BEFORE: 2008



TODAY: 2011

Labor Day Extravaganza

I have had a very productive week and thus a very productive three-day weekend. Three-day holidays are so very rare with my work, so when I finally got one, I celebrated like crazy in my kitchen. My co-worker just enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu Baking School. I'm trying very hard to not be jealous, but she did give me some leftover Sourdough Bread starter.

I hadn't fed the starter in about a week, so I had to do that. It took me three days! Three days! But it was so worth it. My boyfriend had made dinner, but I had to babysit the bread. Knead it for 15 minutes. So my dinner was cold, but again, the bread was worth it. One more obstacle was the final proofing before putting it in the oven. It needed to proof on the counter for two hours. Well, it was already 10p on Sunday, and we were both exhausted. I set a timer to wake myself at midnight. Of course, I did not hear this timer, but my body and mind woke me up at 4a. The bread had proofed for a little longer than specified, but I bolted up and quickly finished the recipe. I caught an episode of The Twilight Zone that I hadn't seen yet.

An hour later, I got two beautiful, bouncing baby loaves.

I also made another version of Red Velvet Cupcakes. I was using Paula Deen's recipe, and it called for too much oil making a very dense cupcake. I really didn't care for it, but I found another recipe that I like much more. I wanted to put a strawberry syrup into them. So I made this strawberry syrup. Of course, I stepped away for just a second and it spilled all over my stovetop. So that was fun cleaning up strawberry goo. And the irony? I forgot to put the syrup in the cupcakes. The next batch.

I made a peppermint ice cream. I have told myself before to not use a particular recipe site before, and sure enough, I did and didn't like the ice cream. It called for eight egg yolks. The ice cream tasted very eggy. I didn't care for it. The girls at the office liked it, so that's what matters. I will try another one this weekend.

I also made a Toasted Almond Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream. Now that one, I knocked it out of the park. It was incredible. I was almost sad to take it into the office, but glad because I would have eaten all of it. It's I'm sure gone at the office.

Well, because of these ice creams, I had a ton of left over egg whites. So I made three dozen meringue cookies. My boyfriend took a dozen, and I took a dozen to the office. I'm hoping the other dozen makes it through the week so I can take them to my boyfriend's family next weekend.

The last venture I did last weekend was a large quantity of applesauce. I peeled apples for hours! At least Mr. Don Draper kept my company, but I made a very nice sugar-free applesauce and canned them.

Well, rule #3 of canning is to make sure you have no air bubbles. I ran my knife through the applesauce, and somehow I still got a ton of little champagne air bubbles. They are all in my fridge waiting for my consumption. I will not give it away. It sure is yummy though. :) I do love me some applesauce. I wish I had taken more pictures.

But on a healthier note, I took some fitness tests at my gym. The first was to test my AT or Anaerobic Threshold. I get on a bike or treadmill and work out for 20 minutes. Then the personal trainer records where I switch over from burning fat to burning carbs. Well, honestly, I'm pretty normal. I definitely could be better, but I'm about normal for my age. So, he told me how to improve it to make my workout work better for me in the long term.

What you need to do is to find that AT number (mine is 156) and make sure to stay below it while you do a cardio workout. If you can sustain that heart rate, your number will get higher.

I also had my RMR test (resting metabolic rate). When I sit and do absolutely nothing all day, I burn 2000 calories. I guess this is about normal since the government thinks you need to eat 2000 calories a day. Since I work out everyday (sometimes twice a day), I burn on average 2600 calories a day. Therefore, I need to eat 1800-2000 calories a day. I've been eating 1200-1500 so I'm not eating enough. Sadly I know this. All day yesterday, all I did was eat. I felt like a cow just shoveling food in my mouth. Always something in my mouth. But the scale went down half a pound. It may be connected.

These tests did mean I had to skip two weeks of Mr. Prom King, but you know what? I'm going to make up for it tomorrow. He (and his wife) is hosting a two hour spin class. I'm so excited. I'll keep you posted on that one.

I will also let you know how the ice creams, chocolate-coconut macaroons, and pie work out. :)

Happy Saturday.

Cookies, Cookies, and Cookies

My little sister just moved back to college. I have decided I will make her a ton of cookies.

My first adventure actually came from an experiment from earlier this week. Well, two experiments. Last weekend, I found myself obsessed with wanting to make Olive Oil Ice Cream. I happened to have Lime Olive Oil from The Olive Oil Shops in Fredericksburg (which I know I keep raving about). So I made the ice cream. Honestly, I didn't care for it. As a matter of fact, I believe I spit it out.

