What happened after the Corn Chowder...

Us being silly while watching the sunrise at 10,023 feet on Haleakala Volcano on Maui

The last post was about the success of the new Corn Chowder recipe.
Lets talked about that evening...

We invited our pet-sitter over for dinner. He is a good friend of GH and has done a wonderful job taking care of Molly, Asparagus, and Artichoke (I like random names for pets!)
He is also a drinker, so the boys had a few too many drinks that night. The pet-sitter ended up falling asleep on our couch and GH sort of passed out in bed.

Before I continue, let me tell you about our bedroom TV routine.
GH hates most of the shows I watch, so he picks the show before we go to bed and sets the sleep timer. Usually he picks 90min, I would prefer 30min since I usually fall asleep and wake up before the timer goes off. Waking up again sucks! GH would put the remote behind the pillows and then I would have to find it after waking up. I would usually end up waking GH up and the remote would fall behind the bed, again annoying! So, the new plan is to give me the remote, which I set on my night stand. This has worked wonderfully.

Back to the Corn Chowder night...
GH set the sleep timer and put the remote on his night stand. We fell asleep, I woke up before the timer went off and that is when the fun started. I tapped GH on the back and asked him for the remote. He instead handed me a bottle of Gatorade that was next to the remote. I replied with "thanks, but I wanted the remote." He put the bottle back and fell asleep. A few minutes later, I tapped GH on the shoulder again and asked for the remote. This time he turned to me and growled something vicious about not touching him again (honestly I don't remember the exact words, but it funny and a little scary)!!
WOO! Needless to say I was a little shocked. I just looked and him and considered my options - 1. Crawl over him to get to the night stand - which would probably included touching him...
2. Get out of bed and walk around to the night stand.

I picked #2!
The next morning I asked GH if he remembered what happened and he had no clue. Funny!
I guess I will need to be more vigilant about taking control of the remote before falling asleep.

Enjoy!
-ELH

Corn Chowder

Sunset in Maui.

We got a lot of cool kitchen tools for the wedding and a few cook books to test out the toys!
The past week, I have been cooking from Real Simple, Best Recipes (Thanks Liz!)
I made Golden Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives. It was pretty good, but I used long-grain brown rice that pretty much turned to mush. Next time, I'll stick with minute rice!

Chocolate Pots - basically chocolate mousse/pudding that I put in our Cobalt LeCreuset
I served it with Sea Salt Olive Oil ice cream that I made with my KitchenAid mixer ice cream attachment. The recipe came from Desert Candy.

On Wednesday, I made Smoky Corn Chowder using our new blender and Red LeCreuset soup pot. Serves 4 as main dish, 6 as a side dish.

8oz sliced bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces (I used turkey bacon and cooked it with olive oil, salt, and pepper)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (we like garlic, so I probably added 5 cloves!)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (skipped this)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (used fresh crushed chile from New Mexico and probably added 1 tablespoon! We like it hot!)
20oz of frozen corn
3cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup half-and-half (used fat free version since it is what GAH puts in his coffee)
Scallions, thinly sliced
1 baguette

-Cook bacon until crisp (6 to 8 min). Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
-Spoon off and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings and return the pan to medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, and red pepper and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
-Stir in the corn, broth, and half-and-half and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the pot and stir in 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
-Divide the soup among bowls and top with the scallions and bacon. Serve with bread.

Now I really wish that I had an immersion blender!
Enjoy
-ELH

This weeks workout recap

Views from outside our condo in Maui!

Monday, Jan 3rd -
Boot Camp on my own (following what we do in Stephaine's Boot Camp)
2 min pushups - 32
5 min plank
8 x 4min of each exercies:
-Superman, get up fast, and squat jump (trying to touch the ceiling)
-James Bond alternating lundges
-Mountain Climber push-ups
-Over/under leg kicks
-Reverse Presentation (butt and feet on the floor, hands behind you on the floor. Keeping on foot on the floor, rise up so your body is flat with your head looking behind you. Come back in, just tapping your butt on the floor and then go back up. This works your hamstring on the leg that stays down as support - Weird but it works!)
-Squat jumps (trying to touch the ceiling)
-Standing leg kicks
-Army crawl pushups - one push-up with your left leg crunched toward your arm (right leg is the only one on the ground), keeping your hands and feet on the ground (butt off the ground) rotate 360deg, one push-up with your right leg crunched toward your arm. Repeat. This one takes about the length of a yoga mat and really works your wrists!

Finished the workout with some abs and stretching!

Tuesday, Jan 4th
Repeat 5ish mile run - 1st half split = 22:56, 2nd half split = 22:37, total time = 45:35! Pretty good.

Wednesday, Jan 5th
30min walk with Molly
Compact chain (From Stephaine's Boot Camp) with 10lb weights. 10 reps -> 1 rep.

-push-up
-leaning forward row
-bicep curl
-alternating lunges
-triceps extension
-squat with shoulder press

During the lunges, I felt a twinge in my left lower back :(
Later that day, it really started to hurt. This has been a problem the pops up every 4months or so. I stretch it out and then forget about it. I need to change this.

