run beans, run

I love my veggies.

2011-04-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

The Safeway delivery man dropped off some broccoli crowns on Monday (yes, sometimes I do delivery Safeway) and I just couldn't figure out what to do with them. Thanks to the great dishes on Foodgawker, I was inspired to make a Warm Broccoli Quinoa Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing.

This recipe is a blend of a couple different ones I came across and I think it's going on my list of favorite kitchen experiments. Check it out for yourself :)

Warm Broccoli Quinoa Salad

1 c quinoa

2 c water

1.5 c broccoli florets, steamed

1 scallion, chopped

1/2 tomato, chopped

1/4 c almond slices, toasted

1 1/2 tbsp carrot, grated

1 tbsp onion, grated

1/4 tbsp ginger, grated

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1/4 c rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp sesame oil

pinch salt

Bring water and quinoa to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 13 minutes.

As quinoa cooks, prepare dressing by whisking together carrot, onion, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil. Season with salt and set aside.

Place broccoli, almonds, scallion, and tomato in a large bowl. Pour in half the quinoa while it is still hot. Toss and stir in half the dressing. Stir in remaining quinoa and dressing. Serve immediately.

April ingredients used: broccoli, carrot, onion, scallion

Lovelovelove the flavors and textures in this salad! Not sure how it'll taste tomorrow after being refrigerated...do I reheat? Could be weird.

I was also thinking this would be great with some shrimp tossed in there too, but it's also tasty on its own. I will definitely be making this again!

Racing through NYC - Part I

2011-04-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I took a whirlwind trip to the east coast to run the More | Fitness Magazine Women's Half Marathon with my sister.

See, about a year and a half ago (maybe 2?), sister asked me how she could get into running and I directed her to the best newbie resource I knew of: Couch-to-5k. Next thing you know, she's running her first 5k and nerding out about running and then the half marathon seed was planted. Muahahaaaa!

Y'all should know by now that I loooove sucking people into the world of running. It's a hobby of mine. Imagine how amazing it was to hear that my (older) sister was getting psyched to run a half marathon?? It's like double the fun.

She settled on the More | Fitness Half because it was an all women's race (unlike Nike, this race is completely closed to men) and pretty close to home. At first I thought about flying out and cheering, then I realized the race fell in perfectly with my training schedule and felt compelled to register. In my haste, I failed to recognize how rough traveling would be (on the bank account and body) and debated just eating the registration fee and cheering from afar...very far.

Apparently the airfare gods were on my side as I found reasonable last minute airfare and my 36 hour trip to the east coast was in the works. Here's how it all went down...

Saturday

7:45am EST

Wheels down Newark. Delayed. Did not pack for 37 degree weather. Begin worrying about my sparse packing job and how I plan on surviving on 2 hours sleep.

9:00am EST

WARMTH! Choux Factory breakfast with friend and her friend. Loopy and plane infested. I do not recommend meeting new people in that state.

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Itty bitty spot near the UN that serves tasty creme puffs (I recommend the original) at all hours. I opted for a chocolate choux (that I did not enjoy), an egg white veggie omelet (blah), and a massive coffee. It can get a little claustrophobic in there since it's a super narrow space with room for 2 small tables. Definitely get your choux to go!

9:45am EST

Bright idea to kill time by getting manicures/pedicures/massages. While this seemed like a great idea at the time, we soon realized that we didn't know of nail salons in the area. Ah well. Found one eventually. I love massage chairs.

12:30pm EST

Meet up with sister and race packets. Race swag was pretty good. Reusable drawstring bag, delicious smelling Lady Speedstick, nifty 34-oz water bottle w/ice insert, cotton t-shirt, calcium vitamin chew, lady products, and a kazoo. Hm.

2:00pm EST

Wandering the streets of NYC. Checking out weird bear sculptures.

Late lunch with friend #2 at Chop't.

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I miss Chop't. Full review here. My fave: Santa Fe Salad - fried onions + turkey (or grilled chicken), Tex-Mex ranch on the side. *drool*

3:30pm EST

Trek to hotel to check in. Stock up on water, snacks, caffeine. Veg to horrible late afternoon hotel TV. No sleeping allowed!

6:45pm EST

Dinner with friend #3 that trekked in all the way from NJ even after a monster lunch (hooray!).

Tasty sushi at Nomado 33 (full review here).

9:00pm EST

Race prep begins! Lots of pinning, outfit laying out, D-tag attaching and water drinking. Still not as tired as I should be. Wruh-wroh!

10:45pm EST

Eyes begin to close. Who knows if they actually stay shut.

Sunday

5:45am EST

Sister up and perky. Eyes pop open for some reason. Begin long wake up period. Snack on pretzel breakfast. Take 10 minute pauses between putting on items of clothing.

6:30am EST

Freak out. Temps in mid-30s. Do not have enough clothes. No throw away clothes. Wind. It's official. Packing/planning fail.

7:30am EST

Arrive at Central Park. Greeted by hoards of ladies decked out in pink and blue. Sister and I are in black/lilac and yellow/blue.

Wonder how we will stand out for our cheerleaders. Cold. I moved to California for a reason.

8:15am EST

Aaannnd we're off! It took about 10-15 minutes for us to actually cross the start line and it was CROWDED. Once we got moving, the cold and wind didn't feel so bad. Game plan - run together for first couple miles. Meet up after race.

8:40(ish)am EST

Spotted: our cheering section - nephews and brother-in-law equipped with signs around Mile 2! Wish I had gotten a picture :(

8:45(ish)am EST

Weather is now perfect for just sleeves...though I do look like a fool now that I see the picture.

Zoom. Rocked headphones for the first time and they definitely helped me charge through the hills, which weren't as bad as I remember them being! I still wish other people didn't rock the headphones since I found myself saying 'excuse me' really loud and no one budged. Meh.

The crowds didn't let up at all during this race and there were even walkers and runners that would run/walk 3 abreast and some would hold hands! So frustrating, especially when we got to the bottleneck-y parts of the course. Also, the finish chute was literally a chute. I do appreciate all the spectators cheering on, but they spilled out into the course and made the narrow lane even narrower. Plus, I found myself zigzagging a lot during that last stretch to the finish.

I know, I know, this was supposed to be an easy long run, but it's hard to not get all fired up at the end!

11:30am EST

Post-race glow.

I wanted to cocoon in the pile of mylar blankets it was so cold. Not sure how I'm awake at this point...must be the proud (running) momma in me! Nothing like seeing a newbie excited about finishing!

Tired yet? Yeah, now you know how I felt! There's more to come in Part II!

Potato Leek Soup for One

2011-04-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

What do you do with leftover potatoes and leeks? Potato leek soup, of course!

After my quick trip east, I wanted something fast, easy and comforting for dinner. I thought roasting the potatoes and leeks would add a little more oomph to the soup and if I had some chicken apple sausage leftover, I totally would have browned up some bits to sprinkle on top.

Wow. My soup is the same color as my bowl. Oops.

Potato Leek Soup

3 potatoes, cut into uniform pieces

2 small leeks, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 tbsp olive oil

1 c low sodium chicken broth

1/4 c soy milk

1/4 c skim milk

1/2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp hot sauce

1/2 tbsp pepper

Heat oven to 375. Toss potatoes, leeks and olive oil and spread out onto a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes.

As potatoes and leeks are roasting, bring 3/4 c chicken broth, soy milk and skim milk to a rolling boil in a medium pot. Add leeks, potatoes and hot sauce; bring back up to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Stir in salt to taste and remove from heat.

Carefully puree the soup with an immersion blender, adding remaining 1/4 c broth to thin soup out as necessary. Serve immediately.

April ingredients used: leeks, potatoes

Not bad for a quickie soup. I've got soup saved for the next couple of days...just enough that I won't get sick of it. Feel free to add more hot sauce if you like a little more kick in your soup. Just make sure it doesn't turn too orange ;p

Revisiting Jeonju

2011-04-03T07:48:00.001-07:00

Karena is in NYC this weekend to visit her sister and support Heidi through her first half marathon. So, I thought I would hop on and write guest post for you readers out there. Lucky for me there has been some interesting stuff in the blogs I follow. Chris in South Korea has posted two concise and interesting posts about a weekend visit to Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do.

Destination, Jeonju (Part 1)

Destination, Jeonju (Part 2)

I visited the city for a day during my brief TDY and enjoyed it very much.

source

That reminds me of something I was surprised to see as our bus pulled into the city last March. I had forgotten Jeonju was one of the host cities for the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.

Check out the Jeonju Castle, home of the “dos a cero” US defeat of Mexico

source

NYC Bound

2011-04-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hey all! I'm headed east for the weekend to run this with the sister:

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A smidge over 2 laps through Central Park...eek. I plan on taking this as an easy run, but I have a feeling that will be tough. Part of me feels like I should show Central Park who's boss since last time I ran through there (NYC Half Marathon 2008), I was totally crushed. Stay tuned for a race recap, fun eats, and 36 hours in photos!

Happy Friday :)

What's on your weekend agenda??

It's my jam

2011-03-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

Since I've been rocking the treadmill a lot lately, I've needed some serious tunes to keep me going. I have no idea how anyone runs more than 4 miles on a treadmill. I start to go crazy around 3.5 miles and that's with music blaring, TV on and a treadmill facing a big picture window. Respect.

For everyone that can't stand running indoors, here are some trusty tunes that I've had on repeat lately:

Easy - Groove Armada

Valerie - Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse

Drive It Like You Stole It - The Glitch Mob

Ooh Wee - Mark Ronson, Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg, Trife & Saigon

People Everyday - Arrested Development

Kiksu (Original Mix) - Albert & Kyau

Rocketeer - Far East Movement

Let Me Think About It (Club Mix) - Ida Corr & Fedde le Grand

H.I.A - Chemical Brothers

So What'cha Want - Beastie Boys

La Bomba - Ricky Martin

It Began in Afrika - Chemical Brothers

I'm always looking for more music, so please share what songs get you motivated at the gym!

Working it out

2011-03-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed, I've been on quite the group fitness kick lately. In addition to pilates and my latest obsession, Burn, I've added TRX to the mix.

TRX combines adjustable straps suspended from (very sturdy) ceiling beams with music and cardio. You basically use your own body weight to workout. By slightly adjusting angles, you can make your workout easier or more challenging.

A friend forwarded a promo for a free unlimited intro week so I totally jumped on it. I love free. My first class was an Endurance Training class, which I had no background info on. I (foolishly) squeezed my 2 mile run in during lunch and figured I'd be fine for my 7pm TRX class. Nope. Had no idea what I was in for.

So, in great contrast to Burn, this class was mostly guys - there were only 4 ladies, one of whom was the instructor. Equipped with a basic knowledge of how to adjust the straps, a thumping soundtrack and no shame in looking like a fool, we started the 55 minute 'oo, it hurts so good' sweat session.

The endurance training class is targeted toward people that participate in endurance sports like marathons, triathlons and the sort, targeting muscles and areas endurance athletes need/use the most. A little cardio is thrown in, you know just for fun, and reps are longer (we were doing 8 20 second reps with a 10 second recovery in between).

It was in this class that I discovered how weak my upper body and core are as I struggled with a suspended leg plank. It was challenging and I think I'm still feeling it in my abs 4 days later.

The instructor was super helpful and kept us going. She took some time to walk around and correct/adjust our form, which I totally appreciate. I got my butt kicked and absolutely loved it.

The next class I took was Power Stretch. I figured at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, it wouldn't draw a big crowd, but it sure did - every strap was taken! This class was the exact opposite of my first one. I knew it was going to be mellow and a stretching class, but I honestly didn't expect to be anxiously watching the clock. Friend and I agreed that the moves really didn't require the TRX and most bothered my knees even with a thick mat. Needless to say I probably won't be taking that class again.

Why do I like TRX? Same reason I'm into bootcamp and Burn - probably because of my gym/workout ADD. The 55 minutes zooms by when you're sweating it through a variety of exercises. It's definitely fad-y, but I'm ok with that. Still on the fence if I'll be returning post-free intro week. It's convenient to my home, but I think I still might prefer Burn and its super small classes. We'll see.

