I now feel like a real runner!

Last Saturday was my first official 5K race. Sure, I've done countless walks and "fun runs" and have even logged a few miles in gym class on the days I showed up, but I have never considered myself a runner before this year.

I started running before the wedding as a way to get in shape, but also to relieve stress. Running after a stressful day's work, and around the town I love, feels amazing. Now that I finally have tunes to take with me and headphones intended to stay on during exercise, it's even better.

I just pop on the Black Keys, the Foo Fighters, my Irish mega-playlist, or whatever is my ass-kicking music of choice and lace up. I know I need to get back into yoga, though, so my muscles can get some TLC after working so hard and absorbing so much impact.

Part of my new year's resolution for 2013 was to run 2 5Ks, one of which I wanted to be a Color Run (I'll check that off the list on 8/30!). As for the other, I would just see what appealed to me. Well, after registering for the Color Run a few weeks ago, I decided, "Aw, hell, the Bordentown St. Paddy's 5K happens every year, and I've never nutted up and just done it," so I registered for that one, too. With just about 2 weeks to train. I was excited, but also petrified. I was still working on being happy with my pacing and time for running a continuous mile. So I set a realistic goal: I wanted to simply finish the race and not be last. As I began training, I firmed up that goal: I want to finish in 40-50 minutes, and I want to run more than I walk.

I also wanted to not look ridiculous. I felt that if I had "professional" gear, I'd take it more seriously and be more committed. So I bought new sneaks, some cool-weather running gear, and better headphones. Come race day, I felt good. I managed to beat my target time on a test-run of the race course earlier that week, and snuck in a one-mile run the day before the race to keep my muscles in gear. I stretched, I limbered, I psyched myself up, and I ran. I finished in 35 minutes, and sprinting to the finish line, seeing John there with the camera and a welcoming smile felt absolutely amazing. I certainly didn't place, medal, or set any records, but I did for me: I achieved a goal better than expected, and I set a personal best time for the mile, 1K, and 5K.

Part of my success has been holding myself accountable: I've networked with friends who are way better runners than I am for advice and support. I post my runs on Facebook via the Nike+ app on my phone. All of this is public domain, meaning if I don't deliver, people will know. This is why I've been so vocal about my goals: so people will help kick my ass to knock them out of the park.

Since then, I've bested my mile time again and my pace is continuing to improve. I'm running my second 5K in May, and hope to shave off some more time and be in even better condition by then. For now, I'm going to frame my first bib with a pic of my at the finish line and keep it on my desk at work. When I'm feeling discouraged, I can look at that and remember I can achieve the goals I set for myself, and I can always surprise myself with successes.

I've often felt the hardest part of a challenge is starting, and it's true. That's why the finish feels so good.

Run for your life, if you can, little girl...

In addition to lots of new tacklings in cooking and baking, I've taken on running as well. Over the last year, I've casually run a mile here and there. Then I got the JogTracker app on my Android phone. I was pleased as punch to see my iPhone 5 came with the Nike running app already built in! It's pretty awesome.

This weekend, I will run my first 5K, and I'm really jazzed. I ran the course on Monday to get a feel for pacing and whatnot, and I bested the low-end of the time I allotted myself by 3 minutes, meaning I was 13 minutes below the high end. Major score!

So anywho, stay tuned for a summary and some pics from that. It's forecast to rain, so I'm just hoping the rain holds off until the afternoon. I just want my first race experience to be a good one. I got new gear, but will likely have to grab some more...some weatherproof stuff. Ugh.

So now I have two outlets. I run after getting home, which is a brilliant way to shake off a stressful day and just unplug from life in general. That plus baking makes me a happy, sane woman. And of course my amazing husband and theraputically adorable cat.

Until next time,
peace out

New Recipes: Bun go barr!*

Successes all around! Rice puds: check. Brown bread ice cream: check. Potato leek soup: check.

