The rest of my trip fleeew by, as it always does. I spent some time with a couple of old high school friends, Kristen and May, on Monday – having lunch and saying hello to Kristen’s adorable little 1-year old Alex. I hadn’t seen him since he was just a tiny little newborn so it was a treat! And of course there is nothing like getting together with girls who’ve known you since 14 .

In the evening, the last Dad-created supper before he headed out of town.

Seared jumbo scallops on a bed of greens, served with sweet potato gnocchi and butternut squash. Along with a lovely glass of Fume Blanc wine, I couldn’t have loved this meal any more!

My mum and I had a girl’s day Tuesday. In the evening we attended a yoga class at Heartlight, taught by another high school friend, Stephanie. My mum loves Stephanie’s class and I like to attend with her when I’m home. It’s nice to see my darling friend doing something she loves but also, she puts on a great class! At one point while we were practicing a particularly challenging pose she said, “Sometimes we forget when we’re in them that uncomfortable moments don’t last forever.” I suppose we were talking about the pose but I felt it bridged over to real life in a big way. Unemployment Part II can certainly be considered one of those ‘uncomfortable moments’ but as I learned during Part I, time flies and things change by the second. So just hang in there! "Everything is Going to be Great.”

The trip home was just what I needed. I returned home yesterday feeling calm and done feeling sorry for myself. Everything has been nuts the past few months but things could always be so much worse. So it’s time to put a happy face back on and get back to the drawing board!

Starting with an interview this morning. It went well enough I think and it’s only just the start. So back to regularly scheduled living/blogging from here. See you soon bloggies!

It is just gorgeous here (compared to a usual February in Cleveland) so Sunday morning we bundled up and headed out for a hike.

So peaceful.

After our hike, some hot coffee, warm showers and a lovely lunch.

And then because I care 0% about the Super Bowl, my mum and I went shopping. And bought some new running shoes! I’ve decided to train for a half-marathon in the interest of doing something productive and positive with this transitional time. Since the last pair of running shoes I bought were for my last half-marathon (Sept. 2010) I thought I’d better invest in a new pair .

We shopped til we dropped then came home for a delicious dad-made supper. Perhaps not traditional Super Bowl meal but one of my faves!

Roast chicken, mushroom stuffing, roast carrot, potato and parsnip and some asparagus. ‘Sunday Lunch’ at it’s finest! Some more of last night’s pie, some more of last night’s cheese and I was happily stuffed .

An excellent restorative weekend! And just like that I’m already feeling much, much better. More to come soon!

And Saturday morning I woke up, shook it off and headed back home to Cleveland – where I was greeted with this.

Very special wine! My dad was given this lovely bottle by a French colleague. Of course we researched the price like the classy people we are. Any guesses??

$265!! Holy moly. For fun, once our dinner guests were over everyone blind tasted 3 bottles – priced at $10, $25 and $265 to see if we could tell the difference. And I’m sad to report no one guessed which was which correctly! Yikes. I think it’s time I start considering a new career .

And then we ate!

Yummy French bread from a local bakery.

Beef casserole with butternut squash, new potatoes and carrots – sprinkled with the most ammmazingly scented lemon zest, garlic and rosemary garnish. Makes the dish. 

Local fruits of the forest pie with Jenni’s salty caramel ice cream. And cheese, which went unpictured. I think I was in a food coma by that point. A feast! As always.

So there we go, night #1. I’ll keep catching up as I can. So much delish food, so little time. It is so. good. to be home. Back soon!

Tomorrow is my last day of work at the winery and then I’m headed home to Cleveland to spend a bit of time with my family after a chaotic few months. Sometimes you just need to stop and take a breath.

And eat some yummy food! Because you know there will be lots of that. My dad’s delicious cooking, my mum’s comforting cups of tea and maybe even a special meal here at my best friend’s brother’s new place. Oh boy, I hope so! I’ll be sure to report back.

So happy almost weekend everyone. Much more to come, I’m sure .

I was considering never getting out of bed on Saturday morning so I tempted myself out with the promise of some yummy pancakes .

Pumpkin buckwheat pancakes! Topped with chocolate chips, dried cranberries, peanut butter, maple syrup and cinnamon. You know, just keeping things simple. The pancakes themselves are just the standard buckwheat mix recipe, to which I added pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla and flax seed. Pumpkin in pancakes must be the best thing ever as it makes them so super moist and almost doughy in the middle – which I just adore.

Aside from work and pancakes, I enjoyed a lovely dinner with my little sis on Saturday night and a lovely bottle of wine with my friend Jackie on Sunday night. Time with friendies = the best time.

4 more days of work to go before everything becomes unknown again. I’ll keep you posted! Happy Monday Bloggies.

