Sweets & Treats: Recipes Galore

Some of you may already know this, but I'll let the rest of you in on my secret.  I have sort of an unwritten rule--it's very, very rare for me to turn on the oven during the summer months.  That being said, the weather here in PA has been HOT, the A/C has been running, and both Mike and I have been longing for a fresh batch of granola.  Not only does it taste a thousand times better than the commercial stuff, but it doesn't cost $5/bag either!

My favorite recipe comes courtesy of Angela Liddon over at Oh She Glows; it's pictured below (I spared you by omitting the candid iPhone photo of mine).  Angela's blog has the most amazing recipes, to which I should credit for my recently-found love of baking (I've always loved cooking, but have typically left the baking to someone else)!  The recipes really do taste as good as they look on the website.  The following are just a few of the favorites I've found...I encourage you to head over to her site and check them out!

As an aside: Most of you who talk to me enough or who have seen me eat my morning breakfast probably have heard about Oh She Glows and I may have already shared the link with you.  This post isn't to sound like a broken record, it's just to enlighten the food lives of those who haven't heard about it or tried out a few of the recipes!!!  In my world, there will never be a time where there's not a new or exciting recipe to try!

My Favourite Homemade Granola

Two Bite Double Down Dark Chocolate Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough 'Blizzard'

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole

Easy Vegan Overnight Oats

Dreaming of a cooler day in the near future so I can whip up some homemade treats...until then, I'll be working, blogging, and cooking up some no-bake summer treats! Wherever you are, hope you're managing to stay cool this summer :)

Smells Like Chocolatetown, U.S.A.

The week before I headed back to work I found myself sitting at home, all alone, bored, and sick of cleaning (sounds kinda nice at this point...but I guess the grass is always greener, right?).  So, I decided to make the quick drive out to Hershey, PA and see what all the fuss was about.  Just about everyone you talk to in the area asks about whether or not you've been to Hershey/Hershey Park when they find out you're a newbie.  Have you been to Hershey Park yet? Did you check out Hershey? You haven't been to Hershey Park yet??? Seriously.  In all honesty, Mike and I are not the type to immediately hit up all of the touristy-destinations; we'd much rather check out the little, neighborhood, hole-in-the wall, looks-sketchy-but-the-locals-swear-by-it type of place.  i.e. Hershey, PA and the famed HersheyPark were not at the top of our list (note to the locals: I'm not trying to diss HersheyPark, just saying it's not my thing).  

Somewhat begrudgingly, I headed out to Hershey one afternoon to see what I could find.  Long story short--I looked like a dumb tourist taking pictures, saw the Hershey kiss light-poles, visited the gift shop at the museum, and called it a day.  I probably would have taken the time to wander through the Hershey Gardens (which looked amazing) but didn't want to pay the admission price to take photo after photo of landscaping and flowers (you guys already sifted through my Italian Lake post).  

Had to figure they'd have a Hershey flag!

The Hershey Kisses as street-lights...I admit, these are cute!

I'm a chocolate lover, perhaps there is a Dove, PA?

I meandered my way through lots of construction going on in the heart of the city

Everything says Hershey...kinda fun

I will go back to the Chocolate Lab "build-your-own" candy bar opportunity

Chocolate-workers union

Like the name of the post says, I'd heard from people that the town of Hershey actually smells like chocolate.  Hmmm...I was a little skeptical, but as I was driving around trying to find appropriate parking (windows down in the hot summer air because at this point, the A/C in the Prius hadn't been fixed) I actually caught a few whiffs of that molten-chocolate smell.  The smell of chocolate is in the air in Hershey, PA.  

Fast forward to five weeks later to an evening of pizza and beer with our neighbors.  Last week, Jase & Mel took the afternoon to explore the Hershey tourist thing.  As the conversation progressed we all learned (duh!) what I should have thought about and known all along:  1.) They don't actually manufacture Hershey chocolate in Hershey anymore and 2.) Pretty sure they "pump" the chocolate smell into the air so you conveniently get that whiff of chocolate while you're in town (so you can go rant on your blog about how you live near a place that smells like chocolate). Lame.  No more getting caught up in tourist traps for me.  Enjoy the pics though ;)

I'm going to sound like a broken record, here, but I can't say that I really have a whole array of new photos to share with you...that thing called work is interfering with my blogging life! That being said, we've had a fun couple of weeks :)  Here's the low-down:

I've been spending A LOT of time learning about these...

Neurology and neurosurgery is pretty crazy; I'm pretty sure I may know about 1/1,000,000 of the information I need to know! Oh well, it's not like it's brain surgery (yeah, yeah...bad attempt at a joke; ar least I'm not the brain surgeon!)  Really though, work has been great and it's been nice to get out of classroom orientation and spend time learning and interacting with patients and families on the unit.  I'm learning a ton each and every day!

Last week, party planner Mike arranged a little rendezvous with the neighbors/neighborhood dogs at the local dog park last Saturday morning.  Let's just say we had two quiet, sleepy chihuahuas for the rest of the weekend! YAY!

A look at what our house was like prior to the dog park...Tank arranging his posse of toys

...and leaving our new phonebook a completely mangled mess!

Always herself...Kaia was a bit anti-social

Tank had a chance to run off a bunch of energy!

