Maple Weekend 2016

It's time for Maple Weekend! I have lost count how many years we have participated in this delightful Northeast tradition.

As usual our first stop was at Cube Cheese Shoppe for some cheese purchases. And samplin'.

Can't miss the cow photo op.

Once we got to our maple farm of choice, Spagues Maple Farm, there was more sampling to be had.

Bring on the pancakes. We went through two bottles of authentic, local maple syrup. I am so proud.

In order to fight off the post-pancake sluggishness we went up to check out the sugarin shack. Really they have been done for weeks since we had such a warm winter, the sap ran early. There were more samples to be had up there though. On the wagon ride snow flakes started to fall. Crazy weather! It was another great Maple Weekend for the books!

Girls Weekend - Korean Food chowdown

Before I even left Rochester, I was checking Yelp to see what restaurants there were in Frederick for our Girls Weekend. I was excited to see there were two Korean restaurants.

Yesterday we went to Gogibop. My sister said it was like Subway for Korean food. You choose rice or noodles and then what you want on top. But they also have Korean faves like kimbop, japchae and kimchi jeon. We were so excited we almost ordered one of everything!

Today Emily asked what we wanted for lunch and we said Korean again! Why not? This time we tried Bonchon. My mom says Bonchon means "my hometown". Bonchon is more of a chain, but the food was still delicious. We practically ordered everything again. Bulgogi bibimbap, mandu and japchae.

I also got an order of their wings... half spicy half sweet. My mom says she doesn't know when chicken wings became so popular with Koreans, but they sure do a good job making them.

What a nom nom nom weekend!

Girls Weekend

My sister invited me to visit for a weekend and we added my mom to make it a real Girls Weekend. Aaron stayed with my dad and the pugs for a Guys Weekend.

First item on the agenda was manicures and pedicures!

Don't our nails look great!

Then it was off to visit some antique shops.

It's so much fun to browse and look at the goodies. I also like to make my sister and mom pose for pictures.

My sister lives in Frederick, Maryland which has an amazing downtown. Shops, restaurants, cafes and coffee shops. There are only two chains in the downtown area - Starbucks and Subway. Everything else is locally owned. It's the most ideal set up I've ever seen.

The weather was unseasonably warm, perfect for window shopping.

One of everything please.

I got my mom to pose with this amazing lamp. She is as much of a ham as the rest of us.

So many interesting shops! This one had "historic candy". They featured candy that was popular all the way back to the 1700's.

This store, The Pop Shop, just carries varieties of soda.

Over 300 flavors!

I regret not picking up a few bottles.

I loved the name of this bakery.

This is how they deliver their cakes!

We had a blast exploring Frederick!

 

Afternoon in CMoG

Last weekend when we went to see the Pyrex exhibit we went through the rest of Corning Museum of Glass.

There are some fun displays to look at.

We stood in front of this one for a long time.

They have an exhibit area now with glass works of art. It's a big bright white exhibit area.

We took a few artistic shots ourselves.

Corning Museum of Glass: Pyrex exhibit

As big Pyrex fan and collector, it was practically a requirement for me to visit the Pyrex exhibit at Corning Museum of Glass.

The exhibit featured a timeline of the Pyrex development. It was interesting to see the history accompanied by vintage ads and the products that were featured in them, like this set of Primary Color mixing bowls.

I liked seeing which products were advertised together. And I liked seeing which pieces I have in my own collection. Yup, I have both the Super DeLuxe "UFO" casserole and the Opaque White Casserole featured in this Christmas ad.

Here is Aaron pointing out one of the few patterns I don't have. A bowl called "Eyes".

I pretty much walked past each case pointing "Got it. Got it. Got it." Really Corning Museum should have called me to access my collection for this exhibit. LOL.

If you can't make it to the exhibit, the museum put up a website that shows many of the Pyrex patterns that were sold.

Along the way I stopped to point out some of my favorites. I look crazy. Crazy Pyrex Lady!

Here are a few things I saw on display that I don't have... a Pyrex roaster.

And the Pyrex children's set. We all have to have goals to work toward.

This was pretty much me after the exhibit. Aaron thought that was hilarious.

I did come home with a Pyrex pie plate. One of the 100 year anniversary releases. Oh and dish towel that makes me chuckle when I see it.

 

Maple Weekend 2015

With spring comes Maple Weekend. But first a stop at Cuba Cheese. Which means a visit to the aged cheddar cooler.

"Excuse me but I can I get some assistance? I think I need more than 10 blocks of cheese."

It has become a tradition to go for maple weekend with friends - a delicious tradition.

Next stop Spragues Maple Farm!

This is where the magic happens. I would like that maple sign for our breakfast nook.

Mmm. Fresh maple shots.

Pancakes and waffles!

Time to visit the sugar shack.

I was worried that the record breaking cold weather we had in February would affect maple production but it was flowing fine when we visited.

It's not maple weekend without a haul of maple cotton candy and now kettle korn!

Maple Weekend 2014

It's hard to believe with the weather still feeling like winter, but it's time for Maple Weekend. Maple producers across the state open their doors to show how they make maple syrup and other related products.

Time for a roadtrip to Spragues Maple Farm for maple syrup tasting and pancakes with our buddies.

We spent some time learning about tapping maple trees and checking out the sugar house.

Then it was time for maple milkshakes, maple fudge, maple cotton candy and...

... and stacks of pancakes with all the maple syrup we want!