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.

Pie in the Sky

Okay, I know it's been a while since I've posted. But what do you care? No one is reading this blog (ha).

To go ahead and describe my amazing discoveries, I will have to start on what I bought several months ago. I was walking around the store a few months ago and saw something amazing. I saw a Solo Foods product of Almond Pie Filling. I love almond, so I overbought and got two cans. I know that canned anything is a sugar bomb, but it was too intriguing to pass up. Well, they've been sitting in my pantry since then.

Currently, I'm on a mission to clean out my pantry and refrigerator before I go back and buy new things. I'm trying to save money and also see how well I can improvise. So far this week has been pretty good. My freezer is almost empty and there is a dent in my pantry.

I had a random fish filet, hashbrowns, and soy beans. Made a wonderful dinner. For tonight's dinner, I had one left over pizza dough in the freezer, a couple of tomatoes, goat cheese and almost expired spinach. So I made this fabulous pizza. It was very good. I have the other half for tomorrow's dinner.

But back to the almond paste...I had two pie crusts in my freezer and a bag of frozen peaches that I couldn't do anything with. So, ta da, I made a pie. It was actually very good. The almond paste was very moist and sweet. I usually don't like frozen peaches, and honestly I still don't, but it made for a decent pie. The plate was almost licked clean by the end of the work day.

So then today, with the remaining pie crust and can of almond paste, I made a complete guess for the pie. I had dried cranberries, slivered almonds, coconut, crystalized ginger, and white chocolate chips. I put the pie crust down in the pie plate and coated it with shredded coconut. Then I put the filling in. Then I topped it with more coconut, cranberries, and the rest of the list. I put a dash of cinnamon on top and popped it in the oven at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

This pie didn't go as quickly as the Peach Almond Pie, but I think my co-workers were pie-ed out. I left it in the refrigerator because if I brought it home, the other half would be missing. (Did you notice half of the pizza was missing?)

I had a wonderful workout as well. I found out Mr. Prom King is going to continue to teach on Friday mornings. *Phew. His class was amazing this morning. I had a great time. I even got a fist bump. *Sigh.

I noticed that Mrs. Prom Queen was going super fast during the "race" song, so I made it a point to go faster. I sure did. If we were on the road, I would have gotten in front of her. That being said, I have never moved that quickly on the bike. I was holding my breath for a while before I realized. It was an amazing work out. Unfortunately, I haven't lost the next pound. The pizza might be the culprit, but I am proud to say I had half slices of the pie. Not even the peach one to be honest. Just a half slice of the Trail Mix Pie.

I'm very excited for tomorrow. I'll be heading to Fredericksburg for the 3rd Annual Chili Pepper and Salsa Festival. I'll be going with my co-worker, and I'm thrilled to go and buy a ton of salsa and peppers. I'll also get peaches and go back to that farm stand for the Peach Pepper Jam I've been dreaming about since I last went. I'll report.

Time Flies Too Fast to Catch

Hello. I realize it has been about a week since my last post. I apologize my avid readers. To be honest, I got a little slammed at work and was unable to go to the gym and/or cook. I usually never take work home, but this week was a rare exception with a key player in the company quitting and leaving without fulfilling her two weeks. Thus, I got her responsibilities on a quick turn around.

Nonetheless, I am happy to say I have made something (hopefully) scrumptious today. First off, I will mention that no, I did not go to the gym yesterday. Save this last Saturday, I haven't been since last Tuesday. I know. I feel awful. But my wonderful boyfriend has decided that leaving for his two hour commute to his home/work was more efficient for both of us if he left on Sunday afternoon rather than crack of dawn Monday morning. As much as I'll miss that Sunday night together, I understand that being tired on a Monday of all days during the week is horrible.

Therefore, I will be able to go to Mr. Prom King's class Monday mornings. Unfortunately, Mr. Prom King is training for the Iron Man in May 2011, and therefore will not be teaching Sundays and maybe not Mondays. *sad face.

However, I am going to blog about Strawberry Balsamic and Cracked Black Pepper Jam.

