A Fruit Situation

My school has gone to a Universal Breakfast program where all students are to eat breakfast in the classroom. While there is some personal commentary on what these students are being fed, for the most part I find this is a good idea.

Unfortunately, some of my students are throwing away their food. Things that are packaged or have a thick peel (bananas and oranges) can be "recycled". I'm not sure if this means they're put back in a lunch at a later date, or if they're donated to a food pantry. Any who, partly eaten items or fruits with a soft peel are to be thrown away.

While I understand why they can't reuse fruit with a soft peal, it breaks my heart to see so many pieces of fruit thrown away. I saw, on average, 7-10 pieces of perfectly good fruit thrown away. It completely breaks my heart to see such a waste. I decided that collecting the fruit and eating it myself wasn't the answer. I mean, how much fruit can Danielle and I eat? So, what I will be doing is collecting the fruit and baking the fruit in to something.

Why do you care? Well, it's my blog and I haven't posted in a while (no worries, I have some froggie stories to share too!). And I figured you might be interested in some fruit recipes, or have some recipes for me to use. I'm fairly certain that I'll get sick of the fruit pie rather quickly, so I'm going to get creative and let you know how it works.

My first attempt was your basic apple pie--

I rolled out the pie crust using flour and butter.

Next, I washed, peeled and cut the apples. I mixed about a 1/4 cup of lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown and to make the pie more tart (I like tart rather than sweet). Next I mixed the apples with a tablespoon-ish of cinnamon (I don't really cook with measuring implements unless it's a new recipe) and about a 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I threw some flour in the mix because I was out of cornstarch to thicken it along with some vanilla and some butter.

Put the mixture in a pie plate between the two layers of pie crust. I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to vent the top layer and then made a design with the left over pieces in the center. I also brushed some egg whites on the top crust to make it shine and brown. Finally, I baked in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes and I got this lovely pie.

Isn't it pretty?

Not So Fine Dining

I was at the gym this morning. I really do enjoy going nice and early. There's less people, I don't have to wait for equipment, there's less weirdos...

Oh wait. There's not less weirdos.

I was in the locker room and was going to swim a few laps. I was walking to the pool and sitting on one of the benches is a woman reading a book. I've seen people reading on bikes, ellipticals and treadmills, but never in the locker room. I also noticed that she was also eating a bowl of cereal with milk!!

I'm not saying that I've never eaten while exercising. But cereal and milk? That takes some serious planning. I didn't notice a thermos for the milk. I also didn't see the box of cereal anywhere. Who eats their Lucky Charms in the gym locker room?

Is it just me, or is this really weird?

Always Makes Me Laugh

Everytime I see this sign, it cracks me up!

TDC09--Lutz Bakery

Today's long run was hot, humid and awful. The one thing that got me through? I told myself I could stop and get a cupcake. So I finally finished (after bonking and walking the last 2 miles). I stopped at Lutz Bakery. I've driven past it hundreds of times, and never actually gone in; today was the day.

I walked in and ordered a basic vanilla cupcake with pink frosting. They had a limited selection of cupcakes but had many other pastries and cakes. Lutz also had a small cafe area with coffee, but due to the heat the coffee situation wasn't happening.

I ordered my cupcake, and brought it home to eat. This was the absolute worst cupcake, I've ever had in my life. This just might mark the first time I've ever not finished a cupcake. The M&M's had been in the frosting long enough to mar the candy shell. You can even see that in the picture below. The cake itself was very dense and just tasted off and possibly a little stale. The frosting might have been the best thing about the cupcake, and even that wasn't the greatest. It might have only been considered "good" because the rest of it was so bad.
I was worried about heading to this place with out Danielle, but after actually eating a cupcake, she's lucky she wasn't with me. I figured if it was even decent, we'd head back for another go. NO WAY! I'd never order any cake or anything else from this bakery. If you can screw up a cupcake so badly that I can't even finish eating it, I defiantly don't want to try anything else.

Lutz Continental Cafe and Pastry Shop--* 1 Sprinkle (Can I give negative sprinkles?)
2458 W Montrose Ave, Chicago, IL, (773) 478-7785

More Froggy Gifts

I always look at dates with mild apprehension but in the back of my head, there's always hope. Hope that that day's frog will actually be a prince. Was this the case today? Not so much.

Today's frog, Ozzie* picked me up for our date. While he scored some points for the pick up, he didn't actually get out of the car and ring my doorbell (not that my front doorbell works...but that's not the point). I got in the car, and Ozzie very excitedly asked how my day was (almost too excitedly) and proceeded to tell me that he had a gift for me.

A gift? I'm having toothbrush flashbacks. He reaches behind the seat and gives me something in a black plastic bag. What the crap? This was much bigger than a toothbrush, and clearly much larger, upping the potential for weirdness.

I hesitantly opened the bag and saw a four pack of beer. Beer? On a first date? Do I look like one of your buddies with which you would watch a game? Let me say this again, FLOWERS!! You bring a girl FLOWERS on a first date! Not necessarily roses or anything major. Maybe a tulip might be nice (I like the ones that are multi-colored, if you're wondering). In his defense, it was good beer (Beemish Stout). However, do you really think it's a good idea to give a woman beer on a first date? Is he a creepy weirdo who's just trying to get me wasted to take advantage of me? (Not gonna work with 4 beers, buddy!)

**Sigh** I just don't get it!

*yeah, the names have been changed...Ozzie just seemed fun today.

Check Me Out!

I'm a "Resident" (too bad they spelled my name wrong)

Check me out here.

TDC09--Sweet Mandy B's or Happy Birthday Danielle

Tour de Cupcake--July 12, 2009

Today's cupcake is care of Melissa. She brought a dozen to Pauline's for Danielle's Birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANIELLE!!!) We had traditional yellow cupcakes with butter creme frosting (yes--that's my favorite kind!)

I personally love Sweet Mandy B's and it's very hard for me to be impartial to this cupcake. The butter creme tastes as if it's made with actual butter (rather than shortening) and the cupcakes are always moist and fluffy. This is quite possibly the best cupcake in Chicago.

While not in this case, I have been to the actual store. It's a cute little store front in Lincoln Park. The parking isn't fabulous, but do-able; especially if you go off peak and/or are just running in for a cupcake. The staff has always been friendly, and in one occasion has given me extra frosting (so tasty!).

They do have other flavors including Red Velvet, Chocolate and a specialty of the day. They have other baked goods as well.

Sweet Mandy B's ***** (5 Sprinkles!!)

1208 W Webster Ave, Chicago, IL 60614 (773) 244-1174