Springtime out West {A Trip to South Dakota}

It's that time of year again... time to visit my parents out west! Joe and I hadn't been back to South Dakota since August, so we were well overdue for a trip.  We coordinated with my sister and her husband to drive up together, and Joe and I flew in to Denver instead of Rapid City, since it's about twice the price to fly direct to little R.C.  We had a great long weekend, full of eating, drinking, talking about cooking, laughing, cooking, and then drinking some more!  Plus a little gambling, some outdoor exploring, and a little more eating. It was such a relaxing trip, and wonderful to spend some time recharging with some of my favorite people.

Quick lunch with my brother on our way through Fort Collins!

We had to take a quick sibling picture. I'm sad I didn't get to spend
more time with my bro, but glad we at least got to have lunch.
Brendan, we'll just have to see you in California next month!

Wyoming was flat but pretty, up until it started snowing a bunch! 

We had to visit the Independent Ale House, my dad's favorite bar. They have a great selection of craft beer on tap, and a lot of it is more local to that area. It's a pretty friendly place, and way more our style than a lot of the other places around Rapid City.

Toasting the fact that they married in to an awesome family!

No trip to Rapid City is complete without a trip "downtown"...

Far too excited about making crepes!

Doughnuts are an important part of vacation.

I love letting my mom cook for me. She's got mad skills.

When we managed to leave the kitchen, it was time to head up to Deadwood. We've been there before, and love the wild west vibe combined with some classic gambling. The highlight of this trip was playing live blackjack at one of the tables, but apparently you're not allowed to take pictures! I was proud that I was able to entertain myself for hours while only spending $5.00. Cheap date, right?

It's hard to take good pictures in a casino,
but I thought the dark picture was kind of fitting.

I was far too excited by all that gambling!

And back to my parents for a little more eating and drinking. I wish we lived closer to my whole family, but at least we get to really enjoy our time together a couple times a year. I'll keep trying to convince them all to move to Chicago, as unlikely as it might be!

It was real, South Dakota. 

I'm pretty sure my parents won't call you home forever, but we've had some good times. 

Thanks for giving us city slickers a taste of the great outdoors!

A Taste of Spring

I love the idea of eating with the seasons, and Spring marks the beginning of the best food time of year. The more the weather warms up, the more local produce starts to pop up. Living in Chicago in early April, typical Spring produce is still being shipped in from the warmer states, but it still offers me hope of the warmer weather that's just ahead. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and know sunnier days and fresh local produce is just around the corner!

This was a super simple dinner I threw together one night last week, and it was seriously Spring in a bowl. It was light and fresh tasting; full of green vegetables and bright flavors. The farro and vegetables paired well with salmon, and it would also make a great side dish with shrimp, chicken, or another protein.

Key flavors: lemon zest, dill, and poached salmon.

Sauteed asparagus tossed with chopped fresh baby spinach.

The combination of lemon zest and dill is what makes this dish.
Pairing with asparagus and salmon is a perfect taste of Spring!

I really hate writing out recipes, since I tend to improve while I'm cooking. Sometimes I use a recipe to guide my cooking, but other times I just get an idea and run with it. This was one such meal-- I knew I wanted salmon and asparagus, and I went from there. I'll give you a quick rundown, though, in case you want to attempt to recreate...

• Cook farro according to package directions. I bought quick cook farro from Trader Joe's, and it ended up way too mushy. Just plan a little more time, and cook your farro from scratch. 
• Chop asparagus into 2 inch pieces (and get rid of the last couple inches at the bottom-- it's woody/stringy/gross). Saute in a little olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. 
• Rough chop baby spinach, place in a bowl, and add the cooked (and still warm) asparagus on top. Add the cooked farro, and stir. The warm asparagus and farro will help wilt the spinach. Add dill and lemon zest, and stir. Taste the mix, and add salt, pepper, lemon juice, or white wine vinegar to taste. 
• Portion out the farro salad into bowls, and top with poached salmon that was seasoned with salt and pepper.  I left it at that point, but also think a dollop of creme fraiche on top would be fantastic!
• Drink with some crisp white wine, and think warm weather thoughts!

Snapshots from a weekday at home

Working at a grocery store leads to a random schedule, which at times makes me crazy. But for every Saturday I'm working, there's a Tuesday that I'm home enjoying the simple things. In a perfect world, I think I'd work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and be off all weekend, but that's not really an option at this point in my life. A girl can dream, huh?  I do love my weekdays off from work, and the opportunity to soak up a quiet weekday at home. I have some standards for a weekday off-- some kind of workout, a least a couple errands, and a bit of sleeping in. But lounging around the house is also a necessary part of the day off. As I was soaking up my lazy day off yesterday, I grabbed my camera. A bonus part of the day off-- natural light!  Here are a few shots from a typical mid-week day off.

Fresh baked bread! This is not typical, but I was really pleased with the results.

I let the finished loaves cool, and then sliced into regular sandwich thickness.
I then wrapped and froze the loaves, so I would have fresh slices of bread on demand.
Perfect for sandwiches or toast.

