Sunday Runday: Adventure Run Recap

This is the third race in the "untimed for fun runs" I did during the month of April.  Put on my RoadRunner Sports, the Adventure run is held the second Thursday of every month, and has quite the turnout.

There are lots of vendors present who are handing out free samples, coupons, and most importantly, tickets.  Because the Adventure Run is all about the tickets.  It's a scavenger hunt style race, where you race between stations to get raffle tickets.  At the end of the run, everyone meets up and they raffle off drinks, clothes, shoes, race entries, and all sorts of other goodies.

I met up with some of my running group buddies.  Which was good, because I had no clue what I was doing since it was my first time.  One of my friends, on the other hand, was a seasoned pro.  In an effort to win some more tickets, she entered a contest to consume 5 running gels the fastest.

Aaaaaaand she won.  So I will now be referring to this friend as Gel.

 

Gel and I planned to run together, since we had a similar pace and she knew where to go.  Which was helpful because we weren't actually given a route or a map.  Instead, they flashed this thing up on the screen and expected us to memorize the locations of all the stations.

Gel and I decided to run to the farthest location first, and work our way back towards the store.  The farthest location?  A brewery.  Some people decided to just stay there for a drink.  We headed out to get more tickets.

 

As we stopped at stations we were encouraged to do pushups, burpees, and jumping jacks to earn extra tickets.  And we did them.  In the hour we had to do the race, Gel and I ran about 4.5 miles.  And we amassed a bit of tickets.  Gel had way more than I did, but I had a nice little stash.

 Despite our hard work and tickets, we didn't win anything during the raffles.  Unless you count the protein bars that they threw out to the crowd. 

Passover Crabcakes

We have been so busy this past week, that the Passover sting hasn't really affected me.  No crazy cravings for doughnuts or pretzels.  Meals in general have been a bit of a rush about, going from one seder to another, or throwing together some easy weeknight options.

Thatbaby is off from preschool this week for Spring Break.  Which wrecks havoc on Thatboy and my schedule.  He took the first part of the week, I took the second, and Thatmom is on toddler-duty until he's back to school next Wednesday.

The first half of the week, I do admit lunches were pretty boring - I packed myself grilled chicken and broccoli.  But when I was home, I had the use of a stove and microwave, so things were pretty good.  As for dinners, being home with Thatbaby gave me time to be pretty inventive.  Alright, so not so inventive.  Really just Passover reinventions of normal, typical food.  Like crabcakes and hush puppies.

Both are easy enough substitutions to Passover.  The best crabcakes are light on breadcrumbs anyway, and matzoah meal is a pretty good substitute.  Hushpuppies are a little more difficult, since the main ingredient is cornmeal.  I used a sweet potato base instead, mixed with matzoh meal, green onions, and eggs.  I think these have a little way to go.  I used my food processor to shred the sweet potato, but I think it needs to be a bit finer consistency, like pureed or grated.  We definitely liked the taste of the hush puppies, just not the consistency.

Passover Crabcakes

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup crab
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup matzoh meal
• canola oil

1. Combine mayo, eggs, green onions, Old Bay, and Worcestershire sauce.
2. Stir in the crab, green onions, and matzoh meal.  Form into patties (This made 8 for me)
3. Heat 1 inch of canola oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Cook each patty 1-2 minutes per side, until browned.

Pollo Asada Fries

"You should blog about this" Thatboy told me as we tucked into dinner last night.  "Anytime anyone complains about Passover cooking, you just point them right to this meal."  

To say last night's dinner was a hit would be an understatement.   Originally, I was going to just make "cheesy taco chicken" - chicken breasts cooked with taco seasoning and cheese baked on top.  I wasn't sure exactly what to do about sides, trying to choose between green (salad) and starch (mashed potatoes).  Neither seemed to fit.  Then I was struck with a brilliant idea - french fries!

For those of you not from Southern California region, the idea of tacos and french fries might seem to be a strange combination.  But "papas" make a frequent appearance in San Diego Mexican cuisine.  Breakfast burritos contain french fries, as do "California Burritos" which feature them alongside carne asada and guacamole.  And of course there are the "if you're in San Diego, you must try" carne asada fries - which are basically nachoes with french fries instead of chips, topped with hot carne asada, cheese, guacamole, and salsa.

This is my take on those - since chips aren't Passover friendly, and a chicken breast by itself is oh so sad and lonely.

