Spirit fingers

Apparently I need to be around runners and races all the time...

As you know, I originally planned on running the California International Marathon as marathon #5 this past weekend. Of course, shortly after signing up and getting everything squared away, my legs decided they had other plans for me.

I couldn't let running buddy (lost count, but let's call her SF running buddy) travel to Sacramento alone...especially after I convinced her to run! So I packed my cheering gear and hopped on a train headed north to Sacramento.

I traded this familiar view (the ride between DC and Metropark)

(source)

for this one (the ride between Emeryville and Martinez)

Just a couple notes:

1. Amtrak here is definitely not the same as Amtrak on the East Coast. This was like riding a double decker NJTransit or MARC train. So weird.
2. Downtown Sacramento on a Saturday afternoon...DEAD. Interesting.

I walked from the train station over to the expo before walking over to our hotel. Yes, I'm trying to load up on the walking. No, I don't like it.

SF running buddy (will now be referred to as SFRB) got in shortly after I did and we settled on an early dinner at Kru. I stuck with my standard rolls and tried a Spicy Tuna Hand Roll. Not really into it...way too much fish per bite.

Do you get crazy sweet cravings after eating sushi? I sure do. We did a little Yelp search and discovered nearby Mochii Yogurt. In addition to offering tasty (and pretty tart) fro-yo, they also make a ton of flavored mochi! I sampled the Tiger's Blood which was an interesting mix of fruity flavors...I think there was cherry and maybe a hint of berry and citrus?

I couldn't commit to it in my yogurt, so I went with the standard Tang with Yogurt Chips and Strawberries. There were a few too many chips and (I can't believe I'm saying this) the yogurt was a little too tart for me to finish my cup. Still tasty, though!

I also walked away with a little bag of mochi for you know, emergencies.

A bunch of the Yelp reviews said Mochii was pricey, but I was shocked at how much cheaper it was than say, Tuttimelon or any other place I've tried. Clearly I've been living in expensive cities for too long.

We were up SUPER early the next morning so SFRB could catch the shuttle to the start in nearby Folsom. I went back to sleep for an hour or so before beginning my run/walk to my cheering spot at mile 21. See, SFRB is speedy. Did I mention her goal was to qualify for Boston? Yeah, I didn't have a ton of time to get to 21.

I ran/walked a total of 8 miles (to mile 21 and back) and it felt AMAZING to get moving again. Part of me really wanted to run the whole thing, but I knew that even this was pushing it just a tiny bit. Ugh.

I soaked up the perfect weather (very light mist and 50 at the start, warming up to the mid 60s) and scenery...

Palm trees on one side, regular trees on the other and autumn leaves at my feet. So bizarre.

Crossing the bridge as the elite runners pass through (around mile 22)

A serene river photo

Stalking the crowd for SFRB!

After seeing all the lonely patches at the end of the race, part of me was glad I wasn't running. I've really only run big races and the crowd support is what gets me through the last few miles. Then again, another part of me was frustrated that I couldn't run...especially with the perfect conditions. Ah well. At least I was a cheerleader.

Oh, and SFRB...ROCKED the marathon. She knocked THIRTEEN minutes off her PR and BQ'd. O heeeeyy! I'm living vicariously through her :)

Thanksgiving Recap

This shouldn't come as a surprise - Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love cooking for large crowds and getting together with friends and family for this day of feasting.

We spent this Thanksgiving with Selin's family and had an amazing time. There was plenty of cooking, eating and drinking for all!

On the menu:

Baked Camembert and Caramelized Onions

1 wheel camembert

1 sheet puff pastry

1 large onion, sliced and caramelized

2 chives

flour

Preheat oven to 400. Roll out puff pastry on a foil lined baking sheet. Place camembert in the center of the puff pastry and top with onions. Gather opposite corners of the puff pastry and pinch at the top. Tie chive around top.

Bake until golden.

Slice into the crispy crust and unleash the delicious goo inside!

Great w/some crackers or, if you're really into cheese/are starving, on its own. The bolder camembert made this more flavorful than a standard brie en croute. Just saying.

The appetizer kept us full as we continued working on the rest of dinner...

