Just hanging out, dangling a foot, checkin’ out the scenery.

The next day….

He’s back again!  Letting it all just hang.  He (could be a she?) lounges on a different railing, completely relaxed without a care in the world.  *The blur:  I took the pic from the window that Shane happens to watch out of as well – nose pushed up against the glass as you might have guessed.

Must be nice to be a squirrel and live around our house  “relaxed, carefree living”.  

Crystal Chandelier Restaurant

Ted and I saw an advertisement the other night for an establishment that has been serving Oneida and Herkimer County residence since 1982.  The Crystal Chandelier, located on route 28, 7 miles north of Herkimer opens from May through October serving dinners and year round for banquets and parties.  Since a popular camp ground is across the street, casual attire is the norm.

The dining and bar area atmosphere is warm and formal.  The mirrors at the end give the room an appearance of never ending tables. 

There was live music, very old style but enjoyable.  Salty popcorn is offered at the bar.  We ate WAY too much of that poppa-da-corn.  It’s addictive!

Every meal comes with garden salad and grilled Italian bread.   Ted and I were not fans of the grilled bread seasoning. We asked for plain warm bread, nothing on it.  We GOT plain COLD bread.  Oh well……

Also included with dinner is the fresh vegetable, Sicilian potato ( a house special), baked potato, French fries, rice pilaf or pasta.  For an extra $1.50, sweet potato fries can be substituted……and HOW MUCH is a 5lb bag of sweet potatoes??????  Maybe they cost more in Herkimer?

Salad with oil and vinegar .  Bleu cheese crumbles on the side (at an extra cost, of course).

I ordered the Grilled Alaskan Salmon Fillet served with grilled asparagus and rice pilaf at $20.95.  That price is about $3.00 more than we pay elsewhere.  For $20.95, I was served a very dry piece of salmon, stringing and chewy asparagus, and a rice pilaf that was on it’s way to being “bear mush”. 

When I told the owner, Rudolph Scialdo (who came to the table and asked about our dinners) that the salmon was dry and he may want to mention that to the chef, he said “Oh ya, I will. By the way, we saw you taking pictures and here are my cards.  You might want to know that we will pick people up in the limo and bring them to the restaurant. They just have to tip the driver and spend $25.00 per person which includes what they drink at the bar. “    Hmmm….BUUUTTTT….what about my dry salmon?!!!  ‘Nough said.

As for Ted, he was busy on the other side of the table completely enjoying his meal of pork osso bucco.  Guess the Crystal Chandelier must specialize in meat dishes.

The coffee was dark and I expected a burnt taste.  It surprised by being very smooth with a subtle chocolate finish.  Very good coffee.

Would I recommend the Crystal Chandelier?   I would recommend it as a casual, family dining restaurant with a warning that the prices are a bit over ambitious for the quality of the food.

Boilermaker prep day

I’ve been talking about this Boilermaker race all week and we are now one day away.  I want to offer a little info on it because it’s a huge event in our city.

Living in Utica for over 32 and never running the Boilermaker is not something one should brag about.  In fact, being a runner for over 8 year and never having run the Boilermaker is even more shameful.  This year was the year to walk up to the plate and face the challenge. No excuses.

A little description of this historic and 12,000 runner plus popular race.  The Boilermaker began in 1978 with 800 runners. Today, there is over 12,500 registered runners.

Why would this race be so popular in our small city of Utica?  Because of the crowd support, the music, the celebration. 

Because of our community.  Everyone participates in this race whether you run, you hand out water, you clap, cheer, play an instrument, dance… we see it all.   The following mile-by-mile was presented in “Fusion” of the UticaOD by Cassaundra Baber.

Mile 2 is called the International Mile where Celtic music plays and you see Polish Dancers.  American Blue Grass and Belly Dancing.  Truly and international display of talent. 

Mile 3-4 is a Polka band giving you that musical energy to run the next mile.

At miles 4-5 the J.B. and Crew offer motown music and miles 5-6 is over 30 drummers bangin’ it up so you can keep those feet moving.  You’ve just gone through the toughest part of the course and you can now imagine yourself crossing that finish.

A guy on stilts waits to amuse runners between miles 6-7.  His name is Chuck Lester and gets to enjoy one of the best views of the race.

Modern and classic rock is played by The Crazy Fools (no – not the running crazy fools, the band!).  Get the energy needed from this band as you pass through miles 7 and 8.  This is also the point at which Utica displays it’s patriotism by donning all sorts of red, white and blue.

