Happy Turkey Day!

My feet ache from the three days of at the new job and the four mile run I managed to squeeze in with boyfriend's sister this morning. Then, instead of resting my tired kicks, I kept on them and ran around baking pumpkin pie,

 scrubbing potatoes (both sweet and regular!),

setting the table,

and preparing turkey stock for the gravy I'm going to make this evening. Our house is full of grandma, parents and sister of boyfriend, and I'm struggling to let go of the disaster that six people in a small cabin cause. As my feet ache more, however, letting it all go is becoming easier.

I'm just going to pretend I don't see it.

That works, right?

I love my job so far, which is good, and I can already predict that I will [hopefully] be good at it. It's a matter of talking to people and being the sweet person that I am, and let's face it, I've got that dialed.

While I'm not looking forward to another two weeks away from home — starting again on Sunday — I am excited to get to see one of my wonderful friends who lives in the Seattle area. She doesn't know it yet, but I plan on being at her house a lot in the next two weeks. I haven't seen her since May and I won't see her again until at least April, so I need to get my fix.

Somehow, I don't think she'll mind much.

I'm off to put my feet up and put a compress over my eyes while everyone is out and about. Mama Buwalda and Grandma Buwalda are at the grocery store picking up fixin's that got lost in the melee of coordinating, boyfriend and his dad are off cross country skiing and sister is entertaining herself quite well. Which is to be expected, as she is an adult after all. Wish my luck on my holiday ventures and I hope y'all have an awesome Turkey Day.

Pumpkin Pie (courtesy of Libby's canned pumpkin label)
Makes 2 pies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
4 large eggs
1 (29 oz.) can pure pumpkin
2 cans (12 fl. oz) evaporated milk
Easy double crust pie crust rolled and put into pie dishes

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shells. Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temp to 350 degrees and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for two hours. Serve immediately (with whipped cream!) or refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Ciao,
kc

TODAY: 4.01 miles

Time to taper

Really? Really? I'm tapering already?

Crap.

I have not, in the two months that I've been training for this thing, felt this unenthusiastic about running. In the morning it's cold and I am not yet equipped to handle running in the cold (with my birthday coming up, I'm hoping that will change...haha), and in the afternoons I just. don't. want. to.

The absence of my lovely friend has taken its toll, people. I am supremely unmotivated. Awesome.

Not.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

Also, boyfriend and I have discovered this nifty little bar and grill down the road from us. Aptly named "Boondocks" as we are, in fact, in the boonies, it boasts a surly barman and a chirpy, fifty-something waitress/barwoman with short, bleach blonde hair styled with gel, giant diamond earrings and a craggy smile. And more importantly, the Giants game on a flatscreen TV. And decently priced drinks and appetizers.

Boyfriend spent the whole game there on Saturday (I joined him at the top of the 7th), and we both went for innings 2 through 7 yesterday. Quite fun.

In other news:

 Sorry for the image quality, cell phone again. It's just so handy!

Corn Cheese Casserole

3 eggs

3 Tbsp Flour

1/2 cup cream (or milk)

1 cup milk

1 Tbsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

 dash pepper

1 tsp dill

2 Tbsp parsley (I don't usually use...)

2 cups corn

2 Tbsp butter

2 c diced onion

1 large carrot grated

1 small red pepper

1 c grated cheddar

1 block tofu (optional)

Salsa for garnish

Combine eggs and flour in blender. Add cream, milk, honey, salt, pepper, dill, parsley, and half the corn. Blend. Preheat oven to 350. Saute onions in butter until transluscent. Add carrot and peppers, saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining corn, blended ingredients, and cheese.

Pour in to buttered 9 x 13 inch pan  and bake uncovered about 35 minutes until golden and knife through center comes out clean. Serve with salsa.

 

Boyfriend was dubious about this dish, but I find it yummy in the extreme. He liked it once he tried it, but he was pretty incredulous when I added the tofu. For the record, I blend half the block of (firm) tofu in the blender and then add the rest of it chopped to the saute pan.

I also added a little broccoli that we'd cooked the night before. It was pretty tasty. Bon appetit!

Ciao,

kc

P.S. My race is on SUNDAY! That's six days away!

YESTERDAY: 6 miles