ADD Christmas Recap: Snow, California & Secret Santa

Before I dive into my AWESOME trip back home, let me introduce tonight's post with the CRAZY news that it's been snowing in Arizona today... I'm not talking about Flagstaff or the Grand Canyon. I mean the PHOENIX VALLEY (link to a news segment on today's weather)!!!! For the first time in the near six months I've lived here, I turned on the heater this afternoon. Currently it's under 40° -- much colder than Iowa, Northern California, Washington D.C., you name it! With that, I'm enjoying my first mug of coffee and Baileys of the season :)

Now about the presents....

Going into the holiday, I was most excited for the blogger Secret Santa exchange put on by Tina! How awesome that idea was. Needless to say I was pretty stoked about what I got for Jamie. I'm such a French nerd and love reliving my time abroad, I knew she must feel the same about studying in Italy! So you know what's ironic about this gift exchange that I'm pretty sure included 50+ members? I was Jamie's Secret Santa and Jamie was Poppy's Secret Santa, and you guessed it, Poppy was MY Secret Santa! Our circle is complete :)

Anyways, I ended up driving back to California on Dec. 20. It was a long drive, was supposed to snow on the Grapevine (pretty much the only way out of LA), and I knew I couldn't make a 13+ hour drive solo. Well, I had Woodstock, so I had to stop even more frequently than normal to ensure he didn't ruin my seats! :) I made two days out of the trip there and back, stopping at friends' houses in Los Angeles/Orange County both ways. That meant my Secret Santa gift was going to arrive without me! Luckily J.D. was home to receive it and send me some pictures of all the lovely goodies Poppy sent me!

The card was adorable!

And I love everything in the gift! Chocolate, puppy treats, a notebook (she must know I LOVE to write), pomegranate fruit strips (my fav flavor), Pop Chips and a dog costume....

...Which Woody hated, but I LOOOOOOVED haha. He's so darn presh. In other news, we celebrated acknowledged his first birthday on Tuesday! Of course I didn't throw a party or get him any presents, he's a dog hahaha!!! But I do plan on baking some dog treats someday soon for the little guy.

I don't know if you noticed from the picture above, but I also went a little crazy and dyed my hair black! I think I love it. It's such a big change for me. My hair is usually light brown, I've streaked it blonde and have darkened it to a reddish brown color in the past. That's about it.

Not gonna lie, the black was inspired by my current celebrity crush:

(Source)

I downloaded Katy Perry's new album and have been playing it nonstop. I freakin' love her!!!! She had a Christmas special on last week and it's waiting to be watched on my DVR and you know I recorded her biography special on E! last night. And then watched it as soon as I drove in from California at about 9 p.m. And I've been watching her videos on YouTube. So obsessed... I think everyone knows about my infatuation, I keep getting texts from friends and family whenever she's on TV ha, thanks guys. You get me :)

Speaking of California, Woodstock and I really did make the Tour de Cali. I stayed in Santa Monica and ate at the most amazing restaurants. It's been my dream for years to live in LA, I'm going to see that it happens sooner rather than later. Then I stayed at my parents' house in the Bay Area for eight days, seeing old friends from high school and college, and enjoying amazing French food made with my mom and sister! We had a soufflé on Christmas Eve, Aimée made peppermint ice cream and candy cane-dipped waffle cones and I attempted to make pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants), but something was off because they basically turned into chocolate bagels ha. Oh well. Then I went to Sacramento, Stockton and Huntington Beach where my friend and I took his boat out around Huntington Harbour (in the rain) and ate sushi at a restaurant off the boat dock!

It really has been amazing and I can't wait to go back again! I don't know when my next trip home will be, but I am heading out to Washington D.C. next week!!!! I'm milking my unemployment for all I can get, because my job begins in February!

Finally, the presents! I made off with some amazing gifts. I love my friends and family! The past 11 days were a total blast -- I miss them already.

Work clothes from Macy*s

My dream recently has been to become a pastry chef (it's so expensive, I'm going to become self-taught haha)... I also received an array of cookbooks!

Jeopardy on Wii and Beauty and the Beast on Blu-Ray/DVD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soon it'll be time to take down the tree J.D. and I have here... but before that, a celebration to end 2010 and kick off a new decade is in order! Happy New Year everyone :)

Pomegranate seeds: the versatile fruit

As much as I love fall flavors, it was pretty hard to get into the holiday mood with temperatures conducive to sunbathing back in Arizona. At least now that I'm back in Northern California, it's nonstop rain and fog (the grass is always greener, people)... Luckily buying fall and winter produce gave me a nudge in the festive direction, making me wish it were drizzly and foggy outside (in Arizona). Not like I'm one to complain about 80º temperatures or anything...

Whole Foods had pomegranates essentially for buy one get one free a few weeks back, so I bought my first two, ever. I didn't know how to cut one, let alone what I could do with the seeds. [Enter PBFingers, that did the trick]

From putting the seeds in yogurt to salads, I needed some other ideas to keep stretching out the pom seeds. So my two fall pomegranate meals spanned the spectrum from breakfast to dinner: Maple Pumpkin Berry Spiced Oats and Quinoa-Stuffed Butternut Squash.

Maple Pumpkin Berry Spiced Oats: This is probably my favorite preparation of oatmeal thus far!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c quick cook oats
• 1 c water
• 1 T maple syrup
• 1 T chia seeds
• several dashes of pumpkin pie spice
• handful pumpkin granola
• handful pomegranate seeds
• handful Craisins
• 1/2 T almond butter
• splash of nonfat milk

While it doesn't look like much, eating the spicy warm bowl of oatmeal made me feel that if I closed my eyes, it would be fall and chilly outside. So basically the best of both worlds, winter flavors with summer temperatures! And now for a similar type of feel at dinner.

Quinoa-Stuffed Butternut Squash:

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 c quinoa
• 1 c water
• 1 T butter
• 1/2 c onions or scallions
• 1/3 c chopped walnuts
• 1/2 c pomegranate seeds and Craisins
• 2 T grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper for seasoning

Preheat oven to 350°. While waiting, half the squash and remove pulp, seeds. Oil a cookie sheet and lay halves flat side down onto the sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, or until tender.

While the squash is baking, melt the butter in a pot and sautée onions. Add water, bring to a boil and then dump in the quinoa. Bring back to a boil, cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 12 minutes. Once the quinoa has absorbed all of the water, remove from heat, fluff and then put the lid back and let sit for 15 minutes.

After the squash finishes baking, take a knife and score the insides, scooping out all of the squash and leaving just the shell. Set aside and chop the walnuts. Then mix into the quinoa. You could stop here (how I prepared J.D.'s squash) or you could add in pomegranate seeds and Craisins for an extra crunch.

Season the mixture with salt and pepper then divide evenly to fill the squash shells. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and return to the oven for 20 more minutes at 350°. Serves two, but realistically there is enough quinoa for four servings.

This quinoa side is what sparked my idea for the "stuffing" I made on Thanksgiving. Now, on to Christmas!

Fun with Pumpkin: Pumpkin crème brûlée and pumpkin martinis

I know the season for pumpkin is melting away faster than the snow in California. But if you're like me, you bought way tooo much pumpkin over the fall months. I cracked open the cans, used what I needed and stored the rest in the freezer for a rainy day.

Well, rainy days are few and far between here in the desert. In fact, it's still close to 80° here in Arizona....

Enter warm and frosty pumpkin treats!

You'll remember I raved about the pumpkin crème brûlée we had for Thanksgiving (not to toot my own horn, but this was pretty dang good). It was creamy, thick and tasted like a mini serving of pumpkin pie with a thick buttery and sugary crust on top. I recently watched the movie Amélie and was reminded of my favorite line (promise this is going somewhere):

"Amélie is a shy young woman with a pronounced taste for all life's small pleasures : immersing one's hand in a sack of grain, craking the crust of a crème brûlée with the back of a teaspoon or skipping stones on the Canal St-Martin."

Cracking the top sugary layer of a crème brûlée into a million tiny shattered pieces is one of my favorite things in life. Seriously, it's my favorite dessert, ever. It is with this in mind, I present to you my Thanksgiving dessert, and a recent apératif.

Pumpkin Crème Brûlée (adapted from Emeril Lagasse, I may or may not have said "bam" while preparing):

Ingredients:

• 2 c heavy cream
• 1/4 c light brown sugar
• 1/4 c sugar, plus 4 t
• 8 large egg yolks
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/4 t ground cinnamon
• 1/8 t grated nutmeg
• 1 c canned cooked pumpkin

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Arrange 8 (1/2-cup) ramekins or custard cups in a large metal baking pan.

In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Bring to a bare simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until frothy and lemon-colored. Slowly add 3/4 cup of the hot cream mixture, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture to the remaining hot cream, and whisk. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin, and whisk until smooth. Divide among the prepared custard cups.

