Monday, November 4, 2024

Weekly Round Up: The Best Time to Plant a Tree

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  In this week's edition we did a lot of hiking which lead to a lot of eating. 

Let's Start with Puppy Pictures

Someone loves fall.

 

Knock wood [pun intended] we're seeing a decrease in furniture chewing.  Her counter surfing game is still strong, though there were no big capers this week.

Eventually this phase will pass and in the meantime I was able to get a couple of quick pictures before doing the corrective action, which is to ask her to "come" or "sit"==>get her to stop doing the "bad" thing by asking her to do a "good" thing.  We also shut her out of the kitchen when we're doing longer cooking projects in order to remove the temptation/decrease the odds of Counter Surfing Success.

 

Eats

Let's start with the Quickie Meal of the Week.  I'd gotten the squiggly noodles from Trader Joe's a while back and one day this week I finally broke them out for lunch.  They were fine on their own, but I wanted to step them up a bit.  I did a sweep of the freezer, and found that Past Me had stocked up some "stepping up" accessories.

You're looking at a bowl with the squiggly noodles, Trader Joe's meatless beef bulgogi, frozen broccoli, and some mushrooms that I'd sauteed in a little oil and salt and then frozen for those times when I just want to add a handful of mushrooms to something.  I topped the bowl with a spoonful of chili crisp and repeated a few days in a row.

Next up: the Hubs and I went on a hiking spree this weekend.  On Saturday we went on what we assumed would be a three-ish mile hike and but ended up being a 6+ mile hike thanks to some trail closures and associated reroutings.  The hike ended at Seriously Past Lunch O'Clock.

We surveyed our lunch options but were too hangry to pick a cute little local place out in hiking country.  Our eyes both popped on Sheetz at the same time and the decision was made.  If you're not familiar, Sheetz is a gas station chain with incredibly good fast food.

We pulled in and Hubs stopped to get gas before lunch, and I was scrolling Instagram as one does.  Of course a video of Recipe Rebel's chocolate cheesecake popped up in my feed.  I showed it to Hubs when he got back in the car and I swear we were both staring at my phone with our mouths hanging open.  We went in and got food, and after we were both feeling somewhat back to normal, I drilled into the recipe details.  Two hour baking time plus a recommended overnight chilling time...this was not something that we were going to just casually whip up.  I ran the details by Hubs, and he shrugged and said "well you know what they say, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago and the second best time is now".  So after we got back home I went by the store to get the ingredients and got the goods in the oven.

I think this is a "one and done" for this recipe only because I like cheesecake bars better - less fussy and quicker to make.  

While I browsing the Recipe Rebel site, I also took note of her pot roast recipe and decided that would be a great thing for Sunday dinner.  Sure enough, it was.  The only thing that I changed was to add mushrooms, since everyone in our house likes mushrooms.  I agree with her raves about this recipe having the best gravy.

A final note on food is for me to "tell you that I took these pictures on the night of time change without telling you that I took these pictures on the night of the time change" - the Shadow of the Phone is a reality for all dinner photos this time of year.

Workouts

Another weekend of gorgeous weather==>another weekend of hiking!

On Saturday the Hubs and I headed out in the country to an "I've heard of that but I've never been there" location: The Holden Arboretum.  

Attraction #1: the observation tower because when you have the chance to start a hike by going up and down a structure with 200 steps, of course you should.   It was too hard to get a pic of the tower from up close since it blends in well with the surrounding trees, but here is a peak at the top of the tower from later in our hike.


And here (plus the pic at the top of the post) is what we saw from the top of the tower:

Attraction #2: the canopy walk, which is actually a giant suspension bridge.  Is it even a hike if you don't climb a big tower and go on a suspension bridge?


Attraction #3: All the Hiking.  There was a trail closure and a lot of rerouting, so we ended up with a lot more than we bargained for.  Lots of steps, lots of up and downs, and man I was so hungry...how could I possibly be that hungry so early in the day?

Oh.  It wasn't early in the day.  When your planned three mile/one hour hike is actually six miles and three hours, you do work up an appetite.

On Sunday we took Doggo and met up with SIL #3 and her dog for a hike closer to home.

There were lots more stairs, a waterfall, and a stream.  It was our first time taking Doggo close to water (apart from baths and the kiddie pool at doggy daycare), and it turns out that we have a Water Dog.  She and her cousin dog ran through the stream like maniacs.

