Beerfest, junk food, pan-Asian cuisine, oh my!

The usual crew and I were up early on Saturday as we headed towards Grand Rapids for the annual Winter Beer Festival, which is where all the Michigan micro breweries (including Bells this year!) come together to showcase their best and unique products.  I, of course, go for the food :) 

Ice sculpture?  Yes please!

After my usual breakfast (Timmy Horton's coffee + bagel w/ strawberry cream cheese) and quick lunch @ Micky-D's (double cheeseburger w/ fries), you'd think I was stuffed.  But after a few tastes of beers (including my favorite coffee stout from the WAB??), I was yearning for the big, juicy, mouth-drooling turkey leg I saw people knawing on.  My nose took control of my body as we headed straight to the food station.  But of course the last turkey leg was sold to the guy three spots ahead of me.  Hmph.  I settled for a brat.  After an *interesting* ride back on the shuttle to the hotel, we ordered some pizza, where I continued to stuff my face silly with too many slices of pizza.

So you'd think the thought of all that food intake would motivate me to go for a run today when we got home.  But on the contrary - my motivation today came from a simple email update from C-Murder.  C-Murder just began working out since...her wedding 3 years ago?  And already she ran 8 miles at the same pace as myself!  This girl just continues to amaze me.  So, after a quick nap w/ the doggies, I got my lazy bum out the door w/ Gymmy in hand...

We attempted the "tempo run" as indicated by Hal (of Hal Higdon, that is).  I've actually never done a tempo run (hence the lack of improvement in race times), so I need to double check if I did it correctly.  But in essence, my version of a tempo run today consisted of a 1.7mi build-up, 1.6mi 10K pace (well, didn't get quite there, but a good attempt nonetheless), followed by 1.7mi build-down.  The first 0.8mi of the 10K pace portion was pretty tough as I kept looking down at my Garmin, thinking it wasn't working properly.  "9:10" it originally read.  What??  I feel like I'm in full gear and I'm going over 9min pace??  I cranked it up a notch, yet I could barely get under 9min.  I looked down at Gymmy as if to tell him, "Ok Gymmy, be ready to peel me off the floor if I don't make it," as I began to push just a smidge more.  Surprisingly, the second half of it was much easier as Gymmy helped pull me through it, literally speaking.  

                          

my ultra cool, uber techy Garmin 405 watch

After a quick shower, the hubs and I decided to do our monthly date night tonight at Pacific Rim.  Gooby introduced this pan-Asian cuisine restaurant in Ann Arbor to me maybe 6 years ago (?), and it has been one of my top restaurants ever since.  I've tried almost everything on their menu, and I still haven't found a dish I'm not a fan of.  Since it had been awhile since I had been back, I decided to stick w/ my fav combo - the crabcakes + sablefish + warm chocolate cake:

No disappointment here.  The cilantro-lime sauce must be the "non-secret ingredient" that sets Pacific Rim's version of the crabcakes apart from others. The vermicelli noodles and sauteed Asian vegetables balances out the fattier sable fish that just melts in your mouth *yum!*  And of course you can't finish the night w/o trying the house special bittersweet warm choco cake w/ coconut Kahlua ice cream & sake infused cherries :)

What a perfect way to mark the end of a very food-stuffed weekend!

Headache be gone...

I am a complete and utter baby when it comes to headaches, and today was no exception.  The last few hours at work I was overdramatically putting my hand to my forehead, walking around like a zombie.  Just as I was almost satified with my excuse to skip yet another workout for the week, I got an email from J-Woww w/ her weekly workout progress.  I was floored when I realized my 6-month preggers friend was out-doing me!  Eeek!  I shoved the thought of the excuse out of my mind and headed to the company gym, newly motivated...

