Securian Winter Run 2014

Today I ran (jogged) a 10k.

I was not at all prepared.

My time was 56:36.

I jogged very slowly.

It was cold.

My leg hurt.

The last time ran over 5 miles was July 15, 2013, when I ran 6 miles under 40 minutes.  And, then... I got injured.

This last month I have jogged up to 4 miles... but, only a couple times.

I love doing road races (I don't really race them, I just run them for fun).  Since I haven't been able to do one for a while, I really wanted to do one... in the winter.  My Mom asked if I wanted to do the Securian Winter Run (this was my third year doing it).  I did.  It was going to be pretty much the only weekend that there was a race and that I was open to do one.  My Mom also asked me if I wanted to do the 5k or the 10k.  I said I would prefer to do the 10k.  I would feel better about myself if I did that one.  So, I did.  And, I probably should have done the 5k.

The beginning and the end of the route went through the downtown area.  For some reason this area is a lot colder.  Everywhere outside was cold... I mean really cold.  But, the downtown area was even colder.  But, the middle part of the race wasn't too bad.  It was still cold, but not unmanageably cold.

In my mind I had 60 minutes.  Since I wasn't really prepared for this 10k I told myself that if I needed to walk some it would be ok.  I didn't walk ever.

Today, for some reason my leg really hurt.  The entire time I was running (jogging) it hurt.  But I lived.

And, I finished.

An Early Out

Yesterday we had an early out from school because the weather was getting bad.  I am super glad we did!  Yesterday was the last day of the semester, so we weren't doing much in school - especially in my last two hours of the day, which were the classes I got to miss.



I came home and really didn't have anything to do.  I didn't have any homework.  I need to apply for some scholarship so I attempted to do that.  But, I wasn't very successful at that.

My Mom had been sewing a curtain to go around a desk/counter in our basement.  Since the sewing machine was out my Mom suggested that I make an apron.  I have been wanting to try making an apron.  I used painter's drop cloth.  Yes.  I did.  It sounds weird, but it works!  My mom has used it for making many things, like curtains.

I quickly looked at an apron that we have, and that is all that I used to follow.  I think that the apron turned out pretty good for not really knowing what I was doing.

I embroidered an "M" on it.  Otherwise it would be pretty plain.  My Mom thought I should do a more natural color since the "fabric" I used is such a natural color.

This evening I got my first use out of it.  My brother wanted to have homemade pizza for supper and that can be pretty messy.  We used our pizza stone.  It was our fist time using it for pizza.  I tried it before, but since we don't have a pizza peel, I wasn't able to get my finished pizza in the oven.


I have to admit that Thomas came up with a good way to get the pizza, on the pizza stone, into the oven.  I think he maybe a did a little research on pizza making.

When using a pizza stone you have to heat the stone up in the oven.  So, without a pizza peel, Thomas got the pizza into the oven.  While the oven was heating up, he let the stone heat up too.  Meanwhile, he rolled out his dough.  When he was ready to top the pizza, he opened the oven, pulled the rack out, took the pizza stone out of the oven, set it on a cooling rack, and sprinkled the stone with corn meal (important!).  Oh, and don't forget to close the oven!  He put the pizza on the stone and topped it (careful, it is HOT!).  Then, to put the pizza in the oven, he pulled the rack out again, put the the stone, with the pizza, into the oven, pushed the rack in, and let the pizza bake.

Buttermilk Pancakes

For a long time now, I have been working to find the best buttermilk pancakes.  These here a winner - they are my Mom's and I favorite.

The recipe is from the Nine and Sixteen blog.  This blog is very inspirational and has some very delicious recipes.

The pictures of her pancakes are fabulous.  I tried to get some decent ones, but they just aren't comparable.

I couldn't decide which picture was best - there is not much difference in the pictures.  So I decided to post them all!  Why not???

This last time I made these pancakes, I decided to add in a little vanilla.  They were still excellent.  Now, I have found that these pancakes can be kind of tricky to cook.  Sometimes mine end up a little on the doughy side.  The Nine and Sixteen blog says she prefers them on the thicker side (without any extra milk) and that it ensures that the inside batter will be fully cooked when the outside is golden brown.

Buttermilk Pancakes
Adapted from here.

1 3/4 c. flour
2 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. kosher salt
1 egg
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
3 T. canola oil
3-4 T. milk
vanilla (about 1/2 t.), optional

Mix the dry ingredients together.
In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients together, except for the milk.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix.
The batter will be thick.  If you want you can add some milk to thin it down a little.
Cook over medium high heat until golden brown.

Top with maple syrup, butter, fruit, and enjoy!!!

John's 13th Birthday

January 8th was John's 13th Birthday.  He is officially a teenager.

John woke up to a decorated bedroom door.

We hung balloons from our dining room ceiling and hung streamers in the door-ways to decorate.

