I think God is trying to tell me something...He is telling me that I'm an idiot! So, I was just checking the url address for this Mega Bible website and I was typing in http://ppellicer.blogpsot.com (notice the misspelling of blogspot). Now that I know what God was really trying to tell me, I'm wondering why this Mega Bible website chose my url address with blogspot misspelled...interesting...
Am I doing something wrong in my life that God doesn't approve of? Maybe... probably. For some reason, when I type in my blog address it seems to go to this Mega Bible website, but then when I type it in a second time it goes directly to my blog. Is God trying to tell you guys something too or is it just me?
The Peachtree Road Race is a time-honored tradition in Atlanta that honestly I never really had any ambition to do (even though I've lived here all my life!), but since you know I'm a runner and all now, it was really exciting for me to be a part of all this. The Peachtree is a 10K starting at Lenox Mall in Buckhead and usually finishes at Piedmont Park, but this year the finish line was on Juniper Street because of the drought. So the hot topic of this year's race was the new finish and of course the shirt! Can't forget the shirt!
If you know how I am, I am a HUGE procrastinator and I was an even bigger procrastinator trying to train for the Peachtree!! Let's just say my post about wanting to keep running after the Cooper River Bridge Run...umm yea, that was probably the last time I ran. So, my training started on Monday....June 30, with a somewhat run/walk of 3 miles with Maggie and then on Wednesday I ran a mile..on the treadmill...haha! I thought I was definitely going to die on Friday. I just pictured myself on a stretcher on my way to Piedmont Hospital and then the next day seeing myself in the hospital bed in the AJC! But, I was optimistic and told myself that if I had as much adrenaline as I did on the day of the Bridge Run, then I should be fine...hopefully...
Friday morning came around and I had to get up at 5AM to get to Matt's house at 6. The last time I got up that early was...yea, you guessed it...the Bridge Run; although this time I went to bed at 11:30 the night before instead of 2AM! Anyways, I was feeling pretty good that morning–not too nervous–and all I really wanted to achieve that day was to beat my Bridge Run time of 1:14 and that I did! Maggie and I ran it in 1:06...probably 1:08 if we didn't cut in line (we probably started a little under .2 of a mile) at the start of the race, but it was definitely worth it because Matt didn't start running until an hour after we started running.
At the end of the race, we grabbed our coveted Peachtree shirts, which by the way I wasn't very impressed with. I grabbed this image from ajc.com. The model wasn't very impressed either! I think I will come up with a design for next year's shirt and maybe even run it under an hour, but then again I did say that I would keep running after the Bridge Run and that didn't go so well. I'm probably still on a high from finishing. I'll let you know after a couple of weeks.
This past weekend while we were lounging around we of course started watching the food network, which is the greatest channel on cable! I could watch it all day everyday. Anyways, Everyday Italian was on and we were soon enthralled by Giada's Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas...it looked so delicious up on that screen. I wanted to eat it immediately. Obviously, that wasn't happening, but I did make it last night and it was more than I could have ever imagined. So, for all you cooks and non-cooking food lovers (it's actually pretty easy to make), I suggest you try and make it:
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
1 pound orzo pasta
3 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease the baking dish
1 onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces shredded fontina cheese (about 1 cup)
4 ounces diced fresh mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the orzo and cook until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Pour the orzo and the broth into a large bowl. Set aside.
Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms are beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the Marsala. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and cook until the Marsala has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture to the orzo in the large bowl. Add the cream, fontina, mozzarella, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and dried thyme. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the pasta. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.
It's official! Girls Weekend had it's second annual trip this past weekend up at Mineral Bluff, Georgia...sounds like a magical place, doesn't it? Anne Marie's parents/Anne Marie graciously offered their guest house as the host for Girls Weekend '08 and the weekend was rightfully named: Bluff Boat Bangers! Maybe you can guess how we came up with the title...
As soon as we arrived, we opened a bottle of wine and sat in the hot tub...it can't get any better than that. Let's just say the night ended pretty quickly...wine and the hot tub...need I say more?
The next day, we were up early (if you've every gone on vacation with me, you know I like to wake up early) and ready to go on the boat. We packed our cooler with a couple cases of beer (one of them was Yuengling: one of our faves since we can't buy it in Georgia)*, brought the cards for a couple of games of BS, food and we couldn't forget Scattegories! Just by reading the items we brought you can guess what we did most of the day and I'm pretty impressed with our drinking skills because we definitely killed a case and a half of beer. Granted, I probably gained about 10 more pounds from that weekend, but I was still impressed. Oh and by the way, the lions were definitely out that weekend!
That night, we cooked the most delicious dinner: shrimp quesadillas, lime and cilantro rice, black beans and guacamole. This was probably the 5 pounds from the 10 pounds I gained, but it was definitely well worth it! Again, let's just say the night ended pretty quickly...beer all day and a very fulfilling dinner...need I say more?
The next day, it was overcast so we stayed in and played board games: Pictionary and Cranium! Maggie and I are now obsessed with Cranium because we went out and bought not only one but two games! If you have never played Cranium, you have to play because it is the best game EVER! It's like Trivial Pursuit, Charades, Pictionary and Boggle all in one! Just ask about Jessica's Tina Turner impersonation, Anne Marie's impression of a clam and Maggie's DNA sculpture...I on the other hand tried to impersonate Bullwinkle and Barbara Streisand..."People. People who need people."
Obviously, this was the G-rated version of the trip, but if you want to know the PG-13 version then just let me know. ;)
Thanks to Anne Marie's parents for letting us stay at the guest house and we can't wait to go up there again! Where will Girls Weekend '09 be and what will it be called?? Stay tuned! A tradition has just begun...
*Murphy, North Carolina is 15 minutes from Mineral Bluff and that's where we bought the Yuengling...just in case you wanted to tell me I made a mistake.
