Ice Cream

If you follow my pinterest boards, I'm sure you've noticed that I have a major sweet tooth.  This weekend I saw a commercial for the Dairy Queen blizzard of the month, which happens to be Nutter Butter!

Speaking of underrated treats that get mixed into ice cream, I can't wait to try this one.  My husband is hoping for an E.L. Fudge blizzard, Cadbury Creme Egg blizzard, or Watchamacallit McFlurry.  Hopefully next weekend I'll get the chance to eat this Nutter Butter treat when we make a little drive to New Jersey.  Until then, I'll settle for a rum root beer float that I'm going to make right now.  Yum!  :)

Shoe of the Week

Last year I was in love with the Valentino structural bow jelly thongs.  I never splurged and got them, but I definitely considered it on multiple occasions.  I thought they would have been perfect for our Barbados honeymoon.

I'm still not sick of the signature Valentino bow that we've seen so much of lately.

So I found a couple affordable updates and I'm still lovin' it.

Dolce Vita "Briar" Platform Pumps

$89.95

Enzo Angiolini 'Mistle' Pump

$89.95

Basta Pasta!

Isn't he cute?!

After we brought all of our goods home, it was time to cook up a storm!  My husband started with my fave - sugu (red sauce) and meatballs.  I started the first pound of dough - poor man's pasta.

Which we turned into spaghetti.

Then we made rich man's pasta (with 9 eggs!)  We rolled it out.

And rolled it out.

Turned it into fettuccine.

And dried it on a pan.

Our masterpieces...

Buon appetito!

By the way, while we were at Eataly I noticed this sign:

What a genius idea!  I didn't take advantage of it this time, but I'm sure I will someday.  I don't enjoy chopping veggies all day, so this will definitely speed cooking along next time.

Eataly

As I mentioned in my last post, last weekend I went to my favorite specialty food market Eataly.  Twice in fact.  I have a big love/hate relationship with the place.  On the love side, the place is fantastic and has every Italian food you could possibly want - pasta, bread, pizza, cheese, meats, produce, desserts, gelatto, coffee, wine, beer, limoncello, the list goes on.  But on the hate side, it is SO crowded ALL the time!  It's hard to enjoy the experience when you keep causing collisions by stopping to gaze at the breadcrumbs.

Friday night, my girl friends and I tried out the beer garden, Birreria.  I've been wanting to try it for awhile, but it has been very popular and I'm not the type of person that likes to wait to get in.  I finally summoned enough patience to give it a try.  Thank goodness because we waited an hour and a half to get upstairs.  In the meantime, we strolled around the market, I grabbed a foccacia sandwich, and then we found a seat at the bar area.

The foccacia was great, the waitress was not.  She announced that I could not sit in Eataly and eat my Eataly sandwich that I had purchased just five feet away from an Eataly vendor.  Huh?!?  That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  So I threw the sandwich at the waitress and kicked her in the shin.  No I didn't.  Instead, I had a glass of Barbera wine.  How could I pass up such a thing?  Can you read the name on the barrel?  :)

Finally, I got a text from the beer garden (it beats those giant buzzer-beeper things that those corny chain restaurants give you) and our spot was ready upstairs.  It could have great views (the Empire State Building and Flatiron building are in eyesight), but the way they designed the place doesn't really show them off.  We had a great time and drank some good new beers.  And the way we all felt the next morning makes me think they are a lot stronger than a regular draft beer.

The next day, my husband and I went grocery shopping and picked up Lidia's cookbook.  We bought the ingredients to make caprese, pasta from scratch, meatballs, sugu, and white sauce - all secret family recipes.  :)  More on that to come...

Staycation

We plan on staying in the city this weekend.  I'm looking forward to it - it's been awhile since we've done that.  I'm looking forward to sleeping in and finally getting back to the gym.  A patio crawl, brunch, UFC, and possibly putt putt golf are also in store.  And after this showed up at our door last night, I think a stop by Eataly is needed.  I cannot contain my excitement for this pretty jewel and our newest appliance:

And the fun doesn't stop there.  We got three pasta attachments too!

A HUGE THANK YOU is in order for the generous people behind this great restaurant.  If you are ever near Rockford, Illinois, please stop by Lino's.  I got the chance to try it last year around Christmas and fun was had by all.  The bread is stellar!  ;)  I just might have a connection to the bakery that makes it.  And everyone in our big group loved their meal.  Between all of us, we were able to sample a lot of their menu - salad, pizza, pasta - everything was delicious and service was fantastic.  They also have a recipe of the week section on their website.  I'm going to have to give some a try!

