October 29,2011- Snow Day? What? October 29, 2011

I just took these photos outside at 2:00pm.  Ohhh no.  Its gonna really be a long winter when it starts in October.

 

Big fluffy flakes

I hear the forecast is for 10 inches in this area. Looks like I am gonna be digging the car out tommorow.  I will post more pictures when we get the total inches.

Acorn Cupcakes October 28, 2011

I loved how simple and easy these cupcakes are.  Besides the stuff to make the cupcakes all you need it Hershey kisses and something for the top.  I used mini pecan sandies but I know other options are chocolate melting chips or mini  Nilla wafers.    I also saw some mini nutter butters that would be perfect. 

Unwrap all the kisses.  I did mini cupcakes with one acorn on each and a few large cupcakes with 2 on top.  One bag of kisses is more than enough.

To glue the tops and bottoms I used chocolate frosting.  I also added a little stem.

I made a bunch of these first so when I frosted the cupcakes I could stick an acorn to each one.

I couldn’t decide is I wanted to make them green or leave the frosting white.  So I made one of each first.  I decided I didn’t love the color and couldn’t get the right shade of green.

 

I know these look very simple but somehow I still manage to make a total mess.

I had some fall leaf sprinkles that were perfect for these cupcakes. Here is the final results.

I brought these cupcakes to the campground for the Halloween celebrations.    I had some left over batter so I made some larger ones for the guys at work. 

Grilled Pear & Brie Crostini October 27, 2011

I made this one a while back and have been meaning to blog about them.  They were really tasty and I used pears that Ron’s aunt Patty gave us from her yard.

Simple ingredients for the fall.  Pears, Honey, Brie and some great crusty bread

I also used some fresh rosemary, I love the way it smells.

I sliced the bread and brie and grilled the pears and layered them on a baking sheet.

When  they came out of the oven I put honey on them and sprinkled them with the chopped rosemary.

Grilled Pear, Honey, and Brie Crostini

Yield: Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 French baguette, sliced 1/2 inch thick
Brie cheese, thinly sliced, rind removed
2 pears, halved, cored, and thinly sliced
Honey
Fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the baguette slices on a large baking sheet. Place one slice of cheese on each baguette slice. Bake slices in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until the brie is melted.

2. While the baguette slices are baking, brush the pear slices with honey and grill on each side until soft.

3. Place a slice of pear on top of each cheesy baguette slice. Drizzle with honey and garnish with fresh rosemary.

A&W~oooooohhhhh October 26, 2011

As I sit and watch Hoda and Kathy chug down a martini I remembered I had a good martini recipe to share with you.  The A&W~0oooohhhh  Martini (I made the martini so I got to man it too!)

Start with a bottle of root beer vodka and some root beer freeze pops. 

 Break up 2 pops and toss them in the shaker.  Add a little vodka 

 The Root beer Vodka is STRONG!  100 proof.

I added a little soda water to thin it out and give it some fizz.  Delicious!

Triathlon- The return of the blog October 25, 2011

Sorry to all my bloggies, I have no excuses for my lack of blog posts lately……I apologize.

To kick of the return of the blog I am going to blog about my TRIATHLON!!!  Yes.  Bike, Run, Swim.  I did the SheRox triathlon Series in Webster MA, on 9/25/11  It was my 1st time trying anything like this and I was nervous and excited. 

Ron and I got to the race start at 6am and started to set up the transition area.  I had brought a little ribbon to put on my bike seat to mark my spot.  We walked down the water to get a feel for temp and took this photo of the sun coming up.

 

The race started out with a 1/2 mile swim.  It went out in groups by age and everyone got a race cap for the age group they were in.  I was in the green caps.  30 somethings.  It reminded me of girl scout camp when I would do early morning swims to earn my frog badge and get out of the tadpole group.  

 I used to be a lifeguard as well and swam on the swim team in highschool so the swim portion was the best part of the race for me.

It was still pretty tiring though.  I finished in 16 minutes.   Then I headed up the hill to where the transition area was.  The time in transition was just over 10 mins.  My 1st Tri was all about finishing but the next Tri I will be about trying to beat my own time and I know I can knock time off by going faster from one thing to the next.

My Cheer squad was there waiting as I came of the water.

Here I am taking my time to dry off and get ready to jump on the bike.  Change my top, put on shoes.

Then it was off for a 12 mile bike ride.  This look me 1 hour and 16 mins.

