Hello Everyone!

It's been awhile.   I am going to participate in this challenge this year so I am hoping to come back to the blog.  2017 will be a time of lots of changes for me - so stay tuned!

http://foodinjars.com/2017/01/food-jars-mastery-challenge/

Foodie Penpal #2

Foodie Penpal #2 February

Last week, I received my second Foodie Penpal package.  This time my pal was much closer to home.  Jess from Ellicott City sent me a very fun box of goodies.

The bag of Bamba snacks are crazy - they look and feel in the mouth like cheese doodles but taste like peanut butter.  There is a bottle of Simply Enjoy Balsamic Fig vinaigrette that I think will be delicious with all kinds of food including salad.  Emma has already tried the Pomegranate flavor chocolate bits - soft fruit center in a yummy chocolate coating.  I couldn't keep Sean away from the Falafel chips.  The Turkish coffee is flavored with Cardamon.  Lastly, there is a lovely cup of instant Pistachio Citrus Quinoa Salad that will be perfect for lunch one day.

I let Emma opened the package when it arrived and she was more excited than me.  She kept exclaiming how much she loved this idea.  I would recommend all my friends to give it a try - you have to indicate every month that you want to participate so you can try it for one month and never again if you don't like it.  So far, it's been a blast.

Fun with Food

Happy New Year!

Lots of things going on with me for 2015.  I have many goals about my eating and exercising habits and hope to start blogging again.

Last month, I read a little blurb about a Foodie Penpal group, run by The Lean Green Bean.  I just had to join up.   The idea is to spend $15 on a box goodies to send to your penpal.  For January, I was matched with Jen in California and she blogs at The Happy Healthy Balance.

It was fun to browse the aisles of my favorite store Rodman's  to see what I could come up with.  There was a person giving away samples of this delicious coffee sauce (tried on ice cream) so I just had to buy that.  I also sent a fancy chocolate bar, wasabi edamame and something else I can't remember.

Here is what I received in my package

1.  Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame - the same thing I sent Jen!  Very funny

2.  Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter - a sample package.  I am a late comer to almond butter and it's delicious.

3.  Nature's Bakery Fig Bar - a fancy Fig Newton.

4.  Lassens Cranberry Jubilee Trail Mix - a good snack to bring to work

5.  An assortment of tea:  Tazo Passion, Yogi Ginger, Trader Joe's Ruby Red Chai and Crimson Blossom and Pomegranate White and Ginger Pear.

6.  Redmond's Garlic Salt

All fun food.  I think I am going to enjoy having Foodie Penpals each month

Fun at Rock Creek Cemetery

There is an organization in Washington, D.C. called Cultural Tourism.  Every spring and fall, the group offers free walking tours all around the city.  On Saturday, Sean and I joined a tour called Art and History are Alive at the Cemetery.   Here is the description of the tour:

At 300 years old, St. Paul’s Rock Creek Parish and Rock Creek Cemetery are the only colonial church and churchyard within the District of Columbia. As you stroll through 86 immaculate acres, visit this home of famous and infamous political, cultural, and business movers and shakers. View some of the nation’s finest sacred art, including Saint-Gaudens’ world-famous sculpture in the Adams Memorial and others listed in the Smithsonian Catalog of American Public Art. Enjoy the art, hear the stories, and take a fascinating walk into history. 

The tour guide was the chairman of the cemetery committee and was extremely knowledgeable.  I had always wanted to tour this place and was happy to be able to walk around the beautiful grounds for 2 hours.  Here are a variety of photos.  There is a tombstone with the last name of the beanies as well as some other friends (Bobby and Kathryn R).  I also had to take an Emma picture.  After the walk, Sean and I headed to The Pig in Logan Circle for brunch.  Pulled pork eggs benedict for me, sausage, bacon and eggs for Sean.

The monument to the man who donated the land for the cemetery.

Theodore's daughter

Christian Heurich, brewer.  His house is a museum and very fun to tour.

Memorial to Henry Adams' wife Clover.  The sculpture is by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.  The surrounding plot is designed by Stanford White.

Gore is not buried here yet even though he died in 2012.  His will is tied up in litigation.

Edgar Allan Poe's sister, Rosalie