In the meantime, my core and booty are getting whipped into shape! I'm hoping this puts a little more speed into my step...I'd like to see another half marathon PR this year and no more injuries!

Leafy Lentil Soup

2011-03-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

Lately I've had soup on the brain so it seemed only natural I use a bunch of the greens I snagged at the farmers' market in a big vat o soup. This is a slight variation on another lentil soup I made and I think it's more than slightly better. I don't know if it was the chicken apple sausage or the Red Russian kale (or a combination of both?) that made the soup slightly sweet, but it was delicious! Enjoy!

Leafy Lentil Soup

2 c green lentils

2 links chicken apple sausage, chopped

3 small leeks, thinly sliced

1 carrot, sliced into thin disks

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tomato, diced

1 bay leaf

2 c kale, coarsely chopped

1 c Red Russian kale, coarsely chopped

1 c rapini, coarsely chopped

6 c low sodium chicken broth

2 tsp salt

2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 tbsp hot sauce

Heat butter and olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Saute sausage for 4-5 minutes or until they start to brown. Stir in leeks and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrot and tomato, cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in salt, pepper, hot sauce, bay leaf and lentils and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add greens and broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cover. Cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

March ingredients used: carrots, kale, leek, rapini

Simply Asian

2011-03-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

Simply delicious.

Kai-lan with Shiitakes and Tofu

1 bunch kai-lan, sliced into 1-inch pieces

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 c oyster sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp mirin

1 tsp chili garlic paste

1 tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp sugar

3 tbsp water

1 c shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 c firm tofu, diced

Heat oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Combine oyster sauce, sesame oil, mirin, chili garlic paste, soy sauce, sugar and water in a bowl; set aside. Saute garlic until fragrant, then add kai lan. Saute for 3 minutes, then add mushrooms and about 8 tablespoons of the sauce mixture. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tofu and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Taste and add more sauce if necessary. Serve immediately over rice.

March ingredients used: garlic, asian greens

This dish makes me happy. Partly because it's comforting and the flavors remind me of some dishes my mom used to make and partly because I love the variety of textures in one bowl. I ate mine over some brown rice so I had the crunch of the kai lan, the softness of the tofu, the squishiness of the mushrooms and a slight bite from the rice. Mmmm...delish.

In with $20...

2011-03-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

Out with $6. I think that's a successful shopping trip, no?

We finally got a break from the rain and I enjoyed a stroll around the farmers' market after my TRX class (more on that later). It was a surprisingly busy day at the market, but there was still some good produce to be found! Here's what you'll be seeing this week:

Two varieties of kale: regular and Red Russian. According to one of the farmers, Red Russian kale is a little tougher and a bit sweeter than the regular variety.

Leeks, taters, and A carrot. I'm still not sure why I only bought one carrot.

Kai-lan, or Chinese broccoli. I was excited to see a huge table full of asian greens - bok choy, yu choy, you name it!

Broccoli Rabe - I'm seriously obsessed with the bunches I get from Happy Boy Farms. They're not as bitter or tough as the ones in the grocery store and they cook pretty quickly since the stems aren't super thick. Love.

Cara Cara oranges! C'mon, you knew that was coming :)

Stay tuned for my creations!

Finding a balance

2011-03-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

Finding a balance between work life, running life and life life can be pretty tough. It's even harder when you're not much of a planner. Since I've had a lot going on lately, I've found that planning is necessary if I want to stay sane and be social while training.

Here are a just a few things that have worked well for me:

Color me organized

Setting up a detailed, color-coded calendar keeps me on track and ensures I don't miss any important events.

Once I know what races I have coming up, I devise a detailed training schedule and map it out on my calendar. That becomes the base for all future planning. I know it sounds lame, but training has to be a top priority no matter what your skill level. Plus, spending hundreds of dollars on a race (registration, travel, lodging, etc.) automatically bumps it up on the priority list.

Naturally this is synced with my phone so I get friendly reminders all the time.

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Sweat it out with friends

Get your friends motivated and keep yourself in check. Research group fitness classes in your area and recruit a couple of friends to check them out with you. Catch up over coffee, drinks or food afterward.

The group fitness classes I've come to love (bootcamp, Bikram and Burn) were introduced to me by friends. It's not like we were hanging out and chatting in class, but working out together lets you squeeze in much needed QT with friends. The great thing about group fitness classes is that you have to sign up and pay in advance. I don't know about you, but that makes me less likely to bail.

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Make workout dates

This sort of goes in line with group fitness. If you're not into spending money on classes or hanging out with large groups, set fitness dates with friends...friends that will hold you to it. This lets you multi-task - chat and workout! Some buddy-friendly activities: biking, running, urban hikes, tennis.

Run errands

Literally. If you have to go to the grocery store, office or need to pick something up, make it part of your running or riding route. I've planned long bike rides to meet people for lunch and carried portable bags on runs to the grocery store. Multi-tasking. Embrace it.

Lunchtime quickie

The lunchtime workout doesn't work for everyone, but if you have access to a gym (or shower), take advantage of it. Even if you're not a fast showerer/changer, you can still get a 20-30 minute workout in. To make the most of those precious minutes, I've found that running intervals is best. For easy runs, I've maxed out at 3 miles during lunch. Beware of the post-gym glow. I stay pink for at least 20 minutes after I get back to my desk. Eeh.

Don't sweat it
It's taken me awhile to accept it, but it's ok if you miss a workout. It's ok if you want to bail on a 2 miler if you've had a really rough day and all you want is to grab a beer with friends...as long as you don't make it a regular occurrence. It's also ok to shift workouts around to work with your schedule.

Happy training season :)

Beety Couscous Salad

2011-03-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

I still had 2 roasted beets in the fridge from last weekend (I decided that cooking them would buy me some time) and didn't have a clue as to what to do with them. I went with easy and familiar. It was a brilliant choice.

Beety Couscous Salad

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

pinch salt

2 beets, roasted and diced

1 c israeli couscous

1 1/4 c low sodium chicken broth

1/2 tsp tarragon

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp champagne vinegar

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan. Add onions and cook until translucent, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for another 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar, salt and sugar. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove onions from pan and set aside.

Heat saute pan used to cook the onions over medium high heat. Deglaze pan with 2 tbsp chicken broth. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and couscous. Stir vigorously for 1 minute to toast the couscous and make sure each pearl is covered in the olive oil. Add tarragon, salt and garlic powder. Pour in remaining broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Toss couscous with olive oil and vinegars; stir in onions and beets. Chill and serve.

March ingredients used: beets, onion

I don't know why I love this simple couscous salad so much. The beets were perfectly sweet and tender and they were great with the very subtle dressing! Plus, you can't beat the rich color :) Yum.

Eat your veggies with every meal

2011-03-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Or make every meal full o veggies!

Armed with a pound bag of mixed greens from the farmers' market and a couple other fun salad toppings, I prepped 3 days worth of salads. Why? Because I actually had time to and that's just what I do!

I'm usually pretty good about bringing lunch to work. I've found that the only days I cave and buy lunch are the days I'm either too rushed to make a lunch or make a really lame rushed lunch. I love the rare productive evening where I can prep for the week :)

Yes, I take the term big salad seriously. Those are the large round containers. I like to prep a nice big salad base (greens and a few key toppings) that I can simply toss into a tupperware, add a couple other toppings and take with me to work. Super easy.

Since mixed greens don't have much going on as far as texture is concerned, I like to add a variety of crunchy toppings. I see salads as a great way to experiment with new raw veggies. Like this guy, for example:

Blog friends, meet Watermelon Radish.

Not much of a looker until you slice into it...

Gorgeous. My radish wasn't as brightly colored as other specimens, but I still thought it was pretty. Since this guy has a pretty peppery flavor, I decided to shave some onto my greens for a slight crunch and bite. Whether or not it plays well with the fennel I sliced into the salad, is yet to be determined.

After the crunch factor was added, I tossed in a few of my standard salad toppings: corn, chick peas, pickled beets, arugula, and avocado. Then my salads were ready for the fridge. Dressings vary from straight balsamic vinegar to salsa to a scoop of hummus. Easy, fast and tasty when you're rushing out the door. Every so often I'll crumble some cheese onto my salad even though my doctor says consuming cheese on top of that much ruffage is just asking for trouble (sorry, TMI).

March ingredients used: arugula, avocado, fennel, radish

I know I'm not the only salad lover out there. What are some of your favorite toppings? Any must try dressings?

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Squash

2011-03-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

I've come across a few recipes lately that combine pasta with ingredients I wouldn't normally consider using. Cannellini beans, squash, breadcrumbs...weird, yet intriguing!

I had half a kabocha squash on hand so naturally I paired it with pasta.

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Squash

2 c kabocha squash, cut into bite sized pieces

3 leaves fresh sage

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

3 c broccoli rabe, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 tsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp chili garlic paste

1/4 c pasta water

3 c cooked pasta (I used brown rice penne)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss squash and sage with 1 tbsp oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Spread out onto a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes. Set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan. Saute onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Add broccoli rabe and cook until greens start to wilt. Stir in fish sauce, chili paste and squash.

Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pasta and pasta water and cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

March ingredients used: rapini/rabe, onions, garlic, herbs

Overall, it was a surprisingly delicious dish. Not as heavy as I thought it would be! The fish sauce adds a nice salty/briny flavor, but next time I might sub in some anchovies...I do love anchovies with garlic and broccoli rabe!

Artichokes with Sausage and Lemon

2011-03-20T20:12:00.001-07:00

There's no denying my love of the following things: artichokes, sausage, and Tyler Florence. Unfortunately, I had a mediocre experience with all three the other night.

I've had my eye on this recipe for Artichokes with Pork Sausage, Lemon and Sage for awhile now and I figured now would be the time to test it out since artichokes are in season! I made a couple minor modifications that I didn't think would make much of a difference and I just wasn't that impressed by the final product. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't horrible...it just wasn't as good as I had thought it would be. I ate dinner and all I could think was meh...all that work for this?

Seriously, the only recipes I follow all the way through are in all of Tyler Florence's cookbooks. He has never steered me wrong and the photos/descriptions are always pretty close to the real thing. That is why I was so shocked. Sadface.

Here are the modifications I made. Maybe I'll give this another go with no modifications. Agh. Still can't get over how blah this meal was.

My modifications:

Sausage - I used two turkey brats because I couldn't find a plain pork sausage and I was in a turkey sausage mood. I know pork is pork and it always lends more flavor to a dish than turkey, but I don't know how much saving the pork sausage would have done to the dish. Maybe a spicy pork sausage?

Onion - I didn't have a shallot on hand and I didn't have anything milder than an onion. I minced it up super tiny.

Potato - I had a handful of fingerlings leftover so I thought I'd throw them into the dish. They were pretty small so I figured they would cook fairly fast.

Bake - So the original recipe doesn't call for baking, but I wanted the tots to cook and soak up the flavor. I browned the sausage instead of cooking it all the way through and placed it in the dish with all the ingredients. Baked it covered for 15-20 minutes and dinner was done.

March ingredients used: artichokes, herbs, lemons, onions, potatoes

This was also my first time cooking with whole artichokes. What an experience. It's a whole lot of effort and dinero for a whole lot of nothing. I have a new appreciation for prepared artichokes.

I learned how to prepare them by watching a bunch of videos online and stuck with the original recipe for steaming. Exciting.

As those steamed, I enjoyed a glass of the wine I used to steam them.

O hello sauvignon blanc, long time no sip!

Stephen Vincent 2009 Sauvignon Blanc

Fantastic! Crisp, not too acidic and slightly fruity. I thought I tasted a hint of nectarine, but whenever I say that the tasting notes always say melon. Apparently my tastebuds confuse melon with nectarines. I picked this bottle up at Whole Foods mostly because it was the most reasonably priced bottle. What a pleasant surprise. At $12.99, this is definitely going on my list of bargain bottles!

Red red wine

2011-03-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes red wine makes me think of UB40. You know, for no particular reason.

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I picked up a bottle of red (sometimes Billy Joel runs through my head as well) while running errands and planned on enjoying a glass or two with dinner. I can't really say I enjoyed it.

