Pizza or donuts.  Can’t decide?  Apparently, neither could some of my coworkers.  Because this is what they brought into my office this morning:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a slice of donut pizza!!    It comes from Psycho Donuts, a unique local donut store.  Rumor has it that the people who work there serve you donuts in a nurse uniform.  I’ve never been there, so I can neither confirm nor deny.  But I was happy to try their donut pizza today.

The pizza had four different toppings:  Oreo (which I chose), Captain Crunch (which was the section right next to the oreo section, and thus why I got some wandering captains on my slice…), Butterfinger (which I almost chose) and Nestle Crunch.

Um, yum.

I ate half of my slice in the office, and it was pretty good but tasted a tad bit stale.  I think that’s because my coworkers actually bought it the night before.  But I ate the other half when I got home after heating it up in the microwave, and it was mad good.

Don’t worry, I balanced out my healthy breakfast with a plum.

After starting my day off with that nutritional disaster, I tried to hit up some healthy food.  Lunch was some pasta with broccoli, hot sauce and laughing cow cheese, and a turkey and cheese sammy.

Mid-afternoon snack included a banana (green, just how I like them!) and a yogurt.

An hour or so later I was hungry again, so I had this slightly smooshed Pure Protein bar.

I have been having some food issues lately, and it has been affecting me physically and mentally.  So stay tuned for some diet change announcements on the blog in the next few days.  Nothing drastic or crazy, and definitely not a diet.  But it’s time for me to be a healthier me!!!

So, my apple pie didn’t turn out incredibly beautiful. I knew that it wouldn’t when I was in the process of creating it…  everything was going ok until I had to roll out the crust pastry for the top and the bottom crusts.  For some reason, they kept cracking apart when I rolled them out.  I thought they were too dry so I tried to add a little water… but that didn’t help.  Any ideas where I went wrong?

Anyway, with a little help from S I managed to get the top and bottom crusts in the pie pan and created a semi-scary looking pastry.  After baking, this was the finished product:

Happy Halloween??

Come on… for my first ever pie?  Not too shabby, right??

But let me tell you, this baby tasted amazing.  I’m not even the biggest fan of apple pie and I loved it. 

I used a recipe I borrowed off of my friend Martha.  Hers looks a lot better than mine.  But it’s not like she’s an experienced pie baker or anything

Apple Pie

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, chilled
• 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled
• 6 to 10 tablespoons ice water
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 3 pounds apples peeled, cored, and cut into 3/4-inch wedges (about 8 cups) – I used a combo of gravenstein, mcintosh and granny smiths…
• 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon ground spices (combination of cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and clove)
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

For the crust:

Place flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl; whisk to combine. Add butter and shortening to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or two table knives, cut in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually add ice water, mixing with a large fork, using just enough so the dough holds together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough in two. Place each piece on a sheet of plastic wrap. Grasping the ends of the plastic wrap with your hands, press the dough into a flat disc with your fists. Wrap in the plastic, and chill for at least one hour.

For the pie:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc of dough into a 12-inch round that’s 1/8-inch thick. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Set aside in the refrigerator.

In a large bowl, combine apples, sugar, flour, spices, lemon juice, zest, and salt; toss to combine. Pour into lined pie plate. Dot with butter. Roll second disc of dough into a 12-inch round that’s 1/8 inch thick. Lay dough over fruit. Cut vents into top crust. Trim edges to 1 inch over pie pan, and seal, crimping edges with thumb and forefinger. Chill for 30 minutes.

Remove pie from refrigerator. Brush crust with heavy cream, and sprinkle with sugar. Place on a baking sheet; this will catch any juices that may overflow during baking. Bake until pastry is golden and juices in center of pie are bubbling, 45 to 60 minutes. Cool for 1 hour before serving.

The worst part is waiting.  Not only while you actually create the pie, which takes a long time.  But then waiting while it is baking.  And then, just when it is done and making the whole house smell so delicious… waiting an hour for it to cool and for the inside to solidify a little bit so it isn’t a liquid mess when you try to cut it.

Because believe me, if you try to cut it as soon as you take it out of the oven, it will be a hot mess.  I know from experience.

While I waited, I enjoyed cupcake #3 of my fearsome fivesome, another red velvet.  I just can’t get enough of the frosting in the center of the cupcakes.  I heart frosting!  Can never have too much frosting!

Other Sunday activities included a 9 mile run, and LOTS of football.  I am running the San Jose Rock n Roll half marathon in just a week, and I haven’t run at all in two weeks!! 

