots were very icy and difficult to navigate, but it wouldn't be a challenge if it were easy.

After our hike, we went straight home, ate some leftovers and hung out in bed for the rest of the night... we were exhausted!