Photo Phriday: Cute Baby Butt

Darn school is getting in the way of my blogging again. Here's a photo that makes me smile:

It's of my niece and was taken last week at a local playground.

Photo Phriday: Maine Again

Last winter: New Years Day. The A-man decides that a negative ten degree wind chill is the perfect temperature to fly a kite in.

Photo Phriday: Beavers!

Taken last winter up in Maine. I wonder if it's still standing.

Photo Phriday (and a recipe!)

So the clean eating kick isn't quite at full force anymore. I still try to eat healthy, whole foods as much as possible (and really always have) but dessert and wine have won out in quite a few instances.

Fortunately, there's a nut butter (though, is cashew technically not a nut?) that I've whipped up that tastes almost like dessert to me: maple cashew butter. My sister first introduced me to cashew butter back when she was in grad school -- five or so years ago and I was immediately smitten. And as of late, I've been really loving Justin's Maple Almond Butter, but it's a bit too expensive to buy on a regular basis. So, I was recently at Harry & David and purchased a few bags of roasted cashews that were on sale, popped them into my trusty Vita-mix, added a little oil and maple syrup and viola! Maple Cashew Butter.

Maple Cashew Butter

1 1/2 cups of roasted cashews

2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil

2 tablespoons of maple syrup

Put all ingredients in your blender or food-processor, and start on low, the increase speed to medium and blend until smooth. You might have to turn your blender off and scrape down the sides to make sure it's all getting blended smoothly, but it's not terribly labor intensive.

So far, it's been good on toast, in oatmeal and on bananas. Or, even by the spoonful when you need to feel like you're eating dessert.

Photo Phriday: Guess Who's A Derby Girl?

Me! I'm all about trying new sports, and this one has been a challenge (let's just say I'm not a natural on skates). I'm part of a small group of women that's starting a league in my college-town. It's been a blast so far. I was even thinking about my derby name being The Good Eatah :)

Photo Phriday: Oh Henry

Whipped cream. On his nose. Poor fella.

Photo Phriday: Christmas Toys

My niece and Henry playing (er, chewing in Henry's case) with their new Christmas toys.

On another note, a big shout out to the Boston gluten-free girls whom I had dinner with last night. We went to Burton's Grill ; they have a gluten-free menu and take it seriously. It would have been my photo Phriday picture, but I forgot my darn camera. We'll just have to do it again soon!

Photo Phriday: A TJ's Package

The closest Trader Joe's to here is a good 2 1/2 hour drive without traffic. My mother is well aware of this and my longing for Trader Joe's (how lucky I was in Boston with two within a half hour drive...) and sent me an amazingly awesome package full of Trader Joe's gluten-free goodies and a few other things not in the photo. She's pretty much the best mom ever.
Henry thinks so too.

Photo Phriday: Anti-Rain Photo

It's pouring here and has been since yesterday morning. So in order to cheer myself up (oh, and I use my HappyLite too!) I will share a photo taken recently on a nice day... one of the last one's of the year I'm afraid. That's my niece and of course, Henry. He almost looks angelic. Though, I'm pretty sure shortly after the photo was taken he decided to chase a squirrel up a tree and bark his head off.

Photo Phriday: Sad Henry

Not food-related at all. But this was Henry for the majority of the car-ride after we dropped off the A-man to leave for his deployment. I swear animals can sense feelings.

Photo Phriday: When the Light's Just Right

A recent dinner of spaghetti squash sauteed in fresh garlic and olive oil with some tossed in fresh basil and a little salt and pepper.

Photo Phriday: Missing Boston

I'm almost settled in my new city in the mid-west and almost back to regular blogging. It's a big change from my beloved Boston, but so far, so good. During my last week up in Beantown I went out to eat with Sally and Jenny at Burton's Grill near Fenway Park. It was great -- they have an extensive gluten-free menu and the manager came out to speak with us. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Redbridge at the time (which was suspicious because we saw a guy walking past us with a case of the stuff) so I had a potato blueberry vodka from Maine (I think this is the vodka - Cold River vodka) mixed with Sprite. It was delicious, and I usually don't say that about alcoholic drinks (the vodka was made with fresh blueberries). However, Sally had it mixed with tonic and it tasted like 'tussin, so I don't recommend that.

