Pumpkin Run / 1st 5K

Happy Halloween!
This morning we got up extra early so we could run our first 5k! We ran more of a "family fun" type run rather than a really competitive one- the Pumpkin 5k Run in Van Nuys, CA. It was a goal for us to run a 5k (not worried about the time but to just run it without walking) for 2009. We did it! Our time was just under 35:30 but we kept a steady pace the entire race and finished with a good 20 yard sprint. Next goal will be to work on getting our pace to a 10 minute mile (or getting our 5k time to under 30 minutes).

We were so blessed to have our church small group come support us! Stephen and Ross ran with us (well, pretty far ahead of us- Stephen finished in 19:59, Ross in 25:30), and Michelle, Dave, Charles, and Diana came to be cheerleaders (with homemade signs and tee-shirts cheering us on!). After the race we all came back to our apartment for a post run brunch and some air baron game playing.

Here are some pictures from the morning....

The runners (L-R: Stephen, Ross, Lisa, Drew), pre-run:

Finishing strong!The entire group, Post Run - all runners took home pumpkins!
(Top L-R: Stephen, Charles, Michelle, Ross, Dave, Drew; Bottom L-R: Diana, Lisa):
Brunch (Blueberry French Toast Casserole, Sausage, Egg, Green Chili Bake, Whole Wheat Banana Oatmeal Bread, Fruit, Yogurt):Air Baron!:

New Camera / LA County Fair

This weekend we bought a new D-SLR camera!!! We had been thinking about it for a while and have been researching our options for the last several months. We (finally) decided on a Nikon d90 with a AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens. We've had the camera for less than 2 days now and I'm already in love with it. It's truly a sexy camera and when you add the lens to it-arrrrr. :)

We decided to take it with us to the LA County Fair today to test it out. As I am fairly new to the whole photography thing and this is my first time working with a prime lens (prime lens = fixed focus length = non-zoomable = you must move your feet to frame the picture) I decided to just use the non-flash, and sports modes on the camera instead of messing with the A or S priority manual mode too much. My goal for today was to get comfortable with the camera in my hands and setting up the picture (aka- moving my feet) with the prime lens. My long term goal is to be comfortable using the camera on manual mode in any situation (and never use the automatic modes), but I've got a ways to go until I get there. I signed up for some online lessons in dslr photography and am planning to take it one step at a time.
Anywho... here is the story of our trip to the LA County Fair:
We found the LA County Fair to be very similar to the WI State Fair- there was even a green and yellow Giant Slide!(Random kids on slide- we were trying out the camera taking pictures of things in motion)...We went to the "Bark Park" area of the Fair and saw the "Extreme Dog Stunt Show" and the "Splash Dogs"...
We watched a demonstration on how to make simple floral arrangements in the "Home and Garden" area at the Fair:No Trip to the Fair can be complete without food! At the LA County Fair they even have a special "Food Map"...I had a falafel sandwich and diet coke...Drew sunk his teeth into a smoked turkey leg...I had a messy (but yummy) "Big Drum" ice cream for dessert...
Drew was traditional with funnel cake...Some things that were available but we did not try...(This is for you, Mom) The piece de resistance in new Fair foods apparently in both WI and CA this year (although somehow we managed to resist)... Chocolate covered bacon, on a stick of course...

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Blue Grotto Sauce

When we recently found ourselves the owners of a huge bag of sweet potatoes that needed to be used up we tried this recipe from the Blue Grotto Restaurant (printed in the Providence Journal). As anyone who knows me knows- I just LOVE good gnocchi. yumm. This recipe was delicious, the end result being different than I expected (due to the bit of sweetness in the sauce), but still worth blogging about.

A couple tips if you were to try this at home:
1- double the sauce recipe (at least)- the amount of sauce in the recipe is very little
2- As making gnocchi can be a long process- think about making a double batch of the gnocchi and then freezing some for latter. Gnocchi freezes extremely well- after rolling / cutting and shaping the gnocchi, put them on a cookie sheet and flash freeze for 30 minutes. Then you can just store them in the Ziploc bag or other container and keep them frozen to use latter. To use just pop the gnocchi in boiling water (note- they take an extra minute or two to cook when frozen).

Now a question- why oh why are the gnocchi I make always firmer than I like? (I know, mix less, use less flour, but I seem to try this and they seem to always end up firm) I'm now on a quest to make the perfect gnocchi.... Feel free to pass along any tips you may have!

Enjoy!

Exciting News!

Can't believe I almost forgot to mention some super exciting news in my update posts today....
Drew's brother Alex and his fiancee, Jess, set a wedding date! They are getting married July 16th, 2010 in Madison, WI- we are soooo excited and happy for them.
And the REALLY exciting part is that Drew and I are both in the wedding!!! Drew will be his brother's best man and I will be a bridesmaid! Woo hoooooo!!!!! I'm sooo pumped, I've been dancing around the house and singing my made-up "I'm going to be a bridesmaid in a yellow dress" song every since I found out. = )
I really feel so honored and blessed to be asked to be in the wedding. Thanks for asking me Alex and Jess!

