Bring it on, SF Half!

It's official-I'm in for the SF Half Marathon on July 25, 2010. This will be the third time I've run this course (2nd half) and the fourth half marathon I've run overall. This year I am determined to break the two hour mark. Last year was a major disappointment- even though I had been battling some health issues so did not train as much overall, I was still incredibly disappointed when I ended with my slowest time ever.

2007 2:04:14
2009 2:13:07

Last year I was on pace to break 2 hours during the first half of the run, but it was at mile 10 that I hit the wall. My legs had built up so much lactic acid that it felt like I was trying to run through water and I had to really fight to make it to the finish. I have never had that happen before so hopefully I won't have a repeat. I am still proud that I finished, but this year it's on!

Since I had completely killed my last pair of running shoes, I finally replaced them with my trusty Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9's. I'm an over-pronator with low arches, so after much trial and error these are the best. They provide the most cushioning and are the only shoes I've found so far that don't give me blisters on my inner arches every time I run over 7 miles. The runner ups would have to be the Asics Gel Kayanos.

My training plan is pretty old school. I don't belong to a gym, I don't have a personal trainer, I don't have one of those fancy heart monitors and I don't eat those nasty Gu shots/energy beans/energy bars during my runs. The only things I do are:
1) Slowly increase my mileage every week-usually only getting in one good long run on the weekend and then the rest are a combo of short runs/hill sprints.
2) Use a foam roller to stretch out my IT band at least every night. That has been the one thing that has helped me to avoid the major knee pain I was having several years ago.
3) Stretch nightly.
3) Three to four times a week I use an exercise ball for my ab workouts and also lift 10 lb free weights to build up my arms. I could probably go up to heavier weights at this point but instead I just do more repetitions.

During my runs I usually drink water at the water fountains along my running routes. I don't like having to carry anything while I run and tried one of those waist belts to carry a water bottle but it was just too uncomfortable. The only thing that I will probably bring back into my routine are my once a week yoga sessions. It was a great way to relieve stress and it really helped to build up my core strength and flexibility. I still do it at home, but I am not as disciplined as when I was going to a regular class.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I can train hard enough this time around to break my time. Good luck to all the other runners that are training out there!

Bay to Breakers 2010

For the last four years, my husband and I have been wanting to get a group together to dress up for Bay to Breakers. Yet every year B2B sneaks up on us and we don't pull anything together in time. This year Jess and Mike convinced us to come out so we planned to use Saturday as costume making day. While we had the best intentions, Friday night we went out to celebrate Mayra's birthday and ended up having a little too much fun. (Welcome to the 31 club, Mayra!) Needless to say, Saturday was spent not moving on the couch and we accomplished absolutely nada costume-wise.

We still ended up going and threw together makeshift costumes. It was cold and I was sleepy so the most I could muster up were devil horns, a pitchfork and a water bottle filled with mimosas. We entered the course around 9 am at Van Ness and Hayes. First people we see were girls dressed up in hot dog on a stick uniforms with shorts that said "Everyone loves a weiner" on the back of them. That should have been our first clue as to what was in store for us.

This year there were A LOT of naked people. While I say more power to you if you want to let it all hang out, I also have to say that naked people + running = really bad visuals. Even worse? Sloppy drunk naked people. I knew I brought the pitchfork for a reason. As crazy as it got out there, it was definitely fun, especially since it's one of those "only in San Francisco" events. We ended our B2B adventures with brunch at Squat and Gobble on Haight Street and then Harry's on Fillmore for Bloody Marys. :)

Since I later discovered that there are naked people in the background of a lot of my pictures (and I'd like to keep my blog PG-13) here are my edited Top 6 costumes:


6) The Pope



5) Drunken Smurfs



4) Tea Party



3) American Gladiators



2) No on Prop 16!



1) Drunken garden gnomes



Next year we have to pull something together to celebrate the 100 year anniversary. Anyone have any ideas???

Green Chile Pork Posole

I've made several versions of pork posole before, but this time I decided to try the Green Chile Pork Posole recipe in the April 2009 edition of Bon Appetit (recipe below). The other versions I've attempted have just been okay-I felt there was just something missing in the seasoning as the flavors seemed very one dimensional. This version used tomatillos so I was curious how that would taste.

I have never used tomatillos before, so when I found them in the store I wasn't quite sure what to make of these freaky looking vegetables.



Once the leafy wrapping is taken off, the vegetable itself is like an under-ripe tomato




One of the reasons I also like the recipes for posole is because I get to use hominy. For those of you who have never had it before, it's almost like corn on steroids-very starchy and very dense.



The end result was tasty and is the best recipe for posole I have found so far. I like serving the dish over rice, but it can be wrapped in a tortilla or served with cornbread. This is also a great dish as leftovers and would be good to make ahead for large parties, especially since the flavors get a chance to deepen if made the night before.



Some tips:

1) Instead of regular chili powder I used ancho chili powder. I also added about 1 T of Mexican oregano. Next time, I will add some smoked paprika (one of my favorite spices) and tequila to see if that does anything to enhance the flavors in the dish. The idea for the tequila came from a cookbook I picked up in Mexico. I have added tequila to some beef stews before and think that it adds a subtle flavor to dishes.

2) I'm a lover of cilantro so will double the amount next time. I would also recommend sprinkling some finely chopped green onions and fresh lime juice.

3) The tomatillos did add a bit of tartness to the dish, so I think that it's worth using in other pork posole recipes.

4) This dish is not very spicy. Adding in some freshly chopped serrano chili peppers when you saute the garlic, onions and celery would probably kick it up a notch.

5) For you non-pork eaters, this dish would probably work well with chicken.



Green Chile Pork Posole
Bon Appetit, April 2009, p.23

1 T olive oil
2 c. chopped onions
1 c. chopped celery
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1-lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
5 c. or more low-salt chicken broth
2 15-oz cans white or golden hominy, drained
12 oz. fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed, coarsely chopped
2 7-oz cans diced mild green chiles, drained
4 t. ground cumin
4 t. chili powder
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro, plus additional for garnish


Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery and garlic. Saute until soft, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Add pork to pot; cook until no longer pink on outside, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add 5 cups broth and next 5 ingredients. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered until meat is tender, broth is reduced to thick sauce, and flavors blend, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Thin with additional broth if desired. Stir in 1/4 cu cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls, sprinkle with additional cilantro, and serve.

Bon Appetit's New York-Style Crumb Cake

I have a habit of ripping recipes out of my cooking magazines and saving them in binders. Right now I have three binders filled with these recipes-many I have made, many others that I still have yet to attempt. One of the ones I'd been wanting to try was the New York-Style Crumb Cake recipe from the April 2010 edition of Bon Appetit*. I love anything with a streusel topping and was curious as to how this would taste since one of the main ingredients in the cake is sour cream.

Baking first thing in the morning is probably best done after I've had my coffee. I started baking as soon as I woke up so we could have the cake for breakfast, but in my groggy state I failed to pay close attention to the directions. Halfway through I realized my error and had to start over. Oops.

After making a complete mess of my kitchen the finished product was delicious. I had been worried that the cake would be dry since the only ingredient that came close to a liquid was the sour cream, but the cake came out moist and light. My cake was definitely not as pretty as the picture in Bon Appetit so I will have to work on my presentation next time. :)

A couple of tips:

1) This recipe uses 3.5 sticks of butter. Since I'm not Paula Deen (a.k.a. The crazy Southern chef on the Food Network that will put butter on just about anything), I decided to use margarine for half of the amount in an attempt to make this slightly "healthier".

2) The recipe warns that the topping will be thick once sprinkled on. I thought I had been pretty liberal with my sprinkling (see below), but once the cake started baking and rising the streusel did not evenly coat the entire cake. I had left out about 3/4 cup of the topping so would recommend sprinkling all of it on the cake the next time around.

Pre-baking



Finished product




3) The cake should be baked for 70-75 minutes-at 60 minutes it was slightly under done.

Overall, a successful recipe. I saw Duane run by the bedroom in the afternoon with more cake, so I'm guessing he is happy with the results. Next project- pork posole.

*You can find the complete recipe on www.epicurious.com
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/New-York-Style-Crumb-Cake-358217

Sunday brunch fun-Dutch Babies

Those of you who know me know that I have a deep love of bottomless mimosa brunches. But, even in my pre-drinking days I have always loved brunch. Growing up my mom almost always made brunch on Sundays and I've tried to continue that tradition in my adult life.

One of my favorite brunch dishes that my mom makes are her Dutch Babies. I'm not sure how to describe them, but the closest I can come is a cross between french toast and a souffle. Only four ingredients are needed (eggs, flour, milk and butter) and it's super simple to make.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and measure out 1/4 cup of butter into a baking dish.



Step 2: Measure out the remaining ingredients- 4 eggs, 1 c. flour, 1 c. milk. Whisk together.



Step 3: Melt the butter in the baking dish until bubbling.



Step 4: Pour batter into pre-heated dish.



Step 5: Bake for 20 minutes.



And voila! Baked, buttery goodness. I like to top mine with powdered sugar, maple syrup and fresh berries. It would be equally yummy topped with carmelized apples or jam.



To make some healthy swaps, you could substitute egg beaters for the eggs and margarine instead of butter. As you can see, today was not one of those days. I love bacon and my favorite is the Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked Dry Cured Bacon that you can buy at Trader Joe's.

On a side note, this is also reason #250 for why I run. I try and justify my eating "non-healthy" things by thinking that it's balanced out by the amount of exercise I do. Hey, the thought process works for me!

I'm really excited to continuing blogging about my cooking adventures. I love cooking and look forward to sharing with you all. :)