But I took it to my work anyway to see what the girls thought. They all loved it. So, now I'm confused. I wasn't sure if they were lying to me to make me feel better or if they were being honest.

It turned out they were honest. It's gone. They wouldn't go back for seconds if they hated it. My assistant said her first bite is the one that is off, but the more you eat it, the more you love it. Okay -- I can work with that. My other assistant said I had a marketing problem. I shouldn't call it Olive Oil Ice Cream. I should call it Key Lime Pie Ice Cream.

Light bulb.

I hate Key Lime Pie. That must be why I didn't like it. As soon as she said that, everyone vehemently agreed. Okay, problem solved. So this then spurred me to another outrageous thought. Chocolate and chipotle. These two flavors compliment beautifully, and I wanted to see if their affair would make it through an ice cream marriage.

Oh my goodness, they did. The Chocolate Chile Ice Cream is incredible. I'll take it to the girls on Monday, but I did have my co-worker try it Friday night. *bing!

So it was because of the Chocolate and Chile marriage, I wanted to see what a baby would look like. I made a chocolate jalapeno cookie. I first made a compound butter of jalapeno and used that instead of regular butter.

Insert image of me spitting out the cookie. I'm sorry to say that it was a very ugly baby. My mom had a good suggestion though so I didn't just waste 30 cookies. I will freeze and crush the cookies and press it into a pie shell for a Chocolate Mousse Pie.

Next cookie: Coconut-Lime Ginger Butter cookies. I did the same thing of making a compound butter with ginger and using that as my butter for a regular butter and did a basic sugar cookie recipe adding lime zest instead of orange or lemon, and i put lightly toasted coconut in.

It's a hit! The Lime in the Coconut song comes to mind.

The next cookie to go into the oven will be a regular sugar cookie with chocolate and peanut butter chips for a Reece's effect (my sister's favorite). And the last cookie that will be made tomorrow will be a Chocolate Nutella Cookie. If you have not been blessed to meet Mr. Nutella, you must run out and find him. He is well worth his acquaintance.

On a healthier note, I've been going to the gym twice a day. Okay, most days. I've been going to the gym every evening. Yes, there were two days last week where I just went to bed too late and couldn't get up the next morning (most likely because I was at the gym late), but I've been going twice a day. I feel fabulous. The scale hasn't changed too much as of yet, but I'm still optimistic.

One more batch of cookies, and I'm heading back to the gym after a grueling spinning class this morning. Or maybe I'll just do Jillian Michael's yoga. The thought of going out in the Texas heat is making me sweat in my chair.

I know it has been a couple of weeks. But I do have some things to talk about.

Last night I had an epiphany. I realized that when I come home from work, all I do is watch Seinfeld before I get so tired I either collapse on the couch or just go to bed. Well, no more.

I do all my best thinking when I'm driving, and as I was driving back to Austin from Blanco, TX, I decided that the much needed hour of decompression cannot be ignored. I must go home to feed my cat and to chill after the eight hour day. My other complaint about going to the gym after work was the heat. It's so hot in Texas. Today's forecast is 103 as a high today. That does not count the heat index, by the way.

If I wait until about 830p, then the sun is setting and it's not as bad. Also, my office has shoddy A/C. My apartment has amazing A/C. Therefore, I am cooled down and ready to sweat again.

Last night was my first experiment. I went to the gym at 815p. I was on the elliptical for thirty minutes and then got on a spinner for another thirty minutes. Amazing. I now have time to read, and I burn an extra 6-700 calories.

Granted, it took me a while to go sleep because I was awake, but I still made it to the gym this morning, so it can't be bad.

My new complaint (since that's all I seem to have) is that now school is back in session, there are a lot more people in the gym. I had trouble with parking this morning. At 520am! I was dodging people running in the parking lot. I mean, wow.

But to update you on a couple of culinary things, I made Irish Soda Bread for my mom this weekend. She was my cat-sitter when I went out of town. I was actually quite proud of my bread. It's a very quick recipe. I'll post it soon. But it was simple, easy, and made the apartment smell amazing.

I haven't had too much time to embark on other experiments. I was about to make an Olive Oil Ice Cream, but then I noticed my boyfriend has stolen all my milk. So, once I get to the store, the ice cream will come.

Oh, here's the kicker before I sign off. My co-worker has quit to go to baking school. Apparently I have inspired her to go because she saw my passion for baking. I'm trying very hard to not be jealous of those who are embarking on adventures I want to do. Ah well. Here's to another day for another couple dollars.

Update

Hi everyone. So there are a few things to update you on. I have made some fantastic things and slipped on a few others.

Last Friday, I signed up for the 90 Day Challenge at my gym. I started on Saturday and already I have not been on the ball. I'll get on the ball tomorrow morning. But I have bought Jillian Michaels' Yoga Meltdown, and I am here to tell you that she is amazing. It's only thirty minutes, but it's a very hard core workout. I only do the beginner right now, and it's a challenge. My shoulders are sore, but I know I need to up the ante on it. I have to lose this weight. While I am still below the weight of when I stopped the class, I have gained a couple from my lowest point.

Anyway, I'll get back on my track and make this happen.

But I will take a moment to go over the wonderful treats I have made the last couple of weeks.

First thing, I had a wonderful class on canning. It was quite a relief to know I've been doing it right. We made a strawberry jam, peach jelly, and we pickled green beans. I have finally learned the difference between jam, jelly, preserves and marmalade. So, a jam is where there are physical chunks in the jar. You will see bits of fruit.

A jam is where you get the fruit and squeeze the juice from the pulp of the fruit through a cheese cloth. We made a peach jelly. No, I have not tried either of these yet, but they smelled amazing.

Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the pickled green beans, but after the Pepper Festival, I had a ton of sweet peppers, so I pickled those. I did that just this last weekend and used a recipe from David Lebovitz.

It was fairly easy save the peeling of the peppers. That took forever.

It was worth it though because I made some really amazing pickled peppers. I must say, again, I have not tried them, but they smelled amazing. And once I got the vinegar smell out of my apartment, I started on Red Velvet Cupcakes.

I made some very traditional red velvet cupcake, but a) I forgot baking soda and b) I've never been a fan. I thought that Red Velvet was like I don't know what. I'm tempted to compare it to something in Hollywood. Where something is glittery and fancy, but it's actually quite plain. It's just a red cake. It's very simple.

So what I did to dress this up was added pumpkin spices. I added nutmeg, cloves, and ginger to the recipe with a couple of hits of cinnamon. Then instead of the cream cheese frosting, I put a good 1/4 cup of chocolate powder. So while this picture is not them (they are the traditional version), they were both delicious, but I am partial to my souped-up version.

I took both of them to the office. The girls loved them. I plan on making some ice cream soon before my cream goes bad. But until then, I have to go to bed so I can get back to the gym. Tomorrow is FIT. I have to go. I will lose this weight.

The last thing I made was a Peach Salsa. I had to throw that list bit in. :)

A Nice Surprise and a Bittersweet Twist

I had a very nice surprise this morning. I made it to the gym first thing this morning fully expecting to see the new, lanky instructor who is okay, but it shows that he was a former high school teacher, but instead I saw Mr. Prom King. I was thrilled. It was a great way to start the day, a grueling workout. However, the twist is that he has shaved his head. He looks menacing with a big smile. I have to say he looks rather strange. Not like that. :)

But it's okay. He gave me a fist bump and a big smile. Then later he gave me a tap on my back. *gush!

Anyway, I started the day with the amazing workout. And yesterday, I signed up for the 90 Day Work Out Challenge offered at the gym. I'm so excited about it.

That started my day, and then I made it to work. I was noticing that my pants were a little loose. So, I went into the bathroom to give it the old shimmy test. That's right, I wiggled out of my pants with the button and zipper up. I did it! I can shimmy!

So I went right home and did a double hitter. I made Brown Butter Ice Cream. I saw this on Iron Chef America and wanted to try it. I got the recipe off of the website of one of the judges. It actually tasted really good. It's very nutty and salty, but also sweet and creamy. I'm actually quite thrilled with the result. However, it has to be the fattiest thing I've ever made. It's two sticks of butter and sugar with half and half and skim milk. (You gotta skinny it down somewhere).

But, after I made this, I grabbed my trusty measuring tape. And you know what? I've lost a little all over since a month ago. No, it's not as drastic as my Eat to Live class, but in the last month I have lost:





1/2 inch off my chest
1/2 inch off my hips
1/2 inch off my thigh
1/4 off my calf
and
1 1/4 inch off my waist!

More off the waist! I'm at 33 1/4. That's really amazing to me. I have technically lost 3 pounds, but that's another inch and a quarter. Hopefully at the end of August, I'll need to buy new jeans. I'm more than thrilled with my progress. I definitely plan on continuing.