John got this knife from our Grandparents.  It was our Grandpa's that he was given as a kid.

Mom and her little Trooper.

 John wanted crab for his birthday supper.  Our Dad was in charge of getting it, so he also picked up a bunch of small fillets of fish.  We had some samplings of cod, mahi mahi, and two different salmons.  Along with our crab and fish we had roasted garlic and rosemary potatoes (from the Pioneer Women's new cookbook, and they were delicious), garlic bread, and squash and veggies.

Getting ready to eat crab.

Looking for 13 one dollar bills.

John wanted a white cake with read frosting and gel.  The gel we go wasn't quite the right stuff though... oh, well.

Happy 13th Birthday John!

Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

We really make a lot of bread in our house.  Instead of buying hamburger buns, or any bun like that, we like to just make them.  Fresh, yummy, bread is just plain, old, delicious.

 

These are some easy, go-to, yummy, multi-purpose buns that we like to make.  They are great as a side of dinner rolls - spread on some butter or jam, they are great for hot sandwiches - such as pulled pork, sloppy joes, or Pesto Chicken Sandwiches, and they make yummy cold sandwiches.

Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

1 cup water

2 T. butter

1 egg

3 1/4 cups bread flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 t. salt

3 t. bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine (yeast in the yeast compartment).

Select the dough cycle.

Once complete, remove from machine.

On a floured surface, divide into 15 equal pieces.  Shape into a ball.  If you want to use them for sandwiches, you might want to divide the dough into less pieces so that the buns are a little bigger.

Place on pan.  Let rise.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minuets.  You can bake them at 350 degrees too.  Either one works.  If you have something else that you need to bake at one of those temperatures, just bake them along with that.

Let cool on pan for a couple minuets and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool more.

A Weekend Get-Away to Grandma's and a Sewing Project

 Over Christmas break I did pretty much nothing.  I did do some baking, went to Grandma's for Christmas - but didn't stay extra, and then got sick - so I couldn't do much.  By the end of the break I was feeling like I needed to do something.  I needed to get out of the house.

My mom called my Grandma to see if I could come stay the weekend with her and Grandpa.  Of course I could.  So, on Friday after school and work, my Grandma picked me up to go up to her place.

On Saturday, my Grandma had a Lakselget luncheon.  I went to that with my her.  Lakselget is a group of Norwegian ladies.  Laks means salmon in Norwegian and salmon skim up stream.  The idea of this group is to be ones that go against the flow, like salmon.

The luncheon was at a gulf course.  They always have salmon, potatoes, and cooked carrots.  There was a white sauce for the salmon, a cucumber salad, and dinner rolls at each table to pass around.  And, someone had made krumkake to put out on each table.  The food was all very delicious!

After we ate, there was a speaker.  The speaker this time was a photographer.  She grew up on a four-generation farm in North Dakota.  Her ancestors came from Norway.  With her photography, she made a book documenting the history of her farm.  She was a pretty good speaker.  The "meeting" also had some fun Norwegian announcements (I guess that is what you could call them), a prize for the person with a paper heart under their saucer, and some birthday gifts for those with a birthday in January.

I thought this entire luncheon was pretty interesting and fun.

I have had this fabric that I have been wanting to make a skirt out of for a little while now.  This weekend get-away would be a great time to have my Grandma to help me with it.  After the Lakselget luncheon, we ran over to Jo-Ann's to get some elastic that we needed.  Then, I wanted to go for a walk/jog around the lake, since is was going to be the only semi-warm day for a while.  We also had to do a quick grocery run.  After doing some running around that day, we headed back to Grandma's.

That evening we had supper and worked on the skirt.

The only pattern we had were my two favorite skirts.  The beginning part of the skirt wasn't too hard, but the towards the end, my Grandma was doing something new, and I had never sewn a skirt before, so my Grandma did most of the work.

It is a corduroy skirt with a silky lining.  I love the way it turned out!

Originally, I was just going to stay up at my Grandparents' until Sunday.  But, then, on Friday, the governor decided to cancel school for the whole state on Monday because of the predicted extreme cold.  So, why not stay up there until Monday?  But, on Sunday morning my Mom called and said that maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to be out traveling on Monday in the extreme cold.  So, on Sunday, my Grandma and I hurried to finish the skirt so that I could get home on Sunday evening.  And, now I am just at home on this extremely cold  "snow day".  But I had a nice little get-away.

Happy 2014!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful start to the new year.  Mine was ok, but now great.  I have already written the wrong year a couple times.

I have two new year resolutions that I am going to try to accomplish.

1. I am going to try to only bake once a week.  I feel that I have come down with a baking addiction.  So, bake only once a week, unless there is a special occasion.
2. I need to start exercising more.  Exercise has not been a  priority of mine.  I have barely done any running or anything since I have been able to.  I need exercise.... it makes me feel good.

I really hope I don't just put these off.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR!