Peaches, Revisited

I can't honestly remember a time when I wasn't tired. I'm sure there must have been one, but I feel like I'm always going going going. It's exhausting!

That's not to say that I don't take the time to pamper myself or anything. I have a hair appointment this evening at Studio 3 in Arcata. Renee does a wonderful job, she's slow (exceedingly and sometimes, frustratingly so), but is thorough and impeccable (though we still disagree on how to cut my bangs...but the rest goes well). I do have to pay more attention to what she's doing than my last stylist, Heather at Faces in San Luis Obispo. I could tell Heather generally what I wanted style-wise (funky, fresh, or flowy) and let her at it and fall asleep under the hairdryer. Renee needs a little bit more direction, but that's all right. I'd rather go to her than to MasterCuts or something.

I also pampered a little bit this weekend. Amidst lots of activities, however. Here's the breakdown:

SATURDAY:
After a grueling 10.5 mile run with my lovely friend (ran 4.38 miles to her house and ran the rest with her), chores around the house, miles of walking at the mall (mostly because we kept running into people we knew and being inefficient about our directionality) and being mostly good about spending $$, and then home to take advantage of the MILLIONS OF PEACHES and make a great big taco salad for dinner.

For the peach-raspberry pie, I made a basic double pie crust. One of my favorites (but least healthy) is from Better Homes & Gardens:

Basic Pie Crust
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c shortening
5 to 7 tablespoons cold water

Cut together flour, salt, and shortening with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse sand. Add water one tablespoon at a time until dough forms a ball. Divide in half and roll out one half to line the pie pan and one half to form the top crust.

Then I followed my "standard" recipe that I mentioned here. Little of this, little of that...fresh peaches and fresh raspberries make for a delicious pie!

Next, for dinner, the Taco Salad. After our huge run that morning, my lovely friend and I decided to treat ourselves to a really fattening dessert (doughnuts on top of the peach pie a la mode!), so we decided that a healthy salad was in order for dinner. To "beef" it up, we decided to make it a taco salad.

Taco Salad
1 head of lettuce (we used homegrown lettuce from my madre's garden)
fresh tomatoes to taste, chopped
cheese
1/2 a large onion, coarsely chopped
1 lb lean ground beef
salsa!
sourcream
tortilla chips
avocado if desired

Tear and dress the lettuce as desired. We used a light balsamic vinaigrette. Also, to avoid overdressing your salad, the standard is approx. 1 tablespoon of dressing per person-ish. Saute the onions and beef together until beef is no longer pink and onions are slightly translucent. Flavor with salsa, salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste as you are cooking. Make a "well" in the center of the lettuce and pour the beef and onion mixture into it. Beans can be layered with the beef if desired, we opted not to. Top with tomatoes, avocado, cheese and sour cream and serve with chips!

After a delicious dinner, my boyfriend, my lovely friend and I watched Hot Tub Time Machine (see it if you haven't, it's hilarious) and then toddled off to our respective beds.

SUNDAY:
The day dawned with packed in fog in Arcata, and after a brisk — and painful — 4.5 miles, my lovely friend and I packed up the car with food, floats, and some other friends and drove off to find some sunshine in Willow Creek. 90 degrees and perfect, we spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, laughing, floating down the river, talking, and playing lawn games. It was epic, beautiful, and hot. The water was perfect for wading and floating, and we all had a blast. The next thing we knew it was getting dark! So we packed up the cars and drove home, exhausted from a day in the sun.

YESTERDAY (Monday):
Driven by the combination of an upset tummy and a need for a personal day, I took the day off work and puttered around, finishing chores (laundry) and errands that didn't get done on Sunday due to the unexpected extended stay at the river (we meant to be home by dinner, honest). By dinnertime, the cooking bug had hit me again and so I whipped up some Honey Whole Wheat Bread and then a Chicken Pot Pie for dinner. So good!

DID YOU HAVE A PRODUCTIVE and FUN WEEKEND? WHAT DID YOU DO?

I'm looking forward to a tough week, but with some fun events in the future! Backpacking this weekend!

Ciao,
kc

SUNDAY: 4.5 miles
SATURDAY: 10.5 miles!!
FRIDAY: rest
THURSDAY (7/29): 4.5 miles + hill repeats (so about 5 miles)
WEDNESDAY (7/28): 3 miles