Recharging the Battery...

This past weekend was...wonderful!! I spent a delicious and low-key Thanksgiving day with Hilary, Emma, and lots of other fun folks. A sunny hike in Briones on Thanksgiving morning turned into Operation Josie Rescue when Hil and I found a dog that had been separated from it's owner. It was really *really* tempting to take cute Josie home, but luckily (for her and for Cairo) she was reunited with her owner.


The rest of the weekend was spent in the OC laughing, eating, hiking, running, eating, and laughing with Ellen and Mike. Some champagne and cookbooks by Julia Childs and Thomas Keller made for a great Thanksgiving Round #2.


So here's the latest newness:

1. Eating at Kogi--the famous Korean taco stand in LA. UNbelievable. I think I consumed about 25,000 mg of sodium, but it was worth it. We are convinced that the magic ingredient in all Kogi dishes is crack.

2. Seeing John Oliver (of Daily Show fame) live. Funny, funny stuff

3. Hiking in the hils above Irvine.

4. Getting into my bind in yoga. That was a looong time coming. See picture:

5. Getting back in the pool. 3/4 of a mile felt like it took about 10 years.

6. Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. Not quite sure why I waited 34 years to do that but it...was...awesome! NO DISHES!!

7. New promotion: Director of Operations for Taste of the Nation, San Francisco. This year's goal is to get at least 2000 attendees and net $200,000 for hunger-related charities in San Francisco. If you're interested in volunteering..or just coming to eat some amazing food in April, let me know!

Beans, beans, the magical fruit...

What's a girl with 1.25lbs of ground turkey breast to do? Make chili of course! Cheap, healthy, filling, and yummy.

I tried a new chili recipe, one that doesn't involve beans! This is a recipe that I found on http://www.thefoodee.com/ and adapted a bit based on what I had in the house. It's deeelish and I don't miss the beans one bit! Neither do my workout buddies...hee hee.

6 slices bacon (I had turkey bacon in the freezer so used that)

2 celery ribs

1 green pepper ( I had 2 red so used those)

1 red pepper

1 medium onion

3 14-oz cans diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can tomato sauce (I used tomato paste instead to thicken it up)

1.5 lbs ground beef, turkey, etc

4 cloves garlic (ummm, I used like 8)

3 Large carrots (I added this to the recipe)

1 zucchini (I added this to the recipe)

2 teas cumin

2 T chili powder

1 teas smoked paprika

1 T unsweetened cocoa powder (I didn't add this)

1 teas oregano

3/4 c beef broth (I had veggie broth)

The end result? Wicked yummy and enough for dinners and lunches for most of this week. Garnish with chopped green onions, FF Greek Yogurt or fresh tomatoes.

Thankful....plus one more goal

Tis the time of year. To slow down. To look around. And to reflect on all the many things for which we are grateful. In these waning hours of 2010, I'm working to make gratitude a daily practice--to think of three things for which I'm grateful each night before I go to sleep.

To be sure, the list is long. I've been blessed with so much love, happiness, opportunity and beauty. Specifically...today...I'm grateful for:

-A strong healthy body

-A family that I love to the ends of the earth

-A job that I adore, and that challenges me every day

-The chance to live in the most beautiful place on earth

-The most special, hilarious, remarkable friends

-A new love that is sweet, strong and makes me smile

-A Thanksgiving spent, in my PJs, with my oldest and dearest friends...and wine

-A really fun Saturday that included spinning (with Kelvin!!), cooking (see photo) and cocktails with girlfriends

PS: The biggest goal, from my earlier post, for 2011 that I FORGOT to mention!! A half Ironman. Bring it!

Can It!!

What's a girl to do on a rainy, rainy weekend before Thanksgiving. Go to the movies with friends? Check. Take a hike in the rain with a good buddy? Check. Make homemade jams and preserves to give as holiday gifts? Check baby!


This weekend I'll tackle my greatest culinary project yet---homemade gourmet jams! I've got all the essentials: a pressure canner (borrowed from the best boss on earth), lots of canning jars, lots of time (did I mention the rain?) and Car Talk to keep me laughing. I'm still finalizing the jam selections but so far I'm leaning towards:


Gingered Pear Preserves

AND

Black Cherry Espresso Jam

and probably one other tbd...

So don't be surprised if:

a. You hear about a crazy lady in Oakland accidentally blowing her roof off from incorrectly securing the pressure canner lid


b. I show up at aforementioned movie or hike covered in jam-goo


c. You get some homemade jam for a holiday gift. Ho ho ho.

Can someone stop by and check on me at some point Sunday to make sure I'm not buried alive under a pile of cookbooks and jelly jars? Thanks.

Update!

If you're ever wondering what to do with 500 lbs of fresh veggies, some of which are weird, here's the answer: homemade soup!

This takes no time--you can make it while drinking morning coffee and listening to the news:

-1 carton low-sodium veggie stock

-Chopped veggies

-Can of diced tomatoes

-Can of white beans

-Salt, pepper, dried herbs

-Looooove

Low carb, low fat and high in all things good. Just eat with a few slices of roast turkey for protein.

New Farm Box...new discoveries

Another week, another farm box! This week's box had some things in it that I've never cooked with before including kohlrabi and radishes. Other yummy treats included yams, broccoli rabe, lettuce, raddichio, pears and apples.

So last night's dinner was:

-Organic chicken with caramelized onions and sun-dried tomatoes

-Sauteed broccoli rabe with shallots, garlic and pancetta

YUM.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with these radishes. Anyone?

Double workouts

Winter...ugh. There's nothing worse than darkness when you get up...and darkness when you leave work. I feel the winter approaching and the darkness creeping in..losing a little more light each day. This is traditionally my hardest time of year, being the sun worshipper that I am.

So this year I've developed a plan to combat the winter blues AND work towards training more aggressively for spring runs/rides. The plan involves twice daily workouts.

I shall give you a moment to stop laughing. Because yes, it is ridiculous, but it's also, I hope, going to keep me from going stir crazy during the winter CA rains.

So my plan is to exercise before work in the morning, and then follow up with an evening workout after leaving the office. On the days when it's not raining, I'll run at lunch instead of getting up at dark: thirty.

Day 1 of this plan was today. A morning hike and evening spin class. My plan tomorrow is a morning trail run and an evening hike. My goal is to do this 4 days a week. The other two days I can either rest completely or do one workout only.

With holiday cookie season approaching, this seems like a good time to get a jump start on both the winter blues and the winter 5lb cookie gain.

But don't get me wrong, I don't intend to stop eating cookies. I'm not *that* crazy.