Tag Archives for Weekend
Brewer’s Jam
On Saturday I went to Brewer’s Jam with Greg, our friend Chris, and my mom. Brewer’s Jam is a huge festival with 60+ brewers where you get to sample all of the beers (well, as many as you can handle), eat good food, and listen to a few local bands. I was the designated driver for the group, but I still had a good time keeping everyone out of trouble and people watching. I’m a lightweight anyway and would’ve tried five beers and probably been drunk already. I did try a couple of sips of two beers that really stood out to me—coconut porter & a pumpkin ale. Both were really good, but the pumpkin beer was my favorite as it tasted just like pumpkin pie.
Greg tried this burger and said it was awesome and I thought the menu was funny and had to get a photo. There were a few vegetarian options, but I was really wanting some pizza so my mom & I split a small cheese pizza and it was really good. That’s my mom and me on the right towards the end of the night.
The drunk hula hooping was definitely my favorite part. This hoop kept getting passed around and it was hilarious watching everyone get so into it. There would be a huge crowd around the person hooping and they’d all be chanting “go! go! go!”. I loved it! haha
After the festival, which was almost 5 hours of drinking, we walked downtown to a deli to get some sandwiches and let everyone sober up a bit. They had a tv there with the Tennessee/Alabama game on so the guys were content staying there for almost two hours. I went to the gelato place next door to get my mom and myself some coffee and I couldn’t resist a pumpkin cookie too. It was great and I wish I had the recipe because it was the best pumpkin cookie I’ve ever had.
It was a fun weekend and everyone had a great time and found a few new beers they really enjoy. I know that I will hunt down the pumpkin beer I tried for sure. Have you ever gone to a beer tasting like this?
Weekend Recap
I crossed another October goal off the list by visiting a pumpkin patch over the weekend. The drive took us waaay out into the country. I’m sure I’m the only weirdo that does this, but the minute I hit those old country back roads I start sweating and looking at my fuel gauge every few minutes just to make sure it’s still good, while scenes from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre play in my head. I always get worried that I will get lost, my car will break down, or I’ll run out of gas with no cell signal and there will be no one to help me besides the town creep. When I was little, my grandma owned a video store and I would constantly sneak movies from the horror section based on how scary their covers were and I think all that crazy stuff I watched has been permanently seared into my brain and made me the worrier that I am today.
Of course, none of the above happened and I was traveling with Greg, my sister, her boyfriend and my lil’ nephew so I had backup just in case. We went to this farm where you take a hayride out to this huge field full of pumpkins, spend time carefully choosing the perfect pumpkin, and then take the hayride back to the main building/barn.
First, Greg & I made sure to get our photo taken with the harvest prop.
I found the pumpkin I wanted pretty quickly. I needed a taller one since I’m doing this stencil this year. I did the Hello Kitty witch one last year and think the vampire one is way cuter so I’m excited and ready to start carvin’!
Another good thing about the weekend was that I made this Indian spiced roasted veggies over lentils recipe I’d seen last week. It sounded delicious and definitely didn’t disappoint. The vegetables tasted amazing and having them over lentils was a nice change from rice or quinoa.
I also made my own cookie dough blizzard! Although, we don’t have a Dairy Queen around here and I’ve never had a blizzard, so I call mine a blast after Sonic’s version. I used this recipe for the cookie dough bites since I didn’t have cashews on hand for the original recipe. The blast turned out really well and while it didn’t taste anything like one from Sonic, it was definitely good as its own thing and it made me feel all accomplished to make something similar that tasted so great. I’ll be making it again for sure.
I hope you all had an awesome weekend!
Hiking in the Smoky Mountains
Around five years ago, Greg took me on a short hike right outside of Knoxville. I was in incredibly bad shape and even though it was one of the easiest trails in Tennessee, I had to very slowly work my way to the top while stopping every few feet to try and catch my breath. I was having a horrible time and just wanted to go home, but I eventually made my way to the top and was so proud of myself for getting there. On the trek back down it was still difficult to me but I kept telling myself I would be finished soon enough and that’s what kept me going. Until I stepped off a rather high stone step right onto a small snake.
I was wearing shorts and can still remember the feeling of the snake slapping against my leg as I nearly squashed the poor guy. I let out a scream, my heart beating out of my chest, and took off running as fast as I could until I felt I was far enough away where I then sat on a rock and cried until Greg caught up. At that point I vowed to never go hiking again and I didn’t until yesterday.
Greg talked me into doing a twelve mile hike with him and a couple of friends to Mt. LeConte in the Smokies and I decided to tag along. I’m still not a fan of getting out there and being one with nature, but I am in better shape and figured I should try it again to really see if I still don’t enjoy hiking. I handled this hike much better (no crying!) and had no problem keeping up, but I realized that it just ain’t my thing.
The view with all the brightly colored trees was beautiful and when you finally make it to the top feels great, but I get bored of it after a few hours and it sure as hell isn’t relaxing to me. Trying to figure out how to pee on a busy trail is not my idea of a good time. Neither are achy knees and feet on the way back down. I’d much rather go for a long walk, short run or do yoga to relax my mind and body.
