Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.


CGST 2012 Weeks 2 + 3

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Wow, it’s been a crazy, busy, awesome, fulfilling two weeks. Here’s a look in mostly photos:

Pam’s Kitchen. Super yummy Caribbean food in Seattle.

Jerk chicken sandwich from Pam’s Kitchen. Ahhhhhhmazing.

I visited Heather and Kara, and got not a single picture with Kara. Lame. We did go to Pike Place together though!

Original Starbucks!

Ridiculously amazing mushroom pizza from The Pine Box in Seattle.

Go here.

BFFFF!!!!!

Weekend off ladies! Tasha, Tali, me & Camille

Chocolate potato donuts. What??? @ Tasty & Son’s in Portland.

I baked!! These are so yummy–will definitely have to make them again when I’m home, and have the whole photography set up. Lemon, blueberry, chocolate covered ginger cookies. And vegan.

Something about me looking like a child, and Terra being old? Even though I’m 4 years older than her….

The camera game. My favorite past time.

Tali and I are so good at it. We win.

I don’t even know…

More time with my fav ladies.

I love her so much I’M GOING TO EAT HER!!!

2 weeks to go!

Be The One Run 5K Race Recap

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I was about to start talking about how my 2 month accidental racing hiatus seemed so unimaginably long, and how I never want that again, and I need to race all the time. Then I was like “Whoa, self. That’s a little overdramatic. And weird. You’ve been at theatre camp for too long.” And then I also thought about how weird it is that I even like racing at all. I guess maybe one day I will be done feeling surprised by the fact that I maybe actually enjoy running. Until then, I like surprises 😉

Anyway, Tali and I arrived super early, only to discover it was a super small race, and we probably could have slept in more. Also, it was raining. A lot. We were both pretty stoked though, so we got our bibs, stopped at the Starbucks, and checked out the stands at the pre-race expo. Also, we took lots of pictures in the car while we hid out from the rain.

“Look at me. Running my first 5k. SO HARDCORE!!!”

OH MY GOSH RUNNING!!! We’re so excited!!!

Hey world. We’re running. These are our shoes.

The Be The One Run raises money for bone marrow transplants. There were a lot of people there obviously running for someone they knew, which always makes me emotional a little bit. One guy had a shirt that said “Mom :)” and I thought it was so sweet. I love being at races that are for a good cause, and seeing the people running for friends and family.

Just before we started, we met up with Liane and Karisa, gave them our swag bags, and headed out to the start. I couldn’t believe how close to the starting line I was. I was a little worried that I was about to get trampled by speed demons, but I weaved through a few people, then quickly found my own space, where I was definitely going out too fast. I lost Tali pretty quickly, but kept her in close sight throughout the first mile, which I ran probably too fast in 8:20. Then I positive split crap out of the rest of the race. That’s how you’re supposed to do it right? I ran mile 2 in 8:40. I had high hopes of averaging around 8:30 for the race, but after mile 2, I just got more and more tired. The last mile seemed like an eternity, and I just wanted to be done.

I ended up finishing in 27:16 according to Garmi, 27:14 official time.

8:40 pace. PR. Exciting right?

Umm, let me just tell you that Tali finished her first ever 5k, after only really running with me for like 3 weeks, in 25:33, and placed 3rd in our division!! What??? Girl is crazy! I finished 7th out of 35, which is actually great for me, and I PRed, and 8:40 is speedy for me, but I have this head problem where I only see how I want to do better. I ended the race feeling more frustrated than proud, and that is stupid. In the end, a PR is a PR, and I had a good race, and I will break 27 minutes soon.

Super proud of Tali, and tons of congrats to her for running such an awesome race!!!

 

Skinnified Sunday: Homemade Nutter Butter Bites

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Remember those cute little mini Nutter Butters? The Nutter Butter Bites? They’re half the size, so you get to eat twice as many. That’s the way it works, right?