Although Friday (speed) workouts are quick, they are by far the most painful.  My goal for today?  One mile intervals at RP.  A total of a mere 3 miles.  But even that was beyond difficult for me today.  I tried anything I could think of to get rid of the now pounding headache - held my water bottle up to it, even resorted to conducting some accupuncture-like work on it, none which were successful.  But alas, the 3 miles were complete, and I headed home.

As soon as I got home, "baby Yuko" took over my 29-year old body and wimpered a pathetic "I'm *gasp* dying w/ this headache!" to the roomie as I headed upstairs to my bed.  Of course she immediately came in w/ some Aleve for me and the next thing I knew it was 4 hours later.  And so here I am, blogging on a late Friday night :)

Oily, greasy, yumminess, oh my!

I have made a reputation for myself at work.  Not for a good work ethic, not for a charming personality (duh), but as the girl who gets the gigantic ooey gooey chocolate chip cookie every day for lunch for the past year or so.  So you can understand how shocked the cafeteria lady was as she saw me turn over a new leaf this year when I began replacing the cookie with a cup of soup and fries with a big salad.  And even more shocked when it continued for more than a day (don't worry, daily Cheese-its have NOT been eliminated)!

But for some reason, today was different.  The thought of eating another plain salad brought forth my gag reflex.  So, I ordered myself a nice, oily, mayo-licious sandwich with a side of large, greasy fries.  Yumm-o.  If that wasn't enough, I finished up my second box of Thin Mints today.  A sad, sad day. 

With all this intake in mind and my recent lil workout hiatus, I decided I needed to hit the 'mill immediately.  I attempted the long run today on an incline - a mere 1.0, yes, but still noteworthly for me.  I even bumped it up a notch from my typical 6.0.  I honestly could not remember a time when the last two miles hurt as much as it did today.  But with my orange Gatorade in hand, I eventually grunted (sorry to my neighboring runners!) my way through it.   

And now, thanks to my coworker, all I can think about is devouring this:

"The Bacon Cheese Turtleburger."  That's right, ground beef patties topped with sharp cheddar cheese and wrapped in woven bacon, with hotdogs for its head, tail, and limbs.  *Slurp!* 

Iron Chef Michigan

What would you think of me if I told you that I made a group of teenagers cook for me for free and then criticized their dishes, while I have no culinary credibility whatsoever?

Well, its true, I did. But its not as bad as it sounds.

Tonight, the roomie and I were asked to be the judges for K-Jo's teen church activity - Iron Chef Michigan! Obviously I eagerly skipped my workout for the third consecutive day and jumped at the opportunity for a free meal of my favorite meal of the day! The theme was breakfast foods, and the secret ingredient? Its bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s!  And here are the results of the four groups:

The taste matched the dishes' presentations - we were pleasantly surprised we were amongst some future Top Chefs!  We had a variety of dishes to try - from breakfast sandwiches to European crepes to old country favs (toast w/ egg inside).  My favorite "plating" performance was that of the upper left-hand dish - the choco chips on the banana slices represented none other than braces!  I have to admit tho, K-Jo's bro's team won my heart w/ his specialty pancakes made *just right* (I will be stealing the recipe from him soon!)!

Stranded foodless at work...

Since the Winter Storm #2 of the season didn't cancel work for us, but the cafeteria company did, we were stuck stranded at work, foodless (its like my worst nightmare!). A coworker and I organized an "order-in" from the local favorite Jimmy Johns, which reminded me of the numerous times I had done the same thing back in college, but the delivery was to the library.

And of course, I'm salivating now as I take my first bite out of my #16...The Club Lulu. I personally consider it a "healthy" sub for its turkey breast, which in my mind COMPLETELY outweighs the pound of bacon that just happens to be laying atop the "healthy salad" of lettuce and tomatoes ...

And for those of you who were wondering, yes, Jimmy Johns is still freaky fast in weather like we're having today...props to them :)

Old Friendships + Kona Grill = success!

There's something to be said about old friendships.  Yes, new ones can be fun & exciting, but old friendships carry that nostalgic feeling and provides oodles of laughter and fond memories...

