End of the month photo roundup – September

The month started with this:

That, folks, is a peach cream pie.  I adapted this recipe by Evil Shenanigans.  It was my swan song to peach season and it was even more delicious than the original peaches, if you can believe that (and you should!).  I had wanted to do something with a batch of peaches my mother had given me, and I couldn’t decide between a jam or a pie.  Considering how I already had a blueberry sauce and a jar of fig jam in the fridge, I wanted something that I could really sink my teeth into.   I was also craving pastry cream something fierce, so I looked for a recipe that merged the two.

Some alterations to the original recipe:

• I didn’t bother peeling my peaches.  This might sound really weird and gross to some – in fact, it was really weird and gross to me when my hubby first decided to eat a peach in front of me years ago.  Growing up, almost every fruit with a skin was peeled.  In some part of my mind, a fuzzy skin equated to dire stomach consequences if consumed.  Imagine my surprise when my hubby displayed disbelief at my insistence to peel his fruit.  It took me a while to get to the point of acceptance (nearly 6 years, in fact), but now I’m an avid convert to the fuzzy little fruits and decided to keep the skin in this recipe.  Trust me, you’ll never know it and the pink skin tints your peach mixture a lovely color.
• I used a more traditional pastry cream for the proposed custard. That meant one more egg and 1 tbsp less corn starch.  It was lovely and soft, but the extra corn starch wouldn’t have hurt.
• I also cheated and used a pre-made crust (Pillsbury) and Cool Whip instead of whipped cream.  We thought it quite delish and it made the recipe less intimidating.

The month also included cuteness:

So soft! And the most adorable face. Forget sheep, give me an alpaca any day.

I want that lady's shoes! Oh, yeah, and the dog is a cutie, too!

Don’t you just love dog jackets?  I’m not keen on dog clothing, but I’m all for doggy jackets for bad weather.

I’m not sure if it’s the cooler weather or just coincedence, but I’ve been a happy little pack-rat this month.

Lo and behold, she was given tea.

12 boxes!

600 bags of tea, to be precise.  I love my cup of decaff green tea at night.  I can’t drink caffeinated drinks after 6 pm or else I’m up all night, but I’m also a big believer in the health benefits of green tea.  It also didn’t hurt that they had this baby for a really decent price on Amazon through their subscription option.  I then bought 6 boxes of Kashi Go Lean, 18 Gillette razors for hubby, 6 boxes of Quaker Oatmeal Squares and 100 Rooibois teabags.

I feel a little guilty having so much, but this stash is going to last ages and it saved us a lot of money.

The end of the month now sees me with these as my best friend:

(Source)

Battling a cold wasn’t how I envisioned ending my September, but when I’m through with it, I can look forward to an October filled with hockey (official season starts!), cake pops (giving it a go for the first time for hubby’s Halloween work party), and more hot cocoa.  For now, though, I’m just trying to get back to healthy.

Eat. Live. Be. for a Better 2011 – Inspiration & My Running

My Update:

The apple festival this weekend was so much fun!  Delicious fritters (we devoured them right at the booth and debated buying more) and dainty cupcakes made the day fun and delicious!

Monkey Bread and a chocolate BonBon mini-cupcake.

I also ended up not eating quite as much as I thought I would, even though at the end of the day we were quite stuffed.

This week we’re back to clean eating.  I plan to make soy chorizo tacos and homemade flour tortillas.  Fall weather always makes me crave Mexican food for some reason.  Not sure if it’s the spices or the cheese that warms my blood!

iChallenge Week 39 Topic:  Inspiration & My Running

I am not a “runner”.

You know, the type that breathe, blog, preach running.  The type that get out there in any type of weather and who have all the right gear for a successful run.  The type that signup for marathons just because they don’t happen to have anything else to do and a full marathon sounded like fun.

(BTW, if you’re one of those people, I’m so jealous and I want your Garmin.)

Sure, I run.  I run every Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the weather, and I even have a little key specially made for my running.

But I also have cheap shoes, only 1 actual running top (I normally wear just a baggy tshirt), no fancy heart rate meter thingy, and definitely no goals or races.

I started running about two years ago.  Prior to that first day, I abhorred running.  I avoided it at all cost.  In fact, I was even proud of the fact that I had stopped running a soon as my High School gave the girls “study periods” for PE in my junior and senior year.

How I loved skipping PE.

The first day I set foot to pavement was a defining moment – it signaled a new me.    I was officially crazy dedicated to making my life a healthier one.

Course, the most I could do was a few steps before my lungs felt like they were going to seize up while my heart pumped itself out of my chest.

Oh, how I hated running.

But it still felt good, in some odd, masochistic way.

Running put me through a more intense exercise than what any of my DVD routines could even dream of achieving.

I only ran occasionally that year, and it wasn’t until this year that I finally showed progress in both endurance and distance.

Last week’s run: 3.5 miles.

(Is this mic working?)

3.5 MILES!!

Sure, it’s no marathon and it took me a good 40 minutes to complete, but it’s the farthest I have ever run in a single stretch in my LIFE.

