Olive Oil Gelato with Cinnamon

I recently discovered Fairway's high end gelato line that they created in partnership with High Road.  The flavors are unique and the texture is rich and silky.  Though at $5.99 for a pint, it is pricier than most Fairway products, it is still less expensive than many of the other small batch ice cream brands out there.

If you want to wow your friends with an unexpected sweet treat, sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the extra virgin olive oil flavor.  One scoop is the perfect end to a meal.

Monday Reads

1. Research shows that transgender children who take hormones to delay the onset of puberty (which would further transition them into the sex they do not wish to be) are more likely to be happy adults when they eventually undergo gender reassignment.
2. Two weekends ago, a ton of New Yorkers participated in the People's Climate March.  The march took place in advance of the UN General Assembly meeting for climate change. 
3. In a book club, you talk about books (and drink wine).  In a reading club, you just shut off all distractions and read in silence.  What's the point?  Well, devoting time to reading improves their ability to concentrate, reduces stress levels, and deepens the ability to think, listen and empathize.
4. The color of the packaging plays a major role in your grocery shopping.  Ever wonder why you gravitate towards that box of Cheerios?

Lamb Kofta, Rice wtih Scallions and Peas, & Cucumber Yogurt

Kofta is a Middle Eastern or Indian meatball.  I was lucky enough to find lamb version with masala sauce in the freezer section of Trader Joe's ($4.99!) that required no more than 8-10 minutes in a pan.  They are so flavorful - coriander, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric - so many spices!  As long as they like lamb, even non-indian belivers could be swayed by these.

This is a PRIME example of making a full, home cooked meal with a little help from the store.  The meatballs came from a box but then I ran with it so you almost forget I didn't do the bulk of the work.  It seemed like a no-brainer to serve the kofta over rice.  But of course I didn't want just any rice so I folded in some scallions, peas, and parsley.  I topped the whole thing with Greek yogurt that I mixed with chopped cucumber, salt, and pepper.  It all worked perfectly together.  The baby peas are a little sweet so they picked up the cinnamon in the masala sauce.  The kofta had a little heat so the yogurt was perfect for cooling it all off.  If you don't have a Trader Joe's, you may want to look up kofta recipes.  It would make this meal more difficult to prepare and would certainly take more than the 20-25 minutes it took me, but it would be worth it.  

I was really happy with how this meal turned out, but after patting myself on the back for five minutes, I had to remind myself that I didn't actually cook the kofta myself.  Whatever.  Having the wherewithall to pull it all together has to be worth something, right?

MexiBBQ

There is no better way to celebrate a successful race completion than by brunching.  Hardcore, bottomless brunching, to be specific.  Since we were going to be in Astoria Sunday afternoon for Karina's birthday, we decided to do brunch in that neighborhood and picked MexiBBQ since they had a $16 bottomless deal.

I would say the menu is Mexican first, BBQ second.  But that doesn't mean the BBQ is absent...it's just used with restraint, like by adding brisket and jalapeno cornbread onto the eggs benedict, which also uses chipotle in the hollandaise.  Albert couldn't pass up a chance to order brisket so that's what he went with.  Beth and I both ordered the Hangover Cure.  Though neither of us were hungover, we had both just run 6.2 miles which left us in virtually the same hazy-eyed state as if we had partied all night.  This dish was basically a breakfast version of chilequiles.  Fried corn tortilla scraps are softened after sopping up sauce and then layered with salsa, chicken, and chorizo.  Then there are two fried eggs on top to make it more brunch appropriate.  It was huge enough that we could have shared, honestly.  Carbing up is always important when it comes to running, but it's more fun to carb up with tortillas than boring bread.

Book Review: The House Girl

Lina Sparrow is assisting on a case that could make her law career.  Her firm is trying to get reparations for slavery and Lina is trying to find a slave's descendant to serve as the perfect plaintiff to help them win.  Her search leads her to Josephine Bell, a name that has begun popping up in her father's art world.  Josephine served as a house girl for Lu Anne Bell, a famous painter...only now it is believed that Josephine was actually the one holding the paintbrush and never credited.  As Lina searches for Bell's living relatives, the story shifts to Josephine's perspective and we learn of her plans to run away.

