Baking is better than eating ice cream.

I've never been much of a depressed ice cream eater, so instead I think I found my new "Ben and Jerry's" and it's baking.

This past Saturday after about a month and a half of my brother and Kim having gotten married, we finally had a family dinner for them, us and a few close family friends. They had their own separate celebration at their home with their friends, but this one was intended for old family friends, you know those "second parents." The ones that have seen you through braces, weight fluctuations and different partners. The ones that say "I remember when you were this tall". Yep, that's what this Sunday was. Had I not been on dessert duty, had this not been my brother, had this not been a family event, I would have stayed home and probably tried the ice cream thing, but I'm glad I had the obligation to try a new dessert out on the family.

I got the recipe from a new food blog I'm reading called Sticky Goey Creamy Chewy
The actual recipe is called "Thank Heaven for Little Girl (Scouts) Samoan Cheese Tart and you can find it here, with better photos. I must say, it was quite the hit.

First, I bought the finishing ingredients on Saturday at Zupans. I had no idea "Dulce de Leche" was actually what us Mexicanos call "Cajeta". I should have gone to Hillsboro to get it (probably cheaper) and given it that Mexi-twist. Oh well, Italian Dulce did just fine.



It said that I could either use a food processor to destroy the Samoans or a ziploc bag. At first I used the ziploc, but then the bag ripped and there was still no destruction, so I opted for the blender:



Next, came blending the crumbs with butter:



So far so good. After the mix, I had to pack it all in the tart pan and chill for at least 30 minutes. While that was going on, I made the goey middle:


And then back into the fridge for more chillin' of 2 hours. After that, it was time to put the rest of the cajeta on top, the roasted coconut flakes and the chocolate.




And done!


Congratulations Renato and Kim!

Just say no: But I don't want to

It's sad but true. I have to stop running.

All my goals and my hobbies, *poof* gone due to what the doctor says "shallow hip sockets" as well as perhaps a tear in my joints or arthritis. All in my hips. It wasn't exactly the news I wanted to hear, but I knew it was coming. Gone are the days of intense training, gone are the long runs of accomplishment. Gone are the dreams of someday running a half marathon.

All gone.

But what do I get? Well, I get to discover new hobbies and perhaps focus on those more fervently like dancing. I like to dance, but I'd like to get better. What about cycling. Yeah, I could try that.

The other things I'd like to try out more would be my photography, my writing, and of course, my reading. I love to read. So yes, I will continue to train, but I won't be doing any of the runs. I'll just hop on an elliptical or go for a very hilly walk on the tread mill. I enjoy working out, but I hate the stigma that comes with it, that's why I liked the 10k training as a guise, but now I have to just suck it up and say, "yeah, I like to go to the gym. I like endorphins."

Hopefully backing off of the running will give me a full life without too much hip pain, perhaps a good 40 years before I need a replacement. Perhaps . . .