I bought way too many strawberries. I had twelve cups of chopped strawberries and boiled them down. I did half the sugar in this batch since the strawberries were so ripe and sweet. But when you remove the pot from the heat and add balsamic vinegar and pepper. Stir and voila.

I got nine jars out of this recipe. I'm very excited about it, but of course I can't try it until tomorrow.

A few other things. I did try infusing vodka today. I took a handful of the strawberries before I put them in the fire and poured them in a mason jar. I also finally found figs! I infused those as well as a pear and a handful of orange-flavored cranberries. They are currently infusing in my pantry.

I'm looking forward to trying those in a week. A few months ago, I went to a new place in Austin called Red's Porch. They have a drink called an Eleanor Rigby . It has RED’S Fig Infused Vodka, muddled orange, OJ & Mathilde Cassis, served on the rocks. I will figure out how to make this at home.

Cooking Class #1

Well, I had a wonderful day yesterday. I had my first cooking class: Breakfast in Paris. I went with a friend of mine, so luckily we were put in pairs. The first thing we did was an Almond Brioche Toast. It was super simple.

First we made the franzipan and then put it on the bread. Popped it in the oven for 10 minutes. Amazing.

Next was the Palmier Cookies. These were so much fun, but the chef threw us on both sides of the spectrum. First off, we're in Texas in the Summer. So, the puff pastry was sweating. This made it particularly difficult to fold it over itself. But we coated the puff pastry in sugar and mapped out where it would fold over. However, slippery as it was, I stretched out the dough. Yes, I know this is a faux pas. But what do you want me to do?

So, the chef came over and helped us out a little. We got it back under control. But we made up for it when our cookies came out of the oven. She used us as an example of what the cookies should look like. So take that.

The last thing we made were Crepes Suzette. These were especially fun. The batter was very simple, but we didn't use our own batter. We got to take that home for homework. :)

Now, I will say this. We were given a bum pan. It was very heavy, so flipping the damn thing was again, particularly difficult. My first crepe was too thick and was sticking to the pan so it burned on one side. I was, however, able to flick my wrist just so in order to flip it. It looked like a large flat pancake. Not a thin one, though.

Then it was my friend's turn. She has weak wrists, so pair that was a heavy pan, and she used a fork to flip, which worked great. Then it was my turn. Needless to say, I did this one much better. It looked like a crepe. My friend's second one also looked like a crepe.

We then watched the chef make the Suzette sauce. She messed up. Her heat was up too high, so the sugar didn't melt creating sugar rocks. We had a similar problem. Okay, not similar, exactly the same. Our heat was too high, and our sugar crystalized rather than dissolved. Ah well. We just strained it, but not like it mattered. The cognac overpowered anything else. They gave us too much too use and made no note as to not use all that is given.

It really was a lot of fun. We were able to take home everything we had left over. The Palmier cookies are of course gone. Some went, actually, during a particularly hot movie called Eclipse .

Oh man, ladies and gentlemen. If you have not seen this movie, let me know and I will go with you. I officially resign my post on Team Edward and am full force applying for Team Jasper. He was a Southern Gentlemen with a capital 'S' and 'G'. Just hearing him say, "My apologies, ma'am" made my insides weak. Amazing. If you are a Twi-hard, you must go see it.

At the end of the evening, I decided to bust out a recipe for Raspberry Jalapeno Jam. I will preface this by saying while it was a success, please use this cautionary tale to not do what I did.

To continue my Southern fantasy, I put on Cold Mountain and assembled my jam. I did everything to a T. I chopped the jalapenos, washed and crushed the raspberries. My first mistake was to turn on the wrong burner. I thought I was simmering the jar lids, but I was in fact heating my empty pot. So, when I went in to pour my raspberry mixture, the pot spattered and steam coated my hands and face. Yikes. So, instantly my hand got a steam burn. It was okay. No problem.

I made the jam. It was beautiful.

They sat out, I finished my movie. But by the time I was heading to bed, I noticed my hand was really bothering me. I knew exactly what it was. My mom warned me to wear gloves when chopping jalapenos. But, as any mid-twenties daughter, I ignored my mother's advice. Now, I'm paying for it. I'm in agony.