Pollo Asada Fries

1 chicken breast
1 can rotel
1 package chicken taco seasonings
1/3 cup water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
french fries
2 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded

1. Place chicken breast, rotel, seasonings, water, and oil in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.
2. Shred chicken and return to saucepan and cook for another 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350.  Spread french fries in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Cover with shredded chicken and tomato mixture.
4. Top with shredded cheese and bake about 10 minutes, until cheese melts.

Skirts and Stuff

A couple weeks ago, a bunch of us in my running group got together to make our very own running skirts.  I'm not an experienced seamstress by any means, but I know the basic concepts, and I know my way around a sewing machine.  Just please don't ask me to change the stitch type, and apparently you're supposed to backstich (who knew?).

I made 2 different types of skirts at the get-together.  A tutu - which I knew how to make from The Color Run a couple years back (although Jurisslave made our tutus for that one), and an actual fabric running skirt.

Making the running skirt was relatively easy, but time consuming!  One of the ladies brought her skirt, and I used that for a template, spreading it out over my fabric, and then pinning and cutting one big circle. 

Step 2 was folding it into fourths and cutting a hole in the top.  Then cutting up the side so I could open it up into one strip of fabric and recut that top hole to fit around my waist.

Then lots and lots of pinning the bottom hem and the top elastic.  And sewing round and round.  Then all I had to do was sew the ends of the fabric together where they opened and form a seam.  I wore the skirt for The Neon Run this past weekend, and it was perfect!

It was easy enough that I'll probably make a couple more skirts for some other races I've got coming up this year.


As for the tutu, that just involved tying strips of tulle around a piece of elastic.   And I've already worn it twice!  Once for the tutu run my running group did, and once for the Adventure Run I also did this week.  Cripes, all that hard work last month really paid off this week!

Happy Passover Everyone!

On Friday I attended the Passover Concert for Thatbaby's school.  Despite being so excited about the concert, practicing his songs all week, and doing phenomenal (from what I heard) at the dress rehearsal the week before, when push came to shove, someone got a case of the stage frights.  He refused to sing or even stand with his class, only wanting to cry in my lap.

Next Year in Jerusalem!

Mommy Mondays: Bedtimes

Are there things your parents made you do that you hated?  Yeah.  Parents are the worst.

But you know what is even worse?  When you grow up and realize that their rational for making you doing those hated things actually made sense.

For me, the rule I hated and couldn't understand was the 7:30 bedtime my parents imposed. So early!  I think it went up to 8pm when I was 13, and stayed there until the summer after my senior year of high school.  The early bedtime wasn't really for me and my brother's immediate benefit, it was more of a long term benefit - the early bedtime was so my parents could have some adult time.  Time without children and their infinite needs.  Which, they argued, made them better parents, and us a happier family.

Although it was something I hated as a child and young adult, I can respect the idea.  And it was something Thatboy and I knew we were going to institute with our own children.  And we have.  I know plenty of people who put their children to bed at the same time they go to sleep, but for us, Thatbaby goes to bed as early as we can get him to bed so Thatboy and I can have some time to reconnect after the day. 

When I first got pregnant, Thatboy and I discussed how we weren't going to let having a baby drive a wedge between our relationship.  And it's something we have to work on.  Because a child requires a lot of your attention.  And a child means there are much fewer date nights, or impromptu weekends away.  There's just less time for you as a couple, unless you make time.  It's important for us to eat dinner as a family, so the evenings after Thatbaby goes to bed are the times we make for each other.

So the goal is to get Thatbaby in bed around 7:30, although it's usually closer to 8pm.  And why I totally advocate getting your kid to bed as early as you can  (which is obviously going to be different for each child).

Sunday Runday: Seaworld Pole to Pole 5k

2 weeks ago I happened to discover that there was a race through SeaWorld set for April 6.  It was a 5k that round through the park, before the park was even open.  For years I had been doing a similar race through the San Diego Zoo and it was my favorite race in San Diego.  Something about being in the park before opening hours was exciting and made for memorable experiences as most of the animals were more alert and awake in those early morning hours.  And there were animal encounters where they brought some of the animals out of their enclosures.  So I thought the "Pole to Pole 5k" would be a fun experience Thatbaby would really enjoy.  

