Break a Leg

My first successful night-cache! Break a Leg

Dock Your Thoughts

While waiting for a doctor's office to open up after lunch, I thought I'd go in search of Dock Your Thoughts

Wine & Dine

Wine & Dine

Anita's Strong Box

Anita's Strong Box

Can you see the corner? My phone died, so no other pictures at this time :-(

A Sign Lost in Time

A Sign Lost in Time

IFT - Day 3

Today ended up quite different than expected. It started out well - checking out of the hotel, meeting Steve and Julia from D&F Distributing and exchanging name badges so that they could get on the Expo floor early for a meeting, hanging out at the booth with the Sales and Marketing team, getting to O'Hare and catching my flight to Cincinnati. That's where it all fell apart. My flight to Baltimore was cancelled, there were no flights available until the following evening AND there were no hotel rooms available because of the All-Star game. So, I spent the night in the airport. It wasn't a horrible experience. I finished reading the book that I'd been working on ("Monk's Hood" by Ellis Peters) and I was able to grab a bite to eat at the Outback in the terminal. The restroom was nearby, there was good water to drink, and luckily, Delta provided cots, blankets and pillows.

Let's Go Watch Some Planes

So, I was stuck in the Cincinnati airport overnight, and decided to see if there was a cache that I could log while I was there. Luckily, there was, so I was able to get the Kentucky souvenir.

Let's Go Watch Some Planes

IFT - Day 2

After getting my day started with a Ham and Aged Cheddar Omelet at Harvest,

Went back to the IFT. I won a Fitbit Flex at a Cooking with Science demo, but ended up giving it away to one of Huber's salespeople - I already have a Fitbit One. I finished walking about half of the show, and I'm planning on hanging out at the booth tomorrow.
During the walk to dinner, I was able to log three geocaches (1, 2, 3). Dinner was at The Gage. The group I was with shared started of P.E.I. Mussels, Loaded Shishito Peppers and Berber-Spiced Scallops. Then, since they're known for their game, I had their Venison Burger.

It was delicious, but way too much food.

Cloud Gate aka The Bean

Cloud Gate aka The Bean

New Cacher in the Loop

New Cacher in the Loop

Stone Faced

Stone Faced

IFT - Day 1

My first full day was quite eventful. It started out with the All-American breakfast from Harvest, the restaurant in the hotel lobby.

I then made my way to the IFT. After registering and checking out the booth, I realized that I was two hours early for the Expo, so I decided to find a nearby geocache. I still had an hour left after that, so I hung around the booth until the Expo opened.

It was huge! I was only able to see about six rows of booths, and there are many, many more to experience. One of the high points - I met Amy and Maya, the Sweet Scientists who won the Amazing Race!

After the Expo closed, Nolan took me out to dinner at the Chicago Chop House. I had Lobster Bisque, the Dry-Aged Bone-In Tomahawk (it's a ribeye), and we shared creamed spinach and asparagus with hollandaise.

Battle of Fort Dearborn Park

Battle of Fort Dearborn Park

IFT - Arrival

I arrived safely in Chicago today for my first real business trip, the 2015 IFT Expo. Aside from logging a geocache, the only other thing that happened of note was going to dinner with the Nutrition group to Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House.

I had Oysters Rockefeller, New England Clam Chowder, and the Steel-Head Trout served Oscar-style (with Red Alaskan King Crab, asparagus and cajun mustard hollandaise).

Dessert was a shared experience - "The Meaning of Life."

And an espresso!

Chicago's Water Tower

With this find, I received the Illinois souvenir.

Chicago's Water Tower

Creamy Cheesecake Dip

Another item I decided to make for the Summer Picnic Luncheon was a Creamy Cheesecake Dip.

Creamy Cheesecake Dip

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Food Should Taste Good™ blueberry brown rice crackers, as desired

1. In mixer with paddle attachment (or hand mixer), beat cream cheese and cream until smooth, scraping bowl occasionally with spatula. Add brown sugar, and continue to beat. Add vanilla, orange peel, orange juice and salt, beating until completely combined.
2. Serve with crackers.

