Brrrrrrr!!

Yikes! It barely feels like spring out there. Yesterday the high for the day, 53 degrees, was a record low high temperature. We needed the rain but now I'm ready for summer. It's a bit depressing turning on the heat in the car in mid-June.

Tonight is our monthly Cooking Light get together. Kelly will be joining us. Yippee!! It'll be great to see her and catch up on all her comings and goings in NY. On the menu:

Appetizer (Laura) Of your choosing
Wine (P.K.)
Bread (Mary) Maple and Walnut Quick Bread
Main dish (Margo) Chicken and Cashews
Salad (Kathryn) Arugula and Pear Salad with Toasted Walnuts
Side (Renee) Green Beans Amandine
Dessert (Diane) Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting
Dessert (Barbara) Limoncello-Mint Sorbet with Fresh Blackberries

Photos tomorrow!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be my first open water swim. 7:00 PM at Foster Arends. Anyone is welcome to join in the fun. Chris Koch's triathlon class from Running Room will be there and he says, "The more the merrier!" so feel free to stop by. Tomorrow is also the 2009 debut for All Comers' track meets. 6:00 PM at the Soldier's Field track.

From Jim Benike: The new FANS 24 hour record was broken this weekend. 147 miles. Kettle Moraine 100 record was also broken at 15 hours and change. I can't even fathom running 147 miles in a pop. That would pretty much guarantee a multitude of injuries for me...kudos to those that can do it, though. You're a tough breed.

From Jean Murray: Hey Runners! If its June, then it must mean 6 miles, 6K or 6 blocks (6 blocks is all those heading out for Grandma's Marathon should need). No matter what, hope you can make it! Date/Time: Thursday, June 18th, 5:30 pm. Location: Beetle's on 2nd Street.

Here's a course map for the Rochester half marathon, tweaked a bit from the last go-round:

I'm still in need of articles for the July RTC News. If you have something you'd like included, please send it my way! A favorite recipe, a race recap, training tips, random running-related thoughts, whatever!

I had a farewell party last night for Lionel and Carolyn. We will sure miss them.

We sure had a lot of fun, though. I haven't laughed that hard, or that long, in quite a while. Lionel has a very nice post-party post. :-)

At 7 PM on Saturday, I finally got going on their memory book. It's not quite done. I still have a cover page, a Lace-Up Against Breast Cancer half marathon page, and a couple pages from last night to finish. I should be able to get those done today. It was fun putting it together.

I made the pulled pork with strawberry BBQ sauce that I've made a couple of times recently, a spinach/nectarine/red onion/pecan salad, calico beans and fresh fruit. For dessert, Laura brought a raspberry/rhubarb pie, which was delicious and is in the June issue of Cooking Light and I made a raspberry cake. I'd included the recipe in RTC News a year or two ago. Here it is, and it is definitely not Cooking Light :-)

1 white cake mix (18 1/4 ounces)

Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese (I used Light)
1 c. confectioners' sugar
1 c. whipping cream, whipped
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 package Raspberry Danish Dessert (Junket--available at HyVee)

2 to 3 c. raspberries (I used frozen, defrosted)

Prepare cake according to page directions. Bake in greased and floured 13x9-inch pan. Set aside to cool. Mix cream cheese and 1 cup confectioners' sugar; fold in whipped cream combined with 1/2 cup of confectioners' sugar. Spread filling on cool cake and chill in refrigerator. Mix Danish Dessert with 1 1/2 cups cold water; cook as directed. Cool. Mix in berries; spread over filling layer on cake. Refrigerate overnight.

Quote for the day: “Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.” -- unknown

Peace.