It was a good run, although it was HOT outside by the time I was done.  This weekend was almost 100 degrees in San Jose!  I was proud of myself:

Time: 01:18:06
Distance: 9.37 mi
Avg Moving Pace: 08:16 min/mi

Not too shabby.

Steelers also weren’t too shabby, sweeping Tampa Bay in a 38-13 victory.  Woo hoo!! 

Also… bread baking, of course.  French bread, to be exact.  This loaf turned out kinda funky.

You must view this masterpiece from all angles.

Not sure exactly what happened there.  But… it tastes good, so I’m going with it!

I guess that’s the theme for the day.  Beauty is only skin deep, right???

After seemingly long last, we have decided on our wedding venue! 

We fell in love with the Dolce Hays Mansion.  The mansion grounds are gorgeous – from the building itself to the manicured lawn and beautiful flowers and palm trees.

The ceremony will be outside, on the left side of the building (the one facing you in this picture.)

The place is just so beautiful.

The inside is gorgeous too – elegant and classy.  The reception will be indoors. 

Mark your calendars… we have decided on April 17, 2011!!  

So it was a really great and productive day.  We have also drawn up an initial guest list, because now that we know the date and the venue we would like to send out save the date cards as soon as possible.  We have a lot of people coming from Switzerland and other far-away places, so they will have to make travel plans. 

Today was also a day of baking.  I had German class today, starting at 9am, so I woke up at about 7:30 in order to get a chance to have my coffee and breakfast and just relax for a little while before I went.  I decided to ride my bike again, so I wasn’t able to take my coffee mug with me to enjoy in class. 

I really felt like a muffin for breakfast, so I decided to make some quick chocolate chip ones!  S’s favorite.

It literally took me five minutes to mix up the batter, and then they baked for 20 minutes while I was getting myself ready.  And voila! 

I used my heart-shaped pan to make them a special surprise for S   But by the time they had baked, they had gotten quite a bit bigger and overflowed the pan.  So… kinda hard to tell that they are heart muffins.  It’s the thought that counts, right??

At the last minute I also put in a big spoonful of nutella into the batter.  Nutella chocolate chip muffins!!!!

S was excited and didn’t want to wait for me to take my pictures!

Chocolate Chip Nutella Muffins (makes 6, or 4 jumbo semi-heart shaped muffins)

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoon nutella
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 egg (yes… I literally used a half an egg.)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into another bowl, and mix in the nutella. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, but don’t overmix (muffin batter should be a bit lumpy). Spoon into sprayed muffin tin (or heart tin, if you so choose). Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.  

So quick and easy, and was able to bake and polish them off before I headed out the door for my class!

For dinner, to celebrate our success with our wedding milestones today, S and I went out to dinner to our favorite restaurant – Sonoma Chicken Coop!

I got my usual:  Prawn and Avocado salad.  With warm olive focaccia bread on the side.

When we got home, I was in the mood for…. more baking!  S has been asking me to make an apple pie, so I decided today was the day. 

I have never, ever made a pie completely from scratch (crust and all) so this is going to be an experiment!

I chopped up the apples and prepared them.    

I also prepared the crust dough, and right now it is sitting in the fridge getting cool enough for me to bake the pie!  You will just have to wait for tomorrow to see pictures of how it turned out!

And while I wait, I will eat CUPCAKES!  I couldn’t help but pick some up at the grocery store because I had a coupon. 

Earlier this afternoon, I had this black tie cupcake.

Cupcakes have got to be one of the most beautiful foods ever, no?

Imagine my giddiness when I cut the cupcake open and found this…

Frosting on the inside as well!    

The frosting is my favorite part!

So yeah, that was this afternoon.  Now it’s time to try… the red velvet flavor!

I heart weekends………

See you tomorrow for some apple pie and FOOTBALL!!!  Goodnight, ya’ll.

Why must weekends be so short now?  And I do believe they get shorter every week.  Especially now that I have German class on Saturday mornings.  Now half the day is used up by default!

Saturday was a successful, liberating day for me.  I officially rode my motorbike for the first time by myself – without S riding with me.  I have to admit, I was pretty scared.  It had been two weeks since my last ride, which was also my “breakthrough” and the first time I really felt comfortable on my bike.

But I really felt like it was now or never.  First of all, I don’t really go that many places without S to begin with.  German class is one of those few places where I go alone and have the opportunity/excuse for him not to go with me.  Second of all, I don’t really go very many places where I don’t need to bring anything, pick anything up, transport anything, buy anything… you get the picture.  Needless to say, a motorcycle (especially a sport bike like mine) is not good for any of those types of trips.  Going grocery shopping?  Take the car.  Going to the library?  Car.  But going to school?  All I need is my book and my notebook, which I can carry in my backpack.  Motorbike it is!

