Morning everyone! Hope you guys had a GREAT Memorial day weekend! I must say ours was really lots 'o fun from start to finish. And even after our Saturday of food-craziness, there was even MORE to be had over the next 2 daysJ
First up was a picnic of some all-American favorites on Sunday night...
Hot dogs (and hamburgers), "Bloom Baked Beans" (our friend's beans that are perfect!), classic wavy chips (my kryptonite!) and some of our friend's excellent homemade potato salad...
...as well as the 'first corn of the summer.' (Although not Jersey corn yet!)
No clue what Katie is doing in the picture on the right, but it cracked me upJ
Memorial day was made even nicer by the fact that the weather was actually "Labor Day perfection": Low 70's/NO HUMIDITY! It was the first Memorial Day picnic we've had on the sunporch (and NOT blasting the air conditioner) in YEARS! Simply heaven to meJ
And since it was chilly, I thought a sorta/kinda 'warm' dessert might be fun. First up were the patriotic trio of blueberries, strawberries & an abnormally huge bowl of homemade whipped cream...
Then the 'warm' part: Grilled pound cake. YUM! I love a little char on anythingJ
And what 'All-American' picnic would be complete without that ole Italian favorite, Nutella??J America IS the great melting pot after all...I mean, right???J
Warm cake + ice cream + hoodies on the sunporch = My kinda picnicJ
Memorial day morning we woke up bright & early to deck Katie out in her patriotic finest & head off to see our niece in her marching band parade..
Katie watched like a true lady...
Although we can't tell if she was stunned...or unimpressedJ
On the food front, I tried to keep the beginning part of the day as "light" as possible. And even though the FAINTEST glimmer of 'bagel on the way to the parade' skirted through my brain, I thought it was MUCH wiser to bring along something I knew would be a smarter choice...
While keeping my lunch & snacks equally as light and filling..
(and patriotic!J)
Anddddd that's before the craziness unleashed again! But how can you pass up the chance to spend an absolutely weather PERFECT Memorial day in one of our countries best cities (AGAINJ)
And how can ya get more American than indulging in one of the countries BEST sandwiches, the Philly cheesesteak, at one of its prime locations???
(And we were far from the only folks with the same idea...)
About an hour after joining the end of the line & the sweet victory of a snagging a table, we finally were able to crack into the goods...
This thing was HUGE!!!!!!!!!!
Now I've always been a Pat's girl of the Pat's & Geno's 'cheesesteak wars' throughout the years, but South Philly's Tony Luke's just may take the new crown. They were sheer perfection! PACKED with perfectly seasoned meat, sweet fried onions and a perfect amount of my favorite cheesesteak topping: CHEESE WIZ! (ya just gotta do it!)
I managed about 1/2 of that bad bear, mixed with a few bites of Scott's Roast Pork/Provolone/Broccoli Rabe sandwich (which was excellent, but my pick still goes with DiNic'sJ)
This was a completely decadent, supremely messy and CRAZY delicious way to celebrate AmericaJ Worth every last ounce of 'detoxing' that's to come this week...hahahahahahaha!
Oh yeah, but I should mention that the 'celebrating' didn't stop there, as we HAD to make a trip to a place that celebrates old Americana at it's finest:
Franklin Fountain is the most charming ice cream parlor you will ever step foot in. Everything from the decor to the ice cream recipes are purely classic America.
All with Big Ben keeping a watchful eye...J
My friend & I decided to split the "Stock Market Crash," which was rocky road ice cream topped with peanut butter sauce, salty pretzel bites & their housemade whipped cream...
(hmmm...apparently Rocky Road ice cream was concocted during the great depression 'to give folks something to smile about' during that time...totally fascinating!)
My friend & I managed to smile through....maybe...a few more bites than this pictureJ The sundae was SUPER rich and sharing would be a definite MUSTJ And even though I LOVEEE sweet & salty, I had to sneak a few bites of JUST the ice cream. Franklin Fountain just makes it SOOO pure & simple. It's just happiness on a spoonJ
Our other friend got the classic Mount Vesuvius, while Scott indulged in "The Lightening Rod"...
Brownies topped with coffee ice cream, a shot of espresso, hot fudge (they were out of espresso beans!), whipped cream and topped off with a pretzel aka. lightening rod. I only managed a bite of the coffee ice cream and it was SUPPPPPERRRR strong & bitter. If you need a JOLT, I have a feeling this sundae would keep me awake for DAYSJ hahahahahhaha
And after our ice cream, we headed back home to end the night around our friend's new fire pit since it was PERFECTLY chilly & Fall-like night out...BLISS!
But brace yourself, East Coasters...the heat IS A-COMING!!! Starting tomorrow, we are going from mid-70's to 90/hot & humid. Yeesh! So both the heat andddddddddd a DETOX are on their way after the ABSURD amount of deliciousness this weekend! I'm going to try a few light/carb-less days to really kick things up a notch. Hopefully they work to BALANCE out all of this craziness!
Hope you guys had a wonderful weekend and I'll be back with HEALTHY & a new salad 'recipe' tomorrow!
Have a great Tuesday!!!J
No comments:
Post a Comment