3rd Annual Chili Pepper and Salsa Festival

I can remember a handful of days that I would consider the best of my life. One was when I met David Milch and Ian McShane at the Austin Film Festival. I sat in the front row to hear Mr. Milch talk about Deadwood. Then the star of the show walked in. The whole room gasped. Mr. Milch also gave the front row lottery tickets. I won a whole $5, but it paid for my parking that day.

Another one of my favorite days was when my boyfriend and I went to LA to screen his film at the DGA theater on Sunset Blvd. That whole vacation was really amazing. But that was one of my favorite experiences.

Another one of my favorite days was when I was a flower girl at my aunt's wedding in San Francisco. My cousin and I ran around like crazy eating chocolate and taking pictures from cameras on the tables.

Another weekend was the weekend of the UFA conference. My boyfriend and I had been dating a couple months and he ran the festival as I ran the conference. We lucked out and had a private hotel room since a guest backed out at the last minute. It was a remarkable night.

I have another day to put up with the list. That day was yesterday at the 3rd Annual Chili Pepper and Salsa Festival in Fredericksburg, TX.

I went with my co-worker/new best friend and we had so much fun. We first got there a little early, so went to have brunch at The Herb Farm. I know I have mentioned that place before. I had some remarkable crab cakes will dill and I had the peach feta dessert again. It was a little different because they used goat cheese this time. It was really good, but I missed the edgier bite of the feta.

It was about noon when we headed back. It was really getting set up and we first walked around the festival so we could get an estimate of what we were dealing with. We made it about halfway across when we had to stop for some amazing Mint Limeade.

It was so refreshing. We also got some German Roasted Nuts. Almonds, cashews, and walnuts roasted with brown sugar. They were heaven.

We continued to walk around, now getting hydrated in the 95 degree heat. But then I saw the Olive Oil and Vinegar stand. I seriously gasped. They gave us little pieces of bread and were able to sample the various flavors. I couldn't resist the bottle of Jalapeno Oil. Move over olives.

The stand right next to it was a Pasta Stand. Homemade pastas with all kinds of flavors. I bought four: Cajun Spice, Jalapeno Garlic, Habanero, and Chocolate. I have seen them use Chocolate Pasta on Iron Chef America so I had to give that a shot. I haven't cooked them yet because in order to keep it for a while, I want to cut it with regular pasta.

These two wonderful stands came together when the gentleman at the olive oil stand said I could get a sample of the pasta and sample the jalapeno oil. He would pour it on if I brought it over. It was a little bite size of heaven. Pastamore was the stand of the oil and vinegar, and the pasta was from Gourmet Texas Pasta. The latter is here in Austin, so go and grab some pasta for yourself.

After that, we made our way to the butterfly haus. We got free admission with our festival admission. It was amazingly beautiful. The colors and fragrance was overwhelming. We didn't stay in there too long since it was a pretty small area, but I must say, I was anxious to leave. When we walked in they had an option to buy a bag to pick your own peppers from their garden. I had to jump at that chance. Granted, yes, they were already picked over pretty well, but I got a decent amount of peppers.

We then made our way back to the grounds. It was getting so hot. My friend had to sit out the pepper picking. But we did another round, but I got immediately captivated by the cooking demonstration. He quickly whipped up a rustic pico de gallo and then made a Jamaican Jerk Shrimp and topped it with the pico. Of course, we all got a sample. I wanted to faint. Whether it was from the heat or the amazing flavors bursting in my mouth, I will never know.

I noticed my friend was getting a little antsy, and I was also getting to my threshold for heat. I finally spotted a chili pepper stand. I bought a basket of sweet peppers, serranos, and El Joe's -- the biggest jalapenos on earth. I threw one of those in with my dinner tonight. Unbelievably fresh.

One more walk around the circle, and I wound up buying 3 tiny jars of cranberry pepper jam, raspberry pepper jam, and Austin pepper jam. Then I bought a jar of super hot salsa from 2 Brothers. It was very good and nice to hear that they will soon be selling here in Austin.

We finally left. The heat was really getting to us, but since we were in Fredericksburg, we had to stop by the Bariloche Farms. I had been dreaming about the Peach Pepper Jam and Jalapeno Jam available. The man who runs the farm recognized me from the last time we were there. I did also buy a jar of Amaretto Whipped Honey. I swear it's like sin from heaven. So tasty and delectable. Move over Nutella.

Anyway, we made it back to Austin and we both crashed. We were so hot and sweaty. But now the weekend is over and we have to get ready for the week.