I Run for the Bling!

I'll be the first to admit that running and I are not the best of friends.  There are times when I'm loving it, especially if I have a great new playlist on my iPhone that keeps me motivated or if I am meeting up with a friend I haven't seen in awhile and we catch up while doing laps around the Washington D.C. mall.  Then there are other times when I despise my running shoes -- usually those are the times when I have taken a serious break from the activity and my lungs are screaming at me. 

For the longest time, I never even thought I would run long distances because I'm slow as molasses!  My first attempt to run longer than a 5k was when I first moved to D.C. in 2001.  My friend and I signed up for the famous Army Ten Miler in October.  Unfortunately, the event was canceled due to security concerns from September 11th.  Honestly, I was relieved because I had only reached 7 or 8 miles in my training by then, and I was not mentally ready.  Thankfully I have a fantastic friend who offered to run the ATM with me six years later in 2007.  This awesome friend stayed with me the entire time, even though she normally runs a 2x my race pace!  I think she secretly enjoyed giving me obnoxious encouragement, like "That lady in front of you has a bigger butt than you.  You're not going to let HER beat you to the finish line, are you??"  She's great, isn't she?

Having finished that race, I became a running snob, scoffing at little 5ks.  D.C. has an absolutely beautiful 10 mile race in the spring, running under the cherry blossom canopies, so with that under my belt I figured what's another 3.1 miles, right?  I ran my first half marathon in 2009 with Team Challenge.  I thought that if I was going to put myself through 13.1 miles for the first time, I'd better not do it alone!  Plus, the destination was Miami in January, so you can't really complain about the race weather conditions!  Since then, I've returned to Miami to run two more times, ran the Disney Half in January during a shocking sleet storm, went to L.A. to do the Disneyland Half and get our Coast-to-Coast medals, and then did a Rock and Roll half.  Hey, if you're going to run that far, you should at least do it at a fun place and make a vacation out of it.

Team Challenge - Miami Half Marathon 2009

The funny thing about running is that if you don't get back into it after a serious injury, it's like you've never raced before in your life.  That's what happened to me.  First, I got achilles tendonitis that took a good part of a year to recover, which required me to quit running altogether for that time.  Then the worst thing I've ever endured happened.  I've lived a very healthy, or lucky, life as far as injuries go - nothing broken, no joint problems.  But in 2010, I finally got hit with two extruding discs.  It's amazing how much an injury like that can be both a physical and a mental hurdle because you don't want to do anything to take away the calm and relief from pain after receiving a cortisone shot.  So I can honestly say that running stopped being a part of my life because I was afraid of the pain and being helpless again.  Unfortunately, my brain thought that I was still a runner, and when I did a 10k last October with a friend, it was telling me "No problem!  I got this! This will be easy peasy at half the distance you've gone before, so it won't matter that you didn't train at all."  Boy did my brain get a lesson that day!  Within 3 painful weeks, I was back on the surgery table getting more cortisone injected into my spine.

Best finisher medal ever?  I think, YES!

I don't know what I was thinking this spring when I entered the lottery for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco.  It must the lure of the Tiffany's finisher necklace that has me determined to participate this darn race, despite its nasty hills.  I had been doing this lottery for the past four years, but never got selected.  Maybe I figured it wouldn't be different this year and I'd be off the hook.  Well, my luck changed, and I've paid my entry fee.  So here we are now, time to get moving and start training again!  If it makes any sense, though, after last October/November, I'm really scared to run again, for fear that I will be on a training run and have something go wrong with my back and be stuck far away from home.  But, I got the green light from my orthopedist today.  In fact, he told me that the November cortisone shot had long worn off and my lack of pain is due to all my work being conscious of my activity and movement and from strength training.  Good news!

Wait...this is what awaits us at the finish line?

The race is in October, so let the countdown begin! 17 weeks to go!  Stay tuned for the race recap in October, fingers crossed I'm injury free and able to race.  If this works out well, I'm definitely signing up for the lottery to run in the brand new Nike Women's Half in Washington D.C., coming in Spring 2013....

If this is cheering me on, I could run a marathon too!

Read More

Favorite Baking Blogs

Everyone needs to be inspired.  I love baking and am fascinated by some of the amazing cake designs I find on the internet.  But what I find even more interesting - because while I wish I could try to replicate everything I see, who actually has the time, right - is the elegantly and thoughtfully staged food photography that accompany these blogs.  I've read that some of these bloggers have prop closets full of cake plates, cute mugs to accompany a slice of cake on an even cuter plate, etc.  Oh a girl can dream!!  So looking at these sites is pleasing to both my eyes and my brain - and tummy if I actually try the recipe.  Without further ado, here are some of my favorite baking blogs.

