Homemade Root Beer. Yum yum yum.

Along with plenty of homebrew beer, we're planning to have a non-alcoholic homebrew of sorts at the wedding: root beer!  We'd like to make sure to have a non-alcoholic drink for any of the kiddos, or those of us still kids at heart.  As what we've done recently with everything we're doing "DIY style," we decided to do a practice run of the root beer.  SUPER EASY.  Root beer does not have to ferment, so it was basically the process of mixing all ingredients in keg, connecting the CO2, allow to pressurize, & enjoy.

We decided to go with force carbonation (once liquid mixture is in the keg, using a CO2 tank hooked to the keg & force the CO2 into the liquid - wala! carbonation) - the other option is to carbonate using champagne yeast, which runs very two important risks: a slight amount of alcohol present in the liquid (um, this defeats our purpose for having root beer) & creating too much pressure in the bottles, leading to sticky messy exploding bottles.  No thanks.  We're planning to bottle the root beer for the wedding, so to ease the process of bottling already carbonated root beer from a keg (picture lots of foam spilling all over the place), Steve bought a handy dandy little object that we hook up to the keg which allows one to bottle the carbonated liquid without all the foam.  I don't know what the object looks like, the name of it, or how it works, but when we get to that process, I'll post pictures.  All I know is it allows you to bottle the bubbly stuff without filling the bottle entirely with foam.  Pretty cool.

Of course, after our trial run root beer was kegged, we decided to make root beer floats for dessert.  Oh my, so delicious.  The root beer is not the sugary sweet, watery stuff you get at the store.  It's sweet with a nice hint of spiciness & a yummy, creamy texture.  Real root beer.  :)

I'm edumacated!

"Well gee, that there is a mighty fine looking piece of paper ya got yourself sitting there on that there table over yonder."

"Thank you kindly.  I now join the ranks of only 9.4% of the United States population 25 years & older that hold a graduate degree.  My brain is full of worldy knowledge & I now face a boat load of debt.  And I'm unemployed."

"But that there is one mighty fine looking piece of paper."

"Yes, yes it is."

"I especially like the gold filigree."

*Sigh*

Workouts

I guess my knee has heeled - I haven't felt any tightness recently.  Maybe just another thing about getting older...the occasional ache or pain?

Sun
Snowshoeing

Mon
Rest day

Tues
30 min "cycling class" (self-taught cycling on a stationary bike)
PowerFlex
20 min yoga DVD

Wed
Cycling class X 2 (I took the morning cycling class & then was asked by the noon cycling instructor to sub due to a sick kiddo)

Thurs
Cycling class
PowerFlex

Fri
Cycling class
Run 25 min w/dogs & Steve at a new gravel trail outside of town
Zumba

The rest of the story...

Map for Cutler Draw, the groomed snowshoe/xcountry ski place that allows dogs.  Look closely at the names...

Gidget LOVES snow

One of my favorite pictures of Brewer & me

Steve & sun dappling through the trees

Sun warming the rocks

Guinness & his buddy Steve

Beauty.  Looking into Mutt Meadows

"Hey!  Whadja find?!" (Gidget & Brewer)

This is what happens when you try to capture a picture of Brewer while he's running toward you.

"Wheeeee!  I LOVE SNOW!" (Gidget)

Gidget & her buddy Chick

Cross country skiing/Snowshoeing

On January 2, Steve & I spent a wonderful afternoon at our favorite ski/snowshoe place with the dogs.  Before I continue with the rest of the pictures, please enjoy the hilarity of Brewer jumping for snowballs...

And there you have it...  Brewer jumping like his legs are pogo sticks.

Workouts

I'm unofficially rehabbing a tight "something's-not-quite-right" right knee, so I've tried to stay off running.  I've been working out so much recently that I'm not sure if running is the issue, but it's the most high-impact of everything I do, so I figured it was a good place to start.  The hiatus didn't last long & I ran on Saturday.  The knee is still slightly tight; it's possible it came about due to my sudden increase in working out.

