Philly Fun...

One major bonus of living in NJ is that, within 2 hours of going in any direction, you can manage to hit 2 major cities and the Jersey Shore (don't judge...we don't ALL have orange tans and big hair;)  So on the gorgeous day that was yesterday, we thought we'd hit up a few places in Philadelphia!  Starting with one of our favorites: The Reading Terminal Market...

Reading Terminal is a foodies paradise!  I think we could visit there 100 times and not have the same thing twice.  There are just SOOOO many good things tucked away in that place!  But yesterday, we already knew where we were headed for:

 

Who could resist Southern Fried Chicken???  I honestly don't think I've had fried chicken in over 10 years, but it was a sweet, sweet reunion:)  The collard greens were delicious too...but A LOT.  Scott gladly polished off almost that huge portions worth:)

But let's not beat around the bush.  I knew EXACTLY what I was there to try...

Delilah's very famous SEVEN Cheese Mac & Cheese.  I've been wishing to try this ever since we saw it on Bobby Flay's Throwdown!  And oh my goodness, it did NOT disappoint!  Especially since it was FILLED with a bunch of those delicious crispy ends all swirled through it.  Even Scott liked it, and he is not a fan of Mac & Cheese (weird, I'm aware;)

The only thing we didn't get to try was Delilah's cornbread, since they were out....but I think we did JUST fine;)  I'm not even a big fan of "chicken on the bone", and I think I did pretty OK...(thought you'd be proud, A:)

After lunch, we wandered around the market a bit more and went to my favorite little spice shop that has everything...and I mean EVERYTHING!!!

Lesson of the day:  I had needed Ground Mustard for a recipe I'm making this afternoon.  I had seen it at the Acme that morning for $5.75 A BOTTLE.  Reading Terminal Spice Market Baggie: $1.95!  How can you beat that???  It's wayyyyyyyyyyyy cheaper to buy spices in bulk, ESPECIALLY ones you don't need very much of!

After the spice market, we got whipped around since there was an Italian festival going on and it was VERY crowded.  So we headed for the exit, but not before stopping at one of our favorite Amish markets in the terminal...

They have THE BEST cream donuts I've EVER tasted (thus far;)...however they were out of donuts yesterday (DIDN'T THEY KNOWWW WE WERE COMING??:), and we were left to choose from thier other 4,000 ridiculously delicious options...

I had been wishing for a cannoli since I had seen them filing the shells at the festival.  But since I could get them at quite a few places close to our house, I'm glad we held off until we found THIS to share....

A chocolate chip whoopie pie!! :)  It was one of those things that I tasted and just started laughing...it was THAT good:)  Squishy fresh baked cookies with cream??  What's not to like??  And 1/2 was just enough to "fuel" us for our journey;)

After our cookie, we started "working off" our lunch by walking through the city!  Highlights include the Swann Memorial Fountain in Logan Square....(which you can see in "The Sixth Sense"  <~nerdy film student fact;)

And my old dorm room!!  Appropriate since I was rockin my Temple Owls t-shirt;)

Bringing us to our destination of the day:  The Eastern State Penitentiary.  Looks ominous, huh??

I, for some reason, thought this would be a good idea...despite the facts that all things involving prisons creep me out and make me nauseous:)  hahahahhaa...but thankfully, we chose a beautiful day to do the tour, so I think the sunlight held my COMPLETE creepiness at bay...;)

It was a really good audio tour and a pretty interesting place to take pictures.  Not gonna lie though, my heart was pounding in quite a few locations...could it be due to THIS??

Hard to tell if it was my OWN "sixth sense" OR my slight case of claustrophobia;)  But this picture was quite a creepfest;)

After the tour, we took our 2 mile hike back to Reading Terminal and I chased the ghostly thoughts away with some of this...

Bassetts is America's oldest ice cream shop.  Interesting, right??  I knew exactly what I wanted, but still had some trouble after seeing this list of flavors!!

We each got 2 scoops to try....Scott got the Dark Chocolate Chip & I got the "Whyy Experience", which was vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered pretzel pieces and butterscotch.  They were both good, but both paled in comparison to the one I was wishing for the most:  Peanut Butter Swirl which we BOTH got and loved;)

We even managed to make it back to our Amish bakery, which was near closing and selling everything for $2!  We snagged this bread for Sunday morning breakfast....(SO GOOD!!!)

And another VERY Amish dessert for tonight! :) 

So overall, a very wonderful day with the best company around:) 

Today is the polar opposite from yesterday...rainy & damp. So today will be spent cooking and lounging on the couch watching "Ghost Adventures"...and best yet: At 1 o'clock, they are showing the "Eastern State Penitantary" episode! Can't wait:)

At Home Take Out...

I was SOOO excited to have a Friday night with NO PLANS last night!!  Don't get me wrong, I've had quite a few fun Fridays recently...but sometimes, ya just want to crash on the couch with the one you love after the work week:)  Fridays are also perfect for take out....butttttt we decided to make our own:)  We had "take out" from our freezer & vegetable bins and made a delicious vegetable & shrimp lo mein...

 

I DID let Trader Joe's help me out with SOME of the chopping...

And when I opened up the container, I was met with all of these beautiful jewels...

