Weekend Adventure: Quebec City Part 1 – It Is In Fact Cold at the Hotel De Glace

Posted on March 25, 2013 by chezsylvia

Ice Bar

To continue my jet setting ways, this weekend I jetted off to Quebec City for the weekend with my friend Alli.  This was a quick weekend trip with three purposes: The Ice Hotel (Hotel de Glace), Food and Photography.  Done, done and totally done.

So let’s start with the Hotel De Glace:

Hotel De Glace

You would think, being a rationale adult who is no stranger to the cold winter climate, I would dress appropriately for a visit to something called an Ice Hotel. You would think so…however, I was a touch underdressed for a four hour romp through every nook and cranney of this hotel built of ice, including sliding down an ice slide…twice (are you really surprised?).

Ice Sliding

Ice Sliding

Thanks Alli for those pictures!

I was cold, and my boots are not made for walking on snow for four hours. We had to take a break just so I can feel my feet again.

Ice Brick

Otherwise, being able to explore the hotel during the day before they close off the rooms for the brave overnight guests was a lot of fun. There was a mixture of plain rooms and themed suites. The themed suites were fun to explore.

Continue reading →

Posted in Photography, Weekend Adventure | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

You Just Don’t Know Until You Try: Ham & Gruyere Quiche

Posted on March 18, 2013 by chezsylvia

Ham and Gruyere Quiche

The Crossfit Games Open adventures continue!

This week was the second workout of the series, workout 13.2:

As Many Reps as Possible in 10 minutes (AMRAP 10) of the following:

5 Shoulder to Overhead with 75 pounds (Basically, do whatever you need to do to get the bar, from your shoulders to overhead with your arms straight.  My method of choice was the push press)

10 dead lifts with 75 pounds

15 box jumps onto a 20 inch tall box.

This is what went on in my head when I read it for the first time Wednesday night…”shoulder to overhead….ok….dead lifts…I got this….box jumps…no problem…wait…75 pounds?  Frrrrrraaaaakkkkk”.

75 pounds for a push press is very close to my one rep max (done off a rack, not starting from the floor, nonetheless).  Plus, how in the world was I going to even clean (pick up the bar from ground till it rests across your shoulders) 75 pounds if I have issues cleaning 55 pounds?  I couldn’t scale down if I wanted this score to count.  I had to do 75 pounds.

Besides, I didn’t beat myself up in the first workout just to have the second score not count.

My goal:  To complete at least 2 full rounds, even if it took me forever just to get through the push presses.

There was a lot of energy in the room, and I was shaking a little out of nervousness, but oddly excited.  3…2…1 beeped the clock, and I was off!

As the 10 minutes wore on, the cleaning of the bar got harder and harder, requiring multiple attempts each time.  The push presses started getting broken up into sets of two, then one….requiring me to clean after each fail.

I was getting frustrated, and the sheer exhaustion after those box jumps didnt help me stay focued.  But the yelling and screaming from my fellow crossfitters would not let me stop.  I kept going back to that bar and I kept giving it everything I had left.

In the end I managed 122 reps.  That is, four full rounds plus two shoulder to overheads.  Way more than my goal of two full rounds, and I am still amazed I got through four!

When I started Crossfit a little over a year ago, I struggled to push press 55 pounds, and I had trouble picking up a 45 pound bar.  And now look at what I just did.  Progress!

This same line of thinking also applies to me and Quiches.  For the longest time, I was always wanted to make a quiche but was a bit too afraid to try.  It was the crust.  I have very little luck with crusts, so I was hesitant to try.  And now that I did, I have come to realize that I am a lot more capable than I thought!

Continue reading →

Posted in Breakfast, cheese, CrossFit, Dinner, Salad | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In Need of A Super Salad: Salmon Bok Choi Salad

Posted on March 14, 2013 by chezsylvia

Ice on the screen

Just to show you that I am, in fact, human, let me share with you what I did Thursday morning. I don’t think I have ever done this before, so I’m a little ashamed, but hey, such is life.

My alarm went off at the usual 4:30am. It took the usual 15 minutes to will myself out of bed, and I proceeded to get ready for the morning.

This morning, my plan was go for a run in White Plains. I checked the weather (31degF, feels like 21 degF, not raining…not bad), got a little concerned over how loud the wind was blowing by my windows, and got dressed accordingly.

All my bags were packed. All I had to do was put on my sneakers and I was ready to go.

Except, my sneakers never got put on. Instead I milled around, decided to make a grocery list, tended to my runny nose, wondered why I was still cold even with two shirts on and ultimately made the decision to not leave.

Instead I crawled back into bed (fully dressed in cold weather running attire) and just stayed there for 20 minutes.