The novel begins slowly but just as Lina begins piecing everything together in the last 1/3 of the book, it really begins to pick up.  And yes, it does come together.  The truth is uncovered and we all learn that the release of secrets, even when troublesome, are ultimately satisfying.

3 out of 5 stars.

    

30 Before 30: #3 - Run a 10K

My latest 30 Before 30 project was one of the more ambitious items on my list.  Running a 10K is not something that can be accomplished simply by coughing up some money.  It was only going to happen if I put the time and effort into training.  So I did.  I downloaded a training schedule and for five weeks I did exactly as it prescribed.  At the start of my training, my most intense run was 3 miles, and I am amazed that in just five weeks I was able to get my body into the condition to run the full 6.2 mile distance without keeling over.  

Once I put the goal of a 10K on my list, I knew it was only going to happen if I signed up and paid the entrance fee so there would be no turning back.  I chose the Women's Health Run 10 Feed 10 because the race was occurring in the time frame I wanted.  It was enough time for me to get my body into shape and the weather would be perfect for training outside.  There were a couple other benefits to this race.  For me, right up there at the top was the fact that the course was along the West Side Highway, which meant it was flat.  If I had to deal with hills I would have needed some extra training.  The other great thing about this race is that it is jointly produced by Women's Health and the FEED Foundation, which works to fight hunger.  Just by registering for the race, my fee provided 10 meals to people in my own metropolitan area.  It's nice to think that even though I was crossing an item off my bucket list, it wasn't all about me me me.

Things like this are so much better when you don't do it alone.  I was prepared to do it solo and did all my training alone, but last week Beth decided to sign up for the race.  We didn't run together, per se, but we kicked it off side by side and were able to congratulate each other when we both crossed the finish line at around the same time.  Having a friendly face there made all the difference.  It was also great to have Albert there.  I know he was not happy to wake up an hour before the sun even started to rise but seeing him there, holding some expertly made signs, kept me going.  There he was a quarter mile into the race with a poster that read "Tess - Run like you're chasing Ugga!"  The name of Uga, my famous college mascot, may have been misspelled but nobody else had a sign like it.  Then at the last quarter mile I was greeted with one that read "Tess - Hurry! This guy is waiting at the finish line!" with a picture of one of my celebrity crushes.  The celeb was motivation, but I was even happier to see the guy holding the sign as I pushed towards the end.

I set a goal for myself of completing the race in under an hour.  It felt ambitious knowing that the final distance was nearly a mile and a half more than I'd ever run before (so I would likely slow down towards the end) but still maybe do-able based on my pace during training.  By the day of the race I didn't care how I accomplished my goal; I could come in at 59:59 and be happy.  Honestly, just finishing would make me happy.  But I did it.  I owned it.  Not only did I come in under an hour, my final official time was 57:16.  That's almost three minutes under my goal.  It doesn't sound like much, but three minutes is a lot when it comes to running.  Is it braggy if I say I'm proud of myself?  Because I am.  I feel like I killed it out there.

Date of Completion: 9/21/14

Fruit and Yogurt Dip

When it came to cooking for my last book club meeting, I just wasn't havin it.  Oddly enough, I wasn't even that busy; I just didn't want to tie myself down to preparing a specific travel-well recipe for a group.  My solution was to open up one of my "easy" cookbooks.  Every recipe in this cookbook is easy, but at the beginning of each section, they give a list of extra easy "recipes".  These are the ones that basically require zero effort but can sneakily make your meal more impressive.  It was here that I found fruit with yogurt dip.

All you do is add honey, nutmeg, and cinnamon to vanilla yogurt.  Stir it together and serve with fruit (I used pineapple and cantaloupe).  I used the 0% Tahitian vanilla Greek yogurt from Trader Joes so not only was this dip good, it was healthy.  And it was good.  One of the girls said it tasted "just like fall," which is a yay! for me (pat on the back) but a wah :( for the reminder that cold weather is approaching.  Fruit plates, like crudité platters, are the go-to buffet staple when you want to add something healthy to your spread.  But plain fruit plates are boring.  Adding this yogurt is not.

The picture is capital T terrible because there were no lights on the roof where we were holding book club.  Sorry bout that.

before mixing in the honey