A Rafter of...Turkeys?

My sister, Sara recently visited me for a long weekend and she brought me a very festive surprise for November - a rafter of turkeys!! You may be wondering what the heck a rafter of turkeys is, and I'm not being weird. A group of turkeys is technically a rafter, like a herd of sheep or a gaggle of geese. Here's my cute rafter:

They were so cute I almost couldn't eat them. HAHA. Like that could happen, of COURSE I ate them. My people would be proud. Our learning what a rafter was took place while we were all out to dinner and it involved some adult bev's, an i-phone and lots of laughter.

I thought this thoughtful gift was very apt with Thanksgiving fast approaching. Liang and I are planning a joint effort on a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal, which I'm sure will be posted whether on here or on our joint blog, Nerds with Aprons.
Well, with that big meal soon to occur I have been trying to scurry and get all my other little things done so I don't feel SO overwhelmed :) This included making a shopping trip to Costco to get items to make a trail mix for snacks and lunches. Yes, I know I could buy a bunch of pre-mixed stuff. And yes, I know they're just as available at Costco as the individual ingredients. However, I actually have a great time putting my own mix together and changing it up. I doubt whether it's healthier (except maybe lower in sodium depending on what I add into it) but it makes me feel good. So I do it. This time I made 4 batches of my homemade granola, which I have put in earlier posts. I did omit the nuts in the recipe since I'd be adding lots of them into the trail mix. After shopping for almost, peanuts, M&Ms (everyone needs a little chocolate in their lives), and raisins I set up my assembly line. I lined up the nuts with a 1 oz serving scoop (aka shot glass), a spoon for the granola, digital scale, and a small scoop for the candy. I grabbed my snack bags and I was ready to start the magic. With each snack bag of trail mix I created with 1 serving of each ingredient, and ended up with 4 3/4 oz trail mix bags. Since I was using a scale to be consistent I could rely on my math and was able to calculate that with the total cost of the ingredients and the 44 trail mix bags I ended up with, each only cost 76 cents! David kept commenting on how happy I looked, and I had to then explain how much FUN I find putting things like this together and figuring out the breakdown. I know, I'm odd. I'm okay with it :)

Top Restaurant Picks

Spice Island – Burmese fare, Oakland area

·         Liang and I were walking around the Oakland area a little while ago and decided that it was time to introduce me to Spice Island. I had never been there but she had told me a lot about it. I was intrigued to try some new things, but we couldn’t decide on one dish to order. So, instead we ordered lunch size dishes of multiple things. One I want to make note of is the Mango Pork – WOW that was delicious. The Mahinga soup (fish soup)  was good, and we also got some samosas and a garden salad. Everything was tasty, serving sizes were nice. This was a neat little place to eat at and I definitely recommend them.

The Porch – Bistro style place, Oakland

·         David and I came to first eat at this place a while ago when after church we had an hour to kill before the library opened and it was really cold out. Seeing this new place we thought it was a fancy coffee shop so we figured it’d be nice to go get some hot chocolate while we wait. We walked in and it was so homey and the waitstaff so friendly we just couldn’t leave once we realized it was a restaurant. Their crispy taters and curried ketchup was delicious. Normally I hate ketchup, but this was new and very different. While it’s a little pricey for brunch, the dinner prices are good for dinner sized entrees that you get. If you’re looking for a nice night out I recommend this place for sure, and if you just want to do brunch it’s still good but it’s a little more expensive.

Running for My Life - Well That's What It Feels Like

New Years is the time for people to make resolutions for the next 12 months. For the most part I don’t make them, but this year my mom decided what our family needed was some bonding. How she put together bonding and a half marathon I will never figure out. In my mind I couldn’t reconcile 13.1 miles to family togetherness. The image that was occupying my mind was me dying and then being trampled to death by a horde of strangers. I felt like this was the more likely outcome. However, I had to admit I could use some positive changes in regards to my workout schedule (which was non-existent) and my physique, so I committed to the race. 13.1 miles – it takes me forever to drive that in my car around the city. I knew I wasn’t a Spring chicken anymore; long gone were the days where I could run forever and not feel a thing. This was going to be painful, but I kept my goals in the forefront of my mind. I signed myself and Sara up for a 5K race for the end of April just to prepare so we knew what a race day was like. I diligently followed a prescribed workout for a beginner that I found online. I never could have gotten through it if Liang hadn’t signed up for the Pittsburgh half marathon and made it possible for us to train together. She got me to run with her out in the snow and freezing temperatures, other nights I had to force myself down to our buildings workout room and put myself at the mercy of an unforgiving treadmill. I sweat a lot. Three months went by and my practice 5K race was before me. I was excited and nervous, but David and Sara were good sports and got up early to go. I thought it was going well until I thought I was on the last stretch and I put everything I had into crossing what I thought was the finish line. I wasn’t the only one to do so, but an entirely too entertained volunteer waved us on to show us we had some pavement to pound yet. Eventually we crossed that line, but I was much more cross by time I did than if it had ended where I thought it should have. Poor David tried so hard to get a picture of me, but as I was surrounded by some teenage boys when I ran by he just couldn’t get a good shot. Sara looked good though.
I finished and was content with my time, but I definitely wanted to improve before the half marathon. Liang and I increased our run lengths steadily, but due to schedule conflicts we never got past doing 11 miles. Somewhere along this journey I noticed a very pleasant side effect of all this hard work and dedication – I was finally losing weight!
 
