Santa Comes to Town!

A great Santa at Bayview Farm and Garden. Marina (4.5 yo) thought for a long time on what to ask for from Santa before we went to Bayview.  She came up with: a bunk bed and a toy squirrel. 

Easy enough!  Merry Christmas!

Fun Kids Activities on Saturday

This Saturday, December 5th there are two great events to celebrate the holidays on Whidbey Island.

Checkout pictures from last year's parade

Start your morning out right by watching the Langley Holiday Parade at 11am on 1st and 2nd Streets in Langley.  Langley is decorated beautifully with lights, trees, ornaments, bigger  than life candy canes, and cedar boughs.  The parade was a lot of fun last year!  my family and I will be leading our ponies, I mean reindeer, in the parade.  If you want to dress up and join in the parade fun, contact Sherry Mays at langley@whidbey.com

Do you have a little elf or two at home?  Visit the Whidbey Island Waldorf School Holiday Workshop from 10am -3pm and your little elf can dip candles, dye silks, make fairy houses while enjoying food, music and holiday merrymaking!

Running the Seattle Marathon

Above: that's me passing the 26 mile marker!  What a great feeling!

I chose to disregard the law of running that states that "tho shalt not wear new running shoes in a race," and instead used my much anticipated Nike Free 3.0 shoes I had bought just the day before.  They are minimalist running shoes for people who want to run barefoot, without bare feet.  Was my decision stupid?  Yes, I decided by mile 5, as blisters formed on many of my toes.  Yet, it was also wonderful to run with really lightweight shoes.  Wonderful! 

I finished my first marathon on Sunday, the Seattle Marathon. I have done a half marathon, the Whidbey Half/Full Marathon.  This fall I felt a strong urge to run longer distances and extended my usual Sunday long form from 12-13 miles to 20.  I figured this prepared me for a marathon.  Somehow a marathon didn't seem like enough, but it seemed like a good starting point.  If I liked it (and I do) then I could get a few under my belt and perhaps do a longer race. 

After completing the real full on marathon though, I am happy to do more before needing to up my mileage.  For one, I am much more sore than I expected.  It could be the shoes, and it is at least in part, but I got the feeling that my body needs some time to acclimate to the marathon distance.  I want the race to be easier and less painful.

Case in point, every mile (that is, every single step) after mile 14 was at the least painful and at the most excruciating.  Mostly excruciating.  It was a little bewildering, although I have noticed that even on my 20 mile long runs the last 5 miles would be achy and painful in various ways. The marathon is 6 miles longer than all my other long runs.

As far as the Seattle Marathon goes, I thought they did an excellent job putting it all together.  There were aid stations every 2 miles with water and Gatorade and occasionally GU energy gels.  There were also port-a-potties every 1 to 2 miles.  The community was out and supportive.  It seemed like there was always someone cheering us on, and quite often there was a whole mob of people cheering us on.  In the last 2 miles of the race after we crossed I-5 and headed toward the space needle people were on the sidewalk holding bowls of pretzels, gummy bears, and chocolates.  If I hadn't been just a few miles form the finish I might have indulged, but it seemed a little unnecessary at that point. 

The end of the race was very climatic: you go through a tunnel right into a stadium of people lining the last 100-200 meters to the finish.  I was so inspired by their cheers that I sailed through the finish passing a few people, before I remembered the pain, ahhhh the excruciating pain.  The pain that with even the simplest movement of my legs would make me whince.  Like say flexing my toes or stepping forward.  Ow!

Of note though, I noticed an interesting shift in my body that happened around mile 18.  I felt like I had energy, even a lot of it, but the pain in my legs kept me from using the energy.  Whereas before I felt tired or winded, I now felt fresh, from the hips up that is.  I also began feeling nauseous and felt that if I pushed too hard I would throw up.  Which sounded unpleasant.  I wasn't able to eat for a while after the race, but managed to force a lot of water and some rice and chicken soup down.

Despite the obvious brutality of the race, I am excitedly planning my next marathon while rubbing Arnica gel on my legs.

 above: I am in the center in a blue-green long sleeved shirt, about to get to the 26 mile marker.