The only problem was, I already had a playdate scheduled for the same day with Little Parrot and BA.  I shot out a quick email to the other moms to see if they wanted to change "playdate" into a "race at SeaWorld date."  They were both in.   When I told Thatbaby he was going to do a race with Little Parrot and BA, he was quick to add in "And Lexus."  Every.Time.  So another email to another mom and Lexus was ready to join the boys for a race. 

Seriously - look how happy my kid was to see his buddy.  Who he had seen 2 days earlier at school.

We managed to arrive in 2 groups, which was purely coincidence, but made it very easy to gather our little ragamuffin group together.  From the start, the kids were fascinated with the fish.

We got them all bundled up in their strollers, even the reluctant, non-stroller loving ones (peer pressure for the win!) and started the race.

We made our way through a very quiet park, stopping to check out some friendly characters, and many of the exibits.  We saw the whales, dolphins, rays, and flamingos.

 

The kids vacillated between contently riding in their strollers, and wanting to run run run.

And of course, all that running makes you thirsty, so they loved stopping for water breaks.  Thatbaby continued to ask for WATER BREAK or MILK BREAK for a couple days after the race.

I'm actually really proud of our little crew.  They ran much more than I was expecting them too, and didn't start getting antsy until around 2.5 miles.  When Thatbaby and BA kept planning escape routes and running off course, which resulted in them both getting imprisoned in the stroller.

I had spoken with one of the coordinators during packet pick-up about the race and she said that last year the last person crossed at 8:55, 1 hour and 25 minutes after the race started.  I told her that would probably be us.  AND IT WAS!  At 1 hour and 25 minutes our rag tag little band crossed the finish and received our medals.

 

The post-race festivities were fantastic.  Hot breakfast burritos, muffins, apples, bananas, coffee, vitamin water and regular water.  The kids went crazy for the fruit, and the adults were happy to munch on burritos with our coffee.

The race included free entry into the park for the day, so after breakfast they rounded us out of the backstage area so we could go in through the front gates.  The boys loved the new Explorer's Reef where they could stick their hands in to pet sharks or have little fishies kiss their fingers.

And the Sesame Street Zone was a big hit with kid-sized rides.

We explored some more of the park, but around noon all the kids were starting to wear out.  It had been a very busy morning for them!  We grabbed some lunch and headed out.  Thatbaby was asleep before we hit the freeway.  Overall I think this was a fantastic race.  Very well run and organized, and it was nice to be in an uncrowded park, taking your time, when you have a small child with you.  The kids had a fantastic time, and a free ticket to stay and play after was a nice addition.

Slow Cooker Ratatouille with Goat Cheese Polenta

For Thatboy, Easter means ratatouille.  It's a very weird connection.  Ratatouille is hardly a spring food.  Taking advantage of vegetables like tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant it really is a summer dish.  At the same time, since it's so thick and stew-ey, I could certainly make an argument that it's a great fall dish.  But TMIL makes it every Easter.  Served alongside lamb, it's a rather heavy meal.

This winter Joanne posted a great, wintery ratatouille.  Sure it had tomatoes, but it also has kale, squash, and potatoes.  TMIL serves her ratatouille as a side on its own, but I always like it with polenta.  Joanne must agree with me because she serves hers over polenta too - creamy, cheesy, polenta!  Just in case you also think ratatouille is an Easter dish, here's the scoop:

Source: Eats Well With Others

2 large eggplants, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tbsp coarse salt, plus more to taste
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 lb fingerling potatoes, quartered
1 bunch kale, stemmed and coarsely chopped
2 tbsp butter, divided
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium red onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup tomato paste
28 oz whole peeled tomatoes
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 cup vegetable broth
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups polenta
4 oz goat cheese
freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with the salt, tossing to combine. Drain for 45 minutes.  Rinse and dry with paper towels.
2. Spray the slow cooker with olive oil. Add the butternut squash, fingerling potatoes, and kale to to the slow cooker, tossing to combine.
3. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add in the onions and garlic, along with a pinch of salt. Saute for 5-8 minutes, or until onions are tender. Add to the slow cooker.
4. In that same pot, melt 1 tbsp butter with 1 tbsp olive oil. Whisk in the flour and tomato paste. Stir constantly until flour combines with the paste. 
5. Slowly stir in the whole peeled tomatoes. Simmer, mashing the potatoes against the side of the pot, until mixture thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. 
6. Stir in the Italian seasoning and vegetable broth. Add to the pot.
7. Add the eggplant to the slow cooker. 
8. Add in freshly ground black pepper and stir to combine. Cook on low for 8 hours, stirring halfway through.
9. Before serving, stir in the basil and remove from heat.
10. For the polenta, bring the vegetable broth and water to a boil. Stir in the salt. 
11. Slowly whisk the polenta into the boiling water and lower to a simmer. Simmer until polenta reaches desired consistency, stirring frequently, anywhere from 15-30 minutes. 
12. When polenta is done, stir in the goat cheese and black pepper.
13. Serve ratatouille atop a big scoop of polenta.

