What I Really Think

Okay, I'm a little late, but at least I did it. This week we had to make something with mushrooms. At first I thought I'd do some sort of strudel-type dish with phyllo dough and a mushroom cheese insert (I thought this because let's face it, many dishes made with mushroom look like poo or barf and I figured with the shrooms inside, it would look good). But then I got lazy and I found the Godfather on AMC, so I needed something quick and easy.

I settled on a poo-looking but delicious tasting and easy to make stuffed mushroom recipe instead. I had this recipe in my files for almost 20 years, since I took my first cooking class at Dierberg's in St. Louis, but don't think I've made it since then. I figure the points using my lightening (hey all that oil was left in the bowl), they come in at one point each as opposed to the two points in the original recipe. Again, don't let the images dissuade you.

Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms

Continue reading "Sunday Small Bites - Mushroom" »

Those SlowTrav cooks have been working on these small bites based upon different ingredients for weeks now. I had intended to participate from the beginning but well, you know what they say about the road to hell...

Anyway, last week's ingredient was pumpkin. And, basically, each cook is challenged to make something small (most thing appetizer but I guess it can be a dessert too), which utilizes that weekly ingredient. Some are pulling out tried and true recipes, some are finding new recipes to try and others are creating things on the fly.

For this week's challenge, I decided to sort of join the last group. I was inspired by a pumpkin-sausage quiche recipe that Barbara (of Barb and Art fame) posted for me when I inquired what to do with a cheese pumpkin I received from our CSA. Instead, I changed it into something that I could use for the small bites.

Continue reading "Sunday Small Bites - Pumpkin" »

On Sunday we walk 13.1 miles. The map below has the locations of the cheering stations. If you're around, come on down - Sunday's cheer stations are the horns and are listed below.

View Cheering Stations in a larger map

Sunday Cheering Stations
91st & 3rd Avenue (Mile 3.0) Viewing times: 8:00am-9:30am (we should be there between 8:20 - 8:40)

Mt Sinai Hospital (Mile 3.7) 99th Street and Madison Avenue Viewing times: 8:15am-9:45am
(we should be there between 8:40 - 9:00)

Cathedral Parkway (Mile 4.9) 110th Street and Central Park West. Viewing times 9:00 - 11:00 (we should be there between 9:05 and 9:20)

Museum of Natural History (Mile 6.8) 77th Street and Central Park West. Viewing times: 9:00am-11:00am (we should be there between 9:40 and 9:55)

Columbus Circle (Mile 8.4) 59th Street and Central Park West/Central Park South Viewing times: 9:30am-11:30am (we should be there between 10:10 and 10:20)

Rockefeller Center (Mile 9.3) 48th Street and 6th Avenue Viewing times: 9:45am-11:45am (we should be there between 10:25 and 10:40)

Bryant Park (Mile 9.7) 40th Street and 6th Avenue. Viewing times: 9:45am-12:00pm (we should be there between 10:35 and 10:50)

Worth Square (Mile 10.5) Broadway, 5th Ave, W 24th to W 25th. Viewing times: 10:00am-1:00pm (we should be there between 10:55 and 11:10)

Chelsea Piers (mile 12.3) 23rd Street and 12th Avenue. Viewing Times: 10:30am-2:00pm (we should be there between 11:20 and 11:40

Circle Line Pier (Mile 13) 43rd Street and West Side Highway. Viewing times: 11:30am-2:30pm (we should be there by noon!!!!)

On Saturday we will walk 26.2 miles (a marathon). On Sunday, 13.1 miles. The google map below has the designated "cheering stations." So if you're in NYC, and want to cheer us on, please stop by. We're shooting for doing the full 26.2 miles on Saturday (fingers crossed). There's also a 13.1 mile option that day.

View Cheering Stations in a larger map

There are 18 cheer stations on Saturday (pink ribbons) and 9 for Sunday (horns).

Saturday Cheering Stations

Pier 1 (Mile 1.3)
W 70th Street 7:00am-8:00am (we should be here between 7:00 - 7:10am)

Riverside Skate Park (Mile 3.3)
Riverside Drive & 109th St. 7:30am-9:00am (we should be there about 7:45 - 8:00)

General Ulysses S. Grant National Memorial (Mile 4.2)
122nd St. & Riverside Drive West 7:30am-10:00am (we should be there between 8:05 - 8:15)

142nd and Riverside Drive (Mile 5.6)
7:15am-9:45am (8:35 - 8:45)

116th & Claremont (between Broadway & Riverside Drive) (Mile 7.3)
9:30am-11:00am (we should be here between 9:05 and 9:15)

Soldiers & Sailors Monument (Mile 8.8)
89th St. & Riverside Drive 9:00am-12:00pm (we should be here 9:35 - 9:55)

Lincoln Center (Mile 10.5)
10 Lincoln Center-Columbus Ave between 63rd & 64th 9:15am-1:45pm (10:10 - 10:25)
Though they're asking people to not crowd this one so they can be invited back next year, so the one below may be better. Though I wonder b/c I thought the distance from 64th street to 46 street along 9th Avenue was almost a mile, not a half-mile. Yeah, even Mapquest agrees that it's .84 miles.

46th St & 9th Avenue (Mile 10.9) 10:00am-1:45pm

29th St & 9th Avenue (Mile 13.1) 10:00am-2:00pm Half-way point (and very close to our hotel for the night! We should be here hopefully between 11:05 - 11:15.

