Sara Learns to Shoot

Being a teacher, I was deeply disturbed by the events yesterday in Connecticut. From time to time, it crosses my mind what I would have to do in the event that my classroom was under attack. I was thinking about it the past 24 hours of course. Then, my husband said to me this morning, "I think you need to learn how to shoot. Let's try it today."

I haven't wanted to shoot for a very long time, but this horrific incident gave me motivation today. Realistically, I know that I would not be shooting to protect myself in the classroom. However, it changes a mindset. In times like these, people are screaming for gun control. I think that that is not the answer. Instead, I think it is being prepared for incidents like these. Instead of continuously being sitting ducks, people need to learn to have a defensive awareness. 

It goes against natural instinct not to have it. Animals have it. Humans had it at one time. Our culture has erased it.

These are tools I used today, minus the motor oil. I shot a .357 Sig, .40 Glock, and a 12 gauge shot gun. In total, it was about 100 rounds.

Then, I learned how to put in squishy ear plugs. In the picture below, they do look a little bit like carrots.

Below is Fred. Brad modeled Fred after a Bottle Q target. I found a large Cabela's box to make Fred. I find it funny that we got to use a box from Cabela's. It was so appropriate. Anyway, Fred was our mock violator and intruder. The top vertical strip was my target for the CNS (central nervous system). The center dot was the body mass. Brad propped Fred up against a very large dirt mound covered with fallen pine branches.

I shot at Fred from three different distances: 5 ft, 10 ft, and 15 ft. The main purpose of the drills was to get me to shoot at someone who was coming into our room. The maximum distance is about 12 ft. I had six off mark shots. Three of those shots were from using one hand only in case I was injured. The others were when I was under pressure to shoot quickly within a time limit. I was pretty impressed with my pistol shots. 

Then Brad loaded the shot gun with some small bird shot ammunition. This gun was a little more difficult for me to shoot. We had already been shooting for about four hours. My arms were tired and I was getting cranky. I think I'll still have to work on the shot gun, but three or four shots for today was just fine. 

For years I have had a fear of guns. Today, I came back from my shooting practice with confidence that I could protect myself with a gun. I have a new respect for the weapon and I look forward to practicing... maybe once mroe. 

Anadama Cornbread

From the amazing Christmas gift of last year, Brad and I have wanted to use a recipe to make an Anadama Cornbread. Now, you may ask, what is so special about this cornbread? Isn't it it just a bunch cornmeal, milk, sugar, and egg baked in a skillet? Not this special and delectable treat. Anadama is not a southern version cornbread. There is actually more flour than cornmeal. It's a 5:1 ratio! 

The finished Anadama Cornbread just out of the oven!

It is so different because it originates in New England. It is more of a Thanksgiving harvest bread as opposed to something tasty dipped in chili. It has a reasonable amount of molasses in the dough and no sugar. It is really good when it is served with pumpkin butter. I think that this fall we are going to make our own versions and add in a few awesome things... like pumpkin pie spice!

I love the color of this bread!

The trickiest part about making this bread, is that it does not want to rise well. We had to coax it. We turned the heat on to 80 degrees (which is difficult to handle when it is summer) and placed the bowl over the vent. We leave it in a bowl to rise for 2 hours. Then, we knocked it back, shaped it, and let it rise for ANOTHER TWO HOURS. What a pain.

At the beginning of the first two hour rising process

.... and after two hours, that's all we got!

The good news is that it was worth the four hours of rising and the ten minutes of constant kneading. If you ever had a chance for some, get a nice warm slice, spread with pumpkin butter and drink a hot cup of coffee.

A well-deserved dessert!

No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn

I spent a good amount of my formative years on Long Island, NY. After high school, I went upstate to SUNY Geneseo for my B.A. There, I met my long time friend Ramsay. So just over decade later, it seems fit to go visit for a few days... especially because she is getting married!

Can you see the Brooklyn Bridge?

Bridesmaid? Yes, I am. 

Knowing what to wear to a swanky bar in Brooklyn with excellent beer on tap (you can see their website here at reBar? Definitely, no.

Bride knowing what type of bridesmaid dress to pick out? Ummm....

So, you can see our situation and guess that we spent time trying on bridesmaid dresses. A lot of dresses. When I say a lot, I mean about twenty at one place in under an hour. 