Chateau de Gaudou 2008 Cahors

Blend: 80% Malbec, 15% Merlot, 5% Tannat

The first sip felt a little slimy. Do you know what I mean when I say slimy? It's like it's too soft on the palate and just didn't have enough tannins. Then, after I let it sit for a little while, it tasted too acidic. It was weird and not for me. I was pretty disappointed since the last bottle of Cahors I had was pretty freaking good...now if only I can remember the name of it!

Now, I can't just leave you guys hanging with a bad wine experience! Here's a wine I tasted at dinner while cousin was in town.

Arrels Grenache 2004
Slightly acidic and pretty tannic at first. I sampled this as part of a 3 wine flight and found that the first wine was too acidic and the third wine was too tannic. This one was perfectly in between! Looking back at all the blends I love, they all use a little bit of Grenache...maybe I was just meant to enjoy this wine :) I'l post more information as I find it.

Have you sampled any must-try reds lately?

Chicken, Brussels Sprouts & Taters

2011-03-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

All playing well together.

After Saturday's successful trip to the farmers' market, I created a pretty well balanced dinner with a bunch of ingredients currently in season. Some elements were more successful than others, but I've noted modifications in the recipes below. Hope you enjoy them!

To start things off...

Mixed Greens with Fennel and Roasted Beets
Mixed salad greens
1 beet, roasted and cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 avocado, sliced
1/4 c fennel, shaved

Vinaigrette
1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp champagne vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp tarragon
salt
pepper

Whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients and toss a small amount with the mixed greens (you don't want to douse them in dressing). Add fennel, beets and avocado on top. Toss before serving.

The main course...

Green Garlic Chicken Roulade
2 chicken breasts, butterflied
1 stalk green garlic
2 1/2 tbsp plain greek yogurt
3 tbsp parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tbsp hot sauce
salt
pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Puree green garlic, yogurt, hot sauce and parmesan cheese together. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Spread 1/4 of mixture on each breast half, roll chicken up tightly and secure with two toothpicks.

Place chicken in a baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165. Let rest for a few minutes and slice before serving.

Caramelized Onion and Brussels Sprout Hash
3/4 lb brussels sprouts, shredded
1/3 c caramelized onions
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp canadian bacon, finely chopped
1/3 c fennel, shaved
1/4 tsp lemon zest
salt
pepper

Heat butter in a saute pan over medium high heat. Brown bacon, then add fennel. Cook for 2 minutes before stirring in brussels sprouts. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-5 minutes. Add onions and lemon zest, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
1-2 c fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp dill
freshly ground pepper

Heat oven to 400. Toss ingredients together and spread out on a baking sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes.

March ingredients used: avocado, beet, brussels sprouts, fennel, green garlic, lemon, onion, potato

For dessert, Jamie and I snacked on a variety of baked goods we picked up on our walk through Chinatown:

Sweet Melon Cake (texture was a little weird...sort of like a shredded vegetable meets spongy texture) and Mini Custard Bun (not what I thought it was going to be, but not bad...moist cake with a tiny little custard bit inside)

Coconut Tart (Jamie was into this one, but I did not care for the texture. It was a moist spongy cake with a whole lot of shredded coconut) and Lotus Moon Cake (the ratio of filling to cake was weird and there was a salty surprise in the middle).

Personally, I wasn't that into any of the baked goods so I ended up snacking on one of the many oranges I collected that morning. It needed to be done.

Crabby

2011-03-14T15:57:00.000-07:00

It's crab season and what better way to celebrate than deep frying a huge dungeness crab and enjoying the tender and crispy goodness? Sounds like a perfect Friday night to me.

Jamie flew in for the weekend and first thing on our agenda: Salt and Pepper Crab at R&G Lounge.

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I was bummed that I forgot my camera, but apparently everyone snaps photos of this photogenic sucker. Thank you, Google images, for making my life easier.

So, the crab is taken apart, dipped in a delightfully light batter, fried and then sprinkled with salt, pepper and scallions. It arrives to your table with the pieces neatly arranged under the top half of the shell that is purely for show. Fantastic presentation.

Once it arrives, and you stop drooling long enough to grab a piece of the piping hot crab, the real work begins. O yes, you still have to pick the crab apart. Inside the crispy fried shell are super tender bits of crab meat...almost completely devoid of grease. Amazing.

Of course this crab picking experience is much messier and a smidge tougher than most since your hands get coated with grease and crispy bits. Totally worth it though, especially when you end up with a succulent crab lollipop. Ahhhh!

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Not a big crab eater? Well the above photo is the best I could find to depict said lollipop. Basically we're talking about those very rare moments when you crack open a crab claw or leg and find a big honking piece of crab meat. Heavenly.

As I've mentioned before, dungeness crab meat is slightly different from blue crab meat. Clearly they are easier to pick than blue crabs (more meat for less work) and I've noticed that the meat is slightly reminiscent of the texture of imitation crab meat or king crab legs. Blue crab meat tends to be a little less...dense? I don't know. Crab is just delicious.

To supplement the crab (there were 3 of us and I'd say the crab was a good starter), we also ordered the Three Treasures with Black Bean Sauce (bean curd, eggplant and hot peppers stuffed with shrimp meat in black bean sauce) and Sauteed Pea Shoots. The bean curd in the Three Treasures looked like it was your typical fried tofu, but no. Inside the lightly fried skin was a silken tofu stuffed with a little bit of shrimp. Not really a great texture combo, but I did enjoy the tofu before biting into the shrimp.

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I must say the pea shoots might have been one of my favorite dishes of the night. I've really only had wimpy pea shoots where the stems were thin, almost like sprouts. These were exceptionally beefy looking stalks of pea shoots and they were simply sauteed with some garlic and were absolutely delicious. Note: they don't list these on the menu, so definitely ask for green veg options!

Overall, R&G Lounge was a tasty adventure and I'd definitely return to try the Peking Duck (no wimpy flat pancakes here, they use puffy steamed buns) or Crab in Black Bean Sauce (essentially the same experience as the Salt & Pepper Crab, but goopier).

Are you a crab lover? What's your favorite - dungeness, king, blue, snow, soft shell?

Farmers' Market Finds

2011-03-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I wandered around the Ferry Building Farmers' Market instead of my usual local one. As you know, I'm not a big fan of the Ferry Building market because it's overwhelming, crowded, a little pricey and sucks me in for hours. This time around I set a time limit and had a general idea of what I wanted to pick up. In and out in 20 minutes.

Here's a sampling of fruits and veggies you'll see this week!

White Guavas (from Washington State) - I just wanted to open my bag and sniff these suckers all day long. AMAZING. I hope they taste as good as they smell!

Mandarins, Cara Caras, Minneolas and Navel Oranges - Yeah, that's a bag full of citrus and I already ate two in one sitting. I thought I'd give the mandarins and minneolas another chance and again, they were too tart for my taste. I prefer the Cara Cara. The end.

Brussels Sprouts - I've never met a brussels sprout I didn't like. I got about 3/4 lb for $4, plus a few extra thrown in from the farmer dude. You know, just for fun.

Green Garlic - I saw this on my list of things in season, but I had no idea what it was or what to do about it. It was in abundance at the market and luckily there was a very informative vendor on hand to tell me that it can be used as you would use regular garlic, but the flavor will be milder. He had some samples of a green garlic fromage blanc spread over bread. Delish.

I also grabbed a perfectly ripe avocado...though, it was definitely more expensive than at Safeway. Odd.

Stay tuned to see what I do with this week's ingredients!

The Letter M

2011-03-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

Today's post is brought to you by the letter M. M for Mandarin Orange.

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I'm really not sure why I'm on this random citrus post kick. I think it's because I've been in the dark for so long about all the different varieties? Eh. Whatevs. I'm into the knowledge sharing.

From the Wiki page:

Satsuma, a seedless variety, of which there are over 200 cultivars, such as Owari and mikan; the source of most canned mandarins, and popular as a fresh fruit due to its ease of consumption.

I grabbed a couple Satsumas at the farmers' market and these are itty bitty suckers! I snacked on one for breakfast and couldn't even handle how small the segments were! So cute. Flavor, not so cute. Maybe I don't know how to pick mandarins, but mine was super tart. Then again, I've only had canned/jarred mandarins before. These will not be appearing on the blog ever again. The end.

I know some of you are thinking: 'WTF? She traded in running posts for citrus fruits?!'

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Do not fret. I'll update you guys soon on the running front. I've just been too busy trying to cross stuff off my training list! Want to know what I've been up to? Check out the Training tab. I've got two big races coming up in April and May, so keep any eye out for those pre-race rambles and recaps.

Miss any other topics? Hate my random fruit posts (seriously, they will stop soon)? Want more wine? Crave recipes that use certain ingredients? Tell me what you want to hear about: runbeansrun@gmail.com

Comfort zone.

2011-03-10T15:38:00.000-08:00

Everyone has their go-to comfort meal. I have a bunch. Today I share with you a modified version one of my favorites, which also happens to be the fastest.

Brown Rice Penne with Spicy Broccoli Rabe

2 c brown rice pasta, cooked according to package

1/2 bunch broccoli rabe, chopped into 1 inch pieces

2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 to 1 tbsp chili garlic paste

pinch salt

parmesan

Heat a pan over medium heat. Saute garlic in olive oil for 1 minute before adding broccoli rabe. Saute for 2-3 minutes, then add lemon juice and chili garlic paste. Cook for another minute or two until greens are wilted. Add salt to taste.

Spoon over warm pasta and finish with a few parmesan shavings.

March ingredients used: rapini/rabe, garlic, lemon

One thing I absolutely must share: the rabe I got at the farmers' market is much better than any bunch I've gotten at the grocery store. It's slightly milder, and maybe even a little sweeter than ones I've gotten at the store. In fact, I might even go as far to say that I'd serve this to Jamie, hater of rabe.

The lemon juice was a new and pleasant addition to my comfort dish. It definitely brightens it up a bit by adding just enough acidity. Happy belly in less than 30 minutes.

Salmon with Roasted Fennel & Blood Orange Salsa

2011-03-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

Since I wanted to use my blood oranges in salsa or vinaigrette form, I did some browsing on Foodgawker for inspiration. I found out that blood oranges work with fennel and both work with tarragon and soon dinner was born.

Pan-seared Salmon with Roasted Fennel & Blood Orange Salsa

Fennel

1 1/2 c fennel, cut into bite sized chunks

olive oil

salt

pepper

Salsa

1 blood orange, peeled and chopped

juice of 1/2 blood orange

1 tbsp champagne vinegar

1/2 tomato chopped

1 tbsp shallot, minced

1/4 tsp tarragon

1/8 tsp cumin

salt

pepper

Beans

1 can white beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 tsp blood orange zest

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/4 tsp garlic powder

salt

Salmon

1 small fillet salmon

salt

pepper

Heat oven to 425.

Prepare salsa by combining all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Toss fennel with salt, pepper and olive oil. Scatter on a roasting pan or foil and roast for 15-20 minutes until tender.

As fennel is roasting, combine all ingredients for beans in a small pot and cook on medium low until heated through.

Heat a pan over medium high heat. Cook salmon skin side down for 3-4 minutes (depending on thickness) before flipping. Cook for another 3 minutes, or until done.

March ingredients used: fennel, orange

Ok, I'll be honest, I could have done without the salmon. In fact, I was happier as I ate just the beans, fennel and salsa. Had I planned properly, I probably would have tossed some jalapeno into the salsa, but I used what I had lying around. Not my favorite dinner, but I was seriously into the bean/fennel/citrus combo. Expect another experiment with those ingredients soon!

For dessert, a sweet treat from Tartine Bakery.

After our Burn class, we stopped into Tartine and since it was my first time there, I had to buy something! I went with the gorgeous Lemon Creme Tart which was just as yummy as it looks in the pictures.

It was a pricey treat, but it was perfect. The crust was just the right thickness and not too crisp or sweet. The lemon filling had just the right amount of acidity and when paired with the homemade whipped cream (which was not sweet at all), a perfect balance was achieved.

As you can see the tart(lette?) was as big as my hand, so I snacked on half at a time. Happiness.