Is there anything better than crunchy peanut butter cookie stuffed with sweet, creamy peanut butter filling?

Maybe if you mixed them into peanut butter fro yo. Will you please mix them into peanut butter fro yo??? I WANT TO EAT THAT!!!!

Before I left, I had an order for a dozen cookies from the bike shop, and they said they didn’t care what kind, so I made them these. The next time Steve went in, apparently they were all talking about it, because I got this awesome voicemail while I was in Ashland telling me how much the bike people loved my cookies. Sometimes I can’t even believe how much my life has changed–people buying my cookies?? What????

These totally brought me back to my childhood. Nutter Butters were always one of my favs, and they are even better homemade!

I got the original recipe from one of my very favorite blogs. Here’s the original recipe:

My swaps:
  • Light whipped butter + apple butter for real butter (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat, -cholesterol)
  • Less sugar (-sugar, -calories)
  • Liquid egg whites for real eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • White whole wheat flour for regular (+ protein, +fiber)
  • Extra sugar (-sugar, -calories)
  • Milk
  • Less filling (-fat, -sugar, -calories)
Skinnified Homemade Nutter Butter Bites
yield about 6 dozen
For the cookies:
  • 1/2 cup light whipped butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup apple butter
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter (I suggest PB&Co White Chocolate Wonderful)
  • 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 6 tbs liquid egg whites
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
For the filling:
  • 3/4 cup light whipped butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (Again, WCW is best)
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
    1. Begin with the cookies. In a large bowl with mixer beat butter, apple butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Add liquid egg whites, and vanilla. Continuing beating until well combined. Turn mixer to low and add in flour, baking soda and baking powder. Mix until combined. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
    2. Preheat oven to 375°. Using an extra small cookie scoop, transfer dough to a baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Using a fork, press down on cookie creating a criss-cross pattern.
    3. Bake for 6-8 minutes until edges are lightly golden. Cool on baking sheet 2-3 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to continue cooling.
    4. To make the filling, beat butter and peanut butter together in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Slowly add in your powdered sugar and turn mixer speed up to medium and beat until filling is smooth.
    5. Spread an even layer of filling onto the bottom of one of the peanut butter cookies and then top with another cookie to create sandwich. Repeat with all remaining cookies.

 

3 Cheese Apple Cranberry Pizza

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I don’t know about you, but my taste buds totally change in the summer time. Most of my favorite foods (other than fro yo which is 100 times better in the summer) are hot and cheesy, and just don’t sound good when it’s 115 outside.

Well, this pizza is still hot and cheesy, so it wins for taste, but it is also fruity and refreshing which is perfect for the summer heat!

Confession: My favorite pizza used to be the kind that got delivered. Greasy, drippy Pizza Hut or Dominoes pizza was a staple in my diet, and something I continued to crave until I realized that pizza didn’t have to be off limits. That was like the best day of my life–when I started eating pizza again. Maybe I should be embarrassed by that?

Oh, whatever, I don’t care–I LOVE PIZZA!!! And I am now head over heels for making my own pizza, and how ridiculously easy it is! You just put whatever you want on top of some dough…

Then toss it in the oven!

Taaaaaddddaaaa!

3 Cheese Apple Cranberry Pizza

yield 6 servings

  • 1 package refrigerated whole wheat pizza crust
  • 3/4 cup fat free ricotta cheese
  • 1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 2-3 tbs unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tbs fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup part skin mozzarella
  • 1.5 oz herbed goat cheese, crumbled
  • 1 apple, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

  1. Spray a medium-large cookie sheet with nonstick spray, then roll dough out using a rolling pin to fill out the sheet.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together ricotta, Greek yogurt, milk, rosemary, and balsamic vinegar. Spread evenly onto rolled out dough, then top with mozzarella and goat cheese, followed by apple slices and dried cranberries.
  3. Cook according to instructions on the prepared pizza dough package.

White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Pistachio Butter

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Have I ever mentioned that nut butter is my absolute favorite thing in the world?