My plan for today was to take two gym classes and get my hair cut at noon. I got about 15 minutes on the bike with a cool water soaked towel wrapped around my hand when I couldn't take it anymore. I left and went straight to Walgreens to find something to soothe this chemical burn.

Well, I found something that is working remarkably. Not at this particular moment because the pain is coming back, but it does say to use 3-4 times a day. If you find yourself in my position, even after reading what not to do, go find Burn Jel Plus. It's in an 80s looking picture box at Walgreens, but you put it on for 30 minutes and it soothes. It's amazing.

Don't worry, I tried honey, yogurt, aloe vera, and any soothing cream I had in the apartment to no avail. I'm about to reapply the Jel and chill before my hair appointment.

Needless to say, however, I had a great day yesterday. And I did try the Raspberry Jalapeno Jam this morning. I will say this, it's really good. But the jalapeno is a little overpowering. If you make this recipe at home, consider using two instead of three jalapenos. I will post the recipe after I put out the fire on my hand.

A Strong Wind

I would like to say something for the members of my gym, on their behalf and for their information. I understand that sweat isn't the best smelling odor and that body odor is a common side effect of a hard workout. I know I suffer from it. But, I must say there are a couple of things someone can do in order to stifle some of the offensive smells coming off of one's body.

a) please brush your teeth before you come to the gym first thing in the morning. I know it's first thing in the morning, and you want to eat breakfast before you come to the gym, but for the love of God, please brush your teeth. I just walk by people huffing and puffing and I get a huge whiff of bad breath. And not just one.

b) please do not pass gas when you know you are surrounded by dozens of people. I was on a bike the other day in class, and someone in front of me passed some serious gas. Of course, I can't get off the bike to run around, so I have to suffer through it. I mean, please. We're working hard--again with the huffing and puffing--and I have to inhale the stench, several times over.

It's just a common courtesy to keep some of your smells to yourself. Even if the B.O. is unavoidable.

Jammin' on the Fourth

So I did my Monday plan of making Ginger Pear Preserves. It was so much fun. I started out by boiling my jars and lids. Now, these jars are from the early 90s and were filled with dead Doodle-Bugs. Yay for sterilization. I boiled the jars and the lids in separate pots. And then, I bust out my cooking pot and reduced down six pears and ginger with lime.

Now, the recipe said I would get seven jars. Well, based on this: that was not going to be the case.

Lo and behold, I got three and a half jars.

Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience that included a facial. I have never stood at my hot stove for so long. After 30 minutes, the water canner finally started to boil, and I put in my jars of jam to cook away the germs. Then poof, Ginger Pear Jam.

Now, I must say, I have not yet tried it. I know, unbelievable. But I did give a jar to a friend, and she said it was really good. Yes, it is more than quite possible that she made it up to make me feel better, so I know I need to taste it. I will. Tomorrow for my lunch peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Also, over the Fourth of July weekend, my boyfriend's parents came in town. I took it upon myself to challenge my culinary skills and cook them dinner.

I made a Panko and Parsley Crusted Catfish marinated in Wasabi Ginger Sauce with Shrimp and Edamame Rice. It was so good. The crust could have used more seasoning, but it was still pretty good. His parents were very appreciative. Even more so with the Summer Berry Ice Cream. I made a simple ice cream with the berries macerated in lemon juice. It really brought out the flavor with vanilla and almond. It really was a nice ending to our dinner.

After stewing on that Chai Tea Ice Cream, the more I don't like it. I will try again on that and hope for the best. I think I failed by using too small of a tea leaf allowing me to use much more. This made for a denser ice cream since the leaves soaked up more milk than I think they were supposed to. I will use a bigger leaf next time.

On another note, my boyfriend's parents have invited us on a cruise in February. I will be in a bikini on that trip if it kills me. That's my new motivation. :)

And as a good start on this mission of being 140lbs by February, I have finally dropped into the 70s. I haven't been in the 70s for almost 2 years. It was a great feeling to see that on the scale today.

July 6th: 179 lbs.
February 1st: 140 lbs.

So far this summer has lived up to the Summer of Me.