Broad Street or Bust

2010 Broad St Run

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Broad Street Run. It’s a 10-miler through the city, down Broad Street, as the name implies. Not only is the course fast and easy, but this feels like a real Philly event. A number of Philly sports mascots make an appearance; you’re likely to spot Ed Rendell high fiving runners along the course; you run past Temple, City Hall, and the stadiums;  you cross the finish line past the Navy Yard, where you’re greeted with water ice and soft pretzels; and then you hop on the BSL to head home.

17 miles down. How many to go?!

There are now 30 days until the Napa Valley Marathon! If you’ve been following my blog at all, you know I’ve been a little lazy in my training this time around. My long run schedule was interrupted by snow a couple weeks ago. But this past weekend, I finally got back on track and went for a 17-mile run.

Avocado Fries

If you’re trying to keep a new year’s resolution to eat healthier foods, this post is not for you. If you love your fatty food made even more sinful by frying it and then dipping it in mayo, keep reading.

Milk Bar Banana Layer Cake

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I handed over my Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook to my friend Rob and told him to pick out any cake he wanted me to make for his birthday. It was no surprise to me that he selected a banana layer cake. Just looking at the photos of this cake are enough to make you drool. However, I was quite surprised at how intricate this cake was when I started reading about it.

The intro starts out “this banana cake is a doozy to make,” and goes on to say the only reason they still make it at Milk Bar is because it’s so popular (probably because it’s Oprah’s favorite cake). Then I started to read the recipe…

Foodspotting Cake Project

Photo by Mikey Ilagan: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeyil/

I was honored to be part of Foodspotting‘s 2nd Anniversary party last weekend at Khyber Pass Pub. For those of you who may not know, Foodspotting is an app that lets you find and share dishes at restaurants using photos. Not only is it an awesome app, but it’s a great community. In Philly, there is a group of Foodspotters who have regular eat-ups. I’ve made some amazing friends through this community, and was more than happy when I was approached about making a cake for Foodspotting’s 2nd Anniversary party.

Chilly Cheeks Trail Race Recap

Me and Jen trying to keep warm pre-race

As I was running through the woods and up mountains during the Chilly Cheeks 7.2 mile trail race yesterday, I was thinking of all the things I would say about it in a blog post. Now I sit down to write said blog post and the first thing that comes to mind is ‘omg what was I thinking?’

When Jen and I signed up for the Chilly Cheeks race, we didn’t read the course description. The Pretzel City Sports website wasn’t the most user-friendly, but we both figured 7.2 miles was a short enough distance that it would be pretty manageable. After registering, we found the race description and started to get an idea of what we had gotten ourselves into.

Butternut Squash Pizza

As much as I hate the cold temperatures winter brings, I have to admit I love some of the foods of the season. I try to use butternut squash as much as possible. Even though you can get it year-round, it’s definitely what I’d consider comfort food material. I’m always looking for new ways to use it in my cooking. With that in mind, I bring you butternut squash pizza!

I have to give credit to Jen for the crust recipe, which is posted below. It’s super simple to make, and only needs to rest for 10 minutes. I generally end up not making dough from scratch because I am too impatient to let it rise, so I will be putting this quick crust recipe to use all the time. Her recipe calls for regular flour, but it being the month of resolutions and all, I made it with whole wheat flour. Turned out great. I only wish I had rolled it out about twice as thin as I did. I mixed it up in my food processor, which kept my counters and hands clean, which is also a miracle when making dough. I can’t wait to try this out with more combinations.