Weekend Highlights

1. Pinterest rocks my world.

I had two pin-successes this weekend.

Pin #1: Ice cream in a jar.

This was one of those “why didn’t I think of this?!” moments. I’m a HUGE fan of putting oatmeal in an almost-empty jar of nut butter, but it never occurred to me to put ice cream in there too. Um, Best. Idea. Ever. Why have I been wasting those almost-empty jars on oatmeal this whole time? Clearly ice cream is where it’s at.

Pin #2: Cleaning a George Foreman with a wet paper towel.

Derek and I love using our George Foreman for burgers and pressed sandwiches, but we hate cleaning the darn thing. This tip just made it about 100 times easier. It’s pretty simple, just place a wet paper towel in the George Foreman right when you turn it off. The heat mixes with the wet towel, which releases steam that loosens the gunk. When it stops steaming, just wipe it clean with another paper towel. Done.

2. Pho sure.

Derek and I had our first Pho experience at a local Vietnamese restaurant on Saturday (thanks, Yelp!). We both got the “combination” option and were big fans of the experience. I liked adding a fresh jalapeno for a touch of spice and the sprouts added a nice crunch to the Pho.

3. It’s a….cabinet.

Not Ikea, but close enough. Luckily the cabinet only took an hour to put together (not 6) and I was proud to put the majority of it together on my own. Now we finally have a place to store the fancy serving ware and glasses we got off our registry – woo hoo!

4. Strawberries!

It’s strawberry season in Florida, which means strawberry shortcakes are officially back at Parkesdale Market (they only sell them seasonably, usually late January – early April.) Folks are crazy about their strawberry shortcake – check out that line!

Derek had never had a Parkesdale strawberry milkshake before (he didn’t know what he was missing – best strawberry shake in the world!), so we drove over earlier today to split a shortcake and milkshake.

We were both in strawberry heaven. We need to recreate these at home ASAP.

After destroying our cake and shake (so, so, so good), my friend Xi brought us to a field to pick some strawberries.

There’s a u-pick strawberry field outside of Orlando that I remember picking strawberries at as a kid, but I haven’t been in years. Derek had never been before, so this was a first for him. We were both full of questions and the knowledgable Xi was full of answers.

For instance, did you know that a strawberry does not continue to ripen once you pick it? It has to be picked at the peak of ripeness to ensure a sweet and juicy strawberry.

Strawberries start as a flower on the plant. Once the flower blooms it will take 21 days for a strawberry to form and ripen.

Derek and I walked away with a gorgeous 1/2 flat of strawberries. I see some homemade strawberry shortcakes and milkshakes in our future.

5. Superbowl Eats

Nachos

Chicken wings

Beer.

What more do you really need?