Recipe Reblog #5

I woke up Saturday morning, saw John had already eaten toast for breakfast and thought, "We can do better than that."

Low-fat Maple Cinnamon Muffins: I found this recipe with some quick Googling. I picked it over others because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand, also because they're supposed to be healthy. They probably are healthy if you substitute applesauce for oil. Applesauce was the one thing I didn't have, but I did have oil. Since I cut the recipe in half and made only 6 muffins, I took one for the calorie team and used the 2 Tbsps of oil anyway.

                                   Look at the height on these babies! Too much baking powder?


These were not really that sweet. No sugar at all, in fact. But, they tasted pretty good with a little butter on them. I'd try them again in a pinch.

Light Me Up!

While the light fixture above our dining room table wasn't terrible, I really wanted something that fit the design aesthetic of the room a little more. This is what was hanging there.

Sorry so dark

 I searched for a really long time. I mean months. Every time we were at a home improvement store of any kind, I made John look at every single fixture available hoping to find one that was beautiful and reasonably priced. My search also extending to hours and hours online. I love buying things online but with something like this, I really wanted to be able to see the fixture in person.

I really wanted an Edison light but John said no dice. However, I kept coming back time and again to the Carriage House Chandelier from Ballard Design. It comes in two sizes (small and large) and two colors (cream and oil rubbed bronze). The large is 14" whereas the small is only 8". This is $199 for the large online. Not terribly expensive although a little more than I wanted to spend because I'm cheap when it comes to house stuff. I probably shouldn't be but house fixtures are not as fun to buy as purses or jewelry.



Buy this online here



Luckily for me, we live about 30 minutes from a Ballard Design outlet. We ventured down there a couple weeks ago to see if we could find a light fixture that might work. There were actually a few others that I liked too like this one and also this one. The orb ended up being far too expensive and the Eldridge was too much like an Edison light which had already been nixed by my other half. So, after much discussion, we ended up with the Carriage House for $150, a full 25% less than they're still currently selling it for online. We won't talk about how 8 days later we received a 20% off coupon for the outlet. And we certainly won't talk about the rough language that came out of my mouth when I saw the flyer in the mail that day. It would have saved us $30! But, I'm not really over it.

Some assembly required

It took us an hour-ish to put together the fixture, take down the old one, have me whine about holding up the new fixture while John monkeyed around with the screws and re-attaching the electrical wires, and turn it out for the first time.

Ta-da!



All lit up - love the shadow it casts on the ceiling



Extreme Close Up 

We were worried the light wouldn't be enough for the space. Max wattage on those bulbs is 60. Well, I'm here to tell you that there is PLENTY of light. So much, in fact, that we are going to install our first dimmer switch (and by we, I mean John) in the dining room. Yes, I could just buy a lower watt bulb but I like the ambiance of a dimmed light in a room that we only use when we have guests.

One more thing to cross off the list and we've already completed a house-related project in the first week of this month. That means I'm upholding my household resolution so far for 2012. And yes, we've been doing a better job of keeping things clean too. Thanks for asking!



Round these parts...

Lots happening here lately, folks. First and most importantly, Sadie......

Got a long overdue hair cut.

Look, Mom, I have eyes!

Well, it wasn't really overdue. I have been trimming the fur around her eyes so she can still see. John and I love her long hair though. She is one sassy lady. When she has short hair, she's kind of a jackass. She runs around much faster than when she has a fluffy mane weighing her down. We had to be very specific about not having her cut by Rick this time as last cut, he butchered her tail. She looks much better now and even got a heart bandanna that she can model during game night this weekend.

P.S. I played around with that second photo in Photoshop on my phone because Instagram kept shutting down inexplicably. Both are fuzzy, my apologies.

Speaking of phones......

John and I have finally finished suffering through AT&T for a 2 year contract and can switch back to Verizon. It's true what they say about AT&T, the service is TERRIBLE! My daily commute is mostly driven on a major interstate highway. I drop my call no fewer than 3 times, every day. It's extremely frustrating. I also drop calls in my kitchen...? So, now that our contract is up and Verizon sells the iphone, we are switching back. That's a done deal. However, I've heard rumor that the iphone 5 is to be released this summer. This puts us in a quandary. Do we switch now anyway and get the iphone 4S or, hedge our bets and go month to month on AT&T (Can you even do this?) in the hopes that the 5 will indeed come out this year? Are you in this same situation? What are you doing or what do you suggest? All opinions welcome!