The odd part was, that 20 minutes plus a hot shower did me wonders. Wonders as in, made me feel functional again. I felt better and my runny nose was gone!

After 6 years of early morning runs/workouts and wishing I could crawl back into bed every single time, I finally did.

I am no longer Superwoman.

This just means I need a super salad.

IMG_1431

My friend Liz sent me this recipe for Bok Choy Brown Rice Salad by Annie’s Eats.  I thought it was brilliant to use Bok Choi as the greens of a salad.  Except, I don’t think I’d eat it raw, so I made a salad that even the Chinese (who generally do not care for raw veggies) would eat (I eat raw veggies all the time).

Continue reading →

Posted in Dinner, Running, Salad, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

I Burpee’d for Some Croissants

Posted on March 10, 2013 by chezsylvia

Cinnamon Rolls

I’m exhausted and I smell like butter….and that’s all good…

Today I completed my first workout for the CrossFit Games Open.  The website explains the whole event better than I could, but essentially the Open is where anyone who wants to particiapte can.  I didn’t participate last year since I felt I was still too new to the sport to really be able to.  This year, I was no longer really a newbie, so after a lot of hemming and hawing, I finally took the plunge and signed up.  I figured, whatever it was I was afraid of, whatever it was that I thought I wasn’t capable of, I wasn’t going to know until I did it.

It’s funny how I don’t let the fear of failure ever stop me from signing up for races or competitions, but it stops me cold when it comes to the other aspect of my life.

Workout 13.1 was posted Wednesday night.  Once I read it, my heart sank as I wondered what in the world did I get myself into:

Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 17 minutes of:
40 Burpees
75/45 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
135/75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
165/100 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 burpees
210/120 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

First and foremost….I just learned how to do a snatch recently (basically lifting a weighted bar from ground to overhead in one motion), and I was nowhere near competant, nor was doing them at any weight near 45 pounds.  And burpees?  I started rethinking my decision making abilities.

So, I walked in Sunday morning with a simple goal in mind.  To complete 100 reps (40 burpees, 30 snatches @ 45 pounds, 30 burpees).  That was all i wanted.  And after 17 minutes of throwing myself on the ground to only pull myself back up as fast as possible, picking things up and putting them down and swearing up a storm (yes…I do swear), I made my 100 reps.  Snatches at 45 pounds did prove to be incredibly challenging (one at a time towards the end, hence the slow time), and the bruise on my hip proves it.  But the important thing is, I did it!

CrossFit Open 13.1

So, why do I put myself through this?  So I can eat oodles of croissants my little group made at the Croissant workshop at Sur La Table!

Continue reading →

Posted in Breakfast, CrossFit, Dessert, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

I Need A Running Helmet or Some Brownie Cookies

Posted on March 3, 2013 by chezsylvia

Cookie Butter Sandwich

At one point in my Sunday Run Day run, I found myself lying on top of a sheet of mud ice staring at the sky wondering where in the world the ice came from…

I was so excited this Sunday morning.  It was going to be my first run through the trails of the Rockefeller Preserve of the year.  The snow should be gone, the trails should be clear, running conditions are favorable.

I leashed up my trusty running buddy, my brothers coyote for a dog Leeroy, and we were off.

IMG_1405

We passed by the cows, meandered through the woods and the farmland and made it to the lake.  There was a just a dusting of snow form a passing snow flurry last night that covered the trails here.  I went around the bend, and as I was looking at the horseshoe prints in the snow dusted mud, I suddenly found myself falling.  I quietly called out to Leeroy before slamming to the ground upper back first, followed by the thud of my head on the frozen mud.

Dazed, I stayed down for a moment wondering what just happened, and what to do next.  I was three miles away from my car, it was cold out, and I was not dressed to walk back.  I didn’t want to bother anyone and call for a pick up from the visitors center a quarter mile away.  I only had one option left. Get up, shake it off and run back.

Another fall, another lesson learned (so true to life!)  When I ran 11 miles on an ankle sprained 2 miles into a run from tripping over the dog.  I learned how to run with Leeroy on leash.  When I tripped on a curb during a pre dawn run and chipped my front tooth, I learned to carry a cell phone and bought a headlamp.  Now, after this spill, I think I need to get a helmet.  Or quit being so distracted…or find someone to run with…whichever.  The real truth is, it’s incidences like this that make me realize that even though I can do things alone, sometimes I really shouldn’t.

So, I sit here now, with a sore neck and bruised elbow, and all I want is a cookie.

Brownie Cookies

How about some Brownie Cutout Cookies from my new Smitten Kitchen cookbook.  Yes kids…she (Smitten Kitchen the blog) has a cookbook and everything looks amazingly delicious.

