Blessed Winter Solstice

All I want for Christmas is two feet of snow, two feet of snow, two feet of snow!!! We are set for the storm with cat litter and food. The shovels are out and the cars are parked in the driveway in a way to limit Brad's shoveling (I will probably be doing the shoveling as I need the upper body workout and Brad back is bad). We are already sipping tea watching the snow fall. It is Smeagol's favorite thing to watch after birds and swirling leaves. Brad is making the calls for cross country skiing. Happy Solstice!!!

Sangiovese

This is my new favorite wine. I tried it at Wines & More and thought; Ew? The taste was a bit tarry and smoky. But I had tried other wines before it and I was HUNGRY so I thought my taste buds were probably off.

Well, I really like it. This is the brand I tried from W&M and paid $10 a bottle! I cannot WAIT to finish off the bottle tonight.

29!

Damn. No wonder I cracked on my little, six mile ride home after my last full class tonight. First, I thought all the stress that built up the last 15 weeks taking my first graduate class came pouring out of me on my ride home at 7:30 p.m. tonight. My mind went wild with thoughts. I am too shaky and hungry I cannot even type let alone think.

Wow. It was COLD riding home and I got blown over twice, too. I have egg rolls in the toaster oven with tortilla chips and ORANGE cheese, a handful of chocolates and a glass of wine. No, I am not PMSing. I guess I hope to de-stress and warm up!

All ready to relax while watching the Steelers. Right~Not sure how that is going to happen.

Tuscan Mac N Cheese

I picked up this recipe from the Turkey Lady at Central Market the other week. Fantastic and easy to make.

Tuscan Mac N Cheese

Yes, I altered the recipe. I did not add the olives even though I love them (others do not) and I did not top with a tomato because I do not like toms on my mac n cheese.

Apple Walnut Crumb Pie

Are you a man or woman that needs to gain five, ten, fifteen or even twenty pounds? ... Then here's the pie for you!

I love this time of year. I buy a couple bushels of apples a year and go wild making apple pies and crisps. Cameo is my favorite apple this year.

Here is an awesome buttery, sugary pie ever - Apple Walnut Crumb Pie (I love this cookbook, too. Brad's Aunt Jean gave or lent them to us and I use them often.)

3 pounds tart apples, peeled, cored & sliced

1/4 c unsalted butter

juice of 1/2 lemon

2/3 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

cloves and nutmeg to taste

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons rum

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1/3 c packed brown sugar

1/4 c flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c unsalted butter

vanilla cookie crust (7 oz finely ground vanilla wafers, 1 cup finely ground walnuts, 2 tbs confectioners sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 c melted butter. Combine all ingredients in bowl; mix well. Press over bottom and side of 9 in pie plate. Line w/foil. Bake 5 for 10 minutes longer or until light brown. Cool to room temperature. Freeze for 30 minutes.) I cheated and bought the Nabisco Vanilla wafers crumb pie crust. Then I wanted to place the crust in my pie pan to make it look "homemade" and it all fell apart! It was too small for the pie pan so I ground some walnuts, melted some butter and made the crumb fit the pan. Other than that, I followed the recipe to a T except for the "cooling and freezing the pie crust" because I ran out of time.

Combine apples and 1/2 c butter in large saucepan over medium heat, stirring to coat apples as butter melts. Add lemon juice, sugar, salt, cloves, nutmeg and 1 tsp cinnamon. Simmer until apples are tender, stirring frequently. Mix cornstarch, vanilla and rum together. Add to apples. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.

Mix chopped walnuts, brown sugar, flour and 1 tsp cinnamon in bowl. Cut in 1/4 c butter until crumbly. (Okay, I lied a little bit about following the recipe to at T but no time to note my deviations.) Spoon apple mixture into chilled Vanilla Cookie Crust, heaping higher in center. Sprinkle walnut mixture over top. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until brown. Cool on wire rack for 2 to 3 hours before slicing. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Prep time: 30 minutes (NOT!!) 10 servings (really tiny slices ~ maybe 6 real slices)

I have already made the pie twice in the last 24 hours. I majorly lowered the sugar content and added more rum to the apples and into the crumb topping. Rum is liquid sugar so the second pie should be just as yummy.

Business Time

I heard this song on XPN and about fell off my ball chair! Hilarious!! I called Brad and he was in a meeting (not listening to XPN). Damn. So I find the YouTube clip to email him. After seeing the clip and laughed even harder. I know, this has probably been around a while but I don't get HBO and do not surf the web that often. :-)

What Is Love?

Let's see if I can be brief and to the point. For the last month, both Brad and I have been slackers with our diet and riding. After having fantastic home made macaroni and cheese, roasted chicken, apple pie, lots of wine and beer and more home cooked food (and wine and beer) at a house warming party, Brad organized a three hour ride for today.

I knew I was going to crack but I was told it would be easy. "We are all carrying about 5 or 10 extra pounds"... "We're going to start the ball rolling and work off the overhang." Cory's English friends call the belly, the gut, an "overhang"! So pleasant - but that's what it is.

Ed, Doug, Brad and I met Marcy and George on our way to Middle Creek Wildlife preserve. We were an hour and half into our ride around Middle Creek and Marcy and George turned back. The guys had pushed the pace here and there and it was okay. Sometimes the extra weight is great on the flats. Hmmm. The key work is flat.

Middle Creek is not far from Eagles Peak. Brad got a bug up his butt and I was doomed. "Aw, honey, you will be fine. Let's go up Yellow Mtn. instead of Pain Mtn." Right. And I followed. After I finally made it to the top with Brad trying to be a trouper by keeping me company, I told him no more climbing. Damn, when I am in shape, I suffer over these climbs. F***! with 10 extra pounds, I wanted to hurt someone. So he quickly and happily rode off to the other guys to do the rest of their crazy ride down and up the other side of Eagles Peak. I rode back down Yellow Mtn at 50 mph then turned onto part of the Pain Mt TT course to get some extra miles to meet the guys at the bottom of Eagles Peak. Thank goodness for some alone time so I could regroup and not flip out on Brad. We are so lucky that I can be a trouper and laugh about these crazy rides. I knew I could not do anymore mile plus climbs as we had at least an hour and a half to get home and it would not be a flat ride. Especially with Bradley leading the way.

"Sure honey, let's climb Eagles Peak, Yellow Mtn, Texter Mtn, ..."