The pudding was probably the hardest of all three, believe it or not, but only because it took foreverrrr. It has to simmer on the stovetop for an hour, then cool to room temp, then finally stow away in the fridge. Other obstacles included not having a proper lid for the pot I was using and thus having a few bubble-overs, plus a few burns. But it was all worth it. What I got was a thick, creamy, sweet-smelling pudding. I don't like rice pudding, so I deferred to John's culinary opinion. I made the puds for my father-in-law's birthday celebration today (he's also a fan). The only thing I can think is that next time I'll deduct about 10 minutes from simmering time so the consistency will be a bit less dense. But otherwise, it was much appreciated and, of course, devoured. Behold:

The ice cream was surprisingly easy. Which is what scared me...the recipe looked simple. Too simple. But nope: it really was that easy! I had already baked a loaf of brown bread earlier in the week, so that was honestly about 90% of the work right there. The recipe I used was no stir/no machine needed, so once I whipped it all together, I just popped her in the freezer overnight and waiting the agonizing hours until I could test it out. And when I did...it. Was. Amazing. Seriously. Out of this world. I'm drooling thinking about it...totally having a nibble for dessert later.

By the time I was finished with all that baking yesterday, I was wiped out. So I made the soup tonight after returning home from the in-laws'. Again, very easy! And oh so yummy, creamy, and delightful. We had small cups of the soup with our salmon/rice/broccoli dinner. Om nom nom!

Until next time, my friends, live deliciously!



*bun go barr = bottom to top in Gaelic

I'll be cookin, so hope it's good-lookin'!

This weekend, in between various other to-dos, I'll be logging some serious time in the kitchen with the following:

Scones (I'm hosting a how-to seminar tonight with some girlfriends who want to know my secrets)

Potato leek soup (St. Pat's test-drive)

Cinnamon rice pudding (for my father-in-law's birthday)

Brown bread ice cream (St. Pat's test-drive)

Last post I mentioned perhaps attempting this myself, and I'm totally going for it. The recipe I found is very simple and straight-forward. I also just found a second recipe that matches the first, so I now have 2 sources that deem this successful. I already have leftover brown bread from a loaf I recently made (I'll let it stale overnight), so I'm kinda halfway there.

Stay tuned for a post-weekend wrapup, hopefully with photos of my success. Though you know if I fail, I'll come put that on blast as well.

Speaking of failing...well, maybe I should say of falling. I totally fell in front of my building on Wednesday on my way to meet a friend for lunch. I went down so hard I was seeing stars. My right knee is swollen and bruising up nicely, and my right wrist has been in an Ace bandage for the last 2 days. My back and left hip twinge on and off, and I keep finding secondary bruises. I'm okay, but am looking forward to not hurting all over anymore. Oh, and this is totally not stopping me from my cook-a-thon. It'll take more than a slightly injured wrist to stay away!

In addition to continuing my food journey, another 2013 resolution will soon be fulfilled: participate in at least 2 5Ks. What I'm most excited about is the Color Run in August (although ::grump:: at the most humid, muggy, hot month of the year...). Then, since I was feeling crazy after registering for that, I decided to participate in my town's St. Patrick's Day 5K. Yeh. That's in 2 weeks. I haven't run all damn season, and wasn't all that faithful in the fall either. My plan was to get back in the saddle this week since it's still a bit light when I get home, but since my knee is a purple baseball right now... I hope to be able to get in some run time come Monday and build up so I can do the 3 miles on the 16 without keeling over. Oh, you may have noticed the date...so yeh, that weekend I'll be running a 5K, spending time with the BFF from RSC, cooking/baking my ass off, and hosting St. Paddy's. Yup.

I'm nuts. But really, would you have me any other way?

Looking for Spring to...erm...spring!

Guys, I'm ready for spring. I know, shocking for this snowbunny to say, but I just feel like if I'm not gonna get that work-closing blizzard, then let's just move on with our lives already. I can't wait until I can feel my fingers on toes on a regular basis again.

