Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I want your opinion!


I am not going to say a lot about today's outfit. You can see it is a purple dress. I am wearing it with my favorite boots. I am wearing a necklace as a belt, and some simple earrings that I dug out of an old jewelry box.

Why the different approach today? I want you to give me feedback without any influence from me. No story about the dress, and no words telling you how I feel about this dress.

I am going to have a very simple vote too. You either like it or you don't. I would love your comments either way. Please know that I am someone that provides honest feedback and I appreciate the same from others. I know those of you that have given feedback have always been honest; I am just saying others should not be concerned about giving feedback. I can take it!

I did not get up and workout this morning. I did, however, go for a run after work. Ben and I changed some plans around for tonight so that we could be home after work and we could work out together. After looking in the mirror, I thought it would be entertaining for you to see what a mess I am when I dress to go running!

It was 42 degrees when we were headed out. Mittens and a hat were a must! It was sprinkling as we headed out, and I almost backed out. Yeah, like that was going to happen!

It always takes me about 2 miles to warm up; the last 2 felt much better than the first! We have a 4.2 mile path we like to take. Ben let me choose whether we would only do 3.1 (5k) but I decided as long as we were out, we might as well keep going.

On the way home, we had a deer run across the trail about 100 yards ahead of us. When we looked up the little hill, there was a beautiful buck silhoutted by the sky behind it. It really was amazing to see this beautiful creature about 25 yards away from us, standing as still as possible. I wish we had a picture of that to share!

That is all of the conversation in me today!

Here is the Ginger Chewy recipe I promised you!

The recipe is adapted from big fat cookies by Elinor Klivans. I have not met a cookie in there that I don't like!

2 and 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teas baking soda
1/4 tea salt
1 tea ground cinnamon
1 tea ground ginger
1/2 tea cloves
3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
about 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Position rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mizing. Add the egg and molasses and mix until blended and an even light brown color, about 1 minute. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it.

Spread the granulated sugar on a large piece of wax or parchment paper. Roll dough between the palms of your hands into a ball. (I actually like to use a small ice cream scoop, and then drop it in the sugar, rolling to coat with sugar.) Place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake until the tops feel firm , but they are still soft in the senter and there are several large cracks on top, about 14 minutes. (This was the baking time given for a 2 inch size ball; if you wish to make smaller, reduce your cooking time.) Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days. (Bring them to work; they won't last more than 4 hours!)

The original recipe says it makes 14 cookies - those are BIG cookies. I made 26 cookies, and they were about 131 calories each. I like them better the day after I make them. Oh, now I am going to dream about them.

Thanks for checking in!

xo

Kel

6 comments:

  1. Love the running clothes. They make me feel less frumpy about how I look when I run. :)

    Love the use of a necklace as a belt. Adorable.

    Not so much on the purple dress. You have much cuter stuff than this--it's just not worth it.

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  2. Kel, I really like the neckline and sleeves. The neckalace is actually very cute...shoes are the BOMB! :o) The whole middle part of the dress does nothing for your figure. I don't like how the material falls. It is OK, but not to-die-for.

    My favorite way to wear a thermal is to layer it with a short sleeve shirt! :o) It is not cold enough yet here to do this. I feel very 90's when I dress like this, but it is so comfy and warm that I don't care!

    I love the part in the movie The Queen (?) when Queen Elizabeth II is stranded in the English countryside and she spies that buck. You just reminded me of this. You are so lucky to be this close to nature in the raw.

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  3. Gotta say, I think this purple dress is so much fun AND looks great on you. The color is outrageous in the best way (I bet no one else ya saw on today had electric purple on did they?) This is a head turner and paired with the boots and necklace belt give off a 60s vibe I'm really digging.

    Thank you for the ginger cookie recipe! If I can find sometime this Sunday and the weather cooperate - I mean really I'm over these random 90 degree days - they will be baked and enjoyed!

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  4. I like the 60's look you've got going on with the go-go boots and everything. I love it!

    Thanks for the cookie recipe... now to play with my log so I can stay green and still eat a few. :)

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  5. I don't like the dress. I think it's the neckline and sleeves that make it look awkward. I love the boots however.

    The great thing about running is it doesn't really matter what you look like, it just matters that you're getting out and doing something good for your body. Today I'm running in turquoise warmups & hot pink coat. But who cares, I'm running 10 miles and I'm going to feel great afterwards! :)

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  6. A 60's schmatta is still a schmatta. No no no.

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