I had to give this recipe a trial run.

Continue reading →

Posted in Cookies, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Whipping my Cinnamon Buns

Posted on February 23, 2013 by chezsylvia

Cinnamon Roll

Over the past few weeks I’ve been practicing something called Double Unders as much as I can.  It’s one of those skills in CrossFit I was so close to being able to actually do, unlike something like Handstand pushups or Pistols.

Double unders are when you are jumping rope and you get the rope under you twice per jump.  Sounds easy?  Oh it is not.

I recently switched to a speed rope, which is basically a wire covered in some rubber insulation.  It moves fast, and hurts like nobody’s business when it suddenly comes to a stop against your skin.

Speed Rope

Every morning, I start the day whipping myself.  Even though I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, there were quite a few times it smarted so much it was tear inducing.

The weird part was I was only whipping myself on the right side of my body.  My arm, hand, leg and buns….covered in a lovely array of bright red welts from the rope.  Sexy….especially since I did this before hopping on the treadmill when at the gym.

I’d take pictures of these marks, but taking pictures in the locker room is probably not very appropriate.

It all started paying off recently.  I actually started stringing them together!  First it was just a couple, then three and four.  Albeit, with a single hop in between each, but it was progress!  Then I had a brief moment of success.  Yesterday, I finally strung three together continuously!  All that whipping was finally paying off!

Even though the saying goes “Good things come to those who wait”, what it doesn’t say is, persistance is key along with patience in order to achieve.

Case in point….Cinnamon Rolls.

Continue reading →

Posted in Bread, Breakfast | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cheese + Beer = Beer Batter Cheese Bread

Posted on February 18, 2013 by chezsylvia

Beer Batter Cheese Bread

In this Facebook era, has our definition of boundaries changed so drastically that even those who want to maintain their sense of boundary cannot?  Are we all being sucked into this new norm of a blurred sense of privacy and over sharing, whether intentional or not?

I am a rather private person.  However, even I cannot hide from the internet (hence the blog!).  As part of the generation that grew up just as the internet was gaining full steam, I have been lucky to be able to remember a time when I had complete control over the information made public about my life.

Now, I have to stay diligent over who has my information.  The other day I received a strange text message on my cell phone from some random sender.  Normally, it can be dismissed as a spam message with strategically placed info to make it seem personal.  But this time it was too close to home.  They knew my first name, used a very familiar tone and referenced my facebook profile.  I don’t normally get creeped out by these random spam messages in my email, but I was with this one because it was sent to my personal cell phone.

This just means I have to be even more diligent.  Unlike the old days where I was in complete control, now I have to use even more time and effort to re-gain control.

All this effort takes too much energy…I need a beer and some carbs.  How about at the same time?

Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Bread, cheese, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

I Just Need To Believe in Myself Hot Chocolate

Posted on February 12, 2013 by chezsylvia

Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream

The other day at CrossFit, our WOD (workout of the day) consisted of a set of strict presses (pressing the bar from shoulders to overhead) and a set of push presses (same movement, except with the addition of using your legs to help you press up).

During the strict presses, I was a bit ambitious with the weight and ended up failing three of my five sets (we were supposed to build to a max 5 rep set at the end of five sets).  No matter, I was more of a push press kinda gal.

Again I was a bit over ambitious with the weight, but this time at least I made it to the 5th set without failing (although, just barely).  Now I had 70 pounds resting on the rack in front of me waiting to be push pressed a full five reps.

Unbenownst to me, our trainer for this class was watching me.  I did one, then two, then squeaked in three….it was getting heavy.  Number 4…I dipped a little and pushed up with everything I had, and got so close, but my arms just couldn’t push anymore.  As I (carefully) dropped the bar, I heard that collective exhale of disappointment from me, my WOD buddy and from my trainer ring over the thud of the weights hitting the ground.  Disappointment is very loud.

Then he imparted some words of wisdom.  Nothing to do with technique or form (which was apparently great…surprising given how tight my shoulders generally are).  It had to do with my attitude, my frame of mind.    He says I tend to approach the bar very casually and had a pretty laid back attitude going into my sets.  What I have to start doing is go to the bar determined, focused, ready to conquer and just pick that bar up and do it!  Then I will complete 5 reps at 70 pounds because I have the strength, I am totally capable, I just don’t have the belief that I can.

Yup.  That sounds like me alright.  Over ambitious, yet with a timid, almost fearful approach.  Even Crossfit is trying to tell me the same thing everyone else has been saying all along:  I am capable, but I have to believe I am.  If I can just believe in myself, imagine the great things I can accomplish!

Like this hot chocolate.