Don’t even get me started on the scary heights. Clinging onto the side of a mountain while holding onto a metal cable had me feeling uneasy and it was even worse on the way back because of my shaky legs.
There was a bear watch out that day because of all the increased activity in the area lately and I hoped they stayed far away from us because there would be no place to go on the narrow trail. It definitely wasn’t relaxing when every corner you turned had a sign with the word “danger” in big, bright red letters and “bears are active in this area” underneath.
Luckily we didn’t run into any bears looking to snack on us. Speaking of snackin’, I brought along trail mix, date bars rolled in coconut, apples, and Kind bars. I’ve never been a fan of any kind of power bar, but the Kind bars were actually pretty good and made for great trail food—especially the almond and coconut one.
Some previous hikers had left messages along the way and I got way too happy when I saw this one. I was over it at that point so this gave me some motivation to pick up the pace to get to the top.
We hung out at the top for awhile where it alternated between being super warm to crazy cold every few minutes. We ate, explored for a bit, and then made our way back down. It took us quite awhile to get back and that total time for the trip was ten hours. I was wiped out when we made it back to the car and all that was on my mind was food. We got back to Knoxville and headed to Stefano’s for pizza. Greg and I each ate half a large veggie pizza then went home and promptly crashed.
I’m glad I gave hiking another shot, but I’m thinking it will be a few more years until my next trip. We’re planning on doing some camping soon which is something nature related that I can definitely get into and am super excited about. Bring on the campfire, grilled cheese, and s’mores!
Weekend Happenings
I made the most delicious red curry soup with rice and purple kale from the Post Punk Kitchen on Friday. I swear, every recipe from that site is just amazing!
On Saturday morning I checked the mail and found a coupon for a free drink at Starbucks. That is both good and bad since you have to buy fifteen drinks to get a free one and I get quite a few of these coupons in the mail.
I gave it to Greg since his drink is always more expensive. I don’t know how or why he does it, but he gets a latte made with half & half. I can’t imagine drinking that, but he loves it. I ended up getting an unsweetened iced coffee with soy and half a pump of pumpkin spice. I’m going to be bummed when the pumpkin syrup goes away.
After that we went out for some Indian food where I proceeded to stuff myself. I just can’t hold back around all that amazing food! At least I didn’t go back for thirds like Greg did. :]
Our next stop was the theater to see Senna. It’s a documentary about a pretty incredible F1 driver. I thought I’d be bored and not understand what was going on as I’m not into racing and didn’t know anything about him but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a great look into this man’s life where you really felt the passion he had for racing and how the politics of the game worked and started to affect him. It’s mostly just old footage of interviews and races but it was pieced together really well.
The only thing that bothered me is that you see the footage of the crash where he dies and it really got to me.. it was so upsetting to see. I just felt for him and the fact he was so young and hesitant about going on with that particular race in the first place. I really did enjoy the film though and am glad I know about him now.
Sunday found me in the kitchen cooking away on some things for Greg & I to eat during the week. I guess it’s the slight turn in weather, but I can’t seem to get away from curries and soups. It’s just so comforting at the moment.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
Weekend Happenings
On Saturday morning we took Pepper to his final training class. The air conditioning was broken and I swear it was 100° in the training room, but he did pretty well despite the heat and got a graduation certificate and treat. He really just wanted to hang out next to the water bowl and chill in the giant puddle of water there.
After class was over they brought out some agility props for fun and to see if the dogs would enjoy them. Pepper didn’t really care for any of it because of the heat I’m assuming, but it was so cute watching him pass through the tunnel a few times before we left.
Once we got home he was pretty worn out and decided he was going to relax for the rest of the day. After those classes he will usually sleep for about 2-3 hours straight.
One of the ladies in our class had baked bread for everyone which was really sweet. I’m not sure what kind of bread it was, but man it was good. Greg and I ate the entire loaf on Saturday! There’s something about bread that I just cannot resist.. it’s almost worse than sweets for me.
I was in the baking mood myself on Sunday and really wanted some scones. I grabbed Vegan with a Vengeance because it contains my favorite scone recipe ever. It’s really simple to make and just requires basic ingredients you probably already have hanging out in your pantry. Most of the recipes in the book are like that which is why I love it so much.
I made my scones with just some sugar sprinkled on top and they were perfect. They tasted like sweet biscuits and were delicious! Greg & I had a couple and then I had to hurry and pack the rest up to give to my sister or they would have ended up like that bread.
Later that day, my sister invited us over for a cookout and a little bit of friendly Dance Central competition. I am so addicted to that game and ended up playing for about four hours.
Obviously I need a little more practice on the harder songs. I was having a blast and I guess I got a little too into it because…
…I got my first dance related injury. Haha! I smacked my arm so hard. I’m not sure what happened as I’m usually so graceful :]
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and got an extra day off to relax!
Have you played Dance Central before? What’s your favorite song to do on there? My favorites were Hey Mami because it’s a lot easier than the rest & Push It because it’s just so much fun. :]
