Reading...

I am reading "Open" by Andre Agassi.  If the introduction and 1st Chapter are indicators of how this book is going to read, I will not be able to put it down.

Park City, Utah

 Biking

I had never been to Utah and I took my first trip out there this summer.  Utah is an outdoor lover's paradise and I fell in love.  The mountains are breathtaking, the outdoor activities are abundant, the air is dry, the climate is moderate and my allergies, which have been driving me insane all summer in the horrible Chicago heat and humidity, poof, went away!

We rented a condo through VRBO in  Park City at a resort called The Canyons.  I am working on getting back out there for Spring Break to try out what is supposed to be incredible powder and amazing sky country.  Until then, I can enjoy the memories and abundance of photos.    

 Hiking

High Flying Olympic Practice

Ski Mountains Waiting for Snow

Beet Burgers

Beet Burgers with Garlic Kale and Spinach

I have been one pathetic blogger lately.  I blame life.  Kid, job, boyfriend, running, travel...I have an endless surplus of excuses.

What I did have time to do was read "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.  Then, in the middle of thinking twice about meat after the horror stories in that scary book, I heard a story on NPR that graphically described how ducks are fattened up to make foie gras.  Ugh, not very nice what they do to those duckies.

Fast forward to a night out with my boyfriend.  As he drove, I sat there agonizing about what happens to animals to get us our precious meats and cheeses.  He said to me, "If you are not comfortable with the process, then you shouldn't be eating it."  He then went on to talk about how people are too disconnected from what they eat, they just see it packaged in the store and don't think about how it got there.  Mind you, this man is a carnivore of carnivores.  His signature dish is Chicken Adobo, he waxes poetic about the taste of lamb, he killed a chicken for his own dinner while living in Africa and sucking on bone marrow with straight bourbon after boxing is his idea of a good time.  Needless to say, he is perfectly fine with lambs being lead to slaughter.    

Working Girl, Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes and Camping Fun

Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

Been a little busy lately and had to shelf the blog so I could actually get some sleep at night.  

About 6 months ago, right around the time of my last post, I decided to do a big job change.  Usually a job change along with the already hectic lifestyle of a single Mom is enough to cause some anxiety.  I decided to take that anxiety and add a little jet fuel.  You see, this job change also entailed quite a bit of travel and in the midst of the job ramp up work and the travel, I also decided to move back to Oak Park.  Hooray for that but holy stress attack.  Not only did I have to shelf my blog and cooking but my running and spinning also went on hiatus.  

Despite the craziness, I am absolutely thrilled with the new job and I love being back in Oak Park.  This is a wonderful neighborhood where I can walk my son to and from school every morning and afternoon down gorgeous tree lined streets.  Along those lines, my son did start Kindergarten a few weeks ago and I have been enjoying the experience of yet another chapter in this great adventure of raising a child.  

          

Tyler - First Day of Kindergarten

Baked Figs

Baked Figs

I was in middle school when I first learned about Georgia O'Keefe.

My Mom took me to a lecture at the Art Institute of Chicago and I remember looking at the paintings and thinking, am I seeing what I think I am seeing?  According to the lecturer, the answer was yes and I was hooked.  Painting in that fashion in the 1920's was brazen and progressive for that time.  Challenging societal norms is something that I don't think people plan to do but that happens because they were never very good at fitting their square peg mind sets into societal round peg holes.

Although Georgia's work is fascinating, it is how she lived her life that has been an inspiration to me.  She married a peer, Alfred Sieglitz, who was older and somewhat of a mentor to her.  He helped her grow and gain traction in the art world and then they ended up living much of their lives apart, him in New York, her in New Mexico.  She practiced yoga, traveled and had a reportedly "prickly" personality.   She was from the Midwest, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, became discouraged with her craft and then found her way back to what she loved and where her passion and talent resided.  I look at Georgia and think, it's ok to take a path that not everyone understands but that works for you.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti from David Lebovitz

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I am in a very blissful place.  I am experiencing a magic time between leaving a job and having another one lined up.    Even when I take vacations when I am working, the work is always in the back of my mind.  This is different.  It is euphoric.  It is void of stress.  Highly recommended.  

So, I bring you homemade biscotti.  This is in lieu of the coffee shop variety that I occasionally pick up with my coffee on my way to work.  Since I have a week off, I thought the sensible thing to do was to make biscotti rather than partake in the coffee shop, plastic wrapped, disappointingly dry version.  The key taste that you get with homemade that they cannot replicate in mass quantities is the soft middle.  That and it tastes better.  A bit of crunch on the outside, soft inside and a deep chocolate punch.

I found this recipe here.  Enjoy! 

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Orange Liqueur Cream

How can it be so bad for you when it tastes so good?  That just might be my life motto.

I remember seeing and tasting whoopie pies for the first time in a convenience store in Ohio when I was in college.  Yes, college was when I first saw and tasted a whoopie pie.  Sheltered life?  Perhaps.  The whoopie pie I tasted though, was anything but good.  A whoopie pie out of a cellophane package from a convenience store does not a gourmet snack make.  Fast-forward some, ahem, years and homemade and gourmet whoopie pies are somewhat of a rage or were the rage last year.

I found this recipe in The Boozy Baker by Lucy Baker and this, along with every other alcohol laced concoction in the book, was fantastic.  This was also much better than the cellophane wrapped piece of cardboard I tasted in college.

Enjoy!  xo, AJ