T minus 4 days, 4 hours, 19 minutes...are you ready?!

That's right--just FOUR MORE DAYS.

If you are still scrambling for some last minute ideas in these final days leading up to Christmas (or for the next several days of Hanukkah), and don't want to fight the last minute shoppers at the mall or even for a parking space for that matter, consider some of these ideas.

• The Entertainment or Enjoy Book. I know the Entertainment Book is nationwide, and even available in some areas of Canada. These are great gifts for anyone, my parents get me one every year! Full of coupons for local restaurants--usually the equivalent of buy one get one, everything from breakfast, lunch and dinner--as well as local businesses (car washes, dry cleaners), sports events, theaters, museums and activities (movies, bowling, miniature golf, etc). Usually ranging between $25-35, they are available at several stores locally, including the grocery store and Rite Aid.

• Get your GROUPON! If you don't already subscribe to the daily email deals from Groupon and Living Social (and the much newer Google Offers), sign up now! Daily deals offer a deal for typically half off of the usual price of the deal--be it dinner, a wine flight, bowling, tickets for shows & events, memberships to local attractions (zoo, museum etc), mani-pedis, massages, anything is possible! Not only have J & I been prompted to try new places by getting some of these deals, we have also been able to take advantage of things like the South Side Slopes Step Trek. Last year, when putting together a gift basket for my supervisor at work from the team, we were able to purchase a pedicure special for a great price. (It even included a glass of wine in the experience!) Knowing she would be unlikely to treat herself to something like that, we jumped on the offer. Most deals are only available for a day, so you do have to check your email daily. Typically when you click on the deal, it will tell you how long you have to purchase, be it hours or days. Once purchased, you can print the coupon from your computer to slip into someone's stocking! Living Social & Groupon also have getaway deals, so don't hesitate to look at those as well. J & I were lucky enough to snag a 2 nights for the price of 1 deal from Groupon for the Bedford Springs Resort where we celebrated our First Anniversary. That enabled us to use the gift card we had planned to use to pay for the room for dinners and a visit to the spa!

• Lottery tickets & gift cards--Let's face it, everyone loves scratch-off tickets and gift cards, right? Even those of us who love to cook like to go out to eat, whether it's pizza or Outback, Eat n Park (for Pittsburghers!), Olive Garden or Bob Evans. Many of the grocery store gift card racks now have packs of gift cards--3 $10 Pizza Hut cards, 3 $15 Applebees or Chili's gift cards, etc. that make gifts to the mail carrier or paper carrier easy. Also the variety of scratch off tickets in various price ranges make a fun and easy way of gift-giving. I recently bought several (as in $60 worth!) for various folks like the letter carrier, paper carrier, the girls at the Pretzel Shop and *maybe* for a special someone's stocking. I bought several $1 tickets that I have kept in my purse and handed out to various folks in my travels. The cashiers who waited on me when I shopped for last minute gifts, the bus driver, the cute elderly lady who was also on the bus, the receptionists at my doctor's office, and the Starbucks barista. So many have just been "tickled pink" by a $1 ticket, I think I will make it a point to do this every year!

• If you are short on cash, do not underestimate the gift of a good deed. If you have long hair and want to go for the gusto, donate 10 inches to Locks of Love, who will use it to make hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children suffering from medical hair loss. Have tea with an elderly neighbor or family member, walk your neighbor's dog or shovel their walk when they are under the weather, make some treats for a neighbor or friend who lives alone. I recently made a batch of my mom's tuna noodle casserole for a co-worker who was having surgery and going to be off for a few weeks to recover. Instead of making a pan, though, I sprayed a regular size muffin tin tray with cooking spray, and dropped spoonfuls of the casserole in each tin cup. I baked as directed, and when finished, the casserole "muffins" popped right out. I wrapped each individually with plastic wrap, this way she could grab 2-4 at a time to thaw out and heat in the microwave depending on how she felt and her appetite. Try it with your favorite casserole, it's a great way to spread the joy over several weeks to someone!

May you all have a wonderful holiday season, spread the joy and love in any way you can!

The Holidays Are Upon Us

Are you ready yet?!

I am *just about there*. I'm lucky I was able to get an early start, and that it is pretty easy to buy for everyone I have to. But if you are still stuck on the perfect gift for Christmas or Hanukkah, let me see if I can help.

One of the best gifts I can always tailor to anyone I know is food. Food or beverages. Especially adult beverages. Think about it. Someone is probably a coffee drinker, another a tea drinker, beer drinker, wine drinker. One may love Mexican food, another barbecue. Someone may love sweets, others meats and cheeses.

While there are many pre-made gift sets out there at the grocery stores or malls (I have to confess, I am always drawn to the Hickory Farms stand at the mall!), you can have a lot of fun making your own gift basket. Several styles and sizes of baskets are available at your local craft store, and stores like Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics almost always has coupons in the Sunday newspaper. Once you have a basket (or gift bag in a pinch!), the rest is easy!

I try to support local, independent stores as much as possible, so I try to find as much as I can at non-chain stores. In Pittsburgh we are lucky enough to have a great area of town known as The Strip District. Fresh produce and fresh-baked breads and rolls, cookies, biscotti and popcorn abound. Additionally, there are several ethnic grocery stores in the Strip. Have an International food lover? How about some hot sauces and fresh made tortillas from the Mexican grocery, rice and sauces from the Asian Market, and homemade pasta noodles and olive oil from the Italian grocery?

Coffee and teas can easily be paired with biscotti and several types of teacakes and cookies from any bakery or grocery store. Have a chocolatier or homemade candy store in your neighborhood? Add a couple small bags of treats--nonpareils or salted chocolate caramels (my new favorite!). Don't get intimidated by the per-pound price. Ask for a quarter pound or a half dozen of an item. Look for seasonal items that you can only get this time of year, it really makes it a special treat for your recipient.

Speaking of teas, if you are in need of gifts for a tea lover, check out www.victorianteagarden.com. An array of gifts for the tea lover, from teacups to jewelry to hats (a must-have for a true tea party!), and of course--TEA--these ladies have carefully selected several great items to choose from. My recommendations? Joan's book of tea recipes--chock full of recipes for delicious tea sandwiches, scones and treats--and one of my favorite teas, Harney & Sons Paris tea.

My supervisor at work is a wine lover, so my team and I pitched in to create a great gift bag for her. I purchased one of the new wine totes available at the Pennsylvania Wine & Spirits store (holds 6 bottles), and selected four wines from their Chairman's Selections. I took a worthwhile trip to Crate & Barrel and chose two wine glasses, a wine coaster, and bottle stopper to add to the bag. See how easy it is?!

If you make a basket but feel it's a little "chunky" and need some small items to fill in, check your local craft stores or dollar stores. You can almost always find great things to suit almost any interest, from candles to playing cards to stationery/notecards, recipe cards, the works--usually all available for a dollar!

For the chef in your life, consider gadgets or serving items that aren't necessities (read: items they probably would really like, but hesitate to buy for themselves). Everyone has or needs a potato peeler, but how about something different like a julienne peeler, zester or microplane grater? (Trust me, if they don't have these, they will LOVE them!) Pampered Chef is a great place to find a lot of these great gadgets at a reasonable price, as well as being great quality and long lasting. (At some point, there will be a post just about my Pampered Chef products and what I do or don't like. I recently added many products to my collection and can't say enough good things so far!)

Have a party hostess in your family or friend list? Consider things like cake stands, cupcake stands, and various servers. These are among those items I mentioned that people may hesitate to buy for themselves but secretly pine for. We asked for several types of these servers for our wedding and they are wonderful when we entertain. We have several B. Smith items, all available at Bed Bath & Beyond. My favorites are the 3-tier serving bowls and the 3-tier swivel step server:

Consider pairing any serveware with a cookbook to fit the theme. A cupcake book with a cupcake stand, a book of salsas & dips with the serving bowls, appetizers book with the serving trays. Check your local craft stores, bookstores and discount stores like Five & Below or Tuesday Morning for great deals to help stay within your budget.

Happy shopping and may your days be merry and bright!

Stuff Yourself

It's stunning that Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away, but it's true, and I would like to share with you the stuffing recipes that are the mainstays of Thanksgiving dinners on my side of the family. The rice stuffing recipe comes from my paternal grandmother, the bread stuffing from my maternal grandmother, and the cornbread/wild rice stuffing from my dad. While these may not be what you usually make or have ever had, I hope you consider adding one of these new recipes to your Thanksgiving table this year, in an effort to try something new as well as continue to share the joy these recipes have brought to many in my family over the years. Times may not always have been easy, but gathering at the table at Thanksgiving was always a very important piece of family life for both sides of my family. Enjoy!

Grandma W's Rice Stuffing

Cook one cup of regular rice per package instructions.
Allow to cool and stir in one beaten egg or two egg whites.

Saute chopped onion and celery to taste in 1/8 cup butter or margarine. Add rice along with salt, pepper, and sage to taste. (If you don't like celery in stuffing, substitute celery flakes and/or parsley flakes.)

Stuff in chicken or turkey as you would bread stuffing (but never stuff the bird or add egg the night before). New health information suggests baking the stuffing outside the bird.

If you aren't going to stuff in the bird, cook the rice in chicken broth and bake in a greased, covered dish on top rack at 325 F for an hour or so, stirring half-way. (Or leave out the egg, heat on the stove or microwave, and eat right away!)

Grandma H's Bread Stuffing

Leave thick slices of French or Italian bread out to dry for 12 hours. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes.

Fry or broil some bacon. Break into 1-inch pieces.
Saute chopped onion and celery to taste in 1/8 cup of butter or margarine.
Stir in one beaten egg or two egg whites (or Egg Beaters).
Add mixture to bread cubes along with bacon, salt, pepper, and sage to taste.
If stuffing is too dry, add another beaten egg or a little bit of water or chicken broth. (If you don't like celery in the stuffing, substitute celery flakes and/or parsley flakes.)

Stuff in chicken or turkey (but never stuff the bird or add the egg the night before). New health information suggests baking the stuffing outside the bird.

If you aren't going to stuff the bird , bake in a greased, covered dish on top rack at 325 F for an hour or so, stirring twice. (Or leave out the egg, heat on the stove or microwave, and eat right away!)

Papa W's Favorite Vegetarian Cornbread and Wild Rice Stuffing

Bake one pan of cornbread per package or corn meal instructions.

Cook 1/2 cup of wild rice or mixed rice per package instructions. (Cook in vegetable broth instead of water)

Crumble in cornbread in a large bowl and stir in the cooked rice.

Saute chopped onion in a bit of butter or spread.
Add to rice along with celery and parsley flakes, salt, pepper and sage to taste. (*If you use a prepared/boxed wild rice mix with seasonings, eliminate these ingredients.)

If mixture is too dry, add a bit of vegetable broth.

Bake in a greased, covered dish on top rack at 325 F for a half hour or so, stirring once. (Or heat on the stove or microwave, and eat right away!)

Variation: Cook rice in chicken broth and add some chopped bacon to the mixed stuffing.


I hope some of you try one (or more!) of these awesome recipes, they have brought a lot of joy to our tables over the years!

One of the Most Amazing Cookies EVER

(OK--TWO)

I have some awesome cookie recipes. I mean, for REAL. One of my all-time favorites was an oatmeal raising cinnamon chip cookie I stumbled on. You know how sometimes you are flipping through the Sunday paper coupon sections, and there, next to a coupon for something or other, sits the most delicious looking recipe that makes you reach for the scissors to clip that coupon because "OMG I HAVE TO MAKE THAT!"?  That's what happened to me with Hershey's Cinnamon Chips, and the cookie recipe below. I mean, I love oatmeal raisin cookies anyway. And I love cinnamon. So combine the two and I am in heaven. I do have to say that one year the Hershey's chips were not available in grocery stores, so I had to get some mini (and not quite the same) chips from a baking supply store. In the past year or two, they seem to only have them around the holidays, so it's not a bad idea to buy an extra package or two if they are up your alley.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies

1 c (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 c packed light brown sugar
1/3 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 c quick-cook oats
1 2/3 c cinnamon chips
3/4 c raisins

Heat oven to 350 F. Beat butter, eggs, brown sugar and granulated sugar in bowl until creamy. Combine flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats, cinnamon chips and raisins (batter will be stiff). Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Makes about 4 dozen.

I may have mentioned before that I have begun using the Splenda for Baking blend, and I cannot taste a difference. Just be sure you follow the directions, as you need half the Splenda for Baking as you do granulated sugar. Also, Sun Maid has baking raisins, I try to get these when I can. They are extra moist, and great for recipes like this.

Believe you me, this recipe will amp up your average oatmeal raisin cookie. And I thought I had the best cookie recipe ever until I stumbled on this recipe on allrecipes.com:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-cookies-i/detail.aspx

Notice a trend here with me and cookies that involve chips of some sort. These are so easy and so delicious! These are requested frequently--I most recently made them for a fall work party. Know that most times, when I bake, I usually give it all away. I love spreading the joy of baking (no pun intended...OK, maybe a little), and I also kind of feel "better on their lips than on my hips". However, when it comes to either of these cookies, I ALWAYS save a few for J & I, as they are such a treat.

Spice up your Fall with either of these great cookies, you will quickly find they are among everyone's top favorites!

Happy Baking!

This Time of Year Is Perfect...

...for soups and baking!

While neither J or I are a fan at all of cold weather and winter, we do like fall (when we have one). Look, I'm a baseball fan. You know why? Well, part of it is because my Grandma W was a huge baseball fan, took Papa W to many games, making him a fan, and Papa & Mama W took us to several games as kids and, while I know I was not always interested (once asking during warm ups at Three Rivers Stadium if it was "over yet"), somewhere along the line I latched onto it as "my" sport. Papa W have spent several years as somewhat season ticket holders at PNC Park, our 10-game package only most recently becoming an "official" season ticket package, official card and all.

The other part of it is, that aside from the early and later season games, which can be on the shaky side of Pittsburgh weather, baseball is a season of warmth, fireworks, and cold beers that taste oh, so good, at 12:30pm on a day when you would usually be at work. Football season, however, screams to us "OMG IT'S COLD AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO SIT OUT HERE!" So J & I typically opt for Steeler games at home (thank you, digital converter box which allows us to get wayyy more channels without cable--particularly football games we can see clearly), with home-cooked treats throughout the day.

J likes to make wings, we like to bake, and we love soup. And we started a trend of "Soup Sundays", where we try to make a different soup recipe each week. Don't get me wrong, we have a couple standbys, but we really are trying to be better about trying different recipes from cookbooks and magazines.

A couple weeks ago, we opted for a mushroom soup and homemade herb biscuits. The soup recipe comes from Timeless Treasures, the cookbook I bought on our anniversary trip at Bedford Springs Resort. (I don't see it available on the website, but I'm sure if you call the hotel direct, and ask for the gift shop, they can ship you a copy.) The recipe was provided by Lester Wallack, an employee at the Bedford Springs Resort.  I found it to be a very easy and delicious recipe.

12oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 c chopped onions
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1c milk
1-2 tsp dill
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp tamale
1 tsp salt
2c water
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4c parsley
1/2c sour cream

*So I will give you the actual instructions then tell you what I did*

Saute onions in 2 tbsp butter. Add mushrooms, 1 tsp dill, 1/2c water, tamale* & paprika. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Melt remaining butter in large saucepan. Whisk in flour, and cook, whisking a few minutes. Add milk. Cook 10 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently, until thick. Stir in mushroom mixture and remaining water. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes. Just before serving, add salt, lemon juice, sour cream and dill. Serve garnished with parsley.

*I know what tamales are in relation to Mexican food, but have never seen it as an ingredient. I tried to Google what to substitute for tamale in a recipe, and came up with nothing. If anything, I might add a dash of cayenne pepper for a little kick, otherwise, the soup is great as is!
_________________________________________________________________________________

OK so here's how it went in the Diva's Test Kitchen...

I did substitute Fage 0% Greek yogurt for the sour cream, which is a staple in my house. Also, it didn't specify mushroom type, so I opted for 8oz sliced white mushrooms, and 4oz mixed mushrooms--portabello, oyster and shitake. This is where the reading the recipe beforehand comes in. And my whole visual thing with eating as well. Like "if it doesn't look good, can't eat it". Not that it's anything major, but I'd (incorrectly) assumed that some of the mushroom mix was pureed. And because some of those shitake and oyster mushrooms can look a little funny, I couldn't possibly leave them just floating around. So I blended much of the mushroom mix, but left some sliced mushrooms whole.

I will say, though, that the mushroom mix sauteed beautifully, making a deep, rich broth. And even though I didn't follow the exact recipe, the soup was absolutely delicious! I have to learn to school myself to read the entire recipe beforehand, try the recipe AS IS first, THEN try it again with my own twists and turns if I am not 100% satisfied. I think next time I will try the original recipe, and use basic sliced white button mushrooms so as not to throw off the mojo.

The biscuit recipe is courtesy of Real Simple magazine. Pretty basic and OMG, so delicious!!!

We cut this recipe in half since it was the two of us, and it still made about a dozen biscuits. I am so happy I still had fresh herbs in the garden, I used fresh basil, rosemary and sage. DELICIOUS!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/herb-biscuit-recipe-00100000068369/index.html

I enjoyed leftovers for lunch a couple days, and both the soup and biscuits were just as good. And even though I pureed some of the mushroom mix when I wasn't supposed to, I think the amazing flavor of the original recipe really came through. Just wonderful and I am excited to try more from the Bedford Springs cookbook. All of the recipes were provided by resort staff, seem to be very easy, and look absolutely delicious.

As opposed to ordering the cookbook from the resort if you are local to Pittsburgh, I still 100% recommend taking the 2 hour drive to Bedford to walk through the resort, visit the gift shop (buy the cookbook) and have dinner at the Crystal Room. An amazing fixed price dinner, well worth the $42 per person, will leave you full but wanting more! Reservations are highly recommended, and the restaurant is closed on Sundays.

Happy Eating, and Happy Fall!

How Time Flies!

I honestly couldn't believe when I logged on and saw that my last post was in AUGUST! I thought, my goodness, that CAN'T be right! Indeed it was though!

I promise to be more attentive and active, and with fall and (gasp!) winter coming, I have to say the one thing I love about those seasons is baking and making soups and casseroles. So I hope to share more of my favorite fall recipes in the upcoming weeks, as well as anything new we may try!

One recipe I stumbled on a while back and have adjusted to my own liking was an egg & spinach bake. J & I tend to have eggs for breakfast on the weekends, and once we started the low-carb kick, I was looking for something to make occasionally for something different and bread-free. What is so great about this recipe is that once you have the basic mix, you can add anything you want to it, and make it different every time.

Egg Spinach Bake

12 eggs (or 3 cups Egg Beaters)
1/2 cup 0% Fage Greek Yogurt
1 1/2cups (6oz) shredded cheese, plus extra to sprinkle on top
8-10oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, then squeezed dry

Mix the eggs and yogurt together, beat well.

Mix in the cheese and spinach, mix until blended.

The amount of spinach depends on what kind you buy. I used to get the 10oz Birds Eye or Giant Eagle packages, but lately I have been buying 16oz bags from Whole Foods & Trader Joe's and using about half the bag. I have to say, I think Whole Foods chopped spinach is the best--seems to hold the least amount of water that needs to be squeezed out. You can also use 16oz of fresh, sauteed spinach if you like. And if you don't like spinach, you can omit it and add other ingredients. I have also used a variety of shredded cheeses--Mexican blend, Cheddar, Parmesan. (The original recipe even called for grated Parmesan sprinkled on top.)

Once this base recipe is mixed, you can really get creative. Bacon crumbles, sausage, or ham. Chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, jalapenos. The possibilities are endless. I have added ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, herbs, as well as different cheeses--crumbled goat, feta, or Gouda.

Pour the mixture into a greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan, and sprinkle with shredded or grated cheese.

Bake at 350 F for 25-35 minutes, or until a knife or cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Cut into squares. Makes 12-15 servings.

Since it's just the two of us, we usually make 12 squares, then we each have a couple days' worth of leftovers. I have made this for both breakfast and dinner. I like it because it is also an easy mix-ahead meal. Often the night before, I will mix in a large Pyrex bowl and bake the next morning or evening.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and please let me know if you come up with your own winning combination to add to the basic mix!

Be happy & well!

Ahhhh, Vacation!!

This week, J & I have been on vacation and have just had an absolutely wonderful week! We started off our week with a bus tour to three Western Pennsylvania wineries! It was hosted through my college alumni association, and we had a great time!  We visited http://www.greendancewinery.com/ , http://www.cwklaywinery.com/ , and http://www.facebook.com/thistlethwaite.vineyards#!/thistlethwaite.vineyards?sk=wall.  We bought several bottles to enjoy at home! Our tour included lunch at http://www.nemacolin.com/. Lunch was delicious--grilled chicken breasts, mashed potatoes (which J & I hadn't had any potatoes for at least a month due to our low-carb diet) and veggies.

Sunday (our actual anniversary), we headed out to Bedford, PA for our anniversary getaway! We took the more scenic route of Route 31 through Mt. Pleasant, PA and Somerset, where we stopped off at (of course) another winery. My cousin had had his wedding reception at http://gladespikewinery.com/ several years ago, so we stopped off there to do a tasting and left with two bottles!

As we got closer to Bedford, we drove into a bad storm:

We arrived in downtown Bedford and sat it out a few minutes in the car til we got a little break, then made a dash for the pizza shop nearby for a couple of pizza slices for lunch. Spent some time in one of the antique shops then headed to our final destination, the Bedford Springs Resort & Spa. (http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/BedfordSprings.aspx)  Here is the resort view when you come around the bend:

Front view:

We lucked out with one of the rooms to the right, that had the porch and rocking chairs. The hotel has been beautifully restored, and our experience here was nothing short of amazing and wonderful! The rooms are beautiful, the staff is first class, and the food--phenomenal! 

I took advantage of the daily afternoon tea in the lobby while Jody relaxed in the room. While I was out, this was delivered to our room:

What a lovely surprise! We decided to save it for dessert after returning from our anniversary dinner, which we planned at the Jean Bonnet Tavern (http://www.jeanbonnettavern.com/). We had a slight glitch when we went to go to dinner, as a valet had left our headlights on and they were having trouble getting it started. While we were waiting, Jody took this photo of me in the lobby of the resort:

After a short wait, the valet were still unable to get our car started. But Joy, who headed up the valet team that night, was just wonderful. She is VERY good at her job and runs a tight ship, which I admire! She had one of the staff drive us to the Jean Bonnet for our dinner and she herself picked us up when we were finished. We had a delightful dinner, and before heading back to the resort, had our server take this photo of us:

Upon our return to the resort, we enjoyed our anniversary dessert with a bottle of wine and watched a movie before retiring for the night, as we had a full day planned for Monday.