SprinkleBakes

I have to say that Heather has the prettiest cakes I've seen on the internet.  I love everything she posts.  And I really love that she doesn't go overboard on cakes made out of fondant - she makes real cakes decorated with real buttercream and edible decorations. And she just came out with a must-buy book that's on its way to my house from Amazon right now!

I Am Baker

I've been reading the I Am Baker blog for awhile now, but it was this Neapolitan Rose Cake that really caught my eye, not only because of the clever piped rose design but because the colors on the outside match the colors on the inside!  Just think of the infinite number of color combinations you could do.  And I like that there are video tutorials for that extra learning opportunity.

And what about this great, and super simple, tutorial on how to make fun flower petals for cupcake toppers.

Bakerella

Queen of the Cake Pop!  While Angie is probably most recognized as a leader of the cakepop trend, and rightfully so as the author of three popular instructional books, her talent extends into all kinds of baked goods.  She is another baker who does not overdo the fondant, which I appreciate.

While the cakepops are cute, I also like her cupcake designs.  She just released this Snow Cone cupcake that is brilliant!

Sweetapolita

This is one of the newer blogs I found when a link was posted by I Am Baker to her Facebook page.  I fell in love with this Pastel Swirl Cake at first sight!  What I like is that not only is Rosie providing video tutorials, but she adds experience notes and helpful hints to each recipe and design - a lessons learned aspect you usually don't get when you are using a cookbook or just download a recipe from the internet.

And check out her famous asparagus cake made out of fondant asparagus - my kind of veggie!

Read More

Come Sail Away

This was another weekend of firsts....my first time skippering a sailboat!  A few months ago, I purchased a 1-day Intro to Sailing course from Chesapeake Sailing School through Groupon.  In just a short amount of time, I came to understand that while sailing may become instinctual after awhile, there is a lot to learn at first! 

During a brief classroom time, we learned all of the parts of the boat.  I knew the basics, like bow/stern and port/starboard, but all of the rigging and names for sides and corners of the sail were new.  Then we had to learn the terminology for the points of sail, or the boat's sailing direction in relation to the wind, and how to read the wind.  The names of everything seemed so unnatural, but our instructor just told us to blame the British.

For our water time, we took out a sturdy 22 foot sailboat (a Tanzer 22 to be precise).  I was amazed at how much hands on instruction we were given.  We were responsible for attaching the main sail to the mast and the jib to the forestay.  Once out on the water, I actually had to get up on top and raise both of the sails!  Then while trying to capture the wind and perform a tack, we took turns manning the jibsheets - letting one be "lazy" and winching the other one down - and steering with the tiller.  Unfortunately, we did not luck out in the wind department.  A lot of the time it barely felt like we were moving, yet you look a quarter mile away and see boats with full sails.  Our instructor explained that it's just how it is sometimes, and that sometimes the breeze can bounce and leave pockets of dull air.

So what's next!....I think I'm going to pursue getting my ASA Sailing 101 Certification so that I can be allowed to take out a basic two-sail boat on my own.  Like a SCUBA certification, I understand that ASA is recognized internationally, so I could rent a boat and sail around a Caribbean island.  How fun would that be??

An osprey guarding her young in a channel marker nest

Read More

Three New Cupcakes!

Tonight I returned to L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Maryland to take one of their recreational pastry classes, taught by Theresa Souther.  The description of this class had me at peanut butter buttercream!  On the agenda were three cupcakes:

• Triple Vanilla Cupcakes
• Chocolate Cupcakes
• Chiffon Cupcakes

 to be paired with

• Milk Chocolate Ganache
• Peanut Butter Buttercream
• Whipped Cream and Strawberries 
• Strawberry and Rhubarb Compote

There are two things that are nice about baking in a classroom setting.  First, you don't have to lift one finger to clean up after yourself!  Second, all of the ingredients for the recipes are measured out for you and organized into trays - one for each cupcake.  I think that the second aspect may be a culprit, tonight, for the chocolate cupcakes both falling in the center and having a gooey middle that wasn't supposed to happen.  Our chef suggested that the baking powder could not have been measured properly because the only other thought for the cave-in was that we overwhipped the batter, but that wasn't the case because we folded the meringue in.  Anyway, regardless of what they looked like, they tasted good, and we could make up for some of the flaws with some frosting craftiness.   