 

Watching

On Halloween we juggled trick o' treat duties and Doggo's dislike of strangers knocking on our door.  Afterwards we kicked back on the couch and tucked into a seasonally appropriate movie(s).  Huh you're wondering, what movie let alone movies are these people watching on a weeknight?

Great question, and they way to fit two movies into one weeknight and still get to bed by ten is to watch the OG Frankenstein (one hour and ten minutes) and Bride of Frankenstein (one hour and 15 minutes).  Hubs was interested because he recently came across an article about sequels that are better than the original movies.

If you've even gotten confused on whether Frankenstein is the scientist or the monster, the title Bride of Frankenstein is to blame!  By rights the movie should be called The Bride of Frankenstein's Monster, but that doesn't fit as well on a movie marque.  At any rate, the movies are great fun.

Reading

I still haven't settled on a book.  I finally picked up the next book in the Dover series (a spoof of the Great British detective novels which I first read when I was 12 and have read many, many times since).  For half a second I thought that I was going to get into I Hope This Finds You Well, which is a workplace email gone wrong caper, but at 9% in I was already feeling the strain of " a wildly funny and comic workplace novel", so I abandoned it.  Hey I've been in a reading slump before I will be in one again...I know from experience that the Right Book will find me and break the cycle.

What's Next

I'm hoping to squeeze in one more hiking adventure before winter sets in...and I have a Plan B just in case the weather doesn't go my way.  Stay tuned!

See you next week!


25 comments:

  1. Ok, Doggo looks quite cute with her paws on the counter, I will admit LOL but yeah, not really sustainable.

    Love the fall foliage on your hike. It's a great time of year in so many places :)

    A pot roast sounds delicious right now. And we LOVE mushroom in our house (we rarely cook without mushrooms) and they're a great addition to every pot roast recipe!

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    1. So many of her other "problem" behaviors have come and gone, and I'm sure that countersurfing will be a short lived thing as well...it just feels like it's lasted forever and she keeps getting better at it. I had to sneak a few pictures while we're still in this phase.

      Pot roast is such an easy and rewarding meal. I mean it takes a long time but that's the Instant Pot's problem and not mine. I need to make it more often.

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  2. Ha! Ha! The photo of the counter surfing doggo caught in action is adorable! I'm sure it's not adorable for you when she's stealing your food though! I love pot roast this time of year. It's perfect comfort food. Your cheesecake looks yummy too. I'm glad you could enjoy more hiking with all that beautiful fall scenery. Ours is done. It snowed last night, the wind howled, and all the leaves went "whump" on the ground in a wet mess.

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    1. She is 100% cute on and off the counter. Yes it's annoying only because she's so fast at going from being asleep in the middle of the kitchen floor to up on the counter grabbing a mouthful of food.

      Noooooooo snow...I know it's coming soon.

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  3. Your hikes continue to amaze me, especially that canopy walk. Yes, it was as double as long as you had planned, but hey, once you're out there, you might as well do double as much. Doesn't food taste much better if you're starving? 😂

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    1. Plus there was an admission charge so we got 50% off for doing 2x as much! That Sheetz hamburger never tasted so good.

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  4. Okay, I know it's naughty, but that counter surfing is TOO cute! I feel like it's great meme fodder.
    When I had my first child, a friend brought a delicious chocolate cheesecake. When I had my second baby, she asked if there was anything I wanted and I said: that chocolate cheesecake again. I should look up the recipe and make it ASAP. My husband couldn't eat it because of all the lactose, but now it's so easy to get LF cream cheese. It was SO good (and non-bake, if I recall correctly?)
    Those hikes look wonderful. There is nothing like time in nature to work up an appetite. I am literally salivating looking at those pot roast pictures, even though it's not even 6 am.

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    1. Pot roast for dinner in the Frost house tonight! With cheesecake for dessert!

      Yes the counter surfing is naughty but sooooo cute.

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  5. I am loving the fall hiking escapades! Your story about the three miles turning into six sounds like the story of my life and a reason that my brother's gf never goes hiking with him anymore. She calls it [insert my last name here] hiking time, which basically means that if he says it will be two miles, or one hour, you have to double it basically as it never is as fast or as short as you think it's going to be.

    I am also giggling about your phone shadow, as I have this issue all the time and so can relate! Even when it is not winter, I had recessed lighting and it is NOT perfect for taking overhead phone photos! Lastly, I see in your Sunday hike Doggo is running around with no leash and I wonder if she is good at coming back? I am always nervous to go leashless as usually it is not my dog and I have fears that I will lose them to the woods!