2 Desserts: Icebox cake and Mississippi Mud Cake

This past weekend we went to a cabin in Lake Arrowhead, CA with some friends to celebrate the 30th birthday of our friend Marianne. I got to bake the birthday cake! When her husband requested that I make something chocolate I decided on this Mississippi Mud Cake from "Hostess with the Mostess". Not sure if one cake would be enough for everyone, I decided to make a second and thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to bake the icebox cake that I had been eying on Smitten Kitchen for some time now.
Both cakes we delicious, easy to make and went over very well.

*Notes of the recipes:

Mississippi Mud: this "cake" is less of a cake and more of a fudge dessert bar. Didn't seem to bother anyone. :) FYI, be warned. If you want more of a true cake I would suggest substituting a basic chocolate cake or brownie recipe in for the cake layer. I also decided on putting the pecans on top the cake (and added mini chocolate chips as well) instead of in the cake.

Icebox Cake: Simple and easy to make. I decided to add mint extract in place of the vanilla extract for a chocolate mint icebox cake. Surprisingly easy to cut (after the first piece which was a little more difficult). Tasted like a cross between an oreo and a thin mint.

June and July 2009, part 2: pictures

Here's what we've been up to in June / July 2009 in pictures:

Drew Graduated with his Ph.D. in physics from Caltech!

We went to see a LA Galaxy game!

We cooked a delicious French / Indian fusion dinner with our friends Pinkesh and Zeesh. Photos: Zeesh cooking, spices.

Maxwell. :)

June and July 2009, part 1

Ok, we've got some catching up to do. = )
In a sentence, the last couple months have been life changing and bittersweet.
We've been dealing with with tragic loss of three separate students at Caltech who committed suicide over the last couple months, one of whom was a resident in the dorm for which we are the resident associates. It say it has been hard on us and for the campus in general would be an understatement. That said, there is a ton of support being offered for us and rest of the Caltech community right now and that has been very helpful- just this afternoon we were talking Maxwell for a walk on campus and we noticed that they were having drop in conseling at the campus coffee shop. I feel like, for the most part people are communicating particularily well right now, taking time to discuss these events / work through them, and that is great. For Drew and I personally these events have really pushed us to reexamine our priorities and remember whats really important in life. I'm not exactly sure what the end result of this will all be, but as we process are a realizing that the little things that used to matter so much to us, and stress us out, just don't seem as important anymore. Having a clean house, being a couple minutes late, being "right", and having the approval of others just doesn't matter. Simply put- People matter. More on that latter.

It's Strawberry Season!

It's Strawberry Season in Southern California!This past Friday we spent the afternoon strawberry picking!
With 2 full boxes of strawberries in the fridge I decided it was necessary to find a recipe to use them up before going bad. As I also had some left over ricotta cheese in the fridge, these muffins seemed like a perfect choice. They were delicious!

You can find the recipe here.

Blue Cake

This past Friday Drew and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. As has become tradition, we celebrated by eating blue cake! This year we opted for a blue devil's food 4-layer quarter cake with cream cheese frosting. It was by far the most blue cake we have created (and unfortunately one of the least tasty, which is why I will not re-post the recipe here). Oh well, tasty or not, it's tradition and we had fun baking and eating it together as we sipped champagne and watched our wedding video. :) Here is a photo of this year's cake, along with a few others for memory's sake...

5 year anniversary cake- blue devil's food 4-layer quarter cake with cream cheese frosting:3 year anniversary cake- jelly roll with blueberries:1st anniversary cake- we were living in France at the time as couldn't find blue food coloring anywhere so we improvised by adding blueberry jelly to a white cake mix and frosting- it wasn't the most blue, but it was delicious(!):

The original blue-cakes blue cake 5-29-04:

Fulfilling a life-long dream...

Ok, I'll admit it- even though I've been dreaming about someday swimming with the dolphins ever since I can remember, I freaked out a bit a couple days before our scheduled swim because I realized that I would be in the water will really big "fish" (and, if I hate being in water with the tiny ones- learned that when we went snorkeling on our honeymoon-, what was I thinking planning to get in the water with the large ones?). Well, soon after watching the dolphins interact with their trainers for a bit before our scheduled swim my nerves were calmed as I realized these "fish" were really just like dogs- they have such a great personality and it is soo much to watch them interact. It was even more fun swimming with them! We were able to dance with them, touch them, hug them, grab on to their dorsal fins (two dolphins, one on each side) and go for a ride, and they even gave us a thrill when we got to experience a foot push (you lay flat in the water and two dolphins come up from behind you, each puts their nose on one of your feet and then they push you out of the water and you ride pretty much standing on the water for a bit)! Never mind that it poured rain the entire time- we didn't even notice it we were having so much fun. We got the whole thing on video. = )

(And- for the record, yes, I know dolphins are actually mammals, not "fish")

:)

~Lisa

Drew's Defense Party