You gotta love an ice bath

So first off, I apologize that I haven't updated all week. I started a new job and don't know what to write about. I don't want to write about all the funny personalities at work and thus I really had nothing to blog about, especially since J was away and I didn't cook.

So today I ran 16 miles. Yes, I ran all 16 miles, including the footbridge that I hate. I made a brief stop around mile 12 to refill my water, but in all, I ran for just over 3 hours and covered 16 miles of ground. Only 10 more to complete the marathon. Good thing its over a month away. Next week I run 18 miles - ugh! The ease of my running was aided by the beautiful, cool morning with little sun, and even a bit of rain. The last four miles were aided by the thoughts of an ice bath.

I came home (after breakfast) filled the tub and dumped in the ice from our ice maker and then J brought home a bag of ice from the grocery store. It was painfully cold, but oh so nice. It kept me pain free, until about now, when I am starting the feel the pain after sitting for awhile and then getting up to climb the stairs.

On a more personal note, the laundry is happily running in the next room, the recycling has been taken to the park, dinner is complete and ready to eat whenever we want and I can happily enjoy my beer and my sports on TV - too bad Time Warner Central Ohio is not showing Bret Farve in his new uniform and the rest of the Jets. I can just watch it online.

My GRAS comes to an end...

So Labor day always ends my ...gras. It's a family thing. J definitely tried to make up for forgetting my birthday last year. Friday nigh we had my favorite dinner - steak, baked potato, and creamed spinach (although I made the spinach) and of course - birthday cake! Which J made by himself! Very impressed. His first time since we've been together. I was very proud of him.

Saturday I ran 8 miles and then we drank with our neighbors and went to Little Bar with them. Where I saw some running friends and had fun. We then went to Bodega with other friends and home to nap. J left to "walk the dog" but I found him asleep on the couch when I got home 15 minutes later, dog not walked. We stayed in the rest of the night - a good call.

Sunday we had a great brunch at Sage and then did some shopping for our dinner at Weilands. Dinner was cheese and wine at Schiller Park for a play in the park. We saw Cyrano and J said, "I am surprised by how many people are here. I thought it would be us and like 7 other people." Clearly he didn't think other people liked culture or that the plays in the park have been going on for 27 years and thus it must be well attended. He also commented on how the average age of the audience was close to our age and not our parents and that led to the comment - "We must be getting old." You man are old, me I am still in my 20's! Young and youthful.

Finally, today we went to the annual Greek Fest - very uneventful and disappointing. I'm glad we didn't pay to get in. Then we relaxed at home while I read my book, sat n the sun while I could still take the heat and then went to a simple dinner at The Rossi. Now we are getting ready to watch 21, Tivo the Prison Break primere and get to bed around 11. It is my first day at my new job tomorrow and I need to be up at 6:30 to walk the dog.

All in all, a nice last weekend of summer!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So here I am - 29. Its going to be my last year in my 20s and I hope to accomplish a lot this year. I am working on many of those things but here are just a few. Kind of like a New Years resolution, because after all it is a new year of ME. I know I am a bit obsessed with me right now, but today is the only day I get to be. Birthdays are always a day to be selfish and self absorbed. Its the fun of it! OK, so back to my list of things I hope to accomplish this year before I turn the dreaded 30 - I know oh so old (J/K)!

• Run a marathon - I am well on my way with my training and am scheduled in just over a month, but its still a goal
• Continue some sort of regular running schedule after the marathon is over. I have never been this dedicated to exercising in my entire life. I have worked out now 3 days a week for 4-5 months and am proud of myself for it. I just don't want to loose my good habits when I don't have a schedule or a reason. Maybe I'll train for another one - haha!
• Enjoy change - I am starting a new job on Tuesday and its a totally new thing. I am working as a grants coordinator and it is a bit frightening to me. I have no experience, no knowledge and I am afraid of failure. Its a change and I just want to embrace it and enjoy it.
• Go to an OSU football game - this might be crossed off this weekend (cross your fingers)
• Get pregnant - I know this is easier said than done and its more in the fate of biology than anything, but I will cross my fingers and hope that by this time next year my belly is bigger and not because I am not training for a marathon.
• Decluter - We have so much junk and I want to get rid of some of it, I am just so lazy about this task. I would love to be more on top of it.
• Travel to someplace new - we are going to CA for a wedding but I also want to go someplace else. It doesn't have to be exotic, just someplace I've never been before. Like this year it was Nashville. Next year hopefully - Texas....

Ok, that's enough goals for now...reasonable, not totally measurable, but I will give myself time to plan, do, and reflect - oh teaching has taught me so much about goal setting. Now back to that teaching thing. Today is the last day for awhile - so sad!

The smell of fresh baked bread

I'm not talking about the smell of dad's honey wheat of mom's pumpkin and chocolate chip. I am talking about the Wonder bread factory. We only live a few blocks from it and a few times a month when the wind is blowing in the right direction, you can smell the bread baking. Its always late in the afternoon and the smell is divine. For some reason, today the smell was especially lovely. It made me want to go buy some Nutella and break open a jar of peanut butter.

