Vietnamese Food and The End of Summer

Thursday night we had a feast of Vietnamese food. Our small town is home to a Vietnamese college and every year they host a celebration called "Marian Days." Marian Days is an American Roman Catholic celebration that draws approximately 60,000 people from all other the U.S. and Vietnam (quite a number for our small city of 14,000). During this weekend of celebration, they have several food tents and markets set up for the public to eat and shop in. While I have lived here my entire life, I have not been to Marian days for probably twenty years. My family decided to venture out this weekend and try the food. This is what we had:

Pho - It was very good! The soup was full of herbs: basil, cilantro and mint. There were also sprouts, scallions, jalapenos, rice noodles and beef. It was finished off with a squeeze of fresh lime juice over the top. The soup was very honest and full of flavor.

Spring Rolls - Every food tent had some form of spring roll. These were a simple roll of rice, shrimp, beef and lettuce. The dipping sauce was very different and unlike anything I had tasted before.

Rambutan - I tried this fruit for the first time in Costa Rica, ten years ago. I spotted the Rambutan at their market and immediately recognized them as the same fruit. To eat, you simply peel off the exterior to expose the fruit inside. I think they are similar to a white grape in taste/texture.

Boba Tea - For dessert, we tried Boba tea.  I didn't get a picture of the drink, but they look like a typical fruit smoothie with Boba beads in the bottom of the cup. The Boba is a tapioca like bead that has a very chewy texture. I wasn't fond of the texture of the Boba, but the smoothie tasted good!

All in all, it was a fun experience. We plan to make this a yearly tradition instead of once every 20 or so years. It's funny how we often don't take advantage of the events that go on in our own hometown. It's easy to say, "there's nothing to do here!" When really, if you get involved, there's plenty to do--it just depends if you really want to look for things to do. I have been guilty of this many times.

Summer comes to an end...

This is our last summer weekend--my husband will be back to school next week. Not sure if I'm ready for summer to end (it feels like it just started).  If you are starting back to school next week, enjoy your last weekend of freedom!

*In an effort to share more content (not just posts), I plan share tidbits of my life as I see fit (instead of a "Five on Friday" post like I was doing). My goal is to do at least one main post once a month on personal life in addition to my recipe posts.

Five on...Saturday?

I had this post ready to go yesterday but got busy and forgot to post! 

I hope everyone has had a good week. Here is my recap:

1. Today officially starts my week long vacation! I couldn't be more excited. I really don't have plans, just ready to relax and do what I want. And maybe get some things done around the house and for the blog...

2. My tomato plants have shot up like crazy. I originally put tomato cages around them but had to stake them up this week. I probably waited too long to stake them, as they were a mess to untangle. Last year my tomatoes did not do well, so I'm excited that these plants are growing. I have quite a few tomatoes and I've already harvested a some this week.  It looks like they will be hardy plants this year!

 

3. This little guy turned one this week. He's going to be such a big boy. He already weighs the same as our four year old cat and I know he'll continue to grow. He may be headed to the groomers soon. His hair is out...of...control. Isn't he cute though?

4. My nieces, Lily and Olivia had birthdays this week. I am looking forward to their birthday party on Saturday.

5. As you may notice, the blog looks a little different than before. I have a new design (yay!) and am working on the layout as well. It's still a work in progress and I have a few things to tweak, but hopefully it will be much easier to navigate my new site.


I hope everyone has a great weekend. I will be back next week with some new recipes!

Five on Friday

Hurray for Friday!

1.Today is the start to my week long vacation!

2. Last weekend we had a family dinner at my parents house. My mom was whipping up some biscuits and my niece, Lily had to help. If you follow me on instagram, you probably saw the pictures I posted. Hopefully she grows up loving to cook like her Grandma and Aunt!
 

3. The weather has been up and down lately. Last week we had some brutal cold along with a snowstorm. This week has been beautiful, we even made it in the 70s for a couple of days. I peeked at some of my garden pots and noticed that my chives are starting to come in! It makes me anxious to start my garden.

 

4. Speaking of the warmer weather, I am so happy that daylight savings time was this past Sunday. I am loving the fact that it's still light at 7 o'clock!

5. I accepted a new position at the bank I work for. I currently work as a teller and am moving to administrative assistant. I'm excited to start in two weeks.

Those are my top 5 moments of the week. I hope your week went well and that you have a fabulous weekend!

Five on Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week! Here are the highlights of my week:

1. I got my hair cut and highlighted. I've been growing it out this winter and haven't had my hair done in 3 months. I still have the same style and color, but cut off one and half inches of hair. It felt so dry/damaged from the harsh winter we've had. It feels and looks so much healthier now.

2. Last Friday was Valentine's day and my husband decided to be creative with my cards this year. I got one card from my cats and one from our dog. I thought it was cute!

 

3. If you follow me on instagram, you saw this picture I posted of Mufasa. He was enthralled with Charlie White and Meryl Davis as they performed for gold in ice dancing. It was hilarious to watch.

4. Speaking of the Olympics, I'm sad that they will be ending soon. There have been so many great performances. Only two more years and the summer Olympics will be upon us! Not that I'm counting or anything...

5. I spent some time with my oldest niece, Lily, this evening. We ate dinner at Chick-Fil-A and then I went to watch her at her gymnastics class. Isn't she a cutie?

Well, that's all for now. I hope you all have a great weekend!

*I posted last week that I would be doing some work to my blog. It is a still a work in progress and not finished but hopefully it will be done soon!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday to everyone!

Many blogs I've come across write weekly, personal posts on Friday. I always enjoy reading them so I decided I need to include my own! I hope to get into the habit of writing these, but we'll see how it goes.

1. Happy Valentine's day! I Hope you all got your sweethearts something special. My husband and I enjoyed a simple valentine's day with dinner at Chick-Fil-A followed by watching the Olympics at home.

2. I always feel a little less productive when the Olympics roll around, I can't stop watching! I love watching all the events, but my favorite is ice skating. There's so much athleticism and talent in the Olympics and you are able to watch sports that you don't normally get to see.

3. The temperature reached the mid 40s today. The snow has finally melted and the sun has reappeared. I normally like winter and love snow, but this winter has been harder than most. The bitter cold has lingered around and made it impossible to do much outside. I'm looking forward to some warmer weather this weekend and hopefully spend some time outside.

4. Last week, I hurt my neck and shoulders and have spent most of this week in pain. I made my first chiropractor visit yesterday and was really nervous about it. Have you ever been to a chiropractor? I'm not sure why I was nervous; I guess fear of the unknown. I had a good first experience and am starting to feel better. I've been told it can take a couple of days for your body to adjust so I'm hoping I continue to feel better. I will go back in a couple of weeks to see if I need any more adjustments.

5. I am trying to get a better schedule of posting recipes. I plan to post recipes on Monday and Wednesday and have one of these posts on Fridays. I apologize that I have not posted much recently. I have battled some sickness and most recently had the neck pain. These have kept me from cooking and blogging as much. I hope to work on some recipes the next few days and have some new posts next week.

Have a great weekend!

*I will be doing some work to my blog over the next few days. I hope to have it finished by next week. I hope that it goes glitch free! I just wanted to let you know in case you experience any issues with my website.

Snow Day + Pet Pics

Our first winter storm came through the Midwest today. The cold front started yesterday and this morning we woke up to 4-5 inches of snow. The snowfall isn't bad but the temperatures have been frigid! Today, we had a high of 20 degrees with a low of 3 degrees tonight! Brrr!


I have been sick since yesterday so I've been lounging around all day. Snowy, cold day + stomach bug = one lazy day! No taking pictures of the snow for me, but I managed to snap of few of my pets.

Our sweet, dachshund Lady, snuggled with me today. She's our lap buddy, she always wants to be near you!

Roscoe also stayed near me. Roscoe is our half Bengal, half Tabby mix. She doesn't like to cuddle much but she is always a comfort when feeling under the weather.

This is our youngest, Mufasa. He was an anniversary gift for me (from my sweet husband) and will be six months old on my birthday later this month. We put up our Christmas tree last weekend and he has loved snuggling on the tree skirt.

I hope to feel back to normal tomorrow and get a recipe posted. I plan on doing some baking this weekend, one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season!

If you are in the midst of this storm, I hope you stay warm!