After a morning session of yoga yesterday, my sore body and I headed to Kona Grill in Troy for dinner to meet up w/ two high school girlfriends, K-slap and Supa-S.  I've been to the restaurant a handful of times before, but never ordered sushi because I had my nose up in the air and didn't think Kona was "Japanese" enough.  I was willing to give them a shot this time as I ordered the Rainbow roll (California roll topped w/ tuna, salmon, shrimp, yellowtail & avocado) and a Caterpillar roll (Fresh water eel & cucumber, topped w/ avocado and eel sauce): 

Not bad.  I've seen better presentation, but the fish itself seemed fresh (but I'm no sushi guru)!  The service was quick and friendly too - No wonder the restaurant was packed!

K-slap has a beaming personality, and I would think after this many years of friendship, some would rub of on me...but alas, negative.  Supa-S was voted "Most Athletic" in our high school and I always admired her natural talent.  K-slap and I meet up occasionally (not frequently enough!), but it had been nearly 10 years since we had both met up with Supa-S (does that date me??  Perhaps.).  Lets be honest, there was some nervousness as K-slap and I awaited Supa-S's arrival - what if she changed completely?  What if we have nothing to talk about?  What if we don't even recognize her?  But as soon as Supa-S arrived, all the "what-if's" immediately disappeared and before we knew it, nearly three and a half hours had passed.  Reluctantly, we all got up as we sensed we had surpassed our welcome at the restaurant.  We promised to meet up again soon, and not let another 10 years slip by again...

Take a bite out of that incline, booyah!

I'm the first to admit I'm not a tech savvy girl.  I didn't have my own computer until after college.  I had a Zack Morris style cell phone in high school.  And I still don't know how to DVR anything w/o assistance.  So you can imagine the overwhelming feeling I get when I walk into the famous bitten fruit store...

I've made several attempts at shopping at an Apple store to date, but still can't seem to shake off that uneasy feeling.  Maybe its the pristine whiteness of the store, or maybe its the unapproachable "bar" where the Geniuses reside.  Yesterday, I got over my fear temporarily and approached the store to have them operate on my terminally ill iPhone.
"Now we can start operating (working) on this immediately.  But there may be side effects.  Will you be able to handle that?" - Genius
"I know the potential risks.  But I want it to get better (get it to work)." - me
~ minutes later ~
"Well, the operation was a success.  Unfortunately, it will have permanent memory loss (lost data)." - Genius
"That's ok, I will nurture it with love and help it regain its forgotten memory (upload data).  Thank you!!"  - me

So, my iPhone is back and on its way to a full recovery, and I'm one baby step closer to being at ease about shopping at the high tech store.

On a completely separate note,
I...DID...IT.  Today, I ran...on a *gasp* incline!  That's right, me!!  Now hold your applause...it was only 3 miles...and I only did one mile at a time...and I walked for 2 minutes after each mile... But still, an accomplishment for me nonetheless.  AND I even made in home in time to say goodbye to the hubs before he headed off to the slopes for the weekend :)

THE Day has finally come!

The day has finally come. The day I have been waiting for. Yesterday was the day......when the Girl Scout cookies arrived.

It was as if everything was in slow motion when I saw my coworker walk in w/ a bag that suspiciously looked like it was holding four rectangular boxes. As we made eye contact, I looked down at the bag in his hands, looked back up at him w/ raised eyebrows as if to telepathically ask him, "for me?" and then I heard the magic words "these are for you" come out of his mouth. I raised both my hands towards them, as if I were speaking to the cookies, "Come to Mama!" My boxes of Thin Mints and Do-Si-Dos were finally *home.*

Motivated by the large intake of the above stated goods, but moreso by KT's inclusion of a speed workout IN THE MIDDLE of her long run last week, I decided to add a twist to my regular long run that night. I would do the first 8mi at a comfortable 10min pace, and then build-up the last 2miles up to race pace. It could have been the diversion from the norm, or it could have been the intense game of Women's Curling on tv at the company gym, but either way, surprisingly my workout seemed to go by much faster.

