Tag Archives: summer

lake manawa

it’s been an extremely hot and humid summer in omaha this year, and one weekend back in june particularly miserable – we decided the only was it would be tolerable would be to be in the water. we looked into a couple of local pools, but ultimately, decided to make the 15 minute drive to lake manawa over in council bluffs, IA. we picked up some sandwiches on our way, packed a cooler full of beer, brought along some reading material, and were on our way!

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i’d been to the lake one other time back in college, so didn’t remember it much. i think we paid $3/each to get in for the day, and although it was fairly busy, we didn’t have any trouble finding a place to set up on the beach, and still had some privacy from other groups. we spent most of the afternoon just laying out in the sun, drinking, and of course, some good old-fashioned people watching. after awhile, we kept seeing people with various tubes and floaties, and were wishing we’d picked one up on our way there, but then realized they sold them there. we thought they’d be pretty pricy on-site, but we actually scored a double-seater tube with a small cooler in the middle for $30! SOLD. we spent the rest of the afternoon floating around on the lake in our tube like the rest of the cool kids.

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a super fun afternoon – it’s not the fanciest lake and doesn’t have many amenities, but it’s nice that it’s so close and we can just pop in the car on a whim and head over there for a few hours. looking forward to taking our floatie out for another spin soon!

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memorial day weekend

this is so belated, but it’s been such a wonderful summer (which is why I’m behind), and I want to make sure to document all of our adventures! back around memorial day, we had just bought a bunch of new camping equipment for our june trip to colorado, and were hoping to test it out. we waited a bit too long to book something, though, and most of the nearby state recreation areas were full. we contemplated a walk-up site, but then there was rain in the forecast, and we had second thoughts, so decided to stay home. of course, after all that, it ended up being perfect weather and we were bummed we’d missed out on the camping opportunity…so we decided to post up in our own backyard!

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cheesy, yes, but it was actually a great, low-stress way to practice putting up our tent, trying out our sleeping bags, and figuring out what other gear we might still need. this was actually my first time ever camping in a tent, so i appreciated being close to home in case we got too hot/cold/out of drinks.

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we spent most of the evening poring over colorado maps planning out a few hikes and places we wanted to see during our winter park trip. and of course, drank some beer – i was super happy to find evil twin’s ‘ryan & the gosling’ at our local bottle shop (beertopia); aside from having the best beer name ever, it was also very good.

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other than that, we just spent some time reading and talking and generally enjoying life under the twinkly lights. i’m sure we must have looked totally ridiculous to our neighbors, but it was such a fun experience and i’m so glad we did it!

the next morning (sunday), we woke up to another beautiful day and wanted to do something outside. at this point, we were on a little break from a running plan before starting marathon training, so decided to go for a bike ride. i mapped out a ride that was about 17 miles – across the south omaha bridge, along the trails in iowa for a bit, then back over to omaha on the pedestrian bridge, and home.

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once we got going, though, we were loving being on the iowa trails and started seeing signs for a few other destinations on the trail, so we decided to keep going. our first stop was big lake park in crescent, just a few miles north past the pedestrian bridge turnoff. the lake is small, but really pretty!

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on our way to big lake park, we started to see signs for the lewis & clark monument and park – we’d heard of it before, knew it existed, but wasn’t sure exactly where it was or how to get there. it was just a few more miles past big lake park, so we decided to trudge on and see if we could make it there. the next few miles getting there were beautiful and super scenic, but basically all uphill – our quads were definitely not prepared for that kind of climbing, but we eventually made it! the views were more than worth it – it was a super clear today and we could practically see the whole city from up there. definitely looking forward to riding (or maybe driving…) up there again sometime soon.

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we’d brought a few snacks along for the ride, but were working up quite an appetite at this point, so once we got back over the pedestrian bridge and into downtown, decided to stop at local for a beer and some brunch. we’d gone about 25 miles at this point, and figured that if we went back the long way (back over the bridge and along the trails in iowa), we might be able to get close to 40 miles for the day.

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we did it, but those last few miles up L street were kind of a strugglefest. all in all, it was a great three-day weekend…and i’m already dreaming of cooler weather so we can camp in the backyard and go for long bike rides again!

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twenty-eight.

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I’m so behind on blog posts documenting our summer travels and life lately, but I had to squeeze in a birthday post before life gets in the way and I turn 29 ;) We celebrated my actual birthday last week with a dive bar crawl with a few friends. It was simple, fun, cheap (why don’t I drink more crappy beer?!), and apparently 28-year-old hangovers kind of suck. This past weekend, we celebrated just the two of us with an overnight glamping trip to Slattery Vintage Estates, a vineyard and acreage in Nehawka, NE, about 45 minutes from Omaha. We sampled some Nebraska wines in the afternoon, enjoyed a bluegrass concert and wood-fired pizza in the evening, stayed in one of the four adorable bungalows on the property, and woke up to a cool breezy morning and a three-course breakfast. Definitely my kind of camping. We had a great time, and I highly recommend it for an overnight getaway or a special occasion (we hope to go again in the fall when it’s cooler!).

