Weekend Review - Chenango Valley State Park

We love to go camping, and this was an ideal weekend for it.  The oppressive heat that swept over the east coast definitely needed escaping.  It was still hot, but hiding out in the woods was so much cooler than hanging out in town.  Here's our campsite announced by the sign I made here.

Yes, those are golf clubs.  Chenango Valley State Park has a nice golf course, and the boys wanted to be prepared just in case.  CVSP also has a number of really nice hiking trails, but one of our favorites is the bog trail.  For those unfamiliar, a bog is a wetland that accumulates a layer of dead plant material(in our climate, mostly mosses) on top.  They're kind of spongy on top, and if you jump on them like a trampoline, you can watch the spongy ground move underneath and around you.

Trails through the bog are a good deal less groomed then typical hiking trails.

There's my daredevil Whirling Dervish climbing out on a dead tree over the stagnant water.

I eventually joined him, but my backpack kept shifting weight, so it was none too pretty.

He reminded me that last year, I abandoned the backpack before trying to walk out on dead trees.  I wasn't letting go this year.

After the morning hike, we packed a picnic lunch to eat by the little spillway waterfall.  It was nice listening to the sound of the water.

It's just a short walk over the bridge from the waterfall to the swimming area.  One of the lakes at CVSP has a swimming area complete with diving boards, changing rooms, and snack shop. 

It was nice to splash around in the water and cool off.

There was plenty of nature to be found.  The kids found a toad by our campsite, but let it go before I could find the camera.  They got to watch a gypsy moth lay her eggs, and found all manner of butterflies including this white admiral,

and this tiger moth.

You can't go camping without a campfire, and even when it's still hot out, a campfire is a must.  Yes it was still hot, and yes the girls are wearing fake fur.  I'll explain about that later this week.  It really deserves it's very own post.

You know it's a good camping trip when everyone sleeps this good.

Thanks for popping in and camping with us.  I'm linking this up to Decor To Adore's Wayfaring Wednesdays.

Banh Mi

The Before Blogging Throwback Thursdays Party is still going on strong.  Click here to join in.

I live in a smallish city and the traditional vietnamese sandwich, Banh Mi, has been something I haven't been able to enjoy in a long time.  Last year, when CG went to NYC for a week on business, he brought home a couple of them for me.  Imagine my joy when I saw a recipe for them in Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook, My Father's Daughter.  Now her version is a prawn sandwich, but that's not how I eat them so I used chicken in mine.

This is my adapted version of her vietnamese prawn sandwich recipe.  The night before I planned on making these sandwiches, I prepared the pickled carrots and sauce, and marinated the chicken.  She says to make these at least an hour ahead, but I find it easy to prep items just before bed and my final kitchen cleanup plus I wanted the chicken to sit in the marinade for a long time.

For the pickled carrots, I shredded 3 small carrots, and added them to 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp granulated sugar.  She used rice wine vinegar, but seasoned rice vinegar was what I had.  I liked it this way.

GP used vegenaise, but we're not vegans, so I used mayo.  For the sauce I whisked together 1/2 cup mayo, the juice of 1 lime and 1 1/2 tsps sriracha.  I like things zippy, you could use less sriracha.  Speaking of sriracha, GP has a recipe for homemade sriracha, but I just used the bottle in my frig.  When I run out, I plan on giving her recipe a try.

In a ziplock baggie, I placed 1 split chicken breast, 2 tbsps GF soy sauce, 2 tbsps toasted sesame oil, and 1 tsp fresh grated ginger(not ground ginger.)

All of this went in the frig overnight.  When you're ready for lunch, grill your chicken.  While the chicken is cooking, julienne a half an english cucumber,

and grab some basil and cilantro from the garden.

Banh mi is made with baguettes.  I made my own rolls for this to keep them gluten-free, but buying baguettes would be way easier.

Split your bread lengthwise with a bread knife.

Grill the rolls on both sides, while you shred the chicken.

To assemble the sandwiches, I spread the sauce on both halves of the roll.  Placed a layer of pickled carrots followed by a layer of  julienned cucumbers.  Next layer on the herbs followed by the chicken.

These sandwiches are like a taste of childhood for me.  Whirling Dervish loved his, so it looks like these will go on the lunch rotation.

Thanks for popping in and cooking with me.

Before Blogging Throwback Thursdays #5 - Soapstone Counters

How quickly a month flies by!  It's time for my monthly Before Blogging party where you can link up anything at all from before blogging whether it's something you did, made, bought, found, traveled to or whatever.  I can't wait to see what you all bring to the party.

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3 years ago, we ripped out our kitchen down to the studs and replaced everything.  This could be a before and after kitchen post, but it's not.  I'm just talking counters today, specifically soapstone counters.  I've dreamed about soapstone counters since my very first apartment when I was 18.  This was long before they became so popular with the movie Something's Gotta Give.  When we started kitchen planning, I knew that's what I wanted, but the cost of stone fabrication was way out of our budget.  Lucky for us, we're fearless DIYers, and all it took was some basic woodworking tools, and the stone which we purchased from M. Texeira in NJ.

Here's where we started.  2" thick laminate that was coming loose, stained, and burned in spots.

Soapstone comes in many varieties that have varying colors and hardness.  It took me a while to pick my stone.  When I finally picked in mid-November, they shipped out our slabs, and we were hit with a nasty snow storm which made it impossible for the delivery truck to get up our hill.  We rescheduled delivery then were hit with another 2 feet of snow.  When the slabs were finally delivered to our driveway, it was nearing Christmas.  So I let them sit in the driveway until after the holidays.  Those slabs were ice cold & heavy and we needed several beefy friends(and a half a dozen ribeyes, and a case of beer) to help with moving them.

The penninsula piece was cut with straight lines before moving into place.  The curves were made using a belt sander afterwards.

For those of you who know DIY, stone dust is about 10 times worse than drywall dust.  I'm wearing a mask, my glasses(contacts kept drying out,) and ski goggles for a better seal and high impact resistance in this pic.  I also recommend doing a leave in conditioning treatment on your hair both before and after you work your stone.  Talk about split ends.

Here's the penninsula after the first oiling.  Look how young SB is here.

My prep corner,

and my baking corner.  Love!

Obviously the kitchen is a lot more finished now, but this is where it all started - my love of soapstone counters.  Every other decision came afterwards.

I'm linking this up at Stuff and Nonsense's Fridays Unfolded, because a little bit of countertop petting unfolds every week for me, The DIY Showoff's DIY Project Parade, and Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday.

Let's get this party started.  Grab a button and link up anything you made, did, bought, etc. Before Blogging.  This link will stay open until next Thursday.

{Almost} Wordless Wednesdays - In the Garden

Our Hostas are blooming.

I tried to catch a hummingbird feeding.

Man, they're fast.

I caught this slow guy instead.  Do you see him in there?

There he is.

Thanks for popping in.  If you want to see some amazing hummingbird pics from someone with way better photog skills than myself, check out Kat's latest post at Low Tide, High Style.  Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my monthly Before Blogging Party.  Learn more about it here.  I'm linking up to A Glimpse Inside's Catch a Glimpse Party.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake - The Cocktail

Gerry at Foodness Gracious is holding a cocktail party, and I absolutely had to join in.

How cute is his party button?  Yes I know it's the Family Guy dog, that's why I think it's funny.

2 of my absolute favorite indulgences are dessert and vodka, so is it any wonder that I'm sharing a dessert flavored martini?  I've shared my Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe here, now get ready for all that goodness in a glass.

Shake 1 oz Pinnacle Cake Vodka with 2 oz pineapple juice and some ice in a cocktail shaker.  Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry.  So easy.  I'm actually pouring a double here, because the glass is so ginormous.



Everybody's been buzzing about Pinnacle Whipped Vodka, which is super yummy, but Cake is their lesser known but still just as awesome flavor.

Every good cocktail party should have a bit of mingling, and getting to know you.  So here are some things you didn't know about me.  I recently started P90X(all that vodka and desserts were starting to take a toll.)  I, at the advanced age of way too old, can still do a split.  In all the years I've lived with my husband, I've only cleaned a toilet once - that's his domain. 

Thanks for popping in and drinking with me.  Now go visit Gerry's blog.  He has the most amazing food photography and terrific recipes.  And don't forget to come back Thursday for my monthly Before Blogging Party.