Ms. Toody Goo Shoes: March 2018

Friday, March 30, 2018

BEST OF THE WEEKEND: HAPPY PASSOVER & HAPPY EASTER!

Hi there, friends!
Welcome to Best of the Weekend!
I'm knee-deep in matzoh balls here at the Goo Shoes house,
getting ready to celebrate Passover.
I'm having my family over for the second seder on Saturday night.
I'm sure many of you are also prepping for Easter or Passover,
so I will make this short and sweet.........
Whatever you celebrate, I wish you a good holiday........
Happy Easter!
Happy Passover!

Let's party!

We'd appreciate it if you'd follow your co-hosts!

****************

We feature all kinds of posts --
recipes, home decor, DIY, gardening, travel, whatevah!
so link up your best stuff!

Non-Bloggers: There are hundreds of fabulous ideas collected here each week;
just click on the links under the thumbnail photos,
and you will be taken directly to the blog post.

All of our features are pinned to our Best of the Weekend board!

Last week's most clicked:

Progress On The Greenhouse | Penny's Vintage Home

A few of my favorites:

Puff Pastry Eggs With Ham & Cheese | All That Jas

Crock Pot Chicken Thighs In Honey Beer Sauce | Dizzy Busy & Hungry

How To Set A Fresh Fun Farmhouse Easter Table | Feathering My Empty Nest

A Home Office Makeover Full Of Budget-Friendly DIY Projects | Rain On A Tin Roof

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Best of the Weekend Link Party - Fridays at 8pm | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

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Thursday, March 29, 2018

CARROT GINGER SOUP AND FOUR'EASTERS

This post contains affiliate links.

You know that glow you have when you return from vacation?

I'm not talking about a tan, although that's nice, too.

I mean that inner glow.........

The peaceful feeling that comes when you leave your usual surroundings
and forget about real life for awhile.

Ah, if only we could hold onto that feeling indefinitely!

This carrot ginger soup is thick and creamy, yet surprisingly low calorie! | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

One thing I learned recently is ..........

The staying power of the inner glow is not relative
to the amount of time you've been away.

Whether you've been gone for a weekend or a month,

that happy vacation feeling can be wiped out in a nanno-second.

After spending a month in Florida,

driving home in a Bomb Cyclone (aka a nor'easter on steroids)

quickly faded our psychological suntans.

Little did we know that three more nor'easters
were going to descend upon us in less than three weeks.

Yup, count 'em.......four nor'easters!
We thought we'd miss most of winter's angry weather
while we were away for the month of February,
but "four'easters" upon our return zapped that vacation "high" so completely,
it had us wondering........were we really away???
Or was it just a dream?

You know what they always say.........

When life gives you snowstorms, make soup.

I was thumbing through a new Wegman's catalogue,
and the soup recipes caught my eye.
I had already tried the Tomato Basil soup, and it was a success.

During nor'easter #2 (or was it #3? I've lost track)
I gave the Carrot Ginger Soup a go.
It was really easy to make, and ready to eat in under an hour.
Would I make it if it wasn't? 😉

I was a little worried that Mr. Goo Shoes wouldn't like
a soup where carrots were the main attraction.
He can be picky, preferring the standards
like chicken noodle, or New England clam chowder.

I placed a bowl in front of him, and waited.
Would he think it was a souper blooper or souper-dooper?

He liked it -- he really liked it!

It has a thick and creamy consistency,
yet each 1-cup serving has only 110 calories.
I can't tell you if it freezes well (although I can't imagine it wouldn't),
because we polished it off in three nights.
Carrot Ginger Soup is a keeper.

CARROT GINGER SOUP
(Recipe by Wegmans)

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 White onion, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups)
2 Tbsp. Stir In Ginger Paste (afflil. link)
1 Container (32 oz.) chicken stock
1 Container (20 oz.) Wegman's Carrot Puree (or make your own carrot puree:
Easy recipe here)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pumpkin seeds for garnish (optional)
Croutons (optional)

Heat oil in large stockpot on medium heat.
Add celery and onions; cook 10 minutes, until softened.
Add ginger, stock, and carrot puree; stir to combine.
Bring to simmer 30 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Remove from heat.
Transfer mixture to blender; puree until smooth.
Garnish with pumpkin seeds and add croutons, if desired.

