It’s Ice Cream time!

Posted on April 15, 2012 by chezsylvia

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Man oh man it’s hot out!  Took the dog out for a run and he almost overheated.  And it’s only April?  What is going on?  Since it seems we skipped spring and moved straight into summer, I will now officially declare this summer the summer of ice cream!

Homemade ice cream to be exact.  So many different flavor combinations possible! ChezSylvia is going to have a lot of ice cream around!

So, I went out and bought the ice cream maker attachment for my trusty kitchen aid mixer.  20% coupon in hand, off to Bed Bath & Beyond I went.

Ice cream maker acquired, first order of business was to freeze the bowl.  I kept the bowl in the freezer for a whole week to ensure maximum frozen-ess.  The ice cream maker basically just mixes the ice cream around in very cold bowl to freeze the custard while incorporating air into it too.  Very simple concept, and with this get up, no rock salt needed!

Making ice cream is a two day process.  First you have to make the custard and let it chill.  Then you put it through the ice cream maker and back in the freezer to set.  Easy pezy, but just a lot of waiting time.

For my first batch, I figured I start out with just plain jane vanilla.  After comparing and contrasting all kinds of recipes for ice cream, I finally settled on the one out of the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook version.

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Some Things Just Never Change

Posted on April 8, 2012 by chezsylvia

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Oh high school gym class.  Such memories.  Not many wonderful ones, but lots of memories in general.  Ah, who am I kidding, I hated gym class.

One game we played back in good old BHS was Mat Ball.  Yea, it was like kickball except with mats as bases, and a bunch of rules I feel like someone made up, and I can no longer remember (just in case you don’t feel the hostility,be lucky you aren’t my keyboard).  I sucked at this game back then, but for whatever reason, I decided it would be a good idea to join an adult kickball league through work.  Maybe since I was more of an athlete now, and I’d be paying money to do this, I’d be better at it.

Wrong.  So, wrong.

I suck at kickball.

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I can’t kick, I can’t throw and I most certainly can’t catch.  I feel like such an unproductive member of the team.  It’s pretty awful.

Oh well.  At least I’ll further perfect my skills of standing around and being invisible.

So, even though I may not be great at kickball, I can make up for it with some cookies.

Everyone has their own version of a chocolate chip cookie.  I usually go for the America’s Test Kitchen version, but today I felt like trying something new.

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Stained Glass in Food Form: Broken Glass Jello

Posted on April 1, 2012 by chezsylvia

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A couple of years ago, I stayed in this bed and breakfast in Vancouver called the Corkscrew Inn.  It was my first time at a bed and breakfast, and even though I have decided I am not the bed and breakfast type, I really enjoyed my stay there.  I especially enjoyed their use of stained glass windows and paneling throughout the house (as well as the breakfasts…homemade kiwi berry jam from kiwi berries grown in the garden in the back, and the best lemon ricotta pancakes I have ever had).  All the the pieces used throughout the house were all done by the propriator herself.  Pretty awesome!

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So, this past winter, I found that my local community center was offering a Stained Glass Workshop that would run for about 8 weeks where I would learn the Tiffany method of making a stained glass panel.  I promptly signed up!

I chose a simple pattern of an apple and then chose my glass.  There were only two of us in this class, and the other woman was advanced, so it was pretty much a private lesson for me.  I learned how to cut, grind and foil my pieces.  Then I spent much time trying to solder it and create pretty solder beads, but no matter how much I tried, my lines kept looking like oddly shaped worms in the middle of digesting something large.  I am not adept at handling a hot soldering iron.

After 8 weeks, I went home with my first panel!  It was actually a pretty interesting experience.  I had a lot of fun and only cut myself a couple of times (minor cuts)!

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As I was taking this class, I thought about a jello dish I once made that was called Stained Glass Jello, or Broken Glass Jello.  I had read about it a long time ago and tried it once based on a recipe from a New York Times article regarding the use of sweetened condensed milk in cooking.  I tried it, and I liked it and since then have been looking for another reason to make it again.  I think this was a good time.  The method is actually pretty easy, and requires 7 items, including hot water.

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Running round the neighborhood for some pancakes

Posted on March 25, 2012 by chezsylvia
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View Along the Course

Whenever I run long (6 miles or more) on a day I have off from work, my go to post workout recovery meal is a peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich.  For me, it is just the perfect post run meal.

This past weekend, I put my winter base training to the test and ran the Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon.  I ran my own race and took it at a nice and steady pace.  I ran alone, but did run into a friendly face along the way, which boosted my spirits.  The course is packed with hills of all lengths and slopes.  Running through some of those roads conjured up many memories from the times I used to run them with my running buddy.  Finishing the race solidified two things for me.  All those winter runs at 5:30am in the 30 degree darkness, fearing the hulk coyote (and other man eating animals) was stalking me in the bushes, paid off.  And, I really wanted a peanut butter banana and honey sandwich or pancakes or a burger (the longer the run, the more food gets tacked onto the list…you should see my list after a marathon!).

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The Sweet Sweet Taste of Tree Blood

Posted on March 21, 2012 by chezsylvia

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I am a hard core multitasker.  Just ask anyone at work.  I work on more things than an otherwise normal employee can sanely comprehend.  It is my biggest strength and will lead to my biggest downfall.  Multitasking is good unless you want to do something well.  I can juggle a lot of things at once, but I am not good at anything in particular.  Job wise, great, career wise, bad.

