weekend events (and grilled veggie marinade)

Last weekend was another busy weekend, and as per usual, too short. After having been away for two weekends in a row (Lancaster and then Deep Creek), I was excited to stick around town, clean my apartment (yes, I was excited to do this - and I'm still not done), get my haircut and see some old friends. Friday I stayed in, but Saturday involved a 'lil girls night with some big burgers. I brought a side of veggies to grille after a successful trip to the farmers market where I also got some herbs for the kitchen windowsill - a little bit of a makeshift potting situation - but it works:

Basil, Parsley and Lemon Thyme - yum.

I picked up red, yellow and green peppers, mushrooms, zucchini and eggplant and did a really simple and easy marinade that added great flavors to the veggies:

Grilled Veggie Marinade:

2/3 c olive oil
1/3 c balsamic vinegar
1 T chopped fresh basil
1 t minced garlic
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

I chopped up my veggies in fairly large pieces and marinated them in fridge for about 4 hours in a plastic ziplock bag - then shish kebabed them up and threw them on the grill for abut 15 minutes. So fresh and tasty:

Bianca was our host and she cooked us up some delicious burgers and put together a creative and super fun spread of toppings to choose from:

She did an amazing job with all the selections - it was such a fun thing to do during our little reunion.

Looks pretty damn good! It was such a fun night and great to catch up with some old friends:

Sunday involved an afternoon Pirates game which was very fun. Turned out to be the longest game in PNC Park history - 16 innings! They lost - but we made the most of it:

The weekend was full of good times and good eats, so as I like to say: success!

xo. cheers. namaste,

MK

Laaaaancaster

So, I got to visit Lancaster this weekend. Despite it taking me three days to say the name properly - I had a blast. I didn't really know what to expect - I was surprisingly delighted. Lots of art, eats, Amish and craft beer.

I went to visit my friend Marianne who recently took a job in the area and she decided to move right into the heart of Lancaster City. I came on a great weekend, the weather was beautiful and when I arrived on Friday - it was First Friday - so all the galleries were free and open to the public. We got to walk and catch up along Gallery Row, just a few short blocks from her apartment:

 We passed Mack, the Coffee Man along the way:

After exploring some fantastic art at the many galleries, we missed the boat to eat at some of the restaurants on Gallery Row because we didn't have a reservation - but I have a list of places that I want to try on my next visit - one place that looked fantastic was Pour.  So, for our dinner we decided to just go with some cheese and crackers, yum:

The next day we visited the Lancaster Central Market - America's oldest farmers market. If I lived in Lancaster, I'm sure I'd be there every Saturday. Lots of fresh fruit, dairy and meat - and lots and lots of jam:

After our visit to the market, we ventured out to Lititz, a small town in Lancaster County recently voted "Americas Coolest Small Town"- true story. We did some eating and lots of thrifting:

Saturday night we visited The Taproom - a bar that serves beers from the Spring House Brewing Co: Never ever have I ordered a beer flight where every beer, I liked: 

My two favorite: Diabolical Dr. Wit and Braaaiins Pumpkin Ale. So excited for Fall and Pumpkin beers:

Sunday we had breakfast at a Lancaster favorite, Rachels Cafe and Creperie:

The crepes were good, I had a breakfast crepe with eggs, sausage, rice and salsa - it was good, but not gonna lie, I was a little dissapointed. I did have one of the best chai teas I've ever had - probably because the milk they used was delicious and local from Maplehofe Dairy:

After lunch we left the city to explore Amish country. It was a beautiful day to visit and it was very interesting and fascinating to view the culture. You know you've entered Amish Country when you share the road with horse and buggy:

In case you need clarification:

We even took a wagon ride ourselves - what dorks:

The farmland truly was breathtakingly beautiful:

So, all in all, a very successful and eventful weekend, relaxing too. It was nice to get away and I was excited to explore a new place. Looking forward to another visit!

cheers. xo,

MK