Minneapolis Taste Buds

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?

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 a...

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?

Our first loaf of bread was a definite success, made evident by the fact that we devoured the whole loaf in one meal. (Must get to the Y) It’s just as easy as the book says. Pull a chunk of the refrigerated dough out, fold it under, let it rise, and bake. We had it with Amy’s organic bean & pasta soup, which I added a cooked chicken breast to. I’ll make our second loaf tonight along with a meal we created at Let’s Dish in Highland Park . We made 8 meals last Saturday and this will be the third we've tried. Our favorite so far is the gyros. Put a pork roast in the crock-pot, shred it, put it on pitas and add the yogurt sauce. That was a huge meal and fed us one night plus made several lunches for Mark. Tonight we’re having lemon parmesan chicken with green beans - and homemade bread, of course - before heading to the Highland Theater to see Gran Torino.

This week I finally began the process of making our own bread using “ Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day ” – My sister gave me the book a good 6+ months ago . . . The wretched economy is definitely causing me to change how I spend my $. I utilize every coupon I can find. I saved $10.30 today at Super Target. Doing this every week does add up, especially with the rising cost of food. I’m not sure whether this is what prompted me to start baking bread, if it’s the wonderful breads my sister has made from the book, or if I’m just trying to stay warm this sub-zero winter by turning on the oven. It’s probably a combination of all of the above. Whatever the reason, my house smells amazing! I mixed up the recipe on Monday. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and it makes 4 one-pound loaves. My only tip so far is to measure your flour into a separate bowl before adding it to the other ingredients in the KitchenAid. I may have lost count on the flour so I’m praying the bread will turn...

Okay, I know you're thinking, "who does she think she is?" She's not a trained chef and every Christmas cookie baker makes Peanut Blossoms – who doesn’t love a cookie with a Hershey’s Kiss on top? But mine always seem to turn out just right, always soft, never overly browned on the bottom. My sister the chef says I instinctively know the exact moment when they need to come out of the oven. Below I’ve outlined my recipe, handed down for generations (okay, really only 2 generations) that I’ve accidentally perfected. Have a different recipe you think would blow my recipe away? Send it my way. Peanut Blossoms ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda ½ c. sugar + extra for rolling before baking ½ c. packed brown sugar ½ c. vegetable shortening ½ c. natural creamy peanut butter (ingredient list should only contain peanuts & salt) 2 T. milk 1 Egg 1 tsp. vanilla (the real stuff) – I add an “overflowing” teaspoon of vanilla 1 ¾ c. flour – lightly spooned into measuring cup and lev...

Mark overcame a knee injury during marathon training and finished the Las Vegas Marathon in 3:36. AMAZING! I also finished, but he had to wait quite a while for me! He greeted me with a huge bear hug at the finish. Neither of us knew if I'd make it through this one as I acquired some injuries a few weeks before the marathon. My left IT band was hurting from mile 3 on but I somehow made it through. I met a very nice woman named Lynn and we finished the last 7 miles together. I thank God I met her as I didn't think I could finish alone. She was amazing! This was her 7th marathon and she'd just had surgery in August. Very tough and inspiring. It was great having our friends there with us this year to cheer us on and celebrate afterwards. Mark and I hobbled around Vegas the rest of the trip, but still had a great time. The holidays have already passed us by and we're here in Iowa celebrating with Mark's family. We celebrated Christmas Eve at my sister's and Christma...

I must admit I'm a bit jealous of my boss and her husband who are vacationing in Italy-my very favorite place to visit. She writes, "I thought you’d like to know that this is the usual order for a truly Italian dinner. The surprising part is that the salad FOLLOWS the entrée! 1. Appetizers: Bruschetta and Beans and greens and onion 2. Soup dish (more like a stew actually) 3. Pasta dish 4. Pasta dish 5. Beef slices 6. Salad 7. Lemon dessert 8. Espresso . . . don’t forget the wine!" I asked her about her favorites so far. "Tonight we had a fabulous lemon chiffon type pie that was served on top of a ¼ inch yellow cake base. Very light after a heavy meal of so many courses. The prosciutto seems to be different than in the U.S., much lighter. Every place in Florence charges a cover charge of 2-3 Euro per person, even for lunch. Seems strange to me because there is no music provided. I have yet to figure out what the cover charge is supposed to cover. The waiter tells us...