Lyn

Crab Picking at Cantler’s, Annapolis, MD

Family No Responses »
Sep 232012
 

I had a wonderful time at the FitBloggin’ conference and will be sharing much more about it in the next few days.   Before heading home, I spent some time with my sister.  She’s lived in the Baltimore area for 10 years and I’ve visited many times.  But, until today, I never picked crabs.

Based on many recommendations, we visited Cantler’s.  We wanted to sit outside and was told it gets crowded.  Our plan to get there at their 11AM opening time worked great.

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It was a perfect day for the patio.

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We had a great view and even saw a few boats dock so passengers could come to the restaurant.

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Knives, forks, plates, napkins, mallets and a brown paper “table cloth” were our supplies.

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Soon, our crabs arrived.  We ordered 2 super and 4 large, so we each had 3 crabs.  They totally covered in Old Bay seasoning.  In Maryland, it’s assumed.  I’m sure that I consumed more Old Bay today, than in my entire life prior combined.

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We had a great time.

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Soon, I was off to the airport.  It’s nice to be home.

Becoming a Cleveland Museum of Natural History Docent

Uncategorized 1 Response »
Sep 222012
 

Two years ago, I thought about becoming a docent for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  A docent is a person who trains to be an educator and guide.  Usually, it’s a volunteer position.  The docent training at the museum is like taking a college level class about the overall museum.  The class meets for about 60 hours over the course of a few months from September until December.  I already had many weekend things planned and could not take the class at that time.  I planned to take it last year, but then found out that it’s only offered every other year.

I had it on my radar early this year and filled out an application and interviewed back in May.  I’m so excited that our class began about two weeks ago.

I am going to become a docent for several reasons.  We love going to the museum.  As a family, we go there 2-4 times a month.  I want to know about all of the exhibits so as Nick and Sally learn about various topics, I can enhance their knowledge based on what’s availble at the museum.

The other reason to volunteer as a docent is to help inform and educate museum visitors. Docents are guides, they help interpret exhibits, they staff “please touch” carts with specimens and models visitors can handle, they staff off-site events for the museum, and they act generally as ambassadors for the museum. I look forward to sharing tidbits about the museum as I go through the course.

 Posted by at 10:08 PM

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 16

CSA 1 Response »
Sep 212012
 

One of my favorite things about the Fresh Fork CSA is that we are permitted to take up to 4 weeks of vacation.  I am definitely one who needs all 4 weeks.  This week, I’m in Baltimore, so we aren’t going to be able to use/pick up our share.  Usually, when I’m on vacation from my pickup, I am very sad to be missing one or two of the items.  This week, I finally feel like I picked a great week to be on vacation.

Don’t get me wrong, I love most of the items on the list.  But, many of them are either things we’ve been getting all summer or items that are just starting to appear.  The only item that would have been new and fun would have been the mini Mira sweet corn.  Maybe I’ll get lucky and still be able to obtain some of it.

I hope everyone enjoys their share this week.  I’m hoping for lots of winter squash in the upcoming weeks.

Here’s what the large share is scheduled to receive this week:

  • 1 whole pasture raised chicken
  • 3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
  • 1 bunch kale or 1 pint mixed color baby sweet peppers
  • 2 ct. eggplant (1 if they are really large)
  • 2 ct. red bell peppers
  • 1 head green leaf lettuce
  • 1-2 onions, depending on size
  • 1 lb. dragon-tongue beans
  • 2 ct. zucchini
  • 6 ears mini Mira sweet corn
  • 3 lbs. sweet potatoes
  • 1-2 leeks
  • A handful Poblano peppers

Enjoy the change from summer to winter this weekend.

FitBloggin’12

Blog Information 1 Response »
Sep 202012
 

 

 

 

Today, I am leaving on a jet plane and heading to Baltimore.  I’ll be attending (and speaking) at Fit Bloggin’.

FitBloggin’ is a conference for anyone who blogs about health, wellness, good food, fitness, etc.  I attended this conference last year as well.  I’m excited to meet many bloggers that I follow and look forward to being inspired.

Thursday afternoon there is an event at McCormick.  I can’t wait to learn more about spicing up food.  The conference agenda is jam-packed with informative and entertaining sessions.

I’m part of the Ignite Keynote Friday evening.  I’m excited, nervous and challenged.

I suppose by the end of Friday night, I’ll be relaxed and able to fully enjoy the rest of the conference.  As a bonus, my sister lives about 20 minutes from the conference hotel in Inner Harbor.  So, I’m crashing at her place and will get to spend time with her and her family on Sunday before flying back.

I’ll be telling you all more about my experience in Baltimore next week.

 Posted by at 9:00 AM

Snack Time at Preschool–Tomatoes

Adventures with Nick and Sally No Responses »
Sep 192012
 

Last year when we toured the preschool that we eventually chose for Nick, the only thing that I didn’t care for was their snacks.  The school provided a snack each day, but it rotated between animal crackers, fish crackers, vanilla wafers, etc.

Nick gets his share of junk food, but I really didn’t want him to be excited for school because he was getting a processed snack every day.

