Rochester 3-Day Tour

We had a really good time when Margie & John, our new friends from Ohio that we met on our cruise came for a visit.  They were so great to be with.  I don't think they minded, and I loved it, that I didn't have to do anything fancy.  They arrived on Wednesday around noon after touring Niagara Falls (NY side) and Lockport, the Underground Cave and Boat Ride that we didn't know anything about, but now want to see.

We had lunch here and then following my prepared Tour Package.  I can't say that we followed it exactly, especially not for the meals but we did see most of the sites.  We went to Pittsford and took a walk along the canal at Schoen Place.

From there we went to Wegmans in Pittsford which is one of the out of towners MUST see.  A trip down to Park Ave was next since we decided we would never be hungry enough to eat at 7:00 which was on the planned tour.  We wandered down to F. Oliver's where we sampled and purchased and then stopped into Baker St Bakery next door to buy some bread for dipping when we got home.  On the way home we stopped at our local Wegmans and each bought a $6 meal which we never ate that night because we had wine, bread, vinegar and oil and some other appetizer type things.  And then it was time for dessert.

On Thursday we went to Ontario Beach Park and walked out on the pier

the water was especially disgusting looking!

  We walked to the lighthouse

 and then went into the park and rode the carousel



We saw a car using the electric-vehicle charging station at the pier parking lot.  I didn't even know we had these.  I just Googled it and found out that as of April 2014 Rochester had 24 of these and for the first year they are free to use.  The article said that the cost of electricity is minimal.
Also learned that Governor Cuomo announced a Charge NY initiative in 2013, installing 360 EV stations across New York.  Where have I been??

After all that we went to Pelican's Nest for an outdoor lunch.

And a stop at the Charlotte Lighthouse 

From there, Larry took over the tour and took us to places outside of what the original tour included but were very noteworthy stops.
We went to the House of Guitars, which this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary along with the Riots in Rochester.

This is what I remember the House Of Guitars from way back when.

Not too different now but a lot bigger but still as disorganized.  But just ask and they can find anything you want.

From there Larry took us over for a little hike at Whiting Rd Nature Center, just to make sure we would be able to eat again and then we rode down to the end of Lake Rd where the swing bridge is.

Once home again some of us needed little naps and thought we would never be able to eat again but somehow we managed to down those Wegmans $6 meals from the day before.

On Friday it was time to tour the George Eastman House.  

 Margie likes to take pictures in mirrors as much as I do.

 We toured the house on our own but then took part in the garden tour.

From there we drove over to Lake Ave and passed what used to be Midtown Plaza.  In looking up information about that I came across this video.  I remember all those stores from when I worked downtown at Xerox and we could just walk across the enclosed bridge to get into Midtown.

We finally got to our lunch spot, The Genesee Brew House

We didn't take any pictures of the food, but wasn't beer the reason to come?  But just as a reminder for the next time, Margie and I each got the Brew House Nachos which were really good but couldn't finish them so took them home.  Not so good as leftovers.  Next time share.

Because it was crowded and we didn't want to wait for an outside table we ate indoors and then went up to the 3rd floor roof to take pictures of the falls.

And John found a new friend as we left.

Back home we were going to have a healthy salad and pizza for dinner but by the time we got around to eating, it was just the pizza.  Looks like Larry and I were going to have to be healthy on our own.

We had a great time.  Thanks for coming Margie and John.  See you soon!!

Photoshop tips

Scanning photos from books, magazines and newspapers often results in an unsightly interference pattern called moire.
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshop/ht/apsremovemoire.htm
Remove wrinkles
http://www.essential-photoshop-elements.com/remove-wrinkles.html

OS X Mountain Lion: Reinstall OS X and other solutions to frozen iMac

7/20/14

Maybe this would have helped the other 2 times but I had a similar experience this morning.  Last night I had to Force Quit BookWright and instead of reopening it, I shut down the computer and when I started it up this morning it wouldn't boot.  It wouldn't even let me get to the point to reinstall the OS.  It was showing that I needed new batteries for my keyboard/mouse.  I recently replaced the mouse batteries but maybe the reason I couldn't get to the reboot was because the keyboard wasn't working. While I was replacing the batteries and seeing what I could do, I used my laptop to look up why I couldn't get the iMac to boot.  I came across this http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 and it did the trick.

At first I tried the Soft Boot by holding down the shift key and then it went back to the gray screen with the apple and spinning globe so I shut it off to try the boot where I could see what was going on by holding Shift-Command-V during start up. I liked this much better because it wasn't just looking at a screen, you saw words on what looked like an old DOS type screen.

In reading some of the print out I realized I left the speaker plugged in and quickly whipped it out.  Then a soft reboot - YEA!!  Then a normal restart and I'm back in business.






