zero to sixty

well, that was mighty convenient of me...

i checked my blog today and saw two new posts-- done by me! except i forgot because i actually predated them weeks ago in anticipation that i wouldn't post because of busy things.

and i was right!

apparently there is no middle ground, i'm either doing virtually nothing or running around with no time to spare.

getting ready for college and careers at work. there is much construction on campus which means i went out on three tours today (two back to back) and two yesterday to learn a new tour route. it's so hot and sticky out by the end.

after work i've been heading over to the gym. where i have made a new friend, they just don't know it yet. said friend has requested gilmore girls at exactly 5 pm everyday so far. i'm grateful.

biking back, showering, eating dinner and then i'm ready for bed...

until i realize that it is only 7:15pm and there are small children that are able to stay up longer than i am.

so i choose to postpone bedtime by a few hours but i feel it slowly creeping up. if it wasn't for c&c on friday, my bedtime would probably be 6pm :)

yuzz-a-ma-tuzz

“My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz. It's the letter I use to spell yuzz-a-ma-tuzz. You'll be sort of surprised what there is to be found once you go beyond 'Z' and start poking around.”

-Dr. Seuss

ps22

i am

back in rochester.

pennsylvania is hogging the world's supply of concrete jersey barriers.

new york has stolen all of the orange cones.

but i made it.

four songs short of perfect cd timing.

and i did not fall asleep.

there may or may not have been some head banging music.

and or disney soundtracks and singing along. but you will never know.

stopped at skeeters bbq for lunch (only stop on the way up). mom was less than pleased with my speed racer no pit stops for gas-- made it all the way up on one tank which should not be possible.

only bad part of the trip? i set off the car alarm in the parking lot of the rochester gas station. good timing.

got my bike locked up, secured food for the week and had a tasty dinner made by kara (grilled portabella mushrooms, salad, corn on the cob & sweet potatoes). YUM.

did i mention that i have great friends?

now it's time for bed i'm exhausted & there is work ahead.

hot eats cool treats

sarah and i made a surprise dinner the other night.

moroccan carrot soup for an appetizer.

followed by eggplant/roasted red pepper and tomato salad and yogurt cucumber sauce with homemade pita chips

and finally zucchini ginger cupcakes with orange ginger cream cheese frosting.

i'm ready for cupcake wars. bring it on.

all food photography by dad.

Zucchini Ginger Cupcakes

For cupcakes

• 1/3 cup crystallized ginger (1 3/4 oz), coarsely chopped
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (2 medium)
• 3/4 cup mild olive oil
• 3/4 cup mild honey
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

For frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
• Special equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) cups; 12 paper liners
• 
  

Bake cupcakes:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin cups with liners.

Pulse crystallized ginger in food processor until finely ground, then add flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, zest, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and pulse until combined.

Whisk together zucchini, oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla in a medium bowl, then stir in flour mixture until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely, 1 hour.

Make frosting:
Beat together frosting ingredients with an electric mixer at high speed until combined well and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.

Frost tops of cooled cupcakes.

Recipe from Epicurious

squeaky clean

my room is squeaky clean, well aside from the pile of stuff that is lined up to take back to school next sunday.

and here is a bonus picture of my oh so attractive sister.

getting some things done this week. reading some library books, going to the gym, seeing friends and enjoying the last week before heading back to work (not that i'm going to mind being at work :) but still). hopefully blogging will start to pick up at that point, i've been so bad about remembering to get on and post when there are so many other places to wander to.

Dear Core, Where are you?

Since being home I've started to get into the habit of going to the gym with my mom in the morning. But let's not kid ourselves, the word habit is used lightly when you're bouncing around states.

Anyway, usually the routine involves some varying amount of time on the elliptical and/or bike and then abs and weights. Today we got yanked while kicking and screaming from our machines invited to go to a core workout class in the studio next door. 30 minutes, sure.

Oh, no. This was intense core strengthening of a core in which I clearly lack.

But it was fun regardless, I'm just going to feel like a jellyfish tomorrow :)

weekend peektures

jorth of fuly

This weekend I:

• Laid in the hammock in the woods
• Slept outside in the tent
• Went to Centennial park for a picnic breakfast followed by a walk around the lake
• Played yahtzee
• Watched an episode of Life involving underwater creatures
• Helped grill some veggies (carrots, zucchini, mushrooms)
• Went to Larriland and picked 13.5 lbs of blueberries and 20 lbs of cherries

Today I:

• Made a Sim family and gave up after 5 minutes because the sim kids were all crying
• Played twelve games of yahtzee against Sarah with a combined score of 2890 points.
• Played 1 game of battleship against Boo once again, while singing "i sunk your battleship"
• Whistled loudly-- I think my family is going to be ready for me to leave :)
• Helped wash three cars (by that I mean someone had the bright idea to let me have control of the hose and I successfully sprayed everyone/everything with water and stood under it to soak my hair :)

I'd call it a successful day/weekend. How'd you spend your fourth of july?

Now it's time to draw a cheeseburger, eat some dinner and possibly fit in a few more games of yahtzee.

Next post will include pictures of the past few days at home, apparently using the macro mode just increases my picture taking enormously.

back in EST

I'm back. In the same state for 17 days which is no small feat considering all of the moving about that i'm doing this summer.

Spent seven days in Sheboygan wandering around, eating ice cream/cheese, cooking, visiting cemeteries, going to church, having picnics, watching movies, swinging, taking walks and visiting surrounding cities/towns on roadtrips.

Friday we drove down to Racine for Anna's wedding which was on Saturday. Saturday morning before the wedding a bunch of us went down to the lake to eat breakfast (kringle!) and hang around. I got up to about my knees in lake Michigan before my legs went numb.

We also had a race to see which table could finish a gallon of milk faster-- it only took about 14 people to finish both gallons in under 30 minutes. Impressive. It did help that breakfast was really sweet.

The picture above of the cousins is missing the other half of them :)

Sunday-Tuesday morning was mentioned in a previous post.

Then Tuesday afternoon we drove to Chicago! Tuesday night was dinner at frontera grill which was amazinggg! Recommended by uncle dan.

I didn't actually eat any of that one (it was raw tuna) but it looked pretty.

Wednesday morning we woke up and went for a quite memorable breakfast at Dunkin Donuts (touchy subject there ;) ) Afterwards we went on a boat tour of the city!

Spent some time wandering around Millenium Park/Grant Park, seeing the bean and the big fountain, walking down the magnificent mile, looking in stores and finally eating dinner at a chicago style pizza place.

Left Chicago yesterday morning after a stop for almond croissants along the river walk. It took 12 hours with a stop for lunch and the time change. Got home around 10 last night and passed out soon afterwards.

Now we're around home for the weekend, still deciding about fourth of july plans.. there is talk about going down to the mall for it or the lakefront, we'll see. More unpacking to do this week as well as catching up with some stuff that has been put on hold for a while :)