De Baking Psychopath

Back in Philly! We visited in mid-August, and we had a blast, as usual! Lots of good food! Bread from the Metropolitan Bakery, Wilbur bacon, cannelles from a small bakery stand in the farmer's market. Cheesesteak. Visit to old-school Italian bakery Termini Brothers. Yum, cannoli! Picnic in the park: whitefish salad and crackers, a variety of sushi rolls, pizzelles from Termini's, and fruit from a local corner grocery. Grilled cheese from the Valley Shepherd Creamery stand at the Reading Terminal Market. And of course, pork sandwich from DiNic's!

Another year has come and gone, and we've once again convened to eat and chat our way through a weekend! We were pretty lazy as a group to take pictures this time (we were probably eating too fast), so the best one I have is the group picture shown above. We were exploring the Cathedral of Learning and found these cool fold down desks that were inlaid in the seat backs of these benches. I believe it was the Syrian room.  So there was a quick rundown of our weekend: Saturday morning--meet up at my apartment. Dara arrived earlier so we took a trip to La Gourmandine bakery in Lawrenceville to get a bunch of tasty French pastries Saturday afternoon--we met up with some Pittsburgh friends and had a BBQ, including burgers, roasted veggies, salads, and brownies.  Saturday evening--took a breather after returning from the BBQ, and then late evening we got takeout from Spice Island, a Burmese restaurant in Oakland. Pad Thai, mohinga (fish stew with noodles), mango pork stew,...

Another year has passed, and another roommate weekend was warranted, this time in Philadelphia! We had a whirlwind of a weekend, filled with food, random shopping, and catching up! Not pictured-- Friday night we went to Monk's Cafe , where we had yummy beers, buffalo-style fried frogs legs, steamed mussels, hamburger with truffled cheese and mushrooms, and duck confit. It was a hearty and delicious start to our weekend (although very dark and hence not photo-friendly). On the way back, we picked up frozen yogurt from Yogorino , which we brought back to the apartment to sprinkle on some crazy-awesome granola I had brought with me (recipe soon!). Bright and early Saturday morning, we took a stroll to the nearby Metropolitan Bakery and raided their day-old bin as well as bought several fresh treats. Eaten for breakfast: coffee/tea, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, chocolate croissant, nut and seed roll, lemon vs raspberry bar taste test. Not eaten but saved for late...

I have no words to explain. Just bask. T-shirt bought for Michael

Click to enlarge panoramic collage A couple of us took an afternoon to take a series of buses to get to this natural wonder, the Maroon Bells. They are perhaps one of the most iconic scenes from Colorado, gracing many a postcard. The elevation at Maroon Lake, at the base of the mountain, is 9,580 ft, even higher up than Snowmass, which is 8,209 ft. They are also nicknamed "The Deadly Bells" as many would-be climbers fall off due to the crumbly nature of the rock (it's basically hardened mud). A lot of wildlife can be spotted in the area around the Maroon Lake, including these cute little guys, running in and out of little burrows under rocks. We hiked on a little trail that took us into the forests next to the stream that flowed from the lake. And this is my favorite shot of the whole series: the Canadian geese with the Maroon Bells in the background.

With the gorgeous backdrop of ski slopes, downtown Aspen is a picturesque town with all your "basic" shopping venues: Gucci, LV, Burberry, The North Face...with a whole lot of art galleries and gourmet restaurants/eateries. For the plebeian, there were public parks/playgrounds/fountains, more reasonably priced stores such as the Gap and J. Crew, and the obligatory tourist souvenir stores. While I am poking fun, I'm totally not kidding that this is not for the average bargain-hunting Jane. More for the above-average Jane Rockefeller and her dog Fifi. I followed my advisor art gallery hopping, and the first place we stepped into was COVERED IN CARDBOARD. WALLS. FLOOR. CEILING. And on the walls were these "distressed" pieces of paper with random charcoal scribbles and other items projecting from the paper...yeah, this is art that is beyond my income level to understand. What I did see in other art galleries that I liked were metal buffalo statues! One ...