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Mixed Greens with Roasted Beets and Goat Cheese

Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots

Roasted Root Vegetables

3 parsnips, sliced

4 carrots, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

1 bulb fennel, sliced

1 japanese sweet potato, peeled & sliced

olive oil

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Toss all ingredients in a large bowl, spread out on foil lined baking sheet.

Bake for 40-45 minutes.

We tossed in some of the fennel tops for flavor/fragrance since the bulb was tiny. No biggie.

Italian Sausage and Bread Stuffing (adapted from Gourmet)

1 (3/4- to 1-pound) round Italian loaf, cut into 1-inch cubes (8 cups)

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

1 lb hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 medium onions, chopped

4 large celery ribs, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp rosemary, minced

1/2 tsp sage, minced

1 tsp thyme, minced

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup heavy cream, divided

1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (2 oz)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 350. Spread bread out on a baking sheet and bake until just dried out, about 10 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then cook half of sausage (mixing hot and sweet), stirring and breaking it into small pieces, until golden brown.

Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl and repeat with remaining sausage.

Pour off fat from skillet. Heat butter over medium heat. Add onions, celery, garlic, rosemary, sage, thyme and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until golden. Add vegetables and bread to sausage.

Whisk together eggs, 1/2 cup cream, chicken broth, cheese, and parsley, then stir into stuffing and cool completely, then drizzle with remaining 1/4 cup cream. Cover stuffing and chill.

Preheat oven to 425 and bake stuffing, covered tightly with foil, until hot throughout, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top is golden and crisp, about 20 minutes more.

I've made this stuffing for the past couple of years and it's always a crowd pleaser. This year, I cut the bread a little bigger than usual and baked it a little longer without foil. The result: a crispier stuffing...yum!

Also present, but not pictured: Mashed Potatoes, Red Wine Braised Short Ribs, Turkey (duh), Circassian Chicken, Scallion Rice, and PIES!

Delicious thanksgiving!

How did you spend your turkey day?

Northbound and Monterey Fun

Immediately after our morning hike, V and I set off on our scenic drive north to Monterey. Normally this trip should only take an hour, but when you put two camera happy ladies in one car, it takes about two.

We didn't really get a chance to snap any fun pictures on the way down since we wanted to get to the campground before it got too dark. This time around we managed to stop at almost every scenic overlook along Highway 1. AMAZING.

Once we hit Monterey, we headed straight to the convention center so V could pick up her race packet. It was a pretty good expo...decent vendors, not too crowded, a separate section of fun gear (they even had wine glasses and mugs engraved w/the half marathon logo). We zoomed out of there pretty quickly since we had lots planned for the evening!

We checked into the Asilomar Conference Grounds and got settled before heading out on a pre-dinner sunset drive/photo shoot. Our hotel was conveniently located in Pacific Grove, just west of downtown Monterey (and the race start) and just east of Pebble Beach.

We really didn't have a gameplan for the evening aside from finding a spot to catch the sunset on the beach (armed with cameras, of course), food and drink. Equipped with a handy dandy map, we set off to find 17-Mile Drive. You have to pay a $9.50 toll to wind through this 9-ish mile road, but it's totally worth it. We stumbled across beach

sunset

golf

the Lone Cypress

Oh, and The Lodge at Pebble Beach

Originally we were just going to sit and enjoy a nice glass of wine while watching the sun set, but we were so hungry (apparently we forgot to eat ALL day...too many beautiful distractions, I guess) that we decided to splurge on dinner there.

We waited a few minutes for a table on the patio at Stillwater Bar & Grill. When we finally sat down, all we wanted was some wine and snacks. Pronto. Service was HORRIBLE. Pretty sure they forgot about us a few times. Ah well, it gave us time to chat up our table neighbors who were visiting from LA. Hey friendly people!

After our large glasses of wine arrived, we settled on an order of Atlantic & Pacific Oysters on the Half Shell

LOVE oysters. MMM.

Next up, since we needed something more substantial, we noshed on some Monterey Bay Crispy Calamari (Haricot Verts, Local Baby Artichokes, Meyer Lemon, Chipotle Aioli).

The veggies were actually a pleasant surprise...clearly we weren't paying attention to the menu details. Ha. These were pretty rich so there was plenty leftover.

Onto the main course! V needed to load up on calories (um, half marathon prep?) so she went with what looked like an AMAZING Cheeseburger w/Bacon

Our nice table neighbors gave us the heads up that the Garlic Fries were a tad greasy, so V got them 'well done'. Perfection.

