Kicking it old school

I had some good old fashioned fun this 4th of July in the Green Mountain State.

I can literally feel the stress leave my body when we cross the state line. Something about Vermont just does it for me- big time. It's like Norman Rockwell designed the whole state just to remind me of a simpler time.

Simple, however, does not mean lame.


Do these lawn chair drill team ladies look lame to you? Don't let those Birkenstocks fool you- they've got rhythm.


Or this hooked up John Deere/couch-mobile?

Yeah, I didn't think so. Moscow, VT says "What up, world's shortest 4th of July parade!?"


That's a girl riding a toilet/mower. Awesomesauce.

This weekend didn't just include the cultural highlights of Vermont. No, no. Copious amounts of fresh, delicious food where also eaten.

Simple eats are where it's at on the 4th.

The kind ladies of the First Congregational Church of Morrisville make a mean strawberry shortcake. Complete with real whipped cream, obviously.

Strawberry shortcake = opposite o' lame

More goodies awaited at the Stowe fireworks festivities- vendors galore!

Falafel sandwich from Farah's of Burlington.


Wood fired pizza- fresh ricotta, tomato, basil, garlic.

Beef brisket sandwich, coleslaw, and beans from Carbeque- as seen in blogs past.


The whole spread- Betty's gotta eat, right?

Even Gilligan got to enjoy some way-back fun- the sprinkler! Although, I think Nick got wetter than the dog.




All we needed to complete the idyllic scene was a bit of bluegrass.

And a sunset.

A birthday cake

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting. A classic. Kind of like me, but sweeter.

Today is my birthday. Another fun fact about today? It's the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. More time to celebrate my birth, you lucky ducks! Another fun fact? It's also Prince William's birthday. Unfortunately we have not yet been able to exchange presents just yet, but soon. Very soon.

Birthdays are kind of weird. You didn't really do anything to earn and frankly, your parents should be commended for bringing you into the world and letting you stick around. But really, birthdays should be celebrated for one reason and one reason alone.

Cake.

Now, I'm not one to wait around all year for a delicious slice of sugary goodness. That's a regular occurrence in the Cupcake household. But birthdays deserve something a little extra special, dontcha think?

I got this recipe here, but I'm fairly certain it was stolen from Cook's Illustrated. What up, Chris Kimball? Dude knows his food.


Start by oiling and flouring some 9 inch pans. Really get in there with the oil. One of my cakes may have broken and may have been smushed back together. I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations.



Mix your dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk them up. Combine the wet ingredients and whisk them, too.


Then you should whip up some eggwhites. Set them aside.


Dump your flour and leavening into the empty bowl. Don't wash it out first. That's a waste of time.

Slowly mix your wet ingredients into your dry.


Then gently- I said gently!- fold in those egg whites. The whipped eggwhite is a delicate thing and needs some TLC.


Measure out your batter evenly into your prepared pans. Bake until done. Cool beside an open window if you're like me and don't have air conditioning. Or cable. Or 200 amp electrical service. I'm practically Amish!

While your cakes are cooling, you can wash dishes and clean up the flour bomb you made in your kitchen. Then, you ought to get your frosting on.


I'd never chocolate buttercream frosting before today. It was pretty darn simple. Get some cocoa.

Melt some butter.


Put the cocoa in your KitchenAid and aid the melted butter.

Mix it up.


Add approximately one ton of powdered sugar and drip of milk.

And beat the everloving fudge out of it.


Now comes the fun part. Dig out your cake stand. Mine lives in the basement on a shelf underneath the giant fake spider we use on Halloween. What? You don't keep yours next to arachnids?? Weird.

Put one layer of cake, maybe the "broken" one on the cake stand and slather on some frosting. Really give it a good coating.


Add the 2nd layer and admire.

Pour out the rest of the frosting on top. Wonder quietly to yourself if there is such a thing as too much frosting. Quickly dismiss the ridiculous notion and spread all over with an offset spatula.


I decorated mine with some swirlies and gold sprinkles in honor of the Bruins- go, go Black and Gold!

Then you can take your cake on a field trip. Oh the places this cake has been!

The great state of Texas (or just my Texas flag picnic table).



It lounged in the sun on the adirondack chair.


It even visited Kevin the garden gnome. Check out that kale! Kevin's been whispering sweet nothings to my veggies this year and they are growing like gangbusters!

Once the tour de garden is over, take the cake to your inlaws. Carefully balance it on the front seat of your SMART car, hold with one hand, drive with the other, and try to convince your 90 pound labradoodle not to knock it over as he's wedged in the trunk.


Conduct the ritual singing of "Happy Birthday".




Make a wish.



Eat a large slice and share a few others! 27 is going to be a good year.

Pedal power

At the end of May I conquered a half marathon. That deserves it's own post, but alas, the husband has all the sweaty pictures on his camera.

After running 179 miles in 4.5 months, I was toast. My hips were shot, my feet were aching, and I was tired of strapping on my spandex to prance around town.

Enter...my new bike! I loved being so active for so many months- just needed a change of pace and something a little more forgiving to my pore battered joints. My husband and in-laws went in together to get me this kick ass Trek. It's a hybrid commuter bike- not trail ready but definitely prepared to deal with the pothole-a-rific urban terrain of our town.


Mine's the blue one. It's for women. You can tell this because it's decorated in swirly text and curlicues. No, I'm not kidding.


We took the scenic route to the Cape Cod canal. Saw a gaggle (family) o' geese crossing a rotary- people actually stopped to let them cross! Wonders never cease.

We stopped in Plymouth and had steamers + salad (me) + clam chowder (Nick) at The Lobster Hut. Slurpy goodness.

We parked at Scusset Beach and took off. I decided to master the art of taking pictures while riding. First shot- not so good.

Ahh, much better. Side note- we are sans helmet because this is a dedicated bike/walk/job/rollerblade path. Normally Sarah Seatbelts always wears a helmet, but sometimes she throws caution to the wind. And by sometimes, I mean only when there are no cars around.

View of the trail.

Bridge.

Blurry backwards shot of Nick. We were probably fake racing each other.



Seagull mural! Not a huge fan of seagulls (one ate my Kraft American cheese single when I was 5 at Mustang Beach in Corpus Christi, TX- bastard!), but I dig the themed decorations on the trail.


RV park along the trail- we did some trailer scoping. There are some pretty sweet rigs out there.

Sometimes you need a little help- tow boat to the rescue!

Nick said this is a railroad bridge. The bridge part lowers down when a train comes by so it can pass the canal. The wonders of architecture!


At the end of trail, you can get off and explore Buzzards Bay.



I spotted this shop from across the parking lot. I have a sixth sense for frozen dairy.

I had a small cone of Coffee Heath frozen yogurt. Wish I could say it tasted like coffee. It really just tasted brown. Nick had some unpictured but awesome mocha peanut butter ice cream. I snagged a bite or two.

We even stumbled upon an SEIU family fun day for home health workers and met a vice president for SEIU who works with the same health care system as I do. Small world!


Antiques, anyone?

After our snack stop, we pedaled back toward the car. The entire trail is about 8 miles, end to end. I didn't want to stop (biking is SO much more than running!!) so we went all the way to the beach.



Two thumbs up for biking!

Up next- Gilligan gets a puppy trailer (no, I'm not kidding. It's ordered and coming this week!!). The ultimate head out of the window experience for the world's silliest labradoodle coming soon to a blog near you!