The time on the bike was the hardest for me.  I realized even though I had been on long bike rides that I never did any races and the pace was challenging to keep up with.  Everyone that I had beat in the water was now easily passing me on the bike.  I knew I was just in the race to finish but hearing “passing on the right” every 2 seconds as people went by was ANNOYING!  I think now that i have a new bike I will enter some races next year to get used to the faster pace.  Plus there was a HILL that was NO JOKE straight up that seemed to go on FOREVER.    The  coolest  thing about the 12 mile bike ride is that I went from MA to RI and CT all in one ride……3 states!!  Pretty Cool.

THE FINISH LINE

Then there was the run.  It was a 2.9 mile run and no hills.  I was feeling pretty good all through the run. You can’t wear ear phones so no music for safety reason.  I had been training with my ipod and using it to time my run and my speed.  I have one of those things for your shoe that tell you how what pace you are going.   I tried to pace myself out but didn’t want to race to fast and burn out.  I did a walk/run combo and finished in 41:15.   The whole race with transitions on the official website was 2 hours 16 minutes.  I was happy with that for my 1st Tri. 

I felt great when I crossed the finish line.  I was feeling pretty high.  I was also happy to see my family all waiting for me.  My cheerleader section was pretty full and I loved having them all there. 

She swims, She Bikes, She Runs……..SheRox!  A great all women’s triathlon series. 

pretty much sums up my feelings today September 10, 2011

Upper Charles Trail Bike & Run August 30, 2011

Today I went to check out the Upper Charles Trail that I found on http://www.traillink.com/home.aspx

The Upper Charles Trail Milford section forms a completed 6.2 miles of a proposed 20-mile trail that will incorporate the communities of Milford, Ashland, Hopkinton, Sherborn and Holliston, linking the towns via an abandoned CSX rail bed. The Milford section is the first to open and extends from the town center north to the Hopkinton town line, east to the border of Holliston (which is making good progress on their section of trail) and south to the senior center. The trail is open to all non-motorized uses.

The Trailhead parking was easy to find and it located at a commuter parking lot so there is plenty of parking too.

I like biking with the Camelbak water pack because it also serves as a back pack to carry my keys, phone, ID and camera.  I put some Ice cubes in it and the water stayed cool the whole day.  I also tried a new product today by Gatorade.  The G3 series.

It kinda taste like  syrup but not too gross.  I only had a coffee and trailmix kashi bar for breakfast.   It was a great way to quickly fuel for the ride.

Helmet on and ready to ride!    I look like a fat head!  Hahaa.

They had the posted rules of the road and the trail was paved the whole way.  The only problem was the recent storm had made the trail a little scary with some branches and leaves along the way.  The ponds along the way were gorgeous.

The bike ride was about 4 miles out and 4 miles back for an 8mile ride.  I headed back to the car to drop off the bike and then was off for a run.

 I did 1.75 miles are it was HOT!  I was dyeing.  I realized I didn’t like to run with the camelbak on but it does serve its purpose.  I do however like to run with a visor on, keeps the sweat out of my eyes.  The C trail ends at a Dunkin Doughnuts and there are bathrooms there too…..thank goodness.  Perfect timing.  They also gave me a cup of ice for the last part of the Gatorade series the Recover.  This kind of taste like sweat…not sweet SWEAT mixed with bad breath…….gross.

Come on Irene! I swear on me knees at the moment…… August 28, 2011

I thought Irene was going to be a fun-filled day of scrabble by candlelight and napping between eating non perishable foods but instead I got called into work.  Ya, I know.  That Sucks!

I just got home to find Ron and Penny napping without me.  Jerks.

I did tell him not to drink all the rum because I wanted to have a few Dark & Stormy drinks waiting for me!!

A simple highball-style cocktail, the Dark and Stormy is made with one part dark rum to four parts ginger beer. The smooth, rich warmth of the rum pairs beautifully with the spicy-sweet snap of the ginger beer, and everything takes on a refreshing chill when topped up with ice.

If you want a truly authentic taste, use Gosling’s Black Seal rum and Barritts ginger beer. Both brands are local to Bermuda and purists swear by them. (In fact, many will say that a drink made any other way is not a Dark and Stormy.) But authentic or not, any good-quality dark rum and any spicy, zippy ginger beer will make for a very tasty drink.