I’m sorry. I don’t know a less funny thing to call it that is not “nut butter”. The other options are not better. Trust me. I’ve tried.

Anyway. I could eat peanut butter from the jar. I could down spoonful after spoonful of almond butter. I could pretty much live on the stuff. As long as I could also have fro yo. Then my life would be content.

It’s weird because, as a kid, I was never the type to ask for pb&j. This love didn’t come until much later in life. Probably when I discovered apple + pb was my very favorite snack (It’s the best one in the world. Fact.), or when I realized I could eat my oatmeal out of the jar, after reading that brilliant idea on some of my favorite healthy living blogs. It’s versatile, delicious, and there are a million combinations you could create.

Pistachios are probably my favorite nut. Hazelnuts give them a run for their money, and I really love cashews too, but I would have to say pistachios are my tried and true fav. I’ve seen some pretty interesting spreads at local shops–cinnamon cashew butter, hazelnut butter (or even better–NUTELLA!), etc., but I’ve never seen pistachio butter. I should put a patent on it, because, clearly, I’m a genius. I should be famous. Selling signed pistachio butter jars with my picture on the label. It’ll catch on faster than cookie butter. Okay, maybe not, but coming from someone OBSESSED with cookie butter, I can honestly say that it is just as delicious.

Not only was this pistachio butter a huge hit, but it is also available for sale to contribute to my fundraising. Bethany loved it so much, that she bough a jar right away. In fact, the one jar I kept for myself kept getting lower and lower, and before I realized it, I had to make more just to have enough to photograph. Whoops. I just could.not.stop.

It has the thick, gooey texture of homemade peanut butter, with the perfect subtle sweetness of the white chocolate, and one of my all time favorite flavors of pure, natural vanilla bean. I can’t think of a more perfect combination.

Perfect on bread, rice cakes, bananas, apples, spoons, fingers….

And, also, a great gift! In fact, I sent it in my foodie penpal package to Kristin who was asking for the recipe. Here you go Kristin!! I’m so glad you like it! 🙂

 

White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Pistachio Butter
Inspired by How Sweet It Is
yield approx 1/2 pint (+ a little extra)

  • 8oz pistachio nutmeat
  • 1 vanilla bean, split length wise
  • 1 1/2 tbs coconut oil
  • 1/3 cup all natural white chocolate chips, melted
  • heavy pinch sea salt

Directions:

  1. Add pistachios to a food processor and blend until a thick nut butter forms. Stream in oil and scrape in seeds from vanilla bean with the processor on, continuing to run it until the mixture is smooth (about 3-4 minutes).
  2. Turn off processor, add melted chocolate and sea salt, and turn processor back on. Blend until smooth.

**Best at room temp, but you may refrigerate for freshness, especially if keeping longer than 2 weeks.

NYC Marathon Training Week 3

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This last week of training felt really great! I feel like I’m finally getting back to myself, and my body is adjusting to the amount of energy I need to be up here. Sweet. After my time trial, Coach Susan sent me my suggested training/racing paces:

LR 10:10-11:10
Marathon 10:00
1/2 M 9:10
10k 8:40
5k 8:20
Mile 7:30
LT 8:40-9:10
400 @mile-5k 1:54-2:05
800 @5-10k 4:10-4:18
1200 @5-10k 6:12-6:27

I’ll have to ask her what LT means, because I just realized I don’t know that one. Some of these paces seem sliiiiightly ambitious. Not the training ones, but the racing ones. An 8:20 5K??? What??? Maybe that just means I’m faster than I think I am 🙂 Here’s how my training went last week.

Monday: 4 mile run. 10:06 average pace. The beginning felt hard. Well the beginning of every single run here feels hard because they all start uphill. But the rest of it felt pretty good.

Tuesday: Dance dance dance dance. All day long.