This man?  Now he can run.  Patrick Makau of Kenya broke the world marathon record at the Berlin Marathon by running 42K (26 miles) in 2:03:38.

My 3.5 miles look pathetic next to that sort of distance running, but I’m not aiming for the Olympics (good thing, too, or else I’d have to stop with the hot cocoas and cookies).

What am I aiming for? Endurance and Consistency. Staying with my one-day-a-week run and doing my best.

Getting the most out of my morning jaunts and pushing myself to go farther – even if it’s just a few more feet.

I love what Makau said after his race:

“Today maybe a new generation is starting in marathon,” Makau said. “My body was not good in the morning but I had no problems in the race, I did everything well.”

Even though he started off the morning feeling off, he still ran.  He still gave it his all and he didn’t let anything get in his way.

I may never become a marathon runner, but he has definitely inspired me to keep running.

Even if it’s only one foot in front of the other, I’m doing it for ME and that’s what matters.

 

Frozen Treats

It’s A Great Day for Hockey!!

I’m a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Many are amazed by my obsession since hockey is notorious for being tough.  Bully-ish, perhaps.

Me?  I’m the type of gal that frequently hears “Here you go, sweetie!” even from otherwise formidable looking people.

Today is the first Pre-season Game against the Red Wings, and I’m bouncy in my seat as if this were an “official” game.

I’m hoping for a winning season, of course, but more than that I’m hoping that we’ll come out of this season with fewer injuries than last year.  Last year dealt us a tough hand and it’s still touch and go with some of our players.

What draws me to the game is the speed and the skill.  It honestly isn’t the fighting or the hits.  I listen to the games through the Pens Radio station so any physical action doesn’t translate well when you can’t see what’s happening.  In fact, fighting slows down the action in my opinion.  I realize that this might not be everyone’s view, but I love it when plays are set up and executed.

It doesn’t hurt that I get to hear the exceptional Mike Lange call the games.  I love to hear his play-by-play commentary rather than the televised commentators.  I even tried to watch a game with the sound muted but with Lange’s commentary.  Unfortunately it didn’t work due to the televised delay so I just turned off the televised game and listened to it.  Trust me, it’s the best way, outside of going to a game, to experience hockey.

A small goal of mine?  To see a Penguins game, live.  I went once when I was really young, but I’d love to go to Pittsburgh and absorb the hockey LOVE.

So, to celebrate the start of hockey I bring you:  Coffee Butter Crunch Pie

This pie is delicious!  I say this even though I hate nuts and the crust incorporates nearly a cup of chopped walnuts.  Normally I wouldn’t make anything that needed that many nuts (or any nuts other than sliced almonds), but this pie looked and sounded yummy.  So, to deal with the nutty problem, I pulverized them until it was more like walnut flour than chopped walnuts.

There’s also chocolate in the crust and coffee in the filling.

And to top it all off?  This pie is frozen and then topped with yummy whipped cream (or cool whip in our case).

Don’t be put off by the “butter” in the title.  There’s only a stick of butter in this entire pie.  That’s less than some cookie recipes.  It also blends well with the other ingredients so it doesn’t dominate.

This recipe calls for a single-crust pie crust mix.  I was only able to find this:

I used half the package and it worked just fine.  I would have liked to have made my own pie mix and might see if there’s a “homemade” version of this boxed mix for the next time I make this pie.

Coffee Butter Crunch Pie

(Note: The original recipe came from Killer Pies.  I didn’t make many alterations to the recipe except for the nuts and cream.  My alterations are in red.)

Crust Ingredients

• 1 quantity single-crust pie crust mix (I used Betty Crocker)
• 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Trader Joe’s unsweetened baking chocolate – the recipe does suggest grinding the chocolate, but I left it chunky and this gave the crust a more chocolate taste)
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped (I chopped mine in the food processor until just ground)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp water

Crust Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Mix together in a large bowl the mix, chocolate, sugar and walnuts.
3. In a cup, mix the vanilla and water then drizzle over the dry mixture.
4. Mix briefly until crumbly.
5. Line a 9 inch pie dish with aluminum foil and place crust mixture on top of the foil. (This sounds weird, but this keeps the crust from sticking to the dish when you freeze it.)
6. Press mixture into the dish and up the sides.
7. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove and cool.

Filling Ingredients

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temp
• Scant 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled (again, I used Trader Joe’s discs)
• 3 tsp instant coffee powder
• 2 large eggs

Filling Directions

1. Cream the butter.  Gradually add the sugar and beat on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the chocolate and coffee.
2. Add the eggs 1 at a time and beat well.
3. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and freeze until solid.
4. After it’s frozen, carefully remove the pie from the foil and replace pie in pan.

Serve with cool whip or whipped cream.  You can get fancy and follow the book’s suggestion of whipping 1 pint heavy cream, 1 tbsp instant coffee (ground to a powder) and 1/c cup confectioner’s sugar.  I didn’t do that so I can only vouch that this pie was delicious with the cool whip – it’s probably doubly so with the whipped cream.

Let’s Go Pens!!