The one thing I'd change: the massive dollop of whipped cream. I ended up scraping off about half of it because I thought there was too much in one bite. Meh. Not a deal breaker.

Blood Orange

2011-03-08T15:49:00.000-08:00

Not a pleasant sounding name for such a gorgeous fruit, is it? Today's citrus adventure (if you haven't figured it out yet): Blood Orange

From the Wiki page:

The blood orange is a variety of orange (Citrus sinensis) with crimson, blood-colored flesh. The fruit is smaller than an average orange; its skin is usually pitted, but can be smooth.

I grabbed a Moro and Sanguinello (moro is pictured above) for cooking and was pretty bummed that I didn't slice into some deep red.

No matter, it still tasted good enough for my cooking purposes! Blood oranges are great on salads, as vinaigrettes and as desserts (think granitas or I've even seen them in baked goods). I paired mine with shallots, champagne vinegar and tomato for a quick fruity salsa. They also go great with some fresh fennel!

Farmers' Market Success

2011-03-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

Rainy Sunday? Not going to keep me from visiting the Fort Mason Farmers' Market! I was worried it wouldn't be open on a wet and gloomy day, but turns out they are open rain or shine!

I was able to pick up a ton of fruits and veggies for under $20! Here's a snippet of fruits and veggies to be featured later on this week:

Broccoli Rabe/Raipini - We all know this is one of my favorite dark leafy greens and I was so excited to grab a fresh bunch for $1.50. INSANE! These are close to $3 at Whole Foods!

Mixed Salad Greens - HUGE 1lb bag for $5! This will definitely work for lunches this week.

Fennel and Beets - I've never seen such beautiful bulbs of fennel before...and there were bulbs a plenty! Also, these had fronds that were out of control. It was like I was buying a fennel tree! Smelled amazing. The beets were pretty big and the greens were plentiful too. I don't know if I'll be making use of the beet greens since they looked a little yellow...

Citruscitruscitrus - Just when you thought my citrus postings were over, I picked up a few more Cara Cara Oranges, some Mandarins, and a Sangiunello Blood Orange. I'll probably snack on the cara caras and a mandarin and save the blood orange and a mandarin for cooking purposes. Maybe a salad or salsa is in order??

Cannot wait to work my magic on these goodies! Where do you get your produce? Farmers markets? Produce shops? CSA boxes? Do tell.

Chocolicious

2011-03-06T15:38:00.000-08:00

The other day I got home to a surprise package with a note from the cousin:

Hooray for treats! I guess living in the land of Ghirardelli, I tend to forget that there are other fancy chocolatiers out there. From the mini book/map in my box o chocolates:

Jacques Torres Chocolate products are hand crafted with premium ingredients selected by Master Pastry Chef Jacques Torress himself. Every ingredient that goes into a Jacques Torres confection is made from scratch - from the marzipan and the marshmallows to the peanut butter. Each piece is a celebration of chocolate in its purest sense, and never contains preservatives or additives.

Makes it sound super fancy, no? I was too nervous to ruin the delicately designed chocolates, but clearly you can see I had no problem eventually sampling a few :)

How adorable are these?? I've already savored the Got Milk Chocolate (milk chocolate ganache with a kiss of cognac), European Peanut Butter (homemade with fresh roasted peanuts and hazelnuts in milk chocolate), and Grand Cru (fine red wine complimented by rich dark chocolate). All deliciously rich and a great treat at the end of a rough day.

I think they're worth sampling...maybe not such a great idea to have a box full just hanging out in the apartment though ;)

Orange madness

2011-03-05T17:05:00.000-08:00

It continues. Today's juicy experiment: Minneola Tangelo

I first came across this interestingly shaped citrus fruit while walking through Whole Foods. I thought it might have been a freakishly navelly orange, but no. Totally different. From the Sunkist website (again, because they just have better descriptions than Wikipedia, not because I'm a Sunkist nut)

Tangelos - a cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine. They are noted for their juiciness and mild, sweet flavor. Orlandos and Minneolas are popular Tangelo varieties.

So I picked up a Minneola on my way home from this morning's 9-miler. Super easy to peel, color was somewhere between a navel orange and my new favorite cara cara orange.

I'm not really into tangerines, so this wasn't my favorite citrus adventure, but I'm absolutely fascinated by the flowery scent this fruit gave off. You know how while you're eating, and immediately after you finish, an orange the fruit and your hands have a very distinct orange smell? Not these. It's like citrus meets jasmine tea. Very interesting...and no, I did not put anything flowery on before eating.

Testing the waters

2011-03-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

Since I've run into some overuse injuries lately, I've decided it's about time I started cross training and incorporating more strength workouts into my marathon training plan.

I've got the biking thing down, but that really only happens on nice weekends, so last weekend I tested out this fun new workout a friend recommended.

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A few of us signed up for a Sunday morning class at Burn's Valencia Street location and we were all pleasantly surprised at the 55 minute long butt kicking session. Burn is basically boot camp meets pilates meets random strength training classes you've taken at your local gym. Throw in a super enthusiastic instructor and a good playlist and that's my kind of class!

We did a ton of squats, some arm work with weights and then we spent some quality time with the pilates springboard (which I soon discovered is more challenging than it looks) before jumping into ab work. Let me just say that I was already feeling jello legged and sore 30 minutes later...and I was crazy enough to bike to class! Needless to say, I popped my bike onto a bus on the way home!

I'm still shocked at how sore my abs were - it hurt to use the salad spinner that night. HA! That being said, I'm going back for more. I love the sweat and jello leg feeling. The hurt that hurts so good. I love. Even if it had me hobbling like a fool the next day at work...

After this extremely successful pilates(ish) experience, I decided to schedule a private pilates reformer class with a coworker that is training to be a pilates instructor. I think part of me thought it would be similar to the Burn class...just lower impact?

Coworker is a great instructor; she's super patient and informative (I tend to ask a lot of questions). I felt the burn as we worked on my triceps, abs and some splits, however, it wasn't the burn that lasts. I walked out of there feeling like I got a solid hour's worth of stretching and I will say that my IT band, hips and hamstrings were feeling significantly looser than when I walked in. However, I didn't feel like I got a workout in. Is that weird?

I think I'm one of those people that needs to huff and puff and sweat buckets. I mean, let's think about yoga - the only kind I'm willing to do (and enjoy) is Bikram...where I sweat a ton! Is it any surprise I preferred Burn over regular pilates? I'll give regular pilates one more shot before totally scratching it off my list since this was my first time and I'm going to chalk it up to getting acclimated.

Mustard-y Israeli Couscous

2011-03-03T20:54:00.001-08:00

I had an incredible urge to make an israeli couscous salad with beets and caramelized onions and maybe a squash (no preference if it was warm or cold) this weekend, but managed to forget to grab some beets at the farmers' market. D'oh! I couldn't get to a decent grocery store to pick some up on Monday, so I shuffled my plans a bit.

I picked up a nice bunch of arugula at the farmers' market and thought a few wilted leaves would go great with the couscous and onions. The rest of the ingredients found their way into the bowl as I started cooking. Thankfully they all played well together and made for quite a tasty dish!

Israeli Couscous with Arugula and Caramelized Onions

1 c Israeli couscous

1 1/4 c low sodium chicken broth

1 tsp butter

Pinch salt

Sprinkle garlic powder

1/2 can quartered artichoke hearts

1/3 c arugula, chopped

1/2 c caramelized onion

1 large zucchini diced

1 c mushrooms, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp champagne vinegar

1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp maple syrup

Pinch tarragon

Pinch salt

1/4 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. Toss zucchini, mushrooms, 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/4 tsp salt and scatter on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes and set aside.

Whisk together mustard, vinegars, syrup, tarragon, salt and 1/4 tbsp olive oil in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine arugula, zucchini, mushrooms, artichokes and onions in a large bowl.

Heat butter in a pot and lightly toast couscous. Pour in chicken broth, garlic powder and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Pour cooked couscous over arugula/veggie mixture while still hot so arugula starts to wilt a bit.

Drizzle about 2-3 tablespoons of mustard vinaigrette over couscous and toss. Serve immediately.

March ingredients used: arugula, mushrooms, onions

Definitely a random mix of ingredients, but I thought they went surprisingly well together! Even though this was a warm(ish) salad, I really liked having a light coating of the tangy/sweet dressing with the couscous and veggies. I was a bit worried about reheating this for lunch the following day (you know, being vinaigrette-ed and all), but it tasted even better! I think there was just enough tartness and bitterness going on. Totally worth testing out.

Seasonably tasty makeover

2011-03-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

For those of you still reading (thank you!), you may have noticed a couple layout changes over the past couple days. There are more coming, but I thought I'd take some time to fill you in on the bigger changes going down.

I think one of the reasons why I haven't been posting as much is because I felt like the blog was turning into more of an online journal where I recapped my days and blahblahblah. I wasn't getting excited about writing and blogging was starting to feel like a chore. Not cool.

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At first I considered closing up shop, but then I realized I'd never keep track of my recipes and the blog was a way to keep friends and family back east informed. Then I started thinking about doing a major blog overhaul. That required way too much work and honestly, I don't have the time or patience to deal with that at the moment.

SO, Run Beans, Run is getting a makeover.

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I'll still write about the usual topics - running, biking, food, food, more food - but I'm hoping to keep the tone a little less 'dear diary-ish' and will work on my flavor descriptions. I'm also hoping to get a little more creative in the kitchen. Instead of making variations of trusty standbys (which I've noticed I do a lot), I'm going to try my best to experiment with different flavor combinations and actually follow recipes once in awhile (eek).

I do want to bring your attention to one important addition to the blog - please glance at the left sidebar for a quick second. Ready? Ok.

After a deliciously simple dinner with a friend, it occurred to me that I live in a city that is full of fresh fruits and veggies year round. I don't have to rely on grocery stores for my produce; I can head to a farmers market every week for fresh, locally grown produce. WHY AM I NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS??

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Anyway, I did some Googling and found a few sites that posted month by month lists of in-season produce (in Northern California) and the makeover was born.

Every month I'll update that little sidebar with a list of fruits and veggies that are in season. My goal is to eat and cook as many of them as possible. Canned and frozen don't count (because we know I love to dump beets, artichokes and corn on my salads year round). I figure this will get me cooking outside my comfort zone, especially when random veggies like nettles pop up on the list.

As you can see, I've already crossed a couple items off my list. As I use these seasonably delicious ingredients, I'll post the recipes so you can enjoy them as well (and I'll try to keep the salads to a minimum)!

I hope you enjoy my little experiment and maybe it'll get you all thinking about making the most of what's in season in your neck of the woods!

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

2011-03-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

I’m usually not a much of a citrus gal, but every few years I find myself going into serious orange craving mode. A few weeks ago I grabbed an orange for my daily fruit intake at the office and was amazed and addicted to the juicy and super sweet pulp. This was no dud. This was a legit orange.

Next thing you know, oranges are the second thing I grab at the grocery store, preceded by bananas of course. Without fail, I keep getting these crazy good oranges. WTF? Is this for real? It is. Apparently it’s orange season and I didn’t even know it.

On Sunday I paid a visit to the Fort Mason Farmers’ Market for the first time in months and holy oranges, Batman! I had no idea there were so many varieties! Since I was in a rush, I didn’t get a chance to sample and savor all the farmers had to offer. Instead, I grabbed a few oranges based on whichever had the most interesting name.

This week’s winner: Cara Cara Navel Orange

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From the Sunkist website (because they seem like a reliable source of citrus info, being the citrus king and all):

Cara Cara oranges, a type of navel orange grown in California's San Joaquin Valley, are available December through April. The bright orange exterior of cara cara oranges is similar to other navels, but their interior is a distinctive pinkish red, has an exceptionally sweet flavor with a tangy cranberry-like zing, and few to no seeds.

These babies are deceptively pink/red. Had I not peeled it myself, I would have thought I was eating a grapefruit! Of course, the minute you bite into the pulpy morsel you get a very very distinct orange taste. It’s sweet and slightly tart – exactly what I look for in an orange (yes, I believe an orange can be too sweet). The one downside to this winter treat is that it’s a bit tough to peel. I found myself struggling and hoping that I didn’t take a chunk of orange out with the peel. Perhaps it’s best sliced into wedges.