Verdict: Keeper!!


Thatboy loved this.  Which is good, because the recipe made a lot.  So he had it for lunch leftovers too.  Thatbaby liked it more than he thought he would, although he did mostly just eat the potatoes and squash.  And polenta.  Kid likes polenta.

Rum Balls

There's something about the holidays that make people pour alcohol into desserts.  I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that most holidays involve spending a lot of time with relatives.  For Passover, we don't mess around.  Instead of pouring alcohol into dessert, we pour it straight into ourselves.  4 glasses of it.

I'm not as familiar with the drinking customs of Easter.  But these rum balls are sure to be a big hit.  I think rum is traditionally a Christmas drink/dessert kind of alcohol, but these little balls look so much like bunny-tails I'm sure Peter Rabbit would approve.

Rum balls are one of those old-school desserts.  I don't think many people make them anymore, but they are unbelievably easy.  They also pack a surprising punch if you don't know better.  Thatboy took a bite and quickly realized after a couple he probably shouldn't be driving.  So keep them out of reach of any little hands you've got hanging around.

Rum Balls (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

2 cups Nilla Wafer crumbs

1 cup shredded coconut

2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

2 Tbsp light corn syrup

1/3 cup rum

1. Combine the crumbs, coconut, 1 cup of the confectioners sugar, corn syrup and rum in a bowl.
2. Mix well and shape into small balls.  
3. Sift the remaining confectioners sugar on a piece of wax paper and roll the balls in the sugar.

Wild Child: Another 3rd Birthday

3 of the little 'uns in my moms' group are born in April/early May.  Which is part of the reason our weekends are so busy right now.  And talking with my friends about their children's birthdays always gets me spinning into planning Thatbaby's.  And April is far too early to begin planning an October birthday.  But it's so hard when you see such fantastic parties like those thrown by the amazing women I'm friends with!  Saturday was Little HW's birthday party- a carnival themed day of fun.

There were carnival games like a ring toss, and a knocking down cans with a ball.  And "fair food" like popcorn, watermelon, hotdogs, and bbq pulled chicken.  The popcorn was a huge hit with the younger set.  As soon as one of them found it, all of them had to have it.

Horse Whisper's mom even created this fantastic pony for pony rides.  Thatbaby made us sing the Bonanza theme song every time he hopped on.

And he had a partner in crime with Juristoddler, who he convinced to climb up and join him.  Seriously, what a good sport Juristoddler is - I mean, Thatbaby is bossy and likes to be in charge.  I don't know if I could handle being friends with him.

Even though Horse Whisperer had given up chocolate for Lent, she still provided a fabulous chocolate cake for Little HW, since chocolate cake is her favorite kind.

 

Some of the other guests liked it too.

It's always nice to attend functions thrown by my mom's group.  Everyone understands when conversations have to stop mid-sentence to be restarted later.  And now that we have the second round, there is always a free hand to hold a baby so that mom or 1st child needs can be met (this is especially important during these potty training ages when sometimes you need to drop everything for a potty run).  It's also nice because there are several sets of eyes on your child, so you can sit and try to relax knowing someone is making sure your kid doesn't plunge their face into the cake or a bush.

Princess Turns 3

One of Thatbaby's classmates has 2 older brothers.  Her mom confided in me that she was so excited when her third was a girl - she wanted a little princess.  Of course, Princess turned out to be more interested in the things her rough and tumble brothers were into.  So when Princess decided she liked The Little Mermaid, her mom latched on to the idea.  A couple weekends ago, Princess had her very own Little Mermaid birthday party!  Complete with a visit from Ariel.

It was cute to watch the little girls (and some of the little boys) follow around Ariel as she led them through the different areas of the play space.  But everyone fell in line when she whipped out her face paints and started making balloon animals.