I hope the first attempt at homemade pasta isn't a total failure.  My in-laws might divorce me.

Roscoe date night

Last weekend my husband and I went on an impromptu date in Roscoe.  I didn't even know we could do that up there!  I needed a snack before we called it a night and we didn't stock up on food for the weekend, so I twisted my husband's arm and we decided to try Lake's End at Tennanah.  It is a casual establishment made up of the Boathouse Cafe (food) and Stadium Club (bar).  We grabbed a drink from the Stadium Club bar, which is decked out in quite an eclectic assortment of sports paraphernalia (my husband pointed out some autographed jerseys of some people I don't know).  We headed outside and sat on the deck overlooking the lake at the Boathouse Cafe.  It's hard to beat the view.  And the location is perfect for us.  It saves us a trip down the mountain into town and we could stumble home if needed.

I don't think I would get a glass of wine again - my pinot grigio was warm, so I switched to beer.  I ordered a summery Shock Top beer and was pleasantly surprised when the waitress showed up with a Shock Top Raspberry Wheat.  Right up my alley!  I can also attest that their deep frier works well.  Mozzarella sticks and french fries were piping hot and did the trick of filling my tummy for a late night snack.

The weather was perfect, but we have to remember to bring bug spray next time.  And the place was hoppin' because the Hilfiger Brothers band (a portion of the X-Brothers) was performing.  Andy Hilfiger is a neighbor and sometimes rocks out with his fam at the lake.  I'm not sure how many Hilfiger brothers were actually there, but their family and friends filled up most of the outdoor deck.  Although I wouldn't pay to see a show, the live music made for a really fun atmosphere.

I'm always so sad to drive back to the reality of work the next morning, but this time it was a little more enjoyable... we lathered up with sunscreen and took part of the top off the Jeep.

My view looking up:

I'm sorry to say this because I feel awful for my family and friends trying to survive this summer's heat wave in Oklahoma, but the weather was pretty awesome.  When we left Roscoe Sunday afternoon it was a perfect 79 degrees.  :)  When we pulled into the city it was 92 degrees.  I suppose nothing to complain about though.  Don't worry, I'll get my payback this winter!

Shoe of the Week

Anyone that knows me knows that I love shoes.  What's not to love about them?  They always fit.  They may not always be comfortable, but they always fit.  Your dress size may fluctuate when you eat three Rolo McFlurries (is it McFlurries or McFlurrys?), but my shoe size stays a constant 8.5 and I like that I can count on that.

I work in men's shoes, so I am surrounded by hundreds of shoes in huge piles every day.  But men's shoes lack some of the fun trends you can find in women's footwear.  I see a lot of black, dark brown, and tan leather shoes.  Constantly.  So my Shoe of the Week feature will be my chance to drool over the whimsical, outrageous, pretty, sporty, etc.  I can't promise they will all be affordable or wearable, but they will be interesting.

When people ask who my favorite designer is, I can't answer with just one.  I feel like that's asking parents to pick their favorite child. Not fair.  Unless one of your children is Casey Anthony.  I will feature some of my faves here.

[By the way, if you don't have it already, you should download Bergdorf Goodman's shoe of the day app!]

To keep with this week's shoe-themed post, New York City was recently named the most walkable city in the US according to Walk Score.  After living here, I agree.  It's a great city for walking - easy to navigate, sidewalks on every street wide enough for a few pedestrians,  and it's great for short or long distances.  I never drive in the city, and I never miss it.

I feel like I should also use this time as a Public Service Announcement for all pedestrians in big cities:

1.  Sidewalks are like traffic lanes.  Don't unexpectedly stop in the middle of one.  You will cause a traffic jam or get run over.

2.  Leave your beach, patio, and golf umbrellas at home, unless you want to arrive dry but without an eye.  There is no room for oversized umbrellas on the streets.

3.  When walking with friends, walk single file not shoulder to shoulder.  In case you didn't notice, people walk fast here.  Faster than you.  And they want to be able to get around you.

4.  On escalators, stand on the right, walk on the left.  Same reasoning as #3.

5.  If you smoke, please blow it away from my face.  And don't leave your cigarette hanging out where I will get singed when I walk by you because I don't want to breathe your second hand smoke.

With all of that walking, you definitely wear through shoes quickly.  These are comfy and keep up with the return of the 80's that I'm sure you've noticed this summer.  They are $140.00 and part of the NikeiD line, so you can style them any way you like in case you aren't diggin' the rad neon.

I think they're a little more wearable than these Asics which Ralph was recently seen wearing and retail for $120.00.