At home, I am the same way.  When things slow down, and I find myself being able to perform tasks one at a time, I start getting antsy.  This is what lead me into running, triathlons, grad school, and now, this lovely blog.

That being said, let me share an instance where my impulsive need to multitask did more harm than good.

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I Can’t Taste Without My Nose.

Posted on March 16, 2012 by chezsylvia

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If you ever have the desire to let everyone within a 50 foot radius know that you are sick and instead of being sympathetic, being slightly afraid of you, then make sure you have Bronchitis.  Trust me, I know from years of experience.

That’s right.  This past week I was sick.  I called out sick Monday and stayed housebound the entire day.  Tuesday, I thought I felt better and went to work.  Ended up coughing and snotting very loudly all day.  Wednesday, I called out again since the cough has now came in continuous fits and were obnoxiously loud (I wonder if I ever woke my neighbor).  I finally broke down, called my doctors office and got me squeezed into the schedule.

The medical group my doctor belongs to is getting fancy.  Checking in is now done via a tablet, and I paid my co-pay by swiping my card on that tablet.  After waiting a good bit, then seeing my doctor who then sent me to get a chest x-ray in order to diagnose me with Bronchitis with a touch of Asthma (I was not surprised…remember…years of experience).  Prescription submitted to Pharmacy by my doctor along with orders of no running for the next week (not a good thing with the Half Marathon coming up next weekend), and out the door I went.  Eazy-pezy!

Well, that was the easiest part.  I went back to work on Thursday, feeling better, but still sounding terrible.  In order to keep the coughing fits to a minimum I had to keep conversation to a minimum.  Not a difficult task since a pretty good percentage of people don’t normally talk to me, and those who did were pretty much scared off by the racket I was making.

The worst part is the congestion.  Congestion means my nose is useless.  I can’t breathe through my nose, so I can’t eat like a proper lady, and I can’t even taste my food!  I didn’t know which was worse, eating with my mouth open, so I can breathe, not being able to taste my food, or sounding like my lungs were trying to escape!

Good thing the week is now over (with T-5 days before I can run again!), and I can now hack up a lung and chew with my mouth wide open in the privacy in my own home.  What can I say?  I’m a classy lady!

Lazy Sunday

Classy Lady at Rest

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Winter, I Bid Thee Farewell: Pumpkin Cake

Posted on March 10, 2012 by chezsylvia

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A friend of mine reached a milestone birthday this weekend, and I wanted to make her something special.  Something warm and homey, while being fun and child-like at the same time.  As I was hemming and hawing over what to make, I did what I always do when I’m indecisive, I take a walking tour of Target.

On my walking tour, I passed by some really cute little tumblers on the Easter display.  Not that I was going to do anything Easter related, but these tumblers were cute, and would hold a cupcake really well.  There we go!  A literal cupcake in a child’s tumbler!  We are never too old to be young at heart.

Now that I’ve settled on what I wanted to make, what kind of cupcake should I make?  Something chocolate?  Something tried and true?  Something new?  Spring was soon to be upon us, and that meant good bye to winter, and good bye to pumpkin goodness.  Just like we were saying good bye to our twenties.  So, one last whirl with the pumpkin goodness!

The cake was going to be a pumpkin cake, the frosting, a cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and to garnish, candied walnuts.  Let’s do this!

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Mango DoFu Fa

Posted on March 3, 2012 by chezsylvia

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Despite the dreary start to the day, the weather cleared up nicely.  I had one of my windows open for a while, and it felt like spring.  The air felt so fresh.  In celebration of such a wonderfully spring like day, I had felt like a little DoFU Fa.

What is DoFu Fa you ask.  It’s like a Chinese version of Jell-o.  Except less citrus-y and there is milk in it.  I love this stuff.  It isn’t as sweet as Jell-o and it just feels more refreshing.  If you ever go to Dim Sum, the coconut flavor is traditionally offered with some canned mixed fruit on top.

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Today I picked up a box of mix at my local Asian Supermarket.  I went with the Mango flavor because, honestly, it would probably photograph better.

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Apple Apple Pie

Posted on February 25, 2012 by chezsylvia

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My brother spent the day with me today and wanted to make this dessert he found on Pintrest.  Actually, he wanted to make something he found a picture of on Pintrest.  Great.  We went to my Stop and Shop to gather stuff for these Apple Apple Pies and for the dinner I was planning on making that night (Baked Crunchy Pork Chops with roasted veggies).  Apples acquired, we started our experiment.

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Pomelo Salad – The best cure for a calorie binge over the long weekend

Posted on February 20, 2012 by chezsylvia

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I have to admit.  As frustrating it sometimes is at work, I have to say, the ability to have a four day weekend helps ease the tension.  I enjoyed my four day weekend.  I got some quality time in with the Leeroy Monster over a couple of good long runs (he is my brothers dog, and not a monster in the scary sense).  I spent the day with my WBC crew and picked up some interesting finds at the Brooklyn Flea Market, including a couple of cookbooks from the 1930’s and 60’s.  I foiled my pieces for my stained glass workshop (homework) and manage to cut my finger in the process (not deep enough to draw blood, but deep enough where it hurts, especially when surrounded by the juices of a citrus fruit).  I also received an Liebster Blog Award from My Baking Empire! My Baking Empire is a wonderful baking blog filled with incredible treats that keeps me inspired to bake and keep up my workouts so I can enjoy whipping some of her recipes up, more or less guilt free.

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