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...

Busy Busy Bee

Oh, man.  I am very behind.

Saturday was a big culinary day!  It was also a big exercise day, so it all worked out.  First Joanna, Katie, and I (“Amanda”) had the 5th Avenue Mile at 9:30.  I had a wonderful bowl of PB Puffins with soymilk and the very last of my homemade granola.  I will be making more of that VERY soon.  I almost never have a bowl of cereal with milk, because I don’t find it very filling, but I wanted something that would sit lightly in my stomach.  PB Puffins are just like Cap’n Crunch.  Or maybe even crack.  SO good.

After the race, we hurried back to my apt to drop off our water bottle souvenirs (yes!  I have way too many race t-shirts), then we scooted back over to Central Park to meet Alex for another 6 miles!  We were helping her get past her 6 mile mental block by doing a group run  We did a really enjoyable (if slightly painful) loop of the park at a 9:30 pace, which I thought was pretty impressive, considering I was out of shape and it felt slow.  But we all finished strong, Katie stronger, and then we headed to BRUNCH!  I LOVE going out for brunch.  We went to Good Health on 1st and 75th, which is like the veggie-friendly mecca of the UES.  They happen to also serve meat, but they have tons of fun things like meatless sausage, veggie bacon, and lotsa veggie burgers.  We were pretty famished and ordered a plate of blueberry whole wheat pancakes to share as an “appetizer”.  Delish!  Then onto the lunch part of brunch. I had a veggie burger, which was good and just what I wanted, but not thrilling.  It said it was topped with onion rings, which was my primary vote-winner, but they ended up being deeply sautéed red onions.  Bummer.  There was, of course, COFFEE.

The wonderful thing about waking up early to exercise is that you get so much time in the day afterward.  Katie, Joanna, and I headed down to the farmers market in Union Square after brunch to pick up a few staples.  I didn’t actually need much food since I was coming home to Larchmont for a few days, but I enjoy the atmosphere and I needed a little fruit.  I came back with potatoes and parsley (potato salad to come), basil (pesto to come), apples and pears (yum to come), and OKRA.  My new favorite vegetable.  I also tried some funky little yellow plum, which I enjoyed, even though it was gone in 3 bites.

AND THEN, the foodiness continued.  That evening, Katie and Alex and I went to an Edible Manhattan tasting event at the South Street Seaport.  It was a collection of local (socially conscious?) restaurants and shops, who all set up stands and had samples of their stuff.  The highlights were my new boyfriend (I wish) at the chocolate station, the pulled pork tortilla things, the (guy at the) van Leeuwen ice cream truck, and the FRESHLY GRILLED REUBENS.  That last one was INCREDIBLE. It was the only station with a line, and we just missed the last batch, so we couldn’t get seconds. Here are Katie and Alex enjoying theirs.

Tiny little pieces of rye bread, corned beef or pastrami?, Swiss cheese, and a little mayo.  Grilled to perfection right before our eyes.  It was the highlight for me.  They also had pickled veggies and cabbage.  I will admit that we ate things totally out of order and I may have felt a little sick, but I got home, drank some white pear tea, and felt much better.  Despite the weird mix of things in my stomach (add pickles, pasta, coffee, and beer to everything I've already mentioned), I didn't feel too full, which is kind of a feat.

I ended up having a little white wine and some cinnamon raisin toast before we went out that night to a bar in DUMBO.  Totally satisfied!