K.P. Duty

First off, congratulations to Mary and Ed Chestolowski who welcomed their new son (and 4th child) this morning: Evan Thomas. He was 9 lbs 5 oz. Big baby!! So happy for the family and their new addition. Babies are a blessing ... a wonderful gift.

I spent virtually the entire day in the kitchen again. But there's almost nowhere else I'd rather be. I'm very happy when I'm baking cookies. :-) First off it was another batch of Christmas m & m cookies for tomorrow's run (and for Lana, who also correctly identified the "Where Is It?" photos in the December RTC News.)

Then it was a new recipe. My friend Mary calls them Truffles and a magazine I picked up in Northfield calls them "Snowman Poop"! I think they're more truffle-like if they're coated in dark chocolate and more snowman-pooplike if they're coated in white chocolate. In any case, they're VERY easy. The recipe? A bag of Oreo cookies, crushed fine mixed with a brick of softened cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat variety). Shape into 1" balls ...

and freeze for 15 minutes or so. Then dip in melted chocolate. I used the dark chocolate and tried to drizzle them with white chocolate, but it wasn't cooperating. Kept hardening on me so I just gave up and left the rest plain.

Next up was a batch of the marshmallow/corn flake wreaths. Easy recipe, but I think they're so tasty. And colorful, so they look nice on a tray of cookies.

Then it was a recipe that I'd eaten, but not baked before. The recipe is from my now ex-neighbor Kathy. It's a shortbread cookie log with oatmeal in it,

 dipped in chocolate and then sprinkled with walnuts.

Very good recipe. Easy, too. I think that's it for cookies for today. I never did get the cut-outs rolled out, baked and frosted, so I'll do that tomorrow. All these cookies are going to John Shonyo. Speaking of cookies, I believe Dave Morrill is the high bidder for the cookies up for auction on the RTC website. Thank you Dave! It sounds like his sister will be receiving cookies, along with the recipe, bi-monthly in 2010. The money goes toward the Fetzer 20K prize money, as does John Shonyo's purchase. :-) Thank you, guys.

More cookie news ... tomorrow morning at the 7:30 Dunn Bros run, I'll be giving clues for the "Who Is It?" photos in the RTC newsletter. Somehow I'll determine a winner (first with the correct answers? most correct answers?) and he/she will get a dozen of the m & m cookies pictured earlier. And there will be more cookies for general consumption. :-) Of course.

TCM registration starts EARLY in 2010. February 2, actually. Wow ... committing to a marathon 8 months in advance.

I see that Rochesterite Mike Joyner was quoted in the recent Runners' World magazine in an article about swimming. I see Mike now and again about town. He works at Mayo. Speaking of swimming ... I ran down to the Y this morning. It really wasn't too bad outside. I dressed in lots of layers, wore my Yak Trax, face mask. All in all I was quite comfortable. Except for my eyeballs. They were cold. As was my forehead right above my eyebrows. But I was none the worse for it apparently. Anyway, I got to the Y and lifted and then was going to swim but ended up talking to my friend Mary for an hour instead. So I nixed the swim idea and  went home instead. I was fine with that, actually. I had a 10:00 hair appointment and was getting hungry by 8:40 when I finally decided to trot on home. Thank you to everyone between here and the Y who shoveled. Those who didn't  ... you should!! :-)

From Tom Bisel, owner of Fit To the Tri'd in Northfield who asked me to pass this along to the folks in the Rochester area:

Please join us for the 1st Annual FIT to be TRI’d winter Time–trial series. Starting on Thursday January 7th, we will offer a cycling time-trial series on our brand new CompuTrainers. The event will take place on Thursday evenings through April 1st, as well as on the 2nd & 4th Saturdays of January, February, and March. Time-trials will be held on a new virtual course each month. Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers each month, with an overall combined winner at the end. We’ll kick off the series by riding CompuTrainer’s standard 10K time-trial course. Just bring your own bike – we’ll provide the rest. Schedule:
Thursdays from 5:30pm-7:45pm The 2nd and 4th Saturdays each month from 10:00 am-4:00 pm Time-trial sessions are by appointment – call to make your reservation. Cost: Single ride-$15  All 3 courses -$12/ride 2 rides per course - $10/ride  So Join us this January to see who will become the Inaugural FIT to be TRI’d’s time-trial champion! Sign up begins December 21. Call to make a reservation.  Phone: 507-786-9191  Email: info@fittobetrid.com  Address: 306 Division St., Northfield, MN 55057

These are from my friend Rick. I really enjoyed reading them and will post them a few at a time. It's called "Time Gets Better With Age". Enjoy.

I've learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sings "Silent Night". Age 5
I've learned that our dog doesn't want to eat my broccoli either. Age 7
I've learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back. Age 9
I've learned that just when I get my room the way I like it, Mom makes me clean it up again. Age 12
I've learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up. Age 14
I've learned that although it's hard to admit it, I'm secretly glad my parents are strict with me. Age 15
I've learned that silent company is often more healing than words of advice. Age 24

Until tomorrow, then.