Add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake until the custards are just set in the center but not stiff, 45 minutes to 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.

Sprinkle each custard with 1/2 teaspoon of the remaining sugar (I used a special crème brûlée praline-flavored sugar, it made the taste super buttery and gave it that extra step above regular sugar). Using a kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar. Place on small dessert plates and serve.

...Heaven in a ramekin!

Now prior to dinner tonight, I continued my pumpkin spice flavoring tradition to rid my freezer of canned pumpkin. Enter my pumpkin apéritif (pre-dinner drink in the French tradition):

Pumpkin Pie Spice Martinis

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2 t pumpkin pie spice, divided
• 2 t granulated sugar
• 2 c skim milk
• 2 t pumpkin puree
• 2 c pomegranate cranberry juice
• 4 oz. clementine vodka
• ice

Directions:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, 1 t pumpkin pie spice, and 1/2 c water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and bring it to a boil. Remove from heat and cool for 30 minutes. Syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Mix together the granulated sugar and remaining 1 t pumpkin pie spice and put it onto a shallow plate. Pour 2 tablespoons of the simple syrup onto a plate. Dip the rims of 4 martini glasses into the syrup, and then in the spiced sugar. Set aside.

In a cocktail shaker, combine the milk, pumpkin puree, juice, vodka, half the simple syrup and ice and shake until well blended. Pour into the prepared glasses.

**I realized halfway through I was missing a liquid base. So that's where the pomegranate juice comes in, but it's masked behind the creamy texture of the pumpkin puree and the frothiness of the milk. Pumpkin pie spice simple syrup seriously might be my favorite flavor ever!! This all combined to make a martini that essentially tasted like pumpkin pie... but with alcohol :)

Does life get any better than that?! (Note: I couldn't consume too much, it was quite rich. This is simply meant to be for sipping as an apéritif -- before eating)

It's like I'm in France... again!

It's official. I love French cooking. What, that wasn't a new revelation or anything? Alright, I lived abroad, loved reading My Life in France, loved Julie & Julia and received Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking for my birthday back in April. I tried making Coq au Vin and Suprêmes de Volaille à l'Écossaise. But for some strange reason, I haven't cracked open the book since April!! Maybe because it's so rich and decadent and I never have any of the ingredients on hand.

Well that changed last night. We had some left over heavy cream -- nearing its expiration date -- and butter from Thanksgiving. When one has butter and cream on hand, what little choice is there to do with it but make a French meal?! I had a half-opened bottle of wine and some potatoes so I decided to make Poulet au Porto and a spin off Child's Gratin Dauphinois (recipes are linked to both dishes).

I don't know how I have French genes but have a strong aversion to butter. In trying to make the dishes healthier, I not only cut the recipes in half for two people with leftovers, but also cut down the butter requirements to 1/4 of what she called for haha. The woman loved to rub everything in butter: the chicken thighs, the pan, the dishes, she even told me to rub my face with butter. Ok, maybe not. But that's what it felt like. I also cheated with the mushrooms. As in, I can't stand them! You'd think after 25 years they'd grow on me... so instead I opted for carrots, which I had on hand. It was still pretty dang tasty.

So here you have it....

Poulet au Porto (Wine-steeped roasted chicken)

and Gratin Savoyard, also known as a Tartifelette in the Alps region of France and Switzerland (potato gratin with milk, butter, gruyère and bacon). I added the bacon to make it more Swiss:

(P.S. How AWESOME are the iPhone 4 pictures?! They're waaay nicer than my point-and-shoot camera haha. Hope J.D. doesn't mind me stealing his phone every now and then...)

Fun fact, my dad lived in Annecy, in the French Alps, when I was living on the beaches of the Mediterranean. We'd make the 6- to 8-hour train ride back and forth tasting regional specialties. One of my favorites was the Tartifelette and of course, fondues of the Alps. Does anyone want to go back to France with me, RIGHT NOW?!?!?! :)

Well, if I can't, at least Julia Child can take me back there for a night or two.

Travel hates me

I'm sure by now you know it's always a giant cluster anytime I travel. Don't remember? What about the time I spent the night in the Denver airport? Or waaay back when I first began blogging in 2007, when I threw up the ENTIRE flight from Washington D.C. to London? Or when I arrived in France and didn't have anywhere to stay? Any of those jog your memory? If not, you probably now have a better understanding at how big of a mess I am.