I was kinda boring and went with the Hearts of Romaine with Organic Salmon (Spanish White Anchovy, Crostini, Nicoise Olives & Stillwater's Classic Caesar Dressing).

What can I say, I was in major ruffage withdrawal from the past couple of weeks. I took EVERY opportunity to chow down on crispy greens. Deliciously light.

Cheers to a fun weekend getaway!

Food, wine and fun for everyone!

This past weekend was the Russian River Wine Road 12th Annual Wine & Food Affair, my new favorite wine-related event! We stumbled upon last year's event by accident and ended up snacking on some AMAZING dishes. Naturally, we kept an eye out for this year's event and organized the troops for another fun weekend!

Sunday morning was rainy and gloomy in the city, but that didn't stop us from heading north! Luckily the weather cleared up by the time we made it to our first winery (deLorimier, obvs!) and we had an amazing November day of wine and food :)

Our check-in winery was deLorimier where we were greeted with our cookbooks

and wine glasses

(clearly I've already made use of mine this week)

I will spare you deLorimier scenery since I was just there, but I will mention the fantastically tender and savory Beef Bourguignon and a few notable wines:

• 2009 Sauvignon Blanc - crisp and bright with a hint of tropical fruit. At only $18 a bottle, I think it's a reasonably priced, versatile bottle.
• 2005 Crazy Creek Cabernet Sauvignon - berry-ish flavors and tannins that aren't too subtle or too bold. Perfection in my book. On the pricier side at $40 a bottle.
• 2006 Malbec - a little acidic compared to others I've had, but still an enjoyable wine. Not too bad at $24 a bottle either.
• 2005 Mosaic Meritage - deLorimier has two Meritages (Mosaic & Artisan) and there's a very slight difference in the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in each. I prefer the Mosaic because it's not as tart as the Artisan. This is on my 'special occasion' bottle list at $40.

No surprise that I have a long list of deLorimier wines since it's one of my go-to wineries! Still haven't found bottles in the city though...anyone else?

Next up was Vintners Signatures (which may or may not have been driven by their menu item: Wild Mushroom Ragout with Goat Cheese over Porcini Mushroom Polenta)

Savory, mushroom-y, cheesy. Yum.

They were pairing an un-bottled wine with this dish, their new Cult Pinot Noir. It went really well with the mushroom dish and had just enough acidity to cut the richness of the dish. Unfortunately, they were only doing pre-sales of 6 bottles or more...ehhhh too big of a commitment for me. Notables here:

• 2009 Cult Pinot Noir - I forget the price on this one, but I believe they're bottling in December.
• 2006 El Roy Proprieter's Red - rich, slightly tannic (??) and reasonably priced at $18. Not bad for a weeknight bottle. In fact, it might get opened for V's visit this week!

Onward to Ridge! I'll have you know I refrained from buying any bottles here since I went a little nutty over Labor Day. Still love the scenery (pretty sure this is a standard location for photos at Ridge)

and the wine. No surprise here:

• Geyserville - Ridge is pretty consistent with this particular blend, so no matter what vintage you get, you'll end up with a great, balanced zinfandel blend. I've read that some people find it to be too big of a wine that needs a lot of time to breathe, but I've always enjoyed it shortly after opening. Favorite. $35.

They were serving a rich and comforting Cannellini Bean Soup with Duck Confit that totally hit the spot. You better believe I dog eared that page in the cookbook!

Amista was next and they were serving an AMAZING Cassoulet Amista, probably one of my favorite dishes of the day. I scarfed mine down quickly, so I'll just give you a glimpse into my cookbook instead.

It was paired with their 2005 Syrah and, naturally, they went well together. I wasn't totally into the wines at Amista, but I was adventurous and tried their Ilusion (Syrah/Zinfandel blend) dessert wine. I knew what I was getting into, but I was really curious about a red dessert wine. On its own, SUPER sweet. Once I snacked on a dark chocolate truffle (extra treat at the winery!), the wine transformed and the sweetness gave into slight tannins and it kinda grew on me. Very interesting!

Next up was Rued Vineyards. They took full advantage of the weather and had the tasting tables set up outside on a covered patio. On the menu: Lemon Ricotta Tarts (a smidge too tart and soft for my taste, especially with the wine pairing).

