My Morning Walk

The beauty of winter never ceases to amaze me.

Sunday Brunch

I had brunch with my girlfriend's Sunday, it was so nice to catch up and just talk about life. I often forget how important it is to make time for such things. I get so caught up in daily necessities, kids, work, cleaning, games, etc., that I forget to stop and cultivate my friendships.

It’s great that there are so many places in Buffalo doing brunch on Sunday's now; we decided to go to Shango Bistro and Wine Bar. The vibe is soulful cuisine from New Orleans, which was very good. They have a full bar where on Sundays you can also get Mimosas and Bloody Marys.

They seem to get pretty busy for brunch so I would recommend reservations. The service was great and the food was delicious. I had the shrimp with grits and it was excellent the grits were cooked just right, which can be hard to do. The stuffed French toast was excellent too, the brie cheese filling was nice and subtle, not overpowering.

I think bunch is such an idea meal.  You can relax because it's a Sunday morning, its a great way to try new resurants because it is more reasonable then dinner and you don't feel as rushed.

 

 Stuffed French Toast with brie cheese filling and a banana caramel rum sauce

 

New Orleans barbecue shrimp with bacon cheese grits and poached eggs

Elm Street Bakery - East Aurora

The Elm Street Bakery in East Aurora is amazing.  The baked goods are so fresh.  They often have gluten free options avialable.  The pastry in the picture is a strawberry-rhubarb pastry, delicious.  They offer a variety of fresh breads, scones, cakes, cupcakes and cookies too.  I love their molasses cookies.  On Saturdays they have cinnamon rolls, I guess am going to have to get their early to try one. 

What I really love is going for dinner or lunch.  Their salads are made from organic produce from local farms.  Their meat is also from local, organic or grass fed farms.  The pizza is made to order in wood burning pizza ovens and the crust amazing.  In addition, they also offer a nice selection beer and wine. 

Around Here Lately

My little boy is becoming a man way to fast but I couldn't be more proud him.  He doesn't like his picture taken so I had to sneak this one in. 

For some reason I think these are so beautiful.

Thrift store finds, this mirror was only $20, but after getting it home I realized it is so heavy I am kind afraid to hang it.  Plus it needs paint.

This picture is awful but I found this cute little globe for 50 cents. 

Less is More

I must admit as far back as I can remember I am/was a Black Friday Shopper.  I have wonderful memories of getting up early the day AFTER Thanksgiving and hitting the stores with a pile of ads and my Mother and Sister in tow.  This was a ritual, a welcome to the holiday season that we participated in for as long as I can remember, probably 20 years, and I loved every minute of it.  It can be really exciting when you score that great deal or watching my Mother shop commando style in the mall, she had mad shopping skills. 

Lately, it seems like things are getting crazy in the world of Black Friday shopping.  Maybe it's the economy, because most people do not have the disposable income they once had and they need a good deal.  Maybe it is just the media making a big deal out of everything and scaring people into thinking these deals are so great they must go out, shop and buy stuff they don't really need.  I don't really know.

What I do know is that when I went to Everlane on Friday to order a Christmas present, ok and maybe a little something for myself, I was peasantly surprised to find this....



and it got me thinking.  I love this philosophy, I want less stuff but I want the stuff I do buy to be excellent.  I want to focus this holiday season on bringing high quality gifts, decorations and food into my life.  I want to teach my children that it is better to receive and give fewer, well thought out, high quality gift then several gifts that will never be used.  I want them to think about the money they spend and how that item will affect them, the person who receives the gift and the global community they live in.

I realized what I really enjoyed most on those Black Friday shopping trips was the time spent with my Mother and Sister and that is a tradition I plan to continue, just not at Walmart.

Mayer Brothers Cider Mill

Recently, I have enjoyed two treats from Mayer Brothers Cider Mill, thanks to my dear friend Roger, donuts and caramel apple pie. I am not really a donut person but these were so, so good. The apple cider donuts were moist, because they are made with their cider, and perfectly cakey. I prefer a cake donut.  The maple donuts had just the right amount of maple flavor, not overpowering.

The caramel apple pie is a must for Thanksgiving, but I think if I served it again I would drizzle more caramel over the individual pieces.

However, you must get there fast because the bakery and store are only open through Thanksgiving. I'm definitely heading back before they close for the season.
The Cider Mill Store will open this year from August 17th until Thanksgiving.

Hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

1540 Seneca Creek Rd
West Seneca, NY
14224-2522
716-668-5260

Fall in Two Countries

"In the entire circle of the year there are no days so delightful as those of a fine October, when the trees are bare to the mild heavens, and the red leaves bestrew the road, and you can feel the breath of winter, morning and evening -- no days so calm, so tenderly solemn, and with such a reverent meekness in the air."