Food wise I had a great avocado salad with spiced shrimp on top. Sally had a burger with a gluten free bun and Jenny had a delicious looking chicken dish. But most important, I had great gluten-free company: miss you girls!

Photo Phriday: A Wedding Slideshow

My completely awesome photographers Kjeld and Melissa Mahoney put together a slide show from the wedding day that can be found by pressing play below:

Liz & Allen - A Bradley Estate Wedding from kjeld mahoney on Vimeo.

It's got a great soundtrack and even some video in it: enjoy!

A total recap of the wedding will be done within a few weeks once I receive all the photos from the day.

Happy Weekend!

Photo Phriday: The End of a Chapter

Big news in the life of Liz: not only am I getting married in two weeks, but I am leaving my job, moving to Virginia, and then moving to Illinois to begin a Master's program. Phew.

That's a lot of change. 

It's incredibly bittersweet for me. I love my job and I love the community that I live and work in, but in order to live like a married couple, I had to move. My co-workers and members from the tv station I work for threw a party for me yesterday. I was overwhelmed with the support I received from everyone and never will I forget this place and these people. 

My folks even attended and brought a giant, delicious cake from Celia Cakes -- it was absolutely amazing and no one could tell it was gluten-free.  



And in honor of SNL's Weekend Update, I threw my pen at the tv camera during my very last show today. I'm going to miss this place.

Gluten Free Fried Calamari

To make gf/cf fried calamari is soooo simple as I learned this past weekend. All you need is squid, cornstarch, salt and pepper and oil for frying. This is by no means a healthy meal, but it was a good way to celebrate Mother's Day this past weekend. 

I don't have a "recipe" for this because nothing was measured (my dear Dad made it), but the technique will work for sure: 

Cut squid into rounds, dredge in cornstarch and salt and pepper, fry until crispy. And voila, gluten free fried calamari! 

Photo Phriday: Practice

It's rare that I go a week without posting but the giant work project that I'm dealing with AND the wedding planning have taken a toll on my blogging and cooking. However! Henry is still being Henry and the A-man got a little taste at what it's like to deal with a tired pooch this past weekend:

Photo Phriday: So Proud.

I've always said that running a marathon is a lifetime goal of mine, one that I'd like to achieve before I have children. On the other hand, my sister and brother-in-law had that same goal, but decided to do so just over one year after having their child.

As a person who has had a strained relationship with distance running (stemming from a horribly mean high school track coach)I understand the time, effort and perseverance it takes to train for and complete a marathon and could not be more proud of my sister and brother-in-law. It was difficult to keep my eyes dry as they ran past me, looking strong and on their way to completing one of their greatest challenges.

Here they are after running the 26.2 miles:

Here's Kate at mile 8 about to give her daughter a smooch:

And bro-in-law about to do the same:

And my niece, the recipient of the mile eight kisses who I gladly hung out with during the race, cheering on her accomplished parents.

Photo Phriday: Get Me Out of Here!

That's a photo of my niece at my wedding shower. She was trying to get the attention of some outside cats at my parents house (this moment was accompanied by some high-pitched screaming) so I got on the other side of the door to get her reaction on film (er, digitally).

And on that note, gluten-free vendor reviews from the wedding shower will be coming soon!

Photo Phriday: Reader Edition

My friend and co-worker (and reader of this blog) Carol recently made some fish stew from a recipe I posted about a year ago. She made my day when she took a photo of her soup with her lovable pooch Lydia in the background. She is quite possibly the best behaved dog in the world (Henry could learn a few things)

And the soup turned out great! She added a bit of kale to it to up the veggies and used fresh tomatoes which I highly recommend.

Photo Phriday: Devil Horns

If you bottle up the energy that Henry and my parents dog Elsa have when they are together, I think you could fuel a car for a cross country trip. This picture, taken about a month ago, catches them during their chasing game. I think Elsa's ears look strangely like devil horns in this shot.