Wed
Cycling class
(Nap thrown in the mix because I had gotten up 4:30 am to volunteer for the free community pancake breakfast put on by the Y)
Elliptical 30 min
Zumba class

Thurs
Elliptical 35 min
Cycling class
PowerFlex

Fri
Cycling class
Elliptical 40 min
Zumba

Sat
*Running hiatus broken*
Run 5K
3X 15 30# db swings, 10 dips, 5 back ext
Impromptu 45 min run in the afternoon

Banana syrup(!?) and Tiramisu

I was at the store recently & happened upon this:

Banana syrup??  I was skeptical at first, but I read the ingredients list: white grape juice concentrate, banana puree, and xanthan gum (thickener).  I love bananas & thought this stuff would be excellent on pancakes (or ice cream!).  So I purchased said banana syrup, excitedly ran home, & the next morning whipped up some pancakes to try with banana syrup.  Below is the final product:

It was delicious!  I heated up the syrup & poured it over the pancakes, topping off with some walnuts.  Very tasty & a great way to add a lil' something different.

My next adventure was tiramisu for a beer-tasting party at a friend's house.  I found this recipe & decided to give it a go.  Steve had the excellent idea of replacing the coffee with his recently kegged homebrew stout - what an excellent idea!  We were going to a beer-tasting, so it was only appropriate to bring a beer-inspired dessert.  I also managed to find mascarpone & lady fingers at Safeway.  In our podunk town of Sheridan, WY, I was mighty surprised.  Especially for the mascarpone find.  A few pictures from the making (of course I forgot to take a picture of the final product, although it looked like the exact same as the website):

I think the lady fingers kind of look like fat worms in the top picture.

Close-up of second layer of ladyfingers before last topping of the mascarpone mixture (which, by the by, is de.li.cious.)

As our "kids," the pups get to help clean the beaters every so often.

Yum yum yum.

Overall, I was very happy with the recipe.  Guilty side note:  I ended up doubling the amount of the cream mixture but used the same size pan.  :)  Let's just say I didn't feel the first layer was quite enough, so I kept adding more until I had to make a whole other batch of the cream.  Also, you'll see I was using a springform pan.  Not for any particular reason other than I don't have any baking dishes.  Note to self: put baking dishes on wedding registry.

The only complaint I have stems from the lady fingers & I'm almost 99.9% positive the issue came from the quality of lady fingers.  I think they weren't great quality - they already looked wilted &; pathetic in the packaging.  Instead of blending seamlessly with the cream mixture, they kind of tasted like soggy cake & I barely dipped them in the stout/Irish cream mixture.  They definitely should not have tasted as soggy as they did after such a quick dip.  I'm fairly certain a better quality lady finger - one a bit drier & perhaps less "puffy" - would do the trick.

However, this dessert was very easy to make, and that, I like.

Workouts

Sun
Rest

Mon
Run 0.75 mi to Y
Run 2 mi on dreadmill
Cycling class
Run 0.75 mi home
Zumba
~I was a very tired lady at the end of the day...~

Tues
Snowshoeing!  Only for about an hour, but it was an absolutely lovely day
PowerFlex

I'm SO EXCITED to see that one of our local sports stores (the same store that puts on the Bighorn Trail Run) will be having a snowshoe race on February 27.**  Now the question is...do I sign up for the 5K or 10K??  Mind you, I've never done a snowshoe race before & even with all the snowshoe "running" I've been doing recently, it's only within the 1-2 mi range.  My good angel (or maybe in this case it's my naughty angel?) immediately says "Yes!  10K!  Sign up for the 10K!  Challenge challenge challenge!"  The other angel is quietly whispering "6.2 miles on snowshoes?  Are you outta your f***ing mind?!  Stick with the 5K, it will be tough enough."

Most of it will depend on the trails.  As you've read in my recent posts, I was only able to do short bursts of running while on snowshoes.  Today, I was out snowshoeing with the pups, but the trails have become much more packed down due to higher volume of traffic & warmer weather.  I noticed I was able to run slowly for much longer periods of time on the packed trails.  Ah, decisions, decisions...

**Note:  If you happened to go to the race calendar website I posted above, you may have noticed the incredibly odd name they picked.  The local sports store is called The Sports Stop, but they created this race calendar website & called it WASP Wyoming.  Oops.  Um, not sure who decided on the acronym or name, but let's just say they probably would not be able to get away with such a name in any other state...  Welcome to Wyoming.

Drive home

The drive home from Sioux Falls after Christmas were some of the worst roads we'd experienced.  It was slow going & dangerous.  Luckily we made it home safe, but here are a few pictures I snapped along the way.

These hay bales are not small...and they're completely drifted in.

The dogs trying to stay comfortable.

Slow going...

