Crepe-A-Week Update

Atlantic Moster (Breakfast Menu), enjoyed at home

It's probably lucky for you readers that I'm a terrible food writer. If I were a better food writer, I would be posting every week about the amazing Skinny Pancake crepes I'm eating and you would all be sick of hearing about it. Lucky for you, I usually don't even remember to take a picture before digging in!

I was sick all this past week, so I didn't get to my crepe until Saturday night. I called ahead, and arrived before it was ready so I took a seat at the bar. Watching the crepe chef at work was truly hypnotizing, and my appetite was piqued by the time mine was boxed and ready. It's still a bit chilly to dine al freso, so Roger and I walked home with it. Tonight I chose the Cannelloni Crepe, and it was fantastic! It came with a generous side salad with their house dressing. It's been rumored they were considering bottling their dressing, and if that ever happens I'll be first in line to buy a bottle.

I may not be turning into Pat Likes To Eat any time soon, but I am good at spreadsheets, so I can tell you that nine weeks into my year of crepes, I've eaten $93.35 worth (not including taxes). My favorite new discoveries are the Chicken Cordon Blue Crepe, and the Vegan Monster. Once the weather gets warm enough, I'm looking forward to enjoying some of the sweet classics on the patio!

Sunday Funday

Started with breakfast at Handy's with one of my favorite all-grown-up Gotta Campers.

Followed by a little fun at the pier, listening to the ice break up & melt, 

FURminated out Roger's winter coat on the sunny porch, 

Baked banana bread for my airbnb guest, 

Finishing up with packing my bags for St Louis!

Closing the Loop

After several years of renting out my second bedroom, I made it my full-time home office in January. I had some really great roommates over the years. It was a big chunk of relatively passive income to say goodbye to. But my freelance business is buzzing and needed the space, and I love having my sunny little home all to myself again! I've been finding ways to make up the difference, and still put some money aside for exciting things like fun trips! And home improvement projects! And some day soon, a new car!

Again this year, I will be renting out my entire condo to a graduate's family for the UVM graduation weekend. It's fantastic--a financial incentive to spring clean and then go away for a weekend? Yes, please! I found my renter on craigslist, but this year I decided to give airbnb a spin, too. After listing the whole condo, I figured why not list my newly reclaimed guest room too? With the airbnb system, an interested guest sends a request with the desired nights, and you can see their profile and approve or decline their reservation. What an improvement from craigslist! The 3% cut they take is totally worth it!

Just last night I booked my first guest--a gal from Atlanta will be arriving Sunday for a two-night stay, bringing in a total of $116. And the timing couldn't be better--yesterday afternoon, my water heater stopped heating water. And so my adventure began!
-On Wednesday, my plumber etcetera, Guy Henning, gave it a look and recommended I call a water heater repair company. (He didn't charge me, he's a good guy like that).
-This afternoon, the water heater repair man checked it out, and identified a burned out breaker as the problem. A regular service call is $80, but since he didn't actually do anything, he charged me $50.
-Don from Melody Electric just came and in only a few minutes, replaced the breaker. Original cost: $149. Subtract the $25 coupon from their website, I paid $124.

Total cost $174 minus $116 = $58. One more overnight guest through airbnb, and it's covered! I could not have scripted a better example of making my condo pay for itself, and closing the loop of cost vs benefit of home ownership!

Wordless Wednesday: Too Much Snow

beCAUSE we care!

This Saturday, March 12th, is the 6th annual beCAUSE Craft Show at St Michael's College! Each vendor pledges to donate 50-100% of their profits to a non-profit of their choice. I'll be donating my sales to Burlington Freestyle! 

Visit the website and fan us on Facebook to check out the full list of vendors, and see you there on Saturday!

Philanthropy is Delicious!

In January, the winter storage barn at Pete's Greens burned down. Soon after, Bid for the Barn, an online auction was put together to raise funds for the rebuilding effort. On the first day of the week-long auction, I boldly placed the opening bid on an amazing item: a crepe a week for a year from one of my favorite restaurants, The Skinny Pancake. I did the math, and knew it was a great deal, even if I missed a few weeks here and there. Besides, I was sure to be out-bid by the end of the week, right?

To my amazement, I won! I giddily mailed in my check, and this week received a batch of Skinny Pancake gift certificates in the mail. Rumor has it they're adding a button to their computer system for this, so these are just to get me started. (And unfortunately NO, they don't roll over from one week to the next, so I can't save them up and have a big party.)

I'm going to use this as an opportunity to stray from my tried and true favorites, and test some new ones I wouldn't normally select. My goal is to try all of the amazing offerings over the next year! In addition to seasonal specials, there are 35 different crepes--maybe more, if the salad in a crepe-bowl or the kidz menu items count!

Last night, T and I went out for the first of my 52 "free" crepes. The restaurant was packed, and I think our 30-min wait time stretched a bit beyond that. But once we were seated at the table tucked between the stairs and the window, we had our own cozy nook in the crowded room. I selected the "Chicken Cordon Blue Crepe," and it was amazing! It's one of the five Dinner Crepes, which are only available Thurs-Sat nights. T's first choice, The Cattle Rancher, was sold out for the night, but he was quite pleased with the runner-up, Lamb Fetatastic (both from the Savory Classics section).

Price: $12.95
Balance: $237.05
Average price per crepe so far: $250

In The Kitchen: Coffee Hazelnut Cookies

At Christmas time, I brought a box of Sugarsnap's Cookies for Good home to NH. The assortment I chose included Java Hazelnut cookies, and they were wonderful! I tracked down this recipe online, hoping to reproduce the yummy treat for my Gray Dog Media office-warming party. They were much crunchier than the original, and I usually prefer chewier cookies, but they were still delicious!

Unfortunately the office party was postponed due to a crazy snowstorm. Hopefully it can be rescheduled when the snowbanks recede a bit. The only problem? Cookies full of coffee really shouldn't be eaten too late in the day. Hmm...cookies for breakfast? Okay!

Wordless Wednesday: Snow Day

(Coffee Hazelnut Cookies--recipe coming soon)

Wordless Wednesday: Best Little Office Assistant Ever!

Resolve

I'm happy to report that 2010 was pretty damn great, so I don't have a huge overhaul plan--just more movement in the same direction.

Resolution #1: Finish all the books I've started reading.  I love reading, but evidently I'm not overly concerned with actually finishing books.  There are bookmarks tucked somewhere in the middle of about a third of the books on my shelf.  Time to get on that!  The added benefit of this?  Quiet time after working hours, not spent watching TV.  Particularly in the winter when it's dark by the time I leave my desk, it's all too easy to flip on reruns of NCIS while fixing dinner, and stay parked with Roger and my laptop until Conan comes on and I realize how late it is.  I don't like doing it, so I'm hoping to replace the habit with reading.  So far, so good--I've already finished Kevin Runolfson's The Things You Find on the Appalachian Trail and Raymond Chandler's The High Window.

Resolution #2: Continue to build Gray Dog Media.  I read an article on budgeting that recommends a 50/30/20 designation of your income: 50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings.  Saying I'm not at that point is a gross understatement.  It's more like 90/7/3.  I'm hoping to save enough to buy a new car this year, so that savings portion needs a serious boost!

In a move that will hopefully support the 50/30/20 madness, I'm officially making my second bedroom into my home office!  After several years of playing landlord, I've decided to take the leap.  My current tenant moves out this week, and I'll be excitedly setting up my office this weekend!

Resolution #3: Achieve a higher level of physical fitness.  In 2009, I underwent and recovered from ACL surgery.  Partly due to the fact that I was unable to ski for the '09-'10 season, last winter I gained weight.  In 2010, I lost the weight and then some.  This winter I'm returning to Bolton to coach the Mini Racers program on Saturday mornings.  I'm back at Long Trail Physical Therapy twice a week to work on some scar tissue issues, and get my left leg strength back to 100%.  Going for a well-rounded winter, we're planning a hut trip to Bolton's Bryant Cabin in February, and I'm thinking of getting myself a pair of snowshoes so Roger and I can get out and enjoy the snow on my non-skiing days.

Overall, I resolve that 2011 will be my best year ever.