Return of the (chipotle) mac

2011-02-26T18:05:00.000-08:00

Something about a brisk and sunny Saturday afternoon just makes me want to open the windows and spend some quality time in the kitchen. Today we revisit my favorite kitchen experiment - Chipotle Mac!

As always, this tasty treat just needed a little help to make it all the mac it could be.

Chipotle Mac

5 c medium pasta shells, cooked

6 tbsp butter

6 tbsp flour

2 1/2 c 2% milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 tbsp adobo sauce

1 bay leaf

1/2 c gruyere, shredded

1 c vintage English cheddar, shredded

1 c extra sharp cheddar, shredded

3 tbsp panko

1 link chicken andouille sausage, chopped and browned

3 tbsp scallions, chopped

Combine milk, ground mustard, garlic powder, pepper, chili powder and bay leaf in a small saucepan and keep warm over medium low heat.

Heat butter and adobo sauce in a pot over medium low heat. Slowly whisk in flour. Once flour is incorporated, slowly pour in warm milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses.

Coat pasta with sauce and pour into a baking dish. Sprinkle with panko, sausage crumbles and scallions.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 375. Remove foil and bake at 425 for another 5-10 minutes or until top starts to brown.

I used whole wheat shells this time around and I think that was a really bad idea. I'm not a fan of whole wheat pasta in this dish because of the texture. Regular pasta works perfectly and honestly, if you are going to make some mac n cheese, go all out and rock the regular pasta. Just saying.

Since I made way too much cheese sauce than pasta, I scrambled and cooked up some 1/4 boxes of trottole and campanelle I had in the cabinet to make another batch. Way more photogenic and SO much better tasting. Ahh. So what if it's a random mix of shapes? It tastes amazing!!

Re: sausage crumbles - I first thought of bacon crumbles, but I had chicken andouille sausage in the fridge. It's tough since the chicken sausage is already cooked, so make sure you chop it up well in order for it to brown nicely.

Of course, if you have some regular andouille sausage lying around, feel free to slice it out of the casing and brown the crumbles that way!

Have you tried my chipotle mac yet? I think it's about time you did!

Presidents' Day...Napa Style.

2011-02-25T22:04:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I celebrated the much needed long weekend with my cousin who was in town from New York. Since it was her first time in the Bay Area, a trip to Napa was absolutely necessary. I've really only been wine tasting in Napa once before (my very first trip to the area in 2007), so it was a pretty exciting day for me as well. Unfortunately the weather gods were not on our side and we woke up to a gloomy, rainy Saturday.

Once we got up to Napa, the weather cleared up a little and we eventually found ourselves at winery numero uno - The Hess Collection

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Hess is tucked away on super windy Redwood Road, just off Rt. 29 (the main highway) in Napa. Not exactly a picturesque drive after a storm, but it sure is quiet and off the beaten path. In fact, it reminded me of trips to the wineries in Healdsburg that required us to drive through these long windy roads that seemed to never end.

We walked up to the winery and the gardens were perfectly landscaped with fun sculptures scattered about - all of which I'm sure look even better on a sunny day. The main building was covered in ivy (or something like it?) and had these huge wooden doors that were as heavy as they looked!

We were greeted by a very friendly host who told us that we had several options for our visit - we could head upstairs to check out the art collection, go straight to the tasting room, or join one of the scheduled tours for the afternoon. Since we were on a schedule, we opted to go straight to the tasting.

To our surprise, despite the bad weather, the tasting room was packed. We managed to find a small spot and for $10, we began our mix-match tasting of four Hess Collection and Artizen wines.

My personal favorites:

Hess Collection 2007 Mount Veeder 19 Block Cuvee

Blend: 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Malbec, 4% Syrah, 4% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot

You all know I love blends. This one smells wonderful and I think it's the currant I like so much. The tasting notes mention carmel and molasses, but I didn't pick up on those...maybe I just need another taste :)

Hess Collection 2006 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Malbec, 1% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot

Ok, I either really love blends or I love how Hess blends their Cabs with Malbec. I liked this one almost as much as the Cuvee, but clearly I wasn't buying both. The black cherry and currant are very noticeable in this one and while I also prefer bold reds with lots of tannins, I thought this was a perfectly balanced red. The tasting notes say there are underlying flavors of graphite and cedar box...I don't know about you, but I haven't smelled or tasted graphite lately. Eeh.

Onto winery number two!

Located on Rt. 29 with all the other Napa/Rutherford wineries, Peju Province Winery greets you with a long tree-lined driveway that leads up to a very unique looking building - it looks like someone chopped off the top portion of a tower and plopped it on the grounds!

After a little searching, I found out it's known as the Peju Tower and was designed by a Southern California architect named Calvin Straub in 1980(ish). Check out all the info here.

This might be one of the most informative and structured wine tastings I've been to in awhile. Upon arriving we put our names in with the host and were told we had to wait for the next available tasting. It wasn't too long of a wait and next thing we knew we were guided up a flight of stairs to the tasting room.

The tasting room overlooks a ton of barrels and fits about 10 people comfortably per tasting station (there are two). Our pourer was super knowledgable and enthusiastic about the winery and the wines. He started off by saying he tells people to sip the wine three times - first to introduce the wine, second to taste the wine, and third to look for the specific flavors.

My favorites:

2009 Chardonnay

Not a big chardonnay fan, but this is not your regular chardonnay. It's not oaky or buttery at all. In fact, it's crisp and light...almost like a sauvignon blanc. Hints of crisp apple and apricot. Very nice start.

Provence

Blend: Red & White

Our pourer started telling a story about how Tony Peju created this wine for his daughters who weren't really into the reds or whites and immediately I assumed we were going to taste a rose. Nope. I was introduced to a DELICIOUS red and white blend. Served chilled, this wine is slightly sweet and bright like a white wine, but not too sweet like a white zinfandel *gasp*. You definitely get a hint of refreshing strawberry and oh, it's SO good with everything. I imagine this would be perfect on a spring day. Or, you know, a gloomy day in February after wine tasting.

2006 Merlot

Blend: 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon

Normally I don't like merlot. I think it feels too slimy in my mouth and blech. Pass. This merlot, however, was surprisingly enjoyable. Maybe it's that hint o cab? I think so. It has just enough tannins in it to make my mouth happy, but not too much. I love. You should try it too.

Tastings are $15 and the fee is waived when you make a $30 purchase. Totally worth visiting and buying since the majority of their wine sales are in the winery and through the wine club.

We actually ended our wine tastings with Peju (I know, two is kinda wimpy!) so we could squeeze in a trip to the outlets. You think I'm crazy, but it's totally worth it. I went with friends to the Napa Premium Outlets over Memorial Day weekend and the sales were INSANE. Naturally I pointed them out to my cousin on the drive up and we decided that we could totally swap some wineries out to accommodate some shopping. Presidents' Day sales, hello! Do yourself a favor and knock out some shopping AND wine tasting on your next trip to Napa :)

Longest bike ride to date!

2011-02-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

Exactly how long is a long bike ride?

As a newbie coming from the world of running, it's tough to figure distances out. I know 10 miles of biking is not quite the same as 10 miles of running, but what's a long ride? You know, the equivalent of a weekend long run?

On Sunday Jamie and I set off for what I mapped out to be a 20 mile ride to ice cream. I learned why I took that spill the other weekend (apparently I missed the side of the street without the Muni tracks where I should have been riding) and we zoomed through the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park. Aside from a mini mapping fail on my part (I forgot the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon was going on and we ran into a bunch of runners), we made it through the park a lot faster than expected!

We coasted along the Great Highway, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, until we reached our final destination - Lake Merced.

Funny, it's not such a horrible trek when you're on a bike ;)

We parked ourselves on a sunny patch of grass

enjoyed a leisurely lunch, people watched, and I took random pictures.

After awhile, we decided ice cream just wasn't in the cards, so I came up with an impromptu route home...adding a little over a mile to our original route. Ah well. At least we were outside!

Check it out:

Total mileage: 21.1 - not too shabby!

Once we were home and clean, I decided I needed to whip up Ina Garten's Roasted Shrimp & Orzo. A friend made this for book club a couple weeks ago and I thought it was absolutely delicious.

I kinda threw it together without looking at the recipe and as it turns out, I was pretty close! I ended up poaching the shrimp instead of roasting them and I wish I had roasted them. I also subbed in a shallot instead of red onion and fat free feta because they didn't have the reduced fat kind I usually use. Note: full fat feta is totally necessary for this dish.

Springtime pasta in February

2011-02-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

This wave of mild weather put me in an even bigger veggie mood than usual. For Jamie's farewell dinner, I combined some seafood I had in the freezer (a filet of cod and some shrimp) with a few springy vegetables and tomatoes to make a light sauce to top some angel hair pasta. Light, crisp and slightly spicy...perfect for this weather!

Springtime Seafood Pasta

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

4 tomatoes, chopped

2 tbsp white wine

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 c yellow squash, cut into thin half moons

1 c zucchini, cut into thin half moons

1/3 c tomato sauce

1 cod filet, cubed

15 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tbsp basil, chopped

splash fish sauce

pinch brown sugar

salt & pepper

1/2 lb angel hair pasta, cooked according to package

parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a large pan and saute onions until they begin to soften. Add garlic and saute for about a minute before adding tomatoes. Cook tomatoes for 2-3 minutes over medium heat, add wine and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes.

Add squash and zucchini and cook for 4-5 minutes. Stir in fish sauce and brown sugar. Add fish and shrimp and bring heat to medium low. Cook for another 3 minutes before adding tomato sauce, basil, salt and pepper. Let everything simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta with a slight sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Sunny San Francisco Saturday

2011-02-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

This weekend was perfect for being outside - temps in the high 60s/low 70s, slight breeze and barely any fog - so we dragged our tired selves out of the apartment for a brisk walk down to Fort Point.

I've run down to Hopper's Hands many times since moving here, but I've never really set foot in Fort Point. In fact, I didn't even realize you could go inside. Hm.

On the way, we ran into some folks taking advantage of the beach-like weather (though, I don't know about stepping foot in the icy cold bay)

We also stopped for a little snackie at the Let's Be Frank cart

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I mentioned the crazy good Devil Sauce to Jamie before and we lucked out on this trip - they have a cart at Crissy Field! We split the Mutt Dog (half beef, half pork) and I thought it was a too mushy for me. I personally prefer the 'Hot' Dog (spicy Italian pork sausage).

Once we arrived at Fort Point, we walked in and wandered through the corridors

Up several sets of stairs

And once we made it to the top, we took in the amazing views.

Total mileage for the walk: 6.5

Friday night fun

2011-02-06T17:35:00.000-08:00

A long work week and Jamie's arrival clearly meant a Friday night happy hour was in order! A couple friends had mentioned a crazy deal at Maya in SoMa so naturally we had to check it out.

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From 4:30 to close, 7-days a week, they offer $5 drinks (margaritas and mojitos), $3 draft beers, $20 beer buckets (5 beers) and $2 tacos (petite). I think the tacos are by far the best of the deals. They're bite sized, tasty and arrive pretty quickly (the pork belly was my favorite). Unfortunately, getting around to ordering these delectable treats is quite a feat. Even after the big happy hour rush passed, we still didn't get much attention from our server (and we were a huge table of 10, mostly ladies). Not cool.

So yeah, definitely check out the pork belly tacos because they are amazing. Savory, rich and slightly tangy. Just don't go starving after work...you'll be waiting awhile.

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After a couple hours of waiting at Maya, we moseyed on over to District on King Street. It was a pleasant little stroll (much needed after 6 tacos, which btw, make a nice meal) and I was excited to check out a new spot.

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District had a strangely cozy, yet industrial feel to it and I loved the fact that it wasn't packed. A bunch of us grabbed a small table and settled in with a bottle of Siesta Malbec

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At first, I thought it was too fruity and heavy, but after another couple sips, it grew on me...very nice surprise.

Overall, a successful night of fun snack and drink finds!

Work it out.