After getting home, the roomie and I put together a quick dinner of pirogis and green beans and continued our obsession w/ the Winter Olympics as we watched the shocking disappointment that occurred for Lindsay Jacobellis in snowboard cross semi's. Not a fan of her curly hair, but definitely felt her pain as luck was simply not on her side yesterday. Now she has to wait yet another four years to redeem herself from Torino...

A Lazy Sunday recap...

Growing up, I always wanted to do whatever my sister was doing. She started playing the violin, I started playing the violin. She started swimming, I started swimming. Her friends came over to play, I wanted to play w/ them. I admired her like a hero, and for my sis who was five years older than me, I was just an annoying kid sister who she just couldn't seem to shake off.  So, when I met up w/ one of her childhood friends for lunch yesterday - for a split second I felt as if I was reverting back to being 10 years-old and *finally* feeling like I was part of the "cool kids club."

The hubs, roomie, and I met up w/ my sis' friend K-cubed and her hubby at Ajiten for some delicious ramen. K-cubed had mentioned she was craving the famous Japanese carb dish, so we recommended the chashumen at Ajiten.  I, of course, ate more than K-cubed, who was eating not only for herself, but for her THREE babies she has growing inside of her - craziness!!  We had a great time chatting away about their future adventures of having three lovely girls.

Afterwards, I anticipated taking Gymmy for a quick 4mile run that mildly chilly afternoon, but my couch wouldn't stop naggingly calling my name, so I surrendered and lay atop it.  I woke up to the sounds of the hubs and roomie cheering hysterically for the US nordic racers and realized it was already 5pm.  5PM?!  After putting in a few good screams for Johnny Spillane (and of course my homie Kobayashi!), I quickly went to change to get ready for dinner at Mosaic in Detroit.

The first thing I noticed as we entered the quite contemporary looking restaurant was the Chihuly-eqsue glass fixtures at the bar.  Then as we were seated, we noticed the artwork/wall of weaving pieces of wood.  Check and check!  Our waitress was super attentive and helpful as we decided to go w/ her recommendations of the crispy calamari (flash fried calamari, lemon beurre blanc, capers, tomatoes, and scallions), the Kasu Chilean Sea Bass (pan-seared in sake lee marinade w/ a crispy coconut-almond rice cake and stir fried asian vegetables):

and the Cowboy Steak (coffee dusted 22 oz bone-in ribeye, a Knob Creek bourbon sauce, and a side of truffled mac & cheese):

My sea bass was beautifully cooked as it was presented.  I was quite impressed, for I'm quite picky w/ my seabass.  But I really didnt care for the coconut-almont rice cake (I actually couldn't figure out what it was until I re-read the menu description).  The hub's cowboy steak was cooked to perfection, and the dusting of coffee was a nice touch.  I absolutely enjoyed his truffled mac & cheese, but he mentioned it was "too truffle-y."  Um dude, that is NOT possible!

We finished the dinner experience off with the lava cake, which I get at practically every restaurant I go to.  Mosaic's rendition of it was decent, but there was just something about it that didn't meet my expectations...

All in all, it was no Tribute (will anything ever be??), but I would definitely recommend it!

Afterwards, we picked up the dogs and headed to K-special's place for a quick doggie date.  I was, of course, lured by her fresh choco cake she made for us (what, can you blame me for wanting dessert more than once a day??). 

Kobi, Gymmy (*winking*), and Sammy, in height order

With a full stomach and adrenaline pumping after watching the mogul event, I happily rested my head on my pillow for a good night's sleep...  And so my story ends of a day full of eating and lacking any workouts...

A Day of Firsts...