I must say, I was a little disappointed in this dish. It wasn't as sweet as I thought a dessert-type dish should be. Maybe because I used fresh orange juice?

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

One of the several items that I decided to make for the Summer Picnic Luncheon at Huber was a Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 1 box Betty Crocker™ Suddenly Salad™ creamy macaroni salad mix
• 3/4 cup ranch dressing
• 1/4 cup Buffalo wing sauce
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 bag (9 oz) chopped romaine
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (2 oz)

1. In 3-quart saucepan, heat 2 quarts water to boiling over medium-high heat. Add uncooked pasta (from Suddenly Pasta Salad box); cook at medium boil 12 minutes. Drain; rinse with cool water, then drain thoroughly.
2. Meanwhile, in large bowl, mix ranch dressing, wing sauce and seasoning (from Suddenly Pasta Salad box). Add chicken and cooled pasta; toss to coat.
3. Arrange romaine on large platter. Top with pasta mixture, followed by carrots and blue cheese.

Okay, so this dish was a big hit. People loved it. But I had to make a substitution. I couldn't find the Suddenly Salad creamy macaroni salad mix, so I fudged it with a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese "Buffalo Cheddar" flavor and a small can of Green Giant Sweet Peas.

Greek Tossed Pasta Salad

For the Summer Luncheon Picnic at Huber, I decided to make a Greek Tossed Pasta Salad.

Greek Tossed Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 1 box Betty Crocker™ Suddenly Salad® Caesar pasta salad mix
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cups torn romaine lettuce
• 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 small cucumber, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, slices cut in half
• 4 oz crumbled feta cheese (1 cup)
• 1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained

1. Cook and drain pasta as directed on box. Meanwhile, in large bowl, stir together seasoning mix, cold water and oil.
2. Add drained pasta and remaining ingredients to seasoning mixture. Toss with croutons and Parmesan topping (from salad mix). Serve immediately, or refrigerate.

This dish turned out really well, and I received many compliments on it.

Don't be Afraid

Don't be Afraid

Don't tell, but even though I found this one today, I'll log it on July 17, so that I can get the souvenir for finding a D5/T5 cache. I know it's cheating, but I've got a busy schedule...

***UPDATAE 07/17/15*** I logged this cache and received the Let's Get Extreme souvenir.

2015 2nd Quarter Update

Did you forget about my New Year's resolutions? I haven't, here's how they're going:

1. Lose Weight/Eat Healthier - This quarter, I gained 0.5 pounds. This goal has been difficult. I thought that I had been eating healthier, but losing the weight must have taken a little bit more effort last year. I'm just going to have to buckle down and try harder.
2. Try 52 New Recipes - The weather's getting nicer and things at the restaurant are picking up, so I have less free time. Due to that fact, I've only been able to try 7 new recipes this quarter. That's a total of 35 so far this year. Overall, because of the previous quarter's efforts, I'm ahead of the game.
3. "Read" 42 Books - Finding time to read has been difficult with the restaurant being busier, so I've ended up "reading" 4 more books so far, for a total of 9. I think part of this is also due to the fact that the library moved to a new location - they tore down the old building and are building a bigger, newer one. That means it's not on my way to work anymore - out of sight, out of mind. That doesn't explain my lack of audiobooks, though, which I can "check out" on-line.
4. Learn How to Knit - Well, after my stellar start, my progress has come to a grinding halt. After completing over half of the scarf in the first quarter, I only knitted 5 rows this quarter. I'm still ahead of target, since I only expected to have a third of the scarf completed by now, but at this rate I will not finish it by Christmas.

Who would have thought that my update would be this promising? I mean, being ahead of target on two resolutions is great - for me. Just be warned, my next update will probably be much more dismal - it'll be summertime, and we're extremely busy at the restaurant, so I'll have almost no free time.