Busy Baker

picture courtesy: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cheesecake-with-blueberry-topping

Happy Thanksgiving my dear readers, for you I give thanks!

I made this cheesecake today for my family's Thanksgiving feast.  I substituted the Blueberry Topping for Blackberry Topping, as I have many gallon freezer bags of blackberries saved up form the summer bounty here on Whidbey Island.

I am also in charge of a vegetable dish for T-giving, so I chose to make a variation on a beet, feta, pecan salad, by adding Brussels sprouts, which I LOVE, but which Luc pointed out will combine with the rest of the salad to make a disgusting combination for many people. 

I actually got a good laugh out of that because he is right!  Nonetheless, I think when I add the luscious sheep feta and fresh pecans it will be a special treat.  For me anyway!  I cooked the beets in a clay pot for several hours with some water, and added the Brussels sprouts at the end, for long enough to cook them thoroughly, about 45 min to1 hour. 

Yum-Inspiring Blogs

I am compiling a list of my favorite food blogs, in the meantime, I am having fun exploring the endless variety that is food blogging.  This is no easy task.

Here are some highlights from today's visits, some yum-inspiring recipes: 

Craving Chocolate or Coconut? Here is a yum-worthy recipe from 101 Cookbooks it is Coconut Chocolate Pudding. 

A great dressing for your steamed vegetables at Chocolate and Zucchini

Here's a classic Ranch Dressing recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, filed under "cowboy food."

How about a No-Bake White Chocolate Pie that has bananas hidden within it's yummy crust?

Not Without Salt offers beautiful meringue mushrooms, a sweet treat!

Travel vicariously with Eating Asia, winner of the best Travel and Food Blog.

Not much for recipes, but love looking at beautiful photos of them?  Visit Nordljus a bilingual Japanese photo blog.

One woman's personal recipe index at Simply Recipes, check out her Leftover Turkey Recipes for your post-Thanksgiving feasts.

Seattle Marathon Countdown!

The Seattle Marathon, on November 29th, is in exactly one week!  It will be my first marathon and the longest distance I have ever done.  I am feeling exciting, like a great adventure is right around the corner.  I have been training with many 20-mile runs, but the 26.2 mile course will be the longest distance I have done!  You can still sign up for the marathon at http://www.seattlemarathon.org/
or at the race expo at the Westin Seattle:
EXPO
Friday, Nov. 27 11 am – 8 pm
Saturday, Nov. 28 11 am – 7 pm
(free and open to the public)

Registration/Packet Pickup
Friday, Nov. 27 11 am – 8 pm
Saturday, Nov. 28 11 am – 8 pm
The Westin Seattle
4th Floor, Grand Ballroom
1900 Fifth Avenue
Downtown Seattle

Map of the Race (click to enlarge):

 

Courtesy: http://www.theseattletraveler.com/2006/11/seattle-marathon-november-26th/

Make Your Own Eggnog

picture courtesy http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/drinking/cocktails/eggnog

There are so many recipes online for making eggnog!  Which one to try??  Here are a few that seem especially good:
Eggnog
Baltimore Eggnog 
Martha's Classic Eggnog 
The Ultimate Eggnog

And use your homemade egg nog in one of these recipes:
Cranberry Eggnog Tart
Kentucky Eggnog Spike
Tiramisu Eggnog Trifle
Spiced Apple Cake with Eggnog Sauce
Eggnog Icecream
Eggnog Cremes
Eggnog Panna Cotta
Cooked Custard Eggnog
Eggnog Martini

Thanksgiving is right around the corner so . . .
Here are some creative and complete Thanksgiving Menu ideas from Martha Stewart.

Painting away the Rain

 

 

 We are all big fans of face paint.  Shown above is marina with a flower, drawn by me, and Stella, with "wild cat" paint, applied by, guess who?  Her!  Much to my surprise.  

This is the face painting book we have: http://www.amazon.com/Face-Painting-Inc-Klutz/dp/0932592856