It's still chilly out there, so I'll just bring Spring inside.

Planning for our trip.

Pasta with Lentils and Kale.
From one of my favorite cookbooks.
Easy and healthy dinner for the night.

Baked Spaghetti Squash with Kale and Sausage.
Inspired by one of my recent Pinterest pins.
In the fridge for tomorrow's dinner.
(Do these 3 liners feel like Haiku?)

Want to try the recipes? Here are the links:

Pasta with French Lentils and Kale (Through I would recommend anyone who enjoys eating vegetarian just buy the Moosewood Cooking for Health cookbook)

Inspiration for Baked Spaghetti Squash

Happy Easter!

Easter has become one of my favorite holidays in recent years. For one thing, it's one of the only holidays that I can actually request off at work. It's an important holiday for my faith, but also a quick enough holiday that we can't really make a big deal out of it. It's not really a holiday for traveling, and as my only day off for the week I can't make too much of a fuss about it. And since we don't travel to see family, the traditions of Easter are defined by Joe and I, without influence from previous family traditions. That's not to say I don't love spending other holidays with our families, but it's really special to start your own traditions as a married couple. 

We celebrated Easter service at our new church, which we've been attending since this past summer. After years of feeling frustrated but comfortable with the faith that I'd been raised in, it has been really exciting to choose a church that really fits. I love the community at this church, and celebrating Easter service in this setting made me really feel at peace with where I am in life right now. During the sermon, the priest said something that really stuck with me-- You can't know Easter without Good Friday. That really spoke to me, since I feel like we've really experienced darkness like "Good Friday" within the past year. But we experience Easter in our loving families, supportive friends, and beautiful life we've been blessed with. And I know there will be more heartbreak and pain in our lives, but through keeping faith and carrying on, we will also truly experience Easter. 

After a beautiful and contemplative service, we came home to do what we do best-- a whole lot of eating! Joe and I have brunch every year after Easter service, and we make it a point to be indulgent. Some years we've gone out to a nice restaurant, but we also really enjoy feasting at home. A tasty spread and multiple mimosas filled us up, as we sat near the sunny windows and enjoyed signs of spring coming to Chicago. 

I hope your Easter was spent with your loved ones, 

enjoying each others company and the promising signs of Spring!

And the plans for Barcelona...

A continuation of yesterday's post... here are some of our ideas for our upcoming visit to Spain!

Barcelona To Do List

After four days in London, we say adios to my sister and head south. Neither of us have been to Barcelona before, so we are really excited about this part of the trip! Some of our top priorities are eating lots of tapas and drinking plenty of great Spanish wine. I want to make sure we don't ONLY eat and drink for this part of the trip, though, so I figured out a couple other plans to add some culture and adventure to the visit. 

Free Walking Tours

A little sleuthing on the Trip Advisor website lead me to the recommendation of a tour with Runner Bean Tours. These are free tours, and if you feel it's worth it at the end, you can choose any amount for your donation. I love this idea, because tours can be expensive, and not always worth the money. From what I read, this donation system makes their tours that much better, because they're really working to earn your business. They do a tour of Gaudi architecture, and also one of the historical Gothic quarter. If we like the tours, we might just do both of them!

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Biking Vineyard Tour

This is the part of Barcelona that I'm potentially the most excited for. Some of our friends recommended a cava tour in the  Penedès area in Catalonia, and I thought that sounded pretty perfect. But then I got the idea in my head that it would be fantastic to bike in the rolling hills outside of Barcelona, and I started searching online for options that included biking. I found my answer with Spanish Trails, a tour company that offers just that. It's a full day tour that includes biking between three vineyards, tours and tastings at each location, and an authentic Catalonian lunch at one of the vineyards. The reviews on Trip Advisor are incredibly positive, and I think this might be the perfect special excursion outside of the city. 

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Other Barcelona Plans

Within the city of Barcelona, there are so many things I would like to see. The famous Sagrada Familia is a must see. I'd love to wander through the Park Guell, and to take in the views of Barcelona below the park. I've heard that the Barceloneta neighborhood near the water is fun to explore, too. And of course, we will eat. A lot. All day and all night. Yup, sounds like a perfect vacation to me!

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Have you visited Barcelona? So many people I know have been there! What are your favorites? Anything to avoid? 

Now we have less than a month to go! Time to start making reservations for any touristy activities. And I need to brush up my manual camera skills, so I can properly capture the sights of our adventures. I hope this next month goes fast!

The countdown to Europe!

As of today, we have exactly one month left. April 17 we jet off, first to London, and then on to Barcelona. We've booked all the flights and made plans for lodging. We're using AirBnB on this trip, staying in a spare bedroom of a guy's apartment in London, and then in a cute one bedroom apartment in Spain. It's nice to know the technical logistics are all taken care of at this point. Now the fun really begins, as we nail down plans for what we're actually doing during our visits to these two world class cities!

A terribly fuzzy picture from our trip to Paris in 2008.