(Source -- ok maybe not this big of a mess, but you get the idea)

So why am I bringing this up? Well I was having a blast back home in California last week. And I think the travel gods understood my apprehension to go back to Arizona on Sunday. It all started with a restroom trip.... that's a weird way to begin a story, isn't it? Anyways I was in the restroom at a college basketball game and my phone fell out of my pocket, somehow on camera mode, and snapped a photo of me doing my thing. What a creep. I deleted it immediately. That would have been funny to keep around, but sooooo not worth it. We ended up leaving the game in the second half because it got kind of out of hand and I needed to eat before heading to the airport.

At lunch, my dad suggested I check my flight status. Southwest's website said my 7:05 p.m. departure would be delayed 20 minutes. Seeing as how we live fairly close to the Oakland Airport, my dad decided we didn't need to leave as early as I'd originally planned. I kept checking often, nervous that I'd miss my flight, only to find a delay as long as 45 minutes. So the new time we aimed to leave for the airport would put me there about 45 minutes before my flight would have left normally. And I was checking in a bag....

As we're packing up the car, I checked one more time and then the flight status changed to ON TIME.

(Source)

I was going to have to mad dash to the airport if I wanted to be there on time! There is also a new policy that if you're checking a bag, you have to arrive more than 30 minutes prior to departure. This was going to be cutting it close...

As we get into the car it starts pouring. And then on the freeway, not more than 15 minutes away from the airport, a crash happened just ahead of us. Out of nowhere this cop car comes racing through all lanes, halting five lanes of traffic. We were at a dead stop, realizing that one of the cars had spun around to face the wrong direction in the shoulder. While I hoped they were ok, I wanted to get moving! The policeman ran out of the car, checked up on everyone, then pulled off to the side to only block two lanes. Slowly but surely, traffic resumed and we were back on the road. I still had about 55 minutes before my flight was supposed to leave.

By the time I arrived, I was relieved to see that Southwest had an express bag check lane with no one in it. I printed out my boarding pass at home -- after forgetting to do so and missed out on being in the "A" group -- so I didn't have to bother with the check-in line that pretty much went out the door. Except, I was in that line for about six minutes before realizing that the empty lane was for me! Crossing my fingers, I plopped my suitcase on the scale and was relieved to find out it wasn't 50 pounds... just 48. Oh well, it was under and I didn't have to pay an excess weight fee. Off I scurried to security.

I had to wait in the security line unnecessarily long because some dumb jock in front of me was probably high. It was this blond kid wearing a USC water polo shirt holding up his ID at the beginning of the security line. Then he flipped out and couldn't find his boarding pass. Instead of asking him to stand to the side while he rifled through his garbage bag -- yes, that was his carry-on -- they waited and waited. But all of a sudden he realized he hadn't even checked in yet and didn't even have a boarding pass. Silly boy... So he exited the security area and went back to the desk for his airline, while I passed right on through to the X-ray belt. I was waiting in line, all my belongings properly placed on the belt when a TSA attendant tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to come with them. Um, I wasn't doing anything wrong, at least I didn't think so. My shoes and jacket were off, I wasn't wearing jewelry and I was dressed pretty nicely.

Instead of going through the normal metal detector thing, I was randomly selected to test out the new TSA box. Although I've heard a lot of jokes about it in the media, I didn't have a clue what to do other than walk through it. But she stopped me. Literally, grabbed me while I was walking through and made me put my feet on the two yellow spaces facing outward in the box. I was instructed to lift my arms over my head, feeling awkward while the X-ray did its thing. It felt like an abnormally long period of time. It made a tiny ding at the end, prompting the TSA officer to brush both sides of my body and then send me on my way. I felt weird. Especially since my luggage had backed up and everyone on the other side was waiting for me to claim my belongings.

With about 20 minutes to go, I made it to my gate only to find the flight was delayed 20 minutes again. No big deal, I'll just text people and play games on my phone, which by the way, was dying. All of a sudden this dude sits next to me and rips one. Like majorly passes gas for me and everyone in a 30-mile radius to smell. I wanted to vomit. Instead, I got up and walked around to pass the time. When I finally sat back down elsewhere, I plopped down next to a couple discussing their eHarmony accounts. The woman apparently cancelled her subscription, but was still getting emails. Her boyfriend, financé?, the guy she met on eHarmony still hadn't deleted his account and this was causing some major drama. I tuned it out, because over the PA they were announcing that our plane still hadn't arrived and even after the 20 minute delay, we were still scheduled to depart in three minutes. No way we were leaving 20 minutes late. It ended up being 40 minutes after all.

