Williams Sonoma Spiced Pumpkin Cake

As promised I'm back with the cake recipe that I made on Sunday.  So if you needed a last minute dessert idea, this is perfect.  You can make this as either a sheet cake, cupcakes, or a round layer cake like I did.  The recipe calls for a special "jack o lantern" pan, but I'm not fancy enough to have one of those.  Ok, on with it!

Pumpkin Spice cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Cake:
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour (I used cake flour)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp., ground allspice
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
10 Tbsp. (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 1/4 granulated sugar
3 eggs
2/3 c. milk
1 1/4 c. pumpkin puree
2/3 c. chopped, toasted walnuts (I did not add these to mine)
1/2 c. diced, crystalized ginger (my favorite!)

Frosting: (I doubled this since I was making a layer cake and would need more)
8 oz. cream cheese
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. pumpkin puree (I only added this to 1/4 of the frosting and used it for the filling)

Make sure all your ingredients are room temp. Pre-heat oven to 325. Grease and line preferred cake pans.

To make the cake, combine all the dry ingredients and sift into a bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices), and set side

With an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy and smooth (a couple minutes).  Add in both sugars and continue to beat until fluffy.  Add in eggs one at a time and mix well.

Reduce speed and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk (begin and end with flour).  Scrape down the sides as needed.  Beat until just incorporated, then with a spatula fold in the walnuts (optional) and crystallized ginger.

Divide the batter into preferred pans and bake until done (when a toothpick comes out clean when stuck in the center, or when you touch the top lightly and it "springs" back).  Set on a rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting/filling. With an electric mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add in the butter and beat until combined.  Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy. 

If making a layer cake, set aside about 1 c. of the plain icing, and add in your pumpkin puree and use that for the filling (see picture below).

Once the cake is cooled, remove from the pan, and frost with your cream cheese icing.

pumpkin cream cheese in the middle, yum!

I also should note, that this recipe made enough for two 6 inch cake pans, and about 9 cupcakes, and since I doubled my frosting, I had plenty for both the cake and cupcakes as well.  Also, despite the long ingredient list, this is actually really easy/simple to make :)


Enjoy!

the BEST movie, a tasty treat, and the best decision I've made in a long time

Hey guys, happy Tuesday!  I’m in an extra good mood this week because it’s a short work week (off tomorrow at 1pm yea!), and it happens to be my favorite “food” holiday ever!  I have always said, if I could choose my last meal, it would be Thanksgiving food.  There is no moderation folks, bring on the turkey and stuffing!  At least I’ll be running a turkey trot that morning so I wont feel like a complete slob :)

 Ok, I know I’m late to this party, because I’m pretty sure everyone in the world saw it on opening day, but you guys, have you seen the new Hunger Games movie??  Jake and I went last Saturday and whoa, I love it!  I loved the first movie, but Catching Fire was awesome.  Everyone should go see it…and take me with you so I can watch it again. 

life is too short not to eat movie theatre popcorn....but I did have a salad for dinner, that cancels it out right?!

Sunday some friends got together for dinner, and I was in charge of dessert.  We have 3 friends who celebrate their birthdays in November so I made a cake.  You don’t have to twist my arm too much to get me to bake something, and I made a Spiced Pumpkin cake with pumpkin cream cheese filling and cream cheese frosting.  It was so good!  I’m going to post up the recipe tomorrow, because it would be the perfect Thanksgiving dessert (or anytime dessert), so if you need a last minute idea, come back tomorrow for the recipe.

3 candles for 3 birthdays

  

This post is super random, so if you’ve made it this far, thanks.  I’ll end it with this, I’m just going to tell you that you must go buy this.  It’s a new-to-me item I found at the grocery store and holy smokes is it good.  I’m trying to pace myself so I don’t eat it by the spoonful, but it’s getting tough….I might need a new jar by the end of the week 

Alright friends, have a great evening - talk to you tomorrow!

Recipe Friday!

It's Friday!!!!

and to celebrate I'm going to post up my recipes from last weekend.  So if you're looking for something tasty to make this weekend, may I suggest this soup and pie?

