Day 3 of a Month of Giving Thanks...

Day 3 of giving thanks...

Today I am thankful for this guy.  He totally rocks my world.  We've changed.  We've grown.  Our love has changed and grown into something really cool.  I LOVE YOU TONY CHIAPPINI!

Day 2 of a Month of Giving Thanks...

Day 2 of a month of giving thanks. 

Today I am thankful for this girl/young woman. I'm in awe of her beauty, strength and power. Her maturity and ability to do right are way beyond her years. If my other has my heart this girl here has my soul and rattles me to my core... *love*

Day 1 of a Month of Giving Thanks

I know I've been gone for a while but this has brought me back.  No excuses.  No apology.  Just me back...

Day 1 of a month of giving thanks. Today I am thankful for this little girl. Makes me smile, laugh and cry all at once. But she completes me...

Toronto…

Probably all of you know by now that I am Canadian and come from a city just outside (about 10 minutes) of Toronto.  I wasn’t able to make it up there last year and it hit me really hard so I was determined to make it up there for my Brother-in-Law’s and sister’s birthday this year…

We hung out with dogs and family…

Went to the beach on a very hot and hazy day…

Swam in Marlene’s pool on a very hot and sunny day…

Played at the Ontario Science Center (see how tall and thin we are?)…

And we ate, oh did we eat…

Recipe to come…

Next up is the grand finale!  And what a finale it is…

Pennsylvania for the 4th of July!

Well we had a great time in DC but really wanted to be far away from the city by the 4th of July.  We were there on the 2nd and the city was already gearing up!

We headed to where Tony is from and spent 5 fun filled days with family.

We picked wild berries…

We played with cousins…

Took some time to smell the flowers…

We had mojitos…

Ran in fields under clear blue skies…

We ate, lots…

We went to the girl’s first drive in movie…

We swam…

We had birthday cake…

Made fire dogs and s’mores

Caught fire flies… 
Watched fireworks being shot into a clear night sky… 

From here Tony sadly headed home and I went on to Toronto with the girls…Much more to come!!!

Summertime…

It is summer in the northern hemisphere and I have really been enjoying it to the absolute fullest.  Eating, hanging out with friends (old and new) and family, traveling and eating some more. 

I have picked out some pictures to highlight the first couple of days of our trip to Washington, DC and then to Pittsburgh before we headed to see family for the remaining 2+ weeks.

Washington, DC

Checking out the dino’s at the Smithsonian

Crashing the Smithsonian staff picnic in the National Mall

The White House bee keeper’s collecting honey

Pittsburgh, PA (The Strip District)

Best little donut shop!  Tiny and with little donuts…

German Chocolate

Favorite spice shop ever!

Best sandwiches ever!  White bread, French fries, coleslaw and your choice of meat…very efficient these Pittsburghers!

Pastrami somewhere under all of the sides…

Greek treats from one of the street vendors.  Delicious!!!!

Greek street vendors…

Once we left Pittsburgh we headed to Tony’s family to celebrate the 4th of July and Kyra’s 10th birthday.  More to come…

What We Ate with links and recipes…

So I posted a teaser the other day of all f the food that we ate over the Memorial Day weekend but right after that my computer developed a virus and it took me until Friday of last week to get everything figured back out.  I was so lucky and ended up not losing anything but some of the files are different and I had to reinstall some things.  Anyway as promised…

Starting from the upper right hand corner and going clock wise and finishing up in the middle:

  Tzatziki sauce – this is typically used with souvlaki and gyros but we used the leftovers all weekend sometimes even as a salad dressing!!!

 Greek Salad – Really simple dressing that is fresh and quick to make.

 Marinated Shrimp Salad – So simple and the best thing is you make it the night before and allow it to marinate all night.  Then just take it with you the day of the party.

Watermelon infused with watermelon Vodka:  Simply take a whole water melon and cut a hole in the skin just large enough for a funnel to fit in.  Do this about 12 hrs before serving.  Fill the funnel with watermelon vodka and allow the watermelon to absorb it.  Keep doing this until the desired amount is in the watermelon.  Chill and slice immediately before serving.  Place a cork in the whole for transporting to the party!

 Pork Souvlaki:  This is the souvlaki recipe that I got from my friend Peter over at Kalofagas.  It is the best I have ever tasted and made by me at home!

Bread – We bought it from our favorite German bakery and brushed it with garlic infused olive oil and grilled it…

 
Michelob Ultra – Yummmmmm!

Summer Berries with berry reduction and whipped cream (recipe to follow in a day or so)

Happy Summer!!!