Today, let the madness that is the Christmas holiday season begin!

Black Friday always marks the first day where Christmas music will fill every potential sound-free aspect of your life. Hope your all ready with stockpiles of Ibuprofen and Excedrin Migraine :-)

The holidays have always been a wierd time for me. Ive always worked in environments where you see the worst of people during one of the supposed happiest times of the year: angry holiday shoppers desperate to save half off that laptop, people scrambling to spend way too much money on material posessions for loved ones, hungover breakfast patrons who want nothing more than to make their waitress more miserable than they feel...and of course, working on holidays.

This year, im taking a whole new approach on the holidays. I work in an environment where I believe attitudes will be unaffected by the gloom of the season, where perhaps I can begin to enjoy the holidays for the first time in a long time. Its kind of wierd, I havent been alone for the holidays...ever. My first Thanksgiving where I only spent a little time with family, but alot of time with friends who I could consider family.  I didnt cook a single thing yesterday (besides cupcakes to bring to my uncles!). I enjoyed myself. I ate things I normally would never eat, like baked mac n cheese, and goat cheese mashed potatoes (which are freaking AMAZING if you have never tried them!).  I watched awesome movies all night with good friends, and even after the credits are done, good times were still to be had. It was a really good day. And its also the first time in a long time that I stayed up till 3 am, then proceeded to sleep as long as I wanted, rather than feeling like I had to be up by 8 and therefore deal with tiredness all day. I woke up at 11:30. It was awesome!

I couldnt ask for better weather today either. Im thinking I will go for a long bike ride today, or tomorrow; it gets dark here around 4 so I wouldnt be able to do my usual 60-80 miles before dark. Maybe just a stroll around Seattle, carefully, though, to avoid sleep deprived, over caffeinated, manic holiday shoppers. Downtown is their breeding ground, Starbucks is their fuel, and they are out there! Beware!

Another joy that I am currently, um, dealing with, is a kitten: I havent had a kitten since my cat Miko was little, and he is currently almost 7 years old. Ive never came home to find so many random things strewn about the room with little teeth marks in them. She also somehow managed to completely lock up my laptop and I couldnt get it to work for a while. I actually had to go into safe mode and figure out what the heck went wrong.

But I love Kiwi so much :-)

As a parting gift, I leave you with a delicious cupcake recipe that I made for my uncles for Thanksgiving.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
Makes 12 (full) cupcakes
(Note: I make my own baking powder. If you have some on hand, omit cornstarch, cream of tartar and only use 1/4 tsp baking soda instead of 3/4. Add 1 1/4 tsp baking powder)
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c sugar
2 tsps good quality vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste! Amazing stuff!)
3 eggs, room temperature
2 tbsps oil
1/3 c buttermilk (I used 1/3 c 2% milk with a few splashes lemon juice, let sit for 10 minutes before using)

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugar together in mixer, or using hand mixer, for about 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy. While thats creaming, mix together other dry ingredients and sift well.  When the butter and sugar is light and fluffy, leave mixer running and add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Add vanilla and oil, mixing until incorporated.  With mixer on low, add half the flour mixture. Mix for about 15 seconds, then add buttermilk. When thats all mixed together, add the rest of the flour. Mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix.

Portion out batter into muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full, which gives you 12 muffins. For less full muffins, fill halfway and it will give you maybe 15-18.  Cook in preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in pan.

The frosting I kind of eye-balled, so proportions might be a little off. If its too runny, add more sugar. If its too stuff, add more milk.
Buttercream:
1/2 stick butter softened
about 2 cups powdered sugar, more or less depending on consistency
1/4 c milk
splash of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
dash of salt

Cream butter in mixer. Turn speed to low and add powdered sugar. Mix for a few minutes until sugar wont fly everywhere, then turn the speed to medium. Add milk, vanilla, and salt. Turn speed to medium high and whip until desired consistency is reached. I like a really thick fluffy frosting, so I beat it on medium high for a few minutes. Frost cupcakes when they are cooled down (or for an instant satisfaction, frost while really warm and put in a bowl :-) )

Happy Holidays to everyone, and I hope you all enjoyed spending time with loved ones yesterday.

Today is National I Dont Give A Fuck Day

...and I missed it! I spent my whole day giving a fuck, and for what?

The day is not ruined though! Theres still 3 more hours to not give a fuck, and im starting right now.

But writing this post means im giving a fuck, because maybe, just maybe out there somewhere, theres one person who might read this besides me! But you know what? I didnt make this so people would read it. I made it as a creative outlet for myself. And a place to write down what recipe actually turned out good, and which one was flung into the dumpster in a fit of rage followed by a beer/german food coma at my favorite place to eat thats 3 blocks away (theres only one of em!).

