Vacation Week Round-up

Summer vacation has been especially short for me as I took summer classes from June through the first weeks of August. The time between the end of summer session and fall classes ended up only being one week, so I did my best to make the most of it!

Last Saturday, I went with a few girl friends to tour some of Missouri wineries. We went to Belvoir Winery in Liberty, Pirtle Winery in Weston, and Ladoga Ridge Winery in Smithville. By far my favorite was Pirtle Winery, where they make not only delicious wines, but also meads and port. It is set in an 18th century Lutheran church at the heart of the small town. It's the perfect place to go with girlfriends, on a date, or with parents when they visit!

The view at Ladoga Ranch Winery

 I took some time this week to really peruse Pinterest and found some inspiration for some new nail art!

 On Monday is my dad's birthday, so I made him some homemade treats to be part of his present! I love making homemade food goodies for friends and family. I found this recipe online for Beer-Candied Bacon and new it was the perfect choice! The thick-cut bacon from The Local Pig that I picked up worked great for the recipe and my dad really loved it!

Another part of the gift I made for my father was homemade Mulberry-Basil ice cream. I used some frozen mulberries freshly picked in Vermillion, SD and followed this recipe. I added the basil to the mulberry and pureed them together. The basil added a nice herbal aftertaste to the treat that gave it a fantastic flavor! I was very happy with how it turned out!

Mixing the mulberry-basil puree and cream together before putting
in the ice cream maker!

The finished product!

Finally, last night I went out for dinner with my parents and boyfriend to Anton's Taproom. They were recently written up in the New York Times and serve "arguably the finest steak in this cowtown." My parents ordered their famous steaks while I chose the short rib with smoked gouda macaroni and cheese. So delicious and we had such a great time!