Recap

EASTER

Happy Belated Easter Bunnies!

Why is it that the weekends always fly by so fast? I love this time of year, the weather is so beautiful and everyone seems to be in a much happier mood. I guess it's the calm before the storm with the summer heat coming. Newton and I enjoyed each others company but sadly we were sans Maddy. My mom had a friend in town from New Mexico and they wanted to show off their granddaughter.

In the morning we got dressed up in our pretty attire and meet up with some friends for brunch at Tohono Chul for their Easter brunch. The venue was delightful but the food was short from mediocre. Everyone still had a good time and we were able to catch up and share a few laughs.





That late afternoon were able to meet up with our neighbor Charlie and Byung and go a long 19 mile ride on Sunday. I was able to take some photos of the scenery to share with y'all.

The boys during break


Sorry for the poor image quality. Picasa doesn't upload well.


We didn't do so well making time but we did take a few long breaks during the ride. We finished at around 1 hour 45 minutes for our 19 mile ride.

Friday night dinner

DINNER

Ever since I started on my healthy eating regime the beginning of February the only thing that I've seriously craved was a thick juicy steak. So for dinner Friday night I picked us up some handsome looking rib eyes. These babies were thick and marbled perfections. I seasoned (recipe below) the steaks and seared them to get grill marks on our panini press and then finished it off in the oven. I wish that I was able to marinade the steaks the night before because that would have made them sooo much better but these were delicious nonetheless.




served with a wild arugula salad


RECIPE:

Montreal style seasoning:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons black pepper

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon granulated onion

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon dill seeds

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Keep in a cool, dark place.

Friday

TGIF!

I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am that it's Friday. We have a fun brunch planned this Easter with our friends and if I'm lucky, maybe my Hunnie and I can go for a nice bike ride with Maddy. The weather has been so beautiful lately, even with it's indecisiveness. This morning I was able to go for an 8 mile ride and take some great pictures to share with y'all. Take a look:

Can you spot the beauty?





After the ride I spent the 15 minutes I had free to prepare our dinner: Marmalade marinate BBQ ribs in the slow cooker. It's a new recipe so I'll let you know it it turns out later on.

After preparing the ribs I only had time left to pack my lunch then get ready for work. On the menu today: Ham, egg, and cheese sandwich with arugula! OOh YUM!




GOTTA RUN! Have a great rest of the day y'all!!!

Thursday

CAKE!

This morning I woke up too late to get in a work out but just early enough to bake an easy blackberry cake. There's nothing better than waking up to the smell of fresh baked goods. Lucky Newt ;) The cake took only 10 minutes to prepare and another 50 to finish baking. It's an easy recipe with a flavor. Give it a try




RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups fresh blackberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 6" cake pan or a loaf pan. Using a stand mixer, beat together butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 mins. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat until fully incorporated.In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

With the mixer on low speed, mix in flour mixture.Transfer batter to the greased pan. Arrange berries on top. Sprinkle remaining 2 tbsp sugar over berries. Bake cake for 10 mins. Reduce oven temperature to 325F. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 50 mins. Cool in the pan for 5 mins. Remove to wire rack and cool completely and enjoy!