... and eating four slices of cremini mushroom and fennel sausage pizza the night before didn't help. 

Was the pizza worth it? Definitely, yes. 

After dresses, we walked around Brooklyn and had a few beers at different places. It was a great time because I got to sample some local beers that I would not have the experience to do so. For example... when did Greenport get a brewery?

My not-so-spicy Greenport Wit Beer

We also spent some time at Cedar Grove beach in Staten Island. I had actually never really been to Staten Island before. After an adventure drive and a conversation about whether Transformers or Voltron would win, I came to the conclusion that it is a lot like Nassau county. It's strip mall heaven! However, the beach was actually better than my North Shore LI beach because there was sand. Growing up, our beaches were all rocks and we had to wear flip flops or water shoes in the water. That stunk.

Cedar Grove Beach in Staten Island... and Ramsay's legs

After the beach, we had a BBQ. We went to Ramsay's friend's house and had a party in the narrow alley between houses. They decorated it with table cloths and overhead lights. It was a great setting.  I had never met this couple before, but man they could cook. We had homemade guacamole and margaritas to begin with. Followed by a main meal of grilled chicken drizzled with buffalo and bleu cheese sauces... as well as racks of special dry rub ribs! There was also a killer dill potato salad made the Yankee way of NO MUSTARD, just as it should be. We finished it up with custard, rocky road, and lemon PIES. I was in foodie heaven. 

Our after-party alley way

All in all, will I be back to Brooklyn? For sure!

Fatso's Diner

Fatso's Diner

Category: Diner 

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Website: http://www.fatsosdinerloveland.com/

Likes: Cheesy 50's Decor (complete with records on the wall AND THE CEILING), awesome waiter whose family was from Upstate NY, LARGE coffee cups (so you don't need refills every three minutes), and creamer bowls already on the table

Dislikes: ummm... only that their food wasn't magically healthy to ingest

Cars lined the half wall!

On our trip to Colorado, we went to Fatso's Diner in Loveland, CO. Normally I don't write about restaurants outside of my fifty mile Virginia radius, but this was so worth it.

Their menu wasn't huge, but the portions were! It was a cheap place to eat with a heaping of awesome goodness on a plate. They had fairly large coffee cups so they didn't have to be refilled every few seconds.  And, there was a drive-in in the back!

 I ordered the Chicken and Waffles. They were the best chicken and waffles that I have had so far. It was a huge Belgian Waffle topped with powdered sugar and served on a separate plate from the greasy, crispy, tender fried chicken. 

They originally came with white gravy. Being from up north... I don't really do that kind of thing. The waiter teased me and said that I was desecrating the waffle when I asked for honey mustard and syrup instead. It was nice to have someone with character balanced with polite demeanor. 

Best Chicken and Waffles I've Ever Had

 Brad ordered the corned beef hash with scrambled eggs, hash browns, and rye toast. There were larger pieces of tender corned beef that were sliced very thin and large pieces of bell pepper. The whole dish blended very well... until Brad buttered rye toast with butter AND jelly. Butter on rye is awesome. Jelly on rye... I am going to take a cue from the friendly waiter and say that that is desecration of rye toast.

Brad's Corned Beef Hash

 Billy had an omelet with the white gravy. He said he liked it... but there was no way I was going to go near it with the white mush.

Billy's Omlette

Overall, when going to a restaurant that has good food, service, prices, and ambiance, I am always willing to return.. except with they are a few states away. Perhaps on the next Colorado visit.

The Rocky Mountain Gentry Show

Rocky Mountains!

Before last week, I had been to Kansas and California, but nothing in between. I had said this so many times in the past few years that I think people around me wanted to shoot me. Now, I don't have to say it any more because Brad and I went to Colorado! 

We visited the Gentry's, who used to live near us. We set them up a few years ago and eventually they got married and moved away. Although we were sad they did not stay, it is nice that we have a new place to visit. On this particular visit, they took us to all the places we wanted to go:  Mountains and Beer!

Mountains!

This mountain portion of my trip really hits the theme of my blog. The mountains make me so happy on the inside, that it shows on the outside. The views in the Rockies are amazing. It makes me realize that my little troubles of day to day life are so insignificant. I can stare out into the wilderness with few people around me, and I don't feel alone. There is the wind, the trees, the grass, deer, birds, and even bugs. The whole world seems still to the naked eye. But when looking into it, I realize that if I remove myself from every day life, it is busy being alive!

