Life Lyn Style

Beer

Aug 162012

I’m back from Utah. I had a great trip, and I have many things to tell you about. But, tonight is about sleep, laundry, unpacking and general clean up. My numerous photos and tales will have to wait.

Instead of a post about the trip, let’s quickly talk about beer. I don’t drink much (maybe one drink a year), but I’m around people who drink socially pretty often. Someone purchased some beer for our trip while we were in Utah. Check it out!

In honor of the natural history museum, this one was purchased. Noticed the “Darwin Approved” and Created in 27 days, not 7”.

Then, we have Polygamy Porter. Keep in mind, we were in Utah. There’s nothing more to say.

We all got a laugh out of the beer choices. Apparently, they were both good, too.

I’m hoping for a solid night sleep and a relaxing Friday.

Spree For All–part 2

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Aug 152012

Wow, it’s been such a busy summer and I still have many posts to catch up on. Back in June, the family completed the rest of the Spree For All. You can read about the first part here.

We had reason to be in Munroe Falls for a party and decided to leave a bit early to finish up the hikes. Our first stop was the bike and hike trail.

It was a very hot day and there wasn’t much shade. But, soon we were to the turn around point and heading back to the car.

Sally loved running ahead and then making sure we were still watching her.

Next up was the towpath trail at Memorial parkway. This walk included Mr. Spider.

Soon enough we reached our turnaround point.

Our last stop was the Overlook trail. We were all getting a bit tired, but the kids were troopers. There was also shade!

Sally wanted a spot on daddy’s shouders. Soon enough we had completed the Spree For All.

We had a great time and Stephen and I loved sharing the Metro Parks with the kids. We have many fond memories of the Summit County park system.

Geauga Family Farms CSA-summer week 11

CSA No Responses »

Aug 142012

Hi, everyone! Husband Stephen here with a guest post. Tomato season is upon us, we’re still in melon and corn season (yum!), and there’s pretty much produce everywhere this time of year. It’s great!

Here is what we received in this week’s Geauga Family Farms CSA small share.

First up are the tomatoes, in regular size and cherry. In fact, some of these cherry tomatoes are so small that they may count as the “grape” variety.

Next, some onions and a bell pepper. The onions are strong. I could smell them as soon as I opened the bag.

Corn and cabbage…

And finally, a head of lettuce and a medium watermelon.

The forecast is for a break from this unusually cool August now that these peppers have arrived to heat things up…

I love this time of year!

WOW: Wade Oval Wednesday

Adventures with Nick and Sally, Family No Responses »

Aug 132012

Last summer, most Wednesday evenings, you’d find our family eating dinner by the dinosaur at the Cleveland Natural History Museum. Once we were done, we’d visit the museum for a bit and head over to Wade Oval Wednesday for people watching, the farmers’ market and music. This year, our schedule has been crazy on Wednesdays, but on August 1st, we finally made our way down.

Apparently, we chose the busiest night of the year to go. Parking was particularly difficult. After waiting about 10 minutes, we were able to get a spot at the museum. There’s lots of parking around the oval, but we have parking included with our membership to the museum, so we like to park there.

We ate our packed dinner inside the café while I had a pre-trip meeting with a few other Capitol Reef participants. Then, we headed across the street to Wade Oval.

Sally was in a silly mood. Both kids were glad to see the farmers’ market.

The market at the oval is small. There are about 8 tables or so. We didn’t really need anything and didn’t shop, but it was still fun to look at the items and quiz the kids on their produce knowledge.

We made our way around to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. The kids enjoyed a few minutes in the Children’s Garden.

Soon, it was time to head back to the car. We made our way through the crowd. Many people came out to see the reggae band.

I’m not sure if we’ll make it down for WOW another day before Labor Day comes, but I’m sure glad we were able to make it down once this summer.

Koko Bakery

Adventures with Nick and Sally, Family 2 Responses »

Aug 122012

A couple of weeks ago, Nick was in camp at the Great Lakes Science Center. Since Sally and I were driving down to pick him up around lunch time, we decided to meet up with Stephen for lunch. Stephen works near downtown, so it worked out well.

Koko Bakery had been suggested to me by several friends, but I hadn’t made the effort to check it out. It’s located in Payne Commons near E.37th and Payne.

We didn’t have any trouble finding the place.

It’s a bakery, but they also sell rice bowls and other lunch items. We decided to buy things out of their display cases (hot and room temperature).

We started with 3 wrapped hot dogs, a bacon and cheese bun and another breakfast bun. We also got a juice for the kids to share and a watermelon bubble tea for me. I loved the bubble tea and can’t wait to have it again.

After we consumed our first tray, we picked up a pork bun and a couple of sweets. An egg tart, a cream Danish type of bun and a custard filled bun.

Including our drinks, our bill was less than $20 and all four of us were full. There wasn’t fruit and veggies at this meal, but it was a fun special treat. We’d definitely stop there again. Everything was fresh and delicious.

Niagara Falls–The Last Hurrah!

Adventures with Nick and Sally 2 Responses »

Aug 112012

One of my best friends is moving to Israel this week. Between us, we have 6 kids and we have had a blast over the last year and a half. Both of us are adventurous and have been on many outings with the kids. I have fond memories of Lake Farmpark, the Akron Zoo, Squires Castle, picking lots of fruit, learning about canning, working out, and much more. She was taking her kids to see Niagara Falls before they moved, so we drove up too. The goal was to do the Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds. We needed to take two cars, so I invited my mom to join us. It’s never bad to have an extra adult along.

Nick’s and Sally’s first view of the falls. He said “WOW!”. They also loved seeing the boat from the observation deck.

We saw a double rainbow. Since Nick just finished a camp about rainbows and light, that was timely. The kids weren’t into posing, but we took a few photos anyway.

My mom is so much fun! Soon we were off to the boat. We left my house just after 6AM, stopped to pick up sandwich fixings in Buffalo, enjoyed the observation deck, and were at the boat around 11:30AM. I love taking clock photos.

The ponchos were hot, but Sally and Nick didn’t mind.

I put my camera away for the boat ride. I didn’t want to take any chances. After the ride, we noticed that there was a small boardwalk path up a few stairs near the exit. It looked similar to how the Cave of the Winds would be, but shorter. I took my friends baby and found a bench. The rest of them ventured up the path. Too bad we had already recycled the ponchos.

They were soaked from head to toe. Although, I’m not sure the ponchos would have helped as I saw people ringing out their clothes in the restroom. They had worn ponchos.

Here’s my favorite shot of the falls from this trip. The weather was perfect and I love the clouds.

Here’s my mom with the kids.

We opted to skip the Cave of the Winds and headed to the car for a picnic.

Soon, we were on the road back home and arrived just before dinner. It was a great day!

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 10

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Aug 102012

We picked up our bag at Mayfield this week. It was the heaviest bag ever. I had to split it into two bags to carry it to the car.

Here’s what we were expecting to receive this week:

1 dz. eggs
1 piece gouda cheese
A handful of hot Hungarian peppers
Approx. 2 to 3 green peppers, depending on size
1 head cabbage (most will be green)
Either 1 pint mixed color cherry tomatoes or about 1.5 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
1 lb. green filet beans
2 ct. cucumbers
1 pint blackberries or approx. 1.5 lbs. peaches
1.5 lbs. spelt berries
1 bunch beets
1 lb. chorizo
1 head broccoli
2 ct. patty pan squash
6 ears sweet corn

I’m going to be preserving peppers and squash tonight. We have enough of both to can or freeze. I’m also going to make a small batch of pickles with my cucumbers since I have a few.

We ate the sweet corn for dinner. This is one of the weeks when dinner was determined bulkiness.

We’ll be having beans with lunch tomorrow. I’m not sure about the tomatoes, but they might just get pureed and frozen for later.

The cheese will keep a few days. The peaches won’t be ready to eat for a couple of days, but will go great in our oatmeal.

The carrots will make a side dish for dinner tomorrow. These peppers are hot and that is my least favorite Fresh Fork item. I’ll probably just freeze them for chili this winter.

We have an abundance of eggs and I’m going to make some custard tomorrow. I’m also going to hard boil some to have for snacks. The chorizo was partially thawed, so it will become part of lunch tomorrow.

The spelt berries are in the pantry. The beets will get used tomorrow. I’ll probably make Harvard beets again. It’s a household favorite.

The cauliflower was dinner. I made it “mac and cheese” style. I used the cauliflower (received instead of broccoli) as the pasta and made a white cheese sauce that used Mayfield Road creamery Smoked Gouda. It was delicious. I don’t have plans for the cabbage yet.

