Still in it, and other happenings

We had a pretty low key weekend; it was a nice change of pace. Temps finally cooled down, and I was able to open the windows and turn off the a/c. It’s so nice to have fresh air. There were nice breezes on Saturday, too. We wasted away in the hammock for awhile. If there was a salty smell in the air, mosquitoes, and it was humid I’d swear we were in Mexico. The waterfall into the pool and the breezes whooshing through the trees mimicked the sounds of the ocean pretty well when my eyes were closed. Not quite Mexico, but it’ll suffice until we can get back to Xpu-ha. Our annual trip in December is still looking mighty unlikely but we are holding out hope that we’ll be able to swing it.

Late afternoon, we witnessed the nuptials of our friends. They tied the knot at Treasure Island. It was a nice ceremony. Afterwards, Frank and I headed to Palazzo, we decided to try Table 10. We made reservation for a half hour later, in the meantime, we wasted time in the casino. We played a few slots, but walked away losers as usual. Dinner was good, details to follow.

After dinner, we made our way back to TI. We planned to make a couple parlay bets, but we detoured when we spotted $5 blackjack. Yes, $5 tables at TI on a Saturday night. We jumped right in. I haven’t played in ages. We lost $15, but we had a lot of fun. We placed our football bets and headed home. Storms came through overnight. It was nice to hear the rain pitter patter outside with the windows open. I slept really well.

Sunday, we had plans to go off-roading. We met up with the others, 7 rigs total, we were going to do tierod again, and hit karnage canyon.

From Tierod

Someday, Frank wants the jimmy to have a similar set up to this truck. We need a roll cage before we can take off our hard top.

From Tierod

Unfortunately, we only made it as far as the second obstacle. We ran into issues shifting when the front lockers were engaged. We left the rest of the guys run the trail and we headed home… disappointed, but thankful we weren’t stuck on the side of the mountain or worse. There’ll always be more runs, it’s best to be safe. We made it home fine. Hopefully, whatever the problem, it’ll be an easy and cheap fix.

The rest of the day we lazed about watching all the football games, and rooting for the White Sox. Thankfully, the Sox pulled through and stayed alive to play another game. The postseason continues... Go White Sox!

The recipe I tried over the weekend was Apple Cereal Bars. Frank thought they were too sweet for breakfast, better as a treat. Either way, they're a tasty fairly healthy snack.

From baking

From baking

Bars
2 cups Whole Grain Total® or Total® Raisin Bran cereal
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 medium apples, peeled, very finely chopped or grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup raisins

Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 to 2 tablespoons apple juice or milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. Place cereal in plastic bag or between sheets of waxed paper; crush with rolling pin.

In large bowl, mix brown sugar, oil, milk and egg. Stir in cereal, flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir in apples and raisins. Spread evenly in pan.

Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

In small bowl, stir together all glaze ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over bars. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 6 rows.