Black Bean and Sausage Soup (via Spark Recipes)

*I made a few adjustments, but the original is in the link above.  Double the recipe if you want leftovers.

1 med. onion, chopped (Slapchop optional - thanks Nichole! :)

2 large carrots - peeled and chopped

2 stalks of celery - chopped

2 garlic cloves (which I forgot!  oops!)

1/2 tsp dried herbs (oregano, basil, whatever you want)

2 medium sweet potatoes - peeled and chopped

2 cups beef or chicken broth (I used Swanson Organic Chicken broth, plus added 1 cup of water)

1 can diced tomatoes (don't drain!)

4-6 oz lean kielbasa sausage - cubed (I used Jenny O Turkey sausage)

2 cans beans (I used a combo of black and kidney beans because I'm an idiot and forgot mine at home and used whatever Nichole and Nathan had, but you can use whatever beans you want)

1. Heat a large soup pot with cooking spray.  Add onion, carrot and celery; cook on med. heat until the veggies start to soften.

2. Add in garlic, herbs, potatoes, broth and tomatoes; heat until boiling.  Stir in the sausage and simmer for a half hour.

3. Drain and rinse the beans.  Add to soup and heat until hot (or however long you want, it gets better as it sits)

4. Serve!  Preferably with homemade bread, salad and a side of friends :)....wait, that makes me sound like a cannibal....

French Apple Pie (via King Arthur Flour )

I technically got this recipe from my King Arthur cookbook, but wanted to link so you can make it too!  I got this cookbook for Christmas a few years ago from my brother and its one of the best gifts I've received.  I love all the recipes I've tried from it - it never fails and is my go-to cookbook for pretty much everything!

Crust - I was lazy and for the sake of convenience I didn't make the crust (gasp!), and used a premade one, but if you have the time I highly suggest a homemade crust to a store bought.

Filling

8 c. peeled, cored, and sliced apples ( I used Cortlands, but any baking apple works)

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1t. cinnamon & 1/4t. nutmeg (use your on taste here, I never measure these things, I just add what I want)

Topping

1 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 cup cold butter (hey, I never said this was healthy!)

1. To make the crust - click the link and follow the directions :)  Or just roll out your pre-made crust and lay it in your pie pan

2. To make the filling, mix your apples, sugar, flour and spices in a large bowl; pour them into prepared pie pan.

3. For the topping, cut up the cold butter into small cubes and mix it into the flour and sugar with a fork or your hands until it forms small, pea-size lumps. Spread the mixture evenly over the apples.

4. Place the pie pan on a baking sheet (to catch any drips) in a 425 degrees for 15 min. then reduce the heat to 35 degrees and bake for an additional 30 min.   Let the pie cool down a bit then serve!

training update

So even though I’m going to make an effort to talk about other things, this is still a running blog so I wanted to write a quick training update.

Things have been plugging along.  I guess I haven’t seen/felt any big improvements, so I kind of feel like I’m just slogging along at the moment.  All my workouts have felt hard.  Even my easy runs, my effort feels harder than my pace reflects.  Because of this, I am still not wearing my watch unless I have to.  I have about 1-2 hard effort days in my schedule, but nothing has pace times attached to it, which is good.  I think if there was, I would end up really beating myself up about it.  Instead I’m going on effort, which is nice.

As I mentioned is my last post, my legs felt pretty beat up on last Saturdays easy run, so Nichole edited my plan a little, and I had a rest day Sunday and Monday.  The only thing that makes me feel better is that I was warned that around this time I would start to feel like this.  So going with that, I’m right on target, and am hoping things start to turn around a little now.  I have a few easy runs this week, and harder effort of 6x600m (which I think I will do at the track, yippee!), and a long run of 13 with some hill bursts.  I’m really excited about the 13 miler, and I’ll probably do 13.1 just because J . I haven’t run that distance since July, so if I can get it done and feel good, I’ll be pretty happy. 

I didn’t tell Nichole this, but I had a hidden goal of wanting to get up to 13 miles in November.  No real reason, just for my own peace of mind really.  So I’m really happy to have this kind of distance base going into the winter.

I really can’t wait for that “yea I nailed that workout” feeling though – I miss that.  But for now, I’ll be happy just putting in the time, and I know each time I lace up my shoes it’s bringing me close to my goals.

Another thing, let me know if you appreciate these training updates (although they probably won’t be as “wordy” as this one).  It’s nice for me to have a record to look back on, but if you peeps like ‘em it might become a weekly post, if not, maybe I’ll keep my mouth shut…maybe.

I didnt fall!, a fun game, and LOTS of pics.

Heyo! Happy Tuesday! 

Ok, so elephant in the room, you may have noticed a few changes to the ol’ blog.  I’m going to be working on some new things this week, so just bear with me as I have absolutely NO idea what I’m doing, and my skills with computers and technology are pretty slim.  When I’m done I’m hoping things are a little more organized, fun and make your time spent reading a little more enjoyable :).  Also, if any of you (all 5 of you that read this thing), have anything you would like to see me add, talk about, or whatever, comment or let me know!

Ok, now that’s out of the way, let talk about this past weekend!  It was a fun one.  As I mentioned earlier, Jake and I were heading down to Northfield, MN for the MN State Gravel Championships.  This was the inaugural race, but I have to say, after this weekend, I will definitely do it again, it was such a blast!  I was racing in a 10 mile Time Trial on Saturday morning, along with Nichole, Nathan, and our friend Craig.  Jake and I drove down that morning and met them to get our numbers and packets, then we made our way to the start.  The way a time trial works is that instead of everyone starting at the same time, you go in 30 second increments.  We took our places and one by one we took off.  The gravel roads were really nice, and I a pretty sweet bike to ride thanks to a friend (THANKS JOB!!).  I got passed by a lot of people, but I was just out there to have fun so I really didn’t care, I gave a thumbs up to everyone that flew past me (Looking at you Nathan and Craig!).  I finished in about 40 min. which I have NO clue if that’s even good or not, and I didn’t get lost or fall off my bike – win!.  Nichole came in a little bit after me – yea!  Sorry Nichole, but I need to take this one, probably the ONLY time I will ever beat you :)

waiting in the warm car before the start



how cute is Nichole?! 





action shot!


 We hung around at the finish for a bit, before heading back to Nichole and Nathan’s house.  They let us stay there for the weekend, since Jake’s race was on Sunday.  We got to their house, had some burgers for lunch, then got our cow suits on to be the designated “cheer herd” for the second race in the series that afternoon.  After we got back from that, I had a 4 mile run to do, so Jake and I went out for that.  I’m going to do you all a favor and not talk about this run, it was ugly.  A combination of doing my long run (12 miles) the previous day, and the bike race, my quads felt shredded.  I got it done, but it definitely wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had.  We got back, cleaned up, then I got to work making dinner for the evening.  I’ll post the recipes this week, but I made sausage and black bean soup and French apple pie.  Nichole put together a tasty salad and Craig brought over homemade bread, and our other friend, Jeff (who also raced on Sunday), brought some snacks.  I would say we ate well that evening.  We also drank well too, which was helpful for me because of the game we played after dinner.


soup and salad - yum!



SO GOOD!

Ok, has anyone played or heard of Cards Against Humanity?? 

Oh, good Lord.  I don’t think I have laughed that hard in a long time.  It is the most inappropriate, hysterical game I’ve ever played, and I was in tears more than once.  My face hurt from laughing so much.  Word of advice, play this game, just not with children, and preferably after you’ve had a few drinks :).

 Sunday morning we got up, and headed over to Craig’s house to have breakfast.  Let me tell you, he makes some mean French toast.  The guys (Jake, Craig, and Jeff) got their stuff ready for their race, and we went to the start to see them off.  Their race was 88 miles….woof.  Nichole and I watched them start then went back to the house. I got in a strength workout while she did some work, and we waited for Nathan to get home (he was roller-skiing that morning).  Once he was home we drove to the finish and waited for the guys to get there.  We hung around at the finish area for a bit, they had hot soup for all the riders which was nice, and handed out prizes.

We packed up our stuff, and headed home.  It was so nice to get out of town for the weekend, even if it was only an hour away.  I already can’t wait until next year, maybe I’ll try and beat my time!