2011-02-02T21:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm clearly not concussed since it's been over a week since my little spill and I'm functioning and posting. Again, ladies and gentlemen, don't forget to wear your helmets!

I'm also happy to report that my gross knee bruise is calming down and doesn't hurt that much. I can no longer use it as an excuse not to go to the gym haha. The gym and I are slowly getting acquainted, though I still think it's wrong to run on a treadmill when I live in perfect running weather.

I've started machine hopping partly in response to my gym ADD and partly so I don't overdo it on the running. Machine hopping at the gym means putting in some QT with machines I hate (read: elliptical, stair master, bike). A mere 10-15 minutes on each seems like such a chore to me :( It's slowly getting better the more I do it, but agh. So rough!

And so I present you with a few songs that have gotten me through recent gym trips:

History - Groove Armada (feat. Will Young)

Swoon (Boyz Noize Summer Remix) - Chemical Brothers

Scared of Me - Fedde Le Grand

More - Usher

House Stabs - Luke Vibert

15 Step - Radiohead

Tighten Up - The Black Keys

Give a Little More - Maroon 5

Pretty random selection, I know. One of these days I'll get around to refreshing my running playlist...

What do you do when you're trapped indoors for a workout? What songs get you through a terribly boring workout?

Post lame-o workout, I found myself seriously craving a dinner sammich. Weird, right? Originally I planned on using my Guacamole Tuna Salad as a topping for greens, but agh...this sammich craving was way too strong!

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*btw, still weirded out that Arnold is Oroweat here.

Topped one of these with some greens, followed by a couple spoonfuls of tuna and ta da! Dinner in 5! I was pleasantly surprised with my guacatuna salad (do you like how I've given it 3 different names?)...just enough saltiness, spiciness and creaminess! I was worried the carrot bits (I don't usually put carrots in guac or tuna salad) being weird, but they added a nice crunch. I diced them super small so the carrot taste wasn't too overwhelming. I highly recommend this recipe :)

Not only did I have a successful dinner experiment, but I also got another fun package in the mail...

New sneaks...times two!

So I tried the Inspire 7s on a couple weeks ago and sort of flipped out. I didn't like that they came up too high on my ankle and something just felt off about them. Boo.

I did some research on the Google and turns out they actually tightened things up a bit for a more secure ankle and arch. All that sounds great to me, but apparently my feet disagree :(

After that not so fun experience, I went online and tried to find a cheap pair of the Inspire 6s. I found them and ended up buying two pairs to tide me over. Phew. I don't know what I'll do the day I have to get new shoes :\

You don't say...

2011-02-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

It's February already?? Crazy.

So Chef Jamie was out in full force recently and he sent me this recipe for Avocado Tuna Salad. He said his attempt (with some subs and add-ins) wasn't too flavorful, so I made a few modifications of my own. Tasty factor: TBD.

Avocado Tuna Salad

2 cans chunk light tuna in water, drained

3 tbsp carrots, finely diced

1 small shallot, minced

3 tbsp celery, finely chopped

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

2 avocados, diced

1 chipotle chile, chopped

1 1/2 tbsp light mayo

1 clove garlic, grated

juice of 1 lime

salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in a large container, cover and refrigerate overnight.

I must say, I took a little nibble before shutting the container and the chipotle pepper added just the right amount of heat. So glad I resisted the urge to splash some Texas Pete in there! O yes, did I mention Jamie brought me some much needed Texas Pete on his last trip?? I still can't believe they don't have it out here!

Cannot wait to make a lunch sammich with this mix! I love guacamole and I love tuna salad sammiches....this has great potential!

Have you made any crazy flavor combinations lately?

Spinach Artichoke Di...Pasta?

2011-01-31T20:37:00.000-08:00

Temperatures dropped a bit today so I found myself craving a hearty, warm dinner. Unfortunately, I didn't get out of work until late-ish so I also needed something quick. Tonight's dinnertime experiment:

Spinach Artichoke Penne

1/2 lb penne, cooked according to box

1 c artichoke hearts, chopped

2 1/2 c baby spinach

1 small shallot, chopped

2 links chicken sausage (I used Aidells Artichoke & Garlic), chopped

1 tomato, diced

2 tbsp dry white wine

1 tbsp olive oil

light sprinkling chili flakes

slight dusting parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Brown chicken sausage (I like mine pretty brown so they aren't too mushy) and stir in shallot. Cook shallot until translucent and add white wine. Cook for 1 minute before stirring in tomato and artichokes. Cook for 2-3 minutes and slowly stir in spinach. Cook until spinach begins to wilt, stir in chili flakes, parmesan, salt and pepper. Pour over penne and mix well. Serve immediately.

If you salt your pasta water properly, you really won't need the extra salt at the end. The artichokes, parmesan and sausage add just the right amount of salt and flavor to the dish! Quick, easy and delicious! It also doesn't hurt that it looks a little like springtime in a bowl :)

I got a couple packages in the mail today and one of them was from Foodbuzz's Tastemaker Program. It's been awhile since I've opted in to receive samples and I completely forgot about this one. Hooray fun surprise!

This sample came from Pure Dark and timing couldn't be better! I've had this random sweet craving lately, plus Jamie's on his way here at the end of the week...here's hoping these samples last ;p

I got a sample of the Classic Bark - sheets of immensely deep dark chocolate studded with cherries, roasted almonds and caramelized nibs and the Chocolate Slab - a thick slab of dark chocolate. AMAZING. I broke into the Bark and holy delicious.

It's just the right level of darkness for me and the nuts and nibs were great crunchy additions! Didn't get a cherry (at least I don't think I did), but that's fine with me...ahhh love!

Great start to the week! Well...it could have been an even better start to the week had I been able to get to the gym, but alas, it was not in the cards. It's probably for the best. After yesterday's run, my calves were crazy tight/sore...even after a decent stretching session! Ah well, looks like the rest of my evening will involve hanging out with the Stick. My trusty buddy.

Good news is that I'm finally getting back into running pretty consistently. It's still really frustrating doing super short runs and spending more time stretching/stick-ing than actually running, but I know it's all for the best. GAH. Anyone have good workout suggestions for someone with severe gym ADD?

Spills and Thrills Along the Dumpling Road

2011-01-24T20:07:00.000-08:00

I bike for dumplings. That should totally be a sticker on my helmet.

It's true, I went for my second long-ish ride and once again the destination was soup dumplings in the Richmond. What can I say? I love soup dumplings. I love the cute little parcels sitting in the steamer waiting for me to attack. I love how carefully you have to bite into them so you don't scald your mouth with the juicy goodness inside. I love that there are so many places to find them in San Francisco :)

The road to Shanghai Dumpling King was a long and bumpy one. I took the same route Jamie and I took last weekend and was doing pretty well until I approached The Wiggle. Wheel got stuck, I toppled over and ta da...first big spill on the new bike. Had to happen some time, right? I just wish it didn't happen while I was all alone :\

Ladies & gentlemen, repeat after me: always wear a helmet.

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Always. I landed knees first, then hands then a little bounce to the front of my helmet. Enough for a wee bump. Now, imagine if I wasn't wearing one.

I was a little freaked out, so I called the friend I was meeting up with (who conveniently happens to be a nurse and brought me stuff to clean up with) and Jamie to make sure I had someone to talk to just in case anything went wrong. I eventually got back on my bike and pedaled my way to the meeting point in Golden Gate Park. Everything felt fine, minus the burning in my knees.

Once I stopped in the park, I lifted up my capris to find out that I had some crazy scrapes on my knees and calves. Thankfully there weren't any major gashes. Hurrah. I biked all the way to the Great Highway while friend ran and since I got to the ocean before she did, I sat and soaked up the amazing weather. Ahhh. Gorgeous!

Everyone was out and about and the waves were huge! Once friend caught up, we sat for a little while longer appreciating the scenery. Hey, it's what weekends are for!

We eventually got going again and trekked another mile to meet another friend at Shanghai Dumpling King. Luckily friend got there early (11:30ish) and snagged us a spot at a shared table. No waiting in line this time! Woohoo!

FINALLY, time to try the famed Shanghai Dumpling King soup dumplings!

We split 2 orders of the soup dumplings and an order of pan fried pork buns. The soup dumplings were good, but not as good as I expected them to be. Honestly, I think I prefer the ones at Shanghai House. The meat and soup are much more flavorful in my opinion...plus there's never really a wait. The pork buns can be skipped - mushy wrapper and not much flavor.

Afterward, friend 2 and I hopped on a bus with the intention to hang out in Alamo Square Park for a bit. I attached my bike on a bus for the first time

The video doesn't lie. It's really only 3 steps and there are labels! I promptly realized I need to work on my upper body strength since I had a rough time lifting my bike high enough.

It took longer than expected to get to the park so we paused at a random cafe for a sweet treat and outdoor seating. It was there that I got my first glimpse at this gem:

O yes. Golf ball sized bruise on the knee. Guess that explains why it hurt a little to jog. Hm. Advil + Ice + Elevation = my afternoon.

Friend split off to head to an appointment and I hung out for a little longer to soak up the sun and think about my route home. I decided to bike the whole way (avoiding the crash scene, of course) and logged in a total of 11 miles for the day. Not too shabby!

Recap and Revelation

2011-01-23T15:31:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty slammed with work since we last spoke, so I came to the conclusion that weekday posts just aren't going to happen. It's tough...after a day at the office and now trying to squeeze in gym trips (b/c pathetic attempts at 2.5 milers are really not going to prepare me for my spring races) the last thing I want to do is look at a computer screen. Hell, I'll admit it...I don't even want to shower, knowing I'll just have to do it again in a few hours!

So that's my deal...I'm going to stop stressing and post whenever I have fun stuff to post about. Fab. I know you guys don't want to hear about my dinner salads. Any fun lunch spots I explore, sans camera, can now be found on Yelp because it just seems like an appropriate spot for them.

Ok, moving on to a recap of this week...

Since I had Monday off, I took the opportunity to clean and get things in order. Jamie and I set off on a mid-morning jog (enh, more like a rough 3 mile shuffle...eek) that ended with a banh mi lunch. Originally we planned on going to Saigon Sandwich, but after some thought, we opted for a closer spot with seating options.

I picked up a banh mi at Out the Door the last time I ran errands and thought it was pretty good. I still think Saigon Sandwich is the best in the city (and the best deal), but Out the Door has really moist chicken and great bread (doesn't cut the roof of your mouth, but it's still crusty). At $8.50, it's one of the most expensive banh mis I've had, but I consider that extra $5 a convenience fee...at least for me.

Naturally, we ordered one 5-Spice Chicken and one Saigon Roast Pork and swapped halves. One thing I do appreciate about Out the Door is that they give you jalapenos on the side so you can adjust your spice level. My recent Saigon Sandwich experiences have been crazy spicy, so I'm cool with this little break. Personally, I think the chicken is way better than the pork, mostly b/c I'm not into dry meat. AND the chicken is better here than at Saigon Sandwich. Hm, maybe SS is the way to go for pork and OTD is for chicken cravings? Ah HAAA!

We picked up the missing ingredients for Jenna's Chicken Parmesan with Pepperoni (read: chicken. HA) and then we were homebound.

Jamie's flight didn't leave until late Monday evening so we had a late-ish dinner...super easy to prepare! I made a few modifications based on what we had in the apartment/what I could find at the markets nearby.

Chicken Parmesan with Pepperoni (adapted from Eat Live Run)

3 chicken breasts, butterflied

1 egg, beaten

1/2 c flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 c panko

1 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning

2 tbsp olive oil

1 jar marinara sauce

1/3 c fresh mozzarella, coarsely chopped

1/4 c parmesan cheese, grated

10-12 slices pepperoni

Preheat oven to 450 and spread some marinara sauce (just enough to coat) on the bottom of a shallow baking dish. This is a trusty standby I've been using lately:

It can be a little boring, so I usually dress it up with some garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes and fresh tomatoes.

Combine flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a dish.

Combine panko and Italian seasoning in another dish.

Dump egg into a shallow dish and get ready to do some breading! First coat a chicken breast with flour and shake off the excess. Dip into the egg and then immediately coat with the panko. Set aside and repeat with remaining chicken.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and brown chicken for 2 minutes on each side. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove from oven and blot on paper towels.

