and the other being Mississippi Mud Cake ...
and Peanut Sitting Pretties which I make all the time. Basically a thumbprint cookie with a dab of frosting and a peanut m & m on top. They're pretty on a tray of cookies.
I think the event was a success. I had 3 last-minute no-shows and there were still 30 of us there. I didn't count noses, but I double-checked my guest list and 30 it was. Pictured below are Angie, me, Laura and Kristin.
I didn't get much of a chance to talk to people, but there was certainly a lot of chatter going on. I wouldn't expect anything less!!
So what we did was spread out the cookies on the dining room and kitchen tables and then take our empty containers and go around and take 2 of each kind of cookie as each person brought about 5 dozen.
Evan Chestolowski, age 9 days, even made an appearance. I got my baby fix. I just love holding those precious little people.
Thank you to everyone that brought me a bottle of wine. We didn't open them all, by the way. :-)
When all was said and done, we each went home with a nice assortment of cookies.
Fun, fun, fun!! So, that was Sunday afternoon. Sunday evening brought a Lace-Up Against Breast Cancer committee meeting at Laura's house. Noteworthy: The giveaway this year will be an embroidered fleece hat. I am going to try to get some chicken noodle soup donated rather than chili like we had last year. We need lots of volunteers! If you would like to volunteer, contact Sarah. Welcome new committee member Dave Morrill!! Overall winners get pink hammers (half marathon). Cool. :-) There will be another cookie baking extravaganza in January sometime. Stay tuned. I will need lots of help!!
After I got home from the meeting, I felt like I needed some kind of workout as I didn't do anything in the morning. I felt kind of like I needed a workout after being around all these sweets all day, so I got on the Stairmaster for an hour and 40 minutes at about 9:30 PM. No wonder I'm tired all the time ... !!
This week is a bit quieter, theoretically. I don't have much on the calendar, but am still keeping plenty busy. Yesterday late afternoon I volunteered at Community Food Response with food distribution. One set of volunteers goes out to area restaurants, grocery stores, etc. and picks up the donated food and brings it to Bethel Lutheran church.
It's then repackaged into containers which fit neatly into brown grocery bags.
It's given away to anyone who wants it. It's a great program as this food used to be thrown before this program was started.
We give each family unit enough for a meal (more generous if food is very plentiful that day, as it was yesterday) including an entree, vegetable, salad, sandwiches, soup, dessert. Food is distributed M-W-F from 5 to 6:30 PM. It's a wonderful program.
I'd made a pot of split pea soup for supper and enjoyed a bowl when I got home. I used the recipe on the back of the bag of peas (Hy-Vee brand I believe). I think it was the best split pea soup I'd ever had. Slightly different than the way I usually make it. It had 5 sliced carrots, no celery, a red bell pepper and I used 5 cloves of garlic rather than the one called for. It was delicious. I didn't even add any ham. And I didn't miss it a bit.
That, along with a salad made for a delicious dinner.
Here are a few Off-Season Striders photos that John sent from Saturday's run. Randy said it was a good-sized crowd that hung around for a while afterwards. Naturally, I wasn't there!! My absence seems to draw the biggest crowds. :-)
Looks like they had a lot of fun. Wish there were 2 of me sometimes. Most times, actually. Then I could get so much more done. Thanks John for sending the photos!
The Zoom!Yah!Yah! runners get periodic emails from race director Dick Daymont. This snippet appeared in one that arrived in our inboxes on Saturday. "...we do expect a good race with Renee "the cookie lady" Saxman having run the fastest 2009 time (3:42:30). This time on 1/10 would put Renee in the "Top 5" female ZYY times." Oh. My. Gosh. Now I feel like I'm expected to WIN this thing. BTW: Ron Giles has the second fastest male time in this year's field. GO, RON!!!
We got about 4" of snow in the last 24 hours. I got some of it shovelled last night after delivering cookies to the neighbors.
This morning's 11.01 mile run was nice, but required Yak Trax on that new snow. Incredibly, the bike path had already been plowed when I got out there (highway 52 frontage road). Thank you Park and Rec!! If only the county had enough money to plow the rest of it (Bamber Valley Road around the west to 2nd St SW). :-( This evening I went out to the University Center indoor track to run a few laps while the others did speedwork (I did run 3 x 1/4 mile timed--I've definitly lost a bit of speed since the summer as they were about 1:30's.) There are public locker rooms adjacent to the track. Nice facility. Also out there were: Casey Graham, Marilee Hardyman, Tom Woo, Jim Mason, Roger Heil, Peter Maves and someone else I didn't know running with Peter.
That's Roger and Marilee in the top photo and Casey, Jim and Tom in the bottom photo. Bruce, Lisa and maybe Mark are running at 5:15. Right now my legs don't feel like the have another run in them so soon. Especially with the conditions outside. I'll see how I feel but I have a feeling I'll lift and then get in the pool. Another idea would be a ski in the afternoon... After the track, I got a few groceries and went to the mall. I think I'm done shopping now. Both places were pretty busy, probably in anticipation of the storm that's due sometime in the next day or 3. I finally had a bowl of chili just before 9 PM.
As promised, here is my reduced-fat Chex Mix recipe. It was on one of the Chex boxes several years ago but they don't print it any more. I also use the microwave variation. It's the same ingredients as regular Chex Mix but you use 3 Tbsp. of butter instead of 6. (80 calories per serving vs. 130 for regular). You're supposed to omit the nuts, but I still use them. The microwave instructions are: Melt butter. Stir in seasonings. Gradually stir in remaining ingredients until evenly coated. Microwave uncovered on high 5 to 6 minutes, thoroughly stirring every 2 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool. Store in airtight container.
Well, it's nearly 11:00 and I'm about ready to pass out right on this keyboard. So ... good night. ;-)
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1 comment:
Who is that guy in the blue coat with the red hair?!?!
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