But of course, while I was listening, I saw Farty McGee walking around crop dusting on the other side of the gate. Good thing I moved seats. When our plane finally arrived it was about 7:30 p.m. and we still had to board. I eventually made it home to Phoenix at about 11 p.m., when you factor in the one-hour time zone difference between Arizona and California. As much as I reallllllly miss California and all the people in it, I'm glad I'm not flying back in the foreseeable future.

Things to be thankful for

Now that I'm back in California I've had a lot to be thankful for over the past week! For starters, my parents were in Arizona for the entire week and I was busy busy busy running around and exploring with them :)

We went to the top floor of a resort in Scottsdale and had awesome valley views...

...and then sampled wines, meats and cheeses.

We hiked mountains in Phoenix...

...with Woodstock.

I made my first Thanksgiving dinner spread for four...

...that included pumpkin crème brûlée for dessert!

On Black Friday we went horseback riding...

...where we saw a crapton of cacti (and a coyote that I failed to visibly capture).

Ate at two restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives...

...one of which was a German beer haus for lunch after riding horsies.

(I couldn't finish mine)

And then drove through SNOW in the mountains back to California!! It was the first snow I've seen in probably years :) It even stuck to my hand!

Now I'm back home and enjoying cool weather, family and more laziness! I hope you all had a great holiday! I am now completely fixated on Christmas -- my favorite holiday of the entire year!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After over 30 job interviews, nearly five months of unemployment and dwindling savings accounts (not to mention the borderline depression and laziness that took over my life here in Arizona), I GOT A JOB AND ACCEPTED IT!!!!!!!

You'll remember I was offered a job in Nevada that seemed like a great job, except I had strong reservations about moving out of state again, away from my bf and puppy. Well, this job is in Arizona! I get to stay at home.... and commute... ewww. But it'll be worth it. Here are a few hints :)

I.am.beyond.frickin.excited!!! It's been my dream, ever since high school, maybe longer, to work for a Major League Baseball team!!!!!!! I can't can't can't can't wait. But I'm going to have to, because the position doesn't start until Spring Training reports to the Cactus League in February. And it is only a seasonal position. But who knows, this gets my foot in the door and might help me find something long term down the road :) Anyways, in the meantime I'm still working college basketball games, tutoring students in the area and I believe in December I'm going to start subbing French classes at a local high school! So many opportunities have come my way this month. For that I am grateful.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! I know mine will be :)

AND WE'RE BACK!!!

It's been a long frickin' road, but my running has been struggling the past few months. I'm not gonna lie, since I don't have padded bike shorts and since my knee's been bothering me, I've really only worked out once or twice a month since living here in Arizona. I tried Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred for a few days when I knew I couldn't run and it was too hot to bike, but I didn't have the heart. I'm a runner and if I couldn't run, then what did I have left?

My eating habits went down the drain too. I've been eating junk and drinking a lot. Since I don't have a job, it's easier to get hungry during the day and grab a snack from the pantry. Bad snacks :) But this isn't aimed at being a downer post. This is a new day. The weather is cool and conducive to running so I figured it'd be nice to try the Couch 2 5K program. I downloaded the app and off I went (paced by a British woman's voice telling me when to run and when to walk).

I'm going to admit, I do feel pretty silly doing this program because I was averaging about seven miles per run this spring. And I set a PR at a 5K race in June as well. It was very frustrating for me to start on Week 1 Day 1, because it's basically alternating between jogging and walking every 90 seconds, plus a five-minute warm-up and cool-down for a total of 30 minutes. My frustrations were after building up a good jogging pace, I'd have to stop and walk immediately. But, seeing as how I pushed myself because I felt good earlier and wound up with a knee injury, it's going to be smart to ease into this. I did feel strong and my knee didn't bother me much. I just feel out of shape I guess :) my lungs need to get back in the groove of running too.

I did also have another reason for exercising again (other than feeling utter lazy): my TMJ has been soooooo painful I can't even get out of bed some days. TMJ is intense pain in the jaw joint that leads to crazy gnarly knots in my neck and face and head. I've been given PT exercises for when I'm home, but I've also been advised to exercise. So this was also a desperation attempt to keep the pain at bay. And you know what? I think it really helped!

In about 30 minutes, I walked and jogged just over two miles. Funny because on the first day I'm basically 2/3 of the way to a 5K ha. Maybe I'm jogging too fast? Either way, in summary, C25K = smart for me right now. Maybe this'll give me the kick in the pants I've been needing all summer :) I hope I can stick with it and my knee cooperates.

