Chimney Bluff State Park

In April, Jared and I hiked the upper rim trail of Chimney Bluff State Park located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario in Walcott, NY. Whether you view these razor sharp drumlins by below from the beach or from above by the trail, it's worth a visit on a sunny afternoon.

 

 

 

Can you spot the tiny people on the beach?

 

 

 

 

Who: Chimney Bluff State Park

What: Drumlins created by glaciers during the last ice age on the shores of Lake Ontario, eroded into what you see today by wind, snow, rain and waves.

Where: Wolcott, NY

Visit www.nysparks.com for more information to plan your visit.

Just a little date night treat from Yogurtland.

Frozen Yogurt Flavors:  Dutch Chocolate, Red Velvet Cupcake Batter & Taro

Toppings: Chocolate Chip Cookie Batter bites, Mini M&Ms, gummy bears, fresh strawberries, & crumbled Oreo cookies

It's moments like this that I feel truly blessed to live where I do. Enjoying a glass of Riesling as I watch the sun set over the wisteria and Seneca Lake at Wagner Vineyards.

Spring Time Lemon & Strawberry Cake

For my family's Mother's Day celebration this year I made this lemon cake inspired by this recipe from The Hot Plate. Note: the cake I made below is not gluten free, but the version from The Hot Plate is.

Spring Time Lemon & Strawberry Cake

Serves 12-14

Cake:

1 Box White Cake Mix

Zest of 2 Lemons

Lemon Curd

Strawberry Preserves

Prepare the cake mix according to the box's directions and add in the zest of 2 lemons directly to the cake better. Mix in well. Pour into 2 9-inch pans, bake and then let cool completely. 

Once completely cooled, slice the cakes in half, creating 4 layers. On a cake stand place on top of the first layer the strawberry preserve, on the next layer lemon curd and on the last strawberry preserves again.

Frosting:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup lemon curd

1 tsp vanilla extract

zest of 1 or 2 lemons (depending on how lemony you want to make it)

In a bowl whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks and set aside. In another bowl combine the room temperature cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon curd, vanilla extract and lemon zest until well combined and takes on a fluffier texture. Next take the whipped cream and fold it into the cream cheese mixture until well combined. Last but not least, frost your cake and top with some sliced lemon rounds and fresh strawberries. Keep the cake chilled in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Pretty Little Cupcakes

Remember how I use to make cupcakes? Yeah, me too. I haven't been dabbling in the cupcake department much since the winter due to this challenge. It's just way too much temptation to have delicious fresh baked goods and sweet frosting around me at this moment. However, I did make cupcakes and cookies for my yoga instructor's daughter's wedding shower (follow that?) in March. Mickey (my yoga instructor) is pretty awesome (check out her blog here) and her vision for a girly English tea party truly came to life that day.

I made mini wedding white vanilla cupcakes with white buttercream frosting with pearl sprinkles and sugar cookies with this beautiful edible transfer paper I found online. The photos below are from Mickey's website that she so graciously shared with me to put on here.

 Check out Micky's blog to see pictures of the rest of the wedding shower.

The pictures below are the ones I took on my iPhone and are on my Instagram @MandyLouWho88

Caprese Eggs

The weather has officially hit 70 here in upstate NY (it'll probably be 40 or 50 this weekend though. Typical.) and with that comes lots of fresh and seasonal foods. I try to eat that way all year round but a salad just sometimes doesn't cut it in January.

This morning I was inspired to put a fancy spin on my fried eggs and created a stacked caprese salad with a fried egg popped on top.

It's very simple as well. On a plate stack a thickly sliced round of tomato and a slice of fresh mozzarella on top of that. Add salt and pepper to taste with a slight drizzle of olive oil if you wish. Then top it all off with a fried egg and fresh basil.

This also makes a great lunch.

Food in the Finger Lakes: Souvlaki House

My love affair with Greek food began in 2009 with a 2 week trip to Greece. Ever since then I've been on the look out for really good Greek food. Unfortunately the Finger Lakes does not boast a wide variety of Greek restaurants. You can come across the odd Gyro stand at the local farmer's market, but I have trouble finding Greek establishments that aren't run off of a folding table, so you will imagine my joy at discovering the Souvlaki House in College Town in Ithaca, NY.

I made my discovery like most young and highly educated adults do now-a-days, Google. After craving some street-cart style Greek food on a recent Saturday and feeling way too lazy to actually make any myself, a quick Google search led me to the Souvlaki House. Located right next to the Cornell campus in College Town, it is a gem of a Greek-Italian Diner.

I ordered the gyro (and for the love of God, it's pronounced "yeer-oh" not "gi-roh") which was ginormous! And cheap, only $6.25 for that bad boy. I believe the gyro meat was a house blend of herbs, spices and beef, (to be completely honest gyro meat tends to freak me out if I think too hard about it. Some places it tends to be a complete mystery, but I think I read somewhere on the menu that it was beef here -at a lot of other places it tends to be lamb if not otherwise specified) tomatoes, lettuce, onions and slathered in tzatsiki sauce all wrapped in a simple-carb-heaven pita. I also splurged and added on feta for an extra $.75.

Jared basically got the same thing but as the platter (ie. more of every thing.)

This is not haute cuisine, but it is incredibly satisfying and affordable.

Who: Souvlaki House

What: Greek food with a side of nostalgia as you are surrounded by fellow dinning college students

Where: 315 Eddy St, Ithaca, NY 14850

Click Here for Menu

Need to know: Parking is scarce in College Town, I highly suggest you brush up on your parallel parking skills before hand, or park in the parking garage near by.