And lastly, a confession. I am terrible at makeup. I feel like I never really learned how to put it on and am just flying by the seat of my pants every time I pull out the blush. I never think my make up looks particularly exciting so I tried to jazz it up a bit. Step outside of my comfort zone, if you will. 

I bought this multi color pack from Ulta before Christmas. Can you tell my eye shadow is dark green? Probably not. In person you really could and John said it looked fine. I'm on the fence though.

It was Shamrock from Ulta. See how dark?

Anyway, I guess it was a success. I won't get any better at applying it unless I keep trying, right?

OK, party people. That's all I got for today.

The Litigators

The Litigators is the latest release from legal fiction juggernaut John Grisham. David Zinc works for Rogan Rothberg, a big time fancy law firm in Chicago. One day he decides he has had enough, walks out the doors and spends the day in a nearby bar. Eventually, he , quite inebriated, into the "boutique" law firm, Finley & Figg. Two ambulance chasers, Wally Figg and Oscar Finley agree to take David on their staff. They try to tack their firm and a few clients onto some mass tort litigation against an allegedly harmful drug, Krayoxx. Eventually, they find themselves as the sole litigators on the case when none of them have ever practiced this type of law before, or really set foot in a courtroom to argue anything other than divorce cases. What ensues is a fight for their lives and the lives of their clients against Varrick Labs, makers of Krayoxx.

I really like Grisham but I think he's lost a little bit of his mojo. Perhaps cranking out a book a year for the last 20 years will do that to an author. But, his more recent works don't seem to have the spark that some of his earlier ones did. Books like The Client, The Firm, A Time to Kill, Pelican Brief were all great storytelling, so great that they were made into movies. One of his books hasn't been made into a movie in many years. I will still continue to read Grisham but, I hope the spark returns. You can probably skip this one.

Rating: * * 1/2

Recipe Reblog #4

John and I hosted a Winter White Wine Night with our wine club foursome last weekend. More on the wines next week because I think it would take too long for you to read. Sometimes you daydream when you come here, don't lie.

But, I did make a bunch of new recipes to pass along. Emily Post would say not to test out new recipes on guests. I say forget that! The women of the wine club plan the menus and we say, Bring on the new stuff!


Cheesy Beer Fondue: Sandra Lee, you get me. Cheese and beer in one, AND I get to dip stuff in it? Fondue, party of Ashley! This was a quick cheese fondue recipe that I made on the stove and then kept warm in my Little Dipper. By the way, a 2 lb brick of cheese shredded up is PLENTY. Be sure to measure the necessary 4 cups, or just buy it pre-shredded. We dipped sourdough, pumpernickel, green apples, carrots and celery.

Roasted Broccoli: I love broccoli. I really like it simple steamed but this could not have been easier. Broccoli, oil, some seasonings and pop it in the oven. Tastefully delicious!

Chicken Meatballs with Sweet Peanut Sauce: This recipe can be found in Rachael Ray's magazine, Everyday. I made these according to the recipe in the pan and then left them on the warming setting in my crockpot. I also doubled the sauce recipe, everything except the sugar. I wanted them a lot saucier and I figured they'd be sweet enough. I was right. This was the only actual recipe that was meant to pair with the wines. These winter whites went well with Thai cuisine.

Three Cheese Mini Macs: I am a sucker for mini foods, and mac & cheese. Put the two together and we have a winner! Sort of. You make the mac and cheese on the stove top first and then put it in mini muffin tins to crisp up a bit. I had really high hopes for these but it needed a lot more seasoning. The flavor was a tad on the bland side. Sorry, Food and Wine. I would make these again because they were super cute but add more spices and maybe more cheese for it to be creamier.

I also served a white pizza with sausage, pear, sage and gruyere cheese. It was amazingly savory. The perfect winter pizza that I dreamed up all by my lonesome.

And for dessert.......