After work yesterday, I headed to our company gym to *attempt* my first speed workout in nearly a year (I only broke this streak b/c I knew I was meeting up w/ J-Woww today).  It takes way less time than a long run does, so why do I hate it so??  I was willing to give our relationship another chance.  But as soon as I started the first of the scheduled 6 x 800s, I was ready to smack it in the face and storm out of the gym, but I bit my tongue and trotted on.  By the 6th time I had to crank up the speed dial to 7.8, my body was done.  I looked at the total milage - less than 4miles??  I'm THIS exhausted and all I burned was a mere 350 calories?  Now THIS is why I hate you, speed workout!

After stuffing my face with some delicious Tim & Sally goodness this morning, I headed to J-Woww's 'rents place to celebrate Lil' A's 2nd birthday - my first kid birthday event!  Driving down J-Woww's parents' street was like a trip down memory lane.  When J-Woww opened the door, a part of me thought we were back in high school, getting ready for a game of capture the flag or making matching pants for State meet.  But then I saw this cute face and realized we had grown up:

Happy birthday, Lil' A!  Is she not the cutest girl EVAH??

Following the party, the hubs and I headed to Big Muel's 'rents place for a game of broomball - clearly I did NOT know what I was in for, for I was on the ground covered in snow w/in minutes on the "rink."  But a great time nonetheless, and definitely worthy of a round 2!

On the drive home, I cheerfully announced to the hubs,
"Wow, I actually got a workout out of that!  I already feel it in my glutes!" - me
"Umm...I think you're just bruised...you fell...a LOT." - hubs

Hmph.  Well, there goes my cardiovascular bliss. 

What's your most memorable Valentines Day?

The radio station I listen to as I drive to work every morning has been advertising left and right for the Hallmark holiday which is fast approaching us. So, it got me thinking, what is *my* most memorable Valentines day...?

Nearly six years since we first started dating, the hubs and I have done a variety of things for V-day (all involving food, of course) - We've tried the classic (The Palms in Troy), the contemporary (Salt Water in MGM), the *hidden* gem (Atlas Global in Detroit), even the cost conscious (home cooked gourmet - the hubs cooking, of course), but I'd have to say the most memorable Valentines day to date is that of 2005...

On Feb 13, 2005, I was up at Michigan Tech visiting my then-boyfriend (now hubs). I had slipped on the stairs in his fraternity house and hurt my ankle right before getting on my flight back to the Lower Peninsula. Not until I landed in DTW did I realize my ankle had doubled, nearly tripled in size. Panicked, I hysterically called my then-med student bff C-Murder. She advised me to elevate and ice until the next morning, and if the swelling had not gone down, go to the ER.  ER?!?! I've never been to the ER, let alone a hospital in years. Scared out of my mind, I got up the next morning, peered over my duvet to see my ankle which looked like it had just swallowed a melon. I quickly drove myself to the ER, and was immediately put in a wheelchair, then rolled into a waiting room to await my turn for a one-on-one session w/ the X-ray machine. Minutes go by, even hours. My nervousness slowly converted to irritation as the blobs of pinks and reds came into focus and I realized that I was sitting in a waiting room...in a wheelchair...in a hospital...by myself...on freakin' VALENTINE'S DAY!! To top it all off, a group of men come into the waiting room, one grasping a harmonica in one hand and a bouquet of roses in another, and asks for a certain lady. The appointed lady comes out from behind the desk, and starts getting serenaded! Afterwards, the lady happily surveys the room, we make eye contact, and asks me to take a picture of this exciting moment. "Sure!" I said from my lonely, cold wheelchair. I even gave them a "one...two...three...cheese!" as I hit the shutter. So, to the lady who worked at the Umich hospital & got serenaded to on Valentines day of 2005, if you're reading this, I'm so so so sorry, I actually *did* know how to focus and center a picture...

...hey, I didn't say it was memorable in a GOOD way now did I?


