Like a headless chicken...

It seems like I have less and less time to document food adventures lately! I have been taking pictures of holiday sweets and baking experiments gone wrong. I'll post those hopefully before Spring Break.

Recap:

November
Rock 'n Roll tradition continues in that only one of us was able to run. Boy and I sat on the race route to try and spy Major. We didn't get to see him, but we saw a good amount of excitement and friends run by.

Our wedding came and went. It was a blast, and we've received so many positive comments about the music, the food and the fun.

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We kept it together through the ceremony with some laughs and let it all out during the toasts. Afterward, we spent the weekend in downtown SA and were lucky to get an insane hook-up at the Grand Hyatt downtown where we had a 180-view of the Christmas lights.

While it was somewhat of a blur, I had the best time celebrating the official beginning of my life with Major and Boy. Oh, and Monkey, who at that point was two-and-a-half months in the making.

December
Since the wedding was over Thanksgiving weekend, I felt like Christmas came too quickly. If I hadn't done most of the gift buying beforehand, I'd never have had the chance to bake! While I didn't churn out as much as I would have liked, I don't think I did too badly.

Didn't deal with too many pregnancy symptoms other than aversion to most food and fatigue. Falling asleep on the couch right after dinner was my nightly m.o.

January
I'm not sure what happened to January. Rung in the New Year with great friends, did some more experimenting in the kitchen, cleared to run again, started to finally absorb that Monkey was on the way.


While having the sonogram done to determine Monkey's health and gender, I spun through all-kinds of crazy: nervous, scared, excited, worried. Not that the technician talked to us during the whole thing – Major and I kept exchanging knowing looks and quick whispers. Now we await the arrival of Little Miss Monkey and commiserate on the kind of wild child she will be.

Feeling her move for the first time was wild, too. It seemed like a quick gas bubble, but after a few repeats I was able to determine what was happening.

February
While my runs are topping out at 2 miles, I'm trying to get it done at least twice a week. The fitness competition at work helps, and my friends keep me company on my slower runs. I really hope to be able to resume training after Monkey arrives in June as it's becoming a running joke that Major and I can't seem to run the marathon together!

Miss Monkey has been  very active in her growth, about every two hours she's dancing up a storm making me rush to the potty.

Less food aversions but no room for full meals.

Up next…Rome! And planning for Monkey.

Catch ups

(Late post)

Carla's wedding came and went so fast last month with our whirlwind vacation and news. I'm so happy for her!

This month is more than half done. Cripes! Tonight is my bachelorette party - no booze for me! And next week is the wedding. W E D D I N G. Wow. Not sure which dominates my thoughts more: getting married or being pregnant. Whoa.

So at almost 11 weeks, very few issues happening: no barfing, lots of gas and the need for sleep. Good job, Little Monkey! And thanks for bringing some of my appetite back. No largely noticeable physical changes, yet. I'm sure everyone who knows will be looking for it at the wedding. Hee hee!

And now, for a nap.

It's a bird, it's a gummy bear....

No! It's... A BABY!

You're surprised? I'm surprised. Major seems to be the only one not surprised. So with less than three weeks to go until the wedding, Little Monkey has entered the building. Well, nine weeks ago to be exact. It's been a tough secret to hold on to for four weeks.

No, no huge visible changes to me that you'd be able to see. My pants are a bit tighter already, so don't say anything if you notice my pants are unbuttoned.

Food aversions, I has them. Steamed broccoli will send me racing to the nearest barf container. I can't even think about food or enjoy my food blog reads - this from someone who plans lunch and dinner at breakfast. Morning sickness hits when I get in bed. I am fatigued at all times. Running again next month will help with that and all the food I shove in my face when I do get hungry.

Major is excited, to say the least. The Boy is just worried that the baby will play with all his toys. My Mom and Grandma are already in shopping mode. I'm still in panic mode. Panic mode began when I heard the heartbeat today because there is no Stork and that Monkey is likely only coming out of one place. There's a little human growing in me, it's kind of strange and fun and scary all at once. 

:-)  More to come as the wedding train slows down and the baking resumes.

(I did take a Baking class with Sara this weekend to get my fix - at the C.I.A. no less! That post to come.)

I have ice down my pants (and other things of note)

But first, a recap.

Barb's wedding came and went so fast. Phew! I was so grateful to have been asked to perform the ceremony for such a great friend, madness and all. Sara's cake was a hit and was quickly devoured by the guests. I can't wait for her business to take off.

Major and I clean up well!

My ladies look fab, too!

Next was my own bridal shower, hosted by my family and wedding party. Summer heat, white sangria and Grandma's cooking - great combination. Oh, and a cake from Sara. :-)

Now that this has passed, the reality that the wedding is around the corner has set in. I didn't really have an idea of what "My Shower" would be like but the ladies sure did make it fun and memorable!

The following week was Carla's shower. A fall theme accented by rain made us almost believe it actually was fall. And now back to 100 degree days.

Sara's spice cake was another hit (notice a trend here?) and the finger foods I put together weren't bad, either!

So now an explanation on the ice in my pants. Turns out, I damaged my S1 disk while running - that's the disk about the tailbone. Yes, I have a pain in my ass. *sigh* And my right side. No running allowed for a month (!!!), physical therapy needed, and frustration abound. It's possible I may not be able to run the half-marathon in November. If all works out well, I'll aim for a winter race. I have been busting my butt for six months (ha!) and I'm not letting it go to waste. That is why I've been sitting around with an ice pack down the back of my pants.

Looks like it's time to bake this weekend to drown my sorrows.

Wishful thinking

It's still 90-something degrees. Ahh, fall in Texas. I miss New England right now... Went running and was run-over by the humidity. Bah! Looks like I'll be running the Half Marathon instead of the Full in November.

Tonight's Meatless Monday Experience was a modified version of a recipe by Rachel Ray:

Spaghetti Squash Caprese

• 1 (4 pound) spaghetti squash
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbs crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and lots of coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 cup of mozzarella and cherry tomatoes, marinated in olive oil and herbs to taste

Directions

To microwave squash, cut in half and seed. Place 1/4-inch water in a microwave safe dish. Place squash in dish, cut sides down -- sides will overlap. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high power 13 minutes. Shred squash and add the "spaghetti" to bowl with liquid.

To boil squash: cut in half and scrape out seeds. Boil squash until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Place 1/2 cup cooking water into a bowl, then drain and shred the squash.

Toss squash with extra-virgin olive oil, red pepper, salt to taste, and lots of black pepper. (I tried to get it to crisp, but...no.) Add tomatoes and mozzarella and turn off heat. Serve.

Major and I tore it up, Boy did not seem interested as he ate his noodles and veggies. And kosher dog. I'd like to try to make squash-cakes with added zucchini, panko, romano and maybe an egg. Hmmm...

Also yesterday, churned out scones, raspberry macarons, and lemon sponge cake.

For the scones, I used Joe's recipe with less ginger. We slathered them with the lemon curd and each had two. Will be making more in the future. Mmm.

Hot dog! 75% of these are usable, 15% are near perfect! New pans worked like a dream. And I think I have the air-to-meringue timing down - I just tried to think of what it looked like when Madrina Marta would make it for cakes and POOF, gloss!

The sponge cake tasted great but looked awful. The oven decided to drop in temperature mid bake, likely in protest for being in use all morning.

If only I could do this every day...and get paid. :-)

Is that Fall peeking out?

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to find a cool, crisp morning waiting for me. Of course, it was also 5 in the morning...


First day back on the road after two weeks of dealing with the consequences of running the Chupacabra 10k - pinched back nerve. I longingly watched my regular group continue on while I turned and ran with the half-marathon group for six miles. (I did notice how odd that was, to want to run 11 miles) Stranger than that, I wanted to hop out of my car and run some more upon seeing folks running around the neighborhood at home. It's in me now, no matter how hard I run. (ha!)


Also, some failed baking endeavors have not made it online. Lemon curd awaits some tasty scones in the morning (here's hoping). If that wasn't bad enough, I read four different versions of croissant recipes. After some more macarons, it's on. Like kong.

Lemons

I need to use the lemons I bought at work. Yes, at work. The cafe is featuring local produce here and there and I was swept up in the awesomeness that is The Lemon. (Need I mention that I scarfed down Lemon-Blueberry Angelfood Cake that day?)

The easiest way for me to express my lemon love is with curd. Yummy scented, thick and sweet lemon curd. Now, which version to use... I have six egg yolks itching to be used. So...

From Tartlette:

For the lemon curd:               zest of 2 lemons               1/2 cup (125ml) lemon juice               1/4 cup sucanat (or sugar)               1 egg + 1 egg yolk               4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room For the buttercream:                 6 egg yolks                 1 cup sugar                 1/2 cup water                 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room                  1/2 vanilla bean

From Joe Pastry (Whom I have a blog-crush on):

4 egg yolks 5 ounces sugar 3.25 ounces (by weight) lemon juice 2 ounces softened butter pinch salt 2 teaspoons lemon zest

 From Epicurious (Where every time I see something, I want to make it)

For lemon curd 2 1/3 cups sugar 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 cup fresh lemon juice 4 large eggs 4 large egg yolks 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Decisions, decisions.  Since I can't run for one more day, one of these will be made tonight... I have a hankering for a lemon bar and lemon macarons.