This was Thatbaby's first experience with a Princess.  He's never really watched any Disney movies because he just doesn't have the attention span.  When we got home from the party, Thatbaby asked to watch "The Princess" movie.  Because the movie is Thatboy's favorite, he anxiously put The Little Mermaid on to share with his son.  Which lasted all of 10? 20? minutes before he quickly grew bored.  But it's a start, right?

Mommy Mondays: Love Every Body

I want to talk a little about body image and small children.  This post might be a little premature, after all Thatbaby is only 2.5, but at the same time, this is something that it's best to start as early as possible.

You're probably well aware of the childhood obesity epidemic affecting America.  And the adult obesity epidemic affecting America.  But it's important to remember that a healthy child is one who is "fit" both inside and out.  Often times in our quest to create less obese children, we play upon their psyches, which is one of the reasons many of us have such unhealthy relationships with food.

I remember from the time I was a small child my mother was always on a diet of some sort, with daily weigh-ins.  Her constant critique and examination of her body was almost certainly passed down to me.  I don't mean to make it sound like I'm playing the blame game, it was never anything intentional, and never anything she meant to pass on.  I'm certain that she inherited this from her mother.  We pass things down to our children unconsciously.  Our own anxieties become theirs.  And I strive not to pass those along to Thatbaby.  Whether I'm successful or not remains to be seen, but here are some of the philosophies I'm trying to follow:

No such thing as bad foods
We don't do "bad foods" or "good foods."  As far as Thatbaby is concerned, all foods are "good foods" but they serve different purposes.  Things like vegetables and chicken are good because they help you grow big and strong.  Things like chocolate and cookies are good because they're yummy.  We still limit the amount of chocolate and cookies he eats, because he doesn't need a diet made of sugar, but we limit by not making it available at all times.  Which means we don't do/need dessert every night, but there's nothing wrong with having some ice cream (frozen yogurt) every now and again.  Instead, we offer him a variety of healthy foods to which he has constant access - like a bowl of berries or grapes at Thatbaby level in the fridge.  (Or right now he's really into snap peas, so they're always in the house)


Food is not a motivator or reward
Thatbaby already knows a birthday party = cake, but I don't really want him to associate food with events.  So he doesn't get a lollypop after he gets shots at the doctor, and we won't be using candy or food in our potty training regime.  Which is not to say we don't resort to bribery.  Of course we do.  Every parent does.  We just don't bribe with food!  My hope is that if he doesn't associate food with "comfort" or "praise" he won't turn into a person who eats to comfort himself or make himself feel better.

Lead by example
This is a two pronged philosophy.  The first is having Thatbaby witness an "active" lifestyle.  He knows mommy goes running and daddy goes surfing.  He watches me do pilates in the evening.  The hope is that watching us be active will make him want to be active too.  So far, so good.  He already goes skateboarding with Thatboy, and helps me with my pilates - holding a little weight and mimicking me.  Or joining in on "Running pushups" (what he calls Mountain Climbers).  We've also implemented "Good Night Stretches" into our bedtime routine, where he does stretching with Thatboy and I as a family.

The second part is not letting him see Thatboy or I worry, talk, or make a big deal about our weight or food choices.  Watching us express positive self images will hopefully help him build his own.


No Fat Jokes
It's easy to slip into it with infants and toddlers.  Those fat rolls, chubby thighs, and cheeks are adorable.  But we really try hard not to make any comments about Thatbaby's weight, chubbs, or eating habits.  I try harder than Thatboy who made a remark about our "fat kid" after Thatbaby had covered his face in chocolate cake.  Comments like that seem innocent enough, and probably are at this age, but can become hurtful and harmful when they continue.  Eventually Thatbaby is going to pick up on these comments and it's not going to help him create a healthy body image.

Sunday Runday:LV Kickoff Night Race Report

The next month is going to be full of "Race" Reports, because I've got 4 this month.  Of course, race is in quotes, because all of them are untimed fun-runs.

Last month I got an email from the Rock 'n' Roll Race series announcing their kickoff for this year's Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon.   To kick off registration, Competitor was hosting 5ks in several locations throughout the country, and virtual runs everywhere else.