Poor guy drove most of the trip - he wasn't too happy with the terrible conditions.

After the constant snowstorms in Sioux Falls, we hadn't seen the sun in days.  I was ecstatic when the sun began peeking through the clouds!

The roads were terrible, but I had to smile when the sun came out.

Rainbow Cupcakes, take two

As you might recall, I attempted rainbow cupcakes a few weeks ago with little success.  I decided to give them another go for a New Year's party.  Again, I used this batter recipe, but also tried the frosting recipe.  As you can see below, even trying a new technique with the batter (completely covering the previous layer), they didn't turn out as it shows on the website.  However, they did turn out better looking than the last round. The frosting, on the other hand, was a smashing success!  To keep the frosting festive, I followed the frosting technique from here.  Everyone at the party loved the look of the cupcakes.  I'm not sure if I'll continue trying rainbow batter, but the frosting is definitely to be used again.

Workouts

I have plenty of pictures to post, just have not gotten around to it.  Soon...

Tues
Run 5K
PowerFlex class (a free weights strength training class I instruct)

Wed
Cycling class
Zumba

Thurs
Cycling class
Run 400M wu, 4X400M, 400M cd
PowerFlex

Fri
Cycling class
3X 12 dips, 75 squats
Zumba

Sat
Snowshoeing!

Workouts

Fri
3 mi run w/Steve

Sat
Snowshoeing w/Steve (x-country skiing) & the pups...pictures to follow

Sun
Rest


Mon
Cycling class
Zumba!  I'm training into it so I can someday instruct it

Sioux Falls Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas in Sioux Falls this year.  We left Sheridan earlier than expected due to incoming storms (stayed overnight at my parent's house a little less than halfway) & stayed later due to storms.  They received over 16" snow & we enjoyed every minute of it.

Steve taking off on his skis.  We didn't notice Brewer in the picture until we were looking back at them later.

Elf Ninja!  It was cold

Brewer & Gidget wrestling

Guinness moments before going down the slide (he went down the slide on the right of the picture, not the circular slide) & Steve doing a "sweet jump" on some playground equipment

New Years & Workouts

I'm not one for New Years resolutions - I never follow through with them, so why bother?  I think it's great if someone sets new goals for themselves, but working at a gym, it's apparent the failure rate of New Years resolutions.  It's sad, but true.  Everyone vows - no, swears - they'll get healthier.  The gym becomes absolute mayhem.  The early morning hours & evening hours (esp between 4-6 pm) are generally busier times, but after January 1, they become insane.  For those that workout on a regular basis, it is incredibly frustrating.  We show up at our regular times to workout, only to find the classes full & machines taken.  Give or take 1-2 months & everything begins to quiet down.  I wish people would make resolutions & stick to them or not make them at all.  I don't mind the gym being busy & will adjust my workout schedule if it were to be like that permanently (which would be great!)....but the chaos created with "Resolution Warriors" is annoying.

I have not planned any New Years resolutions, but instead continue to work on making a life together with Steve.  In my free time (at this point, I sadly have A LOT of free time), I'm attempting to work on my kitchen skills - baking & cooking.  *Gasp!*  You heard it folks.  I want to become comfortable with whipping up a yummy homemade meal without thought.  Part of this stems from a desire to eat from a more natural menu.  The key word here is homemade.  Just knowing how it was made & controlling what goes into the dish makes it that much healthier for you.  I would like to get more into menu planning so we always have a homemade meal for dinner & leftovers for lunch.  With today's crazy society & busy lives, it's so often we won't plan anything for dinner & by the time we're ready to eat, we're reaching for the same meals over & over; I want us to have more variety.  Variety is the spice of life, after all.  It's a work in progress, folks.

My kitchen skills have improved exponentially & I noticed the best thing in the kitchen is to be confident & comfortable.  I don't mind reading a recipe for baking, but when it comes to cooking, I prefer to read the recipe for a general idea of directions & then take off on my own.  If I'm too busy walking back & forth to read the recipe, measure ingredients, re-read the recipe, & so on, I get too stressed & it all goes to hell.  Instead, I let the food take over & go with the flow.

Here's to a new year of continued prosperity (a job would help, but at least we're prosperous in love), health & happiness!!  And continued "fun" & adventures in the kitchen.


Thurs
50 min self-taught "cycling class" (No classes until the New Year, so I hopped on an upright bike at the gym & did my own)  :)
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Jumping pull-ups & dips