57 Things to Do to Celebrate My 57th Birthday

Back in April, one of my posts was about doing 57 new things before I turned 57 years old. Well, the 57th birthday was the 16th and the list is now complete:

One of the things I want to do is visit all 19 of the MetroParks in Dayton and I have gone to the following:
1. Adventure Central/Wesleyan MetroPark
2. Riverscape
3. Wegerzyn
4. 2nd Street Market
5. Hills and Dales
6. Sugarcreek
7. Deeds Point (bitterly cold winter day...had cabin fever and had to get out of the house!)

In the athletic arena:
8. Ran the 10K in the Air Force Marathon
9. Signed up for the half marathon in the Air Force Marathon
10. Attended my niece's last collegiate field hockey game at MIT/Jack Berry Field. The       Engineers beat Babson College 4-2.
11. Attend the NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games in Memphis and cheered for the Cinderella bracket busting Dayton Flyers!
12. Do the bridge pose in yoga
13. Do a handstand against the wall in yoga
14. Do the yoga splits
15. Attend a Cleveland Browns pre-season game and cheer for Johnny Football

Arts:
16. Took a Zentangle class
17. Learned how to make Guatemalan worry dolls at Art Street
18. Admired beautiful photography at the Citizens of the World photo exhibit at Art Street
19. Attended the Shades of Greatness exhibit at Sinclair Community College. This exhibit celebrated the the Negro League Baseball.
20. Took at Wine and Painting class at Gallery 510
21. Attended the Bruce Munro: Light exhibit at Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus

22. Took Mom to the Ansel Adams' exhibit at the Springfield Art Museum as part of her Mother's Day gift

Academics:
23. Took a class on using the iPhone. Thanks to my kids, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I knew!
24. Class on the history of the University of Dayton

Travel:
25. Memphis, TN
26. Key West, FL
27. Going over the 7-Mile Bridge on the way to Key West
28. Watching the beautiful Key West sunsets at Mallory Square
29. Visiting the smallest post office in the United States at Ochopee, FL
30. Use the HopStop App to maneuver the NYC subways
31. Walk the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges
32. Ride the Staten Island Ferry
33. Lived in a Brooklyn apartment for a few days while dog sitting my daughter's white furball
34. Walk through the Hasidic Jewish neighborhood (Borough Park)
35. Go the the Westside Market in Ohio City and get the bacon jerky from Czuchcraj Brothers that Michael Simon raved about on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate."
36. Stay at the Millennium Hotel on the 46th floor, overlook the 9/11 Memorial Park and be up close and personal with the new Freedom Tower

Restaurants:
37. Wheat Penny Pizza (Dayton)
38. Rendezvous Ribs (Memphis)
39. Onlywood Pizzeria (Key West)
40. Antica Pesa (Brooklyn)

Family:
41. #4 and last child finished college in December. Graduation ceremony in May.
42. First child turned 29 in October. Can't believe I'm going to be the mother of a 30-year old this year.
43. First child also bought his own condo
44. Move my mom to assisted living
45.Help a dear friend plan her husband's funeral

46. Attend my niece's graduation from MIT
47. Attend my niece's wedding in Philadelphia at Tyler Arboretum

Just fun stuff:
48. Visited the Yellow Springs sunflower field
49. Visited the Caesar Creek Winery
50. Attended an ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the Eudora Brewing Company.
51. Took a photowalk in Downtown Dayton
52. St. Patrick's Day at Fifth Street Brewpub
53. Went to Warped Wing Brewery
54. Took a tour of Stivers School for the Arts (Dayton)
55. Wear my hair curly
56. Go to the Bacon Fest at Fraze Pavilion (Kettering)
57. Drink "one of each" at McSorley's Irish Pub (NYC)

Zucchini-palooza 17 and 18

The trouble is, you cannot grow just one zucchini.  Minutes after you plant a single seed, hundreds of zucchini will barge out of the ground and sprawl around the garden, menacing the other vegetables.  At night, you will be able to hear the ground quake as more and more zucchinis erupt.

~  Dave Barry

Zucchini-palooza #17
Use-up-some-leftovers-stuffed peppers

Kielbasa, deer sausage, farro, onion, mozzarella, and you know what! Added a little Sweet Baby Ray's and some sriracha. My son took a couple to work for his dinner and his co-workers were jealous!

Zucchini-palooza #18 and FINALE!

Dug out the old family pumpkin bread recipe and added zucchini to it. 

To make all of these loaves, it took a mere 

17 eggs 

13 c. flour

 12 c. sugar

 5 c. oil

 30 c. shredded zucchini

a few Tablespoons of spices

Zucchini-palooza 13, 14, 15, 16

                           Zucchini is a 24/7 food: appetizer, main dish, side dish and snack ~

Zucchini-palooza #13

Zucchini cornbread 

Needed to find a recipe that would get hubs excited about all this zucchini that's taken over the veggie bin. Mission accomplished!

Zucchini-palooza #14

This started  out as a simple caprese salad and evolved into grilled zucchini caprese topping for bruschetta! (And FYI, Italians pronounce this broo-SKEH-tah).

Zucchini-palooza #15
Zucchini noodle lasagna

Look beneath that cheesy goodness and there are zucchini noodles layered with a meaty, vegetable-y sauce. 

   Zucchini-palooza #16
Zucchini gratin with Gruyere and salsa verde.

O. M. G. The flavors in this are fabulous! The freshness of the salsa verde, the bold Gruyere cheese, buttery bread crumbs, and oh yes, the zucchini! A BIG thank you to my Philadelphia foodie niece for suggesting this recipe. Yum-O! 

Zucchini-palooza 9, 10, 11, 12

Zucchini's terrific! 
Like bunnies, prolific!
 ~ Author Unknown

Zucchini-palooza #9

What happens when the zucchini patch doesn't get picked for a week...Yikes!

Zucchini-palooza #10

Lunch. Grilled zucchini spears.
Quick, easy, delicious ~

Zucchini-palooza #11 to the rescue! 

What to do for a last minute dinner invitation...

Grilled zucchini salad with cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and pecorino cheeses, and kalamata olives with a white balsamic vinaigrette. 

Zucchini-palooza #12

Homemade V-8 (actually 11) juice

Look closely and you'll see zucchini in there, along with carrots, beets, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, red and green peppers, celery, onion and garlic. A garden in the blender!

Zucchini-palooza 5, 6, 7, 8

Five, six, seven, eight,

Zucchini recipes are really great!

Yes, zucchini is so versatile. It pairs well with another wonderful flavor of summer, basil, and goes to the sophisticated side in ZP 5 and 6. But then in 7 and 8, it's comfort food: zucchini-carrot cake (cream cheese icing is a must) and zucchini bread. Good flavors and good feelings.

Zucchini-palooza #5

Grilled zucchini roll-ups filled with spinach and basil leaves and goat cheese. 

A little labor intensive but sooooo worth it!

Zucchini-palooza #6

Zucchini and basil soup 

Very light, very summery, very green!

Zucchini-palooza #7

Underneath that layer of cream cheese frosting is zucchini-carrot cake. 

An all-purpose cake: breakfast, afternoon snack, and dessert.

Zucchini-palooza #8

Zucchini bread twinsies!!

Zucchini-palooza 1, 2, 3 and 4

It's been one heck of a summer. A crazy, turn-your-world-up-side-down summer. But in the midst of chaos, sometimes the most unexpected thing can bring a little order to the world. For me, it turned out to be my zucchini garden. Leave it to a green squash to be my link to normalcy...

Zucchini-palooza 2014 began with the first picking...
"The Dirty Dozen"

Zucchini-palooza #1
Cream of kohlrabi soup with onions, carrots, potatoes, and of course zucchini.
(Those green flecks are the zucchini)

Zucchini-palooza #2

Zucchini-Lemon Cookies 

Very light and refreshing. They lasted two days!

Zucchini-palooza #3

A clean-out-the-veggie bin concoction. 

Cherry tomatoes, 1/2 red pepper, 1/2 green pepper, a couple Japanese eggplants, onion, a half bag of frozen corn. Sauté the veggies. Add salt and Italian herbs to season. Add mozzarella and Parm and cook until melted. 

Zucchini-palooza #4 

What to do with all the shredded zucchini left over from making the lemon zucchini cookies? Make a stir fry with onion, cabbage, carrots and of course, zucchini. Stir fry the veggies until crisp tender, add a little soy sauce and there ya go!