Chiffon Cupcake with Whipped Cream

Triple Vanilla Cupcake with Milk Chocolate Ganache and Peanut Butter Frosting

Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Chiffon Cupcake Filled with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

Here are the recipes for the three batters...

Triple Vanilla Cupcakes (12-16 cupcakes)
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, soft and room temperature
1 cup (8 oz) vanilla sugar*
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Seeds of one vanilla bean
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) cake flour, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk, warm
* To make vanilla sugar, split a vanilla bean in two and submerge in 2 cups of sugar.  Leave the vanilla bean in the sugar for at least 24 hours before using.  It can be made ahead of time (weeks) and stored at room temp.

1. Cream butter and sugar at slow speed until well mixed.  Add eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla extract and seeds.
2. Sift together baking powder, cake flour, and salt.
3. Alternately add dry ingredients and milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
4. Divide batter between prepared cupcake pans (suggest using piping bag).  Fill half full for best results.
5. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and the cake tests clean, 20-22 minutes.

Chocolate Cupcakes (12 cupcakes)
1/2 cup (4 oz) water
1/4 cup (2 oz) vegetable oil
1/2 stick (2 oz) unsalted butter
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 oz semisweet chocolate (less than 70 percent for best flavor)
1 large egg
1/4 cup (2 oz) buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (8 oz) sugar
1 cup (5 oz) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1. Bring water, vegetable oil, butter, and cocoa to a boil in a small saucepan.  Whisk until smooth.  Remove from heat and add chocolate.  Whisk to combine until chocolate is melted and set aside until cool.
2. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. When chocolate is cool, slowly add it to the egg mixture.
5. Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined.
6. Fill lined cupcake pans halfway.  Bake at 375 degrees until the center tests clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Chiffon Cupcakes (10-12 cupcakes)
3 large egg yolks
6 Tbsp (3 oz) water
1/4 cup (2 oz) vegetable oil
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp (5 oz) cake flour
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp (5 oz) sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 Tbsp (1 oz) sugar

1. Separate the 4 eggs into two bowls, one for the whites and one for 3 of the yolks.
2. Using a paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks, water, vegetable oil, lemon zest, and vanilla extract on medium speed until smooth, about 5-7 minutes.
3. While the egg yolk mixture is mixing, sift the cake flour, the largest amount of sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
4. Mix the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until smooth.
5. In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar together until peaks begin to form.  Slowly add the smaller amount of sugar into the whipping whites until the meringue forms stiff peaks.
6. Fold half of the meringue into the yolk-flour mixture.  Fold in the second half of the meringue.
7. Pour batter into lined cupcake molds - filling 2/3 to 3/4 full - and bake at 325 degrees for 22-24 minutes, until the cupcakes bounce back when touched.  Unmold immediately from pan and cool.

Peanut Butter Buttercream (3 cups)
1 cup (8 oz) granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp Karo corn syrup
3 oz strained egg whites
2 1/2 sticks (10 oz) unsalted butter, cut in 1-inch cubes, room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 cup peanut butter, unsweetened or natural preferred

1. Place sugar into a small saucepan.  Add water and mix with your hands to make a slurry, so no pockets of dry sugar exist.  If any sugar sticks to the sides of a pan, be sure to wash the sides down with your fingers or a clean silicone brush.
2. When sugar water comes to a boil, add Karo.  Cook sugar over high heat until it reaches a soft-ball stage (238 degrees). 
3. Begin whipping egg whites in a mixer.
4. Test sugar for soft-ball stage.  To test, take a small sample with a spoon and place in an ice water bath.  Use fingers in the ice water roll the sugar off the spoon and form a ball.  If the ball holds its form on its own outside the water, but can still be squished with your fingers, it is ready.
5. When sugar reaches soft-ball stage and egg whites are foamy, slowly pour sugar over whipping egg whites while still mixing.  Keeping the saucepan edge near the mixing bowl edge, be careful not to let sugar hit the sides of the bowl or the metal whip.
6. Whip egg whites and sugar until cool.  Test the temperature at the bottom of the outside of the mixing bowl.  After the meringue has fully formed, it can be cooled using an ice bath.
7. Decrease speed of mixer, add butter and vanilla extract.  Increase speed of mixer and whip until light and fluffy.
8. Add peanut butter and whip until combined.

Buttercream can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for one week or frozen for one month.  Recondition buttercream by warming in microwave or over steam, then whipping in a mixer.

Read More

Smithsonian National Zoo

I've lived in Washington D.C. for almost 11 years now, and if you can believe it, I went to the Smithsonian National Zoo for the first time just one week ago!  I didn't even go when the baby pandas were there - so shameful!  What is my problem?  It's one of D.C.'s best FREE attractions, after all.  

Here are some of my favorite photographs from the day.  It was a hot day, so the animals were spending a lot of time doing low-energy activities or staying inside.  I, unfortunately, only got to see one of the pandas from a distance, so I will have to do a return trip in the near future to get some more detailed photographs.  I would have to say one of the highlights was the surprise we received when we left the reptile exhibit only to find two huge orangutangs directly above us using the "O-Line" to travel from one monkey house to the other.  I thought I was on the set of a Star Wars movie and Chewbacca was doing a scene!

Read More

DSLR Photography - Learning from the pros

In my quest to become a better photographer, I jumped on the chance to take a class from a professional photographer at the LivingSocial headquarters - Douglas Sonders.  Douglas shoots a wide variety of clients, from commercial ads and corporate bigwigs to celebrities and entertainers, so I thought this would be an interesting perspective on generating eye-catching compositions.  He was also named one of Washington D.C.'s most influential people under 40 by Washington Life Magazine and one of D.C.'s top 25 creatives of 2010.

Here are some interesting examples of his work from his website:

Of course, you never know what participant experience levels you will get when attending these classes, so the first hour is always spent reviewing the basics of photography and answering questions.  Then in the second hour, Douglas took us outside to put photography principles into action, really hammering home what makes a good shot and how to fix common issues.  He then set us free for 15 minutes with a photographic task to take images that tell a story, rather than just a snapshot, and to artistically break the rules we've been taught, if we could (i.e. the rule of thirds).  I was a little tired and inspiration just was not hitting me, so I reverted back to something a photography instructor told me once on a photo safari - when you are not able to come up with a reason for bringing the camera to your face and pushing the shutter button, then just decide on a simple theme: colors or similar objects.  If you looked at the images on my camera right now, you might think I had a foot fettish!  I just sat on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery and took photos of shoes walking by or standing.  Surprisingly, it really tested my photography skills because I had to try to compose the shot while zoomed in on a small moving object.  I can't say that this was my most successful photography work, but it suppose was better than not shooting at all!

During the last part of the class, Douglas went over tips and tricks for difficult shooting conditions, like backlit subjects sitting in front of a window, positioning subjects for the best use of natural light, and using the shutter drag technique for indoor low light situations.  I find that it's always great to take a class from a new instructor because photography, ultimately, is an art form; and, as such, everyone has their way of taking the foundational subject-matter knowledge to the next level, through their extensive experience and personal preference.

For more helpful hints, on photography and photo processing, Douglas regularly posts on his blog.  If you're new to DSLR photography or want to take a course that will give you all the knowledge you need to feel comfortable shooting out of Program mode, I've worked with Okello Dunkley several times, and now he's teaching his affordable workshops all around the country.  Check out the calendar on his website for his Part I, Part II, and Lightroom courses.

Read More

Memorial Day in D.C. - Visiting the War Memorials

Washington D.C. is a perfect city to be on Memorial Day when you want to honor the veterans who fought for our country.  A few days before the holiday weekend, members of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Regiment, also known as The Old Guard, perform the "flags-in" annual ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, where one flag is planted in front of each grave marker - a ritual that has been performed for the past 40 years. 

Whether it's Memorial Day, Veterans Day, or any day, Arlington Cemetery is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike.  The history of the land is very interesting and dates back to George Washington.  The land and the Arlington House mansion that remains atop the hill today once belonged to George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington and step-grandson of George Washington.  The name "Arlington" was selected because it was the name of the Custis family ancestral estate in the Virginia tidewater area.  Upon George Custis' death, ownership of the home transferred to his only child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis, who in June 1831 had married her childhood friend and Alexandria native, Robert E. Lee.  It was in this house in 1961 that Lee made the difficult decision to resign his commission with the U.S. Army when his home state, Virginia, decided to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy.  The desk Lee used to pen his resignation letter remains in Arlington House.

