athlEAT

Hello

2010-09-09T23:22:00.000-04:00

Well hello there. For some reason, I have not been able to publish a post in over 2 months? Wow. So there would be alot to cover if I tried to do a recap. So I will just highlight my memories of summer 2010 through pictures and a few words.

pirates

beach

sunsets

jam

babies

weddings

wine

duathlon

animals

crabs

beer

ice cream

running

blueberries

baseball

Yup. That pretty much sums it up. :)

Blue Hill Tavern: Baltimore, MD

2010-06-30T13:09:00.000-04:00

So, I guess I have been on a little (unplanned) hiatus from the blog. Summer hit and busy times ensued. I will probably pop in sporadically for the rest of the summer when I feel the urge, just like this dinner at Blue Hill Tavern a few weeks back.

I have been hearing great things about Blue Hill for awhile now, so when Mara wanted to take me out for a birthday dinner, I thought this would be a perfect place. We both love food, so it is always fun to go out to eat together. Sitting down and reviewing the menu, I had high hopes that Blue Hill Tavern could be a new favorite.

Sangria. White for me. Red for her. I was hoping for a little more fruit, but they were both refreshing and light. And went down very easy. We had two rounds.

Since so many of the menu options looked delicious, we decided to split a whole bunch of things, so we could maximize the amount we each got to taste.

Crostini & Spreads: Feta Butter, olive tapenade.

This dish sold us on the Feta Butter, but it was more butter than feta. In fact, neither of us tasted much feta. The olive tapenade was almost too salty to eat. Disappointing.

Fried Guacamole: tortilla crusted, salsa fresca

Fried Guacamole? We had to try this. I envisioned freshly made tortilla chips, each individually topped with a fried dollop of homemade guacamole. Not so much. The blue corn chips were bland and the large mound of fried guacamole did not taste homemade. Salsa fresca also brought nothing to the table. This was not worth the $9.

Calamari Salad: Cornmeal crusted, mixed greens, peanuts, cilantro, chili-lime vinaigrette

What a great ingredient combination for a salad! While the calamari was tender, unfortunately, the remaining parts of the salad were drowned in dressing. Our mistake for not asking this to come on the side, but the chili-lime vinaigrette tasted and looked more like a chili plum sauce.

Yellowfin Tuna: peppercorn encrusted, fried polenta cake, broccoli rabe, pickled watermelon rind, spiced watermelon barbecue sauce

A beautiful presentation, but it couldn't make up for the lack of flavor. We both agreed we have never had seared tuna that flavorless and there wasn't nearly enough sauce on the plate. The polenta cake was good, but the broccoli rabe was overcooked.

Macaroni and Cheese

The mac & cheese was everything is should have been, but not the best I've ever had. The pasta was cooked well and the sauce was creamy and cheesy. No complaints here. We only wish that we had ordered two of these and called it a night.

It was extremely disappointing that the food didn't live up to our expectations. Perhaps we just ordered the wrong things? An off night? It was beautifully decorated and the upstairs deck had a relaxed atmosphere. Our server was attentive and friendly, but all of our appetizers and the salad came out at once. It would have been nice to have things spaced out more evenly.

Would I go back to Blue Hill? Maybe. But it would only be for the sangria and mac & cheese.

The Tasting Room - Frederick, MD

2010-05-23T20:26:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday, I met my friend Jen in Frederick for lunch and shopping. Downtown Frederick is such a cute area with a bunch of unique shops. I hadn't been shopping in awhile, so it was fun to explore and pick up some new things.

We decided to try out The Tasting Room for lunch.

I started with a glass of Pinot Grigio that was refreshing and light.

They brought warm, crusty bread with butter. I think the TR stencil on the butter was made from paprika. Nice touch.

We ordered a starter of grilled calamari with a spicy garlic/tomato sauce served over a piece of crusty bread. This was absolutely delicious.

I ordered the salmon, which came with a rice cake, wilted spinach & a sweet chili sauce.

Jen ordered the swordfish, which came with shrimp, crab, potatoes, & mushrooms in a cajun cream sauce.

Both dishes were beautifully to look at and even better to eat. I savored every single bite of my fancy lunch.

Black Ankle Vineyard - Mother's Day

2010-05-10T22:03:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day started out with a great brunch at Yellow Dog Tavern with my family, where I forgot to take any pictures. ugh!

It continued later as a smaller group of our brunch crew headed out to Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, MD.

The tasting building is designed to be extremely eco-friendly. The walls are insulated with straw and check out the live roof - love that! (check out their website for more info and photos of the entire building process)

All moms received a complimentary tasting and a gerber daisy.

My grandmom decided to give me all of her tastes of wine, so I had a double tasting. :)

After trying all the wines, we decided to enjoy a bottle of their award winner, Crumbling Rock, out on the patio.

Warm, crusty bread and cheese from a local creamery.

Great view.

Can I live here? and drink wine, eat bread and cheese all day? Please?

What a great way to spend celebrating mother's day! (or any day for that matter)

An Active April

2010-05-10T12:01:00.001-04:00

I seriously can not believe it is May. The last couple of weeks have been both busy and fun. Where has the time gone?

I spent a relaxing weekend at the beach with my friends from college.

We visited Kevin's family in Ohio and spent a day at the Cincinnati Zoo. I took way too many pictures of animals and flowers.

We also visited the 4D theater. Our seats vibrated, we were sprayed with water, wind was blowing in our faces, and something kept poking us in the back - definitely a unique experience.

Big geek alert below. Yes, I am wearing double glasses. Contact lenses and I haven't been getting along very well.

I attended a baby shower for one of my friends from high school and was treated to a boat load of delicious food.

And enjoyed hanging out with friends I have known for 15+ years!

It was a fun April.

May is nearing the halfway point. Mother's Day at a Winery, Tour de Cure Bike Ride, P90x review, and multiple restaurant reviews coming up.

Second Food Tasting - Canapés Catering

2010-04-29T10:39:00.000-04:00

We had our second food tasting for our wedding last night with Canapés Catering. We had been asked to choose the food we wanted to taste prior to arriving. This was very difficult for us only because there were SO many incredible options. Case and Point - the hors d'oeuvres list was 19 pages long and that font size was small!

The tasting was held at Thorpewood, which is one of the places we looked at having our wedding. Unfortunately for us, our wedding size is more than they could accomodate, but I would highly recommend it to anyone having a smaller size wedding. Absolutely beautiful.

Hors d'Oeuvres

Seared Sea Scallops with Fresh Bacon and Beurre Blanc - Pan-seared jumbo sea scallops drizzles with beurre blanc and topped with crumbled crisp bacon.
Maryland Crab Cake Canapés on Sweet Corn Muffins with Cajun Rémoulade - Rich Old Bay seasoned lump crab cakes served resting in a miniature sweet cornbread muffin with a leaf of mesclun and a zippy Cajun rémoulade sauce.

Katafi Wrapped Sea Bass with Tomato Essence - Garlic infused oil marinated sea bass filets wrapped in shredded phyllo, pan-seared until crispy and served with a Tomato Caper Essence Beurre Blanc.

Southwestern Tequila and Lime Jumbo Prawn - Tequila, lime juice, olive oil, brown sugar and cilantro marinated shrimp, pan-seared and served with a barbecue dipping sauce.

AND

Thai Crab Rolls - Sautéed carrots, bok choy and shiitake mushrooms tossed in a Thai sauce with chives, coriander, cellophane noodles and lump crab rolled in rice paper wrapper. Pan-fried and served with a spicy dipping sauce.
Fruit Soup Shooters - Peach & Mango….refreshing and beautifully garnished.

Salad & Bread

Salad of Mesclun Greens with a Basil Tarragon Vinaigrette - Fresh seasonal greens displayed with grape tomatoes, dried apricots and cherries finished with goat cheese and tossed with a flavorful herb vinaigrette.

Spring Greens with Blue Cheese, Sweet Pecans and Grilled Pear - Fresh field greens and crisp romaine tossed in Vidalia vinaigrette with candied pecans, sliced grilled pear and crumbled blue cheese.

Fresh Baked, Grilled Olive Loaf

Entrées
& Sides

Maryland Crab Cakes - Rich lump crab mixture seasoned with Old Bay and formed into cakes then BAKED to a golden brown. Served with sides of savory rémoulade sauce and cocktail sauce.

Grilled Tenderloin of Beef - Olive oil, garlic, cracked pepper and rosemary rubbed tenderloin of beef seared and roasted to a medium rare served with shiitake demi-glaze and horseradish cream.

Chicken Scaloppini with an Herb Marsala Sauce - Boneless chicken breast dusted lightly with seasoned flour, pan seared and served sliced resting in an herb Marsala sauce.

Grilled Salmon Filets with a Béarnaise Sauce - Garlic infused grapeseed oil rubbed salmon filets, grilled and served resting in a pool of a rich tarragon shallot béarnaise sauce.

Soft Polenta with Sautéed Mushrooms & Crispy Leeks - Creamy Parmigiano-Reggiano accented polenta served with a sauté of assorted mushrooms.
Our sides in the above entrée pictures were:
Roasted Fresh Asparagus - Fresh asparagus roasted in olive oil seasoned with cracked pepper & salt.

Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts - Sweet butter pan seared seasoned Brussel sprout halves.

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted New Potatoes - Miniature red potatoes quickly seared in olive oil, fresh rosemary and a hint of garlic, finished in the oven with sweet butter, kosher salt and cracked pepper.

Cake

Flavorful moist carrot cake torte layered with a rich cream cheese filling.