It was about a 10 minute ride and I had to take both the highway and small roads.  I actually did not plan to park in the school’s parking lot, for various reason, including:

1. I’m not really that comfortable in small spaces with tight turns yet…  at slow speeds.  For me, slow speeds and tight turns have the potential to lead to bike droppage.
2. There are lots of kids around because they have school too… the last thing I need is to accidentally run over some little German kid.
3. I’m somewhat self-conscious when there are a lot of people around outside.  My bike is pretty loud (I guess all bikes are….) and I know how annoying and obnoxious I always thought it was when bikers started their bike and revved their engines in a quiet neighborhood.  So I try to avoid doing that whenever possible.

So I planned to park on the street outside of the school.  But… I was concentrating so hard on where I was going and driving safely that I made a right turn and realized I was already in the school parking lot.  Oh well.  I successfully found a parking space and went into class.  I came out during recess (YES!  I get RECESS!!) and saw this:

A big dude came and parked with me, sharing my spot.  I am officially a biker!!! 

So it was a very successful biking day.  Poor S was sitting at home scared out of his mind because I was out there riding on my own.  And, although I didn’t know at the time, he actually didn’t sit at home.  Shortly after I left the house alone on my bike, he got too scared and followed me.  He arrived shortly after I had arrived and already parked my car and went into school… so I didn’t even know.  But he left a note on my gas tank!  It just said “You did it!  Love you!”  It made me so happy when I found it.

For late lunch, I made pasta with a tomato cream sauce. First I sauteed onions and garlic in olive oil.  Then I added in a can of diced tomatoes and spices, and let some of the liquid boil away.

After about 7 or 8 minutes, I added cream and a dollop of butter, and let the mixture simmer for another 5 or so minutes.

The result was a delicious, creamy tomato sauce!

Creamy Tomato Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter

In a saucepan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Add tomatoes, basil, sugar, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and continue to boil 7-8 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in whipping cream and butter. Reduce heat and simmer 5 more minutes.

Also on the agenda for the evening?  Baking bread, of course!  This week, I went for hearty nut bread.  The recipe called for walnuts, but I didn’t have any so substituted pecans instead.

This was the best loaf yet!

Look at those nuts… soo good.

First up with the freshly baked bread?  A nutella sammy!

Time to get ready for work tomorrow.  And I have some Peyton brothers to watch.

G’night, ya’ll.

This week I have been subsisting on whole wheat bread.  I baked  my first 100% whole wheat loaf in my bread machine last weekend, and it was definitely a success.  It is so awesome making your own bread, knowing exactly what is going into it and watching it come to life before your very eyes!  And bread machine or not, I totally feel like a little baker   I feel proud to be eating sandwiches made from my “homemade” bread!

This morning, here is what was left of my loaf:

Not too much… 

This bread is very good – definitely much better than the white bread I made last week.  However, it is still a little bland.  This weekend I am going to try something a little more interesting, like a nut and seed bread or honey wheat or something. 

But that doesn’t stop me from gobbling up this loaf!  A little slice here, a half a slice there…

And this bread is good enough to eat by itself.  I’m not usually a “bread” person – one of those people who could just eat a slice of bread on its own.  I always want to have something on it, like butter or honey or jam or nut butter.  But this bread is good all on its lonesome!

I even used it to make some french toast, which I brought to work for breakfast twice this week!

I usually have meetings in the mornings from the time I come in until lunch time.  So I often bring my breakfast to meetings and chomp away (I know… very professional!)  You should see the other meeting attendees’ faces when I bring in my container of homemade french toast with maple syrup.  I think half those techie guys’ eyes are about to bulge out of the heads!  I can practically see them drooling on the table.  Maybe one day I’ll bake up a big batch for everyone on my projects

And speaking of drooling, I did a little bit this week too.  Because, guess what I got?  A surprise flower delivery at work!

S got me roses as a surprise, isn’t that sweet?

Love my office setup

Ok, time for a quick mid-week run.  I have found a few running buddies at work, which is awesome!  Tomorrow is Friday, and then it is the WEEKEND.  Can’t wait!

Have I mentioned that I love weekends?  Although my sleep time for the week has been drastically reduced now that I have German class on Saturday mornings, and am trying to more consistently do a long run on Sunday mornings.  This morning I woke up to do my long run at 6:30 for two reasons:

1. It has been incredibly hot during the day, so I wanted to get it done before the temperature went up
2. The first regular season STEELERS game was starting at 10am PT!!!