On a completely separate note, I *just* registered for the Chicago half...have you (but don't worry, KT says we don't have to start training till 2/22!!)??
http://chicagospringhalf.com/

Crock-pot? Jackpot!

I think Gymmy has rubbed off on me. I mean literally, yes - I wake up to his tooshie in my face every morning - but figuratively as well. His lack of desire for the cold has kicked my motivation to do any long runs outside right to the curb (our other dog, Kobi, is older and body can't handle anything more than a walk anymore). The other day a coworker informed me that I need to either run on a 1.0 incline or 20sec faster per mile for it to equate outside running. On top of that, I began looking through my old running journals and was *shocked* with what I saw - I was running at 7.2 (mph)!! That's crazy talk for me right now!

Fully determined, I stepped onto the treadmill last night, when suddenly my arm became paralyzed as I tried reaching for the incline button. I.....just.....can't. Fine, I'll just run at a faster pace, I told myself. The willpower it took for me to press that 'up' button on the speed dial just a mere 0.2 was more difficult that I could have imagined. "6.2," the screen read. Ok, I can do this. The first 5miles are always a killer for me. After that, my body goes into autopilot and I'm free to watch whatever show they have on the tvs at the company gym. By the end of 10miles, I felt I was much more knowledgeable on random facts as I watched 4 consecutive episodes of Cash Cab (Thank you, Ben Bailey! I'll be ready when I see you in NYC!).

On the way home, the roomie and I headed to our fav grocery store (shout out to Holiday Market, woot woot!) to grab ingredients for my department potluck lunch. I decided to steal K-Jo's mom's recipe for crock-pot pot roast. I just threw in all the ingredient and pushed the start button. Can it really be that easy?? I'm still uneasy with crock-pots - I didn't grow up w/ one. The thought of something tasting good w/ that little prep work boggles me. But it IS Mrs. K-Jo's recipe, the queen of made-from-scratch-goodness, so I had high hopes.

my beautiful, nearly untouched All Clad crock-pot

The verdict...eehhh, the jury's still out.  I personally thought it was delicious, but it didn't go as fast as I thought it would have at lunch...  All in all, though, crock-pot = jackpot!

Winter Wonderland!

No snow day for me, but at least I have a beauty of a ride in:



(objects in the pic are prettier than they appear)
*****************
Hmph.  Apparently I dont know how to use my iphone yet.  It wasn't that great of a pic anyways.

On evenings like last night where the snow made us almost prisoners in our home, I needed "The One."  The one who's always there for me, so dependable.  The one I lean on when I'm lacking motivation.  This, my friend, is my saviour:

Our Kinetic Bike Trainer!  60 minutes on this baby while watching NCIS reruns took away my guilt of stuffing my face w/ leftover spinach artichoke dip.  Well, it took a bite out of my guilt, at least.

A mental battle...

As I sit here, stuck in my cubicle during lunch as I watch the snow come down hard, really hard, I begin to reminisce...

I have never been a racer, I was more of a practice kind of gal. Back in high school swimming, I could keep up with people during sets at practice when they would blow me out of the water during meets. I was known to psych myself out. That mentality followed me as I started to run races. I'd do training runs faster than my goal pace, but wouldn't be able to come close to it for the real deal.

Around Nov 2008, right after I trained my butt off yet *bombed* the Detroit half marathon a few weeks back, I decided I wanted to do something extreme. I know I'm not a good runner. Any person out there who puts in a few month of endurance training can easily beat my PR. So why not try for a triathlon (as a mediocre swimmer, I have a slight upper hand)...and what better one to conquer than the Ironman 70.3 (or what I like to call "0.5 Fe-man"), which is a 1.2mi swim, 56mi bike, 13.1mi run. And so the story begins on how I coerced my two high school swimmer friends, KT and J-Woww, to train with me. The 5 months of training was simultaneously enjoyable as it was brutal. It not only changed me physically, but mentally as well...