White butter cake torte layered with a fresh raspberry mousse, raspberry conserve and shredded coconut. (they forgot the raspberry mousse, but we were too full to mind)

Almond butter cake torte layered with a smooth almond scented buttercream.

Pretty impressive stuff, right? We had some clear favorites, but all of the food was absolutely delicious. My mom, Kevin & I split everything in the pictures above and even brought leftovers home to my dad, who couldn't make it.
I like this part of wedding planning!

Even without any wine, we got a little loopy from all the delicious food. Kevin proclaimed that he got his first ever "food high". My mom snapped a picture of us in the midst of our post-meal happiness.

We had planned to have a third and final tasting next week, but are considering cancelling and going with our clear favorite. :)

My Big Break?

2010-04-27T09:41:00.000-04:00

I wanted to write and let everyone know why it has been awhile since I last posted.

I have been busy fielding calls from reporters. ;) My mom and I are in the May 2010 issue of the Baltimore Magazine!

A couple months ago, I won tickets via twitter for a bridal show, so we decided to check it out. We were in the food line when a photographer asked us to get together with some strangers for a picture. At least I didn't have a big plate of food in my hand, although that would probably be more appropriate.

Fruity Food

I finally decided to try out the Banana Soft Serve that I have been reading about for so long. It promised to "change my life" and taste like ice cream, so I had to try it for myself! I did change it up slightly and added in frozen strawberries.

Looks like ice cream, huh? I was shocked too!

The ingredient list is short: frozen bananas and frozen strawberries. Both were fresh before I sliced and froze overnight. Mixed together in the Food Processor for a few minutes.

The verdict? Pretty amazing how much this tastes like real ice cream. I love it! We are now going through more bananas than ever before.

The warm weather has me on a fruit kick lately, so the other day I made fruit salsa.

Although slightly labor intensive, this is my favorite way to use up excess fruit.

Mixed together with whatever jam you have on hand. I used Grandmom's Peach Jam.

Use cinnamon sugar pita chips for dipping. Or just eat with a spoon.

Massage

A few weeks ago I won a free 30 minute extremity massage from Claire Taylor Massage and cashed it in almost immediately after winning.

I arrived and quickly became relaxed by the soothing atmosphere and cool music. I thought this 30 minute massage hit all the important places. Shoulders, arms, feet, hands, neck, and head. I definitely plan to going back and highly recommend it to anyone in the Baltimore area. Thanks for a great giveaway Claire. The ones that I win are the best!

A Few Weeks of Eats

2010-04-19T21:22:00.000-04:00

Sorry if anyone got a half-finished post! I hit publish instead of save.

Its been awhile and I have so much food to share that a pictorial summary is probably the best route for me to take. Lets start back on Easter...

Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, sprinkled with parmesan and wrapped in Phyllo. Tastespotting.com provided me this recipe and they turned out well. I ate that picture multiplied by 5.

The Pioneer Woman's favorite salad ever!

Zucchini, Ham, Gruyere Quiche.

My plate of blue cheese potatoes, quiche, green beans, salad, & salmon.

Isnt this a great picture of my niece and nephow on Easter? Didnt realize until later that I caught Max in the mid pee. oopsie.

I was a spectator during the easter egg hunt.

Saved a little room to try this beautiful dessert made by my Uncle Gene.

Moving on from Easter to one of our standard weeknight dinners. Grilled Fish Tacos on corn tortillas.

The orange sauce on the bottom was a first. We sauteed onions and peppers and then threw them in the VItamix. Best warm onion/pepper soup/smoothie I've ever had!

We recently traveled to Cincinatti, OH to visit some of Kevin's family and enjoyed a bunch of great eats.

Marinated Veggies, Parmesan, Sausage over crisp Romaine.

Minestrone Soup.

Chicken Marsala over linguine.

Roasted Asparagus w/ garlic.

Sorbet from Aglamesis. Loved this place.

Red Raspberry sorbet to be exact.

I cleaned my dish.

I have been finding time to workout when I am not eating all of this food. More on that later. I have a 100k bike ride in less than 3 weeks and I am almost done P90!

First Tasting for the Wedding

2010-04-05T11:45:00.001-04:00

So, about a month ago, Kevin and I picked the venue for our wedding. It was between a rustic, waterfront inn OR a stone, country inn.

I love stone.

I love water too.

Did I mention that Oscar can be a part of the wedding here?

photo sources

We went with the Stone Manor Inn and cant wait until next June 2011!

Time to test out some caterers. The best part, right? A few weeks ago, I won tickets to a Bridal Show from the Baltimore magazine via twitter. I ended up meeting Paul, the chef/owner of Dionysus Kitchen, and was impressed. I loved his passion and approach to food. I contacted him online when I got home and was talking with him on the phone the next day.

We decided to set up a tasting and were invited to the his family's home for a 5-course meal. The goal of this tasting was "not to sell you on a particular menu, but to illustrate our ethic of cooking from scratch using as many locally sourced ingredients as possible."

We were eating with two other couples and had a great time talking with everyone. We had numerous things in common and realized how small the world really is.

I will attempt to describe each course with as much detail as we were given, but I would never be able to do it justice.

First course: roasted beets, blue cheese, walnuts, vanilla vinaigrette, fresh chives.

Second course: trumpet shaped pasta (forget the name!), fresh chickpeas, asparagus, parsley, parmigiano-reggiano, truffle oil.

Third course: tilapia croquette, fresh tarragon, savory strawberry sauce, spinach puree.

Fourth course: Pear soaked in wine(?), three types of cheese.

Fifth course: Banana Bread Pudding.

I enjoyed every bite. A few highlights:

I tried fresh chickpeas for the first time. Never knew they were green!
Wine served with each course, one being a homemade red wine.
Paul keeps a bag full of all kinds of cheeses in his freezer for making pizzas over the fire. (I want to move in!)
I pet a chicken in the coup behind their house.

The menu flexibility appeals to us in a big way because we could incorporate our favorites! Also, knowing all the effort this caterer puts into reducing waste and using local & organic ingredients is a big positive.

Looking forward to the next tasting and getting all of these big decisions out of the way!

Birthday Weekend

2010-04-02T10:05:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we celebrated Kevin's birthday by heading out to the mountains. We couldn't have felt farther away from the city, but in actuality, we were only an hour and a half away.

We chose The Cascade Inn Historic Bed & Breakfast because it was near multiple parks and they allow dogs!

Yes, even Oscar got to getaway to the mountains for the weekend. Our first floor room was comfortable & beautiful.

We were lucky enough to have the entire B&B to ourselves for the weekend.

Breakfast Saturday morning was delicious. Ham/Green Onion/Monterey Jack quiche, Lemon poppy muffins, fresh fruit, coffee & OJ. This hearty breakfast fueled us until late in the afternoon.

After breakfast, we had plans to go mountain biking in Gambrill State Park, but unfortunately, it was much colder than we expected. Instead, we started the morning with a hike on the Appalachian Trail with Oscar.

It was a bright morning and we decided to head towards Georgia in hopes that it would get warmer as we walked. ;)

After Oscar was tired out, we dropped him off at the house and headed over to Cunningham Falls State Park.

We decided to take the Cliff Trail and after we made it up the short climb, we stopped for the standard couple shot.

We discovered the falls in no time and took some pictures before climbing up the rocks.

Kevin decided to scale the rock wall, which was funny to see.

I made one failed attempt to make it up the same route, before finding an easier way up. After more exploring/hiking, we headed back to the inn for some relaxation before dinner.

Carriage House Inn is on our list of possible caterers, so it was a perfect opportunity to give them a try before our official tasting.

Cream of Crab Soup

Garden Salad w/ a homemade Tomato Vinaigrette

Warm, Crusty Bread

Scallops in a citrus tomato sauce w/ garlic mashed potatoes and julienned vegetables.

Our food was good, but in all honesty, nothing knocked our socks off. And I kind of want my socks knocked off for the food at our wedding.

The next morning, our breakfast included one of the Inn's specialties - Caramelized bacon. (The recipe is listed on their website). It had that awesome sweet & salty combo.

Served with a belgian waffle. We were officially stuffed.

It was a quick drive back into Baltimore where we completed our P90x week with some KenpoX. Definitely needed to work off the bacon & belgian waffle!

Spring Day at the Beach

2010-03-22T12:16:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, we headed down to the beach for a weekend away. Dont get me wrong, I love the city, but there is something incredibly relaxing about being near water.

We got down around 9pm Friday night and met my parents at BJs on the Water to listen to a local band, Mood Swingers w/ Lauren Glick, and have a couple drinks. Lauren Glick had an incredible voice.

Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready for a run. Kevin and I ran an out and back for a total of a 5.4 miles. My legs were tired from the legs & back P90x workout Friday, so that was plenty for me.

We hit the grocery store and then put together a hearty breakfast.

Breakfast tacos! Corn tortillas, eggs, sautéed peppers, onions & spinach, cheddar cheese & hot sauce. Turkey bacon on the side.

After the first nap of the day, we ventured out for some shopping and eventually stopped for a late lunch.

We sat outside on the picnic tables and soaked up the sun. It felt great. Kevin and I started with an order of Conch Fritters.

I am not really sure if I tasted conch or not? I guess it could be because I don't know what conch should taste like. But fried dough, savory or sweet, always tastes good to me. ;)

I ordered the blackened tuna wrap and really enjoyed it. A soft, fresh tortilla wrap was filled with blackened tuna, cool veggies, and a spicy blue cheese sauce on the side.

After we rested and napped for the second time of the day, we decided to take a walk up to the beach. Oscar had a blast rolling around in the cold sand.

