Ketchup 2

Central Park snow day... sigh.  The park was beautiful the day after Latke Party.  Isn't it funny how everything is so different in the light?  Getting home the night before had been difficult, and cold, and frustrating.  Kind of fun and funny, too, but mostly frustrating.  But the next morning, the sun was out, and the park was bustling with people!  And runners!  Crazy people.  I was too afraid I'd fall.  Side note: I haven't mentioned running in a while, because I've been on a little hiatus.  After messing up my knee in the half marathon last May, it hasn't been the same since, and I've been taking a break from running regularly.  I am going to focus on strength training to reduce risk of injury, and subsequently start training (SLOWLY) for another half marathon in the spring.  If it keeps bugging me, I may have to go to a sports doctor or something. :(

Anyway, winter wonderland.  Joanna and I decided to go for a snow walk and visit the market at Columbus Circle.  We ran into Katie and had a mini snowball fight!

Joanna bought a hat at the market, and I got 2 new rings to replace the one I lost on my way to the airport one week.  Sad.  I still miss it.  We shopped, walked, stopped at Aroma cafe on the Upper West Side for some soup, and then made our way to Brooklyn for the... COOKIE TAKEDOWN!  We met up with Joanna's friend Rachelle for a light sushi dinner in Park Slope in preparation for our cookie feast.  Look at how pretty it is!  Tuna avocado roll with brown rice.

We then headed to the cookie takedown (a baking competition), where Rachelle's roommate was competing with her Aunt Helen's Ginger Snaps!

I ended up taking about 6 of these puppies home because there was so much leftover.

So, what does one do at a cookie takedown?  One tastes 23 different cookies, of course!  It was a little daunting, but most people were wise enough to only give out a bite-size sample.  I mostly just took a nibble unless I loved it.

Round 1:

My favorite from Round 1 was the one in the muffin wrapper.  It was a cakey chocolate cookie with a cream cheese filling, and it was out of this world.  It ended up winning first place in my book and also first place with the judges!  I was impressed with my obviously discerning palate.  Oh, and there was free spiked egg nog!

Round 2:

Round 2 had some more creative concepts (bacon chocolate chip, "nacho"cookies with orange creme filling, and marshmallow/pretzel/peanut nonsense), but they were (for the most part) decidedly less tasty than Round   1.

I asked Joanna to represent our general sentiment by the end of the night, which was "Oopsy, I ate too many cookies."

:)  It was actually a tolerable amount of food after eating lightly all day in preparation, and being diligent about only eating the cookies that I felt were worth the calories.  And we walked a whole lot that day!  I'm convinced walking is a secret weapon.

The cookie takedown was part of a larger takedown series, so I'm hoping we can make it to another one!  Maybe I would even... participate???  Perhaps...