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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Starting Over, Yet Again

Hi my empty audience. I know no one is reading this, so this acts as a virtual diary. Maybe I'll be brave and actually tell people about it, but until then, I will continue to talk to the expansive void that is the Internet.

I am back after about six months to share some good news and some new thoughts. I have finally gotten the ball rolling on what I hope will be a very successful weight loss journey. I have finally been infected (not just bitten) by the gym rat, and I am here to say that it's finally working.

At my gym, there is a program called Eat to Live. It's a twelve week program that details out healthy eating habits while keeping you accountable with weekly weigh ins. Well, yesterday was the last day of the class with our final weigh ins.

Because I want to keep myself motivated, I will post my stats. Now, the invisible people of the world will know what I weigh, but will also know that the number will go down.

I began the class at 192lbs. The final weigh in clocked me at 182lbs. My measurements also went down. Shockingly down. My nutrition coach measured me twice. I lost 5 inches off my waist. The most in the class.

But ladies and germs, it doesn't stop there. That number will, by all means, continue to go down.

I have incorporated much healthier habits (save the rare splurge) into my diet and I am a regular at my gym again. Everyday I am there for at least an hour. And I have cycling to thank for that. I have fallen so head over heels for my spin class that I now take it four times a week. Last Sunday, as a matter of fact, I was on a bike for two and a half straight hours. A) because nothing else was going on during a particularly warm Sunday morning, and B) the instructor is so cute. What else can a girl do on a Sunday but burn a few extra calories?

So because of this phenomenon and my love for sweat (it seems), I have been losing weight. Any day that I'm not spinning (Right round, baby, Right round) I am doing strength and/or kickboxing--my first love. I had a long, torrid affair with kickboxing, but when he cheated on me with Strike! and the instructors changed, it wasn't the same. Don't get me wrong, incorporating weights with kickboxing sounds as decadent as an affair with Jon Hamm, but something about the instructor really turned me off, and on top of all that, I got a full time desk job. But I'm back, and spinning is my new love.

The other thing I am getting more and more passionate about as each day goes by is food. Irony, the aspiring baker wants to lose weight. If this isn't a typical Catch-22 challenge, I don't know what is. But, experimenting is my game, and if I have to find ways to cut calories as I cook, so be it.

This blog is for me. I will report on my weight loss and I will also post on my new culinary experiments and successes. Don't worry, the failures will also be noted. What is life without a little failure?

I hope to get the courage to share this with the world as I embark on a challenge I have been waiting my whole life for.

Cheers to the next 10 lbs and the next 5 inches. Clink your tonic waters and let's hold on for the ride.