Individual Peanut Butter Pie: A sad story behind a sweet dessert. Last year, the originator of this recipe lost her husband to a sudden heart attack at a very young age. Afterwards, the outpouring of support from the blogging community prompted her to ask everyone to make his favorite recipe to celebrate his life. This individual pie is an adaptation by My Baking Addiction. The original recipe is for a full pie but I'm a sucker for a mini dessert too and I got to use my trifle bowls. I tasted this filling and told John it was the best dessert I'd ever made. That is not an exaggeration. Please make this. For you and for Mikey.

I don't mean to end on a sad note. 6 new recipes in one night! I must have been on something when I planned that menu. It involved a ton of prep work the night before and the day of. Luckily my sous chef took off his apron and cleaned the whole house while I cooked away. I think everything turned out great! As always, good food, good wine, great friends!

Lilacism

A couple Sundays ago I did not want to leave the house for anything. Both Friday night and Saturday were quite busy and I wanted some laziness. Unfortunately, I had to go buy deodorant at the drug store. I really tried to get out of making this trip as I stash emergenxy deodorant at my office. John says, "Just put it on when you get there tomorrow." Then I reminded him I had to work out still and might be a tad ripe. I digress. Because I had to put on real clothes, I decided to treat myself to some new nail polish.

This is Lilacism by essie. It's kind of a matte purple, although it looks slightly grey in the picture. It's decidedly purple in person. I dig it. I wanted a lavender shade because I don't have any lavender in my nail polish wardrobe. Lilac was close enough, I suppose. I've never used essie before being a strictly OPI girl. I rather liked the coverage of this though and I think I'll buy essie again in the future. Yes, it's winter times and this is a springy color. I make my own fashion rules.

January Running Round-up

Hello February!

First month of 2012 done and I'm really pleased with my running progress thus far. I am right on target for my 500 miles run in 2012 goal.

Here's how my workouts played out:

Jan 1: 3.25 mi in 30:00
Jan 3: 3.4 mi in 30:00, fartlek
Jan 7: 3.45 mi in 30:00 (7mph)
Jan 8: 6 mi in 53:39 neg. Splits
Jan 11: 3.25 mi in 30:00
Jan 14: 3.5 mi in 34:00. :(
Jan 17: 3.4 mi in 30:00
Jan 21: 4 mi in 34:24 (8:35 pace)
Jan 22: 5 mi in 47:20 - sloooow
Jan 26: 3.5 mi in 30:00 - tempo
Jan 28: 3.3 mi in 29:45 - didn't fuel properly
Jan 29: 5.5 mi in 52:30
Jan 31: 1 mi in 10:00, injured

48.55 miles total (slightly under the 50 I wanted but over the needed amount)
This month, I was really focusing on upping speed by throwing in some fartlek (speed play) workouts and really pushing myself when I was feeling it. Unfortunately, I lost some running mojo in there and there were some days that were much slower than I would have liked. But, I also did something I had never done before, negative splits. When you're running, you are supposed to get faster as you go along so you can save some steam for the end. Or so I keep reading. Having only run one race I don't have much experience.

I'm also learning that the more miles I run, the tighter my muscles seem to get. I know yoga is good to combat the tightness and stay super loose but I can't help but feel like it's a wasted workout. You don't burn nearly as many calories as with cardio or strength, at least not with the yoga I've been doing. I need to get over that mentality because it will help in the long run. Ha! Long run.

Here's the problem that has recently arisen....piriformis syndrome. At least that's what I've self-diagnosed. It's a tightness in the hamstring and an acting up sciatica, and I have pain from my right buttock down my hamstring and stopping above my knee. It started in earnest about a week-ish ago when I went over 3 miles. Now it's a lot more prevalent and I don't know what to do about it. I'm hoping extra stretching will do it. If I'm lucky.

Sadly, I haven't lost any measurable weight. I just keep gaining and losing the same 3 lbs. However, I did re-measure myself from the last time (2 months ago) and I've lost a total of 4 inches. Unfortunately, some of that was from my bust, a place I can't afford to lose anything, if you know what I mean. Thanks a lot, strength training. Let's hope that was all back fat.

Stay tuned! More miles to come in February even though it's a short month. Hopefully I'll stay on track, especially with this injury.