Tastes like Summer

I love Steve + Cookies (a fabulous restaurant in margate) Ugly Tomato Salad. It's big slices of juicy tomato topped with fried onions, blue cheese and a sherry wine vinaigrette. We have been having a TON of tomatoes from the garden...delicious red, green and orange tomatoes. So, I decided to try and recreate Cookies goodness at home. The three colors of the tomatoes were spectacular. Then I thinly sliced shallots, dipped them in egg and tossed them into some rye flour before putting them in a hot pan to fry/sautee them til crispy. The dressing was amazing: one clove of garlic in the blender with about 1/2 a cup of sherry wine, a small bunch of fresh oregano (from the garden), a few splashes of apple cider vinegar, and a drizzle of agave nectar -- I pureed it in the blender and then emulsified it by adding EVOO slowly as it pureed. OUTSTANDING. BEST DRESSING TO EVER PUT ON TOMATOES! I didn't have blue cheese, so I did without - and I sprinkled some sliced basil (from the garden) on top to finish it off, some kalamata olives and a sprinkle of salt (to make up for the lack of blue cheese saltiness). It was outstanding.

The next day, after teaching back to back yoga classes, we managed to have a great family day at the beach. Dad was pretty tired, but he's always a good sport because he knows how much my mom loves the beach. The ocean was warm and refreshing and delightful. 

That night, back at the house, I'd promised to make margaritas. But I hate margarita mix, and I wanted something super refreshing. So, using our juicer, I juiced cucumbers, limes, and yellow (yes, yellow!) watermelon. Because of all of the fresh limes, the juice was pretty tart - which I like - but to cut the bite I added a bit of agave nectar. To each salt-rimmed, topped off with ice-glass, I added a shot of contrieau (orange liquer), and a generous amount of tequila. FREAKING DELICIOUS. If you don't have a juicer you could always just put watermelon in a blender and add lime juice - leave out the cucumber or just use it as a garnish - and use agave to sweeten. 

Love

I LOVE this photo of my Dad and his sister Nellie. Nell has been a HUGE help to us around here these days, and dad loves having her around. Today they cooled off and got some exercise in the pool. I love it, I love them.

Garden Goodness

 

One of the peaks of summer is having a bounty of fresh produce to choose from...and even better, most of it is from our backyard or backyards of our neighbors. Try to eat local and in season...not only is it good for you, but it's cheaper and it is 10times more delicious! 

Sweet, delicious yellow pepper from the farmers market.

My morning omelette. Mushrooms from a friend, zucchini from the neighbors garden. Aspargus, yellow pepper and scallion.

And then for lunch, roasted root veggies. Beets, sweet potatoes and onions from our garden. Rosemary and Thyme from a friends herb garden. Drizzle with some olive oil, throw in a few cloves of garlic - cover and roast at 350 for an hour and a half. Serve with some Braggs Liquid Aminos over arugula and drizzle with tahini. MMMMMMMM.

Bonefish Brunch

DELICIOUS Bloody Mary (with delicious blue-cheese stuffed olive)

The Sunday Brunch Menu

All of us were super happy with our meals <3

I won! Shrimp Creole over creamy corn cakes. Epic.

The Bonefish Grille is now doing BRUNCH!!!!!! Brunch is my most favorite meal, and I hate that no one around here has a "brunch" thing like they do in Philly and New York. Well, this is brunch done right. Delicious cocktails: I had two perfectly spiced, proper-vodka-ratio blood Mary that was perfectly finished off with a blue cheese stuffed olive. Mom had hand Muddled Watermelon martini (with vodka, cucumber and house made sour) and dad had a mimosa with fresh squeezed oj. They even have outstanding non-alcoholic concoctions like the Blackberry elixir that my aunt Nellie had. Our food was outstanding: we started with the yogurt and fresh fruit with house made granola-- epic. We each got something different as far as entrees went- but I WON. Shrimp creole over creamy corn cakes-- holy hell. Delicious. Spicy. Wonderful. Warm. Mmmmgood. Nell had the Creme brûlée French toast, dad had the Oscar omelette (crab + asparagus) and mom had the smoked salmon. This is going to be a SUNDAY TRADITION. Maybe we will do brunch next week...??? Every Sunday, 11am til 2pm.

Do It Anyway

Dad, Uncle Paul, Nellie and Mom.

Dad and Uncle Paul

Nellie and Mom.

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you; Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want; Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep. -Rumi

The Cailin Crusher

I have a cocktail named after me (Campari, Champagne, Club Soda...slice of orange and two green olives). I have a sushi roll named after me at Sushi Ocean View (zucchini tempura with spicy tuna on top). And now I have a crossfit named after me: the Cailin Crusher (named this because I crushed the shit outta this gnarly workout) is 10-1, which means you do 10 of each then 9 then 8, all the way til 1. You had to move through thrusters, kettle bell swings, and burpees. It was the most intense 16 minutes in my workout history for sure. Later that night all of the guys did the Cailin Crusher and it killed them. Yeeeeww I drank the Kool-Aid and I love it.

