July 31- Tuesday

I've gotten up early to work out two days in a row now - yay for me! ;-)

I did the elliptical yesterday for 30 minutes and hated every single moment of it. I know it's supposed to be good for your knees and joints blah blah blah.

I just couldn't force myself to get on the elliptical again this morning so I got on the treadmill and did the cardio/fat burning walk for 30 minutes. I'm not supposed to run right now because of my knee but I gave in for 2 minutes towards the end and Oh. My. God. it felt so so good. I've been craving that feeling I get from running for so long now I had to cheat a little bit - I couldn't get on the 'mil and not run even a little bit. I made sure to ice though when I got home. I'll ice again when go home this evening.

July 26 - Thursday

Ladies and Gentlemen. My tiramisu. I know there was a lot of talk and very little action but I made it. I usually can't eat anything I've baked or cooked but this I could not resist. Notes for next time: bake for 5 minutes less and serve cold. I know it turned out well when mr. roshbosh and his brother went for seconds and wanted thirdzies.

Not much going on this weekend. We're having game night at our place on Saturday night. And I'm hoping the weather holds up so we can make it to the pool. I also made Thai food tonight - masuman curry and fresh spring rolls - so nummy but so full of starch and carbs. Cusack and I worked out this morning and I am so proud of myself! Now if I can only get myself downstairs Monday morning. I've promised myself a fountain Coke if I can get to the gym 4 times next week. woohoo!

July 24 - Monday

*this post has HP spoilers - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I finished the last and final book of the Harry Potter series last night at 2:30 in the morning. I cried twice. Not sniffley, demure crying but all out ugly-face heaving. Couldn't help myself. First when Snape - my most favorite character - dies and you find out what and where his motivation and loyalties have been. Oh so,so heart wrenching. And then when Harry has to do the unthinkable and you realize that underneath the bravery and valor and determination he is still just a boy. I think I'm going to be reading the aforementioned Snape chapter over and over and over. There are a few things I have questions about - I think I may be perusing some message boards for answers...so dorky and I am so embarrassed I'm even admitting it but I can't help myself! It's the end! No mas!

mr. roshbosh and I went to Borders on Friday night to pick up the book promptly at midnight. It was the cutest experience! We stood in line for an hour to pay for the book - the pic above was taken from the second floor of the store. The line wrapped all along the second floor railing, down the stairs, and then snaked in-between the shelves on the first floor. There had to of been 500-600 people there.

mr. roshbosh bought a box of "every flavor beans" (in the wizard world that Harry lives in there are jelly beans that can taste like everything and anything and Jelly Belly - the Muggle jelly bean company - has taken grave licence with creating flavors). Like 5 year-olds we took turns trying the different flavored jelly beans. You know - the whole "eeew this is so gross! Taste it!" bit. We tried sausage, sardine, earthworm, soap, vomit - the sardine almost made me lose my cookies in the elevator when we got home. By far the worst thing I have ever ever tasted. blah! The soap wasn't bad and the grass really tasted like a mowed lawn - all fresh and green. I don't know how they do it.

July 20 - Friday

So in an attempt to keep busy until I could get my hands on the final HP book EVER! I decided that Friday afternoon was as good a day as any to try my hand at Parisian macaroons.

Let me tell you...they are a b*tch to make!

First, I had to make almond flour. That took a good 2-episodes of "what I like about you". The combining of the ingredients after that wasn't difficult but the baking was interesting. The delicate cookies had to bake in the oven with the oven door slightly ajar and then rotated every couple of minutes to ensure even baking. By the end of it, the kitchen felt like Hades, looked like science experiment gone bad, and I had 6 coffee-flavored cookies. That's it from a recipe that was to yield 16.

I will definitely make the cookies again. They're too nummy not too. But the filling needs tweaking. Instead of a buttercream, which was too sweet for the delicate cookie, I think I'll try a Swiss meringue instead.

July 18 - Wednesday

I just have to tell you - I had the most nummy green grapes today. I couldn't get them in my mouth fast enough. They were the perfect firmness with such a perfect sweetness. They reminded me of the grapes we used to eat when I was younger. Nowadays - everyone wants unnaturally big, plump grapes. The thing though is that those grapes have been engineered and have had all the flavor diluted out of them. Big grapes do not equal flavor! Size is not everything!

I was going to take a picture of the grapes but before I realized it they were all in my belly!

oops!

July 17 - Tuesday

mr. roshbosh and I went the Shakespeare in the park this evening for a showing of Romeo & Juliette. Any excuse to bake so I made chai cupcakes. Not my best - I'd give it an 6 on the scale. Not enough chai flavor. mr. roshbosh told me he liked the "pumpkin" flavor of the cupcake.


My two next baking projects are Parisian macaroons (need to do a bit more research on almond flour) and tiramisu - I've got two tubs of marscopone cheese in the freezer just waiting to fulfil their destiny!

July 12 - Thursday

So the Cusack and I just returned from the "the Fray" concert. I want to say that the show was awesome but that's just not the right word. I've used that word to describe so many other things - other things deservedly awesome in their own way - but it's just not right in this instance. Too trite a word for what it was. Amazing? Wonderful? Maybe I'm feeling a tad too sentimental - it was my first concert in 18 months and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed going to concerts.


The show ended with "look after you" - my most favorite song on the album. The song on its own is enough to take my breath away but when they mixed in oasis's "wonderwall" I was smitten and head-over-heels.

I miss the day of "real" tickets i.e. the 2"x 6" slat of card stock with an embossed marque that you could slip in between the pages of a book and come across years later with all the letters and numbers still alive and that would give you the same butterflies you got the night of the concert. Today you have 2 options. One, it's either printed on thermal paper and inevitably fades, or two, the ticket is sent to you electronically for you to print. So unromantic. The lovely picture above is a photograph of my ticket lest the imprint fades or melts or cracks. And no it's not saving my spot in a book. That's what this blog is for. ;-)