That Time It Was Plastic Free July 2018...

I do not have a lot to say this year. Not because I have given up on the cause, but because I have mostly maxed out what I can do to be plastic-free:...

That Time I Watched A Movie....

Yesterday I decided to take a break from binge watching Parks and Recreation (for the 13th time), and instead find a movie to watch.

The movie I picked was Obvious Child (I couldn't figure out why it's called that) staring Mona Lisa Saperstein Jenny Slate and Plop Jake Lacey....

That Time I Invented S'mores Cookie Bars...

With summer in full swing, I wanted something summer-feeling to take to a couple of parties my friends were throwing, so s'mores cookies felt like an appropriate treat. I wrote this recipe 4 years ago and decided to bring it on back. Enjoy them this summer with all of their marshmallow-y, chocolate-y, graham-cracker-y deliciousness!

S'mores Cookie Bars
(Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup ground graham crackers (9 crackers), divided
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips, divided
1 cup mini marshmallows, divided

Directions...

That Time I Went to Libson...

The third stop on our Transatlantic cruise was Lisbon, Portugal. This was Husband's most anticipated stop so he made an agenda for us.

A lot of our fellow cruisers opted to see the city via "tuk-tuk" (like a pedi-cab but with a motor), but we were happy to see the city on foot and burn off some of our cruise-food calories. We got off the ship and headed for the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara - a "landscaped terrace with a fountain offers panoramic views of the city"...

That Time I Made Garlic Shrimp...

I bought this crazy-old out-of-print cookbook put out by Bennigan's on Amazon, hoping there would be a recipe for their chicken fingers. There wasn't. So I made this recipe instead.

Make ahead:  
Garlic Lemon Butter

Cream 1 stick of softened butter with an electric mixer.
Mix in 2 tsp crushed garlic and 1.5 tsp lemon juice until smooth.
Refrigerate until needed.

I eat anything that doesn't need a knife with chopsticks

Garlic Shrimp

1lb peeled, de-veined shrimp

1/4 c + 2 Tbsp garlic lemon butter

1lb linguini or 4 servings rice

Optional:

4 tsp bread crumbs

4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

4 tsp fresh minced parsley

Directions...

That Time I Went to Farenheit 555º...

I was recently invited to be a guest columnist for CruiseRadio.net and excitedly accepted!

Guest column: Carnival Steakhouse Review

My first guest appearance is my review of Carnival's Steakhouse specialty restaurant: Farenheit 555º (where I've visited it).

Carnival names their steakhouses differently from ship-to-ship (on those which have it) but they all have the same menu, so the experience *should* be similar. They are designed to feel (and taste) like a classic NYC steakhouse.

I first visited the steakhouse on the Vista in 2017 (my first cruise!). We had to go back again when we were on the Horizon in 2018, and then wrote about it.

More on cruising :)

That Time I Went to Disneyland Paris...

Since we were already going to be in Europe for our recent cruise, we decided to fly into Paris and make a visit to EuroDisney Disneyland Paris. We had to use an entire day and a half for traveling from Pennsylvania to... not even Paris, just the Charles de Gaulle Airport, so we arrived in France late the night before and stayed in an airport hotel. We chose the Marriott because we had reward points from each signing up for their credit card, other stays, and by having our wedding reception at a Marriott (3x points!)....

That Time I Learned How To Cruise...

I've already gone over what to know specific to Carnival and Norwegian (NCL) cruise lines, but here's what you'll want to know, no matter which cruise line you choose*...

That Time I Went To a Water Park...

Last weekend I visited the WildRiver Water Park at the Raystown Lake resort. Going in, I really had just the lowest possible expectations since it seemed to be mostly for little kids, but thought it might be more fun than doing nothing all day.

We were camping with a group of friends in the area, and they rented a boat to drive around on the lake. I didn't want to pay $60 to par take, so when I found WildRiver for $15 per person, I was able to sell Husband on going also...

That Time I Went to Gibraltar...

One of the port stops on our honeymoon cruise was the city of Gibraltar; a self-governing British Overseas Territory, located on the Iberian Peninsula.

We were scheduled to be there for the earlier part of the day (7am-3:30pm) so we knew we wouldn't have much time there cause we're not good at waking up, but we knew we wanted to go to the "top of the rock [of Gibraltar]"...