The wind had picked up and my feet were freezing, so we didn't stay out very long.

We headed back to the bayside to watch the sunset.

Great day.

Volt Restaurant in Frederick, MD

2010-03-15T21:36:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday, I had lunch at Volt in Frederick, MD. Wait a second, I needed about a hundred exclamation points after that sentence!!!!!!!! I ate at VOLT!!!!! Bryan Voltaggio from Top Chef is the chef/owner there! I was SO excited. Ok, there, I got it all out.

I had been studying the lunch menu for days before our arrival and knew exactly what I was getting. Of course, we arrived and it was all different. But, this was actually a very good thing for us.

There was a five course tasting menu on the left side of the menu and on the right side was the restaurant week menu. Wait - its restaurant week in Frederick? 3 courses for $20.10 and add $15 for a 3 course wine pairing? I couldn't believe our luck.

House-made bread sticks were immediately brought to our table. I tried one and they were crisp and salty. Reminded me of a pretzel. They also served warm rolls and butter, but my camera decided to die at this point. Good thing I brought two cameras. I wasn't going to miss documenting this dining experience for anything.

Shortly after we ordered, the first wine pairing arrived. The type you received was dependent on the course you had ordered, so we were each having different things. I was impressed with the server's knowledge of each of the wines and the generous pour.

My first wine course was Graham Beck Brut Rose 2007. From South Africa, it is "made with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, this blend offers big bubbles, strawberry/cranberry flavors with a bit a of crisp apple zing on the back." I enjoyed the light, sweetness of the wine. (source)

My first course was the tuscarora farm organic beets cherry glen farm goat cheese, upland cress. The most interesting thing about this dish was the beet meringue. The goat cheese was softer than I had ever had, but I thought all the flavors worked well and this meal was off to a great start.

My mom chose the potato-leek chowder w/ applewood smoked bacon, sea scallop, leek transparency and I was jealous as soon as I saw the perfectly seared scallop and the way the soup was poured into the bowl.

My sister had the cherry glen farm goat cheese ravioli celeriac, sage brown butter, hedgehog mushrooms. She got the fancy foam stuff on her dish! ;) The bite I had of her ravioli was delicious.

My next wine course was Damilano Nebbiolo d'Alba 2007. "This red wine is a big, bold wine packed with ripe fruit, sweet spices, licorice and leather." (source)

This red wine was just my speed. Fruity and light.

My second course was the pork tenderloin, braised savoy cabbage, caraway potato. The server mentioned that it usually came out medium-rare, so I requested it be more medium. This pork was absolutely delicious and went well with the cabbage and potato. I would order this again in a second.

My mom ordered the wellington farms chicken, forest mushroom risotto, arugula, chioggia beets as her second course. We like to share bites, so everyone can try everything. The chicken was moist and the risotto flavorful. I feel like I am running out of nice things to say, but the food was really this good.

My sister went with the sturgeon, beluga lentils, cauliflower variations, verjus. The fish was flaky and I thought the entire plate was a unique, colorful display. Three colors of cauliflower - white, purple and green! I had to use wikipedia to figure out just what verjus was: Grape seeds preserved in salts were also called verjus during the Middle Ages. So cool!

My final wine pairing was this "sticky chardonnary", The Stump Jump. Love the name. "The nose is packed with rich flavors of marmalade, cumquat, ripe peach and orange butter. The cumquat character follows through on the palate with layers of yellow peach, butterscotch and a hint of green apple. " (source)

The color was so bright and it was extremely sweet. Not really my thing, but I enjoyed getting to try this wine.

My dessert was coconut passion fruit, pineapple, coconut ice cream, caramel crumble, homemade marshmellow. The waiter informed me that the pineapple had been Sous-vide. This dish reminded me of a de-constructed pie. I had to hold myself back from licking the plate. Great way to end my meal.

Another artistic dessert was my sister's textures of chocolate: white chocolate ganache, chocolate caramel, raw organic cocoa. I enjoyed my bite, but it was very rich. Would be perfect for a chocolate lover.

My mom had the Cheese cake, kumquats, ginger ice cream, cardamom. This de-constructed cheesecake was another winner. Enough said.

From left to right: Moi, my mom, Jen, Marcia, Kristin & my sister.

What a great lunch! Definitely something I will not forget. It will be hard to top this place in my book. The service, food and atmosphere was top notch. Thanks SO much to Marcia for getting us a reservation during restaurant week!

Just when we thought things could not get any better, we were presented with these goodies to take home with us. What a great touch.

The ladies room was directly across from the kitchen and after a closer look - Bryan was back there!

Or at least we think that was him! He never turned around. Probably because some crazy person was taking pictures.

In Need of Cardio

2010-03-09T10:08:00.000-05:00

After two indulgent dinners Friday and Saturday night, I was in desperate need of some cardio. Saturday, Kevin and I completed Core Synergistics, which is a great workout, but I really just needed a longer run.

Sunday morning was a great weather day for running. Completed a 10k (6.2 miles) loop in Patapsco State Park. I don't enjoy wearing a watch because I become obsessed with it, so it was about an hour of running. There is a great paved path right along the river in the Orange Grove area and you even get to cross two swinging bridges.

The other day, I updated my Race Schedule page with the list of 2010 races I plan to run/bike. I don't have many running races planned this spring, and it feels pretty relaxing to not have to run a certain amount each week.

I want to see this P90x program all the way through since last night we took our "day 30" pictures and I actually noticed some differences between them and the pictures from 30 days ago. If I get really ripped, maybe I will even get the courage to post them here.

On May 8th, I am planning to bike the 100k (62 mile) course of the Tour de Cure bike ride. I need to dust off my road bike and start training for that. Spin class is there, I just need to attend more regularly.

Last night, I finally experimented with the Quinoa that I bought a few weeks ago. I threw together some random items and ended up with a pretty tasty vegetarian feast.

This was my first time tasting Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Bisque and I loved the sweetness of this soup.

It went nicely with the spicy Veggie Masala Burger.

Once the quinoa was done, I seasoned it with Coriander, Turmeric, Cumin, and Red Pepper. Basically my own version of curry powder.

All together and topped with a spoonful of 0% Plain Greek Yogurt. I treated the soup like a sauce and mixed everything together before eating. I was surprised how the quinoa soaked up all of the soup. I was also surprised how much Kevin and I enjoyed this meal. I will definitely be making this again.

We also munched on edamame for the "green factor". Although I never can get it to taste like it does at a restaurant. Anyone know how they do that?

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday.

Engagement Dinner - Salt Tavern, Baltimore, MD

2010-03-08T15:56:00.000-05:00

Saturday night, we had dinner at Salt Tavern in the Butcher's Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. Salt is a special place for Kevin and I because almost 3 years ago, it is where we had our first date. There are so many memories from that night:

having a "calm my nerves" drink before he came to pick me up.
him ordering the whole fish for his entree...by mistake.
my first taste of port.
really, really easy conversation
learning about our shared love for all things food and athletic
duck fat fries as an appetizer and a trio of ice cream cones for dessert.

It still makes me smile and my stomach get that excited feeling just thinking about it. We hadn't been back since that first date, so it seemed like the perfect place to celebrate our engagement with my family.

I decided to have a pre-dinner drink at the house for old times sake. Cranberry vodka, mango nectar, sparking water, fresh blueberries (that sunk to the bottom), and a lime.

This drink was sweet and tasted like there was no alcohol at all. Dangerous.

We had to start with the Duck Fat Fries and they were just as I remember. Although, I think I ate 10 times more than I did on our first date.

The fries were served with a trio of aioli: black truffle, chipotle, and malt vinegar. I kept going back to the Black Truffle one, but they were all great.

I helped polish off a bottle of Panther Creek Pinot Grigio. This wine was smooth and light, so I am hoping to find it in a store nearby.

Kevin ordered the Roasted Beet Salad to start and I had a few bites. Baby spinach, goat cheese, kumquats, lemon vinaigrette. I don't think I had ever tried a kumquat, but I enjoyed it. The tartness went nicely with the creamy goat cheese.

I went with the Porchini Dusted Day Boat Sea Scallops as my main meal. Served over a baby vegetable ratatouille and lobster butter. Oh. my. goodness. This was the best I have ever had. I loved absolutely everything about this dish. Just seeing this picture again is making my mouth water. It was seared scallop, ratatouille perfection.

Kevin ordered the Coriander and Pepper Crusted Tuna served over seaweed salad with spicy tuna pot stickers and ginger soy glaze. The tuna steak was humongous and had delicious flavor, but was slightly undercooked for his taste. He changed his order to medium-rare at the last minute, but should have stuck with medium.

I am disappointed that I didn't snag a photo of my sister's dish because as much as I loved my dish, hers was just as good. Hoisin Glazed Roasted Alaskan Black Cod served in a spicy miso broth with steamed wontons, and sriracha stir fried vegetables. I tried a bite and the fish literally melted in my mouth. I will definitely order that next time we go.

You know we had to order the trio of ice cream in chocolate lined waffle cones. The nightly homemade ice cream flavors were butter pecan, chocolate cherry, and one other that I cant remember!

We also had to try the bread pudding which was made with brioche, chocolate, a hint of orange served with orange marmalade and vanilla ice cream. This was very dense with a rich flavor. Kevin declared that it was the best he's ever had.

Last, but certainly not least, were the Goat Cheese Donuts topped with a lavender honey, sea salt and served with a side of coffee ice cream. I loved these, although, I was secretly hoping there would be a pocket of melted goat cheese in the middle.

(From Left to Right: Brother-in-law, sister, mom, Kevin, Me & Dad)

Every single one of us enjoyed this experience and I have nothing but high praise for Salt Tavern. We had impeccable service and I would highly recommend asking for Terese as your waitress if you decide to dine here. She knows exactly how to describe all of the food to make it sound like it is going to be the best thing you ever ate. And you what? It was.

Kemble Park Tavern, Washington DC

2010-03-08T10:42:00.000-05:00

Friday night, Kevin and I headed down to Washington DC for my good friend's birthday dinner. I was asking the traffic gods to be nice to us and luckily we flew down there with no major problems.

Kemble Park Tavern is located in The Palisades neighborhood of DC and even though it was dark when we arrived, the charm of this area shined through. I had two unpictured glasses of pinot grigio and a few bites of others appetizer salads. I most enjoyed the bites of Kevin's Roasted Beet Salad that came served with Orange Segments / Fennel / Goat Cheese.

I ordered Shrimp & Grits that the menu described as Cheese Grits / Andouille Sausage / Seafood Broth. This was good, but not great. I did not enjoy having the remove the heads off the shrimp and I have had better cheesy grits. I was having food envy of the other entrees ordered. Kevin ordered the crab cakes and I was very impressed with the large amount of lump crab and little amount of filler.

The best entree was definitely the Atlantic Salmon. Grilled, Broiled or Blackened / Today's Sauce & Side. The salmon pictured above was Blackened with a Tomato Buerre Blanc and came with a mixture of squash on top. Next time I would definitely order this. It was cooked perfectly.

Since this was a birthday celebration, we all made sure to save room for dessert.

SO many of the desserts sounded good that we almost ordered one of everything and alot of passing around for bites ensued. (The camera flash had to come on for these next shots.)

Vanilla Ice Cream with a Hot Fudge Sauce. I loved that the ice cream was served in a chilled marble bowl with the hot fudge sauce on the side. Impressive presentation.

Chocolate Pots de Creme. Hershey's Chocolate with a Hazlenut Cracker. Another great presentation, but the flavor was nothing special. Did they empty a Snack Pack in this cute container? Harsh, but it is truly what we all thought.

Seasonal Fruit Crunch. Apples / Cranberries / Vanilla ice cream and Hot Apple Cider. I didn't get a taste of this one, but we were told that some people pour the hot cider over the ice cream to melt it more.

Carrot Cake w/ Goat Cheese Frosting. This was good, but there wasn't a huge goat cheese flavor detected in the frosting which was disappointing.

Butterscotch Bread Pudding. Caramel Sauce / Bananas Foster. This was my favorite. Great combination of flavors and completely delicious. I enjoyed every bite.

My overall experience here was a positive one. I thought the atmosphere was warm and classy. Great for our group of six. The service was good and the food was also good. Not incredible, but also not horrible. I cant say it is my favorite new restaurant, but I would be happy to return.

My Favorite Blog Subjects

2010-03-04T21:56:00.000-05:00

Trader Joe's

It has been awhile since I posted about my latest Trader Joe's purchases. I still love that place and they don't pay me to say that. Actually, the people at Trader Joes don't even know I exist. Except that I am the annoying IP address that keeps requesting they open a Trader Joe's in Canton.

Anyways, the Cilantro and Jalapeno Hummus is my latest obsession. Kevin and I went through one of these things in 2 days. He takes big scoops.

The Multigrain Pita Chips with Sesame Seeds are the perfect scooper and something I pick-up everytime I am in the store.

I noticed this Gyoza Dipping Sauce and grabbed it immediately. I am always failing to create the perfect combination of soy sauce, rice vinegar & sesame oil for gyoza dipping.

No picture of the package, but the Thai Shrimp Gyoza w/ the dipping sauce was a very tasty combo.

The other day I made this breakfast wrap.

1 Handmade Whole Wheat Tortilla (TJs brand, of course)
Edamame Hummus (TJs)
Lite Mexican Cheese Blend (TJs)
Spinach
Scrambled Egg Whites + 1 regular egg
Chalula hot sauce
Only thing to make it even better would be some chopped tomatoes, but we were all out.

Workouts

I am proud to say that Kevin and I are days away from completing Week 4 of P90x. Our only slacking includes missing 1 session of Ab RipperX and cutting yoga 30 mins short. Not too shabby.

P90x Superlatives (so far)

Favorite - Core Synergistics. The time seems to fly by and I feel like I am getting a great overall work out.
Hardest - YogaX. My wrists (and entire body) hurts like hell during the first 40 mins of a million downward dogs and Chaturangas.
Most Surprising - The first time I did KenpoX, I felt silly and couldn't keep up. When I finally started focusing, it is now one of the workouts I actually look forward too.
Least Favorite - Ab RipperX is only 15 mins, but I hate abs. Always have, so I struggle through this workout and the minutes seem to last an eternity.

With all this P90x going on, the frequency of my running has been suffering. I am getting smaller runs in once or twice a week, with a longer run on the weekend.

Oscar & Lucy

Oscar wanted to say hi. He tried on the heart bandana Lucy got on her trip to the vet.

The serious look.

Speaking of Lucy, you wouldn't know it from the picture below, but she did everything in her power NOT to get into this carrier when it was time to go to the vet last week.

I came home to find her hanging out in there as if it is her favorite place in the world.

Then I catch her drinking out of Oscar's water bowl.

Since I have probably reached the pet picture limit, I will end this random post here and say that I hope everyone has fun plans for the weekend. I am in store for a weekend of fun celebrations that includes 1 new restaurant and 1 restaurant that has a special place in my heart. Cant wait.

Good night!

Stuffed Peppers

2010-02-26T14:15:00.001-05:00

The other night after work, my sister snuck me in this place:

It may seem silly, but I was excited since I had never been inside a Costco. I will admit that the product selection didn't knock my socks off, but I ended up getting some pretty good deals. Oh and I got to sample coffee cake, chili and lobster bisque. Score.

4lbs of Trail mix? Yes, please. This should last Kevin and I through next year.

1.5 pounds of blueberries. These would probably go to waste if I left them in the fridge, so I plan to stick more than half in the freezer for smoothies.

The Dry Roasted Edamame was my "I hope we like these b/c we have a 10 year supply" purchase. I figured they would be a great snack for work. Unfortunately, neither Kevin and I were a huge fan. I have a feeling these may end up in my work kitchen. Everything gets eaten up in there.

I came home from Costco to find Kevin already cooking dinner. He was using a "beach body" recipe, which meant these were going to taste really healthy. Not necessarily a bad thing, but he decided to add cheddar cheese to the bottom of each pepper, so we had something to look forward too.

I chose the red pepper and was gloating that I had the best one since red peppers are so much better than green peppers

Lesson Learned: Never Gloat. As I was digging around my pepper for the cheese, I came to the realization that Kevin somehow missed adding the cheese to this one. And that was the last of the cheese. He knows I don't like green peppers.

I will get him next time.

Seared Scallops w/ Spinach & Butternut Squash Puree

2010-02-22T19:36:00.000-05:00

Sunday night, I attempted to make butternut squash SOUP that the Vitamix turned into more of a PUREE. I added a sprinkle of cinnamon and cayenne pepper that really "kicked it up a notch".

Tonight, I tried to get fancy with my puree.

Sauteed Spinach, Butternut Squash Puree, and Seared Sea Scallops.

This was an absolutely delicious dinner.

I feel like I finally perfected the "sear" on the scallops. The key for me was to pat the scallops very dry and once I added the seasoned scallops to the pan, I turned the heat up to medium-high and didnt touch them for a few minutes. Flip once and cook for another couple minutes at the medium-high heat.

Voila.

Enjoy the rest of your night.

Butter and Push-Up Grips

2010-02-21T21:16:00.000-05:00

Friday night, Kevin brought me two just-because gifts. The best kind.

Push-Up Grips since my wrists always hurt during our P90 workouts.

And KerryGold Pure Irish Butter because i always eye it up at the grocery store. I think these items even each other out perfectly.

We were planning on a run Saturday morning, so we stayed in a made a nice dinner of fish (tuna and salmon), asparagus, and risotto. I made my first risotto and it was so easy!

It was also straight out of a box! This Butternut Squash Risotto was flavorful and super simple to make. We ended up chopping some of the asparagus to mix into the risotto.

Healthy and filling dinner.

Soooo, Kevin and I started P90x over again. We had gotten too far off track to keep moving forward and figured it would be best if we just start over. The past two weeks, we have been getting up at 5am and completing the workouts before work. It has been brutal since I am not a morning person. But, we have stayed consistent and the early wake-up call is getting easier. We are ready to kick off week 3 tomorrow.

I have not been running as frequently, but felt surprisingly OK during our 6 mile run on Saturday morning. I do have to keep up with the running since the Washington's Birthday Marathon Relay had to be postponed to March 28th due to the snow. That reminds me that I need to post my 2010 Race Calendar.

Valentine's Cooking Class

2010-02-15T21:59:00.001-05:00

For Valentines Day this year, Kevin made plans for us to go to a cooking class at one of our favorite restaurants in Baltimore: The Dogwood. (See our other visits here and here.)

They "...cook with the seasons and feature the finest local and natural ingredients, sourcing from sustainable, artisanal, and organic producers whenever possible."

The theme of this month's cooking class was New Orleans. I actually took a trip to New Orleans in college for the Marketing club. I joined the club and became the "Secretary" so that I could go on this trip with my friends, who were President and Treasurer. There was a national conference being held, but we were more interested in checking out the local culture (Bourbon Street). ;)

Kevin and I arrived early and were lucky enough to grab seats front and center. We started with a Brandy Milk Punch that was strong! Not really my type of drink but I enjoyed tasting something different.

The featured wine was Bonterra Rousanne and I had never heard of this type of wine, but loved it. I also loved how they kept re-filling our glasses every 5 mins or so.

The first course was a Shrimp Remoulade. We learned how to poach shrimp and make a spicy remoulade. Chef Galen was streaming the olive oil into the other ingredients just like on the food network!

Can you believe how much shrimp there was on each plate? Served over a bed of lettuce, this was a refreshing and flavorful dish.

The next course was a Duck and Andouille Gumbo. When we first arrived, Chef Galen discussed multiple roux techniques and started a roux that cooked for 30-40 mins with different volunteers stirring. While we were enjoying our shrimp, he walked around to let us check out the mahogany color that had developed.

Next, we each received a huge portion of the gumbo served over rice. The flavor was rich and spicy. I would most certainly order this if it was on the menu.

Saving the best for last is an understatement here. Bananas Foster. Brown sugar, butter, rum, bananas, vanilla ice cream.

It really cant get much better than that.

This was Dogwood's second Monthly Cooking Class and they have plans to do one a month that features a different location where Chef Galen and his wife Bridget have traveled. There are some great menus planned and I felt that I learned so much hearing Chef Galen talk through each recipe and technique.

I would highly recommend this for anyone who loves food. It was the best valentines ever.

In other news, Kevin and I visited another possible wedding venue and loved it.

(photo source)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Bundled Up

2010-02-11T13:57:00.000-05:00

The other day while stranded because of the 1st snow, Kevin and I decided to walk down to Safeway to get some essentials before the 2nd snow hit. We made sure to bundle up.

Who knew a turtleneck sweater could double as a face mask?!

We picked up a whole chicken to roast because we had a ton of veggies that needed to be used up. In the veggie bed above: carrots, parsnips, onion, celery, garlic, shallots, and a sweet potato. We added about 2 cups of chicken broth and a bunch of thyme and rosemary.

We stuffed the bird with 1/2 lemon, garlic cloves, and thyme. On top, we seasoned the outside with extra virgin olive oil, thyme, and J.O.s.

J.O. Spice is best known for their crab seasoning, but Kevin picked up the Rotisserie Chicken Spice last time he stopped by their store. Awesome stuff.

We fought over who got to baste the chicken each time. Basting is fun. (We were also in the middle of doing P90x Plyometrics and both wanted the break.)

All of the veggies, chicken broth and seasonings ended up making some of the best vegetable soup/puree/gravy I have every tasted.

And it made a ton!

We served the chicken with our veggie soup/puree/gravy and steamed brussels sprouts.

This Saturday, Kevin and I have exciting Valentine's Day plans. We are taking a cooking class at Dogwood Restaurant in Hampden. I am so excited to take pictures of our experience and will be sure to share. I can NOT wait!

Two Firsts

2010-02-06T20:36:00.000-05:00

The snow inspired me to cook two new things today. Chickpea Blondies and French Onion Soup. Let's start with the Chickpea Blondies. The other day I saw Tina @ Carrots N Cake make these and was immediately puzzled. How could the same ingredient that makes hummus be used in a blondie? I had to try them for myself.

This recipe originally comes from the "Have Cake, Will Travel" blog. I altered the ingredients slightly. Instead of Strawberry Preserves, I used my Grandmom's homemade Strawberry/Rhubarb Jam.

Instead of crunchy, natural peanut butter, I used Trader Joes Creamy Almond Butter w/ Sea Salt.

I also used whole wheat pastry flour instead of flax or rice flour. Coming out of the oven, I was slightly worried.

Then, I took a bite.

Not a hint of hummus at all! ;) Next time I plan to add in some chocolate chips for an extra something-something. These were absolutely delicious and I cant seem to stop sneaking into the kitchen for small slivers that dont actually count.

Moving on to the French Onion Soup. Kevin's favorite soup in the world is French Onion. So, when I went looking for a recipe online, I had to choose "The Best French Onion Soup (ever!)" from Cookography.

This recipe told me to use a dutch oven. I don't own a dutch oven. I want one very badly, but since they are a million dollars, lots of onions went into my largest, heaviest pot. It couldn't go into the oven, so I did this all on the stove-top and it worked just fine.

After a few hours, the onions had cooked down and I began the deglazing process. Pouring the sherry into the caramelized onions was one of the best smells ever.

Well, that and the smell of freshly brewed Americana's from High Grounds down the street. We had been craving coffee and kept calling down there to see if they were open. Kevin was lucky enough to catch the manager stopping in for a few minutes. Yesss.

I will take this moment to sneak in another Oscar photo since he was such a good helper overseeing the shoveling today.

Back to the French Onion Soup. The onions were a rich, golden color and it was time to pour in all the broth and seasoning.

At this point we had done enough shoveling for the day and I wanted a beer. Flying Dog's In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen is my new favorite.

The soup...all by its lonesome.

Toasted croutons thrown into the mix.

Topped with a slice of provolone and gruyere cheese. We both love cheese. Can you tell?

The broiler got to work very quickly

And out came a beautiful sight. Brown, bubbly cheese.

Oh my goodness.

I couldn't wait to dig in.

If you know someone who likes French Onion Soup, make this for them and they will love you forever. I promise.

Have a great night!

Baltimore Blizzard

2010-02-06T06:46:00.000-05:00

They said we were going to get a blizzard...

I guess you could say it is here. Kevin has begun digging out with our broken shovel.

Oscar loves the snow.

Can you find him in the picture above?

There he is!

Hope everyone stays warms!

Spin, Snow, Soup and Sandwiches

2010-02-05T14:05:00.001-05:00

Tuesday night, I took an hour spin class at the gym. The entire class was full and as a late arriver, I got the older model "reject" bike in the back corner. Little did I know that I was also seated behind the class spirit queen. The instructor was great, she had the best music, my old bike worked fine, and it was an awesome workout. But, the girl in front of me felt the need to scream "Wahooooo" or "Yeaahhhh" each time a new song started. I mean...seriously? I just don't get it.

It was a snowy night and neither Kevin or I felt like cooking. Soup and sandwiches to the rescue.

Lately, I have been obsessed with V8 soups. So good.

I love the texture of this soup. Much heartier than other tomato soups I have tried.

Grilled Turkey and Provolone on Rye for dunking.

Rye bread is my new obsession.

Warm, filling and deliciously easy dinner.

Fellow East Coasters: Stay warm during the "big snow" that is coming. I plan to make french onion soup, drink my new favorite beer (Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat), shower my dog and cat with attention, watch too much TV, and hopefully do some sledding in the park. :)

Turkey Meatballs over Baked Polenta

2010-02-01T22:02:00.000-05:00

Last night I made Giada's Marinara Sauce and tonight my goal was to make her Turkey Meatballs.

I picked up the biggest bag of parsley yesterday.

I started out placing everything in the mixing bowl in hopes I could achieve one of those cool cookbook pictures where all the ingredients are separated. Then I added the egg. Oops.

I added the ground turkey and mixed for a short time before forming (what felt like a million) mini meatballs and placing on parchment paper.

Pre-made polenta from Trader Joes was sliced and seasoned with EVOO, salt & pepper before baking in the oven for about 20 mins at 375 degrees. Flipped once.

After cooking the meatballs, it was time to re-heat the marinara. Giada's marinara is so thick and hearty - I love it.

I have a very good helper in the kitchen each night that I cook.

Not sure if anyone else has one of those annoying spaces between the oven and the counter top, but I swear it sucks things down there.

Luckily, my helper likes to keep things clean.

I really don't understand how he squeezes his body in this space.

But I appreciate his help.

Giada's turkey meatballs and marinara over Trader Joes polenta came out fantastic.

Topped with a little grated Romano and fresh basil.

I think I achieved a slightly healthier version of my Tomato Palace favorite starter - Meatballs and Polenta.

Enjoy the rest of your night!

Flop

2010-01-31T22:07:00.000-05:00

The last couple weeks have pretty much been a P90x flop. I have done the workouts here and there, but not consistently and I have all the excuses in the world. I was sick for a few days with a cold, worked late 2 days last week, went for a run and didnt feel like it afterwards, etc, etc, etc.

I am trying to come up with a way to incorporate it into my exercise, without losing my running endurance. It is really hard for me to get up early in the morning and get it out of the way. I dont feel that I am cut out for early morning workouts. I like entirely too much TV that is on later. And I dont have a DVR. So, there you have it.

This morning, I made breakfast tacos. Egg whites, grilled corn tortillas, tomatoes, green onion, and avocado. No cheese because we were all out, but surprisingly, I didn't miss it.

I eventually mustered up enough motivation to hit the gym and wanted to do something different. I ended up doing a 40 min treadmill hike. I set the treadmill to the "Hills" setting and cranked up the speed to a fast walk. It was pretty tough.

I came home and picked up a favorite cookbook of mine that was starting to collect dust. Sometimes I get caught up searching the internet for recipes and dont use my cookbooks enough.

I decided to go with Giada's classic marinara sauce. It was simple and straightforward and didn't have a million ingredients. The house smells great right now. Tomorrow night, I plan to use it as I try re-create one of my favorite dishes from the Tomato Palace in Columbia, MD.

I picked up a new stuffed animal for Oscar and he had a blast playing tonight. He loves stuffed animals, especially the squeaky kind. He is a very manly and tough dog. ;)

Lucy was trying to figure out what that thing was and whether she should be scared of it.

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. Be back tomorrow with more Giada.

Meli in Fells Point

2010-01-31T20:20:00.000-05:00

This past week was Baltimore's Restaurant Week. Last night, Kevin and I went out to dinner with some friends at Meli in Fell's Point. The menu looked great and I was excited to try the place Baltimore Magazine voted "Best New Restaurant" in 2009.

We started out with some drinks. Pinot Grigio for me. Kevin ordered the girly mango cosmopolitan. :)

The restaurant week deal includes three courses for $35. My first was the Baked Goat Cheese Salad: Mixed Greens, Toasted Almonds, Blossom Honey Vinaigrette. It was a big portion that also came with radishes and sliced pear. The pear was not ripe at all, but otherwise, this was a great salad.

I chose my entree based on the sides that came with it. The Braised Lamb Shank was served with Butternut Squash Mashed, Seared Brussels Sprouts, Candied Bacon, Pan jus reduction. This dish was incredible. I think this was only the second time in my life that I have had lamb, but the meat was so tender that I didn't even need a knife.

I chose the Galaktoboureko for dessert. What, you havent heard of it? Yeah, me neither. This is a Traditional Greek dessert of baked Phyllo filled with custard and drizzled with a Citrus Honey Glaze. It. Was. Awesome. I blinked and it was gone.

We had a great meal and the service was good. My only service complaint was when the waitress asked us which water we wanted for the table. She named Pellegrino and some other fancy water and gave us no other options. We had to ask for tap. Umm, I am just not one of those fancy water type of people, so to not even offer it turned me off a bit.

Would I recommend Meli as a great place for dinner in Baltimore? Most definitely.

Real Simple Recipe, Possible Wedding Venue & a Race

2010-01-19T20:45:00.000-05:00

Having Monday off for MLK's birthday allowed me to sleep in, walk Oscar twice, run 6 miles, go out to lunch with a friend, grocery shop, and plan a nice dinner. Great day.

I was searching around the Real Simple website and found a recipe for Chicken Cacciatore that looked easy and I already had most of the ingredients on hand.

We served it over leftover Basmati rice and topped with grated Parmesan. The only change I made was to add yellow peppers to the sauce.

This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Wedding planning has officially begun and we have made two visits to the same venue. And currently dont have plans to visit any other places. I guess you could say we really like it. :)

(photo credit)

More info to come as we make some of the decisions! Exciting stuff.

On the running front, I signed up for the George Washington Birthday Marathon 3-person Relay with my Dad and Kevin on Sunday, February 14th. (Valentines Day!) I am so happy to have a race coming up so that I feel the pressure to train. I took the middle, 7.3 mile leg, so as long as I keep up the 6 mile runs, I should be fine.

Enjoy the rest of your Monday evening.

Clean Bill of Health

2010-01-17T22:39:00.000-05:00

I am happy to report that my computer has a clean bill of health. I want to share some of the pictures I have snapped over the holidays and into the new year.

The best oatmeal raisin cookies ever. Once I steal the recipe from my mom, I will be sure to post.

No room in the fridge or freezer? No problem. A pile of snow acts as a perfect cooler for wine and grapefruit vodka.

I took this shot at my parent's house and thought the icicles on the bench looked cool.

On New Years Eve, Kevin and I stayed in and celebrated with cheese and wine.

We also made a delicious dinner of spinach salad, seared white sea bass, carrot/parsnip mash, topped with crispy pancetta. We had picked up the fish from Frank's Seafood in Jessup, MD earlier that day.

For the spinach salad, we used this great "Powerhouse Salad Kit" from Trader Joes. Spinach, dried blueberries, dried cherries, dried edamame, walnuts, and a blueberry cherry vinaigrette.

We added a little crumbled goat cheese because thats how we roll.

The powerful Vitamix whipped the carrot/parsnip mix until it was silky smooth. That thing is no joke. Love it.

Some other good eats over the past few days...Salad with grilled BBQ shrimp.

Real Simple's Slow Cooker Cuban Braised Beef and Peppers served over Basmati Rice with sliced avocado.

Off to watch the rest of 24. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday night!

Unplanned Hiatus

2010-01-05T14:09:00.000-05:00

Well hello there. Its been awhile. Time flies when you are having fun, right? Unfortunately, the photos I want to share are sitting on my NEW (and very exciting) camera that I cant attach to my computer because it was recently attacked by a virus. Once I get that annoying thing off my computer, I will be back to show you the delicious eats. (so yes, I am writing this post during a break at work ;))

In the meantime, I wanted to give an update on P90x. The last update I gave was on Day 8. That was a long time ago. I can honestly say that I stayed strong until around Day 20. Kevin got sick in the middle of week 3 and had to take time off. I tried to stay motivated, but it is so much easier to have someone else suffering along next to me.

The engagement happened. Kevin left for a few days to spend time with his family in Ohio. And well, we got off track. Not completely, meaning we probably still completed 3-4 workouts a week.

But, I am happy to report that the new year has brought a new commitment to doing this thing the right way. We started with the Week 5 workouts:

Chest, Shoulders & Triceps/Ab RipperX. Not sure if I will ever be able to do one-handed pushups, but I tried and will continue to try. Who cares if I only go down 1 millimeter. I loved how sore I felt after this one.
Plyometrics. Extremely sore from the workout above, but made it through. Used a lot of the modified (easier) moves.
Back & Bicep/Ab RipperX. Felt pretty easy, but it was probably because I need to use more weight. Now that I am more familiar with the moves, I will increase my weight going forward.

YogaX is next up, so here's to me not wimping out halfway through!

Switching gears...this post needs some pictures and luckily I have some from my old camera. Oscar and Lucy time.

Oscar enjoying the snow. He might love snow more than treats.

Lucy will have no part of the snow and instead spends her time near warm lamps.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Cookies & Mexican Tortilla Chicken Soup

2009-12-22T10:46:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago, I went over to my parent's house for our annual "Christmas Cookie Making Day". I hadn't eaten lunch and was sort of banking on my parent's having something I could eat. Or I would have had to eat cookies for lunch.

Luckily, my mom had made Mexican Tortilla Soup with fresh lime, avocado, cheese and corn tortilla strips. (recipe below)

It was SO good. I ate two very full bowls.

After lunch, there was a few hours of serious cookie making going on.

Which resulted in lots of tins being filled with cookies.

Oscar was kind enough to keep the floor clean.

After we were "cookied out", we took a drive to look at lights.

Seasons Greetings!

Recipe:

Mexican Tortilla Chicken Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium white onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
3 ripe medium tomatoes, chopped
1 quart chicken stock,
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Canola oil, for pan-frying
8 corn tortillas, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I just boiled some chicken breasts)
2 avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced
1 cup shredded Jack cheese, optional
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
1 lime, cut in wedges, for serving

Directions

Place a stockpot over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, jalapenos, and tomatoes; cook, stirring for 15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked down and pulpy. Pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1-inch of canola oil in skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until they are crisp on all sides. Remove to a paper towel-lined platter and sprinkle with salt while they are still hot.

Ladle the hot soup in bowls and put a pile of shredded chicken on top of each. Top with the sliced avocado, cheese and fried tortilla strips. Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Happy

2009-12-18T10:27:00.001-05:00

Last night, after my nightly walk with Oscar, Kevin was trying to talk me into going for a run outside along the water. I said something along the lines of, "there was no way in hell I was running outside in the cold tonight!"

He agreed that we would head to the gym instead, but he had to go upstairs and get changed first. Oscar followed him upstairs and in a few minutes, I heard him yell down that the view was awesome from the roof tonight and I should come up and see it.

Oscar loves going up on the deck, so that wasn't strange at all. What was different is that when I went upstairs, Kevin had a little box sitting open with a sparkly thing inside.

All of a sudden, Kevin was down on one knee saying the best things ever, Oscar was licking me, and I blacked out. When I came to, we were hugging, Oscar was still licking me, and I had an amazing ring on my finger.

WE ARE ENGAGED!!!

We cracked open some celebratory wine and started sharing the good news with family and friends.

Kevin had made reservations at our favorite restaurant, b-Bistro, where we ate great food, drank more wine and talked about exciting things to come.

I couldn't be happier and more excited than I am right now. :)

Annual Secret Santa Brunch

2009-12-12T18:46:00.000-05:00

Today was the annual Secret Santa brunch with my friends from high school. Carron hosted and the house looked beautiful and very festive for the holidays. (P.S. I still need to dig out my decorations and get a tree. Queen of procrastination right here.)

The table was set and we each had a special treat on our plate.

It is appropriately called, "Crack". White Chocolate covered pretzels, cheerios, chex, peanuts, and M&Ms.

Brunch was absolutely delicious. Fresh pineapple & raspberries.

The best sour cream coffee cake ever.

Turkey Sausage and Cheese Breakfast casserole.

Almond Pate Danish Kringle. Soooo good.

My first plate. Seconds were not pictured, but most definitely occurred.

A picture of us.

I had fun with their dog, Camden, during our gift exchange.

And she had fun with all the tissue paper...breaking it down for recycling. :)

We spent a lot of time oohing and ahhing over Carron and Ben's 4 month old, Alex, who is a very sweet guy. Not to mention adorable.

Mara had me for the secret santa and definitely knows what I like. Check out all these goodies:

Cant wait to try some of these new treats and use my prep bowls and cutting board!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. I need to go whip up cookie dough for the annual Christmas Cookie Baking marathon at my mom's house tomorrow. :)

Blue Moon Cafe - Baltimore, MD

2009-12-09T23:05:00.001-05:00

Sunday morning, we had planned to run the Columbia Metric Marathon. Unfortunately (or fortunately), it was cancelled due to icy roads and trails. The power in the house had also gone out. This meant we were up well before 7am, hungry, and didn't want to open the fridge.

I have been wanting to try the Blue Moon Cafe in Fells Point for all 7 years I have been living in the city. Every time I would drive by and see people waiting out on the street, I couldn't believe I had never been there. I was ecstatic to see that we were the first ones there! No line, the scent of fresh cinnamon rolls, and our choice of any table we wanted.

We chose this cute table by the fireplace and ordered coffee immediately.

I tend to be biased towards my local coffee shop/roaster (High Grounds), which I love, but this coffee was good. We learned it was a special blend roasted especially for Blue Moon Cafe by Bluebird Coffee Roasters.

We had to try the Captain Crunch French Toast, which is what they are known for. The waitress suggested ordering a short stack for us to share, which is exactly what we did. It was incredible. I loved the sweet crunchiness on the outside.

I ordered the Vegetarian Potato Pancakes topped with sautéed vegetables and cheddar cheese for my meal, along with 1 scrambled egg on the side. This was a huge portion and I took home enough for dinner later. I have no idea what was in the potato pancakes, but they had great flavor and consistency.

As we were paying our check, the waitress brought over one of their fresh cinnamon rolls for us to take home...on the house. yessss. She wrote a few travel/review websites on the to-go box and said she hoped we would write about our experience.

Overall, we had a great experience at the Blue Moon Cafe and look forward to going back and trying more things on the menu. They do not take reservations, so my suggestion is to get there early or be ready to wait. But hey, good things come to those who wait, right?.

When the Weather Outside is...

2009-12-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

...cold/windy/snowy/rainy, I stay inside and bake. But first, Oscar needs a walk. Canton is starting to look more festive.

Oscar loves the cold weather. Oops, I cut Kevin's head off. Sorry Kevin.

I was between a pumpkin/cranberry combo or a pumpkin/chocolate chip combo.

What do you think won out?

In my world, chocolate chips beat cranberries any day. I used this recipe (sub whole wheat pastry flour) and filled 1 loaf pan, 1 full size muffin pan, and 2 mini muffin pans. So, I dirtied just about every pan I own.

P90 Update

Last post I mentioned that Kevin and I had started P90x together. I also said that we were committed this time. Well, it is Day 8 and I am proud to stay we are still going strong!

Some of my thoughts so far:

The lifting workouts are tough, but I dont mind them. They are exactly what I need since I have a hard time lifting on my own.
Yoga was the hardest workout for me and I have never felt more awkward in my life. We only lasted 30 mins.
I have a hard time concentrating during yoga since I find myself laughing at the faces Kevin makes the entire time.
KenpoX was scheduled for Friday evening. We got dressed, went downstairs, turned on the TV and started the warmup. About 1 minute later, we looked at each other, turned off the TV, and went out to dinner. Friday workouts have to happen in the morning before work.
We have to plan our runs more strategically around the workouts. I only got one run in during the 1st week.
I don't like when Tony calls us "boys and girls" or when he talks about all the different kinds of soup. (Okra soup is not that funny)

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. My mom sent me the recipe for the Angel Biscuits, so I will be sure to post it soon. Along with 2 other restaurant reviews: Blue Moon Cafe and The Rumor Mill.

Good night!

Turkey to P90

2009-12-02T21:57:00.001-05:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone! I am sure everyone is "thanksgiving recapped out" by this point, so I will just share a few, low quality photos you have come to expect here at athlEAT. ;)

I have major camera envy of all of you out there that have a fancy SLR. Especially since these photos were taken with my iPhone. Forgetting my camera seems to be happening more frequently, so I will have to nip this in the bud immediately.

Fresh Green Beans w/ Lemon, Garlic, and Toasted Pine Nuts.

Mom's Famous Angel Biscuits, fresh out of the oven.

Uncle Gene's Crab Stuffing. Like a crab cake, but with more bread than crab. Only in Maryland. It was great.

The most addicting Mac & Cheese ever. Havarti, Brown Sugar & Red Onions are just a few of the awesome ingredients.

Ready to eat.

My plate. I pretty much ate everything. Yes, that is sauerkraut on my turkey. Deelish.

Ok, so have I mentioned that I love pie? LOVE pie. I just had to have a sliver of each. Pecan, Pumpkin & Sweet Potato.

After all of this post-marathon eating, I decided to start a new training challenge. P90x. I have tried to start this before and was not committed. This time is different.

Kevin and I set up our own P90 workout area in the basement. It isnt fancy, but we sealed off the exposed brick and then put down padded/gym flooring. I love it down there now.

We are currently on Day 4 and I am still sore from Day 1. I love feeling sore because it tells me this stuff is working. Yoga tonight was extremely hard. I have never felt more awkward in my life and only lasted 30 mins. Here's to keeping this up for 86 more days!

Philadelphia Marathon 2009

2009-11-25T00:26:00.004-05:00

What a weekend. Before I get to the marathon recap, I have to say that Bruce Springsteen is an amazing performer. Kevin and I had a great time at his show in Baltimore Friday night. My favorite part was when he ran into the crowd and chugged some person's beer. If we hear about him coming down with swine flu, I know why.

Although we spent a good amount of the time standing, we were happy to have seats to rest our legs during the slower songs, since we did have a marathon on Sunday. Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready for the quick drive up to Philly.

We arrived at our hotel and were excited to see some great views from our room. City view.

And Bridge view.

We relaxed for a bit before meeting my friend Ashley (who was running her first marathon!) at the race expo. Although it was only 1.5 miles from our hotel, we decided to drive. The parking garages near the convention center made a killing that day. Philly/Chinatown - how about some weekend special event prices next time? Or have the expo in a place with free parking?

We picked up our BIBs/shirts and walked around the expo for awhile. I love the bags they gave us with our shirts. Perfect breathable gym/race bag with a zippered pocket. I also ran into a friend of mine from college who was running her first marathon, so that was fun to see her.

After the expo, we relaxed back at the hotel and then headed to dinner at Dante and Luigi's. This place has been around since 1899, so we figured they knew what they were doing. The best way for me to describe this restaurant is "smooth". Everything they did was like a well oiled machine. After receiving fresh italian bread, we decided to split the Dante and Luigi Special Salad. (My excuse for the pictures below: I messed up and forgot my camera, so only had my iPhone the entire weekend.)

I was in the middle of asking Kevin if he thought there was dressing on there, when suddenly Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar appeared. Is this place bugged? I decided on the lasagna for my meal which came topped with Italian Gravy. (!?!)

Italian Gravy was the tastiest red sauce I have ever had. Super hearty and had this great flavor that I couldn't put my finger on. Kevin ordered the Manicotti and I was jealous. I kept asking if he wanted another bite of mine, so that he would offer me a bite of his. The burnt ends were the best. ;)

We decided to go for dessert because how often did we come to the oldest Italian restaurant in Philadelphia? I ordered the Ricotta cheese pie, which looked a lot like cheesecake, but was not as heavy or sweet.

I loved it. It reminded me of my favorite Italian dessert - Sfogliatelle - just without those crispy layers on top.

Race Day

We set the alarm for 5am, but both of us woke up by 4:45am. Nerves. I decided to take a quick shower to wake me up. Picked my outfit based on two choices I had laid out.

I ended up going with capri running pants, a long sleeve shirt, and throwaway gloves for the first few miles.

Fueled up with a banana, almond butter and a PURE bar. Chocolate Chip Trail Mix PURE bar that I have never tried before. It made me nervous that I didnt have my normal wheat toast, but I had forgot to bring it and our hotel was charging like $10 for a slice. I loaded up my Geico wrist band with Ibuprofen and Sport Beans. Carried GU Chomps to munch on at the starting line.

We found parking without a problem and walked over towards the start to get into our colored corral. We enjoyed some of the best people watching ever for a good 40 mins before we actually started the race at 7:20.

Miles 1 - 6. The entire way felt downhill and flat. Kevin and I both felt great. I ditched my gloves around mile 3. Neither Kevin or I wore watches, so when we passed the clocks, we knew to take about 20 mins based on our starting time. We were running in the high nine minute miles and talked about whether we should slow down our pace. Nah. It didnt feel hard, so we figured lets keep it up as long as possible. Even though the course was wide and the starts were staggered, we had a lot of problems with 'traffic' along the way. I sortof wish the half marathon and marathons started separately or had different courses before coming together like in the Baltimore Marathon. Kevin and I went into this race leaving it up to how we each felt to decide whether we would stay together the entire race.

Miles 7-11. During the beginning of mile 7, a woman decided to try and cross the course directly in front of me. It happened so fast that I didnt have time to stop/move and she ended up getting an elbow to the chest area. (Sorry?) Not sure if she will try that move again. We saw our first hill during this section,and were happy we had some hilly training runs. What goes up must come down, so we enjoyed the steep downhill that came after as we headed down to the river. I spent the majority of these miles anticipating the miles to come and trying to decide how I want to chunk up the race. (Two 10 milers and a 10k? or a 20 mile run and a 10k?) Not sure I ever came to a decision, but somewhere in here, Kevin and I decided that we were running this whole thing together and he was going to set a new PR.

Miles 12-14. These were the worst miles of the entire race for me. As soon as we hit mile 12, my hip flexors started to ache. I immediately thought about the second 20 mile training run we had missed. Had I run enough miles? My hip flexors usually dont start hurting until mile 16 or so. Sport Beans and Ibuprofen to the rescue. Mental or not, taking that Motrin improved my mood immensely. Next up, we had to pass the finish line to split off from the half marathoners. This was not my favorite part of the course. Especially since we left the crowds to find the second hill of the race up to mile 14. At this point, I loved that Philly had put our first names on the BIBs. We had thousands of fans that were yelling our name and it was a great pick-me-up. Kevin and I started comparing who had more fans.

Miles 15-19. Out and back. My favorite type of run. NOT. Not sure how many times I wondered if the turnaround was "just up ahead", but at least it kept my brain occupied. We hit mile 16 and reminisced about the year before at Baltimore. It had been a hot/humid day and the hills of baltimore's not-so finest neighborhoods were ahead of us. Kevin basically hit the wall and the rest of the race was a struggle. Today, it was the "ideal" weather day and we were running a flat and beautiful course along the river. I was so happy for him because at this point I knew we were going to smash his prior PR. And we may just hit my goal too - get under 4:40. Each time we passed a clock, my mind would calculate away and I knew it was going to be close. I watched a guy pass us wearing only socks. No shoes. At one point, he stopped to check his feet and I saw two big holes in the bottom of the socks. He had a long way to go in holey socks. I felt thankful for my shoes.

Miles 20-23. Turnaround time!!! Manayunk is a cool town. It was fun to run through and check out all the bars/restaurants. Plus, there was fun music and the crowd had a ton of energy. We hit mile 20 and I told myself, only a 10k left! Not going to lie, my legs and feet hurt. We kept up a routine of running to each water stop, grabbing a gatorade and water, and walking until they were gone. It actually helped that it hurt Kevin more to walk then to run, so we didnt walk as much as I may have liked.

Miles 24-26. The home stretch. Painful, but awesome at the same time. Everything hurts. 2 miles never went by slower, but I kept telling myself that it was 20 mins in my life and would be over before I knew it. I forgot about finishing in a particular time and concentrated on finishing. We had done it and I would be happy no matter what...

The Last .2. The crowd was great and kept yelling that we were almost there. Just around the corner. Some guy also yelled, "Hey Kevin, leave her in your dust!". I shot the dude a dirty look and looked over at Kevin, like, I dare you. My legs hurt like hell, but I had a little kick left and a whole lot of competitiveness. He didn't end up listening to the guy in the crowd. Smart man. :)

We picked it up together towards the finish. As we got closer and closer to the finish line, I could see just how close we were to being under 4:40. Our final time....4:41! Soooo close.

After this picture was taken, we planned out our next move. FOOD. What could be more perfect after the Philadelphia Marathon? Cheesesteaks.

Yeah, I whole bunch of other people had the same idea. We waited for 40 mins, but it was worth every minute.

I tried to act like a local and said "Whiz Wit". I didnt want to order anything weird and give myself away.

Pure joy. Although I don't remember much about the cheesesteak since I inhaled it in about 5 mins. I think it was delicious.

Marathon # 6 is in the books for me, so now it is time to start thinking about what's next...

Taper Week

2009-11-18T09:59:00.002-05:00

Marathon training has come to an end and it is now taper week. I always feel strange the week before a marathon - like I should be doing more. My nerves always affect my stomach and it currently feels like butterflies are fluttering around my insides. So far, my week is looking like this:

Saturday – 1 hour (Very Hilly) run
Sunday – Off Day
Monday – 4 mile run
Tuesday – walk/run with Oscar. Maybe a ½ mile’s worth. 3 push-ups. Yes, I said 3. I intended to do more and just didn’t have it in me. Plus, it is taper week. :)
Plan/Wednesday – 2-3 mile EASY jog.
Plan/Thurday – Long Walk w/ Oscar
Plan/Friday – OFF (Bruce Springsteen concert in Baltimore!)
Plan/Saturday – OFF
Plan/Sunday – Philadelphia Marathon!!

During our run this past Saturday, my sister was asking about our goals for the marathon.

That got me to start thinking, what are my goals? Earlier this year, I had proclaimed that I was not running a marathon this year. After running two last year and having a sore hamstring, I was ready for a year off from training.

The problem was that my boyfriend had gotten the marathon bug. Once he decided he was going to run one, I didn’t want to miss out on all the fun. Plus, running the Philadelphia Marathon would add a new city to my repertoire.

Back to goals. I am going to set two goals, 1 stretch and 1 realistic.

Stretch Goal: Finish in the 4:30s. This could happen if all the stars aligned. Perfect weather, I felt incredible and strong, right amount of fuel, good course.
Realistic Goal: Finish in the 4:40s. This is where I realistically think we will be based on all of our training runs. Granted, we have run some hilly training runs and Philly is supposed to be a flatter course, so you never know.

For both of these we need to stay consistent throughout the entire run. I think we will start out running in the high 9 min miles. Then, we will slip to a more even 10 min mile pace. The goal is to hold that for as long as we can, leaving us some time padding towards the last miles of the race when things get harder.

*Updated* If anyone is interested in tracking me through the race – my BIB # is 6815 (Lauren Brown) and they ~~are going to~~ have Runner Tracking available. I realize I just gave out my last name, but since it is pretty common, I think I am safe. (and hopefully scary people dont read this blog.) I will also be updating twitter throughout the weekend, so follow me for those updates.

Friday night, we have tickets to see BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN in Baltimore and I am so freakin excited. Then, our plan is to drive up to Philadelphia Saturday afternoon to get settled into our hotel and then head over to the race expo/packet pick-up. We want to have a good pasta dinner somewhere.

Anyone from Philadelphia know a great Italian place we should make reservations?

Artie's in Fairfax, VA

2009-11-17T15:35:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, I woke up late because I had TOO MUCH WINE on Saturday night. Kevin and I went to an engagement party for one of his friends and I didnt know many people there. It was a great party with tons of great appetizers and every drink you could every imagine. But, since I wasnt doing much talking, I did more drinking and eating than usual. Oops.

After waking up, I immediately started pulling together Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti. A good friend of mine has had a challenging few weeks after finding out her 27 year old sister has melanoma. This casserole was delivered down to Northern VA Sunday afternoon and we are all hoping (and praying) for a quick recovery.

My parents decided to join me and bring along a sweet potato pie, so my friend and her family would have dessert to go along with the casserole. We also were able to visit with my great Aunt who lives in Fairfax, VA - near a restaurant called ARTIE's. I have been hearing great things about this place for awhile now, so we stopped in for lunch.

After we were seated with drinks (water for me), the waitress brought out a basket full of delectable treats. HOT donut holes/sweet bread covered in sugar and cinnamon and dense carrot bread. They were both incredible and I immediately liked this place.

Next up, we ordered the Blue Crab Fritters as an appetizer for us all to share. The Blue Crab Fritters were served with grilled corn salsa and lobster ginger butter. When we first saw the plate, we were skeptical what this was exactly.

Then, I split one in half and almost fell out of the booth. The iPhone picture above is probably blurry since I was shaking with excitment about the massive amounts of lump crab! I was a very happy MARYLANDER.

I decided to go with a soup/salad combo and started with the Lobster Bisque seen above. It had the perfect amount of sherry to make the back of my throat burn, in a good way, as it went down. It was pretty rich, so I wasnt able to finish the entire bowl.

I decided on the Warm Goat Cheese & Spiced Pecan Salad with field lettuce, sun dried cranberries, dates, tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. Anyone else obsessed with the breaded/fried goat cheese rounds on top of salads? I AM.

So, I was particularly excited to see this come out. I just wish I hadnt filled up on everything else because I couldnt enjoy this salad the way I should have. Next time, I would skip the soup, so I had more room. It was an awesome salad.

No room for dessert right away, but we did order some almond lace butter cookies to go and they were SO good when we ate them in the car on the way home. Extra thin and crunchy with almonds.

I highly recommend this restaurant!

Beam Me Home

2009-11-12T22:28:00.000-05:00

Tonight is my last night in Grand Rapids, MI. The kind folks at GRGrub gave me a bunch of awesome-sounding places to eat while in town, but I didnt realize I wasnt staying downtown. Normally, I would be excited to venture out, but I forgot my glasses and that makes driving at night difficult, especially in a new town.

Uccello's was a quick drive from the hotel and had gotten awards for best pizza in Grand Rapids.

I started with a garden salad and the house balsamic dressing. The dressing was good and the salad was fresh. For the pizza, I ordered a grilled margherita.

I was disappointed as soon as I opened the box. I expected the grilled crust to be crispy.

It was soggy and seemed like they took a piece of store-bought flatbread and threw it on the grill. Not at all like was described in the menu as " a 9" hand-formed crust brushed lightly with garlic butter and olive oil grilled over an open flame". nope - it definitely wasnt that. I barely ate any of it , which is saying something if I can stomach pizza!

I ended up popping popcorn to go with my salad. I also enjoyed a mini Diet Dr Pepper. Love it.

Workouts

When I arrived at the hotel earlier in the week, I was disappointed to see that the gym was the same size as Storage Room B. Monday night, I did a 25 min upper body lifting working with the free weights they had available.

The next day, I was talking to the instructor of my class about it and she mentioned she had a free week-long pass to her gym that she would be happy to give to me. YESSSS.

MVP Sports Club was a huge, awesome gym with the nicest treadmills I have ever run on. Touchscreens on each one and there were at least 40 of them.

Tuesday, I ran 4.2 miles in 40 mins.
Tonight (Thursday), I ran 3.0 miles in 30 mins.

Tomorrow, I have my last full day of class and then am heading home to Baltimore. I am so excited to see Kevin and my animals - it has been lonely in the hotel room all by myself! I am ready to be home!