Campus Club Centennial Cookbook

Mark and I had a great time at the Campus Club Centennial Party last night!

My sister and Campus Club Executive Chef, Beth Jones, was signing copies of the new Campus Club Centennial Cookbook. Mark did the layout for the cookbook, and the Campus Club's graphics guy, Joe Burgmeier, did the beautiful photography.

The cookbook features many of the favorite dishes served at the Campus Club, including Beth's amazing creations like Irish Stew with Guinness, Chili, and Apple Galette, and Sous Chef, Jorge Ortega's, Steak and Strawberry Salad. Beth also featured many of our family favorites, such as Beef Bourguignon, our mom's pie crust, and my Strawberry Bread.

I love that the cookbook talks about easy substitutions, and features the local Minnesota farmers they work with. Many of the recipes include personal stories - Nettie's "Sure to Ge Me a Husband" Rice is one of my favorites.

The Campus Club Centennial Cookbook is available for $14.95. Call 612-626-7788 or click to buy the Campus Club Centennial Cookbook.

Race Weekend

I'm very excited for Women Run the Cities 10-miler this weekend! I love the course and most of my long runs involve some or most of the route. I ran it the first 2 years but missed it last year.
Wondering if I'll PR . . . can't wait to get my cute shirt tomorrow . . . happy to be volunteering at packet pickup - my first time (long overdue). This is a great race to run with the New York City Marathon on the horizon. Can it really be just 6 weeks away?

Training for New York City Marathon

Mark and I are getting very excited for the New York City Marathon on November 7! We can't believe we both got in.

I recently starting doing long runs with a friend, which makes training so much more fun. We finished the 13.1 Minneapolis Half-Marathon today and it was great! We had nice weather, a lot of shade along a beautiful course, and wonderful volunteers. Mark and Scout came out to cheer us on. Scout and I will have a much needed nap very soon. Golf is on now so that should help!

It's been a good summer of running, but I'm really looking forward to cooler temps and less humidity. Some of my mid-week runs have been pretty icky. The Red White & Boom on July 4 was very fun, but tough due to the heat and humidity. Thankfully it rained!

I have a shorter run next weekend and then the miles will start to jump quite a bit. Sticking with the Marathoning for Mortals plan, but I've learned to modify it when I need to. I don't like cutting back on long runs quite as much as they recommend and I'll add a mile or 2 on to some of the mid-week morning runs if I get myself out the door in time! I love speed day Wednesdays and feel lucky to have so many great training routes to choose from close to home. Today's race was no exception!

I'm running Women Run the Cities next month and am going to volunteer at a couple races this fall. I think it's definitely time to give back to the running community, which has given me so much.

We have our flight booked, hotel reserved, and just need to figure out how to get from our hotel to the ferry to the start in New York City!

Why We Love Taco Tuesday

Mark and I are running the Fargo Marathon this month and we’ve been in the “hungry” part of training. We had our heaviest mileage a couple weeks ago, with our longest run on the 1st. I did 20 (following the Penguin’s program for the 3rd time) and he did 22 per Bart Yasso. Now it’s time to taper.

Mark could eat about 7 times a day. Full meals, not snacks. We’ve instituted Taco Tuesday at our house. We’re hungry, and we still have a good 30 pounds of ground beef from the ½-cow we bought forever ago. Our neighbors are hunters and gave us a pound of ground venison, which made for our best Taco Tuesday to date.

Oxendale’s, our favorite little grocer is stocking amazing lettuce right now, and my chive crop is out of control. We also chop up red onion, tomato, shred some Monterrey jack, and top it with taco sauce and Salsa Lisa.

We’re buying packets of seasoning but I think we should start crafting our own recipe. Any suggestions?

Brie Gorganzola & Apples on Baguette

I'm home with the dog this weekend while Mark's in Tucson (recovering from the marathon). The fridge has been very empty these days with all of our traveling this month and it was finally time for a major trip to the grocery store this morning.

Tonight I made a great sandwich on a baguette from New French Bakery. I sliced the bread and added thinly sliced brie to one half and gorganzola to the other. I put it under the broiler for a few minutes and added thin slices of apple. For dessert I had a couple of Cuties clementines that I'm completely addicted to.

Running Season Coming to a Close

8 months since my last blog post . . . guess it's been a busy year.

We ran quite a few races this year and we finished my running season with the Las Vegas 1/2-Marathon last Sunday. My very fast husband ran with me, which was so sweet! It was a great course with lots of bands along the route. This year they blocked off both directions of the strip for a much more exciting race. The volunteers were wonderful and everything was so well organized. We finished in 2:06 - would be been pretty close to a PR, but all that shivering at the start resulted in a potty break mid-race. Oh well. Mark didn't mind - he and the woman in line behind me had a nice laugh at the guy who ran out of the porta with TP hanging out of his shorts. Oh I hope he's recovered his pride since then!

Vegas was right up there with the Twin Cities Marathon - my only full-marathon this year. Halfway through training I felt like quitting. My head just wasn't in it and I'd had some terribly hot, humid, and miserable long runs that ended in tears. My husband's confidence in himself and in me motivated me to keep going. From there on out I was focused and motivated to have a great race on our home turf. Race day was amazing. Some sun, some clouds, and perfect temps in the low 40s. I recruited friends, family, and neighbors to come cheer us on. The spectator support at Twin Cities can't be beat. I had the perfect race. I actually had fun running a marathon, which after my first two, I didn't think was possible.

Race day was on my mom's birthday. She would have been 65 this year I dedicated my run to her that day. My motto during the marathon was simply, "keep running." There were times where I felt like I was being carried. I had the typical aches and pains, but I never hit a wall. I attacked everyone I knew when I saw them and stopped to talk for a minute or two and to thank them for coming out. Having people I knew waiting along the course was such a motivator.

I started to cramp a bit at mile 24. I stretched for a second and walked a bit next to very tall guy named Tom from Missouri. He unfortunately acquired a knee issue a couple weeks prior and was really hurting. We picked up the pace and ran the last couple miles together, chatting the whole time to distract us from what we were really doing. It's amazing how much you learn about people while running. I set a PR of 4:47:04. I enjoyed every minute of that race. I couldn't walk very well the next two days but after a massage I recovered quickly. Three weeks later we ran the Monster Half, my favorite local 1/2. I ran into someone from high school at the starting line and we ran the whole thing together. It was a blast and it felt great to be running so soon after a marathon.

Mark will finish his racing season tomorrow morning at the Tucson Marathon. He's trying to qualify for Boston, which requires a 3:10:59. Boston 2010 is full, so I'm looking forward to a trip there in 2011 to cheer him on! No pressure . . .

He gets closer and closer every marathon he runs and I believe he has a very good shot. The course looks amazing and the temps should be perfect for him. Whatever his time I'm so proud of him. He is a true athlete and he motivates me everyday. Good luck, Marky!! I can't wait to celebrate another completed marathon when you get home. Kisses.

Cafe Maude

A friend and I had brunch today at Cafe Maude (5411 Penn Avenue South in Minneapolis) to celebrate her birthday. I had a roasted cauliflower and Brussels sprouts omelet and she ordered the french toast with berries that came with a side of ginger ice cream. Our food was fantastic and the staff was perfectly attentive and genuinely friendly.

I'm surprised the place wasn't packed - maybe everyone is waiting for warmer weather to enjoy the sidewalk patio?

It's great that they accept the MPR membercard and offer a 15% discount without any restrictions on days, etc. I'll definitely return to Cafe Maude to try out the dinner menu soon.