Wednesday, May 30, 2012

the staycation

How we spent our Memorial Day weekend. At home. Well, mostly.



Friday, on horseback! No joke.

Though in hindsight, I was dubious of Kensington Stables and now I know I had every right to be. Instruction was... Minimal? Even though we stressed our inexperience. I also suspect my horse may have been taking it's last labored steps and I was being to wonder how one safely jumps from a falling horse. Not to mention R's horse careening towards school children while he shouted, "Move the children!" at the dumbfounded teachers. Sadly, I have no photos of Rire on his trusty steed Tinkerbelle, and that will forever be one of my biggest regrets. In true staycation style, we also watched plenty of TV (notably, Art of the Steal and Skins - Netflix, I love you).

Saturday

After a slow start I rallied and went for a 4 mile run. I felt vaguely guilty when I passed the horses. They don't look thrilled to be shuffling along with clueless urbanites on their backs and who can blame them? I think I need to find a better stable.

We headed to Fort Tilden in the afternoon, settling in just in time for it to cloud over and turn chilly. Our timing was flawless. Back home we went, to watch more Skins. Don't underestimate the allure of British teen drama.






Sunday, road trip!


Our old standby, Minnewaska State Park. We hiked a route we've run a number of times. Final conclusion? Running 10 is easier than hiking 10. In fact running 13.1 is easier. It takes a fraction of the time. But the upside of hiking?  I can stop and takes photos along the way.







All that endless hiking requires lots of food.  Menus must be studied with utmost care. Is it bad that I eat the same amount as my 6'2" husband?


Monday quiet, nice. Another run and a bit of wandering in the city. Low key, to slowly ease back into the work week.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

real life baking

I like food blogs and pretty Pinterest photos as much as the next girl. But that's not real life. Not that I don't aspire to that, I do. But my counters are crowded and messy. An unavoidable result of a miniscule Brooklyn kitchen. Or so I tell myself.

Recipe of the day.  Long Run Cake from the October 2011 issue of Runner's World.

Pictured. Some of the necessary ingredients. Eggs, cocoa powder, agave. Pictured but not actually required for the recipe. Wine, pepper, potatoes, kosher salt, PASTA.  I could go on.


And the secret weapon. Black beans!


Skipping the loaf pans, I opted for the perfectly portioned muffin tin instead (the batter made 12 perfectly).  I also added honey when my agave ran dry.  In hindsight, I should have whirled the beans around for a bit longer in the food processor. They worked fine (you honestly can't taste them) but I think the overall texture would improve. The taste verdict? As I told a friend, if you graded them on a scale with 10 being the melt in your mouth Bouchon Macarons and 1 being the tasteless cardboard disks that are Necco Wafers... I would give the Long Run a solid 6. It has rich chocolate flavor and a dense chewy texture (more brownie than cake) that I liked. It might not be convincing as an indulgent chocolate dessert, but it would pair nicely with vanilla ice cream...

This is where a photo of the final product would go, if I hadn't lost all light in my kitchen while they cooled.

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Great GoogaMooga

The internet buzz seems to say it was a bust. I however, completely enjoyed myself.  We skipped Saturday.  After running the Brooklyn Half, we opted for an afternoon at the beach and headed to Fort Tilden to unwind.

So Sunday was Googa day.  We headed to Prospect around 12:30 and the lack of signage does deserve to be called out.  Not a single arrow pointing GO THIS WAY.  I've logged hundreds of miles in that park and even I couldn't tell by their map where exactly the entrance point was.  Not that it really mattered, you just followed the swarms funneling to Nethermead.  Once inside we grabbed pulled pork sandwiches at Num Pang (so good) and found shade under a tree to set up blankets.  It was that easy.  Joined by a friend and her kids, we took turns venturing out for more food and drinks.  Sure, there were lines, but nothing seemed all that unreasonable.  Food, music, shade - we loved it.

the first year

No one tells you how to cut the cake, so you just sort of awkwardly go at it, knife in hand.





We're laughing at something, most likely the pros and cons of cake face smashing.  In the end we kept it civilized.




Our cake, a perfect, delicious cake, wasn't an official wedding cake. A few weeks before the wedding I went to Baked and bought an assortment of cupcakes, brought 'em home and sample we did.  Best taste test ever.  Even better, on our anniversary we get to indulge all over again.

Happy anniversary to us.