This weekend was ahh-mazing! We took a long weekend and hiked, wined and dined our way through Ithaca and Cornell University, my old stomping grounds. =) =)
Here's a shot of me at Buttermilk Falls, which are possibly some of the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen (Niagra Falls doesn't stand a chance!).
We hiked around tons of other waterfalls...
Hiked (and even got lost a bit) in the woods...
And took a walk through my old college campus!
Here's a shot of me at Buttermilk Falls, which are possibly some of the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen (Niagra Falls doesn't stand a chance!).
We hiked around tons of other waterfalls...
Hiked (and even got lost a bit) in the woods...
And took a walk through my old college campus!
And we ate...so much!
We ordered a focaccia bread (this is an appetizer!) with roasted garlic and olive oil from one of my favorite places on the campus (in the end the meal was mediocre, but living in NYC for 6 years means my palate is spoiled forever!) and it was amazing and SO HUGE (I had 1 of these huge triangle slabs, dripping in oil and garlic). To the right is a shot of our last meal in Ithaca: a pate plate (chicken liver pate, smoked trout pate, chorizo sausage-all for BF, and a baguette and an absurdly good blood mary at the side. Not pictured: the huge short rib sandwich and the second baguette that we shared. This meal was so filling and huge that I didn't eat for the rest of the night, save for a carrot stick and a few sunflower seeds. Guilt? No! My stomach was just that full. I did happen to attempt to quantify the calories in the chicken liver pate and caloriecount.com and it came out to something like 30-60 cals/tbsp (depending on brand). Still, I think I had at least 4-5 tbsp of the stuff. If you look closely at the picture, you might notice the top of the 11 oclock ramekin in white...that's a nice 1/4" layer of fat! Scraaaape. Oh well, totally worth this coming week of veggies and running.
We also had a meal at another college fave that ended in these little 1/2 cup sized desserts. I ordered the banana cream pie (my absolute favorite dessert on earth) and Boyfriend had the cheesecake. I loved the perfect exact-right sized portions of these things. I felt totally guilt-free after eating them.
And we drank....
Ithaca and the Finger Lakes region has loads of wineries that all have inexpensive tastings and most even have really great little cafes and delis attached. So we visited at least 1 winery each day (and a cidery!) and did a lot of tastings! We also came back with enough wine to refill our wine-rack, leaving us fully stocked with wine for the next year!
Finally, so I don't end a recipe blog posting without at least discussing something I made, I'll quickly explain this picture. I "made" the most yummy wrap!
We spent 2 out of 3 lunches doing outdoor picnics (same as our indoor picnics, without the fancy ingredients). Processed cheese/turkey and wraps are our general choices. But this time....I put carrot sticks INTO my wrap! This gave the wrap some crunch and added a lot of satisfaction to my mouth! On a side note, these are LaTortilla Company wraps and they are 80-100 calories for a monster-sized wrap. They come in cool flavors too. Even Boyfriend admitted these tasted great. None of that lo-cal flavor stuff!
The damage? Considerable. 3lbs gained in 3 days! Ouch! That's ok, I've come to realize that with a little care and a lot of exercise, I am in control of at least 5 of the lbs I tend to gain and lose over the course of a week or two. So my fear of sliding back into chubbiness (brought back to sharp relief with my trip back to the scene of the college-15!) is held at bay. I think the worst part of it is that I can actually SEE the changes in the pictures from the weekend!! Is that crazy? Well perhaps.
The end!
Cheers!
P.S. I have no huge cooking plans in mind since I'll be having buffet lunch at work again (same plan: no pasta, no cheese, lots of salad, more protein/less bread) but may be making some cheesy corn muffins in the near future.
Cheers!
P.S. I have no huge cooking plans in mind since I'll be having buffet lunch at work again (same plan: no pasta, no cheese, lots of salad, more protein/less bread) but may be making some cheesy corn muffins in the near future.
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