Livin' the Dream in Lima

Last year, about this time, I embarked on my first ever blog challenge. I challenged myself to bake twenty-five different types of Christmas cookies, and blog about them. I called it the "25 Days of Christmas Cookies." I almost  completed the challenge, but slacked off a bit on Days 24 & 25. (aka Christmas Eve & Christmas. I might have been a bit pre-occupied with other things...) This year, I thought about doing the same challenge, but as my students would say, "That's doin' too much." Heh. Honestly, it was a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of ingredients, and a lot of cookies! So this year I've decided to do just "12 Days of Christmas Cookies". Still lots of fun but not as overwhelming. I'll be starting tomorrow, so make sure to check back each day from December 1st through 12th for a fun new holiday treat! If you're interested in seeing what I made last year, here it is! They include some of my family favorites, al

This past Saturday, I ran the FOLEPI River Trail Classic . It's a 4-mile point-to-point race and all downhill . Well, not quite all, but if you average out the whole course it's definitely downhill. So, a chance to go really  fast. This was my sixth year running this race, and it's become quite the Thanksgiving tradition. My mom walks the 2-mile walk, I run the race, and my Business Man comes to watch. My aunt even joined in the fun this year and walked with my mom! I thought it'd be fun to look up my past results before I raced this year, to see what type of goal I should come up with for myself. Keep in mind, during my college years (2006-2009), this was typically my first run back after a 2-week break. So I didn't take it too  seriously. 2006 - 29:20 2007 - 29:24 2008 - 30:49 2009 - 26:12 2010 - 26:21 After looking at these times, I determined that I wanted to run sub-26:00. I've had a great fall of PR's, and knew that it was possible.

What a great weekend filled with family & friends! My Business Man and I were able to enjoy quality time spent with both of our extended families... some of which we hadn't seen since June! I even got to meet my cousin's little baby boy for the first time.  I didn't contribute much to the food side of Thanksgiving... (kinda hard to do when you're traveling 6+ hours), but I did manage to pull together a pumpkin trifle last minute. With some help from my mama.  We did not  celebrate Black Friday... unless you count creating some masterpieces at Created Just By Me - a paint-your-own pottery & glass fusing studio.  On Saturday, I ran the Folepi River Trail Classic, a four-mile race that I've run every year for the past six years. (More on that tomorrow.) After the race, my BFF Talen came over to my parents' house from her parents', and we got to spend some QT, complete with another run.  And of course, we got to work in the kitchen

...is Thanksgiving sandwiches. Yes, it might seem weird that I'm talking about using up leftover turkey when the real Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet.  However, typically I never have any leftover turkey. One of the downfalls of traveling for the holiday. So this is a first! We've got loads of turkey. (I'm definitely going to be freezing some so I can make some easy dinners during the month of December.) Have you ever seen the episode of Friends -  The One with Ross's Sandwich ? Ross took a turkey sandwich to work... and someone ate it. But it wasn't just any  turkey sandwich. It was a Thanksgiving leftover turkey sandwich. Specially made by Monica. With a moist-maker  -a gravy-soaked slice of bread in the middle.  If you haven't seen this episode, you must ASAP. Here's a link to a clip of Ross's hysteria: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrnCsrjysxI  . In fact, it might be a good idea to go and watch all the Thanksgiving episodes from

Yesterday, we got together with some friends of ours here in the Bean Town held a 'Friends-giving' Celebration. Basically an excuse to have a preview of the real Thanksgiving coming on Thursday. And thank goodness for Thanksgiving. (Can I get an amen for a 5-day weekend?) I volunteered to take bird duty, and we hosted it at our house. I'm no stranger to cooking turkeys... back in college, we held an annual 'Thanksgiving Extravaganza' for our cross country team. I always made the bird (sometimes even two!), and everybody else (25+ people) supplied all the sides and desserts. It was always a great time. Thanksgiving Extravaganza circa 2009 Things always got a little crazy. Back in college, I didn't really focus on preparing a delicious, beautiful-looking turkey. I just wanted it to be edible and not make anybody sick. (And when you're cooking for college boys, they don't really know the difference between succulent, moist turkey and plain o

I never posted a pumpkin recipe this past Thursday. The reason? I was waiting until Saturday to prepare it! I've been wanting to try a pumpkin-themed french toast casserole for awhile, but it's not all too practical for a weekday meal. An hour in the oven? No thank you. However, we had some special visitors arrive late last night, so I knew that a french toast casserole would be the perfect lazy morning breakfast treat.  Who came to visit? One of my best friends from college, Michelle! She and her fiance were traveling up to Michigan for their Thanksgiving break and I forced lovingly convinced them to make a pitstop in the Bean Town.  We spent the morning doing what we do best--going for a run and catching up on each other's lives. Running is the best way to catch up with old friends... we might have not seen each other for 3 months, but the instant we start running, it's just like old times. I guess that happens when you spent 4 years of your life running 5

This week, I've had good intentions. Intentions of running in the mornings before school. Because having the afternoons free is amazing!  But every morning, I wake up somewhere in the 4 o'clock hour and think how impossible  it is to get up when the alarm goes off at 5:10am. So I move it back to 6:30am, which leaves no time for running before school. (Although I did get up and run hills with my running group on Tuesday. When I have to meet people, I can wake up.) So, this week I've been running on the treadmill after school. Because it's starting to get cold. And because I like to watch TV. And because there's 2 hours of Friends on TBS from 4pm-6pm. (Need I say more?) Yesterday, I got myself all situated on the treadmill, and plugged my headphones (with only one working earphone) into the TV. And there was no sound! I guess after 12+ months of sweaty treadmill running, and sweaty summer running, they decided they'd had enough. I'm actually surprised t

Squash. I'm sure you've seen this a lot lately. Horrible lighting, delicious pizza. As a matter of fact, I've had one sitting on my counter since the end of September. Have I used it yet? Umm.... have you ever tried to cut into and peel a butternut squash? Not so much fun. Not the squash we ate. This guy's still out in the kitchen. However, at Sam's Club last Saturday, I found peeled & cubed butternut squash, all nice and neat in a little package. For just $3.98. So much easier. It looked like this. But didn't have a date from 2009 on it. Source So the squash still sits on my counter. But I did  actually cook the squash from Sam's. First, I roasted it with some garlic, salt, and pepper. It was delicious just like that. But then I made it even better - topped pizza dough with it. Along with bacon. And gouda. And caramelized red onion. Oh my.  Between my Business Man and I, there was one measly little piece left at the end of