This is Stella about 10 minuted after we got home - she was pooped!



a (non running) race, and thanks :)

First off, I just wanna say thanks for the great comments and messages I got after my last post.  It's nice to know there are plenty of folks who "get it".  I'm hoping I didnt come across like "poor me poor me", so I appreciate the kind words and motivation.  I know not many people read this thing, but those of you who do, you're the best!

there, you're motivation for the day

Ok, so a couple weeks ago, this happened.....

I still dont know how I was talked into this.  It happened on the drive home from Chicago, and since I'm a pretty easy sell, I guess I agreed to it!  The race this weekend is made up of three different gravel biking events.  I am doing one on Saturday which is a 10 mile time trial.  Sounds easy enough right?  Well I just realized last night that the only directions we get are on cue sheets and we are responsible for getting ourselves from point A to (hopefully) point B.  I dont have the best track record with directions (i.e. I get lost a lot, and rely HEAVILY on my phone's GPS for directions).  So this should be interesting.  Its only 10 miles, so how lost could I possibly get?  I guess I'll find out! I'm just hoping not to fall off my bike onto the gravel roads, or just chased by a random farm dog.

Jake and our friend Craig are doing the race held on Sunday.  Its 88 miles. WHAT?! Thats just crazy.

So wish us luck, should be a fun weekend of biking, with some running thrown in at some point too.  I'll post a recap after the weekend.  Maybe there will be a prize for dead last.....

I may or may not be in denial...

And I’m not talking about the river in Egypt.  Alright kids, we’re friends right? I can be honest with you all right? It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything, and I feel like this happens a lot.  I also feel like it happens for the same reasons, so when I  do chime in to ‘splain myself, I sounds like a broken record.  Trust me, if you think it’s annoying to read the same stuff from me, try being inside my brain going over the same things all the time.  I’m getting to the point where I’m getting sick and tired of myself!

But seeing as I have this handy little corner of the internets, I can use it as I please, and dang it, I just gotta purge some of these no-good thoughts rolling around in my brain.

So as you all know when I posted a few weeks ago, I was SUPERPSYCHED about my new training plan, and don’t get me wrong, those totally awesome cant-wait-to-kick-butt-feelings were real.  I started to clean up my eating habits (which had gotten SO off track since I was injured it wasn’t even funny), and I was feeling like I was moving in the right direction.  I’m not sure what happened, but at the end of week two, my motivation dropped….like plummeted.  I had a lack-luster workout that Sunday, and when I woke up Monday morning, I was feeling down in the dumps.  I didn’t want to do anything, and when I allow myself to get like this, my mind plays some pretty mean tricks on me.  I did my work out that day, but the entire time I was defeated.  Telling myself I was slow, out of shape, that I would never be able to run fast again, and that the 15 extra pounds I’d put on since Fargo weren’t ever going to come off.

The problem with this is that each time I get so down on myself, all things “healthy” go out the window, and my eating was complete rubbish.  I don’t think I ate a green vegetable more than a couple times last week, which in turn makes me feel worse….it’s just a nasty cycle, and it’s what led to my years of inactivity and unhealthy living.  It’s scary knowing how easy it is for me to slip back into that, and frustrating that after all this time, I still don’t have it all together.

So just repeat that for the rest of the week, and you can imagine that I’m not in the greatest place mentally.  I am bound and determined to get things right, even if I just take it one workout, one meal, and one day at a time. I did do something I’m pretty proud of (it was one of my 2013 “resolutions”/goals) and I threw away my scale a week ago.  I would step on that thing 3 times a day, and depending on the number I saw, would determine if I would be in a good mood or not…..umm HELLO RED FLAG! You don’t need to be an expert to tell me that wasn’t healthy.

So, if anyone has anything motivational to say, maybe tell me I’m not alone and other people are as crazy as I am, PLEASE chime in.  Or send me some inspirational quotes, movies, nothing is too cheesy.  Or maybe just tell me to stop being a whiner and suck it up, that nobody is going to do the work for me, and the only person to blame is myself….yea, a good kick in the a$$ might work too :)

It’s a new month, and I think I just need to wipe the slate.