So anyway, ive spent the past 2 hours reading Hyperbole and a Half and The Oatmeal. If youve never checked out either, and just so happen to have a few extra hours of free time, or perhaps youve decided to start smoking copious amounts of weed again...Then you will find these websites highly amusing. Ive laughed harder than I have laughed in a long time on these websites. Ive also spent more time sitting in this spot on my computer tonight than I have in a long time. But hey, I guess I did need to just chill out and do nothing for a little bit.

Just a random side note: a man dressed as Santa was banging on the entry door to my apartment a little while ago. I heard the banging, but couldnt see the front door unless I stuck my head out. So I quietly opened the door, peered my head out slowly so as not to be seen. But the second I saw him, he made eye contact, waving his arms frantically, knocking on the door.

So I did what any other fine upstanding member of the community would do.

I hid inside. Closed the blinds. Turned on music.

Thats why I love living where I do. Its not quite guy-gets-shot-right-outside Seattle, or bums-sleeping-and-pissing-all-over-the-place Seattle, or retro-retarted-starbucks-lovers-on-their-cellphones-completely-oblivious-to-humanity-traffic-or-the-world Seattle. It has its own ambiance, the kind you can only get by living within 1000 feet of a major freeway exit, and right next to a main thoroughfare thats a one way street that apparently only half the population knows about or follows.  The place where douchebags who live in the nice apartments next door can take their stupid piece of shit chiahuahua over to my grass outside my window and let their little fuckers shit all over the grass, and not clean it up.  We arent even allowed dogs in this apartment. We know its you.

Anyway, now that I got that out of the way...Welcome to my new blog, where swearing is in abundance!

Ass.

Off to the gym to not give a fuck for a few hours. Nothing better to do than be in an almost completely empty gym on a Friday night, when everyone else is out getting plastered. I dont mind, I just added 20 pounds to my squat and deadlift weight, so ill be torturing my muscles while everyone else is out torturing their livers.

Crap, it happened again.

I swore I wouldnt let it happen again. But it did. I forgot about you. Im so sorry! I will try hard to make it never happen again!

So, whats been going on in the baking aspect of my life: lots of baking! Usually I bake whenever im very stressed. So there you go.
I made delicious red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. AMAZING!
I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chip cookie dough in the middle, and a chocolate sour cream buttercream frosting. Holy. Freaking. Crap.
Lapse in memory of the past week or two...
Today I made a two layer chocolate cake which is currently cooling. The final product will be a batman cake for a birthday present :-)
Currently in the oven is a coconut pineapple cake, destined to be a birthday cake as well! Two birthdays in one day? Im one lucky lady!
The coconut cake is a basic yellow cake recipe (box cake? AHH! Scary!) with a few tweaks to it. I used coconut milk for the liquid, and coconut oil for the oil to give it more of a coconut oomph. I sprinkled brown sugar, toasted coconut and diced pineapple in the pan before putting the batter in. Currently in the oven, destined to be flipped, broiled till slightly crunchy, layered, and topped with a toasted coconut buttercream frosting!
I was looking for the right recipe to base my cake on, but I kept finding pineapple upside down cakes made with cake mix, pudding mix, cool whip, blah blah blah....What the heck? No plain old pineapple cake? No pineapples folded enthusiasticly into a creamy cake batter, leading to a carrot-cake-esque orgasm in your mouth after being frosted while still warm? I wasnt having any of it!

Unfortunately, time is of the essense, and I do not have time to figure out what the heck I put in the cake. I will compose some sort of recipe to post on here in the next few days, and I will for once try and take pictures of my baked goods so I can start my portfolio!

Intermittent fasting, weight training and pumpkin cheesecake muffins!

Hello all! Its a lovely Seattle day. By lovely, I mean its a genuinely nice day outside, the sun is out, I am alive, yay!

By Seattle day, I mean its been raining on and off all day. The rain stops the second you walk indoors. Once you leave though, its back!

Went to a yard sale in University District this morning and got a juicer for $5! Super excited to turn everything in my kitchen into a liquid beverage!

Also got a cutting board, a super cute retro apron and a pair of jogging pants for $3. Sweet!

Stopped off at a local coffee shop. Not any typical coffee shop. A Chai Tea room! That just happens to serve coffee. I got their original chai with soymilk, only because in my mind, chai tea is blasphemy without soymilk! Its just so delicious, even if you dont particularly like soymilk.

Anyway, got home and have been almost hermitting ever since about 1030 am.  Ive been on my computer, mostly studying my usual topics of sports nutrition, exercise, kinesiology, etc etc...Ive been studying intermittent fasting lately, and I think I will give it a go. With my current schedule it mostly makes sense to give it a try, and if it works, it sounds more appealing than eating 5-6 small meals everyday, being slightly hungry all the time, and being prone to bingeing on unhealthy foods due to the slight hunger.