During the Civil War, the land was immediately seized by the Union Army.  Later, ownership was declared by the government due to unpaid property taxes, and the estate was sold to a tax commissioner for government use.  In 1864, as the dead from the Civil War was rapidly growing, a need arose for additional burial plots.  On the grounds of the Arlington House estate, Arlington National Cemetery was established.  After a 12-year legal battle, George Washington Custis Lee, son of Robert E. and Mary, received a favorable U.S. Supreme Court ruling that returned the property to the Custis Lee family because it was confiscated without due process.  At this point, the property was uninhabitable, so the Lee family finally received compensation for their loss when they sold the property to the U.S. Congress for $150,000.  The Arlington House has been restored and is available for tours.

Just down the hill from the mansion is the popular grave site of the Kennedy Family: John F. Kennedy with the Eternal Flame behind him, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and two of their children - Patrick, who died early in his infancy and a stillborn girl.  Located nearby are the graves of his two brothers - Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward (Ted) Kennedy.  As part of the Kennedy memorial, several quotes from his famous Inaugural Address are etched in a long stretch of granite. 

Another popular area within the cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Guarded 24 hours a day by a member of The Old Guard, this tomb contains the remains of an unidentified soldier from World War I.  Directly in front of the white marble sarcophagus are three marble slabs for the unknown soldiers of World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam.  Many tourists spend time at the Tomb of the Unknown because from October-March there is a changing of the guard ritual every hour on the hour, and from April-September it is every half hour.

Members of The Old Guard are volunteers and have passed a very rigorous process that includes memorizing and reciting, verbatim, seven pages of Arlington Cemetery history, physical height and proportion restrictions, lengthy interviews, a two week trial, and a training period culminating in a Tomb Guard Identification Badge test.  Training, weapon and uniform cleaning, and continued studies of cemetery facts are ongoing activities during their service in The Old Guard.  On Memorial Day weekend, it is not uncommon to also see a wreath laying ceremony with a bugler playing taps.

Memorial Day in D.C. also means that it is the annual pilgrimage to our Nation's capitol of Harley-Davidson motorcycle riders, called "Rolling Thunder" - hands down the loudest weekend of the year!
Many of the riders are Veterans of the more recent wars - Vietnam and the first Gulf War and the two theaters of the War on Terror - so the Vietnam Memorial is a popular destination for these men and their families.  The memorial began with controversy when, in 1981, a design contest was held and won by a 21-year old Asian-American student whose concept was to create an opening or a wound in the earth made of polished black gabbro stone to symbolize the great losses of the war.  Many opponents of the design believed that instead of a wound, it looked more like a black mark or a scar on our history.  These negative opinions, coincidentally,  mirrored the polarized sentiments towards the war - then and now.  As a compromise, a bronze statue of three infantry soldiers was added to the memorial grounds.  My visit to the Vietnam Memorial this year was very sad because I encountered a Veteran of the war, dressed in his motorcycle gear, right as he found his friends' and fellow soldiers' names on the wall and started sobbing, slowly dropping to one knee, protected by a circle of his family and friends.  It was a very touching experience.

Fortunately the remaining war memorials in D.C. are not quite as emotional as what I observed at the Vietnam War Memorial.  The newest addition to the National Mall is the World War II memorial, dedicated in 2004.   Situated directly in between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, at the end of the reflecting pool, the design of the memorial is a large fountain flanked by two semi-circles of columns - one for each state, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Also in between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, south of the reflecting pool, is the Korean War Memorial.  In my opinion, this is my least favorite and the creepiest war memorial in the U.S, if not the world.  The 19 stainless steel statues of men on patrol, with their hollowed out eyes, just look haunted - especially at night.  And on the granite reflection wall, the sandblasted photographic faces appear as if they are ghosts of the fallen.

Finally, one of Washington D.C.'s best vantage points for capturing a fantastic photo of the National Mall is at the Iwo Jima/Marine Corps War Memorial across the river in Arlington.  From this spot, one can get the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and U.S. Capitol at a diagonal in the camera frame.  Then, just turn 90 degrees and get a photo of the giant bronze rendering of the iconic "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Joe Rosenthal, taken on February 23, 1945, that depicts five U.S. Marine and one U.S. Navy corpsmen planting the U.S. Flag on the top of Mount Suribachi for a second time.  There's an interesting story behind the first and the second flags, and I would suggest a quick Google search if you want to learn more

I wanted to finish this entry with another quote from JFK's Inaugural Address to sum up my pride in and my appreciation for those who have patriotically sacrificed their lives for our country - whether they were killed while fighting, wounded, or simply had their personal lives and those of their families disrupted by war:

"Let every nation know - whether it wishes us well or ill - that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

Read More