By time the half marathon snuck up on me I had managed to shed a whopping 14 lbs. It goes without saying that I was pretty happy with myself. However, when race day did appear I found myself facing a challenge I wasn’t sure I was up to. It didn’t matter though, I was going to finish that race without walking if it killed me. I didn’t care about time or who I could beat. At this point the race had become an opponent in and of itself – I was going to finish. I started off with that mindset and it worked well – I had the sun shining down on me, the morning was beautiful aside from the fact I was in the middle of a mob of people that if startled could easily trample me to death. I tried to ignore that thought. Around mile 8 I felt my mind and body shift into a sort of autopilot and my mind was able to wander. Then around mile 11 I hit a wall. Not a literal wall, but it may as well have been. Every step further I took my body began to slow down a bit and made it that much more difficult to continue forward. Little by little I felt my body protest against what I was aiming to complete. So, again when I thought I was coming up to the finish line I got happy and excited and picked up my pace as much as I could. Then it seemed as if this chute to the finish line would last forever I realized I again fell for the illusion that the race was over before it actually ended. Well, I couldn’t slow down at this point so by time I reached the ACTUAL finish line I literally felt like my legs had no bones. But I had done it! 2 hours and 20 minutes after the start I found myself awkwardly trying to keep walking to keep from being run over by other runners who were coming across the finish line.
To the best of my knowledge never in my sports playing career had I ever sweat so much that my entire body was crusted in a layer of salt. That day I was. But I do have to admit it was humbling to realize that in the time it took me to run my 13 miles there were marathoners who did twice the distance in the same time. Those people are amazing! I was proud to have finished no matter the comparison, but not too proud to ask my dad to drive me back to their house since it didn’t seem like I was going to regain the normal use of my legs or feet for a while. David was proud of my accomplishment, but sadly he couldn’t join me so I headed back to my parents house to recover and celebrate with them.

It took me over a month to truly recover, and I honestly think it was even more like nearly 2 months. I had also signed up for a 5K in June as a sort of wind down race, and I even got Liang and my friend Serah to run in it as well. It was a fun race for a good cause, but I was disappointed that I ended up with about the same time as my first 5K race. It was probably since I didn’t do much training while I was recovering, but still! Ha ha I’m ridiculous, I know. But now I was really starting to see some physical change that I liked and I was feeling good. Then Liang suggested The Great Race 10K in Pittsburgh, and of course I was in for it. We kept running together when we could on weekends and during the week days I would either get up before work and run a 2.5 mile route or do it at night after work. We didn’t actually get in too many longer runs, in fact I don’t think we peaked over 4 miles at a time, but I was happy doing what we were doing so I didn’t change anything. It was fun and I was happy with my time J and I even managed NOT to get tricked into thinking we were finishing before we actually were. I had no idea how far we had gone at any point in the race so towards the end I just ignored when everyone started running faster until the crowds started getting bigger and bigger. Either way I finished and was happily done with my 6.25 miles in 54 minutes and 24 seconds. Certainly not a marathoner’s time, but I am completely okay with that! Liang excelled as well and we both are happy with our accomplishment. She was able to beat her last 10K race time so I tip my cap to her. She actually wrote a very nice post about this race if you are interested at The Great Race
In all I’ve been able to lose weight I wanted to and got to spend a lot of time with my best friend! Winning!

After the race I was talking with my mom and she thought it would be a blast to maybe try a Zombie 5k obstacle course next year, then I would truly be running for my life!...

Fall ... and Mulled Cider!

Growing up, I remember drinking cider during the fall especially around Thanksgiving. Although, we didn’t drink it as much as other people did, which I find surprising since I grew up near apple orchards. But that’s really here nor there. I enjoy cider, but David really enjoys cider, especially if he gets to mix it with some whiskey. I know a lot of people drink it around Halloween and Thanksgiving so I thought this year I would make some mulled cider to change things up a bit and get into the swing of autumn.

FUN FACT: cinnamon dates back to 2,000 B.C., where it was imported from Egypt to China and was so highly prized that it was regarded as a gift fit for monarchs.

• 8 c Apple Cider
• 1 Orange, cut into 1/4" slices
• 3 Cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice or 2 whole allspice berries
• 1 tbsp cloves
• 2 whole star anise (optional)
• 1" piece ginger cut into coin sized slices
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• *optional spiced rum

1. Place cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, and whole allspice if using it. Toast on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 minutes or until they become fragrant.
2. Add orange slices, ginger, cider/juice, and sugar.
3. Bring to boil for 5 minutes.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain cider before serving. For a Spiked version, add a shot of spiced rum to each glass. Either way, enjoy!