Yield: 8 cups

All this bad weather threw me for a loop....
but it was all made better by a big pot of soup!

Linking with:
Best of the Weekend

You may also like:

Tomato Basil Soup

Pumpkin Bisque

Friday, March 23, 2018

BEST OF THE WEEKEND: IT'S SPRING!?!?!

Bonjour, mes amies!

Welcome to Best Of The Weekend!

I've got a bit of a spring in my step today,

because......well.......it actually felt a little balmy the last couple of days.

It was a complete 180° from Wednesday's weather,

when we were bombarded with our fourth nor'easter in three weeks.

After all the hype of "up to 18 inches of snow",

it kind of fizzled out, and we only got about five inches.

More like a NO'easter, if you ask me.
And, by yesterday afternoon, the snow had almost completely melted!
Now, that's my kind of storm,

but let me state for the record that I am SO DONE with winter!
I'm in some need of spring inspiration.........
and what better place to get it than right here at BOTW!
Let's party!

We'd appreciate it if you'd follow your co-hosts!

****************

We feature all kinds of posts --
recipes, home decor, DIY, gardening, travel, whatevah!
so link up your best stuff!

Last week's most clicked:

Farmhouse Style Bedroom Makeover | Centsible Chateau

A few of my favorites:

Frozen Bread Dough Cinnamon Rolls | Table For Seven

Flourless Soft Almond Cookies | The Monday Box

DIY Marbled Easter Eggs | Lantern Lane Designs

250+ Things To Do In New York City | The Kittchen

Grab our button if you've been featured!

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Wednesday, March 21, 2018

FOUR DAYS IN ICELAND - DAY 3: THE SOUTH COAST

It's been quite awhile since I published Day 1 & Day 2.......

In fact, my trip to Iceland was five months ago!
Life has been busy, what can I say?

DAY 3: THE SOUTH COAST

Considering that I brought a small suitcase, it took me a long time to pack up all my gear last night. I had to make sure that whatever I need for today and tomorrow is easily accessible. It's complicated stuff, this packing thing.

Multiple alarms make sure I'm out of bed on time, and I head downstairs to meet Fran for breakfast. We briefly talked about going back to Braud for pastries and a cup of coffee instead of paying a crazy amount of money for the breakfast buffet here. That would have meant getting up even earlier, and for once, food didn't win. It's a toss-up when it comes to choosing between food and sleep.

After a satisfying breakfast of skyr, fruit, granola, bread, cheese and meats (we ate all that just in case the lunch offerings were meager, I swear!), we make our way back to Hallgrimskirkja Church to meet our tour van. Baldwin is our guide today, and seriously, the only reason I can remember this is that his first name is the same as my ex-boss' last name.

We head back in the same direction as yesterday's tour, along Iceland's the southern coast, about an hour outside of Reykjavik.

The sun rises a little after 9:00am, just as we reach the waterfalls called Urrioafossi. Just a side note......because Iceland is so far north, by winter solstice there will be only 4 hours of sunlight between 11:30am and 3:30pm. But, I digress.

If I have one problem with our tour guides, it's that for the most part, they don't explain the site while we are actually at it. They do tell us about it as we are as we are on our way, and then they drop us off to explore on our own. I'm a visual learner, so once we get to our destination, I can barely remember anything. I google everything when I get home, which is how I know that Urrioafossi translates to Salmon Falls, and is the most voluminous waterfall in all of Iceland. Although it doesn't have a dramatic drop, the rush of water over the black lava rocks makes it particularly striking.

Our second stop is Skogafoss. It's massive, and in fact, one of Iceland's largest waterfalls.

There are steps.......many, MANY steps.......leading to the top where we can view Skogafoss from above, but Baldwin suggests that we skip that, since we don't have enough time. Such is one of the downsides of a guided tour, but frankly, I'm relieved to have an excuse to avoid that climb. I bet the view is spectacular, though. Helicopter beanies would come in handy right now to zoom us up to the top.

We are not fortunate enough to catch a rainbow which are apparently quite frequent here, because the day is not sunny. This may seem like a disappointment, but we're just so happy it's not raining and freezing, that the no-show rainbow is a small price to pay.

The magnificent Icelandic horses just off to the side of the falls are an entertaining sideshow. My camera doesn't know what to look at first.