-Alexander Smith

East Aurora Farmers Market

The East Aurora Farmers Market has a great selection of fall vegetables, fruits, Mums, pasta, chocolate, baked goods, soap, local farm raised meat, cheese and more. Luckily, the Farmers Market is open until the weekend of Thanksgiving.

The Viking Lobster Company

Last weekend was my dear friend Roger's Birthday. Luckily, he picked The Viking Lobster Company for his dinner celebration.

 One of the great things about the restaurant is they don't serve alcohol so you can bring your own.  This saved us money, because we tend to drink a lot and we were not limited to an overpriced wine list.  Plus you can bring the wines you really enjoy.  As you see we each brought a bottle of wine, good thing there is no corking fee, and somehow we manged to drink it all. 

 

I'm not sure what was better the food or the service?  They both were by far the best I have had in a very long time.  The seafood was so fresh and cooked perfectly, which can be hard to do.  We ordered two of the Admiral's Feast so we could try everything.  Fresh scallops, shrimp, fish, crab legs and lobster.  We stared with clams casino and lobster egg rolls, unfortunately they were so good I forgot to take a picture.  You can also choose between soup, seafood chowder or a seafood gumbo, or a salad.  

 

I would recommend this place to anyone and everyone I could.  This is definitely the best place for seafood in Buffalo.  The food, the service and the casual, friendly atmosphere can not be beat.  I am already trying to figure out a time I can get back there.  Reservations are recommended. 

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been reading a lot about homemade detergent lately and finally got around to making my own.  From everything I have read they all seem to use the same ingredients which can be made into a liquid or a powder form.  The only difference is the liquid form you boil with water and let it cool into a sort of thick liquid.  Since the liquid form is diluted with water you use about 1/2 of cup per load.

1 – 55 ounce box of Arm & Hammer® Super Washing Soda = $3.99

1 – 76 ounce box of 20 Mule Team® Borax = $4.69

1 – Bar of Fels-naptha soap = 1.39 each   (I bought 4 bars)  Ivory soap works well also

I got everything here locally at our grocery store, Wegman's.

Grate one bar of soap and mix with 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda.  Stir everything together really well, it is just that easy.  You only need to use 1 tablespoon per load, if you have heavily soiled laundry you can add a little more. 

 So, after using this for awhile I will probably never buy regular detergent again.  At about 0.05 cents a load I am saving quite a bit of money.  My old detergent cost around 0.22 cents a load. 

Also, I have tested it on smelly, dirty lacrosse and football clothes and everything has come very clean.  You can rub the Fels-naptha directly on a stain and it works great.  The only thing I miss is that fresh like Downy smell so I buy dryer sheets to solve that issue.

Remember 1 tablespoon is all you need.

Mangia - Orchard Park

 

I don't get to do local restaurant reviews very often, not as much as I would like too. We went to Mangia in Orchard Park, NY on Friday night. It is a lovely Italian Restaurant with a nice atmosphere, exposed brick, a quaint patio and a beautiful bar with a great wine selection.

I started with the Crabcake Arancine, which is risotto mixed with crabmeat, breaded and fried with a Remoulade. I really enjoyed the crabcake. They did not skimp on the crabmeat which is nice because you could taste the crab more so then the risotto. The Remoulade was fine but I really just like to taste the crabmeat without any kind of sauce. I didn't try the Hot Stuff Peppers but I was assured they we excellent but very hot.

The Caprese salad was very fresh and well seasoned. This is one of my favorite salads.

For dinner, we both had the Lobster Ravioli in a Prosecco sauce. It was excellent, the ravioli were stuffed with a decent amount of lobster and the sauce was delicate and enhanced the flavor of the ravioli. I was stuffed but I could not stop eating the ravioli.

We were too full for dessert so we took the Tiramisu home for later. I have to admit this was the only disappointment of the evening. The Tiramisu was not good, it barely had any lady fingers, it mostly just too much run filled cream.

Life Around Marilla Lately

Michael Pollen

     I have been thinking about food a lot lately, who am I kidding, I am always thinking about food.  However, I have been reading and re-reading Michael Pollen books hoping everything will sink in.  Awhile ago my children and I watched Food, Inc and I was so proud of my son when he decided to give up fast food.  When I grew up, I don't think my parents really thought about where our food was coming from.  I know my children have better eating habits then I did when I was a child, I actually think they have better eating habits then I do know. So I am going to try and spend this spring and summer focusing on some of Michael Pollen's food rules and buying as much food as we can at the local farmer's market and farms.

My Focus

1.  Eat food, not to much, mostly plants. 

 2.  Don't eat anything with more then five ingredients, especially ingredients you can't pronounce.

 3.  Stay out of the middle of the supermarket, sick to the perimeter because that tends to be where the real food is located.

 4.  "Always leave the table a little hungry", this one seems hard but I will try.

By the way aren't the illustrations from Michael Pollen's new book beautiful and what a great way to give children an understanding about food.
All the pictures via Michael Pollen