It's his world, I'm just living in it...

It's no secret who runs my life:

Yes, this 10-pound brat wiener dog, as evidence by my lack of willingness to even kick him out of my own bed! Judge all you want, but if he looked at you with the eyes he gives me, you'd do the same thing... (sucker, I know).

He even rules the roost when sleeping... J.D. and I affectionately refer to this as "my Woody scarf" for obvious reasons.

(OH MY GOD, this reminds me of the SNL Taxmasters commercial spoof from the Jane Lynch episode... so creepy and so hysterical all at the same time. Please watch it and try not to cringe!)

Today, Woodstock and I shared a nice fall day outdoors. Honestly, it was over 105° all summer and I never once took out my bathing suit. Now that the weather is in the 70s and 80s I can finally lay outside and catch some rays! I went inside to look for my current read (Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald) and was pretty bummed to see what happened to my once perfectly-laid-out towel.

"So SORRY to interrupt...."

He also has been dictating our walks lately. Last week I wanted to take Woodstock for at least a mile or two walk. When I walk him on his harness, he basically drags me. He's small, but he's a strong little guy and he likes to walk very, very briskly. So I figured, what the heck, why not try to run him? And we literally ran for half a mile together. I went gingerly because I wasn't sure how far to push him, but we eventually ran/jogged over 3.5 miles! And on his first run, he was faster than I was ready to run (thanks to the bum knee) and barely had to rest after. Look out, Wiener Nationals! Really though, my goal is to enter him in that. It's not even funny how serious I am.

The stats:

Not bad for my first "run" in over a month. I also noticed that before I hit the second mile, my knee was not in pain at all! However, after the 5K distance it did start to bother me significantly. Nothing a little ice couldn't fix. And it didn't hurt as much as it usually does the few days after the run. So this leads me to believe that I am ready to get back into running. Not the eight miles I was averaging when I injured myself, obviously. But baby steps. I'm going to try to ease into it with the Couch to 5K program. From there, I can gauge where my knee's at and see if I need to continue my running hiatus, or if I'm ready to get back into my distance running. I really hope I'm ready for the latter...

I'm going to throw you a curveball to finish this post. I think I've sort of adopted a cat. This cat, to be more specific.

I don't know anything about the cat, so please don't ask. I don't know what gender it is, who he/she belongs to, what it's name is... nothing.

But he's a very friendly cat (yeah, I just decided without any veterinary training that it's a boy). So friendly that he's followed me into my house several times. And he's also found his way into my garage where he's been accidentally locked up, oops, sorry cat :-\ Seriously though, he comes and nudges the columns by our front door every night, I can hear him meowing at the door -- Woodstock hates this btw, every time I say let's go see if the kitty is here, he scrambles to the front door, barks his little heart out and paws at the door. He also likes to sleep in the giant flower bush in front of my house. And he brings me presents. Last week it was a lizard wrapped in entrails, the week before a dead bird. How sweet. This morning he even sat in the driveway while J.D. and I both washed our cars. It's bizarre, but I think we "have" a cat now.

Anyways, that's it for me. I'm off to find something for my little life ruler to do because he's eaten through all of his allegedly "durable" toys in minutes. Does anyone know of any good toys a 10-pound dog can't chew through?! He's chomped through a Kong to put it into perspective...

Don't drink and blog

...Or do. But don't say I didn't warn you.

(If you do, you HAVE to try the Sam Adam's winter sampler. The chocolate bock is to die for. I wish it had more than two in the box.... then again, maybe it's a blessing in disguise)

Otherwise you might start giggling uncontrollably at random produce like I did for a while.

But seriously, how freakin' cute is that butternut squash?!? I bought three and can't wait to use them. They're so tiny and cute I could eat them right up.

Anyways the other day J.D. was off from work so I wanted to surprise him with Swedish Pancakes (pannkakor) for breakfast (recipe linked). His family is from Sweden. Mine being from France, we had quite the back-and-forth over the difference between crêpes and Swedish pancakes. Basically, they're the same thing. Personally I find that the French crêpes are a little heartier, while the Swedish 'cakes are thinner due to a runnier batter.

We had quite the Swedish day. I made the pancakes for breakfast with some lingonberry jam we bought at IKEA a few weeks ago. We then had Swedish meatballs (those Swedes are so creative with their dish names, huh?), roasted rosemary potatoes and salad for dinner. But let's get back to breakfast first:

I had two with lingonberry jam, Greek yogurt and chia seeds.

But for the real twist. The next day I had my Swedish pancakes in a French preparation for dessert. In the traditional crêpe dessert style I folded in the sides to make a square, filled it with NUTELLA, berries and of course, French vanilla ice cream. I mean, I like the Swedes and all, but don't mess with the French and their cooking ;)

Speaking of French cuisine.... I attempted a Poire Tarte Tatin this aftenoon (pear tart with homemade pie crust and caramel sauce). It was involved and kind of tricky to master the technique -- ok maybe I'll get it the next time -- but I think it tastes pretty amazing. Pear is one of my favorite flavors. The caramel did harden up quite a bit, so in order to remove the tart from the pie dish, I had to cut it in half and flip it right-side-up.

But trust me, it's worth it! This is sooooo good:

Pear Tarte Tatin

• 2 cans pears
• 2/3 c sugar
• 3/4 stick of butter (room temperature)

*If you prefer to make your own crust instead of using store-bought, follow the recipe at the bottom.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Put sugar and 3 tbsp. water in a pot and let caramelize. (How to caramelize? Let sugar melt into water on a very low flame. Once melted, turn up the flame a bit, don't stir, but tilt the pot and move it around from time to time. Once the syrup has a pale honey color, you can stop, it's caramelized. If you want a darker caramel, just be careful that you don't let it burn.) Add butter to caramel and stir until it melts. Take off heat and pour caramel into a buttered pie dish.

Cut each pear half into three even pieces. Place pears in pie dish, so that they are squeezed tightly together. You want to do this step as quickly as possible, so that the caramel doesn't harden too much. If you want, you can begin slicing pears while you are making the caramel. Just be careful to check caramel, so that it doesn't burn. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes. During this time you can prepare the crust, then roll it out so that it is a drop larger than your pie dish, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. Even if you are using a pre-made crust, you still want to spread it out to the right size, and then refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Take tatin out of oven, and let pears cool off a bit. Once cooled, place crust on top, tuck the edges into the dish, and bake for 30 minutes or until crust has browned. Remove from oven and let cool. Then, place a serving dish on top of the tarte and carefully flip over, so that the pears are facing up.

Pie Crust Recipe:

• 1 1/3 c flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick chilled butter
• 1 T sugar
• Pinch of salt

Mix salt, sugar, and flour. Cut chilled butter into small pieces and mix into flour with finger tips. Stop working batter once it looks like sand. Make a well and pour in eggs. Incorporate into flour using your fingers and a spatula.

Once homogenous, form a ball, place on a floured surface and knead for 10 seconds. Reshape into a ball, roll out with a rolling pin, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Literary Southwestern Quesadillas

If you're looking for the recipe, skip down a few paragraphs :)

"Within a few short hours, Alice was shocked that she had negotiated a place to stay. And the rent was cheap too. Maybe vacationers have preconceived notions of high rates because they’ve never lived in Southern California before. The third-story apartment was quaint. She felt as if she were in the middle of someone’s home; fresh linens sat at the foot of the bed, above the toilet and in the kitchen. The bed had been made with such painstaking care that Alice hadn’t seen in years possibly. She knew she’d have to go to great lengths to preserve the quality and care which this house had been maintained. Bowls of citrus decorated the sturdy wooden table at the entry way into the house and from every corner light erupted into the room to brighten and cheer up the place. The minute details that enticed Alice kept her from the most beautiful element of all – the stark rocky archways that jetted out from the crystal clear aqua ocean and the near perfect ivory beaches that seemed to stretch across all of Mexico. Dropping her two suitcases in the bedroom, Alice slipped out of her clothes and into a large, fluffy bathrobe that engulfed her body completely. Noticing the scratches and scars still on her body, she took one look at the bathtub and shuddered. As quickly as she entered the room, Alice hastened out and plopped on the couch for a quick nap.