Miles 8-9 you are almost home and getting onto Varick Street where you see the accordion player in his own private orchestra.

Here it is, Mile 9. The long awaited mile.  The finish approaches. You hear the cheers, the claps, the bagpipes.    There’s the brewery.  You did it!  You just ran your first Boilermaker. Now go grab your finishers pin, get some water, some oranges, get your lunch bag and have a Saranac brew –  Congratulations!

Tomorrow, I am aiming for somewhat unrealistic goals. I have two times that I would like to finish in.  The first time (no, I’m not telling) would mean my fastest run ever. The second time is according to the charts and my past 5K and 10K times. So why are both times unrealistic?  Because there will be over 1600 people in front of me when that gun goes off. It’s a slow start.  The field is a total of over 12,500 as I indicated above.  It is going to be hot.  I’m not a hot weather runner. 

If you are running or watching, make sure to look out for number 2908 a GREEN BIB and give me a yell and a wave.  If you have a camera, take some photos of friends, family, the crowd, the runners and email them to applecrumbles1@yahoo.com

Have you ever run a race with over 10000 runners?

Joanne

Interval training is pretty tough.  Luckily, I had the MVCC  track all to myself for most of the 3 – 3 x 6 series.  3 minutes of hard running, 3 minutes of easy recovery x 6 sets.  The Garmin made this easy because I programmed in the workout based on time/rest/time.  At the end of each 3 minute hard run I was SO  listening for those little chimes.

Here’s the breakdown

I really enjoy my nice long Saturday morning runs over this interval stuff.  Next week I’ll miss my long run again because Sunday is the Utica Boilermaker Road Race.  It’s a 15K and I’m hoping to finish with a great time.  I said YEARS ago to family members that the year I run the Boilermaker will be when I can run it in 1 hour 10 minutes.  It’s a goal, a bit aggressive but we’ll see if I can come close. I’ll settle for 1 hour 15, given the crowd…10,000+ people! Wow!

Friday night dinner out.

“Where do you want to go”? 

“I don’t know – let me think”.

“How about Valley View?”

“That sounds okay”.

We arrived at Valley View

and were seated immediately however couldn’t get outside seating. It was a perfect night to sit outside but everyone beat us to it.

We sat, chatted with an ex-wife of a good friend (sounds weird), then ordered wine with a waitress we hadn’t seen before at this restaurant we visit quite frequently.  I ordered a Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay and Ted opted for a Labatt’s Blue.

The waitress arrived with an ice bucket and set it at our table,. I said “WHOA!  I would like a GLASS not a BOTTLE”.  She whisked the bucket away with a hopeful glance towards the  bar that they hadn’t opened the bottle yet. 

When the waitress returned with my wine, Ted’s beer, she said “I was actually quite impressed when I thought you were ordering a bottle of wine and he wanted a beer”.  She continued…”actually I could drink a whole bottle”.  Somewhat amused and left wondering about this girls drinking problem, we ordered our dinner.

The Kendall – Chardonnay that was almost a bottle, deserves to be in black and white like an old Alfred Hitchcock movie since it was the beginning of some strange events.

We started with standard garden salad, oil and vinegar with crumbly bleu on the side.

The waitress brought the salads and returned with a bottle of oil ONLY.  She said “did you want vinegar or just the oil?”   …..never been asked THAT one before! 

Of course we didn’t JUST WANT OIL?  Who ever wants JUST OIL?  We politely said “yes, we would like vinegar, please”.  Usually, we are asked if we want Red or Balsamic vinegar but NEVER JUST OIL.   Our vinegar arrived!  Oh happy us!

We had a little chuckle, ate some delicious bread and tiny slices of tomato pie

The waitress returned and set my baked haddock down.  While she was setting Ted’s Chicken Francais down, a different waiter, one that usually serves us, approaches me, leans into me and says…”I’m SORRY!”.    I began thinking ….”Honey it wasn’t YOUR fault you didn’t get our table tonight!”…and “yeah, we like you but really”…..   He continued…“I’m SORRY! That’s MY haddock with out the skin”.  Oh! I said ..”Well you can have it – go ahead”.   He said “I’ll be right back with yours”.  

In the meantime, our waitress was watching and as my pale haddock was whisked away, she said “ I have no idea what that was about” and somehow, that didn’t surprise us.    So I simply asked her, while looking at my lonely dish of mixed vegetables….. “Can I have some grated Parmesan, please?”. 