It also sounds more appealing because of the fact that you fit all of your daily calories into an 8 hour window, which is so much easier than trying to make 5-6 mini meals stretch into your daily calorie alottment. This kind of mindset, in my experience, gives you a very unhealthy relationship with food. You start to demonize certain foods. You leave out carbs, see bread as evil, see chocolate as the devil. Whole eggs are satan, cheese is lucifer, etc...etc...You get the point. I think anyone who has ever embarked on a quest to get healthier has fallen victim to these kinds of thoughts, myself not excluded! I might have been the biggest advocate for demonizing certain foods at one point, mainly resulting from my decision to rigidly follow the tenents behind the Clean Eating strategies.

Its part of my quest to enjoy food more, rather than see it as something to scarf down to meet my macronutrient ratios for that particular meal, and enjoy it. Rather than downing 1 c of oatmeal cooked in water sprinkled with cinnamon and 1/2 oz of almonds for breakfast, I will start on my journey to enjoy food.  Enjoy the taste, savor the flavor, eat slower, get used to mealtime being a time to relax and take time for myself, rather than using my usual strategy of wolfing down what I can and running back to work. ( Waiting tables for many years and being a line cook gets you in this habit! Its hard to break!)

Anyone interested in learning more about intermittent fasting can go to http://www.leangains.com/

As soon as I get more into this I will post more information about it.

Along with the intermittent fasting, I am really focusing on my weight training right now. My old regimen used to be focusing on running, stretching, and a little bit of upper body.  My new goal is to be able to do pullups, and deadlift my bodyweight, whatever it may be when that times rolls around that im strong enough to do so. I am focusing on heaving weights and lower reps, but higher sets.  Its exciting, challenging myself, seeing how far I can push myself, and knowing that one day im going to be lifting a weight that the guy next to me is struggling to handle! That just seems exciting to me! Its always motivating to see a female lifter in the gym, especially powerlifters! I saw a girl who looked, in her baggy shirt and leggings, to be just another cardio bunny, there to lift a few 8 lb weights for 25 reps, then go back to doing abs. She walked to a barbell setup on the floor and proceeded to bust out about 5 reps of 240 lbs! She was tinier than my sister! She looked as if she weighed maybe 130 lbs! I was so impressed, and it left me feeling so empowered that I did extra sets of my workouts, and even added some extra HIIT afterwards.

Last but not least...what you all came for...Pumpkin. Cheesecake. Muffins.

Holy freaking crap. You heard me.

This recipe is courtesy of Sugar Cookings blog!

For the filling:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbls flour
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tbsp. plus 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbls vegetable oil

For the topping:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp. flour
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

1. To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese, egg, flour and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Set aside.
2. To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
3. To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
4. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin about 2/3 full with batter. Add a dollop of filling on top. (I would say I used about a tablespoon of batter and a heaping teaspoon of filling. They were pretty full going into the oven.) Sprinkle with topping. Bake about 12-14 minutes. Let cool in pan, then cool completely outside of pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Keeps for 3-5 days approximately.

These were so amazingly good.  I took half to work, and they were gone within minutes. The rest were at home for my boyfriend and I to eat. I had one about 15 minutes after they came out of the oven, but honestly the time they tasted the best was 3 days later!

Alrighty, im off to run errands downtown then head to the gym!

Yay! I posted three times! Here's a recipe too!

So ive done it I think. 3rd post. Means this shit is getting serious! Ive decided, contrary to my previous post about creating two blogs, to just stick with one. I know its kind of wierd having a blog about health, nutrition and fitness...then about cakes, cookies, etc! But its my blog, my passions in life, and well, if people really start complaining I will look into starting a second one, or a second section (gasp!) for the more sinful side of my life. (The baked side, not the dirty side)

So anyway, I guess I should mention something hilarious I saw today. Everybody knows those dancing sign wavers, right? Well, I saw the Michael Jackson of sign wavers, going absolutely thriller on the corner of Aurora and Westlake, near Whole Foods. He was pretty good too, nailed the moonwalk, the crotch grap, the voice. It was awesome to watch for a minute or two.

Then came walking by Mr Hot Topic: Tall skinny pale man with black mohawk, green highlights, eyeliner, mascara, black lipstick, trenchcoat, and...wait for it...

Schoolgirl uniform?!?!

Bright yellow skirt, garters, knee-high lace up boots, and the white button down shirt.

Wait.

Cant forget the black tie and the nail polish. Bright red.

Anyway, so as I approach Mr Jackson waving the sign, the rather curiously dressed gentleman walks by him, gives him a disgusted look and, as he passes by me, does that half-cough-half-sigh thing, and says "What a freakshow..."