Wednesday: 10×1 min intervals. 2 mile warm up that I practically crawled through, then 10×1 min intervals with 1 min resting intervals. I tried to find the track I found the previous week, but got confused, so we ended up at a park that was pretty hilly. Not super ideal for speed training, but it all evened itself out. Averaged 7:17 on working intervals (with the last one around 6:45–I know it’s just a minute, but yikes!), then did a slow jog for .3 miles back to camp for my cool down. It’s funny, 1 min sounds like such a small amount of time, but half way through each interval, I felt like I was dying, but in the best way possible!

Thursday: 4 mile recovery run. Tired legs. 10:24 average pace.

Friday: Rest-ish. I mostly stretch with my classes on Fridays, so I just took a nice walk in the morning, and was able to keep the rest of the day pretty chill.

Saturday: 6 mile run. This run felt AWESOME! I just wanted to keep going, and going, and going! Ran with great friends–did I mention that I’ve only done 1 run solo since I got here? I’m so grateful! I will run alone, but I almost always prefer the company, and it’s nice to feel like I am able to inspire other people to run. Averaged 10:19 pace, and ended feeling great.

Sunday: Rest. Lovely.

You know, I was a little concerned about being about to keep up with my training while away from my team, and with such an intense schedule, but it’s really been great. If anything, having so many people that I am living with that know my goals is pushing me to never skip a run. For the first time in my entire life, I feel like a leader as far as running goes, and it is the most incredible feeling. I never imagined someone would tell me that I inspired them to run. It seems almost unreal, but I am beyond happy. I am feeling really solid about the training process right now, and if anything, I feel eager for MORE! Coach Susan told me that I could skip out on my recovery runs since I am so active here, but I don’t want to skip out on anything! I am going to ride the motivation wave for as long as it lasts!

What did you do last week?? Tell me about your workouts/training/awesomeness!

CGST 2012 Week 1

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So, perhaps you noticed that I’ve been a little quiet over here? It’s been the good kind of quiet. The my-life-is-loud-and-full-so-my-blog-is-quiet kind of quiet. My life up here is super busy, and filled with things that probably make no sense to the outside world, but here’s some highlights from my first week of grown up summer vacation at theatre camp.

I’ve enjoyed several delicious cappuccinos from the nearest local coffee shop.

I saw Brave with my favorite ladies.

I enjoyed my weekend off by getting pedis and coffee with my oldest camp friend Karisa. Karisa and I became friends my very first summer as a student in 2000!

I’ve also spent a fair amount of time at the McMeniman’s School down the street. It’s super cool–an old elementary school turned into a restaurant. They even have the “Detention Bar”. And cute water fountains. Terra drank from one.

On Sunday, Terra took Nicole and me out to her family’s cabin in Trout Lake. It was fun. I peed in an outhouse.

And enjoyed nature.

We dug meet out of the ground, and then we ate it. It.Was.Awesome.

We also played my favorite game. The Camera Game.

The rules: Move your face

and as fast

as possible.

Now I’m back to an other busy week. I guess the camera game will have to wait until the weekend 😉 PS, this weekend I am going up to Seattle to visit 2 of my very favorite ladies! Cannot wait!!!

 

June Foodie Penpal

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Gahhhh, I am so behind on blog things. This is way late, but better late than never 🙂 Last month, for the first time I participated in Foodie Penpals, and it was tons of fun! For those of you that don’t know, here’s what Foodie Penpals is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for July, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by July 4th as pairings will be emailed on July 5th!

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

 

I was lucky enough to receive a truly amazing penpal my first time. Kimberly sent me a super amazing box of goodies including granola, sweet potato chips (my favvvvv), Larabars, tea, and peanut butter pretzels. Ummm, YUM! Excellent work, Kimberly.

Ummm, I may or may not have eaten the entire bag of peanut butter pretzels before this picture was ever taken. Whoops.

 

She also wrote me an incredibly sweet note, that made me a little teary eyed. She wrote about reading my blog, and about my journey, and it was just nice for me to hear that my writing had meant something to someone else.

The coolest part of this whole experience was actually being able to open the box with all of my students. It arrived just after lunch, before afternoon classes, and we were all in the lounge area. I got really excited to open it, and I told the kiddos all about the Foodie Penpal program, which they thought was really cool, and every single item I took out, they cheered and got more excited than I did! I seriously wish I could have gotten the whole thing on video because it was hilarious. Maybe for July 😉

Thank you so much Kimberly for your kind words, and well thought out gifts! I absolutely loved all of it, and I am so grateful–you totally made my day!

NYC Marathon Training Weeks 1 + 2

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Hey, look at that. I never posted the first week of my training. Whoops. I’ve decided to refocus my Work It Out posts to marathon training, because, really, marathon training is so much more exciting! My first week was basically just easing back into running post surgery. I had to walk my first few training “runs”, but by mid week I was officially BACK! Here’s how it went.

Monday: 3 miles power walk. I was in Ashland. It was gorgeous. So wonderful, in fact, that I almost forgot how lame it was that I was walking my first week of marathon training. I was actually surprised at how great of a workout walking was. I was sore the next day. It felt lame, but I was moving my little walking days. It’s a great reminder that you don’t have to run to get a great work out.

Tuesday: Easy walk. I like walks. They’re nice. Since I don’t have my bike, or spin class, or motivation to do squats and push ups, I’ve just been trying to go on a nice walk on my non running days.

Wednesday: 3 mile trail walk/run. I tried to do a few running intervals. They mostly hurt, but I ran/walked with Mandie around all sorts of beautiful trails throughout the park. We chatted a lot, and it was really great to have the time to really catch up, while getting my training done.

Thursday: 3 mile walk/run.  I RAN!!!!! HOORAY!!!! I did running and walking intervals with Terra for the first mile and a half, and was so amazed that it hardly hurt at all! I was so excited that I ran the last half, and came back with serious runners high. I even ran at NIGHT. What? Who am I?

Friday: Easy walk. This walk came with coffee. Those are the best kinds.

Saturday: 6 mile run. I ran “long”!!! 6 miles isn’t really long, but that’s what was on the plan, so that’s what I ran 😉 I ran sloooowwww, but it was awesome, and I was so happy to be able to complete my first full run back!

Sunday: Easy walk. Walking is nice.

Week 2 was better. No more Post Surgery Ari. Only Imma Kick This Marathon’s Ass Ari. Yup. It was also realllllly hard because all of the sudden, in addition to marathon training, I also started dancing 3-6 hours a day. Ouch. I forgot how sore I get when I’m dancing all the time. It definitely made for a few days where walking was a challenge, but I’m thrilled to be keeping my body so active and spending every day doing what I love! Here’s how it went.

Monday: 3.1 mile run. This run felt AWESOME! I ran with Tali, and we kicked it into gear in the last mile. We averaged a 9:59 pace, and I’m pretty sure it was Tali’s first time running the distance ever. I’ve coerced several of my co-workers into running with me against their will.

Tuesday: Dancing all day long.

Wednesday: 1 mile time trial. Ran 1.3 mile warm up, found a track (YAY!), then ran my 1 mile in 7:31 (hello 2012 goal 😉 ), then practically crawled a mile cool down.

Thursday: 3 mile recovery run. 10:17 pace. This run was tough. My legs were soooooo sore, and my body did not want to be running, but I made it through and felt better by the end. I feel like that is the point of a recovery run, yes?

Friday: Daning alllll day long.

Saturday: 9 mile long run.  Set out for the scheduled 8, but ended up with 9. I felt a little sluggish, but this was the first time I’ve run any real distance in quite a while, so I felt good about that. Averaged 1:30 pace.

Sunday: Full on rest. I’ve never been so excited for a rest day. It was awesome.

And those were the first two weeks of NYC Marathon training!

How are you workin’ it out? Training for anything exciting??

Red White & Blue Cookies

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It’s almost the 4th of July!!!