My body has since returned to pre-half-ironman plumpness with my love handles ever-so-present. But I feel like mentally I may have come out stronger. I learned to enjoy racing and not to stress on my performance. To enjoy the fact that I am able to do any sort of physical activity. To be grateful to have a husband who lets me get away w/ skipping some wifely duties to train. To be thankful to have family and friends who don't mind wasting 6+ hours of their lives to come watch me race.

I've been slightly hesitant to sign up for another race, b/c I will inevitably have to fight w/ my "old self" again. But, I decided today, I'm gonna do it. I'm going to sign up for a half marathon this spring, and I'm even going to put a goal time out there - 1:53, two whole minutes faster than my current PR. Hopefully, I'm still as strong mentally as I was a little over a year ago...

Anti-Superbowl Sunday

Sunday morning started off rough as I heard Gymmy puking at 5am. Usually when this happens, I pretend to be sleeping as the hubs gets up to clean the mess, and *miraculously* I get up when everything is cleaned up (I know I'm horrible). Unfortunately, with the hubs up north all weekend, I was all alone to address the situation. But who can get mad when you look up to see this cute "I'm so sorry" face:

A couple hours later, Kobi, Gymmy, and I headed to Novi to cheer on the roomie as she completed her first 5K of the new year. Despite the harsh weather, she did great and all three of us were so proud of her (check out her blog for deets)! The thought of her shaving off over 2min from her 5K time from just 2 months before got me motivated, so I got my lazy butt out the door (but just barely) to squeeze in a slow-but-steady 4mi run w/ Gymmy.

As soon as we got home, we started prep work for our "Girls-only-Anti-Superbowl-Gourmet-Pizza-Party." Phew, that was a mouthful! We recently found a great pizza dough recipe in our Food & Wine cookbook and just wanted a chance to share our obsession.  Here's the recipe:
Pizza dough (makes 6 7-inch pizzas, so it says but only made 2 good size pizzas for us)
1 envelope active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon canola oil (we use olive oil instead)
2 cups "00" pizza flour or all purpose flour
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt
Mix yeast with water and let stand until foamy, about 5min. Using wooden spoon, stir in 1 tablespoon of oil, followed by 2 cups of flour and the sugar and salt. Continue stirring until soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and silky, about 5min. Let dough stand uncovered for 10min, then divide into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and transfer to lightly oiled baking sheet. Brush tops with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refridgerate overnight until slightly risen. Return to room temp before using.

We had a chorizo/manchego cheese pizza, tomato/pinenuts/garlic/panko/gouda pizza, and baked veggies with panko/manchego cheese+gouda+parmesean cheese pizza ready to go as people started arriving. Then we had some fun as people brought their own toppings. It was like an Italian kitchen as we were poppin' out pizzas left and right!

Of course when you co-host a party w/ the roomie, we HAVE to go all out...

the "spread"

don't forget the hummus "made from scratch"

aaaand the dessert platter displaying our hard work from Saturday!

We capped the night with an intense, yet humorous game of Taboo, followed by some Wii Mario (I mean, Mario's Italian, right? Fits *perfectly* with the Italian pizza party theme!)

Btw, who won the Superbowl anyways...?

Thank you, V-day, for giving me an excuse to eat chocolate.

This morning the roomie and I headed east to meet up w/ K-Jo for our annual Valentines cookie making event.  This year, we decided to focus on brownie truffles.  Yummo-o!

K-Jo and I met in *gasp* 3rd grade and were pretty much inseparable during our elementary years.  As we rolled and chocolate-covered what seemed like endless number of truffles, we fondly reminised about our childhood.

(our infamous Halloween costume we were so proud of...in 5th grade?)

And here they are, the fabulous brownie truffles:

This year, we even stepped it up a notch and worked on the packaging too - don't they look almost professional??

