Greek food, football, and more...

Since I mentally start my weekends around noon on Fridays, I figure that's an appropriate place to start this "weekend synopsis" post... :)

After morning clinic this past Friday, my friend Bethany (also affectionately known as "work Mom") and I decided to have lunch at the 43rd Annual Greek Festival.  The festival always takes place at the Greek Orthodox Church a couple of blocks down from our office.  They have live music and an abundance of delicious food.  My personal favorite was the loukoumathes, which are Greek donuts fried to perfection and topped with honey and cinnamon.  Unfortunately, the Greek coffee left a lot to be desired.  Ah, well, you can't have everything...  

I must say, it was rough going back to work for the afternoon stuffed to the gills, but the rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  Saturday morning, Jimbo headed out early to go to a car show, and I spent the first half of the day at yoga and the nail salon.  What can I say?  We working gals deserve a little pampering every now and then. ;)  

Because we had plans to watch the Alabama vs. Georgia game with some friends later in the day, I also managed to make a loaf of cinnamon bread in the midst of all of my other morning fun (recipe to follow at the end of this post).  The house smelled so divine, I was almost tempted to stay home and watch the game in my PJs.  I don't think the hubs would have argued, since I found him fast asleep on the couch when I returned home from the nail salon.  No matter, we gathered our things and left for the Holley household.  After a warm welcome from Robert, Stephanie, their little girl, Ava, and their 2 weimaraners, we settled in to watch the game.  I have to admit, I didn't expect to win this one, especially after a sad loss to Ole Miss a couple of weeks ago.  Sooo, I was pleasantly surprised when we won 38-10.  Maybe I should expect the worst every week from now on.  Such a fun evening!  Roll Tide!!

On Sunday, I worked on painting my kitchen chairs a little more, and I put a couple of coats of paint on our front door.  It was a dark blue shade, but I decided to brighten it up with a light yellow color.  It turned out a little too light, so I'm going to apply at least one more coat in a shade darker before I post before and after pics.  In between coats of paint on my door and chairs, I decided to paint a pumpkin.  I had a vinyl "W" that I hadn't made use of yet, so I applied it to the pumpkin once it was dry.  It turned out really cute, if I do say so myself...

I love decorating our house for the different seasons!

Just like that, another weekend in the books!  Below you'll find my cinnamon bread recipe.  Enjoy!

Cinnamon Bread

*Note: This is a slightly healthier version of my aunt's recipe.  I will include the original version for those of you who like to really indulge every so often. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

 1 cup buttermilk (can also use regular milk or almond milk)

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls.  Mix all ingredients well and pour 1/2 of batter into a greased loaf pan.  *For best results on greasing a pan, I use some old-fashioned Crisco shortening and sprinkle a little all-purpose flour on top.  

Mix together and sprinkle over batter:

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/8 to 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 to 1/4 cup brown sugar

Pour remaining batter on top.  Swirl through batter with a knife to marbleize.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.  Remove from the oven when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Turn out and cool on a rack.

*For the original version of this recipe, omit the whole-wheat flour and use 2 cups of all-purpose flour when assembling the dry ingredients.  Also, use 1 cup of granulated sugar rather than 1/2 to 3/4 cup.  The whole wheat version is slightly more dense, but uses much less white flour and sugar and is still very good.  

What are some of your favorite breads and muffins for fall?

First Weekend of Fall

So, this weekend was the first official weekend of fall.  We are really enjoying the cooler weather.  I'm sure anyone who has survived the humidity of summer in Alabama can relate.  We kicked off our weekend with a double date night on Friday with our friends Erin and Ben.  Erin is a fellow NP in our clinic and Ben is one of our Spanish interpreters.  After work, we went to dinner at Brio.  Since the weather was so nice, we decided to sit outside.  Even though it is an Italian restaurant, Jimbo and I both chose the filet.  It did not disappoint!

After dinner, we went bowling.  Ben, who is from Peru, had never been bowling before, but he picked it up pretty quickly with some coaching from Jimbo.  It was a fun night, and hopefully we will go again soon!

Saturday morning, Jimbo left to take Daisy to the vet, and I thought I would try the 9 AM yoga class at the Helena Health Club.  I've been attending the Monday evening classes for a while, but had yet to try a Saturday.  On weekend mornings, I'm kind of a hermit crab, so it takes a little effort to leave home that early for exercise.  No matter, I grabbed a cup of coconut roast coffee and a granola bar and headed out the door.  Once I got there, it was well worth it.  Yoga always makes me feel great, and it's also a great way to eliminate that pesky "bra fat" ;).  I arrived back home to the heavenly aroma of bacon and this very excited girl...

A few months ago, sweet Miss Daisy was diagnosed with heartworms.  She has been undergoing treatment using a "slow kill" method, which means that the total process takes about 6 months.  We were very scared at first, but the vet reassured us that this method was the way to go.  As you can see, she took her final treatment like a champ.  She will start on a monthly heartworm preventative next month.  We are so proud of her and so happy that we can see the light at the end of this tunnel!  After a warm welcome from my Daisy, I ruined my morning workout with a second breakfast of the aforementioned bacon, a piece of Ezekiel bread with some Jif chocolate whipped PB, and a scrambled egg courtesy of the McCormick family.  Yes, not only do the McCormicks produce honey, they also have chickens who lay some amazing organic eggs.  Not to mention, they are almost half the price of organic eggs at the grocery store.  We are spoiled! 

After we got done eating, Jimbo and his friend Trent spent the afternoon working on his car, and I went in to the office to work on a couple of things that I didn't have time to complete during the week.  I then went over to visit with my grandparents for a little while, and before I knew it, it was time to get home and cook dinner.  We finished the evening with a little SEC football.  Did I mention I love this time of year?!

We've been attending Helena United Methodist Church pretty regularly for the past several months, and I'm really enjoying it.  I have always attended mega-churches, but the smaller environment has been a refreshing change.  The sermon Sunday morning was on patience, which is definitely an area that I need to work on!  

After church, we changed clothes and left for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) fundraiser walk at Veteran's Park.  Besides the fact that I work with diabetic children on a regular basis, type I diabetics hold a special place in my heart because Jimbo himself was diagnosed with type I diabetes when he was a teenager.  He rarely complains and does a great job taking care of himself, but it can still be really tough sometimes.  I pray that one day there will be a cure for this difficult disease!  My mother-in-law and a few of our coworkers were also at the walk.  You can't go wrong with a good workout for a wonderful cause... :)

When we got home, I worked on painting my kitchen chairs, which I've been meaning to do for some time now.  Pictured below is a "before" shot of one of the chairs...

To paint the chairs, I'm using the same "no prep" paint I used to paint the nightstand in my Nightstand Redo post.  The color I'm using this time is called "Mermaid".  I'm not sure what color I'm going to paint the table yet, but I'm thinking off-white with a stained tabletop.  The chair on the left has one coat of paint, and the one on the left has two coats, plus a coat of Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish.  Not bad for a couple of hours of work.  I can't wait to have them all finished!

Once it started to get dark, I got everything put away and made us some tacos for dinner.  This is kind of my "go-to" dinner these days, because it's quick and easy.  

A lunar eclipse was supposed to be happening that night, so we went outside around 10 PM to check it out.  Sadly, the clouds obstructed the view for most central Alabamians, and I wasn't able to get a good pic.  Maybe there will be clear skies when the next one comes around in 20 years or so.  All in all, it was a fun productive weekend, but too short, as always. Here's to a new week!  Happy fall, ya'll!!