I know the Rock 'n' Roll series can be divisive, but I'm a little loyal since it started right here in San Diego.   Which is why we have the benefit of smaller Rock 'n' Roll races like the Carlsbad 5000.  There's always good course support, so I anticipated that would occur at the Kick Off Run 5k too.    And as an added bonus?  The fun run was free!  In this day and age where races require taking out a second mortgage, it was nice to see something that was really for runners.  (And I wanted to take advantage because I don't know if it will continue to be free in the future.)


The 5k was held in conjunction with Milestone Running, who hosted and fed us.  On Wednesday night I headed over after work to run.

130 of us showed up to run.  Runners of all levels of ability.  The run itself wasn't timed, since it was a fun-run, but I set up my Nike+ to time myself, since I have that whole goal of running a sub-30 5k, and I don't have any timed 5ks on my schedule.

The first mile had us running mostly on University Avenue, the main street that runs through Hillcrest, North Park, and South Park.  And it went really fast.  In fact, when my Nike+ told me I had completed my first mile in 8 minutes and 57 seconds, I told myself I needed to slow down.  And I thought I had, but when I completed the next half mile in less than 5 minutes, I felt like that sub-30 5k was in my grasp.

The second mile was mostly downhill, which had me worry, because I knew that what goes down, must come up.  I definitely lost some time on the third mile, where we climbed back up the hills.  And when I had to stop for a light.

BUT YOU GUYS...even with stopping and waiting for a light to change, I still finished in 29 minutes, 40 seconds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Personal Record AND my first sub-30 5k!!!!!!  

Milestone Running had hotdogs and beers waiting for us when I finished.  And the nice thing about being so speedy fast (for me) is that I got my pick of the beer selection!  Then they hosted raffles, giving away foam rollers, glow in the dark frisbees, backpacks, and lots of other goodies.  As for me, I went home with this pretty little number, a new bag filled with gu and glow sticks and of course, an overwhelming sense of pride in accomplishing my New Years resolution!

Raspberry Bars

As I mentioned earlier this week, April means it's time for Passover.  And I've already started menu planning.  Or more specifically, thinking about what we'll be eating during that time period.  There'll be a lot of repeated favorites, including Cara's "Grandma's Raspberry Squares."  And when I thought about that I realized that most Passover recipes I make are Passover versions of things I eat the "regular" version of.  Except these squares.  And so, while I still can, I thought I would try to adapt a Passover recipe into a non-Passover kind.  The result?  No surprise here - just as good as the original!

Raspberry Bars (Inspired by Cara's Cravings)

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

raspberry jam 

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper.  Cream the shortening, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract in an electric mixer.
2. Sgtir in the egg and blend well.
3. Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt and add to the wet ingredients, mixing well.
4. Spread half the dough in the pan, then cover with a layer of jam.  Pat the remaining dough on top.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Walnut Meringue Bars

There are certain food items where "falling apart" is a good thing.  Think about pulled pork, or a nice short rib.  But usually with cookies that's not what you aim for.  And it wasn't what I was aiming for with these walnut meringue bars.  Which literally fell apart when I started cutting them, not to mention trying to pick them up.  I figured they were destined for the trash. 

Except for their redeeming quality - the taste!  These are so good!  Sweet and dense and chewy.  I'm sure it was user error in making them, which resulted in them being slightly undercooked, which caused them to fall apart.  But it's also what them them so delicious.  So that neither Thatboy nor I minded having to eat them with a fork out of the dish.

Walnut Meringue Bars (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

1/4 lb butter

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs, separated

1 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 300.  Butter an 8x12 inch baking dish.  Cream the butter in an electric mixer.
2. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the salt, half of the vanilla, and the egg yolks.
4. Add the flour and baking powder and beat well.  Spread evenly in the pan.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
6. Slowly beat in the brown sugar.
7. Stir in the walnuts and remaining vanilla.    Spread over the dough.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Wordless Wednesday: Finding the sex of his newest cousin

Cadbury Royal Dark Mini Eggs

Now that it's April, it's officially Passover and Easter Season!  And both of those mean dark chocolate to me.  For Passover it's dark chocolate covered matzah, marshmallow, and raspberry gel rings.  Easter is ruled by Cadbury - both the cream eggs and the mini eggs.  The most recent addition to this mix are the new dark chocolate mini eggs.  I could give or take M&Ms, but for some reason, these little eggs are something I look forward to all year!

What's your favorite Passover treat/Easter candy?