7/3/14
Thanks to BookWright and maybe my being on it for too long at a time, I've had to reinstall OS X twice in less than 24 hours.  Thought I better put these instructions here in case I forget.

Spring Rolls

When I make these for just us they become our main course because they are so good.
For company, they're fun to let everyone make their own as an appetizer.

Spring Rolls

INGREDIENTS:
2 ounces rice vermicelli
8 rice wrappers (8.5 inch diameter)
imitation or real crab, shrimp, chicken or whatever you like cut to fit
chopped basilchopped fresh mint leaves
chopped fresh cilantro
chopped lettuce
thin sliced carrots
thin sliced celery
hoisin sauce
chopped peanuts

Cilantro Chicken

I was looking for a new marinade recipe for chicken that I wanted to serve for when Lila and Keith came over for dinner and found this one.
After yoga I went to Wegmans to buy whatever I needed for dinner besides the ingredients for the marinade.

I guess I didn't really read the write up too closely because I bought regular chili sauce instead of the sweet chili sauce that you would get in the Asian section but it still tasted good.  I served it with grilled yellow squash and zucchini and corn on the cob.

Corn Flake Cookies

Kris made these when we went to visit for Claire's graduation and Larry really liked them and  I thought they tasted like pecan sandies.  I made them and Larry likes them, but I thought the ones Kris made tasted better.

Naan Pizza

The Wegmans Menu magazine had a lot of Naan pizza recipes this month.  I decided to make a Naan pizza too.  It was so good that we ate most of it before I remembered to take a picture.  Here's my healthy version.

Mini Zucchini Quiche

This was in the WW weekly and online http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=339391

The week after it was in the weekly someone brought a batch into the meeting I worked and I thought they were so good that I had to give it a try.  I made some in paper muffin cups but they stuck too much but my mini muffin pans were probably too mini because they came out so little, that's why I switched to paper because I could fill them more.  Maybe some spray on the papers would help.  After I made them, I froze them and when I want to use them I take them out and let them thaw and then warm them up in the toaster oven.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I wanted to make stuffed mushrooms, something I haven't made in decades but I couldn't find my recipe which I once had on an index card.  I found a recipe from Wegmans  that was  similar to the one I used to make and another one on allrecipes that sounded good too and I came up with this one.
As it is a day later, that I'm updating this I realize I never took a picture so I guess I'll have to make it again so I can add the picture.  I guess they were a hit when I took them to our get together at Jane's because there weren't any left.

imagine a picture of delicious stuffed mushroom here

Bread Pudding

BREAD PUDDING
I still want to try a bread pudding recipe and this one has great reviews

Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time:  45 min
Servings: 12

"This lightly spiced, extra-thick bread pudding is made with simple pantry items like bread, eggs, milk, and sugar. Best made with a rich egg bread or a moist white loaf."

INGREDIENTS:
6 slices day-old bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.  Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4.  Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bread-Pudding-II/Detail.aspx

Harley Pasternak’s 5 Get Fit Quick Tips, Plus 3 Smoothie Recipes

Harley Pasternak’s 5 Get Fit Quick Tips, Plus 3 Smoothie Recipes
I think I'll try this to work off those cruise pounds.

Behind the bikini-perfect bodies of Jessica Simpson, Katy Perry and Megan Fox is fitness guru Harley Pasternak.

Pasternak appeared on “Good Morning America” today to share his secrets for slimming down fast just in time for summer.

The trainer says success can be had with these five small life changes:

TA and Baltics Cruise May 4-28

Since I spent a month creating this magazine I'm not going to blog about our trip.  Needless to say it was great!!!  Here's the magazine with everything I documented or remembered about it and lots of pictures.  Click on the fullscreen icon on the bottom right hand corner to the left of the Blurb icon to see it clearly. Well, it looks really clear on our 27-inch (diagonal) iMac monitor, not so much on my 13-inch (diagonal) 7 year old macBook.

Now I'm an editor!!          
Enjoy!

balab magazine by Barb Boudens | Make Your Own Book

Welcome Finn

Finnegan Carter Shaw - May 27, 2014

Hi! Arrived 1:39 p.m. 8 lbs 1 oz. Baby and mom doing great. 

I got here at 6 p.m. and spending the night with Luke. 

Jon stays at the hospital.

More later.

Love, 

Nadine

Laura's Birthday Weekend

It was girls weekend for Laura's birthday.

Larry and I drove together to Boston on Thursday and we hung out for awhile at Laura's until Michael called and said he was home and then Larry went over there to spend the weekend since it was Michael's birthday the following week.  How convenient that Laura and Michael have birthdays a week apart and live less than 3 miles apart.

On Friday Nadine arrived and we went into Boston happy that the construction was done.  We went to Joe's American Bar & Grill for lunch and wandered around.

Laura had a phone call to make for some project she was in charge of and set up her office outside of Crate & Barrel.

Friday night we all went to Michael's for dinner where he and Doris put on a feast and Karen and Meg were there too. A bonus to the weekend to have everyone together.

We celebrated Michael's May 5, Larry's May 18 and Laura's April 27 birthdays

I don't remember what we did on Saturday because I don't have any pictures and I'm writing this more than a month after the date, but we got takeout for dinner and took a bunch of silly pictures of ourselves.

On Sunday morning we got up bright and early and were at the Wegmans grand opening in Chestnut Hill by 7:15 AM.

We ran into Colleen Wegman and mentioned to her that it was Laura's birthday.

She later found Laura and gave her a birthday cupcake.  How super special was that?

And of course we had to have some coffee and a snack at the food court which is located at the front of the store.

Greta arrived in the afternoon and for Laura's birthday we went into Boston to Temazcal for dinner.

Their menus were on iPads.  And their food and drinks were yum!!  I was full after the margarita and chips and guacamole but managed to do justice to my dinner.

Sisters

Previous generation sisters

All the sisters

Back at home we had birthday desserts that we had gotten earlier at Wegmans

 

These cards have to be preserved here too.

Note:  Tucker's card is still in that great hole in the sky with Larry's keys and some other things we mentioned over this past weekend at Greta's (6/13/14)

And some final pictures before everyone left the next day.

Happy 7

Today is our 7th anniversary.  It turned out to be a beautiful day after a few cooler ones.
We played golf this afternoon and in spite of not having played since last year and my hip hurting me when we started out I survived and didn't do too bad either.  I tested different positions to hold my leg so that it wouldn't strain but by the end of 9 holes I was able to keep it in it's normal position.

 A selfie

A photoshop

Then at night we went to Sogo Japanese Steakhouse in Webster and got the "Lover Boat for 2" which was a combination of Sushi and Sashimi.  It was so huge that we ate as much as we could and took the rest of it home.  Dinner for tomorrow!

New Toys

I've been talking about wanting a kayak for ages and finally I decided to get one when Dick's had a sale this past week.  The most surprising thing was that Larry got one too.  I hope he likes it and it doesn't bother his back because it will be so much fun just paddling around on the bay on those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.

We will have to take them off the deck and them in the water.

Almond Fudge Banana Cake

This was my dessert for bridge on Thursday.
Served with ice cream of course!

Ingredients
4 extra-ripe, medium DOLE® Bananas, divided
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 egg(s)
3 tbsp amaretto liqueur or 1 tsp almond extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted and ground
1 square (1 oz) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

• Quarter 4 bananas in blender or food processor container. Cover; blend until smooth (2 cups).
• Beat sugar and margarine or butter in large bowl, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and liqueur. 
• Stir together flour, cocoa powder, soda, salt and almonds in medium bowl.
• Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture alternately with 1-1/2 cups blended bananas, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into greased 10-inch bundt pan.
• Bake at 350ºF., 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake pulls away from sides of pan.

• Cool 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan to wire rack to cool completely.
• Mix together remaining 1/2 cup blended banana with melted chocolate, in small bowl. 
• Drizzle glaze over top and down sides of cake.

Spinach Salad

This has become my favorite spinach salad dressing now that I'm into using bacon grease, as long as I don't make it too often. The basic salad recipe excluding the dressing depends on what I have in the house, but this is what I like to include.  I put in amounts for a salad for 4 but use whatever you have in the amounts you like.

Salad:

8-10 oz baby spinach

1/4  cup chopped onions, red, sweet or green

sliced white mushrooms

2 large eggs

8 pieces crisp bacon, chopped (save grease)

Dressing:

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

To make the dressing save 3 tblsp bacon grease after cooking the bacon.  That's usually all the grease you get, or if you don't get that much that's OK too.  Heat the grease in a small pan and whisk in the other ingredients.  Pour over salad ingredients and toss.

The original recipe is from -->

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/spinach-salad-with-warm-bacon-dressing-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Carnival Cruise March 31-April 6

Just back from our first Carnival Cruise and although Carnival has had it's share of bad press we had a wonderful time and will go on another. We did have to skip Freeport because of engine problems that reduced our cruising speed but that was OK with us. And for the inconvenience, Carnival issued everyone a $50 credit and 25% discount on another cruise and of course credited us for the port charges we wouldn't be spending.

Most of the pictures I took were of the clothes I wore so I could pack better for our next trip to the Baltics. As usual I didn't wear a lot of what I brought, unlike our trip to the Mediterranean, but we drove to Baltimore and weren't limited by having to drag suitcases as we travelled. Took lots of food pictures too.

Our favorite food item was the warm chocolate melting cake that is on every dinner dessert menu. We only got it 3 times and I could never eat the whole thing, or maybe I should say I wouldn't let myself eat the whole thing.  Click here for the recipe.

Carnival allows one bottle of wine per person to be brought on board.  Here we are having a Welcome Aboard glass.

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

This picture was taken the first night
of our cruise, after eating some first

This picture was taken the last night of the cruise
notice the lack of powdered sugar, everyone must
have been ordering them and there wasn't enough
time for a dusting of sugar.  It also wasn't cooked
as much,  very decadent!

Carnival's Warm Chocolate Melting Cake
This recipe seems the most like the one direct from carnival but easier to understand
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:
3/4 c. (6 oz.) dark chocolate chips
3/4 c. (6 oz.) butter
4 eggs (room temperature)
3/4 c. (6 oz.) sugar
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. (2 oz.) flour



Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375-degrees. 
• Melt chocolate and butter in a small saucepan, cool 10 minutes. 
• In the meantime, in a separate bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together. 
• Add flour and whisk until flour is well mixed in. When chocolate has cooled stir in egg mixture.
• Fill 7oz. ramekins about 3/4 of the way full with chocolate batter. 
• Bake for 14 minutes. You may need to add an extra few minutes of baking time depending on your elevation.
• The cake should be cake-like and spongy on the top but the middle of the cake should be melty and gooey-- the consistency of pudding, not too runny. 
• Do not let it overcook--watch these babies closely! 
• Serve with ice cream. (makes 4 servings)

Note: To make gluten free, leave out flour.

My Note: From reviews, may need to bake 10 minutes at most.

Read more: Warm Chocolate Melting Cake Recipe - Carnival Cruise Lines - CRUISIN http://www.cruisin.me/info/carnival-cruise-lines/food-recipes/warm-chocolate-melting-cake.php#ixzz2yKfP0buO
Copyright © 2014 CRUISIN. All Rights Reserved.

WW Points Plus = 18 (YIKES but worth it)
========================================
4/24/14 - In an email from Carnival they sent this recipe

INGREDIENTS

Melting Chocolate Cake

Portions: 5 ea.

Semi-Sweet Chocolate 4.4.oz

Sweet Chocolate 4.4 oz

Butter 6 oz

Fresh Eggs 5 ea

Sugar 1.8 oz

Flour H & R 1.4 oz

Method:

• Melt both Chocolate & Butter

• Mix half egg & Sugar and whisk for few minutes & add flour (without lumps), add the balance egg and mix well until 

incorporated 

• Add egg mixture to the melted chocolate mixture until unified 

• Pour 4.5 oz mixture in to bowl Incline.

• Arrange 24 cups l in one large sheet tray 

•• Bake directly in the oven at 180 C°° for 20 to 25 minutes.

• Serve with vanilla ice cream in 2 oz. ramekin cups.

Garnish:

• Sweet Chocolate, coco soil (top of the ice cream) 

• Cocoa soil, follow the chef table recipe 

• Dust Powder sugar top of the Melting chocolate cake before serve!!!!! Serve warm …

=====================================
Carnival's Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

Serves: 6

Ingredients:
8 oz Semi-sweet Chocolate
1 c Butter
7 Eggs, divided
6 tbsp Sugar
1/2 c Flour
1 tsp Powdered Sugar, for garnish

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a pan melt the chocolate and butter and cool for 10 minutes.
• In a separate bowl, mix 4 eggs with sugar. Whisk. Then add flour while continuing to whisk. Add the remaining 3 eggs and whisk. Then add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture. Pour this entire mixture into individual ramekins.
• Bake until just done, about 15-20 minutes (interior will be melting, not set).
• Top with powdered sugar. 
• Serve with ice cream.

Note: To make gluten free, leave out flour.

My Note: From reviews, may need to bake 10 minutes at most.

Read more: Warm Chocolate Melting Cake Recipe - Carnival Cruise Lines - CRUISIN http://www.cruisin.me/info/carnival-cruise-lines/food-recipes/warm-chocolate-melting-cake.php#ixzz2yKfP0buO
Copyright © 2014 CRUISIN. All Rights Reserved.

WW Points Plus = 18 (YIKES but worth it)

Need dates

I think I'm finally getting all my scanned pictures organized.
Hopefully this book will help me finish it up.  I made a book of pictures that need some dates, at least years, associated with them.  I'm going to take it to Laura's when I go for her birthday and hopefully between us and Nadine and Greta we can figure them out.

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.