Thursday, Jan 6th
Rest day

Friday, Jan 7th
Planning to do a long run ~7miles, but my back is really hurting me. I decided to skip the run, do some abs, good stretching, arm weights while lying on the ground, and taking Molly for an ~hr long walk. I am planning on doing the long run on Sunday....

Enjoy!
-ELH

Auntie!

The H side of the family has a lot of grandchildren.
When GAH and I started dating, his sister had 3 children - a 5 year old boy, 3 year old boy, and a new born baby girl. About 2 years into our dating, his brother had his first son. We went to the hospital the next day to meet the baby boy. I have no experience with new borns, so I was terrified of holding the baby! The family loves to make fun of me for this. Oh well!

On January 2, 2011 we welcomed another boy to the family and what I consider my first official nephew (GAH's brother's second son)!
Mom went into labor ~8am and had her baby at 12:26! It probably helped that she had been 3cm dilated for the last two weeks.
Congratulations H Family!Enjoy!
-ELH

Book Review - Fall 2010

Piiholo Ranch Zipline, Maui

It's that time again...
Fall book reading season started Sept 7th and finished Dec 31st. I read 15 books!

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett - I listened to this book since it was read by John Lee (one of my favorite narrators.) It was long and I definitely enjoyed it. This is the first book in a series of three that focuses on 5 families starting in the early 1900's focusing on WWI and will follow them for the next ~90 years. Recommend

Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver - I'll be honest, it is a hard book to start. I was confused for the first ~50 pages or so, but stuck with it and enjoyed it. It is a historical fiction with Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Leo Trotsky. Recommend!

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova - very interesting book about art. Recommend!

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri - great book of short stories. Recommend

Double Comfort Safari Club: LDA #11 by Alexander McCall Smith - Since I am not book #11, I feel obligated to continue the series...good if you have started the series, but not really worth it to start.
The Lost Art of Gratitude: SPC #6 by Alexander McCall Smith - See above :)

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton - this is her third book and honestly wasn't that great. The story was drawn out and the conclusion was disappointing. Skip this one and read her other two fantastic books!

Vision in White by Nora Roberts - book 1 of the Bridal Quartet - great series for girls who love weddings and fast reading. Recommend!!
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts - see above
Savior the Moment by Nora Roberts - see above
Happy Ever After - see above

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos - great book and a continuation of characters from Love Walked In (need to read). Highly Recommend!

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner - another book about a plus-size girl who hates her life until she looses weight, falls in love with the wrong man, finds the right man, and has a best friend whoes a flake and goregous. Skip this one.

Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisberger - The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing are much better books, so you can pass on this one also.

Enjoy!
-ELH

3 days in a row

So I sort of fell off the workout train the last few days. We were in ABQ visiting family and friends and eating tasty food!

The past three days have been full of workouts!
Wednesday - 5ish mile run - 1st half = 23:24. 2nd half = 23:04. Total time - 46:28.

Thursday - ~45min run/walk with Molly (5 year old lab mutt) and GH - both are trying get in shape! When we got back I did the compact chain (From Stephaine's Boot Camp) with 10lb weights. 10 reps -> 1 rep.
Compact chain is a long series of exercise performed back to back in just one seamless movement.

-push-up
-leaning forward row
-bicep curl
-alternating lunges
-triceps extension
-squat with shoulder press

Friday - repeated Wednesday's run - 1st half = 23:00. 2nd half = 22:30. Total time = 45:30! I finished the workout with a walk/run with Molly and GH in the neighborhood. The loop is probably 2.5miles and we did it in 51min.

Now it is time to rest up for New Years Eve!
I made chocolate pots and sea salt olive oil ice cream! Pics coming...
Have a great time tonight!
Enjoy!
-ELH

Workouts

Tuesday - ~5.5mile run in 48min. It was 24degs but with the wind chill it felt like 8! We did a different loop that was more protected by trees - running over 32 sucks!

Wednesday - Boot Camp!
2min of pushups - 35
5min of plank

2 times....each exercise was done for 4min (definitely a good workout!)
-superman (face down), hop up fast like you are a surfer, squat surfer jump
-3 mountain climbers, on the 3rd one, keep your foot up near your arm and do a pushup.
-table top (2 min on each leg) - feet flat on the gnd, butt down, arms behind you with your hands faced towards your feet, stretch up, keeping one foot flat on the ground the other foot points straight out, hips up, and head back. Probably a bad description :)
- squat jumps into a pencil - fast
-abs - pike position with your arms crossed over your chest, feet off the ground ~6inches and criss-cross your legs back and forth.

Next we did some arms work with bands.
Supermans keeping your arms at 90deg.
Abs
Stretching
It was a great workout!!

Thursday - travel day... I did walk from the C terminal to baggage claim instead of taking the train.

Friday - off. Errands and baking to do... pics tomorrow.

Enjoy!
-ELH