Grits in the City - discounts and faves
Hope you enjoy all these as much as I do!
To me, the holidays are about time with family, beautifully decorated spaces (ours and experiencing others out in the world) and something fresh and sweet on the table. This year, we are doing some of my annual faves and bringing some back into rotation we haven’t had in quite a while.
Thanksgiving is all about spending time with family but sometimes it feels more like quality time with your oven and kitchen counters. Typically we have a lineup of all the things to make to get things ready for the day. This year we took a different approach. Instead of cooking everything we decided to just cook a few things and order the rest. Genius!
What I did do was to try a recipe T found on TikTok for homemade Parker house rolls. Would they live up to the hype? Oh yes! We have a new fave. These were so easy to do — they just require some time to get through all the steps. You can even start some the day before if you plan ahead. I didn’t do that this time around.
If you have a big group coming, definitely recommend doubling the recipe — because no one is going to want just one! (Note, I doubled it the next time around and found the dough ended up a bit tall for the KitchenAid — it worked, but it wasn’t the happiest with me!)
Here is the recipe on Cozy Kitchen. It’s been quite the hit with our family!
I have been curious about the PieCaken from the PieCaken Bakeshop for a while and thought it was a perfect time to give it a try. I ordered it from Goldbelly and it arrived a couple of days before Thanksgiving.
What was there not to love? It had something for everyone. The bottom layer was pecan pie followed by a pumpkin pie layer then a spice cake layer. The whole thing had cinnamon buttercream between the layers and along the top and edges. On the very top, there was apple pie filling. It was a true crowd pleaser. We are excited to try the Christmas version soon!
For us, it’s hard to go wrong with Honeybaked Ham. Their turkey is great but I still think their ham is where it is at. We ordered sides at a local restaurant, which we liked better than doing all through Honeybaked.
How do you make it all work?
There’s a new obsession in our house covered off on in one little word – Pokémon. Before I only knew it as an app T loved to use when we were still in the city to encourage him to be active and walk around more. Oh and to help me figure out where we were on a family hike once when I took the kids without him and got totally turned around.
But this is different. Q started kindergarten and started to come home talking about it and wanting all things Pokémon — cards, games, you name it. So when I saw it as a birthday party idea, it was a no-brainer. But what to go with it?
[Read more…]It has been a while since we have had a date night and even longer since we’ve left the house before bedtime. But when we saw that our favorite Stirling Hotel was doing a special event that included a pumpkin carving contest and a tasting flight with Southern Tier — so decided to change that up for one night.
This summer, I wanted to find a new beach we could try for a family vacation that wouldn’t be too far of a drive but would be a good place to visit with a family. I really enjoyed my recent trip to Spring Lake and Sea Girt, but couldn’t find anything for us to stay in on Airbnb.
Just when I was ready to give up, I found a place for us to stay in Lavallette. It was walkable to the beach and since we went after Labor Day, we didn’t have to rent by the week to stay there. Upside to waiting!
I always associate one thing with the fall — apples. And lots of them. This year we decided to give apple picking at Hillview Farms a try. Since having the kids, we try to go once a year and we usually switch up where we go to check out some new places along the way.
I have passed by the farm some on a few of my longer runs and always been curious and a friend recommended it. From the road, it looks quite modest. I was pleasantly surprised how much more there is to the farm than I expected.
[Read more…]I did it! I made it to the end. As someone who in general hates rain, spending 2.5 hours+ continually in the rain is huge. That’s probably why going into the race, the most I’d run was 15 minutes in the rain. Woah. What a miss. That practice would have come in handy before the 2022 Jersey Shore Half Marathon. (Lesson learned.)
After I finished my last half marathon, I decided to sit out more than the usual recovery cycle. With my knee not feeling 100%, I wanted to take it slow — let it heal and allow plenty of time to fully do the training cycle all the way through. Almost a year later felt appropriate.
[Read more…]I’m gearing up to run my third half marathon but my first ever real race fully in the rain. An admitted rain avoider (I’ve rescheduled many an outdoor run for less), I find myself confronted with preparing to make the most of running in the rain during a big race.
I asked friends and followers on a few social media platforms for what has worked for them and this is what they told me.
[Read more…]Well, it’s less than a month until my half marathon. I can’t believe it is almost here! Figured I would share a quick update on how everything is going training for my third half marathon.
I’ve kept to the same half marathon training plan as I’ve used for the other half marathons I have run. Not ready to possibly mess up a good thing! I’ve been using Hal Higdon’s Novice 1, which does a great job of helping me to scale up my runs and allows me some flexibility to still have time to go to classes at the aerial studio. I’ve also been taking some Peloton classes — specifically cycling, yoga, bike bootcamp and strength for runners.
[Read more…]Halloween is approaching. The candy is stocked at all the stores while costumes as starting to sell out everywhere. Eeeek. No stress!
It’s common for themed races to pop up for the holidays, including Halloween. Last year, I ran my second half marathon (and first one that wasn’t virtual) on Halloween. I tried to find information going into my race about running in costume and couldn’t find the best details on it. I definitely have some learnings to share based on my experience running a race in costume so hopefully you can be better prepared for yours!
[Read more…]