Here's the recipe for those of you who are interested:
1 baked chocolate cake according to box instructions
Crumble the cake in a very large bowl
In a sauce pan add:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Mix over low heat until it becomes smooth and glossy
Add to crumbled cake and start forming tight little balls, to the size you like. I never go over 1 inch.
Melt chocolate in microwave, being careful not to get the chocolate too hot.
Dip gently with a fork or spoon on waxed or parchment or silpat.
Make sure they look pretty, so take your time.
Drizzel them, or decorate them while the chocolate is wet.

Afterwards, I headed to my parents' place to pick up my dogs and a bite to eat, of course!  On the menu tonight was sukiyaki, one of my favorite winter dishes.  What is "sukiyaki," you ask?  Well, it just a bunch of vegetables and beef thrown into a hot pot, really. 

Until today, I thought the dish's name translated to mean "suki" = to like and "yaki" = to cook.  But according to wikipedia, the dish's name stems from peasants who used their spades ("suki") to cook ("yaki") on.  Wikipedia, you win again, hmph.

Pinkies up in Biiiiirmingham, followed by a splash of Jersey Shore

After a quick (but freeezing!) 4mi run w/ Gymmy, the roomie and I decided to venture out to Toast in Biiiiiirmingham for Restaurant Week! Why was this not advertised more?? I have been a Toast (Ferndale) fan for years, but dinner there was a first for me, so I was eager to try their dishes.

The roomie and I split the seared salmon (w/ rice noodles, stir-fried veggies, and a lemongrass basil broth) and the steak frites (w/ peppercorn crust and red wine sauce):


Then we sealed the deal w/ the Alize (brandied raspberries w/ hazelnut mousse):

All were good, but I'd say I'd stick to b'fast food at Toast. Sorry :(

With full bellies in tow, we then headed to AA, picking up K-special along the way. We enjoyed a night of Irishness @ Connor Oneil's, and decided to complete the night w/ some age-appropriate booty shakin' at Melange. Little did we know I would get *this* close to being "Jersey Shored" in the face by some random chick (please address me as Y-WOWW) and have my girls be accosted by the bouncer (thanks girls, ALL of you, for having my back!). Lets just say we did not leave w/o a stink...

Intro!

I tried to think of a quirky username, but I'm not creative enough. So there you have it. Hi everyone, I'm Yuko!
A little about me:
- My New Year's resolution is to try at all the metro-detroit restaurants listed in every and any "top rankings." Wanna join me on my endeavor??
- If a sweet tooth was actually a tooth, that one tooth of mine would take up my entire mouth.
- I'm a wanna-be athlete: I'm definitely a hard worker, but when you lack natural talent, you can only go so far. Therefore, I'm drawn to natural athletes. I married one too :)
- I'm a hypocrite: I hated dogs and swore I would never own one. Now I'm the proud owner of two beautiful pups, Kobi (8-years old) and Gymmy Chew (1-year old). I even took them to get a professional photog session at Mod4 (they do wedding photography too, for those humans out there!).
- I'm obsessed w/ eye brows. Ever since I decided the upside-down Nike swoosh look was a cool thing in college, I can't seem to revive them. I am currently enrolled in "Brow Bootcamp" w/ Jeannie @ Todds' Room, going on 2+ years...

I've secretly been "blo-kering" (verb form of "blog stalker") various peoples' blogs on eating and running - my two fav things - for awhile now. Well, I take that back. The first is my fav thing; the second is the activity I do to be able to enjoy the first as often and as much as I do. The other day a girl came up to me while I was running on the treadmill and asked, "Why in the world would you run 10miles??" My reply was, "Cause I can eat all the calories I'm burning right now in one sitting, easy."

I was a bit intimidated to start a blog at first, since all the authors of the blogs out there are such great writers! I, on the other hand, am a typical engineer with the vocabulary of a 5 year-old. Then last month my roommie started her own inspiring blog on her venture towards a half marathon PR (check out abroality.blogspot.com), and I decided to follow in her footsteps.

So follow me, as I run to eat, as "Foodie on the Run"...