The birthday in the Big Apple that just kept giving

The first week of June always seems to be a transition time in my life. That time of year always marks the end of school, the start of summer, first days of work, moving trips, new rent leases, and.... my birthday! 

I turned 21 somewhere between Wyoming and Ohio, probably on about hour 17 of my mom and I's cross-country trip to move me to the Buckeye State (the first time). I turned 22 two days after moving to Manhattan, Kansas, (the Little Apple). I drank a box of wine on my couch with Stones and went to my favorite college bar via teleconference with some of my dearest friends. I went to work the next day with a headache and wondered if I was really cut out for this whole moving-to-a-new-state-and-being-an-adult thing.

This year, I turned 23 in the other Manhattan, a loooooong way from Kansas. We were working about 100 miles outside New York City on a farm tour and my co-workers treated me to a night out on the town for my birthday.

That was the fanciest birthday dessert I have ever had -- a peanut butter chocolate mousse cake. I very eloquently described it as "chocolate pudding mixed with cake perfectly formed into a pile of goodness with flecks of really fancy, thinly sliced Butterfinger candy in it. With ice cream."

But my favorite part of the whole night wasn't the amazing dessert, or the jalapeno whipped potatoes, or the creamed spinach or the Certified Angus Beef brand Prime dry-aged-to-perfection rib eye... although all those items were fantastic. My favorite part was... the menu.

Thanks, BLT Prime, for loving your customers so much you want to educate them about beef cuts. An educated consumer is a empowered purchaser. Go ahead and empower yourself to love the beefy basics a little more here.

Later that week, I arrived home to Woo-town to this sweet little gift:

I've been in desperate need of new luggage for about two years now. The old set finally became intolerable when I started using a safety pin to try and zip it open and closed. My favorite group of Woo-town friends took pity on the deplorable state of my luggage and got my new set started. They're awesome like that.

Know who else I think is awesome?

Jessica Simpson. I know, everybody thinks she's real, real dumb. Maybe she is. But I have to appreciate a girl who will rock a "Real Women Eat Meat" t-shirt after picking up on Carrie Underwood's ex. And she makes shoes and handbags to die for... and now luggage to love. 

The next day, I got this little treat from Rhinestone Cowgirl: 

If you can't read the note, the jest of it is this: she wanted to buy me a birthday beer, but there happened to be about 1,000 miles between us. So bought six and mailed them instead. That's friendship.

 

Early the next week, Ms M surprised me with orange cake for a belated birthday breakfast. I just finished the last leftover piece day before last. I can't even begin to explain how amazing this super special orange cake is, but if I ever finagle the recipe out of her, I'll share it, and you'll love me (even more) for it.

 

Then THIS week (now a full two weeks after my birthday), DOD finally made good on a promise and made it into a fun little birthday treat. He's been raving about this irresistible ice cream that's made only in the Buckeye State pretty much since the day I moved here.

I really had my doubts that this ice cream could really be that much better than other ice creams. Let's be honest, I'm not exactly known for my refined palate... this is a girl who digs truck stop food and likens a dessert at one of NYC's finest steakhouses to "fancy Butterfingers."

But I must admit... this ice cream was fancy. It was delicious and perfect and amazing. I think I just reached a quota for nice adjectives in one sentence describing something to do with Ohio.  

Well done, Graeter's. You've made a believer out of me.  

Meanwhile, the time between June 3 and June 18 has been filled with balloons, cards and sweet phones calls from friends and family.

Today, I think I finally closed the books on the two-week celebration of turning 23.

I lovingly took the Jessica Simpson tags off my new luggage, stuffed it full and loaded it up in the beefy mini-van. I begrudgingly handed it off to a grumpy man with the TSA at the Cleveland airport. It arrived in Chicago with me this afternoon, scuffed and a little dirty, and I knew the party was over.   

I'll admit it: I'm a bit of a steak snob

Not that I look down on any other beef. It's all healthy, safe, delicious and nutritious. But once you have had a steak like this, you just know some is better than the rest:

That’s a Certified Angus Beef® brand Prime strip steak. Eating one will change the way you think of steak. For the better. The much, much better.

I swear, I’m not just saying that because I work for them. I ate this whole heaping mess of goodness and then had to be restrained from licking the plate. I’m such a glutton. If I hadn’t been at a work-related event, I would have done the same thing…but not held back on the plate-licking.

My roomie/co-worker/friend caliAGchick invited me to tag along with her to Cantina Laredo’s in Columbus for a beef and tequila tasting, sponsored by CAB and Corzo tequila.

It was a four-course meal, starting with these tasty little shrimp nachos and a cucumber margarita. You think cucumber margarita sounds odd, but it was the crispest, most refreshing little concoction ever.

See all those little snifters behind the plate? Those were for the different kinds of tequila. They were paired with different courses and their flavors and distilling processes were explained as we went through the meal, just like a wine tasting. This completely shocked me, as I always thought tequila had only one flavor: revolting.

