I took a few pictures on my run through the park today. Ran up to the Piper Palm House and back, I think it’s about 2.5 miles–just an easy run.
Entrance (though I took pics towards the end of my run)
Little firehouse near my home
I was happy to get a run in before lunch. My last violin class this morning was canceled due to a field trip, so I got home earlier than usual. The kids LOVED the cookies, and begged for more (I didn’t have unlimited amounts, plus I didn’t want to spoil their lunch.) We played some games today and generally just had a nice time in class, for a pleasant finish to October.
Tomorrow I have a bit of a holiday–parent teacher conferences at one of my schools so no school for me 🙂
My classes at Child of God school have been begging me for a halloween party. Well, I’m not doing that, but I did bake them some pumpkin cookies this afternoon 🙂
Please note my skill with the icing!
Does this make me a great violin teacher, or the greatest violin teacher? I do hear that the 1st graders have a field trip tomorrow and are missing out (just found out a few minutes ago). Oh well, 1st graders! 😉
My legs are resting after a hard run today–I decided to go all out and really push myself as far as speed. I took about 2 minutes off my normal mile pace for three miles. I hope that doesn’t come back to haunt me.
We had all run–(from left to right) Kathryn (Joe’s client), me, Joe, Michelle (Joe’s wife), and Natalie (Joe’s client). We had just finished lunch and were all struggling to move/stay awake. Good times!
This blog post is up, but I am not (hopefully!). After a crazy weekend of social engagements (parties), work, running, a full Monday of teaching (from 9 am to 7:30 pm)…Tuesday is basically a day off. I’ll be adding something in the spring, but today is simply ONE student. And not even that many errands! Just post office, groceries (maybe), prep for the weekend’s wedding, and a three mile run. And some practicing of course.
I’m writing this on Monday night, and I’m utterly exhausted. Sunday night we were invited to a friend’s birthday party, and Monday night was a “Pumpkin party” which I just got home from. It was great–so many foods made of pumpkin (pumpkin enchiladas, for instance!) and pumpkin carving, plus one guest brought a two week old baby…dressed as a pumpkin (so cute!!). I didn’t carve a pumpkin, but some people were doing really intricate things with theirs. I did bring the aforementioned Pumpkin Blondies, which were delicious. It was a nice gathering, but after Sunday night out, Friday night out, etc, I look forward to a night IN. (I also have some tv to catch up on.)
After so many invitations, Chris and I are discussing how we need to host a gathering/party. I’m planning a cookie exchange party in early December (date tba), but that would be small and girls only. We might do something in the late winter/early spring…I feel like as we get into the holiday season our schedules will be too packed to host an event, but maybe after the holidays. We’ll see, I guess–he and I are great “grand idea” people, but not so great on “follow-up” 😉
Sunday was a simple plan: Rehearsal, run 4.5 miles, make two desserts.
The run was exciting–the longest I’ve run since the half-marathon! Of course, it only builds from here. Next weekend is another 5k, (maybe) with a friend, though I’ll run it alone if necessary as I’ve registered already! I want to try to run more of it, less walking…should improve my time.
Desserts: One for each upcoming party. First I made Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Blondies for a “Pumpkin Party” on Monday night. I got the recipe here. The hostess of the party is vegan, so I thought it would be a nice treat to take. That said, even without butter, cow milk, or bacon, these are still delicious!!
Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Blondies
Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
Ingredients
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup almond milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375*F. In a large bowl, combine wet ingredients (pumpkin, oil, sugar, brown sugar, almond milk, vanilla) and stir well. Sift in dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, spices) and stir to combine. Be careful not to overmix. Fold in chopped pecans and chocolate chips (optional). Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and even out the top with a spatula. Bake for 25-28 min. or until toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool before slicing.
Before cutting them...
(I added more brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice after tasting the batter. Additionally, I used MORE pecans and dark chocolate chunks than the recipe states. Use your taste/discretion. Also, the toothpick didn’t come out clean even after an additional 10 minutes so I gave up and decided worse case the middle ones would be gooeier. We’ll see what happens!)
Other cake:
I have wanted to make this recipe for raspberry buttermilk cake for a long time. Finally an opportunity! Chris doesn’t care for raspberries so I decided to substitute strawberries.