Although I DID have to seperate all my pretty vegetables from the mushrooms because, come on people, they're just plain G-ROSS! ;)

In addition to the TJ's mix of:

• Broccoli
• Onions
• Bamboo Shoots
• Water Chestnuts
• Baby Corns
• Bell Peppers
• Carrots
• Snap Peas

I also added:

• Green Onions
• Shredded Carrots
• Bean Sprouts
• Snow Peas

We had QUITE the vegetable medley!  I started by sauteing garlic in the pan with a little sesame seed oil.  Next I poured in the veggies and covered the pan to let them steam.  In a small saucepan, Scott sauteed the shrimp in a little olive oil, since they weren't going to take very long to cook.  After the veggies were nearly done, I threw in a bag of these cooked noodles that I had bought from the Asian Food Store a few months ago...

 

You know I'm a big fan of eating foods with as few ingredients of possible...so are we thinking THIS might have been a step in the WRONG direction??? ;)

 

Anyway, we mixed the noodles with the veggies and I added some soy sauce and a bit more sesame oil.  Not only did this taste great (and NOT greasy, unlike most Chinese take-out), but I imagine with the amount of vegetables that we used, that this was QUITE a bit healthier!  Perfect for a Friday night:)

OK...we're off to spend this sunny day in Philadelphia!  Me thinks it's going to be a day of good treats and possibly some ghost adventures...stay tuned;)

Magical Paris-Day 3...

Well, after noticing how many pictures I was uploading for our last 2 days in Paris, I figured I'd break up the days into 2 "shorter" posts...so here we are: Day 3.....and it was one I waited for. Since Day 3 was the day we were going to VERSAILLES!!!  I COULD. NOT. WAIT!  And I could not believe we were going!!!  However, since this was our anniversary trip...my lovely husband told me I could "choose my gift in Paris".  And since I'm a lover of "memory gifts," I chose a bike tour of Versailles.  Sounds "romantic," right??

And I guess I figured the fact that I hadn't ridden a bike in...um....15 years wouldn't matter!  Well, they REALLY should consider adding "fine print" to their brochure to mention that not only were we going to be riding our bikes miles and miles throughout the Versailles grounds...BUT ALSO: starting in the center of Paris, biking NEXT TO TRAFFIC to the Metro, carrying our bikes up and down the stairs TO the metro, tying them ON the metro...the WHOLE NINE YARDS!  OY!!!  Talk about the "three hour tour syndrome!"  

We'll get to the best part of my bike steering in a moment, but first we stopped at the Versailles market where I had this lovely gentleman make a lemon, butter & sugar crepe for me...

How French:)

We were a little rushed at the market and I wished I had taken more pictures, because it was extraordinary...but I somehow only managed to snap this picture of some "small cheese"...;)

Aahhhh...after the market, we FINALLY entered the grounds...looks ideal, right??

Well, that was after I managed to make my GRANDE ENTRANCE onto the grounds by ramming my bike into the guard rail and cracking it.....

Scott always wonders why I didn't just brake, but I tell him "I knew that barricade was going to stop me." :)  Skillz on wheels...let me tell ya;)

So the rest of the day was magical....we saw Marie Antoinette's Mini Hamlet...

The Petit Trianon (their "vacation home" on the grounds)...

And the Grande Trianon...all gold, marble and gorgeous...

This will give you an idea of how exquisitely kept the grounds are.  It's just miles of perfectly trimmed trees....

After biking ALLL the way around the lake, we got to relax and have the lunch we bought at the market.  We had a hunk of bread, brie cheese, pate (SOOO GOOD!) and Scott's smoked ham....no utencils.  It was awesome:)

And this was our view during lunch....how insane is this??  Apparently it's the spot where Louis XV used to go to "admire his palace."  I kinda can't hate on the man...it was quite a nice view...

And after another HOURRRRRRR of bike riding...we FINALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY got to the chateau (there may or may not have been a small breakdown of "I JUST WANT TO GET THERE!!!" heard in France.  I can neither confirm nor deny...)  But thankfully, all that biking was worth it, because Versailles lived up to EVERY GRANDE EXPECTATION you could ever have dreamed.  Here is the Royal Chapel...

One room was just more elaborate than the next.  It was gold, on top of crystal, on top of marble.  Floor to ceiling paintings.  It was just BREATHTAKING...

Here we are in the famous "Hall of Mirrors"....beyond beautiful....

And these will give you an idea of it's size.....it was just MASSIVE...

After we were evacuated (yes, EVACUATED) from the chateau, we hit the gardens for a photo shoot tour of the grounds...

See that lake?  Yep...biked around it!

It was surely a day I'll remember forever...for both the beautiful of Versailles, and my lack of bicycling skills:)

And after biking back THROUGH Versailles, back ONTO the metro, back UP the steps with our bikes, BACK through Paris (and into oncoming traffic...), we FINALLY made it back to the city and headed to dinner at a restaurant near the Notre Dame...

Tonight was apparently the night I wanted to give myself a heart attack:)…starting with a plate of assorted meats….and Scott got a ham and cheese crepe…

Next I had steak with a cheese sauce and frites…

And here’s Scott’s Beef Bourguignon…

And Crème Caramel for dessert…

And as if one dessert is not enough when you just biked for 9 hours around Versailles…I just HAPPENED to stumble on the gelato shop that shaped gelato into a flower…I was SOOO excited! I couldn’t believe I randomly found it!!!!

I had caramel, mascarpone and crema al croccante that was a custard-y, sweet cream gelato with almost a hint of nutmeg…it tasted like Christmas!

Hope you enjoyed "Day 3!"  Have a great weekend!  I may have some interesting things for you soon!! :)