Long Horn Sheep at Pike's Peak

I really did enjoy our trip to Pike's Peak. The ride up was an amazing experience. With friends, it was even better. We made jokes. We had spectacular views. We couldn't laugh too hard because we would run out of oxygen. Seriously. I decided to climb around on the rocks (eek!) and had to pause because I ran out of air. Even just walking fast on flat ground was tricky for this gal that lives in an area that is technically below sea level. All I need to say, is that Zebulon Pike, you were one courageous man.

Breweries!

There are so many microbreweries in Colorado, which means so many wonderful challenges for the palette! Brad and I had our first date at a brew pub, and we have always appreciated a craft beer. We drink to taste and appreciate, as opposed to get drunk. We were lucky that we had the chance to sample brews that we can not get out here on the east coast while we were in Colorado. Although, we were having quite a lot of heated fun after finishing three breweries in one day!

Fort Collins Brewery

We had two flights at Fort Collins Brewery: One was the regular drafts and the other was the seasonal drafts. Of all the drafts, their rauchbiers and schwartzbiers were my favorite. For those of you who are not beer people, these are beer that taste like smoked meat. Their Z lager and their Kidd Lager were fabulous for me!  See  Fort Collins Brewery Website for more info!

Mostly finished flights at Fort Collins Brewery!

Big Beaver Brewing Company

This was a "hoot." It was quaint and semi-raunchy with beer that was tasty. We took my gnome and got some pictures. The staff was pleasant and they gave us free raunchy stickers! Check out the Big Beaver Brewing Website for more!

New Belgium Brewing Company

This is the larger microbrewery that we had the chance to visit. I have had their Fat Tire over here in the east and it was always enjoyed. Here I tried a black IPA and their 1554. But the best of all was their Cocoa Mole Ale. It tasted like cinnamon! You could even smell the cinnamon in the beer. It was a wonderful beer. To read more about it, check out the New Belgium Website to read about it, get pairings, and more!

Grampy liked the New Belgium trailer

Grampy liked the food truck outside, too!

Quaker Steak and Lube

Brad reading the
"Lube Up Your Fries" Ketchup

Quaker Steak and Lube
Category: Wings/ American
Rating: 4.5 / 5
Website: Quaker Steak and Lube

Likes: Variety of Wing Sauces, Atmosphere/Decor, Healthy and Not Healthy Choices, Prices, Bendy Straws, Warm Wet Napkins, TWIZZLERS! (the last three are Sara and kid friendly)

Dislikes: If you don't order enough wings, you can't switch up the sauces, Medium Wing Sauce was lacking

Brad's Favorite Sauces: Haute Parmesan, Buckeye BBQ, Cajun
Sara's Favorite Sauces: Haute Parmesan, Arizona Ranch, Cajun

Brad and I took my grandma "Gigi" out to lunch at the Quaker Steak and Lube. We went at noon on a Thursday, when they have unlimited boneless breaded wings. I repeat, UNLIMITED BONELESS WINGS for one flat price. You can even switch the sauces. Brad got the unlimited breaded boneless wings. Here are some of the wings we tried:

These are half-eaten pictures. We were to excited to try them and I forgot to take the pictures.

Top Wings: The Buckeye BBQ boneless breaded wings. They were hot and sweet. These were some of Brad's favorites.

Bottom Wings: Cajun boneless breaded wings. These were SO GOOD. We both agreed. Very flavorful, but not as spicy as we expected.

Wings to the Right: These were the Arizona Ranch wings. They were spicy and did actually taste like ranch. At first I was totally skeptical of the ranch taste on the wings, but it totally won me over.






I had something healthier. They have these grilled boneless wings. They are pretty much chicken tenders with no breading, grilled, and then coated in sauce. They came with broccoli and soft pita triangles. The pita triangles were great because they wiped up the sauce. I was able to scoop up the extra sauce. I had them with the Haute Parmesan sauce (which was AWESOME) and the medium Buffalo sauce (which was really weak). 

Gigi had a tasty looking wrap with some kickin' homemade potato chips that were really tasty. She chose a BBQ sauce to coat the chicken in her wrap, but you could choose any of them.


