Sunday, October 7, 2012

Pig roasts, parties, and a shopping pilgrimage

We had a crazy-busy weekend filled with events and food, and I managed to enjoy every activity AND partake of the yumminess without cheating on GAPS or feeling deprived.  And as a reward I saw a new "decade" on the scale this morning...one that I haven't seen since I got pregnant with Emily!

Our Saturday morning was spent resting up for the day to come, but at 3 we headed to our CSA's end-of-season pig roast.  It was held out in Adamstown and despite some threatening clouds earlier in the day it turned out to be a gorgeous fall day with even a bit of chill in the air.

Upon arriving, Emily did not see a playground and became quite despondent.

Even checking out the pig didn't cheer her up.


Not impressed

At least we had one happy girl
 Emily continued to behave like a brat for awhile, but finally cheered up.

Posing with the cake she was excited about but quickly forgot
 I wasn't sure what kind of food I'd find there, since it was a pot luck.  I figured there were probably people who were doing the CSA because they like healthy food and then there were people doing the CSA who did more "down home" style cooking and covered their veggies in cheese or made them into sugary desserts.    I was pleasantly surprised to be able to fill a plate with GAPS-friendly fare.

Roasted pork, kale pecan salad, cherry tomato salad, greens with yellow beans,  my cabbage apple ginger slaw

And then a bowl once more people arrived and brought more options.

Fresh salsa, roasted squash



Darby and her sister, the women who grow our food!

Decorating apples

Emily did about 16 straight sack races
Someone's been busy.  Jack Daniels * ∞
There were games set up for the kids, one of which was an extremely strange activity where the kids were blindfolded with a carrot tied to their butts and they tried to drop the carrot into a milk jug.


Watching it made us kind of uncomfortable.


Will's reaction
 We had a lovely couple of hours, and the grounds even had a toilet garden.  What more could you want?


Then we headed to my sister's new house to celebrate my Brother-in-law's birthday.






Relaxing after dinner...that's me under the Charlotte 

I enjoyed a couple bunless hamburgers, some fruit salad and more slaw at dinner.

Then we turned the girls over to my parents and headed downtown for our friend Adam's birthday.  It was full of kids in costumes and festively decorated for the Halloween First Saturday.


We also got our first look at the breast cancer statues that are being displayed around town.



Us, WITHOUT kids on our faces
We started out at Isabellas, then moved to Cellar Door.


I had my very first sip (actually, a whole glass) of alcohol in over a month.  My stomach was not super-happy as I drank it, but it went away quickly and the wine was TASTY.  


Matt, Will, and Adam the birthday boy!
Me and the birthday boy's wife Julie
iPhone dogpile
We slept in Sunday morning until the glorious hour of 8, had a scream-free breakfast, then went to retrieve the girls.  When I got home my friend Lauren came by to pick me up and we headed down to Rockville to check out a new local, organic food store that just opened called Dawson's Creek Market.


First stop (after the bathroom) was the salad and hot food bar.  Pretty similar to the one at Whole Foods.


I liked the little cards that listed the ingredients in each dish.  If it said vegan and gluten free I knew I was safe  (unless it had quinoa or black beans in it!).  


We met up with Lauren's friends Mic and Brie plus Brie's mother and took our food to the neat cafe area to enjoy it.


I had filled my plate with food, excited to try all the GAPS-legal dishes and not thinking about the fact that I didn't have a box to take my leftovers with me.  I got about halfway through it, then had to go in search of a take-out container.



That coconut water was DE-LICIOUS.  The label said that if you find a bottle that's pink then you're lucky because it has a higher antioxidant content.  I don't know if it was the pinkness that made it extra-good or what, but I will definitely be drinking this again whenever I come across it.

Dawson's Market looked almost exactly like a Whole Foods....


....with one important difference!

They sell wine!  And beer!
 Apparently there is a law in Montgomery County where one location from each chain of grocery stores is allowed to sell wine and beer?  I was pleased because it allowed me to buy a couple of beers to bring home to Will as a thank-you gift for watching the girls all day so I could go play.

Also,  I'd like to know which Trader Joes in Montgomery County sells wine!

It's definitely not the one in Gaithersburg, which was our next stop.  I always forget how many things I consider "staples" whenever I go to Trader Joes.  I enter thinking I'll just grab a couple things, and I leave with my shopping cart overflowing.  Lauren found my pile of seaweed amusing.


What can I say?  My girls can rip through 2-3 of these packages a day, they're super-healthy and stinkin' Costco got us addicted to them and then stopped carrying them :-(  Plus this wasn't bad at all compared to my Dad and Brother-in-law, who have bought 5 cases at once before.  I just lack the organization to plan ahead like that.  I didn't even bring reusable bags so I got hit with the Montgomery County bag tax.

NEXT weekend I'll be shopping at Fox and Obel in Chicago!  I have SO MUCH to do before then, but still I'm so excited I can barely take it.  

2 comments:

Lauren @ Oatmeal after Spinning said...

#1. that photo of me makes me laugh.
#2. your salad was SO beautiful...
#3. I LOVE your brother in law's shirt!!!
and lastly... SO JEALOUS that you'll be going to Fox & Obel. Greg practically had to drag me out of there (and of course, he had ZERO interest in looking around!)

Sara R. said...

I'll be interested to see him wear it. 99.9% of the time he wears a Superman shirt! And I can't wait for Fox and Obel but it's so tough to limit myself when I'm there since I can't bring all that much back with me!