Dark and Stormy
makes one cocktail

2 ounces dark rum
8 ounces ginger beer

Combine rum and ginger beer in a highball glass and stir gently. Add ice cubes and garnish with a lime wedge. http://www.thekitchn.com/

I kinda feel a little let down with this storm.  We had no power outage, no evacuation, a few tree limbs down but that is about it.  Now I know some people have had property damage and yes I do feel bad for them, I am not an asshole but I would have liked a little more out of Irene. 

My Newport friends have been posting pictures of the water and it makes me home sick…….you all suck.  Thanks. 

Now back to TV and a snoring husband, enjoy.

Cupcake Pies August 17, 2011

I know you all have been missing my cupcake posts and I am sorry I have kept you waiting……well wait no longer! 🙂 

Cherry and Blueberry Pie Cupcakes!   Here is what they are supposed to look like;

First you need A TON of M&M’s in Red and Blue.  I bought 2 bags and separated the 2 colors.

I liked that these cupcakes used just a few ingredients and I almost had everything in the house already.

and I pretty much love anything by this chubby little bastard

I had to make the frosting a light brown color so I used a few drops of yellow food coloring and a spoonful of cocoa powder.

These cupcakes a really simple too.  You just need to frost the cupcake and add the M&M’s

The cupcakes need to be covered with a little edge left on the outside.  If there are any spaces you can put frosting on the M&M and fill in the holes.  That will also give the cupcake a little more depth.

Then I filled a piping bag with the frosting and cut the tip of to make the crisscross of the pie shell.

I bought a new tip for the crust of the pie

The crust was fairly easy to do.

I always make a mess when doing cupcakes, this time was no different.

You really need more M&M’s than I actually had.  The 2 big bags only made about 11 cupcakes. 

 

I brought them to Ron’s family BBQ and they were a big hit!

Why Not train for it anyway? August 8, 2011

triathalon training plan
	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Week Tot.
		Swim (med)	Run (long)	Bike (long)	Run (med)	Bike (med)	Swim (long)
Week# 1 2011-08-07 Base		S: 1100 Yd 22m	R: 2.20 miles 22m	B: 12.10 miles 45m	R: 1.80 miles 18m	B: 9.70 miles 36m	S: 1400 Yd 27m	S:2500 Yd 1h 05m B: 21.8 Mi 1h 48m R: 4 Mi 53m
Week# 2 2011-08-14 Base		S: 1150 Yd 23m	R: 2.50 miles 25m	B: 13.40 miles 50m	R: 2.00 miles 20m	B: 10.70 miles 40m	S: 1450 Yd 29m	S:2600 Yd 1h 08m B: 24.1 Mi 2h 00m R: 4.5 Mi 59m
Week# 3 2011-08-21 Recovery		S: 700 Yd 14m	R: 1.60 miles 16m	B: 8.40 miles 31m	R: 1.20 miles 12m	B: 6.70 miles 25m	S: 900 Yd 17m	S:1600 Yd 41m B: 15.1 Mi 1h 15m R: 2.8 Mi 37m
Week# 4 2011-08-28 Base		S: 1200 Yd 23m	R: 2.60 miles 26m	B: 14.00 miles 52m	R: 2.10 miles 21m	B: 11.20 miles 42m	S: 1450 Yd 29m	S:2650 Yd 1h 09m B: 25.2 Mi 2h 05m R: 4.7 Mi 1h 02m
Week# 5 2011-09-04 Base		S: 1250 Yd 24m	R: 2.90 miles 29m	B: 15.50 miles 58m	R: 2.30 miles 23m	B: 12.40 miles 47m	S: 1550 Yd 30m	S:2800 Yd 1h 12m B: 27.9 Mi 2h 19m R: 5.2 Mi 1h 08m
Week# 6 2011-09-11 Peak		S: 1300 Yd 26m	R: 3.20 miles 32m	B: 17.20 miles 1h 05m	R: 2.60 miles 26m	B: 13.80 miles 52m	S: 1600 Yd 32m	S:2900 Yd 1h 16m B: 31 Mi 2h 35m R: 5.8 Mi 1h 16m
Week# 7 2011-09-18 Taper		B: 10.30 miles 39m	R: 1.90 miles 19m	S: 1000 Yd 19m	R: 0.00 miles 20m S: 0 Yd 20m	B: 0.00 miles 20m		S:1000 Yd 39m B: 10.3 Mi 58m R: 1.9 Mi