Place chicken in baking dish on top of sauce and coat with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with half the parmesan cheese followed by pepperoni, mozzarella and remaining parmesan.

Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts and serve with spaghetti.

Ok, so a couple things...

I know fresh mozzarella wasn't the wisest choice, but for some reason I couldn't find ANY regular mozzarella. WTF.
Bad sauce choice. You know how I mentioned it could be pretty boring? Yeah, REALLY boring in this. I seriously could have used some Prego or something.
I really only like pepperoni when it's crispy on a pizza, so Jamie and I were thinking maybe this would be great if we chopped up the pepperoni and crisped it up first. Sounds genius to me!

Not bad for a quick weeknight meal!

Why I love my new home

2011-01-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

Mid 60s in January, not a cloud in the sky, great weather for wandering, exploring, and sitting and reading in the park.

Perfection.

Dining about town

2011-01-17T08:19:00.001-08:00

Apparently we took on a bit more than we could chew the other day when we went on that 15 mile bike ride...

Originally we planned on taking a Sunday morning bike ride to run some errands before an afternoon jog. Enh....not happening. It hurts to sit. Gah! How do people bike every day?? Am I just supposed to get used to this?

We decided to take a 5 mile errand-filled walk instead and stopped for a quick lunch in the Marina. We popped into Marina & Kebab on Chestnut since they had a bunch of delicious looking wraps and platters. I went with the Chicken Gyro Wrap

Jamie got the Lamb & Beef Gyro Platter.

My wrap was pretty good, aside from some dry pieces of chicken, and Jamie's lamb & beef was seasoned well. They had a few other dishes I wanted to try, so I might return next time I pass through.

Our dinner plans brought us to the Mission where we paid a visit to Foreign Cinema for their Dine About Town deal. For $34.95, certain restaurants are offering a 3-course dinner or $17.95 for a 2 course lunch. I was really excited to hear about this since this is pretty similar to DC's Restaurant Week (which I loved). It's a great way to explore new restaurants that might normally be out of your price range!

The walk into Foreign Cinema takes you away from the hustle and bustle of the street and into a movie theatre setting with a long red carpet corridor to the host stand. We lucked out and got seated on the patio where they had plenty of heat lamps to keep us warm.

They play a movie on a big white wall and there are drive-in movie speaker boxes that line the sides so you can actually hear what's going on. This month's movie was Harold & Maude and while we didn't actually watch it, it was good background noise.

We sipped on some drinks as we perused the menu (I just had to get a glass of the Roederer Estate Brut Rose even though it was a splurge glass and Jamie began his Oregonian evening with a Bridgeport IPA) and started with a half dozen oysters. Jamie had an oyster craving so we split a mixed half dozen since we wanted to sample a few different kinds. It was interesting to taste the differences between the three. Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of any of them! I do know that we got 2 from Oregon, 2 from Nova Scotia (Saint Simone maybe?) and 2 from Washington. Ack.

Foreign Cinema's menu changes daily, so writing about our meal is going to be tough since nothing we had is on their website :( Jamie started out with a Sardine and Quinoa appetizer and I had a simple Arugula Salad with shaved cheese and pistachios. For our main courses, Jamie got the Orechiette with Mushrooms (with just a hint of lemon zest) and I got the Seafood Stew (with a spicy papadum on top). Dessert was a fluffy and slightly sweet Gingerbread Cake with Meyer Lemon Creme.

Overall, I liked the experience at Foreign Cinema, but the food was nothing spectacular. I liked my salad for its simplicity, but our entrees were definitely over salted. Our meal wasn't horrible, but looking at the regular prices, I would have expected a better meal.

It's dinnertime

2011-01-16T09:25:00.000-08:00

Since you can only do so much dining out/burning money, Jamie and I settled in for a nice, post ride home cooked meal. Originally we had planned on making Jenna's Chicken Parmesan with Pepperoni (totally up Jamie's alley), but as soon as we were settled and ready to make dinner, we realized one ingredient was missing.

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O yeah, that one. Kinda important, no? So we had to rethink dinner with what we had. Pork chops in the fridge, coconut ginger rice in the cabinet, salad fixins. Perfect.

I found this recipe for Miso Glazed Pork Chops on Foodgawker and modified it a bit to work with what we had in the apartment.

Miso Glazed Pork Chops

1 tbsp miso paste

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp white wine

1 tbsp mirin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

juice of half a lemon

3 boneless pork chops

Whisk all ingredients together and marinate pork for 20 minutes on each side. Heat a grill pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side.

Spoon marinade over pork and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Served with some coconut rice and a big bowl of salad

Well balanced dinner!

Beers, Bacon, Bikes and Bao!

2011-01-15T18:13:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Jamie's arrival, we met up with a few friends in the Haight to check out Magnolia Pub & Brewery. I came across it on Yelp after searching for beer-heavy places for happy hour. The reviews intrigued me and I was looking forward to sharing a new neighborhood adventure with Jamie. Ta da!

It was a 2-bus trip, but I thought it was worth it. We were dumped off right across from the bar and it looked pretty cozy from the outside. We walked in and it reminded me of an old diner/coffee shop more than a bar. It was standing room only, so we moseyed on over to the bar and waited for friends. I started with the Kalifornia Kolsch and Jamie got the Piper Pale Ale. Mine was kinda wee for some reason and our total came to $9. Enh, maybe no happy hour special??

I really liked my second beer - the Proving Ground IPA. They offered it as draught or cask and I went with draught mostly because I had no idea what cask was. Later on I found out that cask beers are a little warmer and are a little less carbonated. Interesting. Personally, I enjoy a chilly, bubbly beer.

We eventually decided to do dinner so we grabbed a table in the small dining area. To kick things off, we ordered some Devils on Horseback (goat cheese-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon).

DELISH. Perfectly crisp on the outside and the dates were massive. Just a note, they came 2 per order, but they are able to work with odd numbers.

Jamie and I split a 1/2 lb Prather Ranch burger with pepperjack cheese. It was beefy and paired perfectly with the Blue Bell Bitter (my favorite beer of the night...it was like a Boddington's with just a little bit of a bite). We also split the Seafood Boudin Sausage (bay scallop, rock shrimp, nutmeg with dirty rice), which was pretty bland. I wasn't into the texture of it or the lack of flavor in the dirty rice. Meh.

Overall, I really liked Magnolia. Turns out they have a pretty sweet Tuesday happy hour deal...I'd definitely check it out. Totally worth the 2-bus trip!

We were up bright and early this morning and headed off to High Trails Cyclery to pick up Jamie's Christmirthday present. We had such a great experience while buying my bike so it seemed only natural to return for Jamie's.

He was determined to get the guy's version of mine, but after a couple test rides, he went with one just a step up from mine. Fancy.

We immediately headed off on our crosstown adventure that was supposed to take us approximately 6 flat-ish miles to lunch and then another 4 miles to Ocean Beach and along the Great Highway. Sometimes I have mapping fails. We all know this by now!

After biking downtown and through the Castro, we made our way through The Wiggle, a mile long zig-zag that is known for being fairly flat and biker-friendly. Perfect!

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The Wiggle dumped us out at the eastern-most side of the Panhandle and we made our way through the quiet bike path and took a quick pause. Then we had to take a little detour to deal with a flat tire (thankfully we rocked the smart phones and found out The Freewheel Bike Shop was just a couple blocks away). A few minutes later we were back in action and on our way through Golden Gate Park.

Then we hit a random slew of hills as we were mere blocks from our destination - Shanghai Dumpling King. I could just taste the xiao long baos! SO HUNGRY! After huffing and puffing up a large hill, I just wanted to sit and enjoy a piping hot, savory, meaty soup dumpling. It just wasn't in the cards. The wait was much longer than we were willing to deal with so we biked a couple blocks over to Shanghai House. I've been here before and they have delicious xiao long bao, but I just had my heart set on trying SF's 'best shanghai dumplings'. Ah well, maybe next time.

In addition to these little nuggets of soupy goodness

we also ordered the Vegetarian Goose

It's an odd name for mushrooms wrapped in tofu skin, but I LOVE IT. I didn't love this one, though. I'm used to it being served chilled without sauces. This version was warm, fried crisp on the outside and with some sauce drizzled on it. It was good, but just not what I was looking for.

We also got the Green Onion Pancake

Standard order whenever we're at a Chinese restaurant, but not a favorite of mine. These were a little greasier than I'm used to and they just weren't that exciting.

And to close things out, we had some Pork and Vegetable Dumplings

They smelled very cabbage-y and just paled in comparison to the flavors going on in the soup dumplings. I'm pretty sure they were boiled and the skin was super thick. Yeaahh, not going to order these again. Honestly, I would have been content with two orders of soup dumplings. I love them that much. *drool*

Bellies full of food, we began our trek back to my neck of the woods. We basically back tracked with a few little detours (apparently we went down a few one way streets the first time around) and then we encountered some not so friendly hills. Eeeh.

When we got home, I mapped our little adventure and instead of the planned 10 mile ride with a bus ride back, it turns out we rode 15.3 miles. DANG!

That elevation profile is no joke either. Kinda crazy for someone that's only gone on 3 long-ish bike rides as an adult and someone who hasn't ridden in awhile!

I'm proud of our excursion and the fact that I actually rode in heavy traffic - a first for me - and survived! :) Woohoo! Perfect Saturday afternoon (perfect weather too at around 65 degrees!).

Addicted Much?

2011-01-14T12:00:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I sat at my computer patiently waiting for registration to open for the MoreFitness Magazine Women's Half Marathon. I don't think I've ever done that before...

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See, it will be the sister's introduction to the 13.1 club and I figured, well, if I'm going to fly across the country to cheer I might as well join in on the fun. Plus, I've got beef with Central Park.

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The last time we met (NYC Half Marathon 2008), I got my butt kicked by 7 miles of rolling hills and crazy heat. This time I'm coming prepared. Central Park, you ain't got s$#! on my hills!

Enter crazy talk...

I woke up yesterday morning thinking, you know what would be great? If I could finish 10 half marathons before my 30th birthday (which is totally creeping up). Why? I like the sound of 10. It sounds better than 9. Just like 5 seemed like a good number for marathons. I also think it makes the race a little more meaningful. Sister's first, my 10th, another one hooked on running...awesome.

Now, I know there's no way I can properly prepare for the Kaiser Half in February, BUT I was considering this: Oakland Half Marathon (3/27/11). Anyone hear anything good or bad about the Oakland Half?

Again, it's not really critical for me to squeeze #9 in before April (and I won't if I'm not prepared), but I'd like for it to work out. Any other races you know of in California in March?

Enough about my running addiction. Let's move on to this week's food & drink adventure!

Went to happy hour last night with some coworkers and discovered quite a nice deal! We went to Perry's (the Steuart Street location) and they had some pretty decent specials. $5 wine, well drinks and draft beers; $4 domestic bottles; and $5 appetizers. I sipped on a Big Daddy IPA and an Anchor Steam (yay local brews!) and we snacked on some Potato Skins and Calamari to start.

We were all craving real food, so a few of us split burgers. I split a burger with pepperjack cheese and sweet potato fries with one coworker and not only was it filling and reasonably priced at $5.25 each, but it arrived already split for us! I love when places do that...it's less messy and it ensures each person gets just the right amount! I don't even think they charged extra for splitting. Score.

We like condiments.

Happy hour runs til 6:30 and it wasn't too packed on a Thursday evening. Cozy and not too loud...I'd return.

I was a little concerned about how I'd get home afterward. I really hate the commute from my office area after peak transit hours. It usually means my ride is twice as long and involves multiple modes of transport. Boo. I was also trying to be responsible by not blowing money on a cab home. Luckily, I caught a muni train just as it was leaving the station AND was able to squeeze onto a cable car right before the driver pulled the ding ding cord to leave! Phew!

Ok, maybe not the most appropriate ride home considering the only spot left for me was one of the standing/hanging spots...it made me nervous. Clearly I did not fall off since I'm typing this ;p

Gorgeous evening, good company, tasty snacks...perfect way to ease into a long weekend :)

Inspired.

2011-01-13T20:16:00.000-08:00

I was catching up on blogs the other day and came across quite the delicious post on Burp and Slurp, not that it comes as a huge surprise.

Turns out Sophia and her friends partied with some dumplings over winter break. Lucky.

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Her post had me drooling at my desk and craving dumplings, all before 9am. So wrong, yet so right!

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It also inspired me to throw a make your own dumpling party. Date and guests are still TBD, but I'm determined to make it happen. Think about it...it's way more interactive than make your own pizza night and you can steam or boil and snack as you go! Add a little vino, good friends, good conversation...voila! Perfect Friday evening in. Yes, I will make this happen. Soon, my blog friends, soon.

In the meantime, I'm daydreaming about the biking/dumpling adventure I have planned for Saturday while Jamie's here. Plan is to bike across the city with a pit stop at Shanghai House for some much needed soup dumpling action. Cannot wait. Nothing warms you up better than some steamed soup dumplings!

What would you do for a 'make your own' party?

Rosemary Cod Cakes

2011-01-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

I had some cod. I had some leftover Carr's crackers. It seemed only natural to mash them all together. The result? A quick batch of fish cakes good enough to top a salad.

*man, I need to invest in some better lighting.

Rosemary Cod Cakes

1 cod fillet, minced

5 rosemary crackers (or you can sub in some buttery Ritz crackers and some rosemary), crushed

1/2 egg, beaten

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp coconut milk

pinch cayenne pepper

2 tbsp oil

1/4 c panko

Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Form into 4 patties, coat with panko and chill for 10 minutes. Heat oil in a pan and cook cakes for 3 minutes on each side.

I'm still in my 'all veggies, all the time' mood, so naturally I popped these on a salad with some of my favorite random toppings. Those big dark circles: pickled beets. YUM. They taste way better than they look in that photo. Any tips on shooting better photos? I can't exactly splurge on fancy schmancy lighting and that crazy hint o yellow comes from my kitchen and dining room lights.

As for the cakes...they weren't my favorite, but they were a quick weeknight dish that incorporated a couple ingredients that really needed to be used. Hm. Maybe I'll add that to my list of goals. Try to do one meal a week that only uses ingredients that exist in my kitchen? It'll force me to be creative! Sold. Hurrah!

Lofty Goals

2011-01-10T20:08:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to cleaning out Google Reader (there were seriously 500+ posts to read. eek) and I felt a little bit better about my disappearance from the blog world. It appears that a few of you took a mini break as well! Phew!

This GR clean up also brought a bunch of New Years Resolution/Goal posts to my attention. Naturally, I went back to check out my 2010 goals...

Explore the world of cross-training. - ehh, I got a bike in November and rode it once before the new year. Methinks this will cross into 2011.
Learn to like the elliptical machine. - I think I learned to be OK with the elliptical machine. Like is a very strong word.
Complete Kelly's Elliptical Challenge. - fail. I think I made it a week or two, max.
Run a 10K. - fail. Signed up for a 12k and ended up oversleeping. D'oh!!
Make a big decision. - SUCCESS!! Two big decisions actually. Yay me :)
Take calcium supplements. - Meh. I went with adult gummy vitamins instead.
Log runs. - not so successful.
Don't stress about not blogging. - Clearly I had no problem with it in December ;p
Run a half marathon in 2 hours flat. - SO CLOSE! Again, carrying over to 2011
Try a new food item once a month. - Lost track :(

I think this is why I don't do New Year's resolutions. Ah well, there are a couple things on that list that can carry on over to my 2011 goals. Maybe this time next year, I'll be able to cross those puppies off ;)

Just a few more to add to the list:

Bike to work - I know it's what I got the bike for, but there's that whole riding with traffic thing. It makes me nervous. Really nervous. Ehhh.
Complete marathon #5 in 4:50 or less - Seriously, this will be my 3rd attempt. I've used a 4:45 pace band for the past 2 marathons and this past year was the closest I've gotten. Gotta close it out right.
COOK MORE! - 'nuff said.

How do you feel about making resolutions/goals? Thoughts on not meeting them?

I promise I'll get back to cooking soon. Seriously, cooking just isn't as fun when it's just for one person...and after a long day at work...and with no dishwasher. :(

A Different Kind of Runner Envy

2011-01-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

It's no secret. When you're told you shouldn't or can't run, the more you want to run. I'm very familiar with the runner envy that comes with getting sidelined...wishing I could be out there running with the rest of them. Jealous that I can't be out there on a long run or running a race.

Today I experienced a slightly different kind of envy. I took the bike out for a long (for me at least) morning ride along a route I've run many times before. I saw a bunch of runners and felt pangs of jealousy. Although I was excited to be getting a workout in, I felt my bike ride was way too easy on my legs and lungs compared to a run of equal distance. Is it possible that I was jealous of the sweat and pain? Perhaps. Ok, yes. I was.

*note: this was taken during a pause at the top of a hill. Safety first!

Don't get me wrong. I kinda like this new biking thing. I huffed and puffed up the Fort Mason hill (a smidge easier on the bike, but still a tough hill) and broke a slight sweat...hell, my butt and calves are kinda sore right now. Though, there's just something about biking that just doesn't do it for me. Maybe it's because I feel restricted as far as where I can ride (as opposed to just running around wherever my legs will take me), or because I'm a newbie and am not entirely comfortable with it. I dunno. I miss pounding the pavement. I miss zoning out on long long runs.

So, to toss things up a bit (and to take advantage of the whole lack of snow thing), I'm hoping to fill my weekends with a long-ish bike ride one day and an easy run the other day. I think it's a good plan. Gotta get the legs back in gear since marathon #5 is scheduled for May! I can't wait to get back to long Saturday runs, but in the meantime, I'm sticking to shorter distances...and embracing the stretching and rolling!

After the productive start to my Saturday, I caught up on some cleaning/organizing and FINALLY got to the grocery store. To celebrate my return to normalcy, I whipped up a tasty and light pasta dish. I've been wanting to use some shrimp I had in the freezer, but whenever I remember it, it's always too late to defrost them. *sigh* Grabbed some veggies at the store, pulled out an open bag of brown rice penne and ta da! Dinner in 30.

Brown Rice Penne with Shrimp & Veggies

1/2 lb brown rice penne, cooked according to package

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 small zucchini, cut into half moons

1/4 c artichoke hearts, quartered

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tbsp butter

1/2 tbsp olive oil

12-15 medium shrimp

salt

pepper

1 tbsp white wine

1/2 tbsp parmesan, grated

1/4 c mozzarella cheese, diced

Heat olive oil and butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent. Stir in garlic, red pepper flakes and tomatoes; cook for 2 minutes. Add wine and cook for another minute before adding zucchini and artichokes. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in shrimp and reduce heat to medium low once they start to turn pink. Continue cooking until completely pink. Add parmesan, salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in pasta and mozzarella until combined.

Not a bad dinner. Garlicky, briny, light yet filling. MMM. You can do this with any type of pasta, I just wanted to use up the rest of the brown rice penne I had.

Looking Ahead

2011-01-07T16:14:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year long lost bloggies! I know I've been MIA lately...it's been tough keeping up with writing/reading blogs and I've actually considered closing up shop. No worries (for any of you still reading!), I'm not ready to do that just yet :)

Lots of changes have been taking place over here and I've been neglecting my kitchen. A lot. I've been exploring a lot of fun new restaurants, but I'm ashamed to admit that I've been Yelping more than blogging about them. Have you had a chance to check out the reviews?

I'm also trying really hard to take breaks from technology. You know, turn off the computer, TV, iPhone, etc. Sometimes you just need to do it.

So, what else has the beans been up to while neglecting the blog?

Reading

I've gotten really into reading lately. I used to read a lot as a kid (so much that I'd fall asleep with books in my bed every night) and now I find myself going through waves where I zoom through books. This recent wave has me reading a ton of fiction...which is new for me. I tend to lean more toward non-fiction (mostly memoirs), but these novels are a nice way to escape from reality.

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The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

I really enjoyed the way this book was structured. I liked that each chapter gave you a new perspective on the situation as it introduced a new character. What I did not like - I felt like it left me hanging at the end. I kinda wanted more from a couple of the characters.

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One Day by David Nicholls

It took awhile for me to get into the book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. It's easy to get wrapped up in the bumpy relationship between the two main characters. Have you ever seen A Lot Like Love (if you haven't, just wait for it to come on FX or something)? That's what this book reminded me of at certain points. That and City of Angels. Random, I know.

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Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson

I picked this book up at the airport after watching the o so sappy TV movie (o yes, yes I did). It was a nice sappy read, but not as moving as I had hoped. I got a little misty watching the movie and hoped that the book would have me boohooing. Notsomuch.

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

I'm only about halfway through and I really like the book so far! Not only does it explore the forbidden relationship of two teenagers during the war, but it also touches upon the strained relationship the main character Henry has with his father in 1942 and with his own son later on in life.

Traveling and Celebrating

It seemed wrong to head east for a long weekend, so I decided to spend a whole 11 days out there! My east coast tour began in Long Island for our annual family Christmas Eve celebration. Jamie drove up and we cleaned up in yankee swap:

I started out with a shake weight, but thankfully that got stolen by an unsuspecting tot and I walked away with a sandwich maker. LOVE! Do you have any idea how long I've wanted one of these? Insta hot pocket!

Christmas day was a blur, followed by a major white out!

O yes, hey snow storm! So instead of visiting friends in NYC, we stuck it out in the 'burbs and picked up some clothes for Mr. Bear

went into Lego overload

and reunited with a few friends

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Not too bad for a snow day :)

We had plans to head to NJ the next day, but woke up to just over 1 foot of snow! Eeek! Good thing I bought some galoshes and snow pants the day before ;) Hooray for snow fun!

Roads were clear the next day so we began the journey to Manassas. The 10 hour journey. That should have only taken 5.5 hours. Awesome.

The next day we explored glamorous Manassas followed by a day trip to DC (still can't believe we had to get a hotel room) and then I closed out my trip with a stop in Alexandria and Fredericksburg. Whew. Whirlwind tour! So happy to see everyone though.

Noshing

Pre-holiday week, I met up with friends and snacked at some fun spots in the city. Full reviews are on Yelp, but I'll leave you with names: Mamacita (tasty Mexican tapas), First Crush (fun wines and comfort food), Zero Zero (fancy pizza and pasta). They're worth checking out!

During the holiday week, I was determined to visit certain eateries I've been craving since I moved. On the list:

Southern style pho - I haven't found any noteworthy southern style pho yet in SF so I really wanted some Pho 75. Unfortunately that is way far from Manassas. Enter, Pho 234. It'll do.

Potbelly - I miss you Chicken Salad w/hot peppers!

Not pictured because I was just too hungry - Peruvian rotisserie chicken. Not quite EPR, but Super Chicken was Super YUMMY!

Yogging & Biking

Yeah, it's reduced to jogging. :( I'm slowly getting back into things, but I'm super cautious and it's really frustrating. Going from a minimum of 5 miles to maxing out at 2 is rough. Jamie and I did a run on the battlefield over the holiday week and it was a great change of scenery.

What I didn't expect was how exhausted I felt during the run. Ech.

Wining

Just a few new bottles:

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Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut Rose - I was nervous this sparkling rose would be too sweet, but it was a very nice balance of dry and sweet! I tried to find a bottle for New Year's Eve, but failed.

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Altos Malbec 2009 - Cousin brought this to Christmas Eve dinner and it was pretty good...then again, I've never really had a malbec I didn't like.

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Finca Sophenia Malbec 2008 - I really liked this one. They were pouring this as the happy hour red at Vermillion and it was pretty bold at first, but enjoyable. Definitely looking out for this one.

Appetizing

Got to cooking at Jamie's place for New Year's Eve. Lots of fun mini treats:

Wieners in blankets

Meatball Wellington (recipe courtesy of The Food in My Beard)

a bunch of mini flatbread pizzas (a bbq chicken, plain, veggie, pepperoni)

and a HOLEY CARVEL CAKE!

Happy birthday, here's a gaping hole in your ice cream cake!

How did you close out 2010/ring in the new year?