Category Archives: apples

Goblin Gallop roundup.

Happy Halloween! I was up way too early for my Goblin Gallop on Saturday. Finally a race that is about 4 miles from home, so I can sleep in, and I woke up too early. Sigh…

Last pink item of the month! My jammies 😀

I made up a pre-race breakfast of banana custard oats topped with PB and blueberry jam.

With a couple cups of coffee. It was nice to sit and relax before going out for the race. I dressed up as a bumble bee again this year!

It was cold, you can see my clenched fists. 38 degrees at race start.

I was going along pretty well and finally got warmed up. This is the same exact route as last year. I felt really slow. Know how that happens? Same thing with this race last year, and we think the course is a little long because they do 2 loops in the neighborhood and how could that be exactly 3.1 miles? Anyway – I really pushed it for the last 1/2 mile or so. I finished in 31:33! I was so not expecting that time. Slower than last year, but more than a minute faster than my last 5K. Yippee!!

Happy finishers:

John finished in 27 something. So fast!

My mom came out and supported us today:

There were a ton of snacks afterwards. I took a picture, but it was totally fogged up because my camera was cold from being outside:

I could not resist the candy corn cupcake!

Since today was my only full day off of the week, we decided to go out to Starbucks and have a sit and just chill out:

I just get one of these a week (days off, not coffee)!

We wanted to get some apples at a local orchard, so off to Saratoga after lunch:

We were going to go picking, but it was $6 per person and we did not need $12 worth of apples (we already have some). But we did get a few. Check out the giant bins of apples!

Some huge apples, too. This was in John’s hand:

I like my apples smaller, so I went for the macintosh. We also had to have a small cider donut:

Delicious and fresh. Dunkin Donuts has nothing on these! Some man saw me taking a picture of this and said “Taking a picture so you can remember how good it was?” LOL. Something like that, I guess.

We bought some local honey:

And then browsed around:

Goose neck squash gave me a laugh.

Then it was home. I did win the football picks last week, so John took me out to dinner. I chose Wholey Crepe. I had a crepe with egg, feta cheese, and bacon:

Very good! John had a salmon crepe with dill/wasabi sauce, which he did not like at all. Poor guy.

I like crepes because they don’t make you stuffed, which leaves room for splitting dessert!

Yes, it was that good. A scoop of chocolate mousse on top of the crepe. They didn’t charge us for the dessert crepe because John didn’t like his meal. That was very nice of them! This place is so tucked away of the main drag that I fear they won’t make it, which would be a real shame.

Saturday night also included pumpkin carving!

We don’t have children, but we do love doing the carving and handing out the candy. It’ s messy, but fun.

The results?

Hope the treaters enjoy!

Can you believe this was all in 1 day? I was beat after all that LOL!

Happy Halloween!

Easy apple cranberry topping

Okay – this was very tasty and really easy to make:

Ingredients:

1 medium apple (your favorite), chopped
1 tablespoon dried cranberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp butter
1 tablespoon of water
1 tsp cornstarch
2+ tablespoons cold water

In a small skillet, melt the butter and brown sugar together over medium heat:

Add the apple, cranberries, and cinnamon.

Saute for a couple minutes, then add the 1 tablespoon of water and cover. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water.

Add to the skillet.

Stir constantly for about 30 seconds until the sauce becomes clear and tightens up. You can add a little more water if it seems too dry.

Top waffles or pancakes with this!

Other ideas:

– Substitute some chopped fresh cranberries for more tartness when they are in season.

– Experiment with different types of apples

– Use raisins instead of cranberries

Calories for this dish will depend a little on the size of the apple. On average, an apple is 60 calories for a medium, 1 tbsp of dried cranberries (10 g) is 30 calories, brown sugar 15 calories, butter 15 calories, cornstarch 10. So you can figure about 130 calories or so for this batch. I consider it one serving.

Lifting and apples!

John’s mom got settled in late last night. I was up early to hit the gym. 30 degrees, so no biking. I am thinking the biking might be over for the year 🙁

Did my own program today:

Barbell deadlift/row combo: 3 sets of 8 at 65 pounds
Pliet dumbbell squat: 3 sets of 8 at 35 pounds
YTWL: 3 sets of 4 with 10 pound dumbbells
Lat pulldown: 3 sets of 8 at 60 pounds
Split squat with 35 pound plate: 3 sets of 8

Then 30 minutes on the dreadmill. I am going to feel this tomorrow! Came home and picked up John and his mom because you know what Wednesday is!

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I ate half before I remembered to take a picture 😳 Bad food blogger.

I had to work while John and his mom got to play and have lunch out 🙂 My lunch was a waffle sandwich with chicken, laughing cow, and cranberry sauce. I so love this combo!

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