Food for Dads 56th

Dads 56th

Beach Yoga Bliss.

There's only about 2 weeks left of beach yoga left! I was stoked to have such a great group this morning despite the iffy weather. And there's nothing better than a perfect cappuccino afterwards @ Who's on 1st cafe.

Release the Sunbird

My new favorite band. Check em out!

Birthdays

Dads birthday, Many moons ago.... man have we had some good times!

I had to pick up some things from the ShopRite today, and figured that it would also be a good time to grab a card for my Dad's upcoming birthday. We celebrate his 56 amazing years this Saturday, August 11th. I have been a bit emotional lately and have been having a tough time with his declining health, so I don't know why I was so caught-off-guard in the Hallmark section of the supermarket. As I read the cards, trying to find the perfect one, I began to sob like a baby. At first just gentle tears, and then full blown sobs. Thankfully I found the 'perfect' card right away and was able to sop-up my mess and head for home. All of the cards read something like "I know that I don't ever tell you...", or "Maybe I don't tell you enough"...well DAMNIT, you should tell [them] Every.Single.Day. Tell the people that you care about how much you love them, on a daily basis. Tell the people you love how much you appreciate them, all the time. Each day is blessing, and I am grateful that we have gotten this long with my Dad. Saturday is going to be one hell of a party for the greatest man I've ever known....

Dad's 54th birthday...just a few months after his diagnosis - post chemo and radiation. This was a few months before he had to start wearing the patch -- I love those blue eyes <3 br="br">

Mom, Dad and Me.

Family Beach Day

Super grateful to get my Dad down to the beach yesterday. He was beat.up by the time we left, but he dipped in the water 3 times!! He's been popping lots of perkasettes (?spelling?) and has been super funny - so the beach visit also became a comedy show. Good times with friends and family.

Abs of Steel

Yesterday's crossfit WOD has left me in serious pain. Holy abdomen.

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.