OTHER AWESOME THINGS:

1. Bendy Straws

2. Warmed Wipee Towels

3. Licorice at the end!!!

Quaker Steak and Lube, we will be BACK.

Road Trip to Abingdon

Brad's Parents

Brad and I are continuing working on our Summer Bucket List.  It never ceases to amaze me how different my husband's upbringing was from mine, and yet we fit together so perfectly. I am always reminded of this when we visit his parents' home in Abingdon, VA. I am writing this a little later than I originally hoped. We went for the 4th of July and stayed for a week. Here are some of the highlights of our trip!


Fourth of July BBQ- Most of the dishes were the same fare we had up North. We had hamburgers, bratwurst, macaroni salad, potato salad, and corn on the cob. It was pretty standard American picnic fare. However, what is it with the south putting mustard in the potato salad? I never did understand this. It just does not belong. However, an addition that could be added from our southern picnic: Banana Pudding. Holy cow. I had never even heard of it until I moved down South. Banana pudding belongs... at every holiday. I am an addict.


Spiderman with a Side of Suicide: We decided to see the Amazing Spider Man movie on the 4th of July instead of fighting traffic from the fireworks (on a side note- liked the new actor so much better than Toby Maguire).So much for worrying about the traffic. We were on a one lane each way highway in the dark. There were adults and kids on bicycles everywhere. I could tell that Brad was concentrating very hard on the bicycles. With my very poor night vision, I saw something dark in the road. I couldn't quite tell what it was until we were about fifty feet from it. It was a girl sitting in the middle of the road talking to herself. I yelled, "ROAD!" and at the last minute Brad has to swerve around her. We pulled over just in time for the guy behind us to hit her, only going about 20 mph. I think she was on drugs.... or drunk... or both. Probably suicide. The police already knew who she was. Everything turned out all right, but it was scary to say the least.

Wolf Hills Brewery Penny Topped Table and Beer Flight... after sampled

Wolf Hills Brewery:  We also got to check out a new brewery in Abingdon called Wolf Hills Brewing. We had a beer flight and sampled five different brews before going out to dinner with Brad's parents. The beer was middle of the road, but the coolest thing: THE PENNY TABLE! The entire table top was adorned with glued pennies. It was a very cool idea. See the picture to the right.




Here is what we tried:

• Lonesome Pine Porter: It was awfully smokey and strong to be a porter when it was just pulled from the keg. After letting it sit a bit, it mellowed out with the rise of the temperature. 
• Holston River Hefeweizen: This was not too bad at all. It was very drinkable and even Brad's Mom liked it. 
• Trooper's Alley IPA: I have one word to say: GRAPEFRUIT. (It was because of the hops, but if you were to add three tablespoons of sugar to it, I would have thought I was drinking grapefruit juice)
• White Blaze Honey Cream Ale:This was my favorite out of all of the samples we tried. Coming from SUNY Geneseo, very near the home of the Genesee Cream Ale, I really learned to hate cream ales. However, this one was pretty decent. Very drinkable and you could actually taste the honey and the flowers with it. Score!

...and there was one more, and for the life of me, I have no idea what it was. It must not have been amazingly good or bad. :) For more info on the brewery, check it out at: http://www.wolfhillsbrewing.com/

Summer 2012 BUCKET LIST Blog

My husband and I came to the conclusion the other day, that we have so many things that we would like to do one day... and we just never do them. In order to tackle this problem, we made a list of all of the things we would like to do this summer. I am calling it a bucket list.

Brad did not like it being called a bucket list at first. His response was, "It sounds like we are going to die soon!" My reasoning is that the summer will die, and we just seize the day! Carpe Diem! ... or flip it for Brad: Carpe Nocturne!

Here is our summer bucket list. It involves some major categories, so I will break them up!

Attractions to Visit
Mariner's Museum
Metro Richmond Zoo

Restaurants to Try
Quaker Steak and Lube
India K. Raja
Juleps

Travel Plans
Visit Brad's parents in Abingdon, VA
Visit the Gentrys in Colorado
Visit Sara's sister Laura in Alabama
Visit Sara's friend Ramsay in New York

Things to Teach Sara
Learn to Shoot a Gun (eek!)
Learn to drive a stick shift (eek!)
Learn to fly a kite (that I can handle...)

Other
Bake a special type of corn bread
See The Avengers in the theater
See the new Spiderman movie in the theater