We’ve got a cooking class at work tomorrow and I’ll be there for 13 hours-ish, so tonight I took off a touch early to get things done. It’s so nice having some extra time in the evening! I’m too sore from a slightly over zealous round of Body Pump the other day to move much but it was just a shame not to take advantage of the daylight. So, I went for a nice long walk this afternoon.

I also had time to make a favorite easy-peasy recipe, which I was craving after discussing it with this girl the other night. Nut butter crusted sweet potato! Topped with a little greek yogi and cinnamon. Oh yum.

Potatoes by Beth, fish by (Trader) Joe .

While those sweet little potatoes were roasting, I had a read of my book.

Which I absolutely love! I probably shouldn’t as the book is about a girl who commits to not eating in restaurants for 2 years and eating out is well, one of my very favorite hobbies. (Can that be a hobby?) But it’s really good! Not only do you get to hear all about the challenges and adventures that not eating out in NYC can bring, she delves into all sorts of interesting “eating in” challenges like freeganism and supper clubs and cook-offs.

When I lived in Foggy Bottom, my roomies and I would always opt to eat in over eating out. It was just so much nicer to be at home, enjoying each other’s company and a leisurely dinner without worrying about how to get back or what restaurant we could all agree on. And this lovely book has reminded me of how fun that was! I should really start that up again – who wants to come over for dinner??

Anyway, that’s enough for tonight. What good books have you read lately? Unemployment leaves lots of time for reading .

Blah – I’m sad to report, my ‘dream job’ actually turned out to be quite the opposite. So in less than 2 weeks time, it’ll be back to the drawing board for me. In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s a been a difficult few months over here! And while on the one hand I’d love to go back to just having a normal life, I’m really glad I’m here right now and not still gazing out of my little cubicle and wishing for things to start happening on their own. I’ve learned so much in such a short time and through it all I’m beyond thankful for the support of my family and friends. Things could always be worse!

Certainly when the going gets tough, it’s important to have happy things to keep you grounded. Like spending lots of time with good friends and laughing from the bottom of your tummy about how ridiculous it all is and taking fun classes at the gym and reading a good book and going for a walk in the sunshine and enjoying a glass of wine or piece of chocolate and long chats on the phone and lovely meals in and out and well of course, writing a blog.

I really, really missed Dining and Dishing and all of my sweet readers and fellow bloggers. It wasn’t until I said goodbye that I really realized what a huge part of my life D&D had become and how much happiness and contentment it brought me each day. Who would walk away from that!? And so we’re back. Sorry for being so here there and everywhere lately but if nothing else I promise you no shortage of material .

Hi Again!

Raspberry Banana Protein Smoothie

• 1 sliced frozen banana
• 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries
• 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 tbsp. ground flax
• 1 cup vanilla soy milk
• 1 tbsp. of granola

Combine banana, raspberries, protein powder, flax and soy milk in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass, sprinkle with granola and enjoy.

I’ve done plenty of talking here over the last 2.5 years so I’ll try not to do too much of that now. I begin my new job full-time tomorrow morning and I know that I need to give it my all. So it’s time to close one chapter and open another!

This blog has taken me on the most incredible journey since it began in June of ‘09 and I’m very sure my life would not be what it is today without D&D.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything. A blog is nothing without readers and I will be forever grateful for the wonderful people that I’ve met.

So farewell! And thank you again. Words cannot express what Dining and Dishing has meant to me .

I’ve got so much to be thankful for this year. I’m thankful for my new job, my new apartment and all of the exciting prospects in life. But mostly for my friends and family, who have been just incredible over the past few crazy months.

I’ll be back to begin full-time at Delaplane on Monday. I think it will be the official marker of putting the upheaval behind and moving forward with a very happy heart .

Enjoy your Thanksgiving friends.

To start, I had the mixed green salad, topped with spiced pecans, sun dried tomatoes, croutons and warm goat cheese.

I LOVE warm goat cheese salads and the tang of their balsamic dressing was perfect to cut the cheese’s creamy richness. There was a lot going on here for a starter though and I think this could have been improved with one of two less elements on the plate.

For our mains, my table ordered four and shared around. We had baby back ribs, grilled shrimp, barbeque salmon and prime rib. For sides, baked beans and grilled zucchini.

The ribs and shrimp were nicely prepared and very flavorful. The prime rib was also good. The salmon howerver was very undercooked and so we all chose not to eat it. I really enjoyed the beans and the flavor but not the flimsy texture of the zucchini.

And for dessert, a warm blondie with vanilla ice cream and a caramel swirl.

And of course, you can’t really go wrong with one of those!

It was a lovely evening out and I always really enjoy meeting other DC-area food writers (some very interesting people attend these things!). I think this will be a really fun spot for happy hours and with a few menu and service tweaks, about as close to Memphis as we’re going to get up here in our very East Coast city . We’ve got plenty of great food but I think DC can use always use somewhere a little more casual and fun.

So I shall see you again soon!