Training Update

We are now exactly 2 months away from the big marathon. Training is going great and better than ever. I am able to run for over two hours without stopping and surprising myself. I would not still be training (I would have given up long ago) if I was not doing this for a cause and because so many of you have supported me. For that I thank you. You keep me motivated and going strong. I am not going to qualify for the Boston marathon with my speed but I will cross the finish line, before they tell me to clear the course.

Here is how I am doing. I completed a 10 mile race a few weeks ago in just over 2 hours. This qualified me as second in my category - I am an Athena if you are familiar with the running world. I am running a half marathon this Sunday and then on Sept. 28th, I will run my longest distance before the actual marathon - a 20 mile race.

I practice 3 days a week, short runs (6 miles now and 8 miles closer to the marathon) on Tuesday and Thursday nights and a long run on either Saturday or Sunday. Columbus is a great place to train for a first time marathon b/c there are great places to run and a lot of training runs available to race.

Let me not forget though, why I am doing this and why I chose Team in Training. Please continue to read on about the stories of those close to me. For they are the real reason I am running this marathon!

For more information, please see my fundraising page

Whip it Up - Week #7: Smoky Shrimp and Parmsean-Polenta Cakes

So normally when I get Cooking Light, I always find a few recipes I want to try. This month wasn't such a hot month for recipes. A lot of the magazine had Asian dishes that require a sauce or sauces that I don't use all that frequently. I would buy them if I knew for sure I would like the recipe and make it again, but I don't always like to take that kind of risk. Also, J doesn't LOVE Asian food, unless its sushi, so I am especially hesitant to try something new on him.

So in this month's issue (The Sept. '08 issue) I found Smoky Shrimp and Parmesan-Polenta Cakes. There is no link to the recipe b/c apparently they don't post new recipes in the year they were printed - hmm...interesting. After looking over the ingredients I realized I actually had everything (don't ask about why we had a tube of polenta. Just know it involves J and grocery shopping - enough said.) Also it seemed like things we like - shrimp, polenta, fresh herbs...so we were good to go. J and I had each done over a half hour on the Wii fit and we were hungry.

So here is the recipe (good thing its not long b/c I have to type it all in myself - ugh!)

Ingredients


1 T olive oil
1 lb. peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1/4 C dry white wine
1 T chopped fresh chives
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 t Spanish smoked paprika (we just used regular paprika)
1 17-oz. tube polenta, cut into 8 (1/2 inch) slices
cooking spray
8 teaspoons marinara sauce
8 teaspoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat broiler
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp to pan; saute 3 minutes or until done, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in wine, chives, juice, and paprika, tossing to coat. Keep warm.
3. Place polenta slices on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Top each slice with 1 teaspoon sauce and 1 teaspoon cheese; broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts. Place 2 polenta slices on each of 4 plates, top each serving evenly with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with parsley.

Yield: 4 servings

Question time:
Was the recipe easy to follow? It was only 3 steps. How hard could it be? Well, I almost messed up the shrimp and white wine step. At first I thought I had to add the wine, chives and paprika to the pan, but then I read on and realized I should just add it to the removed shrimp. Ok, problem solved.

Did the dish taste good? As J said, it wasn't memorable. I think that pouring the wine and paprika sauce that was leftover onto the shrimp and polenta was overkill. I also could have done without the marinara sauce (although without either it might have been dry).

Would you ever make it again? I may try it again just to try to improve upon it, but with so many good recipes and so many new ones to try, why waste the time.

Try it and let me know how it turns out.....

The Omnivore's One Hundred - as seen at Columbus Foodie

So I saw this at Columbus Foodie and couldn’t help myself. I love stuff like this. This was created by Andrew at Very Good Taste actually looked interesting.
Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/uncategorised/the-omnivores-hundred/ linking to your results.

* J put a star next to things he has tried because he likes things like this.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:


1. Venison *
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros *
4. Steak tartare *
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding *
7. Cheese fondue *
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush *
11. Calamari *
12. Pho *
13. PB&J sandwich *
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart *
16. Epoisses - ? Maybe
17. Black truffle *
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - ? Maybe
19. Steamed pork buns *
20. Pistachio ice cream *
21. Heirloom tomatoes *
22. Fresh wild berries *
23. Foie gras *
24. Rice and beans *
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet Pepper
27. Dulce de leche *
28. Oysters *
29. Baklava *
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas *
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl *
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut *
35. Root beer float *
36. Cognac with a fat cigar *
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O *
39. Gumbo *
40. Oxtail *
41. Curried goat *
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (I had it when it was made into cheese - does that count)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more *
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala *
48. Eel *
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut *
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone *
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal *
56. Spaetzle *
57. Dirty gin martini *
58. Beer above 8% ABV *
59. Poutine (we just call them gravy fries - so yes)*
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores *
62. Sweetbreads *
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake *
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain *
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho *
72. Caviar and blini *
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie *
78. Snail *
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini *
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict *
83. Pocky *
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef *
86. Hare *
87. Goulash *
88. Flowers *
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam *
92. Soft shell crab *
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish *
95. Mole poblano *
96. Bagel and lox *
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta *
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee *
100. Snake

J and I have tried a lot of things on the list. Another trip to Asia and we could knock them all off practically. What about you?