So excited.  It took everything I had not to run in my Polamalu jersey.  I almost did it, were it not for the fact that it is BLACK and it is HEAVY so I probably would have died.

As it was, I ran in my regular running gear and almost died.  For some reason, I have just had no energy lately.  I think it is a combination of the unhealthy convenience food that I have been subsisting on, as well as my long working hours and stress levels.  I knew as soon as I woke up that it was going to be a tough run… I was absolutely exhausted and had to drag myself out of bed.  I did a 9 mile loop, then circled back to the house to get some water and a Gu.  Then I headed back out for the remaining 3 miles.  S did those with me, riding next to me on the bike.  And that was the only thing that kept me going… I know for sure that if he hadn’t have gone with me for those final few miles there was no way I would have done them.

The final stats weren’t too bad, considering that I really was afraid I was going to throw up during the last two miles.

Then, it was time for a loooong shower and the football game!  We got on our jerseys and our game faces.

Yeah that’s right.

It was a good game, low-scoring, and we won in overtime.  Poor Jeff Reed had a bad day.  It’s ok, Jeff, I still love you.  I know you’re just warming up for an amazing season.

Another exciting event of the weekend:  visiting a potential wedding venue.  This is my personal favorite, it is Villa Montalvo in Saratoga.

They have a gorgeous closed in garden that I think would make the perfect ceremony site.

And in the background, you can see the old Arts building on the other side of the grounds.

So gorgeous.

I have yet to ask for more information (including costs) but anticipate it would be quite an expensive venue so I’m not sure if it’s really possible.  But a girl can dream!  And S liked it too!!

Mendy did not understand our excitement.

Time for the rest of my weekend chores.  Laundry, cooking dinner, and baking bread are all calling my name.  And of course tomorrow is back to the office

G’night, ya’ll.

This weekend I had my first day of German school!  After the fiasco last spring, I was finally able to get started in the brand new fall semester at the South Bay Deutscher Schulverein. 

Both Saturday and Sunday morning, I had a slice of honey cake for breakfast.  This honey cake was made by a coworker of mine, who brought it in for Rosh Hashana.  I thought it was delicious and sent her a thank-you email for her being so kind as to bring it in, and she came to my office and gave me some extra pieces to take home!  SCORE!! 

Which leads me to a, somewhat belated, L’shana tova!  Happy Jewish New Year.  Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, starts on the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, -  Tishrei.  This year, Rosh Hashanah started on the evening of September 8th. 

On Rosh Hashanah, one of the traditions is to eat apples dipped in honey, as well as other recipes made using honey.  This is to symbolize the hope for a sweet year ahead.  I’m a girl who loves her apples and peanut butter, but apples and honey are a DELICIOUS treat!  If you haven’t tried them together, you definitely should. 

So anywho, thus the honey cake for breakfast.  I think I should continue to eat honey cake throughout the year, just to guarantee it is a sweet year.  And probably some chocolate and cupcakes won’t hurt, either.  A year can never be too sweet, right??

Back to my German classes!  The classes are held at an elementary school, so I totally felt like a kid again.

The class is three hours long each Saturday.  And in the middle, we even have a short recess!!

I went outside and enjoyed an apple and a protein bar in the beautiful sunshine on the picnic tables.

Some other goodies from the weekend included more fresh figs:

I think figs look so cool.  I love photographing them!

I also got these wonderful baby plums. 

These are the best plums I have ever tasted.  They are yellow inside, and are so sweet.  And they are pretty much bite-sized, so you can just pop them in your mouth like candy!  I will definitely be heading back to get some more.

In the afternoon, I started to read my new book that I borrowed from the library at my German school.  Guess what it is?

Yep!  It’s “Oh the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss! 

This used to be one of my all-time favorite books when I was a kid.  Although S has already warned me that the book will be completely different in German, because they have to change it to make it rhyme.  But I’m still excited to read it!

For dinner, I had to use up some fresh mozzarella that I got at Whole Foods last week.  I started off with some tomato and mozzarella salad, drizzled with olive oil:

And I continued with some homemade mozzarella pizza.  I used Trader Joe’s whole wheat crust, topped with tomato sauce, shredded parmesan and romano cheeses, topped with slices of the fresh mozzarella.  And drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with basil, salt and pepper.

Before baking:

And after:

The fresh mozzarella was so good melted on top of the pizza.  And I love the Trader Joe’s pizza crust – it is so easy and so delicious! 

