Shhh... Don't tell the members of my book club that I made last week's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies using a mix. It was a really busy weekend, and we already had a lot on our grocery list, so I took the easy way out. Still a pretty tasty way out, but I felt guilty.
Because I didn't get my baking fix last weekend, and because I'm constantly baking cookies that I refuse to let Greg sample because they're for work, I decided to do a batch of cookies this weekend, gentleman's choice. The only rule I gave him was that he had to choose a 1 or 2 star recipe. For culinary and literary reasons (one of Greg's scholarly interests is Moby Dick), he chose the White Chocolate Whalers. This was a great choice because I generally can't stand white chocolate, so it would have taken a long time for me to get around to these on my own.
Anyway, these are really crunchy cookies, with rice krispies, almonds, and white chocolate chips. The dough is really easy to make, then you scoop out and roll the dough in more rice krispies before flattening into disks on the baking sheet. The recipe was supposed to make about 18, but I made 24 with a little dough left over, so they could have been a little bigger. They're pretty tasty (even for someone who doesn't like white chocolate), although I'm not sure they'll make the list of recipes to go back to.
This blog post would be a lot more interesting if I had pictures, but our camera currently has no batteries, and I keep forgetting to pick some up. And I will get around to including recipes with posts, but I just don't have the time to copy it out tonight. Blogging fail...
Anyway, at least I'm still making progress, and here's what's up next:
1. Buy camera batteries to chronicle future endeavors.
2. Bake biscotti next weekend. (Tea weather is fully upon us, after all.)
3. Dig my Rubik's Cube out of its drawer and see if I can get any further with it.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
#10. My First 10K!
Last January, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to run a 5K. I started running that week, and got totally addicted. I've since run three 5K's, and this morning was my first 10K. It was absolutely perfect weather (60's, partly sunny), and I showed up on Boston Common around 11am along with the more than 7000 other women who'd signed up for the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women. I wandered around the park a bit, stood in a very long porta-potty line, and finally we started lining up at 11:30. They introduced the elite runners (I'd never heard of any of them), the amazing Boston Marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson gave some opening remarks, and the horn went off.
The course was really great, starting off down Beacon Hill, heading out to the river, then doing an out and back on Memorial Drive before heading back into the city. The route turned back on itself a couple of times, so it was really impressive to see the one wheelchair racer and the elite women at the front of the crowd. I think they were passing somewhere around 3 or 3.5 miles when I had only done about a mile and a half. Amazing.
The race itself was relatively uneventful, in that I didn't lose my energy or feel overly sore. I think I drank a little too much water before and during the race, though, because by the end I thought I might throw up. Thankfully I didn't, and after waiting in a long baggage claim line I managed to catch up with Greg (who had watched me finish, but then lost track of me in the crowd) and get some of the post-race food.
This afternoon they posted the results of the race, and I finished in 1:02:04, for about 10 minute miles. I had done a few 6 mile runs before this that I hadn't really timed, and a 7 mile run with about 11 minute miles, so this was a big surprise. I'm really excited that all the running I've been enjoying so much has been paying off! And racing is really addictive. I don't have anything on my calendar right now, but I'll definitely be looking for another one before too long.
Lastly, I have to send a huge "thank you" out into cyberspace to my gym (Healthworks Cambridge) and the running group they started this spring. Every Monday morning we meet at the gym at 8am for a run, and the trainers were a major part in my having the confidence to build up past just a few miles. My first runs over 5 miles were all with them, and I truly don't think I would have had the courage to try by myself. Thank you thank you thank you!
The course was really great, starting off down Beacon Hill, heading out to the river, then doing an out and back on Memorial Drive before heading back into the city. The route turned back on itself a couple of times, so it was really impressive to see the one wheelchair racer and the elite women at the front of the crowd. I think they were passing somewhere around 3 or 3.5 miles when I had only done about a mile and a half. Amazing.
The race itself was relatively uneventful, in that I didn't lose my energy or feel overly sore. I think I drank a little too much water before and during the race, though, because by the end I thought I might throw up. Thankfully I didn't, and after waiting in a long baggage claim line I managed to catch up with Greg (who had watched me finish, but then lost track of me in the crowd) and get some of the post-race food.
This afternoon they posted the results of the race, and I finished in 1:02:04, for about 10 minute miles. I had done a few 6 mile runs before this that I hadn't really timed, and a 7 mile run with about 11 minute miles, so this was a big surprise. I'm really excited that all the running I've been enjoying so much has been paying off! And racing is really addictive. I don't have anything on my calendar right now, but I'll definitely be looking for another one before too long.
Lastly, I have to send a huge "thank you" out into cyberspace to my gym (Healthworks Cambridge) and the running group they started this spring. Every Monday morning we meet at the gym at 8am for a run, and the trainers were a major part in my having the confidence to build up past just a few miles. My first runs over 5 miles were all with them, and I truly don't think I would have had the courage to try by myself. Thank you thank you thank you!
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