Joe and I are both fortunate to have traveled to Europe multiple times in the past, and we both agree on a more relaxed style of traveling. We like to soak up the vibe of the city. That means wandering the neighborhoods, enjoying slow meals in truly local restaurants, and getting to know the city on a more personal level. We're tentative about structured plans, especially plans that involve too many timetables or any kind of large tour bus.

That being said, I still like to have plans for specific "must see" monuments, neighborhoods, or museums. I don't want to spend all my time wandering, and to miss out on important parts of the city. I've been obsessing over my research, trying to narrow down our plans for what to see. Here's a preview of some of our plans.

London To Do List

I used Aspiring Kennedy's blog for a lot of great London inspiration. She's lived there for a couple years, and has a lot of helpful insider tips. A few of her recommendations:

Evensong at Westminster Abbey

A free sung prayer service offered every evening at Westminster Abbey. You don't get to explore the whole Abbey, but the admission is usually £18.00, and the prayer service sounds beautiful. It sounds like a great way to wrap up a busy day of sightseeing. 

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Tour the Tower of London

I've heard great things about visiting the Tower of London. It is the center of so much British history, and sounds fun and entertaining to explore.  This will most likely fill one of the afternoons on our trip.

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Famous London Shopping Spots
I can't resist a little shopping on this trip! I am dying to visit the Food Hall at Harrods, and also the famous Liberty of London. Selfridges is also on the list, and the rest of Oxford Street. As a dedicated team member, you know I can't resist a visit to the Kensington Whole Foods Market! I hope we also have time to stop by Portobello Road Market as well.

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Other ideas
We'll be visiting London during the 2013 Marathon, and might have to stop to cheer on the runners on Sunday. It's the largest marathon in the world!  We have plans for major pub eating and drinking, obviously. I want to visit the Tate Modern, and the National Gallery. I think my sister and I might have to ditch Joe for a little girlie proper British tea one afternoon, too. And to balance that out, Joe suggested we do a brewery tour. A suggestion that I do think I support (no big surprise here, huh?).


Have you been to London before? What are your favorite things to do? We'd love more recommendations!

I'll be back tomorrow to share some of our plans for the Barcelona leg of the trip.  Suggestions welcome for that part, too. Any other favorite spots to travel? I could talk travel all day!

Catching Up

Well crap. The month of February just flew by, huh? I really didn't mean to stop blogging for a month, but the late winter blues hit hard, and I just couldn't find anything I really felt like writing about. Life hasn't been bad lately; in fact, it's been pretty great overall. So how about a quick recap, and we'll get this show back on schedule?

The last month has been filled with mostly classic winter things-- cooking big pots of soup, cozy movie nights at home, and plenty of grumbling about if spring is ever going to come. And after a super dry start to the winter, all the snow came in the last month or so. I've still been pushing myself to run outside, as a friend and I train for the Shamrock Shuffle 8k at the beginning of April. This has felt like a big accomplishment to me, because this is the first year I've run outside after Thanksgiving. I know I wouldn't be able to do it alone, so I'm really thankful my friend Megan keeps agreeing to run with me!

Another workout I've been getting really into is yoga. There is a great little studio two blocks from my house, and I did a one month new student special where I could take unlimited classes for $50. So I tried to take classes 2-3 times a week, to make it worth the money. What a good idea that is, because now I'm totally hooked! I'm going to buy a regular punch card to take more classes in the future, and I'm also planning to try out the yoga classes at my gym, since they're included in the membership. I like that yoga helps me to relax and calm my mind. It can be hard for me to slow down, but I'm getting a lot better. And it is a legit workout, too. I have a LONG way to go in terms of flexibility and balance, but I saw improvements just in that first month.  Do you love yoga?  I used to think it was so boring, but I just had a bad first experience and took years to try again. Now it's my #1 choice for a workout!

Beyond working out... my job is going really well. After about 5 months in my new position, I'm finally feeling mostly settled and on top of things. I still have plenty to learn, but my stress and anxiety has pretty much faded away, and I feel like I'm doing a good job connecting with the team members and maybe even helping them. Yay!  Our friends are great too, and Joe and I regularly marvel at how lucky we are to know so many great people around this city. We met some new friends through church last month, and had a great night out getting to know them. In the winter it's easy to just be homebodies, so we've been pushing to make sure to connect with friends outside of the house at least once or twice a week. 

And, lastly, we finally saw Book of Mormon on Wednesday night. It was fantastic! Great singing and dancing, wonderful characters, and just the right amount of crude and offensive joking. It was hilarious, and it was fun to be in a theatre setting where people were laughing so hard. It was four or five months between when we bought the tickets and when we go to see the show, so there had been a lot of build up to that night. It really was a great performance, and we left the theatre feeling like it was definitely worth the wait. 

And now, I really feel like Spring is just around the corner! We're headed to see my parents in two weeks, and to Europe about a month after that. So lots to look forward to as we make this final push through the cold weather. We're going to make it!