Wendi's Weekend Trips & Whatnot

Travel. Food. Fun.

Zest for Life Podcast: Four Reflect on Running Turkey Burner 5K

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My wife, Wendi, the founder of this blog, decided we would run the Turkey Burner 5K in Hinckley, Ohio, on Thanksgiving Day morning. We ran around the lake at Hinckley Reservation. Wendi's sister, Randi, asked us if we wanted to run it with her and her husband, Shaun. We did. It marked the third 5K we ran since October 28. The first one was in Ashland. You can read about it here. The second one was in Dalton. You can read about that experience here. And, listen to the podcast below. We wanted to … [Read more...]

What is Cooking in that Trash Can? You Won’t Believe It

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My brother-in-law, Shaun Vahl, loves to cook, and he loves to try new things. He also tries some crazy things. During the summer months, do not be surprised if his dishes contain beer, which he might have brewed at home. In the winter, cream cheese is a favorite ingredient of his. Today, I want to highlight perhaps the craziest cooking method he has ever sprung on the family: Trash Can Turkey. The first time he made it, I was shocked. Trash can turkey? For real? Yes, for real. I do not … [Read more...]

The One Thing I Know About Readers of This Blog

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I am fascinated by what blog posts readers of Wendi's Weekend Trips & Whatnot gravitate toward. Normally, I just peruse the site stats provided by WordPress, but I wanted to get a little more granular, so I ventured over to Google Analytics in order to view a particular timeframe. Basically, I wanted to know what blog posts were resonating with readers so far this year. This is what I discovered: You like food ... and so do we. Here are the Top 10 posts of 2017, so far ... Gouda … [Read more...]

The Cake Boss in Manhattan has the Best What?

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Cannolis. There, I said it. Carlo's Bake Shop on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan has the best cannoli I have ever eaten. My wife Wendi, the founder of this blog, and I traveled to New York City, staying at the Hyatt Centric off Times Square, this past summer. We traveled with Wendi's sister and her husband, Randi and Shaun Vahl. We were walking all over the place (we literally averaged 10 miles a day while in the city), and on one of the nights we walked past Carlo's Bake Shop. I … [Read more...]

I Ran My First 5K and Lived to Tell About It

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On Saturday, Wendi (my wife and founder of this blog) and I ran the Ashland YMCA Fritter 5K. While I have run the distance before in high school (not as part of a sanctioned race) and have walked a couple 5Ks, this was my first time running a 5K, if you can call it that. I think you can because, as my brother-in-law Shaun Vahl says, "If you have two feet in the air, you are running." So, how did I get there? My new physician encouraged me. My primary care physician had moved his practice … [Read more...]