Summer Fun with the Serwatka's

Yesterday was a good day. I taught/hosted my first ever yoga party, then enjoyed a surf and some beach time with my friend Chris Paisley. After the beach we ate some food and I did a totally fucked up, intense and oddly amazing CrossFit WOD at Living Well in Northfield. I was home in time for dinner with my family which I was super grateful for. The sunset is so late right now that I was able to catch a sunset surf with Johnny DiGenni and Brooke (Serwatka...who drove down to the shore for a 24hr visit). The surf was perfect: waist high and clean, and just the three of us out. We hung at the Centennial Guest House afterwards (the DiGennis bed and breakfast in sea isle) and enjoyed wine, conversation, tomato and basil sliders and lots of laughs. Late to bed, early to rise- beach yoga at 7am and then a studio class at the OC Zen Den @ 9:30am. Both classes were great, and with 20 people at the Zen Den class the studio was packed with positivity. After class Brooke and her beautiful mama Lorraine came to the house to hang. Lorraine worked in the garden and we all enjoyed some swim time. After our swim we snacked poolside before saying our goodbyes. Tired...exhausted actually, but grateful for such a wonderful 24 hours.

Yoga Party

Today I hosted my first ever Yoga Party, and it was ammmmazing!!! MaryBeth has been coming to my yoga classes at the OC Zen Den since my very first class. For her 50th birthday she wanted to share her love for yoga and for my class with her closest friends and family. She loves pink, so that was part of the theme. She bought everyone pink yoga mats, and made everyone monogrammed (sweat) towels. Each mat got a pink rose and a cold bottle of Fiji water. Under each mat was a paper with 5 words that Marybeth would choose to describe you. After an hour and 15min yoga flow we enjoyed refreshments, fresh fruit, scones and Chai. It was such a spectacular experience, for such a wonderful woman. I'm feeling blessed to be a part of such an amazing event.

The Beautiful Birthday Girl.

180 South

The other day one of my students (Jess) told me that I reminded her of that guy from 180 South, and that hearing about my adventures and being around me made her want to "like climb mountains and crazy shit"! It was the best compliment that I have ever received. I've seen 180 South and I felt a parallel between Jeff and myself....a happiness in the simple celebration of life. 

Putzing cross country. Somewhere in Colorado.

180 South: Conquerors of the Useless follows Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia. Along the way he gets shipwrecked off Easter Island, surfs the longest wave of his life - and prepares himself for a rare ascent of Cerro Corcovado. Jeff's life turns when he meets up in a rainy hut with Chouinard and Tompkins who, once driven purely by a love of climbing and surfing, now value above all the experience of raw nature - and have come to Patagonia to spend their fortunes to protect it.

Cailin Callahan

www.cailincallahan.blogspot.com

Yup.

I felt pretty nauseous after my crossfit workout, and then I realized that I'd done two yoga classes and a workout, and at 1pm in the afternoon I still hadn't eaten or drank anything. Stopped into the Asian Supermarket in Pleasantville and treated myself to some Vegetable Pho. MmMmMm Good! 

Whoa. Been having a challenging couple of days. Aside from being physically exhausted, I have been emotionally exhausted as well. My truck was dying, my Dad has been out of it, and my mom has been sick. And Mom being sick is what threw me off. She's like (as one fellow friend/reader once said) Elmers glue around here - holding us all together. So when she was crying the other day and defeated, well - it shook me a bit. I taught two yoga classes this morning and left feeling powerful and amazing. I got done a list of things that needed doing, and even bought myself a new car, a Toyota Prius. Damn, I feel like a Yuppie. But the gas mileage is much much much MUCH better than my Toyota Tacomas was, that's for SURE. I even managed to squeeze in a (much-needed) session with Dr.Adonis and a short CrossFit workout with Chris Paisley. Came home and made my family some dinner, cleaned up the house, picked tomatoes from the garden, and have some design work and yoga planning to do before getting some sleep. Thanks to all of my students who keep me inspired and filled up with love and light - and thanks to all of our family and friends who have been helping out so much with my Dad. 

Beep Beep. I'm a yuppie. 

Garden Goodness

Yesterday, my student (and friend) Marie brought me some fresh blackberries that she picked from her garden.

Our melon patch.

Little baby watermelon. Pretty soon we'll be able to open up a melon stand we will have so many!

Eggplants!!

Super cute, super delicous yellow cherry tomatoes!

The Machine.

Patrick "The Machine" Majewski

Patrick has been coming to my Yin classes at Dr.Adonis's CrossFit center. I took off of work last night so that I could go support him for his title fight against Chris Fitzpatrick. Of course there was champagne and such before hand, so we were very excited when it finally came time for the fight! I went with the whole crossfit posse, and it was a blast! 

 

Middleweight Patrick Majewski , (19-1, 13 KOs) fighting out of Atlantic City since 2003, pleased his hometown fans with a 5th round TKO over Cleveland’s Chris Fitzpatick ( 15-2, 6 KOs). With the win, Majewski captured the vacant NABF title and the top 15 rating in the WBC that comes with it.

The CrossFit ladies...and me. Lisa, Sam + Erika.

Big Butts.

Amen.

Yoga + Chocolate

David Romanelli came to town and did a Yoga + Chocolate workshop at the Zen Den. Also known as "Yeah Dave", he is a super funny, down to earth, eat-chocolate-and-live-life kinda guy...right up my alley. It was a blast and I felt really blessed to be able to share the room with some of my favorite yogi friends. 

 

Vosges Chocolate : So Yummy.

Nicole and Collette...Chocolate Yoga Bliss.

Ari, Nicole, David, Brooke and Me.