One of my very favorite things in the world is fireworks. I missed them for years when I was working at camp, and I will never forget the summer I stayed in Idaho, going to see fireworks was a huge deal for me! You know me…I like bright, pretty colors. They make me happy. I’m 5 years old on the inside, so it doesn’t take a whole lot to impress me.

Last year, I stayed in Phoenix for the summer, and we had a big BBQ around the 4th, and that’s when I got the idea for these cookies. In fact, I posted them waaaayyy back when I first started blogging, but the pictures were pretty bad, and I loved them so sooooo much, that I had to make them again!

In fact, a year ago, they were Steve’s very favorite dessert I’d ever made. Now, I think there may be a new favorite, but these cookies are still pretty high up on the list. We took them to the bike shop, and I left with a fundraising order! Sweet!

I realllllly love these cookies. I love the combination of flavors and the soft, gooey texture, but I especially love the way the blueberries burst when you take a bit. It’s like the most amazingly fresh blueberry muffin, but a cookie.

Also, they’re pretty. That pretty much never happens with my food. In fact, the other day Steve told me that my brownies were photogenic, and it was, like, the best compliment ever. Usually my food looks like a kindergartner put it together. Which is almost true. Maturity wise.

And now I want to eat a dozen. And not share. Good thing we don’t have a cookie sheet up here yet…


Red White & Blue Cookies

yield approx 3 dozen

  • 1 cup brandy (to soak the berries in, then saving 2 tsp for later)
  • 2/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 2/3 cup small blueberries
  • 1/2 cup honey apple butter
  • 1/2 cup non fat plain greek yogurt
  • 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbs liquid egg whites (or other egg substitute, or 3 egg whites)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • dash salt
  • 2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 2/3 cup all natural white chocolate chips
  1. Put the blueberries in a wide and shallow bowl, pour in a bit of brandy. Enough so they’re surrounded by it, but not drowning. Cover and place in the fridge for at least one hour. Afterwards, place a colander over a bowl and pour the berries and brandy through, putting the cranberries and the brandy they soaked in aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, beat apple butter, yogurt, and sugars until combined. Add liquid egg whites, and 2 tsp berry soaked brandy. Beat well, scraping sides of the bowl as necessary.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt, then slowly add to wet mixture, beating until just incorporated. Fold in the brandy soaked blueberries, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips. Let chill for 15 minutes in the fridge.
  4. Spray baking sheet with non stick spray or parchment paper. Use a small-medium sized cookie scoop to transfer dough onto the baking sheet. Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes until just set, and the edged are slightly golden. Let cool for a minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

My Trip To Ashland

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What an amazing vacation! I don’t remember the last time I went away, and felt so relaxed–it was perfect, and exactly what I needed before I begin my summer work. Ashland was absolutely gorgeous.

Mandie showed me around the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

LOOK!!! Mandie’s name is on the sign!!! She’s basically famous.

I drank this awesome delicious blackberry beer. Aaaaaahhhmazing,

We went to a beautiful winery at the Applegate.

The second day, we met up with our friend Brittany who is also working up there, and took an other walk through Lithia Park. I can’t get over how amazing it is. If I lived here, I would be at the park every single day.

And I finally got to try the famous clover coffee from Starbucks.

The truth? It tasted the same as regular iced coffee to me. Maybe I need a more refined coffee palet 😉

The trip was absolutely perfect in every way, and seriously has me wanting to move to the Northwest! Now I’m busy busy up in Portland, but I have 2 exciting announcements!!

YESTERDAY I RAN!!!!! It only hurt a tiny bit, and for the last mile and a half, I didn’t stop to walk at all! I’m on my way back to training, and I had a serious runners high going!

My Vanilla Bean Cookie Butter Cup Cupcakes are featured on the RecipeNewZ facebook page! RecipeNewZ is a newer food photography site that’s really great, so you should go check them out and show them some love, since they have been so great to me.

 

 

 

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