Monday, September 20, 2010

First Day of Non-Vacation

(*pssst* - Don't forget I'm having a giveaway this week. :))

Well, it's a vacation week for the hubby but as anyone who works from home knows, I'm not really on vacation unless I go away. Far far away. But we do have some things planned for the week, like a trip to the Big E, a couple hikes to enjoy the fall weather, etc.

Yesterday we went to Mystic to partake in the Garlic Festival they were having in the Olde Mistick Village. The place was hopping with not only 'garlic' things going but also a farmer's market and an outdoor dog show. (Or obedience thing? I'm not sure exactly what was going on with all the dogs but I loved seeing all of them.) I might be a bit of a germophobe though because the thought of all those people + hot sun kept me away from the free samples of garlicky food. *squick*

So the REAL highlight of the trip was going across the street to get our burger on:
NOM. NOM. NOM.

Mystic is over an hour away from where we live so we only get our Five Guys fix very rarely. I keep dreaming of the day one opens up closer to home. (It has to happen at some point........right?) I'm sure some people don't understand my excitement at a fast food joint but I live in a literal black hole of food nothingness where there is nothing around for miles except for McDonalds and pizza joints. It's nice to have a few different options once in a while. :)

Oh, and I also found time to make 6 quarts of stock using my slow cooker (twice) and the stove: 2 quarts beef pho stock**, 2 quarts chicken pho stock and 2 quarts of regular chicken stock. READY TO GET MY SOUP ON.

**Jaden's Crockpot Pho recipe is pretty awesome. I made the beef one first overnight, washed everything out, then made a new batch while I was out during the day, using 4 chicken thighs instead of ox tails the second time around. DELICIOUS. I plan on eating ridiculously big, steamy hot, vege-and-rice-noodle filled bowls of pho all week long. *lip smack*

6 comments:

Minerva said...

I went to a Five Guys for the first time this Summer. It was good, but man was it filling!
I love pho! I'm off to look at your recipe. We always go out for pho. It would be nice to make it at home! Thanks for the tip.

Melanie said...

It's a really easy recipe - I didn't have all of the whole spices and it still came out fine. I substituted a little ground coriander for the coriander seeds(because I had the ground stuff on hand) and didn't worry about not having the fennel seeds.

Honestly, going forward, I think I'll stick to using chicken. It tasted just as good as the beef (not the same of course but just as yummy) because chicken parts are cheaper to buy for me than ox tails/short ribs. AND easier to find.

Julie said...

You've been busy, your soups sounds really tasty.

Margaret said...

Looks like a fun time you had this weekend.

I have to check out the recipe - need more slow cooker recipes. And if I can cheat with the ingredients, it might be a good one! Thanks!

Laurie said...

LOL! A post mentioning two of my favorite things - Five Guys burgers and garlic. YUM!!!! We've had Five Guys around here for a couple years now, but had heard amazing things about it from a friend who used to live in DC.

Pumpkin said...

Man, can you imagine all that garlic smell???? LOL! At least there wouldn't be any vampires there ;o) Glad you had a great day.