I’m leaving town on Sunday and will be back late on Wednesday. I should have taken a vacation week with Fresh Fork, but I wasn’t really thinking. I’m going to prepare and preserve as much as possible before I leave. My goal is for Stephen to have food for while the kids and I are gone, but not be overwhelmed when he tries to find something in the fridge. I did sign up for vacation next week. That will give me a few days of recovery when I get back. Our freezer is pretty full right now. I just need a couple of days to make some jam and get a bit organized. I’m hoping to make time for that next weekend.

Train the Trainer

Exercise No Responses »

Aug 092012

My partner in crime is moving Israel. We’ve trained a couple of times during the last week. Today, she trained our trainer. Since my partner in crime is Orthodox, she always has on a skirt, long sleeves and her hair is covered. So, she brought in an outfit for our trainer today.

Jen was such a good sport as she was asked to try out all of the “hard to do in a skirt” exercises.

Kettle bell lunges, passing the kettle bell under your legs as you lunge down the fitness center.

High box step ups

Tennis ball sprints down the hallway.

Floor work with a bar.

Thanks to trainer Jen for being such a good sport. It was such a fun last session before saying goodbye to a great friend. The J won’t be the same.

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Just for record keeping, here are the last two workouts:

7/30 Workout (3 sets)

Cable Chest Press 40lb x 20ea
Band Squat+Press x 1min.
Cable Reverse Fly 20lb x 20ea
Kettle bell Push Press 12lb x 30sec ea
Knee Drives x 25ea
Band Lateral Steps x 1min.
2 sets of the following:
DB Single Leg Crunch 6lb x 40
Torso Twists x 40
Medicine Ball Supermans 2lb x 20ea
Single Arm/Single Leg Vups x 15ea

8/8 Workout (2 sets)

Bicep Curls 10lb x 25
Bar Push Press 18lb x 30
Cable Single Arm Row 40lb x 30ea
Shoulder Circuit 2.5lb x 5sets x 10ea
Cable Triceps Pull 35lb x 20ea
DB Single Arm Row 30lb x 20ea

I was nursing a bad knee, hence most of the workout was upper body only.

Wholesome Valley Farm: Foraging for Eggs, Produce Picking and More Fun for the Kids.

Adventures with Nick and Sally, CSA No Responses »

Aug 082012

Here’s the last installment from our day at Wholesome Valley Farm. First, here’s an overview photo of the barn, parking and main area. If you look closely, you can see the bounce house. Our kids had lots of fun in it, but I never took any photos of them jumping.

One of the first thing that the kids did was this cart ride. They loved it. It’s a bit strange to send your 2 and 4 year olds off with kids that aren’t all that much older, but they were never totally out of sight and had a blast!

In addition to the bounce house, the kids loved the corn box. Here’s Sally sitting in the corn. She spent lots of time in the box. The next photo is of the chicken house. The chickens can come and go as they please. It was fun to check them out.

Two of the Amish boys help us gather eggs. The kids (and I) thought it was great. One of the eggs was still warm. Eggs don’t get any fresher.

After gathering eggs, the kids got to check out the 2 day old chicks. The expressions were hard to capture, but were priceless.

Last up was produce picking. It was super fun for Nick and Sally to pick a few items from the fields. They ended up with patty pan squash, onions, carrots, and tomatoes. The produce picking came with a ride in the golf cart which was also fun for the kids.

It was such a fun day and the weather was great. The kids are still talking about it. Thanks to the 2 Amish boys especially. They were super nice to Nick and Sally and really made them feel special.

Geauga Family Farms CSA–summer week 10

CSA No Responses »

Aug 072012

My day started by leaving at 6AM to take the kids to Niagara Falls. My mom came with us and we met up with friends. It was a great day. My pick up for the CSA was smooth, but 2 1/2 hours later than normal. My photos are a bit dark and I’m glad that I found a bit of time for this post tonight.

Here’s what we picked up today:

cantaloupe, watermelon

bell pepper, corn

onions, banana peppers

tomatoes, cherry tomatoes

lettuce

We love local melon season. We will be cutting these melons up as soon as possible so we can enjoy them. I also have a recipe from Jane Snow for cantaloupe gelatin that I am excited to try. If it works out, I’ll share more about it soon.

Our green pepper, lettuce and tomatoes will go into salad. The rest of the tomatoes will be snacks or frozen. I found a recipe for tomato jelly that I’m going to try soon. The onion and banana peppers will be chopped and frozen. We’ll have the sweet corn with dinner tomorrow.

This is a pretty easy week. It’s a good thing for us, since it’s a super busy week in our household.

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