Katla Geopark, home to Myrdalsjokull Glacier, is our next destination. Myrdalsjokull is the fourth largest glacier in Iceland. One of Iceland's most famous volcanoes lies underneath the glacier. Yep, it can erupt - it does so every 40-80 years, and Baldwin says that if the park rangers say it's time to leave the area, run like hell! He's not messing with us -- this warning is for real. Nope, we're not scared -- our teeth are chattering because it's cold!

Our trek starts along the river.

Soon we are able to see the glacier, which Baldwin says is a mere fraction of the humongous mass of ice. It's the tip of the glacial iceberg, so to speak.

Jaw-dropping is the only way to describe the view ahead of us. We've both seen glaciers in Alaska, but I have never been so up close and personal.

Between us, Fran and I can't remember what time Baldwin tells us to come back to the bus. He gives us directions on how far to walk, but did he mean all the way to the black sand beach? Before that? We've lost sight of our bus mates, and I am certain we are walking way too far. Fran is sure we haven't walked far enough, but my paranoia wins, and we head back, only to find that we are the first at the bus, proving Fran right after all. I must remember to buy her a "you are right" drink later on.

Baldwin tells us that we are one lucky group, because the weather in fall is typically windy and rainy. But the day is clear, so he is able to take us to the top of a cliff over yonder......the one we can see from here with the red topped lighthouse (yes, it's that little blip of red on top of that mountain).

We don't know this at the time but Dyrholaey Lighthouse is actually a hotel. Well, blow me down! Actually, the winds are typically strong enough to do just that, but not today, fortunately.

The views in all directions may be the most breathtaking I have seen anywhere.

To our right, we can see the volcano/glacier we just came from.

The proximity of the volcano to the ocean accounts for the spectacular black lava sand beaches stretching out beneath us.

In the opposite direction is the Dyrholaey arch jutting out of the sea.

All of this beauty works up an appetite, and we are off to the town of Vik for lunch. We stop at a large souvenir shop/cafeteria (pretty much the only thing in town, except for a few hundred houses and a church), where the temptation is to shop first, eat later. The sweet potato soup and bread doesn't even come close to yesterday 's.

Vik is in all of the tour guides, but we are mystified as to why until Baldwin drives up the hill. A perfect view of Reynisdrangar, the three basalt sea columns protruding from the sea spreads out before us.

As we drive to our next destination, we keep an eye on the sky, as we are spending the night in the countryside in hopes of catching sight of the Northern Lights. But clouds roll in, and Baldwin thinks our chances are slim to none.

Next, we are off to walk on the gorgeous black sand beaches. We are given strong words of caution not to get too close to the water's edge. Huge waves literally come out of nowhere, sweeping unsuspecting tourists out to sea. Yikes! Who knew how many hidden dangers were lurking on this tour?

Fear of tsunamis aside, I am sure that I am standing on one of earth's most wondrous expanses.

We make it safely back to the bus, without any tidal waves crashing the shore. Our final stop is Seljalandsfoss, another magnificent waterfall. Baldwin saves this stop for last because we will have the chance to walk behind the waterfall, which means getting soaked. Better to be drenched at the end of a cold day than the beginning. Finally, a reason for bringing all that waterproof clothing and camera shields!

As it turns out, I hear the word "slippery," and chicken out. I know myself -- slippery footing is not my strong suit. Fran, thankfully, chickens "in" and gets the most extraordinary shots of the entire trip from behind the falls. Okay, so I made a mistake that I'll only regret, like.......forever.

Photo by Fran

Our third day in Iceland is coming to a close. Baldwin drops us off at the Hotel Ranga, right here on the south coast. It's an upscale, rustic hotel that we've splurged on, hoping against hope that the Northern Lights make an appearance for us tonight.

We sign up at the front desk to be woken any time of night to witness them.

We have a fabulous dinner at the hotel restaurant, as we are literally in the middle of nowhere, and it is the only option. Then it's off to bed, still hoping that with some miracle, we'll get that aurora borealis wake-up call in the middle of the night. But, it's not to be. It's raining. The charged particles from the sun, and the stars will not align. We're more than a little sad to leave Iceland without seeing this incredible natural phenomenon.

The alarm wakes us early, and after breakfast, we are off to the renowned Blue Lagoon, before heading to the airport. It's our last day in Iceland.

Here's a sneak peek at Day 4: