#207

Today, I was known as 207. I had jury duty for the first time and can honestly say that I really enjoyed it. It was some of the best people watching I have experienced in a long time. I got front row tickets to the juror selection for a murder trial and while I wasn't chosen - the whole process fascinated me.
Please dis-regard the sandwich crumbs on my sweater in this awful iPhone photo. Those cow necks always seem to snag the crumbs that miss my mouth.


My breakfast bowl this morning contained oats, skim milk, blueberries, chopped pecans, bee pollen, cinnamon, honey, and almond butter. My favorite Larabar of all-time: Coconut Cream Pie. I always have a nice stash of these and it came in handy since I needed easy, portable snacks. The crumbs on my sweater above are courtesy of my packed lunch below - whole wheat bagel w/ BBQ Chicken Breast deli meat, cheddar cheese, spinach, schmear of dijon mustard, and a schmear of smart balance.
This is a picture from Tuesday, but I ate the same carrots w/ almond butter today in the jury waiting area as well. Swingline is the better brand brand of staplers. Office Space, anyone?
I finally had time to catch up on my magazine and book reading from months ago.
Last night, Kevin and I ran 4 miles outside in perfect running weather. Tonight, it was raining lightly, so Oscar and I ran a quick 2 miles around the park before I came home and did Jillian Michael's 40 mins No Trouble Zone workout.


Dinner was quick and easy. Sauteed Bay Scallops with JO Seasoning served at 6:58pm. Bay scallops are smaller than sea scallops - about a 1/2 inch in diameter. I had to explain that since I have about 30 on my plate.Near East Pine Nut couscous mixed w/ sauteed spinach.2 buck chuck (a.k.a. Charles Shaw) in my fancy stemless wine glass.
Ok - I am off to settle in and relax with my boyfriend and furry friends.


Be back tomorrow with the Apricot/Oatmeal/Coconut bar recipe and My Favorite Things response that are both waaay overdue.


Anyone have any interesting jury duty stories?

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New Addition...(10.19.2008)

This weekend has been a really good one. Saturday night, Kevin made his famous Chicken Marsala over fresh linguine. I have been hearing about this since we started dating, but this is the FIRST time he made it (after a year and a half!!). It was amazing!! I will be posting his recipe soon (hopefully tomorrow) - definitely something to have every once in awhile since it isnt really healthy for you. But totally worth it. Here is a picture to get you interested...This morning, I woke up and ate a piece of toast with AB and fig jam before the run. I ran 6 miles and felt good. It was freezing and windy this morning, so I wore long sleeves and my head thingee for my ears. Kevin and I started out with 2 miles around the park with Oscar. Kevin had to quit after the park loop as well because of a bad "runner" toe. Just gross. But he got on his bike and rode with me for the rest of my run. So that was nice!

After the run, Kevin whipped up some protein shakes with vanilla protein powder, skim milk, a banana, and some frozen berries. The Fancy glass made it taste better. ;)We got free, last minute tickets to a jazz wine festival out at Linganore Winery and decided to head out there and also pick up a pumpkin at Larriland Farm. It was a perfect fall day and we had a great time at both places! I was SO happy to find more PUMPKIN BUTTER at the farm...yessssss!!I wasnt too hungry for a big dinner because of lots of wine and food at the festival - Kevin and I split a crab cake, each had a cup of crab soup, and then apple fritters - sorry no pics...but everything was great! Getting home, I wanted to use the pumpkin butter, so I made a small bowl of 0% fage, GoLean Kashi crunch, pumpkin butter, and almond butter. This is a great combo!Tonight we also brought home a new addition to the house - a kitten!!! We are calling her LUCY and hoping she is a girl - havent been able to check yet. She and two of her siblings somehow crawled into my dad's car and drove home with him from work. My parents drove up the driveway and saw them playing under the car. The kittens then proceeded to crawl back up in the engine! My dad said he had seen some cats around the parking lot at his work. So anyways, we stopped out there and were able to grab Lucy, so we could bring her home and begin the spoiling process. She is really scared right now, but I am so excited to see the interaction between Oscar and Lucy, once she gets more comfortable.

Good night everyone! Oh and Hail to the Redskins! :)

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Gourmet Comfort Food, Wine, and Produce Share!

Let me just start by saying - WOW - Katie from GoodThingsCatered is so generous, sweet and an AMAZING cook. She piled me down with so much food to take over to my parents house! I still feel so overwhelmed by her kindness. I forgot my camera, but know that my pictures wouldnt do the food justice, so I will leave it to her! Here is the run down of all the eats with links to recipes and photos:

• Ale Braised Sausage and Peppers served over
• Mashed Garlic Red Potatoes
• Chicken Braised in White Wine
• John's Famous Rigatoni
• Cranberry and Orange Muffins
• Blueberry Struesel Muffins

I would categorize everything listed above as the ultimate gourmet comfort food. Of course, when I got to my parents, I wanted to try a little of EVERYTHING.

Before sitting down to eat, I went out for a 3 mile run. It felt good although my right hamstring was feeling pretty tight and maybe even a slight twinge of pain in there. I think I am going to take today completely off and not do anything except walk my dog, and then try to get an hour run in on saturday or sunday AM.

Ok, back to the food! As I was saying...I wanted to try everything, well I did! I couldnt resist! The ale braised sausage had the best flavor and the sauce went perfectly over the mashed potatoes! The chicken braised in white wine was extremely moist and cooked perfectly with red potatoes, mushrooms, and onions in the wine sauce! The rigatoni had a flavorful bolognese sauce that seriously tasted like something from a restaurant. Even though I was STUFFED, I had to try one of the cranberry orange muffins. They were light, moist and so tasty. I cant express enough how AMAZING everything was! Thank you SO much Katie! (and let me just say that there was SO much food! My sister and her family were also over and even after we all tried everything - there is still a TON leftover!)

While over at my parent's house, I was excited to see that the wine we had ordered came in! My mom had been given a wine of the month club membership for a year and then continued to receive notifications about purchasing California wines at discounted prices. So, my sister, mom and I each ordered 4 bottles. I want to try and get more into red wines, so I ordered 2 syrahs and then a chardonnay and viognier. We cracked open a bottle of one of the Syrahs with dinner and it was amazing - so smooth. It was a Daniel Gehrs Syrah that I would highly recommend! Here is a picture of my 3 other bottles that I cant wait to try. I love having a good wine supply!

I also got some goods from the produce share that my sister and mom do each week. I got a few small pears, carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, and a green pepper.

Check out this cute little pear that fits in the palm of my hand.

And the carrots with the greens still on the top. They are very "Bugs Bunny-esque"! ;)

Does anyone know if the carrot top greens are supposed to/can be used for anything?

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Cinghiale in Harbor East (Baltimore, MD)

So last night, I went to dinner with Carron and Mara to Cinghiale in the revived Harbor East area of Baltimore. It is really nice down there now! I am also proud to say that i got over being nervous to take pictures of each course. I was thinking that they might think i am a food critic or something and treat us better than normal! ha. So a little side note, for all you foodies out there. Check out the book, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl. I promise anyone who loves food will enjoy it.

So, there are two sections of Cinghiale. One is fancier and the other is more of a wine bar with more relaxed, but cool dining. Here is the web site's definition of the each side:

The Osteria (Oh-stir-EE-ah) is adjacent to the Enoteca and is a dressier space. This section of the restaurant has the feel of an elegant tavern with white table cloths and mahogany and leather banquettes. It also features a large farm table for a special family style dining experience.
The Enoteca (E-no-TECH-ah), which means collection of wines in Italian, is the playful section of the restaurant for tasting, drinking and discussing wine and will offer 40+ wines by the glass in half and full pours and wine flights as well.

We ate on the Enoteca side and the menu immediately impressed and excited me, especially because they had a prixe fixed for $27 where you get an appetizer (Primi), main dish (Secondi) and a dessert (Il Dolce) that was prepared by the pastry chef. I started out with a glass of pinot grigio that was delish. I wasnt going to have wine because of my run in the morning, but i couldnt resist. I was in a wine bar!

They brought us fresh, warm foccacia and regular italian bread, and then asked if we would like some olive oil for dipping. We, of course, said yes and the server went around and made this pretty little half moon on each of our plates. I swear, it is all about the presentation to win me over! For my primi I decided on I Marubini which was Local Red Pepper Soup with Ricotta Stuffed Pasta. It was so freakin amazing, I savored every bite. The small bites of ravioli type pasta were so fresh and i felt like there were a ton in the soup, even though the picture doesnt show it. They also drizzled a little olive oil on top of the soup and it looked and tasted awesome.
For my secondi, I chose the Gli Spaghetti which was House Made Spaghetti “Alla Chitarra” with Tomato & Basil Sauce. When the plate came out, i was worried because it looked like NOTHING. Since I was trying to get a good carb load for my run, I felt like it wouldnt be enough. But, of course, it was plenty and i couldnt even finish it all. Also, i think the bowl they put it in was TOO big. We had to ask for parmesan, but they brought over this huge piece of fresh parm with a huge grater, which made us forget we had to ask.
For my il dolce, the pastry chef had prepared a small pound cake with fresh sliced peaches and peach ice cream. The cake or shortbread was not overly sweet which made me like it better. It was perfect with the peaches and peach ice cream and a great, smaller size.
So overall, the atmosphere of this place was very inviting and just plain COOL. The couple next to us had done a wine sampling of like 5 different wines, which is something i want to do next time. The food was great and I want to go back to try the sandwiches (on housemade ciabatta) and some of the other appetizers. Check out the menu, if you enjoy reading them as much as I do. Does anyone else like to read cookbooks? I sometimes grab a cookbook to read while i am watching tv. It gives me ideas and inspires me.

Will be back post-nap to tell you about the 18 mile training run this morning. I am exhausted!

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