Greatest moment ever.

Anyway, heres what you came for: The Recipe!
I made this bread today, havent baked it yet but I will give updates on how it turns out. Dough was doing great, rising good, all is well, so im thinking its going to make some mean sandwiches for dinner!

1 1/4 cups warm milk

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons coconut oil, softened (or olive oil, butter....etc)

1/3 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups bread flour

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsps yeast

1 tbsp vital wheat gluten

1/4 c sunflower seeds

1/4 c oat bran

Warm the milk and whisk in the honey.  Add the yeast and proof for a few minutes. Whisk in the egg.

Sift the flours together with the salt.  Pour wet ingredients into mixer, adding coconut oil. Pour flour/salt mixture on top. Mix on medium-low speed (Kitchen Aid setting 3 for mine) for about 7-8 minutes until a soft smooth dough forms. You may need to add more flour. When the dough is finished, lift out of the bowl and spray with nonstick spray (I used pam). Put the bread back in, cover with plastic, and let sit for about 1-2 hours until doubled in bulk.  Lift edges to deflate.

Pull off chunks of dough about larger than a golfball (small kiwi-sized?).  Dust the counter very lightly with flour. Using the counter to assist you, cup the dough in your hand and push it around in a circular shape, using the counter and the doughs stickiness to your advantage. Alternately, you can also knead it a little bit then tuck the ends under, creating a round smooth top. Either way, once you reach round smooth top status, place on a sheet pan sprayed with nonstick spray.  When all the dough balls are done (I got 12), spray them lightly with nonstick spray. Cover loosely with plastic, and let rise until desired size.

I refrigerated mine while I was at the gym, then pulled them out to rise in a warmish place. They are still rising.

Preheat oven to 350.  Remove plastic wrap. Brush with egg wash if youd like, sprinkle with oats or seeds, go crazy! Or just leave them plain. Put the sheet pan with the dough balls in the preheated oven. After about 10-15 minutes (oven cook times, temperatures, altitudes may vary!) you have some delicious rolls just begging to be sandwiched, cheesed, jammed, buttered, or just plain eaten! Enjoy!

This recipe is based very loosely on the one here at Allrecipes.

Enjoy the bread, and remember....we're all just a little bit wierd.

Im not getting any better at this title thing...

So good news and bad news...(not quite sure who I am addressing here as I am unsure if anyone reads this). Good news is I am alive, working, and baking! Yay!

Bad news: no more pastry school :-(

I wont get into details...But im trying to look at it as a blessing: more time to bake, work out, study other things, etc etc.  I am going to start a strictly baking blog as well, and keep this one as a "everything else" blog, where I can share recipes for healthier things, ideas and tips on nutrition and fitness, and anything I want...like talking about my pet hedgehog named Frank! By the way...I have a hedgehog! See, there goes...anything I want!

As soon as I get the other blog up and running I will link to it. Until then I leave you with a recipe for delicious breakfast cookies that ive found through an amazing blog called 101 Cookbooks. The blog is created by Heidi, whose recipes, photos and stories are awe-inspiring. She travels quite a bit, and makes nothing but delicious food from what ive experienced! Check her out at http://www.101cookbooks.com/ !

In this recipe, I have always used freezer bananas! Whenever a banana starts to brown, I toss the whole thing in the freezer. Then, when I need it, I thaw it in a bowl of warm water for just a few minutes. The top pulls right off and the insides...well...they not-so-attractively slide out!


3 large, ripe mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed slightly
2 cups oats
2/3 cup almonds, pulsed in a food processor until a meal forms
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, rack set in the middle.
In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl mix together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Dough will be a bit wetter than traditional cookie dough, but dont worry! Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a nonstick-apparatus-lined (I use silpat) baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen little cookies
This recipe originates from here!

Being as this is my first time posting a recipe and linking, please let me not have angered the copyright infringement gods!  Enjoy the cookies, and feel good knowing they are delicious, fairly nutritious, and (at least for me) wont leave you with a sugar migraine or a lethargic gross feeling, as do most cookies!

Couldn't think of a clever witty title.

Well, it happened. After many months, maybe even years, of deliberation, excuses, failed attempts and dreaming about it, ive finally just gone ahead and done it: I have a blog.  I have long wanted to start a blog about cooking, baking and running; these are all passions of mine and topics of which I am pretty knowledgeable. So I figured why not share these with other people? Gives me a great opportunity to learn new things, and to network!

As soon as I get a little more tech-savvy and have more time, i'll start including pictures of items that I choose to review.  More to come hopefully tomorrow, maybe tonight, definitely soonish!  Off to work to create some delicious, local, mostly organic goodies!