Over the summer, a new director was hired and the next thing we knew, parents were asked to help by providing healthy snacks for the class.

Of course, I am in love with this idea.  Today was our first turn.  We brought in sliced cherry type tomatoes from our garden.  It’s cool that Nick got to pick them and then take them to share with his class.

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He reported back that some kids liked them and others didn’t.  But that’s ok, at least kids are going to get exposed to many different snacks this year.

I’ll have to think of some other good ideas moving forward.  There’s 14 kids in the class, so we’ll have to bring snack in a little more than once a month.

 Posted by at 4:00 PM

Geauga Family Farms CSA–summer week 16

CSA No Responses »
Sep 182012
 

We did a little shopping at Whole Foods before picking up our share today.  I’m so glad that the store remodel is complete.  Everything seems like it’s in its place.  Now, we just need to learn where those places are.

Here’s what we received today:

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Bok choy, lettuce

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Apples, slicing tomatoes

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Hot peppers, red onions

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Bell peppers, red Russian kale

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I’m going out of town on Thursday and won’t return until Sunday night.  So, I’ll be prepping items for the freezer or cooking them for the family to eat while I am gone.

I now have two heads of bok choy.  I’m going to sauté them with garlic, onion and sesame oil for Stephen.  The lettuce will get eaten in salad.  The apples have been popular in oatmeal and for snacking.  The tomatoes are going straight to the freezer with the romas that I picked from our garden today.  I’ll be making a batch of sauce for canning before our lamb comes in from the butcher at the beginning of October.

I have no desire to deal with the hot peppers, so I am sending them to work with Stephen in hopes that someone there will put them to good use.  I wish we had a swap table at Whole Foods where you could take and item and leave and item.  One of our other CSAs used to do that and it was great.

I’ll chop and freeze any pepper and onion left before I leave on my trip.  I’m just going to blanch the kale for later use in soup.  We have plenty of greens out in the fridge already.

Lately, I feel like I’m preserving more than we’re eating, but some weeks are just like that.

Braising and Fall Vegetables with Parker Bosley

CSA No Responses »
Sep 172012
 

Tonight, I attended a cooking demo and tasting class offered through Fresh Fork Market.  The class was held in the basement section of Market Street Brewery.  I had never been there before and I am clearly not a west-sider, but I made it there and back.

Parker Bosley shared his infamous wisdom with regard to beets, parsnips, roast, potatoes, braising greens, and much more.

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Parker is a legend in the Cleveland area.  Honestly, I had never heard of him until recently.  He’s really amazing and so personable.  It’s a joy to watch him cook.

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We watched and heard about different preparations, heard great stories and tasted wonderful food.

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We left with a booklet full of recipes that has me ready for the fall and winter bounty that our local farmers have to offer.

I’m most excited to make the Lyonnaise potatoes and parsnip puree.  I can’t wait until the Thanksgiving class.

6 Years

Family 2 Responses »
Sep 162012
 

Stephen and I have been married for 6 years.  We had a great wedding with perfect weather.  We’ve had many adventures and travels.  We have 2 beautiful children.  Life is great.  I can’t imagine sharing it with anyone else. I love you Stephen.  I can’t wait to see what other adventures are in store for us.

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 Posted by at 8:54 PM

Camp Invention–Life Lyn Style

Adventures with Nick and Sally No Responses »
Sep 152012
 

Before I had kids, I worked for the National Inventors Hall of Fame.  Specially, I worked the Camp Invention program.

It’s been almost 5 years since I worked full time for camp.  Now, I am busy raising my own little campers.  Many days we have craft sticks, boxes, paper, markers, tape, scissors, glue, paper bags and more out in our house as the kids experiment and create.

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Recently, Nick started wanting to build more “real” things from his designs.  Some safety goggles were in order.  Sally and Nick were both excited when they arrived.

Most of our toys are used as part of creations.  They are rarely used for their intended purpose.

It’s awesome. It’s messy. It’s fun. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Date Night at CMNH and Sweetie Fry

Family 1 Response »
Sep 142012
 

Stephen and I had a date night this evening.  We attended a lecture at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History about bicycling by Jeff Mapes.  After the lecture, Clyde opened the observatory.  It’s always fun to see the sky through the 113 year old telescope.

After we finished up at the museum, we decided to try Sweetie Fry.  Many other bloggers that I read have talked about this restaurant.  They serve ice cream and fries.  It’s a strange combination.  Stephen got CHOC RASP MARM.  It was chocolate ice cream with a raspberry marmalade swirl.  I ordered the shoestring sweet potato fries with honey mustard dipping sauce.  I thought the fries were good.  They were cooked to order, so they were very hot.  I will say that they were very salty.  I would definitely order them without salt next time.

The place was fairly full of high school students.  There were a few college and other folks represented too.

I’m not sure we’d go back on a regular basis.  We really like Mitchell’s and find ourselves there the most often for ice cream.  Fries are such a treat, we really don’t have them often at all.

It was fun to have a night out.  It’s hard to believe we’re almost to our 6 year anniversary.  So much has happened since we met.  That’s a story for another day.

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