apple desserts

Holy crap, I ran a 5K!

- Mel

It was really a crazy thought process: oooh, hot apple crisp — I could totally run a 5K for hot apple crisp!

photo 4

Yep. That’s some self realization there: YOU SO CRAY!

And then I did. In the rain. Basically 2 out of 3 miles up hill. For this year’s Harvest Moon 5K, I placed 12th out of 16 in my women’s age group — ha, so not impressive on paper. Not only that, but with basically no running schedule or program aside from doing CrossFit and roller derby, I beat my personal record. My last 5K was somewhere around 3 years ago, and I clocked in at 33:some odd seconds.

When I was rounding the corner to the finish line, the clock had a 32 on it — a 32! I wish someone would have grabbed a picture of that expression. I ran so fast (yeah, not-so-much) that my boyfriend missed my finish. We talked before the race, and I was honestly thinking I would finish in 36 minutes, so he sat in the car because of the rain. I had already finished, almost puked in the parking lot, and ate an orange and my apple crisp before finding him.

race 5k apple crisp

Finished: 32:30

race clock finish 5k

Next up: Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving

Weekly Therapy: a change will do you good is SO cliche, but SO true.

- Mel

the week:
YAY, new hair! No joke, it’s been somewhere between 8-10 months since I’ve had my hair cut OR colored. Embarrassing. Also why you’ve been likely to see me sporting a pony tail for the last 6 months. I needed a new stylist too, and finally… FINALLY I found one that I love! It only took me two canceled appointments and waiting for the end of derby season for me to see her. I swear if she moves, I will hunt her down for trims and touch-ups.

weekend:
I’m running a race on Saturday morning. What was I thinking?! Oh, yeah… apple crisp.

Sunday, work. Then… DERBY! THAT I’M NOT PLAYING! It’s our home teams season opener, and to be honest, I’m excited about being on the spectator side.

52 Books in 52 Weeks:
Did I tell you that I lost my Kindle charger? Yeah… this is three things in the last three months that have left me perplexed. Luckily, a helpful twitter person told me that an Android charger would work. We didn’t have any of those things around the house, but found a random charger with a Microsoft-looking logo on it (maybe it’s a Blackberry, I don’t know). The hell, IT WORKED!

seven things, seven days:
1. Alladin’s falafel wrap: my last meal, please.
2. The Pirates run has ended — but OH, what a season! Looking forward to see what this team can do next year. GO BUCS!
3. Naked 2 eyeshadow palette now in my possession! (after a much-needed old makeup dump)
4. I also did another closet dump too.
5. And then I moved around my entire dining room BY MYSELF. Because, no derby season means BOREDOM, apparently. But also: living spaces as inspired by Pinterest.
6. Has anyone local tried Pittsburgh Fresh? I’m SERIOUSLY considering the service, especially that it’s paleo-friendly and locally-sourced meals. I have a problem when it comes to healthy lunches.
7. Which of the four “romantic archetypes” define you (and what do men find attractive about each type)? {via PyschCentral}

Weekly Therapy: grieving, traveling, remembering…

- Mel

the week:
This week started out rough, with my grandfather’s viewing and funeral. So much sadness. I’m sure you’ll pardon my absence.
I have to add though that it was wonderful seeing my sisters and family all together, considering the gloomy circumstances. I wish I could see them every weekend…

We found this letter to my grandmother on the back of a photo (a picture of my grandfather in his military uniform).
We found this letter to my grandmother on the back of a photo (a picture of my grandfather in his military uniform).

weekend:
Trying to get back to a hint of normalcy (and catching up on work). We have Book of Mormon tickets for Friday night. I’ve been anticipating this show for nearly a year. So. Exited.

Saturday, our home team had some “closure” with an end-of-season brunch, which I’m hosting. And I’m much less stressed out socializing in the morning than the evening. Weird, right? #partybrunch

Alas, on Easter I’m working (hangovers!), but the boyfriend promised to bring me home some hrutka. SOMEBODY better also bring me some Cadbury eggs.

seven things, seven days:
1. FINALLY got reservations at Cure — and wow, what a meal! (SALUMI. All Caps.)
2. Remind me to tell you about the time the gate came crashing down onto my car in the EZpass lane on the turnpike.
3. One-point loss in our Detroit game. An amazing game for us, nonetheless. Bonus: after party at Atwater Brewing!
4. Received my Spring Mystery Box from Julep. I am completely obsessed with their polish and products!
5. And then the post office lost YET ANOTHER box that I “missed” being delivered to my house. Their answer: “We don’t know where it is.” SERIOUSLY.
6. Side note: ALL OF THE DESSERTS. I cannot resist you.
7. Your psychology refresher from PsychCentral, the Five Stages of Loss and Grief (Kubler-Ross model)

Weekend Therapy: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

- Mel

the week:
It’s finally stopped raining. Yesterday, we were on six straight days of rain. This kind of weather is so depressing — even a pair Wellies wasn’t enough to make me enjoy the puddles. Alas, I’ve been pretty much living in my new sweatshirt and fleece pants for the entire week because everything is all… blah.

