Baking success and failure

Last weekend, I did something I haven’t done in a long, long time… I baked!  Truth be told, my freezer was starting to be overtaken by frozen bananas, so this baking experience was more to reclaim my freezer than anything else.  But any excuse works, especially if it turns out with something yummy.  The bread turned out PERFECT, although, I think after I let it cool, wrapped it and put it in the fridge (per my mom’s recipe…), it deflated a bit.  Odd.  Still tastes good, so I don’t mind so much.  My pictures didn’t turn out well, but since I’ve got more bananas, I plan to make another loaf (or two or three…)  Pictures and recipe to follow!

I also wanted to try out a bread machine.  My grandma had given me hers years ago, when she moved into her current apartment, but at the time, I was busy with classes, probably going through the divorce or something else like that, and the machine got pushed to the back of the storage cupboard.  So I pulled it out, did a little research to “healthy-ize” an old recipe, and gave it a shot!  And at this point, I need to decide whether to be honest or not. :-)  Ok, truth be told, the bread turned out like a solid brick.  Literally.  When I turned the pan upside down, it slid out and nearly cracked my countertop.  Not good.  I think I know what I did wrong – the cooking settings aren’t real clear when it comes to anything other than plain white bread, and I think I chose the wrong setting.  I will try again before passing judgment on bread machines…

I haven’t really mentioned it before, but the last two months have been pretty packed with fundraising efforts at the ambulance company.  Every year, the small mountain town I live in has a big arts and crafts festival, and the ambulance company sells homemade apple dumplings with a diabetic-coma inducing sugar syrup and ice cream.  It has become so successful that we pay for our annual mortgage payment off of this two-day event.  I am going to try to get the recipe for the dough and syrup, but if I can’t, I’ll be sure to at least post a few tips and how-to photos for you all.

And as an update to my running… as most remember, I have been training (not so consistently) for the Marine Corps Marathon.  Between the summer heat, some cracked ribs, and some ankle issues I’ve had on and off, my training has been… well, pathetic.  In the best interest of my health and well-being, I resignedly decided to defer my entry until 2012.  It just wasn’t safe for me to try to increase my mileage and speeds to the level I would’ve needed to.  But alas, I am not giving up on running, just taking a little longer to get to my goals.

For now, that's it, but be on the lookout for my apple dumpling post... coming soon!

Bite the Bullet!

(2/23/11)
I had a mental relapse yesterday… I bit the proverbial bullet and registered for the Marine Corp Marathon, scheduled for October 30, 2011.

I had filled out the online registration form and was hovering over the “submit” button, and second guessed myself, so I canceled out. About twenty minutes later, I tried to do it again, but the website was experiencing heavy traffic and I could not get through. But that worked out in my favor – a coworker, Jeff, came back from his lunchtime run and I was able to bounce the marathon off of him, asking if I was being unrealistic or setting my goals too highly. He encouraged me to do it, stating that October would give me more than enough time to build up the mileage. So in the last ten minutes of the lunch hour, I logged back in, got into the website, and registered. I clicked the ‘submit’ button quickly, before I could think about what I was doing. Of course, then I spent the rest of the afternoon in a near-panic at the mere thought of what I had just committed to!

If nothing else, I can always defer the registration to next year if I have to…

The more this sinks in, though, the more I get this urge to go out and buy a complete new set of running gear – new shoes, new pants, new shorts, new shirts, all in bright colors, and made of some fancy, hard to pronounce material. But alas, my checkbook keeps that dream at bay!