Monday, we started off with the breakfast buffet at the Crystal Room, one of 3 restaurants in the resort. It was DELICIOUS! We took off shortly thereafter for a hike on one of the resort trails. We opted for the longest and most challenging, a 4.5 mile hike. We are certain it had to more because we felt like we were hiking FOREVER! While this will sound like one of your grandfather's "I walked 8 miles to school with no shoes and it was uphill--BOTH WAYS!" stories, this rugged-terrained trail literally was mostly uphill...even when we descended and thought we were at the beginning of the end, we were then redirected uphill for the rest of the trail! By the time we got towards the end, my poor old dancer knees were screaming with pain. So much that, when the torrential downpour from the previous day opted to return at the end of our hike, we just walked slowly and got drenched.

After a hot shower and a quick nap, we headed to the spa for our appointments. J was scheduled for a manicure, and I was set for the zensational pedicure. First, we split up and took advantage of the Bedford Bath Ritual, which you can read about on page 3 of the spa brochure: http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/BedfordSprings/~/media/Images/hotels/pitbsr/pdf/EternalSpringsSpaBrochure.ashx

We relaxed in the lounge for a bit, then enjoyed the pampering our services provided, and finished off our spa experience with a glass of wine in the relaxation lounge.

We then got ready for dinner in the Crystal Room, which we were really excited for. This is an absolute must if you are in the area, even if you don't stay at the resort (but we absolutely recommend you do!). For a fixed price of $42 per person, you cannot beat this dinner! All we had to choose was our entrees, (http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/BedfordSprings/Dining/~/media/Images/hotels/pitbsr/pdf/CrystalRoomDinnerMenu_June2011.ashx)
J opted for the filet mignon, I chose the spinach ricotta ravioli.

We headed to the front of the restaurant to get our appetizers and salads. We were floored by the options, and honestly could have made a meal just from salads and appetizers. Breads & (delicious) local cheeses, 3 lettuce mixes to choose from as well as various salad toppings and dressings, crab cakes, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, pork, beef tenderloin, shrimp cocktail, the choices were more than bountiful! As you can see, we did not hesitate to try everything:

Then came our dinners:

Of COURSE we saved room for dessert! Jody chose NY cheesecake and chocolate torte:

And I chose bread pudding and strawberry chocolate mousse:

As if that all wasn't fabulous enough, our server, Liz, poured us each a glass of complimentary champagne, which we took back to our rooms to enjoy on the porch.

Tuesday morning, we got up early to take advantage of the pool before having to check out at noon. This is the hallway by the pool:

and this is the gorgeous pool, which we were fortunate enough to have all to ourselves since it was early in the morning:

We enjoyed breakfast again in the Crystal Room, then relaxed in the room and on the porch, savoring the last hour of our stay.

Quickly going back to our lunch at Nemacolin on our wine tour, the lunch was delicious, and while Nemacolin is an impressive resort in size, things to do, and some of the decor, we left there with absolutely no inclination to stay there at all. To us, the charm factor is zero, where the Bedford Springs Resort & Spa is an 11 on a scale of 1-10!

While the Bedford Springs Resort & Spa is not inexpensive, the history of the resort, the beauty of the resort itself (we referred to it as the Titanic on land), in addition to the exceptional service and overall experience makes it an absolute on our list of  "repeat performances." We will definitely stay here again, and cannot stop raving to anyone who will listen about how extraordinary our experience was. We will absolutely consider making the 2-hour drive to Bedford to make a day trip just to do some shopping and have dinner at the Crystal Room.  Even if it is something you have to scrimp and save for to experience a 2-night stay like we did, it is absolutely worth it.

Many kudos to the staff of the Bedford Springs Resort for making our first anniversary celebration almost as memorable as our wedding day!