Before baking!Out of oven!
Then things took a bad turn. I did not do the toothpick test as the top was super brown…in retrospect, a HUGE mistake. When I flipped the cake, it felt apart, and then I dropped the pan on it and smooshed the cake completely. It felt to bits 🙁
I didn’t take a picture as I was just too upset. I almost started crying! Then I ate a few of the bits, as did Chris. It tasted delicious.
A few hours later, I decided to try again. I made just a few changes–I set the oven just slightly lower so it (hopefully) wouldn’t overbrown. We made SURE it was done–I stuck a variety of toothpicks in various places, and CAREFULLY flipped the cake out. SUCCESS! It held its shape. Hopefully it will taste as good as the last one, or better….
Makes one thin 9-inch cake, which might serve eight people, if you can pry it from first two people’s grasp
1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (56 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (146 grams) plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large (57 grams) egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz)
Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.
At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter (see Note) raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar.
Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.
[Baking time updated, shortened, after so many of you concurred that this cake bakes crazy quickly.]
Note: Directions like “scatter” always scare me. Where’s the science? Here’s what my neuroses taught us: the ones that were downward were almost all swallowed by the batter. The “o” ones stayed empty, like cups. Both were delicious.
Make your own buttermilk: No need to buy buttermilk especially for this or any recipe. Add one teaspoon tablespoon [updated, as an astute reader pointed out that the larger amount is more common] of vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk and let it sit until it clabbers, about 10 minutes. Voila, buttermilk!
Saturday was a busy day! Two weddings in Crystal City, MO, and then a rehearsal with Chamber Project St. Louis for our upcoming concert. Crystal City is about 45 minutes south of where I live. I had never been there, but the name made me think of the Wizard of Oz…not so much. Crystal City was not sparkling, though it did have a nice Panera where we had coffee in between weddings.
(As you can see, I decided to use my retro camera app today again to make everything look a bit fancier!)
The first wedding was for trio, the second for quartet. In between we got coffee at Panera (also known as St. Louis Bread Company here). I have been very careful to pack snacks for this sort of thing as to not be tempted by junk, so I had my coffee and a Luna Bar, which was tasty. We had to bring our instruments in, of course, and several people commented on this. One employee came over to ask questions about violin lessons for his girlfriend! We couldn’t really help him though, since we were 45 minutes south…we just suggested to ask the local music store for recommendations.
It was strange to have two weddings so close to each other. The second wedding was literally right down the street, and we only had 1 hour in between. Great timing!! The location was Grace Presbyterian Church. I only took a couple of pictures here because I was tired.
Chandelier directly over where we were playingIt was a pretty small church
Evidently we were far enough from home that it was worth mentioning!
And after that, another Saturday’s weddings were done. The bulk of “wedding season” is behind us, but there are still plenty left this year–more often it’s just one per weekend rather than two, three, or four.
I had about 30 minutes at home before I had to leave for Ravel and Mozart rehearsal–it was a nice way to spend a Saturday evening.
Friday night was great fun! I went with my friends to this party:
My friend Jen Gartley was chosen as one of St. Louis’s Top Singles for 2010. Congrats Jen! The party was at Lumen Event Space on Locust. I had a good time getting dressed up with my black and silver dress that I hadn’t had a chance to wear since the cruise. I met at my friend Laura’s and she drove us downtown. There was valet parking at the event, and there were stacks of the magazine by the door. We had to buy tickets to get in, but otherwise food and drink were included. I didn’t know what to expect (naturally had all sorts of Sex and the City ideas–was not like that) but I figured people would be pretty dressed up and standing around. That’s basically what happened! There was loud music, some talking we couldn’t hear (where evidently all the “singles” were announced/introduced) and then a “fashion show” which was a bit lame as there was no catwalk or anything like that, and the models weren’t great (have watched too much ANTM I suppose). However, the event was fun overall, and I had a great time hanging out with my girlfriends!
Jen and I--didn't really know where to look, apparently!My friends!
My camera didn’t fit into my bag so I had to depend on friends. There may be more photos later, we’ll see 🙂