If you haven't already had a chance to check it out...head over to Kelsey's new blog, Number315, which chronicles her life and adventures with (her) Mike and Chicharito after their recent move to Sheboygan, WI!!  It's fun to catch up and get a slight glimpse into each other's lives from a different perspective :)

See more pictures of Chicharito by heading to Number315

Beyond this, I've had the recent revelation that summer is wrapping up faster than I thought.  It's not bright and sunny during my 6 AM drive in to work anymore, the nights are getting cooler, AJ is heading back to school at the end of the week, and my parents are heading to their timeshare at Breezy Point next week (the official, unofficial end to summer in our house growing up).  Thinking about fall is getting us excited about the upcoming ROAD TRIP that Mike, Deb, Mick, and Lori are making in September.  We'll see how they feel after 20+ hours on the pavement! 

One last note before I go...anxiously awaiting the arrival of Tank's new Thundershirt! Never thought we'd ever try anything like this, but Tank's barking has been out of control since we moved to PA.  He.  Barks.  At.  Everything.  Everything.  Saw the Thundershirt at one of the local pet-specialty stores in town a couple of weeks ago; I talked with a very knowledgeable employee at the store who told me they've had great response from dog owners who've used this product!  Basically, it's an anti-anxiety, calming vest that applies slight pressure to dog-specific pressure points...giving the dog a constant "hug" of sorts and (hopefully) leading to a calmer, less-barky Tank!  The concept mimics similar effects achieved by swaddling newborns or the use of pressure or weighted vests to relieve anxiety and enhance relaxation and focus in people with autism and/or behavioral disorders.  Update to come once Tank has a chance to try his very-own Thundershirt on...that's it for now, happy Thursday!

My Life: The Black Hole

I've been sucked into a gigantic BLACK HOLE called employment...which means this is the first time in almost two and a half weeks that I've had time and been alert and oriented enough to write a post!  So much to talk about, it's going to take me a couple of posts to catch up! OK, a quick review to sum up July...

July 13, 2011
We had our first Thai food experience at Bangkok 56 in Harrisburg; we'd heard rave reviews from everyone we spoke to and the food definitely didn't disappoint! The ambiance left much to be desired, but let's be serious...as with any Thai restaurant, we were there for the food! Chalit's Thai Bistro is also on the list to try...along with a couple of sushi bars :)

Nice and grainy...excited for the increased camera resolution on the iPhone5!

Panang Chicken Curry and Drunken Noodles...yummmmm

July 14, 2011

I've been tormented since late June--even with all of the beer Mike and I picked up on our road-trip out here, there was one very important piece of information we overlooked...Leinenkugels!  While they do stock some Leinies at the beer distributors, they're missing the Honey Weiss! C'mon, really??? Truly, Honey Weiss is not to be found in the state of Pennsylvania.  So, when Mike showed me this photo from a buddy's facebook page, I have to say I was quite jealous!

Ahhhhh...the taps at Leinenkugels in Chippewa Falls, WI :)

We broke down and bought a case of the Leinies "summer sampler" just to get our hands on a little...(and by a little, I mean a whole whopping S-I-X bottles of Honey Weiss).  Nevermind we ended up spending $71 on two cases of beer...nothing about that is normal.

July 15, 2011

Took a walking tour of the city, guided by yours truly...thought it would be fun to explore the Capital and snap some photos.  I however failed to realize that I lugged around my camera but forgot the stinkin' memory card...EPIC FAIL on my part, LOL! Needless to say, any photos of the state capitol grounds will be taken another day.  My consolation of the day, this iPhone photo from Strawberry Square...there are crazily painted cows scattered randomly throughout the city (like the Peanuts characters in St. Paul).   

Why cows?? (I'm not quite sure)

July 16, 2011

After a LATE, LATE, LATE Friday night in Olde Uptown (staying up till 4AM is not normal for me), Mike and I were in need of a caffeine fix before spending the morning cleaning up the neighborhood!  We took a warm walk down to the Midtown Scholar Bookstore, which boasts a cute little coffee shop inside :) This place is definitely on our list to explore further...basically, it's a theatre that has been transformed into a very large bookstore with a huge selection of  > 100,000 used, rare, and out-of-print books to browse!  Just a sneak peek...(mom and dad, you guys would LOVE this place!)

Iced Americano...Hooray!

After beautifying the neighborhood by picking up trash and painting fences, we BBQ-ed and had fun conversation with great new friends! 

July 17, 2011
Road-tripped it to Baltimore to send Mike off to the Great North for a week of family, beer, and walleye fishing; a.k.a. any man's dream! OH CANADA...

Hmmm...I don't have the photos from the guys' trip, but I'll have Mike throw a post in sometime soon.  I'm sure he wants to show off his 25" walleye :)  After dropping him at BWI, I spent the morning (another HOT morning) wandering around the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.

Camden Yards, what a gorgeous place...can't wait to get back to Baltimore and see a game here! Too bad the Twins don't play ANYWHERE on the East Coast the rest of the season :-/

Tourist self-portrait @ the Harbor

It's Jack Sparrow!

Couldn't resist...too cute!

And...back to PA once again

The rest has been a blur...I've spent the last two weeks of my life here at Penn State Hershey/Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA, my new employment home where I've met more great new friends and am suddenly feeling like I'm back in nursing school cause I have a lot  to learn!

I think that's about it for now...off to run some errands and enjoy the rest of my day off! Later :)