A plate of haddock finally made it’s way back in front of me.

The haddock that had my name on it was very good. As you can see, a little overly greasy but it was pretty darn tasty. No complaints.

Of course I topped off my meal with an uneventful cup of coffee.  That was about the only thing, other than the bread, that made it to our table without some weird story attached to it.

We walked outside and…..LOOK AT THIS!

Oh Mr. White Lamborghini, be still my heart!   It was a 1984 model. We walked gingerly around the car.  Not a scratch.  Not ONE speck of dirt….AND IT WAS WHITE!  How did the owner pull THAT one off in upstate New York?!!!   Beautiful car.

Weird night. Good food. The check was about HALF of what we paid at Delmonico’s the previous night.  Amazing. 

I left a note on the receipt to our waitress because she must have been new, but was so cute and innocent looking.  I wrote “Great job, Amanda.  Thanks. Ted and Joanne”. 

What was your most amusing experience in a restaurant?

Joanne

Last nights ride was fun. It actually started WAY too slow (different leader).   A little before the half way point, the pace picked up a bit.  The gravel road was more packed this week, not as scary.  There was  a bug that flew into my helmet. That freaked me out and I had to stop, shake my hair out, try to remain calm why the leader looked on.  I felt all creepy-crawly but soon forgot about it as we tackled the worst hill of the ride.  PHEW! Made it!

The result was a good ride, 27.73 miles at about 14 mph and then food at Delmonico’s.

I had frutti de mare but the salmon I’ve had in the past was so much better.

I enjoyed the MacMurray Pinot Noir but Ted kept saying it wasn’t doing anything for him.  He usually really enjoys MacMurray.

The usual colorful salad with delicious hot bread and we indulged ourselves with the calamari appetizer.  A texture “thing” started going off in my head after a few bites of calamari.  My stomach started saying …”NO MORE!” 

Sometimes I can enjoy calamari and sometimes I can’t. Thursday night, I couldn’t.

The frutti de mar was so-so.  I had it over steamed broccoli instead of pasta.  There were two shrimp. Wish there were more. Four clams. Could have had more of those as well.  Calamari which, at that point, I could have done without. The fish was buried way down deep.  After the 2 shrimp, 4 clams and some broccoli, I called it quits, wrapped the fish up and Shane had it added to his late night dinner. He just loves it when we go out to eat!

Next week, we will have to stop elsewhere for dinner. Delmonico’s needs a break.

LEMON LUSCIOUS CAKE

Some people are just crazy over the taste of lemon.  Jill’s sister is a lemon lover.  So is Ted for that matter.  It was tricky making a lemon cake and keeping Ted away from the kitchen.

The cake was lemon flavored with a vanilla-lemon wash.

The filling was a base of lemon curd topped with lemon mousse.

The frosting was a delicate lemon-butter cream. 

Finished with gum paste roses of yellow and red.

Happy Birthday, Jill’s Sister!

Fried food? Baked food? or Grilled?  What’s your favorite?

Joanne

Funny thing.  The treadmill in the hotel was a heck of a lot easier to run on than our treadmill at home. Why would that be? 

Healthy starts:

melon, oranges, grapefruit and strawberries

Hot oatmeal with 1 teaspoon each of craisins and raisins. Slices of a banana (half a banana) added.

I ate too much bread at dinner the night before so I went with oats instead of toast.

For protein, I had an Egg Beater omelet with fresh vegetables, a little cheese and a small taste of home fries.

The last day of class was a complete 8 to 5:15 info packed session.  The toilet situation got worse because the Tic Toc Cafe which allowed us to use their facilities became victims of the poor plumbing situation as well.  It was a touch-and-go afternoon for sure.

Dinner in Port Jefferson:

We made our way to Port Jeff for dinner with our destination being….

Danfords Wave Restaurant. 

We could eat outside or in but curiosity got the better of us and we ate inside. Beautiful atmosphere, fun filled bar area, and excellent wait staff.  The piano player was entertaining for a short time.  He is usually outside but due to a short spell of rain, he was providing entertainment inside on this night.

The food was grand.  Shrimp cocktail to start with a delicious bread basket of pumpernickel raisin rolls, rye rolls, and sour dough.

A fresh garden salad with bleu cheese, candied walnuts, and cranberries served with a light chardonnay vinaigrette.

I chose the Tzatziki Cod with red potatoes and a side of garlic-horseradish broccoli rabe

Coffee at the bar where the conclusion of the US Open was shown on television and Ted was anxious to see who would win.  It WASN’T Tiger!

It was getting late but we took a short stroll around Port Jeff. A lot of people were out for ice cream. The chocolates caught my eye.

Now it’s Monday AM and we are heading off to breakfast and then taking off for home.  Shane is missing us and we are missing him.  

Don’t you just LOVE port cities?

Joanne

Looking out to the right thinking it must be Manhattan in the fog..or smog, we were closing in on Long Island. 

It was a long drive with several stops. Both of us were sore. Ted sore from a leg workout as well as the bike ride on Thursday night. I was sore from the bike ride plus the 9 mile run Friday morning before leaving for the Island.  My left hamstring kept cramping up again (last time it did that was after my half and on the road to S.C.). 

We pulled into the hotel in Islandia too late for lunch so hit the road to find food. We stopped at TGI Fridays. 

It’s kind of a mini vacation so we enjoyed a couple of “spirits” with our late lunch.

Ted wanted to try the Modelo beer. It’s a Mexican beer and I have to say, was pretty good. I don’t even like beer.   I had house chardonnay. Nothing special but quite necessary after a long drive and intense running week.

The garden salad was cool and rewarding.  I inhaled it since starvation had set in.  Oil and vinegar with bleu cheese crumbles topped my salad.

The Shrimp Key West was my main feature. It was tasty with steamed broccoli. I did have to dab the sauce off the plate AND the shrimp.  It was swimming in a buttery sauce – a bit too much.

The next photo was the first one taken of my dish…see how hot it was.  It steamed up my camera lens.  I LOVE my food hot.

After lunch, we drove to the nearest marina which turned out to be a private marina restricted to residence only.  We made our way back to the hotel intending to go for a swim but Ted fell asleep and I decided to blog resulting in the above.

TED WAKES UP! …. and we went to the pool only to find it filled with children.  We took a quick dip then headed for the hot tub. The hot tub was NOT hot. It was 75 degrees, just like the pool.  That just made me cold so while Ted sat in the COLD TUB, I sat wrapped in a towel then in a robe. Really pretty!

We decided to head out in search of MEXICAN.  It has been a while since we have enjoyed Mexican food and two restaurants were recommended that were located close to the hotel.

We ended up at Maria’s Mexican and Latin Cuisine. 

Very cute bar area.

The tortilla chips were fresh and crisp and the salsa was smooth, on the sweet side but with that ethnic flare.

A Maria’s Special Margarita for Ted and a Sangria for me. It was suppose to be a WHITE sangria but the bar tender didn’t hear what I asked for. I told her it was fine and settled for the very sweet red.  Love the apples soaked in sweet Sangria wine!

It didn’t take long to be seated and our salads arrived in no time.

We both commented on how fresh the artichoke was. Nothing pickled about those pieces.  The entire plate of greenery had a “just picked” taste – not PICKLED, P I C K E D!!!

While we were seated at our table, three parties had birthday celebrations. The waiters arrived at the tables with cakes, maracas, horns, and a large Mexican hat.  The birthday celebrant received a good loud blow of the horn in the ear at the end of the song.

Dinner arrived.  I ordered seafood enchiladas with rice and black beans.  Fresh guacamole was on the side. There wasn’t enough. That guacamole was GOOD!

Ted ordered the coconut encrusted sea bass with fried plantain slices and rice.  The sea bass was excellent but a small serving.  We ended up switching entrees.  I finished the sea bass and Ted finished the seafood enchiladas which were filled with shrimp, fish, and calamari.  Delicioso!

No Mexican coffee for us. Good old American coffee hit the spot after a DELICIOSO dinner. Other than the too sweet sangria, everything that passed our lips was excellent. Two thumbs up for Maria’s!

I didn’t tell you that since the sangria was so sweet, after having maybe 4 sips, I ordered a Chardonnay and drank 3/4  of that.  On the way out of the restaurant, I did some kind of funky move into the Porsche and cut the skin in between my thumb and index finger. Neither Ted nor I have any clue how I could have cut that hand.  Weird and only a feat that Joanne could do.  Note to self:  Never drink sweet sangria and chardonnay in the same night again.

Saturday:  It’s off to class for me at 8 AM and golfing crazy for Ted at 9:30 AM. 

What’s your favorite Mexican dish?

Joanne