And drinking hot chocolate.

Thankfully, our area was free of damage from the storms, but I had buckets at the ready for any leaks. It was sad to see on the news some of the places of my previous vacation locations underwater and experiencing the devastating destruction of Sandy. My heart goes out to the East Coast (and some friends in Cleveland, who seemingly got the midwest brunt of the storm, and are still without power).

weekend:
I was excited when I didn’t see anything on my schedule for the weekend — it would be an opportunity to relax, catch up on housework, put away all the Halloween stuff… wash my gear. But that “freedom” didn’t last long: Halloween was rescheduled to Saturday evening because of this week’s storms; since I was without a car for an entire week those overdue errands need crossed off the to-do list FOR SERIOUS (I’m also sans car for tomorrow when I was hoping to DO all of this stuff *sigh*); my brothers’ band is touring through town; and I have marketing responsibilities to task for derby.

{deep breath}

I need some yoga therapy, but spinning will probably be more my speed for the next three days.

I’ll also try to squeeze in some time to watch roller derby. CHAMPIONSHIPS!

Oh, look, an extra hour!

If you’re around Pittsburgh, check out the Three Rivers Film Festival (runs through November 17) and Saturday’s Ti Kanaval Cocktail Party (um,did somebody say “UNLIMITED DESSERT BAR”?!).

seven things, seven days:
1. Consider making a donation to the Humane Society or the Red Cross to help with relief work for those people and animals affected by Sandy.
2. This post from J’s Everyday Fashion is a great read: the anatomy of a trend. Are you an early adopter?
3. Currently on a Spending Strike for November. More on that later…
4. Seriously, I made three more batches of this Apple Pie dip — first, for our bowling league last weekend (and another separate just for me because, well…) and another for the boyfriend’s work/food party. EVERYBODY LOVES IT!
5. Speaking of bowling, I had my best game last Friday and totally screwed up my average (95) in the process. Hooray, 121!
6. Back to home team practices next week! As much as I enjoyed personal leave and NOTHING TO DO, I’m ready to be back in my skates.
7. Twelve ready-to-style Fall outfits: time to shop my closet.

Post #2 complete.

An Apple a Day… for probably the next 8 weeks.

- Mel

A friend and I visited an apple orchard in our area to celebrate her recent engagement. Sunday was just SUCH a beautiful Fall day to be outdoors. And apparently, the perfect day to be at an apple farm (fried food! hayrides! live music! live… CHICKENS!).

Fun outdoor activities like this make me so happy — MY kind of therapy!

There are several apple farms and orchards in the Pittsburgh area; we decided on Simmons Farm, since their website confirmed we could actually PICK the apples off the tree in the orchard. But no climbing. That was Rule #1. Rule #2 was no stealing. If I had my guess for Rule #3, it would be to NOT fill the bag until it’s so heavy you can barely carry it back to the car.

SOME rules are made to be broken. 😉

Not only did I come home with a half bushel of apples (52 made it to the sink to be washed. I lost 2 in the street and 3 to just plain being “bad apples” — but I also gained a wasp and two dead spiders, the horror!), but I also managed a large pumpkin roll, sugar cookies and apple cider (so wonderful heated up in my mini crockpot, served over rum). I will soon be in treatment for a sugar overdose.

GET YOUR APPLES!
Simmons Farm is South of Pittsburgh in McMurray.
In the North Hills, you’ll find crowd-sourcing favorites: Soergel’s and Shenot Farm & Market.
Pittsburgh also has a number of wonderful farmers markets that carry delicious ripe apples this time of year — probably the same for whichever city you’re in too!

Meanwhile, I will be eating apple-this and apple-that for quite some time. And enjoying every minute of it.

Here’s what I plan to do with some of those 52 apples:
Crockpot Applesauce
Apple Crisp (possibly, multiple individual servings throughout the week — so easy to make in little ramekins!)
Apple Chips
My FAVORITE apple-cranberry oatmeal cookies.

And then a twitter friends recommended a Sharlotka — a Russian Apple Cake — so I attempted it. And the dessert came out MARVELOUS! (and is already half eaten.)

Do you have any additional ideas for my Much To Do About Apples board on PINTEREST?

Edited to add: I just found another apple in the front seat of my car. APPLES EVERYWHERE!