Notable wine:

• 2007 Pinot Noir - I usually don't like pinot noir because they can be too soft on the palette, but this was a little bolder. In fact, I preferred this to the zinfandel they were pouring! $35.

Notable random:

PUMPKIN PIE SOFT SERVE! I never realized how awesome pumpkin pie is in soft serve form. *drool*

Stay tuned for the second half of our wine adventures (o yes, we managed to hit TEN)!

The hills are alive

With the sound of thousands of Nike Women's Marathoners!!

(source)

This particular race will always have a special place in my heart since it was my very first marathon and my first visit to San Francisco. I was absolutely thrilled to cheer for some pretty awesome ladies this morning :)

Did I mention this was my first time as a cheerleader? Yeeeah.

Since I was cheering on a bunch of half marathoners (real life friends and a Twitter/blogger buddy!) and a super speedy solo marathoner, I needed to do some serious planning. Naturally, I ran to the cheering spots (gotta multi-task!) and managed to rack up 8 miles with a few pauses here and there. Not too shabby for my first post-Chicago, post-sick run.

On my way to cheering spot numero uno, I managed to see one of the first runners as she zoomed past the 4.5 mile mark.

So fast, you can barely see her! I thought it was kinda cool since I've never seen the front of the pack before :)

I veered off the course for a bit to run along the Crissy Field Promenade before cutting across to the runners' giant climb. I really really wanted to park myself at the top of this hill because I remember it being the steepest, longest, most brutal climb of the race. I also remember thinking the hill was totally worth it for the view.

Amazing. I only wish it was a clearer day!

This was also the last major incline I remember from running the race. Seriously, everything else was a speed bump compared to that monster. Three years later, I ran up a dirt path alongside the runners and it was still tough!

SO, my sign said 'Last Hill'...though, now I know I probably should have specified, last super steep hill. Some people were really not nice about it. I got called liar a bunch of times and some people were REALLY snippy. Meh? So I kept yelling 'I mean, last big, steep one!' Ah well. You win some, you lose some.

I had a tough time spotting people, but luckily I told friends what to look for and they ended up having to shout my name so I could see them!

(yeah, I braved the chill just so they could spot me and maybe so I could finally rock my gear from Chicago ;p)

Wooo! Two out of four rockstars charging it up the never ending incline!

I hung out until a little before 9am and started my run toward Lake Merced to cheer on my full marathoner buddy. I ran back down toward Crissy Field and saw more runners as they started their ascent (so many runners!).

Rocked out to the song that was stuck in my head all afternoon because someone had it on repeat at the bottom of the hill...

I might need to add it to my running mix. haha.

One hour to make it to Lake Merced...it was a tough call. Run? Cab? Take a chance w/the rerouted bus routes and then run?? I planned on running to a major street and hopping into a cab, but I managed to get to a bus stop just as one was pulling up. Sweet!

See, Lake Merced was another rough spot for me when I ran 3 years ago. It's a 4.5 mile empty stretch along the lake's perimeter and you run right next to traffic. Since it's so far out, there aren't a ton of spectators out there...and it pops up right when you need people the most - miles 19-23.5!

A friend of mine agreed to come out and cheer with me so she parked herself with a sign around mile 22 just in case I couldn't get there in time. We were equipped with water and Chomps just in case our runner needed them!

My bus dropped me off just north of the lake and I ran along the eastern side...little did I know I would be running alongside the marathoners for TWO miles. Flashbacks!!

Everyone was looking great and so strong, despite the change in weather (at this point, it started raining and the temperature dropped a little)! So many purple TNT singlets...so proud of everyone for fundraising AND rocking the challenging course :)

I eventually made it to mile 22 and we waited for speedy to come by. We saw her after awhile and it was like we were two proud mommas! She looked FABULOUS for 22 miles in...chipper and fast! We ran with her for a minute or two, but she was too fast for us...we were worried that we were slowing her down. Still waiting to see if she made her goal of 4 hours :)

Congratulations to ALL the half marathoners and marathoners!! You guys tackled some serious hills and bad weather and still looked amazing. I loved watching you all and taking a little side trip down memory lane :) Enjoy the recovery and the sweet necklace...you earned it :)