I’ve been tooling around with a simple way to make hot chocolate with the fewest amount of ingredients.  Many batches have come and gone, and I think I finally figured it out:

I Believe in Myself Hot Chocolate

Fill your favorite mug with Unsweetened Almond Milk (none of that vanilla flavored stuff) or your preferred milk of choice, and pour it into a small saucepan.

Place the saucepan over a medium low heat.

Break apart two squares (2 oz) of semi sweet chocolate (a fancier quality.  I had Ghirardelli on hand) and plop into the milk.

Slowly whisk the melting chocolate and milk until the chocolate is fully melted, and there is just a wisp of steam coming off of the milk (but not boiling).  Here you can add some ground cinnamon and or ground ginger (it sounds weird, but it gives it a nice spiciness…amounts depends on your taste.  I kinda just eyeball it.).

Pour back into your favorite mug.

If you want to top it with some whipped cream (who doesn’t?):

Pour a bit of heavy cream into a medium sized bowl (a half cup will yield enough whipped cream for 2-3 cups), and with the whisk (I ended up cleaning the one I used for the hot chocolate….but you can just reuse it), and whisk away.

When it looks a bit thicker in consistency, add in about a teaspoon of sugar (more if you want it sweeter) and a dash of vanilla extract.

Continue whisking until you get medium peaks.  I took me three minutes from start to finish.

Top hot chocolate with a generous dollop of whipped cream and enjoy!

Hot Chocolate and Whipped Cream

Some notes:

Don’t use chocolate chips for this.  I tried a few times, and I found that it leaves a rather gross top layer of waxy stuff as the hot chocolate cools.  Use bar chocolate.  Feel free to use a darker chocolate if you like.

Definitely whisk the chocolate and milk together.  I’ve done it just stirring since I’m not so keen on running a whisk against the non-stick coating of my saucepan (I do it very gently, and try really hard not to scrap the bottom).  If you stir, the chocolate never really fully incorporates in with the milk, and you won’t get that smoother hot chocolate texture.

Instead of vanilla extract, try just a touch of peppermint extract.

Make your own whipped cream.  It literally took me three minutes from start to finish, including time to fetch and add the sugar and extract.  So worth it and so much better for you than anything that came from a can.

Now, another option instead of whipped cream is to make a whipped coconut cream.  I can only imagine greatness with that combination.  If someone tries it, let me know how it turns out!

Posted in Dessert, Drinks | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Spinster’s Treat for her Valentines: Ginger Spiced Palmiers

Posted on February 9, 2013 by chezsylvia

Ginger Spiced Palmiers

In my perpetual single-dom, February 14th used to make me a little sad.  But now that I’m old and supposedly a bit wiser, I now have come to a realization.

I may not have a Valentine, but it doesn’t mean I am not loved nor that I don’t love.

I have my family, my friends, and the dog (who can also give cards apparently).

Valentine's Day Card from the Dog

Even though I am single, I am not unloved.

Perhaps that isn’t the romantic, candle light expensive dinner, tacky pink heart shaped box full of gross chocolate kinda love, but it’s still love.

I think that still counts.

Tobias Valentine - Marisa Segunin (http://marisaseguin.blogspot.com/2013/02/you-can-sink-your-arrow-into-my.html)(More fun Arrested Development Card Designs by Marisa Seguin Here)

So, for my friends, old and new, my family and all my loved ones, I present these lovely Ginger Spiced Palmiers as my Valentine’s Day gift to you.

Continue reading →

Posted in Cookies, Life, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hummus Made from Accidentally Sprouted Chickpeas

Posted on February 3, 2013 by chezsylvia

Encouraged by my friend Shelley, I decided to submit a couple of photographs to the Upstream Gallery’s Photography Takes Over show.  I had submitted some photos last year, but was never chosen, so imagine my surprise when not only the original two I submitted were chosen, but one additional one from some requested supplemental photographs was chosen also.

While I was smitten with so many chosen for this show, with a hanging fee of $25 a piece and the costs I will be incurring for framing and printing each photograph, this hobby is not a cheap date.

Sylvia Louie Photographs

Two of the photographs were taken at the Tate Modern during my trip to London, and the third was taken at the Ossining Fire Department Parade.

Cool beans right?  Seeing my photos on a wall other than one in my parents house makes me smile.

The opening reception for this show was on the day of the Superbowl. I had asked my parents if they wanted to come check it out, and my father’s response….”but, it’s the day of the superbowl”. Apparently he blocked off the entire day for a 6:30pm game. Really? The thing was at 2pm. Needless to say, he went, but had a countdown going the entire way.

He also eats a lot of chips and other really bad for you stuff. So I made him some hummus to nosh on instead.

Continue reading →

Posted in Photography, snack | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments