The Wrap up:
This past weekend several things happened. Friday night Sparky and I went to a charity hockey game between the Pittsburgh firefighters and the Pittsburgh police officers at the Consol Center (that's the big arena where the Penguins play) Except that on Friday, which should have been the opening night of the Penguins season, the Penguins weren't playing. Why, you ask? Well, hockey is on strike. Shocking. Who isn't? Remember when sports was more than money? That was fun. So instead, there was a charity game. Love the idea! And, no offense to the policemen but I'm a firefighter girl. Yeah, the score was 6 to 2. Policemen. On top of that, they made me cry when they had the guy they were raising money for up on the jumbotron telling everyone thank you. I mean, crying at a hockey game?! I am not well.
We then decided to make our way to the end of the Mt. Lebo vs. Peters Twp high school football game. Ok, that sounds crazy. Here's why we did this- Sparky tells me he has a co-worker who is working at the concession stand selling funnel cakes (daughter in the band) and he told us to stop by. You had me at funnel cake. It wasn't exactly warm and I had on my cute Friday night clothes, boots included. So the only thing keeping me trekking up the steep hill from the parking lot to the stadium was the promise of the fair delight. No such luck. Sparky got his days/events mixed up. His co-worker was there but not with dough and hot oil. He was just a normal band parent. The funnel cakes were on Saturday...at a farm. I never got that funnel cake. Meanwhile, I haven't been to a high school football game since, well, high school. They are so funny. I was definitely judging just a little bit. "is that kid serious?", "who acts like that?" ,"ugh. grow up", "that stupid girl thinks she is so cool", "I never acted like that". What do they know, they're like 15? It totally made me miss high school.
Saturday was surprise date day- Sparky's version- and I have to say, he's nailing this stuff. I've been really impressed (cause sometimes I think he waits until Friday and then just asks a co-worker what to do while I research for a week or more). But, so far, like I said- nailing it. This time we drove about an hour or so to a little town called Ohiopyle. There's a state park there and it is beautiful. And such a cute little town. We had these amazing sausage sandwiches that the volunteer fire department was selling. No, I didn't misspeak. Sausage sandwich not biscuit. It is a sausage patty on a bun with cheese on top. The patty has to be larger and thinner than your normal breakfast sausage. Think McDonald's sized. Sparky added pickles, I refrained. So simple, but so good. My nose found them before we did. I swear, I'm like a very intelligent, very clean dog. My nose and ears work too well for my own good. If you like rafting, kayaking, hiking, biking, etc you should venture to Ohiopyle. I don't really do any of that but I like to admire outdoor beauty, so it works.
The real surprise part of the date was later though. Sparky took me to Fallingwater. Fallingwater, for those who don't know, is a Frank Lloyd Wright design from the late 1930's. It is beautiful. More so on outside. Remember, I said 30's. The inside is still very much that era. Because apparently they didn't change a thing from the day construction was completed until they handed it over to the conservationists. It's still beautiful though. Did you know that Wright was a bit of a nut? He tended to get in arguments with his clients a lot. He also did whatever he wanted and told people it was his way or no way. The Kaufmann's wanted a 4-car garage for their little vacation home (that's what Fallingwater is) and Wright said no. He created the carport because he said enclosed spaces promote clutter. I tend to agree with that thought process. But he was still crazy. Crazy like a fox.
Here are my recipes for this post:
1. Crusty Bread- Fantastic! Love, love, love. I'm so excited to try variations of it. So impressive, but so easy.
2. Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole- Yum. It makes a lot though so we'll be eating it a while
3. Crack dip- This stuff is like crack. I took a bowl of it to a friend's house for football. 4 adults. None left by halftime. It's good with chips but amazing with bread (like the crusty bread above)
4. Chicken Bacon Pizza- There's no link here cause I just threw this together myself. I used pre-made crust, put a little bit of pizza sauce on it (not much at all) and then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. I used can chicken and bacon from a bag. You can cut up chicken and make bacon if you want. Then I saturated it with mozzarella cheese on top (we love us some cheese). Sparky liked it better than the pepperoni/mushroom I also made.
Let me know if anyone makes any of these recipes. I'd love to know what you thought about them.
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