I have to admit, I wasn’t psyched to turn 28. It sounds silly, but 27 was an overwhelmingly positive year in my life, and I wasn’t ready for it to end! (I also like the idea of being in my “mid-twenties” a little bit more than being “basically 30”). But alas, 28 is here and I’m holding my breath that it brings just as much happiness as 27. Cheers to a new year, and below, a few more photos from last weekend’s adventure.

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Photo Jul 18, 8 13 22 PM

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{recipe} pearl couscous with swiss chard and quick san marzano tomato sauce.

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anyone who knows me well knows that I love to cook, and that we cook quite a bit around here. my favorite thing to collect is cookbooks, i read food blogs and magazines like it’s my job, and one of our favorite saturday pastimes is shopping for ingredients for a complex recipe i’ve been dreaming about making and spending the evening holed up inside getting it just right. but summer is sort of the one exception to this rule. of course, due to the aforementioned cookbook collection/food blog obsession, there’s not exactly a shortage of recipes that i’m dying to make or techniques i’d like to work on. but summer for us means less grocery store trips and less meal planning, and more farmer’s market trips and more eating straight from our garden. making something out of what’s already there.

even though i do genuinely love to cook, we all have those nights. those nights where calling for delivery seems way easier or going out for happy hour appetizers seems like way more fun. on the night we made this couscous, i was thinking all those things, but also feeling a little guilt about the swiss chard starting to wilt in my fridge and the san marzanos on the counter that i kept saying i was going to make sauce out of and can for the winter. in this particular occasion, my guilt won out and we whipped up this riff on your basic spaghetti and tomato sauce by using couscous instead and making our own what i’m calling “quick tomato sauce” with san marzanos from our garden, and adding in some greens for good measure. as is usually the case, i was happy with our decision to stay home by about halfway through cooking dinner, you know, when the tomatoes and onions started to smell like sauce and i knew this was actually going to taste good – intentional, even – and not just be your average clean-out-the-fridge meal.

which is not to say that those kinds of meals won’t happen, too. we’ve had our fair share of taco combinations and pizza toppings and they aren’t always good. even still, those weird meals bring with them the satisfaction of making something out of what’s already there. and the hope that every now and again, the stars might align, the tomatoes will be perfect, and you’ll accidentally throw together a meal for two that actually turns out to be good enough to purposely make again and again thereafter.

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ingredients

-1 tbsp. olive oil
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 medium or 2 small red onions, sliced into half moons
-4 San Marzano tomatoes (or Romas), diced
-2 oz. (about ½ can) tomato paste
-1 bunch swiss chard, de-stemmed and loosely torn
-1 cup pearl couscous
-salt, crushed red pepper
-parmesan and lemon zest to top

directions

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Once boiling, reduce heat, add 1 cup couscous and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until all liquid has reduced and couscous is cooked through (it should be soft, but with a slight “bite,” just like al dente pasta). Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, while the couscous cooks, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic and onions and sauté until fragrant. Next, add diced tomatoes and allow to cook down for a few minutes. Then, add tomato paste and stir into the tomatoes and onions. Let sauce cook for a few minutes, adding a couple tablespoons of water or vegetable broth if needed for consistency. For the last few minutes, toss in the loosely torn swiss chard pieces and let sauce continue to cook until greens become just wilted. Season with salt and crushed red pepper.

3. Stir sauce into couscous, and divide evenly among plates (this makes 2 large entrée dishes or 4 side dishes). Top each dish with lemon zest and/or grated parmesan.
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{cocktails} the aviation.

before reading about it on food52 a few months ago, i’d never heard of an aviation cocktail, but right away i knew i wanted to try it. i mean, come on, it’s purple! i love gin cocktails, especially in the summer, and this one is particularly easy. the hardest part is probably going to be convincing yourself that you should buy the bottle of creme de violette and maraschino liqueur that you’ll need to make it, but i promise you’ll use them in enough other drinks to make it worth the splurge. we’ve been making these on saturday evenings while we cook dinner, and it’s the only cocktail i’ve made myself that i would also pay $10 for in a restaurant. see below for instructions, and hope you’ll give it a try!

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Ingredients (serves 2)

4 oz gin
1.5 oz lemon juice
.75 oz maraschino liqueur
.75 oz creme de violette

directions

shake all ingredients with plenty of ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
garnish with maraschino cherry.

cheers!
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