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. :)

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.

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.