Not that I want 4 feet of snow crippling us like got dumped on New England, but come on...a nice 8 inches would be lovely (and yet still manageable). Sigh. The best we've gotten is a few dustings to make it look pretty for a day or so, but more than anything, we've had bitter single-digit temperatures and biting winds. No thank you. I don't mind cold temps, but wind need not apply.

And so I'm beginning to wear brighter colors and daydreaming about skirts without leggings and sandals. And letting my tattoo come out to play. Poor thing's been buried all winter. haha

I'm also thinking about what the heck my garden will look like since I have more perennials in the ground now that should, with any luck, pop back up come May-ish. My hostas already came back beautifully, so this year we'll see what the red hosta-like things do (they never quite went away...hope I wasn't supposed to cut them back...meh, we'll see!). I also planted my calladiums in the ground after learning they'll come back each spring as well. So I guess at this point it's anyone's game for what will happen! I'm looking forward to a fresh dump of crisp black mulch. While it's still cold out, though, I really should get some more bird seed for my feeder...poor birds. Here they are, in the lean times of winter, and I'm offering naught but an empty promise of seeds. I should really get on that... Plus, Hammy would have some new kitty TV to watch when the birds (and, inevitably, squirrels, come to visit).

I will miss a few things about winter, though, once it finally releases its grip. Baking. This is much less enjoyable once our apartment becomes a furnace in the warmer months. And the kitchen is the hottest room of all. Blargh. I'll miss snuggly sweaters. I do love nothing more than a crisp morning when I can toss on some jeans and a cableknit sweater. All is right in the world on those days. I'll miss cozy comfort food and cold-weather smells like nutmeg, fireplaces, hot chocolate.

Now that Valentine's Day has passed, I'm setting my sights and my menu on St. Patrick's Day. It falls on a Sunday this year, which means I can spend all weekend cooking and baking in anticipation! I've invited my parents over for dinner and to try some of my newer Irish recipes. I'll start the weekend with baking some shortbread cookies to have for dessert (though I know those are really Scottish...close enough!). Then John and I will have a brunch of eggs, rashers (once I find a suitable version...they really don't have Irish bacon readily available here!), scones, fruit, and tea. That'll hopefully tide us over till dinner, the first course of which will feature two of my new recipes: brown bread (already made two successful loaves-see pictures below!) and potato leek soup (haven't yet test-driven this). From there, we'll have corned beef, colcannon (also yet to try, but it's really just mashed potatoes with kale so I'm not worried), and roasted veggies of a variety yet to be determined. In addition to the shortbread cookies, I'd also love to serve some brown bread ice cream. I could either pick some up from our fav Irish restaurant, Dubh Linn Square, or I could make my own. I found a recipe for no-stir homemade brown bread ice cream that looks rather easy. And since I'll be making brown bread anyway...so we'll see how ambitious I'm feeling! Definitely stay tuned for the continuing cooking adventures of this Irish lass. Slainte!

And we have scone success!

Since my last post, I have made two batches of beautiful, perfect scones. The first has golden raisins. The second, which I'm currently enjoying, has dried apricots. My plan to adapt and combine  my never-fail soda bread recipe with the technique for making scones totally paid off. I have also made two different and equally successful batches of whipped/clotted/Devonshire cream. John likes the version with cream cheese, but I like the version without. With the first batch, we finished the strawberry champagne jam, and I just bought some nice strawberry jam for my next few batches (I've already got requests for more!).

And so, without further adieu, I present the specimens which have restored my faith in my Irishness:

Fresh-cut dough, waiting to pop into  the oven.

 And here we are, fresh out of the oven:

 Split with freshly-made Devonshire cream:

And here's the apricot version, enjoyed at my desk this morning with jam and tea:

Next up, I'm fantasizing about my St. Patrick's Day menu, which will include scones, shortbread cookies, and two new recipes, amongst other staples: potato leek soup and brown bread. I will experiment with both recipes next month so they won't be an epic fail on the actual holiday. So stay tuned.