When she came to, she almost felt as if she were still dreaming. The setting sun cast a rosy hue throughout the entire room that danced and splattered various colors across the room after refracting through the massive windows. Although Alice still felt cold and numb inside, she couldn’t help but admit to making the right choice by coming down here. Eventually she would establish a new life and hoped to at least live out her days in peace and adventure; two things she was certain awaited her just around the corner in Mexico. Above all else, Alice felt a strong desire to explore her new city. She intended to do so in the morning and easily dozed off without any regard for setting an alarm in the morning."

~~~~~~

After one week of writing, I've penned just over 11,000 words and am definitely on track to finish my story by the first of December. It's weird, writing just to hit a certain word count. Since I don't have a clear idea of where my plot and characters are going, I'm constantly surprised by the predicaments I put them in. If you'd told me a week ago that I would write a story with a really twisted plot, I wouldn't have believed you. I guess my mind can be subconsciously dark.

Anyways, this literary trip to Mexico influenced my cooking last night. J.D. and I have had an acorn squash begging to be used for close to a week now. Fearful of it rotting and throwing our money down the drain -- I mean, garbage can -- I looked up tons of acorn squash recipes yesterday afternoon. The typical brown butter and maple syrup applications bored me. I wanted something more exciting. I did come across a recipe for acorn squash stuffed with quinoa and hazelnuts, but again, wanted something more daring.

That's when I found a recipe for acorn squash quesadillas with tomatillo salsa. Duh, fall foods and Southwestern flavors are totally my thing right now! (Not to mention the fact that I do live in Arizona) After finding an entire menu for a Mexican-inspired Thanksgiving on the beach in my recent edition of Sunset Magazine (click the link, I swear you'll be stealing from the recipes!!!), I called my mom and told her we had to make that for the upcoming holiday! The pumpkin tacos sounded so subtle and fun, that acorn squash quesadillas were an obvious precursor to such a meal.

It's daring in that I've never cooked with tomatillos or really any spicy chilis/peppers of any sort.

ACORN SQUASH QUESADILLAS WITH TOMATILLO SALSA

• 1 small/medium acorn squash
• 4 T vegetable oil
• 3 T diced white onion
• 1 T minced jalapeño
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and cut into strips
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 10-inch flour tortillas
• 1 c shredded Mexican cheese blend of your choice

First, roast the acorn squash. Preheat the oven to 400° and lightly oil a baking sheet. Halve the squash, scoop out the seeds (you can save them to toast later, if you wish) and cut each half into half-inch slices. Lay them on the baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes, until soft but not cooked to mush. (You’ll finish it in the pan.)

When cool enough to work with, use a paring knife or your hands to peel the skin off each slice. Lightly chop the squash and put it in a bowl.

Saute the onions, garlic and jalapeno in the oil until translucent. Add the poblano strips and cook for a couple minutes more. Add the squash and cook for another 5 or 10 minutes, until the squash is tender and the flavors have melded. Season with salt and pepper and take off heat.

Spread a few tablespoons of the cooked squash mixture onto one half of a 10-inch flour tortilla. Sprinkle with a couple tablespoons of the cheese. Fold over and place in a hot pan with melted butter, and fry until crispy. Cut the finished quesadilla into four triangles and top with your choice of garnishes. Eat while warm.

Tomatilla Salsa [Salsa Verde Cruda]

• 10 tomatillos, husked and well washed, quartered
• 1/2 bunch of scallions, roots and green ends trimmed, cut into big segments
• 5 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 jalapeños, roughly chopped
• Pinch of allspice
• Salt to taste

Puree all ingredients together until very smooth either in a blender or food processor. Season with salt.

Confession time: I had several tomatillos in my basket and ready to purchase when walking through the grocery store. They weren't cheap either. But when looking for mini tortillas -- we just had them as a side to chili lime marinated pork -- I found something that wound up saving me time and money in the ethnic foods section:

J.D.'s favorite celebrity chef of all time is Rick Bayless (or maybe it's Ming Tsai, I never know). He's been eying Bayless' brand of salsas for quite some time now. They're always much more expensive than the house brand salsas we often buy, but like I said this was a much cheaper alternative to actual tomatillos. And J.D. got to try his favorite person on the planet's signature salsa. It was delicious. Confession No. 2: I dove in to the bottle and ate the salsa with chips for about 10 minutes before I finally started cooking. I also topped off my meal with chips and Bayless salsa ;)

Anyways, this was probably one of THE BEST THINGS I've ever made. I'm not even joking. The quesadilla filling was so incredibly delicious, I spooned it into my mouth before it ever hit the tortilla. We ended up using one quarter of a jalapeño and cut out all the seeds/veins, and then probably used 2/3 of the poblano, giving it the same treatment as the jalapeño. Maybe because we used less spicy elements than called for, or maybe because I topped mine with plain Greek yogurt, it didn't taste as spicy as I originally anticipated. And guess what? I LOVE cooking with peppers! I'm ready to do it again :)

Then again, maybe it's the two of these talking:

I guess we'll never know. But I do know that I'll be making those bad boys again, not as the side dish, but as the main event!