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    1. There is island time, and there is [insert your last name here] hiking time!

      Doggo was on a leash, but it's a slim cable and black so you can't see it. It's a 16ft retractable leash, so she has lots of room to play but we can also shorten it in a hurry if we need to. She is decent about recall, but she's also a teenager so it's the wrong phase of life to let her just roam lose right now. I'm sure that by next summer she will be mature enough/well past the furniture chewing phase and then we'll be able to take her on short vacations. In particular I can't wait to take her to Lake Erie and the islands. Dogs ride the ferry for free!

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  6. I love the hiking photos!!! SO pretty, and so different from Florida. I can see Doggo had a blast : )
    I get those noodles from TJs for the kids all the time- but I don't do anything to step them up. I'll try that from now on.
    The photo of Doggo with the leaf in her mouth looks like it should be the "November" page of a dog calendar.

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    1. Jenny, you have got to find a way to take a leaf peep trip next year! I credit you with helping me to appreciate fall.

      Doggo is starting to grow up, but when we first got her she would chase leaves and it was adorable.

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  7. Doggo looks so sad in that 3rd photo of her by the stove - like why can't I steal food from your counter? Lol.

    The hikes all sound wonderful! I'm glad you've had nice weather! It was very nice here on Saturday - I ran and then walked to SBUX with the boys so got lots of fresh air and then I was cooped up inside that afternoon doing organizing projects. But the boys were out of the house so I had to make the most of that solo time.

    I hope your book slump ends soon! And your food all looks delicious! I LOVE mushrooms but no one else in my house does so I tend to get mushroom-heavy dishes when I eat out.

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    1. Guilty as charged! All of this time outside has led to build up of things that I could/should do around the house. In theory I will get right on that as soon as the colder temps set in.

      I think the reading slump is over for right now! I started Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra last night (c/o Sarah's Bookshelves) and it is gooooooood. I can't wait to get back to it tonight.

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  8. NOPE NOPE NOPE to the canopy walk. BIG NOPE. Oh, man, I'm getting queasy just looking at that photo. Maybe my fear of heights of getting worse as I get older? I don't like to think that.

    Oh, the cuteness. It's a good thing Doggo doesn't live with me because I'd let her get away with anything if she looked at me with THOSE EYEBALLS.

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    1. You did the infinity room at House on the Rock! You've paid your "face the big scary thing" dues for the year.

      She knows that she is cute and she's not afraid to use it! And it works!

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  9. Doggo is a really good looking dog. It'd be hard not to let him take whatever he wanted to eat, says the woman who doesn't own a dog. Seriously past lunch o'clock. So funny. I also love 'the time to plant a tree was 20 years ago' - I'd never heard that saying and I love it. Coach and I hiked while visiting AZ a few years ago. We got so turned around that the hike was hours longer than anticipated. I was like, Will we ever find the place where we parked our rental car? The trails had a million different choices to make. I've emailed myself that stew recipe. It looks amazing. I hope you find a book you like.

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    1. She's cute and she knows it!

      I'm jealous that you've been to AZ! I've never been and I can't wait to go.

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  10. Doggo is so sweet, hard to not let her get away with everything. I hope this phase passes, now that you have photographic proof!

    Your hikes look amazing, though I'm with Engie on the bridge. Hard pass. I was thinking of making short ribs, but that stew looks really good too. Hmmm.

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    1. Nom, can I come to dinner on short rib night? I've never made them.

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  11. Yay for one least hiking adventure - I hope the weather holds! Good on you for doing the counter surfing work now; I'm sure that would only get more challenging with so many food-centric holidays coming up! Reading slumps are so oof. A couple of weeks ago, I was so not into the book I was reading I started actively avoiding the room it was in, haha sigh.

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    1. I can't wait to do holidays with Doggo! Yes she will most likely not have full access to the kitchen, but I can't wait to give her turkey and for her to hang out with the other dogs in the family.

      So far so good on the forecast for this weekend!

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  12. Ohh Doggo. Counter-surfing adventures are so much fun! For them, at least. Doggo looks not one bit sorry for getting caught in the act.

    That canopy looks BREATHTAKING. Take me there!!

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    1. Correct! Honeybadger don't care! I think she understands that she's not supposed to countersurf, but it's just too tempting because that's where the goodies are.

      Next year we'll hit the canopy a few weeks earlier when the fall colors are at their peak. Even though we're coming toward the end of the season it was still gorgeous.

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  13. Gorgeous hiking photos! And you have a water dog, how fun!

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