Nothing is better than when the weather starts getting crisp to make some mulled cider and sip it. It. Is. Awesome. However, I wouldn't want to get paid in cinnamon...

Top Restaurant Picks

The Green Pepper - Korean fare, Squirrel Hill area

We went on the day there was only the buffet offered, but I think that worked out well. There were tons of different dishes that I could try. It was $20 a person, but that included tax, tip, and all drinks. It was a nice place and I was able to try many different Korean dishes, so I did my best to try all the dishes I could! In all I enjoyed the experience and the food, and we walked away very full and happy with the friendly restaurant. Aside from it being a little expensive (unless you can eat a lot!) and you like or want to try Korean food,  I recommend this place :)

Yinzburg BBQ - Southern BBQ, Shadyside area

I had heard good things about this place, but I hadn't made it over there. Something about BBQ here didn't excite me - probably because in my mind I always compare it to my mind blowing experience in Texas. Liang explained that the owner had grown up in the South and now he wanted to make BBQ like he remembered from his youth. So, we got there and ordered the ribs, brisket and pulled pork along with some collard greens. All the sauces were tasty, depending on your preferences. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that I like collard greens, well at least theirs. The final verdict is that its the best BBQ I've had in the burg! If you're in a rut or in the winter blues, you really should give this place a shot.

Stories I'm Hooked On

As of late, I am completely and utterly hooked on the Mary Russell book series by Laurie R. King. Why you ask? Because I am apparently a sucker for a strong female lead who is stubborn, adventurous and speaks her mind. Especially if the author doesn't make them swoon too often. King excels in writing this story, masterfully blending together the classic view of Sherlock and a somewhat changed Sherlock in retirement. Inserting a, albeit unique, relationship into his life and making her just as intriguing as Sherlock himself. I find myself wanting to know more about Mary, their relationship, but most of all - their mysteries! I have Liang to thank for introducing me to this wonderful storyline. Excellent choice of books Liang! The characters are always interesting and the dynamic between Holmes and Mary is always entertaining. How King writes Mary's character actually reminds me of a different book series that I cherish. Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series displays a similar type of main character, except in this series it also involves her entire family in their adventures!

A second story line that I am hooked on is the popular PBS show, Sherlock. I have always loved the character Sherlock Holmes and this show portrays it in a slightly different light and I enjoy the new spin on him. My only complaint is that there are only a few episodes every season :(
I find myself frustrated and wanting more every time I watch an episode. Anyone else feel like they are unnecessarily teasing us and building up the next season too much?

Anyways, you should try both of these if you haven't already because both are top notch entertainment. Any suggestions of other books that are great?

Summer of Fun

So, after David and Liang's encouragement I am going to try once again to keep up with this blog. Buckle up! Earlier this year Sara and I decided that since we couldn't go away for a vacation that we would try to do several day trips instead. Then I thought it'd be nice to put up all the interesting things that we saw and did!

We kicked off the summer by first going to The Wilds. This is an animal conservation park in Cumberland, Ohio. They offer several safari's you can go on to view the parks animals. We decided the most worthy adventure for the kick-off for our summer would be to go on the horseback safari. Unfortunately, we had an hour to kill before our tour would leave. So, in true adventurer style we went up to the overlook and bought some wine and sipped on it while viewing the breathtaking view of the landscape.

When our tour finally left we had a grand time viewing the park and its animals from a distance. It was an interesting and we got to see all kinds of things.

We also tried something out of character for ourselves - we went spelunking! There are some great caverns in Hopwood, Pennsylvania called Laurel Caverns. There were some pretty impressive views from the mountain top.

There wasn't really any way to get pictures in the caves, but let me tell you - we were brave and went to the very bottom of the cave, even taking the hard routes! We got wet, sandy, chilly, and were completely blind and for the most part stuck in small holes while we wriggled our way through. But it was a blast and we got through it.

We did some hiking at different state parks. Some were more interesting than others, but all were great fun. We picnicked at West Branch State Park after some hiking at a different park and then enjoyed some kayaking on the lake. Unfortunately, they only had doubles kayaks and it is NOT the same as a single. We paddled for 30 minutes and made it about 100 yards from where we started. Turns out we needed to work together and have rhythm. We had neither. Oh well. We still enjoyed the kayaking and later tried out our luck on the Cuyahoga River. We had a lot better odds with this trip, mostly due to the little (but present) current in the river.

One particular trip we did that I enjoyed a great deal was our picnic at Stan Hywet before watching the Merchant of Venice play in the park. It was quite the experience to watch a Shakespeare play in true style. We picked up some sushi from Wasabi and went on our way to Stan Hywet and enjoyed some tasty wine and food before sitting through a wonderfully delivered play. We couldn't take pictures during the play of course, but it was a pretty awesome performance. Stan Hywet is a gorgeous place to go visit even if you just want to walk some pretty grounds - I definitely recommend it.

 Too soon I realized summer was over! Looking back it was a pretty wild and interesting ride that we enjoyed. The only downside was that while I was enjoying the summer months, David had to continue his clinical rotations so he couldn't join us on these trips. Maybe next year. :) Actually, Maine sounds pretty neat ...