Stay tuned also for birthday updates!

Holiday Baking Roundup, Scone Shame, and Crafts!

That's right! When I disappear for a long time, I come back with lots of goodies for you! Let's get to it!

Another smash-hit year for cookies! I busted out my classic sugar cookies and Russian tea cakes, and experimented with one variation and one whole new dough.

Tea cakes are always the same--my version don't have nuts, but are super yummy. This years, though, I felt were slightly too buttery, so I may have measured in slightly more than was necessary. And my sugar squirrels were delightful! Eventually, when we have a house to accommodate all my baking necessities, I'll get the rubber bands you fit on your rolling pin so the dough is always uniform. Until then, I'm getting better at keeping them consistently thick/thin. No squirrels were burned!

I varied my sugar recipe for the second batch, which I wanted to  be chocolate acorns to pair with the squirrels. I just added in some melted baking chocolate until it looked chocolatey enough. I seem to have added just the right amount because  they weren't overwhelmingly sweet--in fact, since the chocolate was bittersweet, it toned down the sugary-ness just right. Definitely a keeper!

Finally, as the piece de resistance, I tried my hand at linzer tarts. I figured it's good to have a yummy shortbread recipe under my belt, and since I typically make thumbprint cookies each year, this was a play on that tradition. It all started when I picked up a jar of strawberry champagne jam. I dreamed of sandwiching it in a linzer tart. Then I found a simple round cookie cutter and pack of 6 very mini holiday-themed cookie cutters to use for the opening on the top of the sandwich. Armed with hardware and ingredients, I dove in. Thankfully, the shortbread cookies came out delicious, and the assembly went off without a hitch. I used a loose leaf tea baller to dust confectioner's sugar on the top, and blamo! I kinda put some professional linzers I've seen to shame! So now I'm already thinking of how I can adapt them for other occasions--red or blue jam and a teddy bear cutout for a baby shower? Lemon curd and a star for graduations? Oh yes... and of course I need to get a Scottie dog cutout for the traditional Scottish presentation of the simple shortbread dough.

Below are some photos of the cookies (and the cranberry pies I made from a recipe Tara shared with me). Then we can talk about my epic scone failure. Yes, this semi-pro baker had a HUGE wah-wah moment this morning. But let's look at pretty things for now...

Scones. One of the couples we befriended on our Ireland trip purchased the scone recipe from the farmhouse we visited in Galway. They graciously sent it to me, as I was eager to try them myself. The Mrs. warned me she had trouble when she tried, as they live at a high altitude. I said I'd try it here and send her feedback. Well, altitude is not the problem. I'm convinced something did not translate. While the farmer's wife so kindly included measurements in metric and American increments, I still think there wasn't enough flour, as the "dough" never came together so I could actually knead it into a loaf and then cut it into rounds. After trying twice (yes, I scrapped the first failure after attempts to resuscitate it via adding more flour) to no avail, I plopped the too-wet dough into muffin tins and baked them up. They cooked, but they're decidedly more muffiny than sconey, and are kinda weirdly undercooked-looking. Hmph. So here's what I've decided. I've got a no-fail soda bread recipe I've used for years, and really, the recipes are the same. So next time, I'll just bust out the bread recipe and cut it into biscuits and bake it up that way. One victory from all this was making yummy Devonshire cream. It took about 5 minutes and even fewer ingredients. So more to come on that, as Irish cooking/baking season is only a few short months away! My friend, Jeanette, also gifted me a lovely Irish cookbook, and I'm eager to try a few of the less-intimidating recipes in there (hello, brown bread?)

Finally, crafting. I knocked out a few shadowbox projects on Saturday. One was inspired by a project on Young House Love, in which you use skeleton keys to represent family members. I made this for some friends as their Xmas gift. I then made an Ireland memento box and a wedding invite memnto box. Very happy with all results! Pics are below.

And with that, happy 2013, all.