Voodoo Children

Good evening! I hope your long weekends were restful and rejuvenating and just what you needed to get ready for Fall.  As I mentioned, Ari and I took a 24-hour trip to Woodstock, NY, to get out of the city and enjoy a little mini-vay.

Before we left, I went on a 4.5 run, which I fueled up for with 1/2 banana w/almond butter and coffee (the image has been lost!)

When I got back, I made a portable breakfast using my new Ambrosial granola, which I found on sale at Whole Foods.

I layered Greek yogurt, warmed frozen berries, and the granola in my cup for a great on-the-go meal.

We hustled over to the rental car agency, where we learned that somehow the rate we were getting was $50 more than what had been advertised online.  Well… we were still ready to have fun!

We split a bottle of POMx Pomegranate Hibiscus Light Green Tea to keep us hydrated on our journey.

I’d packed a yummy sandwich for the road: TJ’s Marsala Veggie Burger, hummus, mustard, and arugula on Ezekiel.

I also snacked on an apple. Ari thinks I’m a little crazy for packing so much food, but a girl’s gotta be prepared!

We stopped at Roy Rogers for Ari to get lunch (it’s the boy’s favorite… he’d been talking excitedly about it for days), and I picked us up some disguises.

Finally, we got to the house.

I found a slug on my shoe…

We finally got our acts together and went into town to have dinner at Cucina.  I ordered a glass of Verdicchio, which I’d never tried.  Whenever there’s something new on the menu, I try to make a point of ordering it.

Bruschetta is one of Ari’s favorites, so we ordered the trio: basil-tomato-garlic, white beans-rosemary-sage, and (what was supposed to be free of) proscuitto and mozzarella.  I let Ari have that one.

I was in the mood for pasta, so I ordered the special: orecchiette with seared scallops, and mixed vegetables.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t very good.  I picked up all of the scallops, ate all the vegetables, and had about half the pasta.

We split warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

This was a crowd- pleaser

I’ve only heard good things about Cucina, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they were just having an off night.  However, we still had a wonderful time: we sat outside on a beautiful old porch, and it was very cozy and romantic.

We left the restaurant, popped Big Eden into the DVD player, and curled up with a bottle of 2008 1883 Pinot Grigio.

Here’s what Howard says about the wine: A Wente Pinot Grigio from Monterey, CA; near maturity but can be down for 2-3 years; medium weight, moderately dry; have at 45 degrees F; as an apératif or with lobster or fish.

We didn’t exactly follow the instructions, but I had had fish earlier in the night… my uneducated palate also thought the wine had a bit of a smoky flavor.

In the morning, we got up, showered, and went to Bread Alone for breakfast.  I ordered a bowl of their multigrain oatmeal, made with flax and dried fruit.

I’m always hesitant to buy oatmeal at breakfast spots, because I know they make it in bulk and it usually isn’t as good as the way I make it at home.  Let’s face it, we food bloggers know our oatmeal! I was right: this was mushy, and I had to dump almost all of the brown sugar in it just to give it some flavor.  The woman who took my order gave me a strange look when I asked if there was any other fruit I could put in it, so…. I think I’ll stick to eating it at home from now on. Oh well!

Right around the corner from the bakery, the Woodstock Flea Market was in full swing.

We didn’t buy any fruit…

… but we did get some good car music.

We had time for a little lounging…

We stopped at a sandwich stop to pick up some road food on the way back to the city.

We both chose the Green Club…

unfortunately, both sides of our sandwiches were slathered with mayo.  I managed to scrape the majority off of mine, but just the thought of “the white and creamy” ruined the whole thing for him. Poor guy.

We also snacked on Pumpkin Seed Cheddar Dr. Krackers.

I also ate the Papa Bear portion of a Whole Foods Granola bar, that Elise successfully convinced me was heaven on earth.  Oh, sweet heaven.  I need to break that bad boy into pieces in the future… that thing is half a pound!

Seriously, look at the size of these things! I need to figure out how to make these.  The coconut was perfectly integrated, and the sesame seeds gave the bar the perfect level of crunch.

When we finally got home, I made an important to-do list:

The hours just got away from me.

I was still really full from my granola bar, so I just heated up a cup of TJ’s Low Sodium Minestrone, mixed it with sriracha, and ate it with an Ezekiel English Muffin.

Dessert was Oikos Plain Greek 0% with frozen berries and bee pollen.

For those of you who’ve asked what bee pollen tastes like: the texture is a bit chalky, but the flavor is pleasant and reminds me a lot of herbal tea.

I’m so sorry to be so behind on the blogs… it’s going to take me a bit of time catching up.  Can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to!