Bleecker St & Mercer St (Mile 14.4) 10:00am-2:00pm I think lunch is at the 13.1 mile marker (not sure though), so from this point on it's hard to say when we'll arrive. Maybe 11:45 - 12:15pm

Pedestrian Entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge - Manhattan Side (Mile 15.7)
Corner of Centre Street & Park Row 11:00am-2:30pm (12:10 - 12:35)

Pedestrian Entrance - Manhattan Bridge - Brooklyn Side (Mile 17.8)
Jay Street & Sands St, Brooklyn, NY 11:30am-3:00pm (12:50 - 1:15)

Stuyvesant Square (Mile 20.5)
2nd Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets 12:00pm-3:30pm (for us, 1:50 - 2:15)

AMC LOEWS Movie Theatre in Kips Bay (Mile 21.5)
31st Street and 2nd Avenue 12:30pm-4:00pm (for us, 2:10 - 2:35)

United Nations Plaza (Mile 22) 45th Street & 1st Avenue 12:30pm-5:00pm (us, 2:25 - 2:50)
Again, I think the distance is off on this rest stop though.

East Side Middle School (Mile 23.8) 1458 York Ave between 77th & 78th Streets 1:00pm-5:30pm (us, 3:05 - 3:30)

Randall’s Island Footbridge Entrance (Mile 25.2)
103rd Street and East River Walking Path 12:30pm-5:30pm (us, 3:35 - 4:05)

Randall’s Island (Mile 26.2)
1 Randall‟s Island Park Peak viewing times: 1:30pm-6:15pm (us, 3:55 - 4:25)

Of course, these times are all estimates. I'll have my phone, so call if you want to know our location (of course, I'll have to stop walking to talk), so maybe, call Chris instead.

Tomorrow, I'll post Sundays rest stops.

I know I wrote about doing the Avon Walk many moons ago and I know many of you generously supported me and I know I promised frequent updates and I know I've let you all down in that regard.

Here's the truth of the matter. I've been training with my friends Alison and Stephanie but not nearly as much as I should - why? Because I hate it (not the being with Al and Steph though - they're a blast)! It's the walking.

Alison, Stephanie, & Kim

I'm sorry but walking for three, four or even five miles is fine. But after that, it gets boring. It gets painful too - my feet hurt, my ankles hurt, luckily with my new sneakers, my legs finally stopped hurting ... but still. And the longer we trained, the more I dreaded it. The more I dreaded it, the less I walked (well at least the shorter walks - like 6 - 8 miles - yes those are considered shorter walks). The less I walked, the guiltier I felt about not walking and not keeping you all updated.

Luckily though, the training is over. Why? Because a week from now we'll be done. And whether or not we walk 39.3 miles, 26.2 miles or something in between, I read something today from a woman named Judy Cherry, that I thought I'd share that made me feel a whole lot better about this - even look forward to it:

RELAX, it's just walking. You've probably been doing it since you were about 1 year old. Well, yes, it's a lot of miles, but there are NO mileage police, so if you get tired at mile 10, stop, rest, or pop on a sweep van and sweep ahead to the next rest stop, then continue. If you are really done, the blisters are bad, the back hurts, listen to your body, and get swept to the Wellness Village.

Whether you walk 39 steps or 39 miles or somewhere in between, just remember you are a HERO!

There's one thing I will disagree with though, "YOU ARE A HERO, you raised the money to allow you to walk..." I'm not the hero. You all are! Thanks for all your support.

Tomorrow I'll be posting the cheering stations, so if you happen to be in NYC next weekend, feel free to stop by and cheer us on.

A couple of weeks ago I received a bunch of delicata squash from our CSA. I didn't know what to do with them until I did some research and found that they're similar to a butternut squash. Still, not having any meals with which I'd consider cooking them, and a chill in the air today, I decided to bake with them, converting a chocolate chip pumpkin bread recipe to use the delicata squash instead.

"Delicata" Bread

Continue reading "Chocolate Chip "Squash" Bread" »

I'm always on the lookout for one point cookie recipes. I'm also always on the lookout for snickerdoodle recipes. So Gold! Found both on Cooking Light (aka MyRecipes.com). Now my friend, Lisa, has been nagging for this recipe, as she wants to make them for her Sukkah open house, so I figured I'd finally post it.

Snickerdoodles

Continue reading "Snickerdoodles" »

Chris and Becky know how much I love the new Windows 7 commercial (with the little girl). So Becky used it to make my birthday present this year!

No, I'm not talking about Oprah's latest selection (yet), I am talking about A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin. If you're a fan, you have to read Official Book Club Selection. If you're not a fan, why the hell not?

Seriously though, reading this book is like sitting down with your best friend and having a no-holds-bar discussion about her life. She leaves nothing out (from her drug-addict brother, to her broken marriage, with pictures of her botched liposuction thrown into boot). If you've seen her act or Bravo specials, and/or watched her show, My Life on the D-List, some of the information will be repeat, but it's still interesting, funny and serious all in one. I totally enjoyed it and didn't want it to end.

I read The Glass Castle last week for my monthly book club. This is a memoir that tells the story of Jeanette Walls childhood and early adulthood and the abnormal (aw heck, let's say bizarre) upbringing by her parents. Wells tells the story in such a way that at several points I forgot I was reading a memoir and thought this was a piece of fiction. Really, it got to the point where I wondered if this stuff could have really happened (from the opening where the three-year old is cooking hot dogs, to the shack they live in (or should I say endure), in Appalachia.

All that said though, I did enjoy the book. It's not long (under 300 pages), moves fast and is darn engaging. So I'd recommend it.