That was the first, last and only time I had tried to drink tequila in anything but a girly little margarita or cocktail until earlier this week. It was in Mexico – you can see how impressed I was.

But this was completely different – you could taste the differences in each flavor and how they tasted with the different courses. The shrimp nachos were followed with an enchilada-like soup that was the perfect combination of spicy and smooth. Then the main course, this prized item (again):

 The avocado salsa to the side of the steak was to die for. Seriously.

Then the finale. Mexican apple crepes smothered in a tequila-infused sauce. Oh. my.

 This picture doesn’t really do the crepes justice, but it does get caliAgchick in the picture. Since her mom and aunt consist of nearly 15% of my readership here, I like to include pictures of her to keep them happy.

*Hi caliAgchick’s mom and aunt!*

Oh, wait – did you really think I would let you go with a fun post about tequila with no educational value at all?? Well, you thought wrong.

One of the reps from Corzo shared with us she had stopped eating meat after watching the movie “Food, Inc.” I am respectful of anyone’s personal choices, and if she makes an educated decision to be a vegetarian that is her business. But, it is important for people to hear both sides of a story before jumping to conclusions based on a biased, sometimes factually inaccurate movie. Get the other side of the story here.

Ok, that's really all now. But I just got my wireless Internet hooked up, so look forward to hearing from me a lot more now!

San Antonio-ina-minute

Have you ever seen the video "Bible in a Minute?" If you haven't, you should. It's funny. And pretty factual. Ok, it leaves a lot out, but hits the high points.

Anyway, I've been home a week now and am over the thought of really writing about my week in San Antonio. I mean, my social calendar is just SO FULL there is no time to waste in the past. Right. So here is my trip to San Antonio-ina-minute:

Tuesday - set up booth, run all over, wear cute heels, feet hurt. Blisters - bad - walk, crippled. Meet nice old southern man, stop for chat. Hi, I’m from Ohio. Oh, you’re one of those damn Yankees, huh? Quickly take it back, I'm from Wyoming! We weren't a territory then. That’s OK. Stocker conference, hand out manuals, talk to people, Pfizer dinner, SLEEP.

Wednesday - Cattlemen’s College, set up lunch, run around, set up signs, haul banners, buy comfy shoes, still crippled, take pictures, Opening Session – Mike Rowe – surprise! Back to trade show. See long-lost-friend [R}. Yay! 

Peruse trade show, fall in love (pottery), friends with bartender, trade show closed, Durty Nelly’s, early night, SLEEP.

Thursday – Breakfast meetings, lots-o-coffee, trade show, shop – fall. in. love. again (purse). More meetings, more coffee, meeting – coffee – meeting. SLEEP.

Friday – breakfast meeting, committee meeting, trade show, LPC – lunch. Ice cream hunt, shop, trade show, trade show closes – booth packed – booth shipped. Sleep? NO! See [A] and [D]:

{[d], [a], [me], circa Jan. 2010}

SLEEP.

PLANE. EARLY. COFFEE. Home. Move roomie in. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.

I < 3 Beef

No, I don’t think I am less than three, or that there is something greater than beef. I “heart” beef. As in, I love beef. Which is especially convenient this first day of February, since today marks the beginning of Heart Health Month.

I “heart” beef because I love ranchers, I love cattle, I love the beef industry, and I love a heart-healthy diet of lean beef. And I love that the Beef Checkoff thinks of catchy promo campaigns like this:

So tonight, after an hour of flailing around in ZUMBA!, my new roomie and our friend are having a winter-time grill-out. Roomie just brought our Certified Angus Beef® flat iron steak (only the best will do) off the grill. YUM! We made a delicious concoction of diced potatoes, onions, garlic and jalapenos and piled it into some tin foil and threw it on the grill, too.

And now it’s time for me to eat this tasty little feast.

Oh. My. Delicious.

Did I mention beef is a great source of lean protein and an important part of a heart-healthy diet? Well it is. More than 80 percent of registered dietitians surveyed agree that lean beef can fit in a healthy diet (Technomic, 2007). In addition, a 3-ounce serving of lean beef offers the most protein with the fewest calories when compared to plant proteins such as peanut butter, black beans and tofu. AND, a 3-ounce serving of lean beef is about180 calories. You would have to eat 670 calories of peanut butter (more than 7 tablespoons) to get the same amount of protein (beefitswhatsfordinner.com).

Thanks for joining me for a lesson of Beef Nutrition 101. Rest assured, I will share more on that topic in the future.

Back to the task at hand. This is what is still to come in our evening meal:

It's right out of the box from the freezor section. So what. We're grilling with snow on the deck. I dance to Shakira songs at the YMCA. Crazier things have happened. Key Lime pie is amazing, anyway you serve it up.

But again, I digress. You know why else I heart beef? Because I love working for the beef industry. Once we demolish that key-lime pie and properly digest our steak dinner, I’ll start telling you about my week in San Antonio!