Now I’m off to find a delicious, sugary dessert which will involve brownies, ice cream, and jelly bellys!  And hitting the sack early.  I hope to run 12 miles tomorrow morning, bright and early.  G’night, ya’ll!

I bought a bread machine!

I shopped around a little, and got a (barely) used one off Craigslist.  The couple I bought it from had gotten it and only used it a few times, but then the wife found out she had a gluten intolerance so they haven’t used it since. 

Today I made my first loaf.  I made a simple, white loaf because the instruction manual said that was the best and easiest to try for your first loaf.  In less than three hours, I had a perfect loaf of white bread!

I’m not really a fan of white bread, so S will be eating most of this loaf.  I did have a piece when it was fresh, though.  Hot, freshly baked bread with butter melted on top…  holy yum!

Rewind to this morning.  I woke up bright and early at 6:30 because I wanted to get a good run in before it got hot.  I will be running the San Jose Rock n Roll half marathon in less than a month and I haven’t really been running at all.  So I set my mind on 10 miles this morning.

I was pretty proud of myself.  I really tried to push it, and was EXHAUSTED by the end.  But I managed an average 8:35 pace.  Not too shabby!

I will definitely have to slow down for the race in order to get the last three miles in, but at least now I’m confident I will be able to finish it.

I had a pre-run fuel of a Clif bar, and post run I made this beauty.

An omelette with 1 egg, 2 egg whites, spinach, mushrooms, a veggie hot dog and goat cheese. 

I’m LOVING fresh figs right now.  I got these babies at Trader Joes, and they are sooo good.  I wish it was easier (and more affordable) to get figs all year long!

S and I rented “Green Zone” tonight (yay for Redbox!) so I’m off to enjoy it with a nice, big slice of ice cream cake.  G’night, ya’ll!

Today, S turned 25 years old.  I woke up this morning at 4am (of course, S slept through it… he can sleep through anything) and started my decorating.  Same drill as last year

The first thing that I did was finish the cake I started on Friday.  This year, I decided to make S an ice cream cake.  And I wanted to make one like the Dairy Queen cakes that I always loved as a kid, and like S got me for my birthday last year. 

More on the cake in a bit.  But I was pretty proud of the way it came out!  I did it all by myself, start to finish!

It’s 4:30am… do you know where your girlfriend is??

I may or may not have watched a season 1 episode of the Jersey Shore in the middle of the night after I finished my decorating.  I was too excited to just go back to sleep!

I eventually did go back to sleep, and we woke up together around 10:30am.  I love seeing S come down the stairs and see the presents and the decorations, even though it’s not really a surprise anymore.

There was present opening…

I got him some good gifts, including USB-rechargeable batteries, some stainless steel drinking straws, an automatic soap dispenser, a reading pillow for reading/working in bed, and a really nice, soft new robe.

S opens presents more carefully than anyone I have ever seen in my life.  He takes a pair of scissors and cuts them open perfectly along the tape lines…  like he is trying to save the wrapping paper.  Even though he knows it will be thrown away anyways.  He just likes to open them that way!  I don’t mind, although it takes him a half hour to open every single present!

Look at that concentration… Even Mendy is watching. 

We went out for a little while to a number of places, including Trader Joes and Whole Foods.  S requested that for his birthday dinner, rather than going out to a nice restaurant, that I cook him something special.  And that I choose what it is! 

When we got home, we had a slice of the ice cream cake.

The birthday boy!

Don’t even think about it, Mendy.

Yeah… pretend like this picture doesn’t show our cat up on the kitchen table.

Cutting my masterpiece proved to be quite difficult.

I thought putting the plastic wrap in first would make it easy to get it out.  But no.

Eventually, the first piece was out.  And from then on out, it was smooth sailing!

Does it look like the Dairy Queen cakes?  I made it with S’s favorite ice cream flavors.  The bottom is dark chocolate ice cream and the top is cherry ice cream….

And the middle is a fudge cookie layer!  That was the best part. 

On top?  Cool whip frosting with some decorations.  And gummy bears (S’s favorite!)

Not too shabby, eh??

Dinner was amazing, too.  On the menu?  Filet Mignon!

I put mine on top of a huge salad, with fresh mozzarella and edamame. 

S had his with potatoes, bread, and tomato and mozzarella salad.  The filet was pure perfection.

It literally melted in our mouths!

Now we’re off to watch a movie and eat some more ice cream cake before bed.

Happy Birthday, baby.  I love you!