So, he was the guy I turned to, to help me “perfect” the drink The Carnage, which fellow Ironman Louisville athletes Maria and Paula and I came up with on the plane home. Though we wanted to try a salt rim to signify the 110 degrees and our salt-encrusted bods on finishing, that makes an undrinkable drink. Then again, you can go ahead and do that, just call it “The Carnage – DNF” (because you can’t Finish that drink, too disgusting).

That said, here is the recipe for The Carnage, in tribute to all of those who braved the Ohio, the heat, and the…Carnage!…of Ironman Louisville 2010!

In a martini shaker, shake with ice:

*1 oz bourbon (Bulleit preferred). The bourbon signifies the brown waters of the Ohio, as well as the favored libation of Kentucky.
*1/2 oz lime juice. The lime signifies the “sour” times that we all had on the day. And, perhaps, the special “tang” that having gone on the Ironman journey adds to our lives!
*1/2 oz simple syrup. (To be fancy-schmancy and more tasty, make the simple syrup from maple sugar and water – but regular simple syrup should do too.) The simple syrup represents the sweetness of all the victories that we had along the way on the day - from a great bike split to a rockin’ swim, from a smile from a teammate to crossing the finish line. “Simple” pleasures, but Oh, so sweet.

Double strain into two shot glasses. (Double straining will get rid of the ice pieces that could get in the way of flaming. Yes – you heard right. Read on.)

Float 1/4 oz warm absinthe on top (the warmer the absinthe, the more spectacular the flame will be). The warm absinthe represents the warmth of the day, as well as the mind-bending craziness that all of us experienced from that heat. And, perhaps, the slight insanity that overtook all of us, to have started the Ironman journey to begin with!

Place shotglasses each in the cut-out middle of a sponge soaked with ice water. Sprinkle one quick shake of salt theatrically onto the absinthe, then put a match to it until it builds a blue flame on top. Where that sponge has BEEN before you put it to your lips is not something you thought about in the race (perhaps until you saw them loading them off the street and back into the barrels), so why worry about it now?

Let some of the alcohol burn off, then blow it out and “down the hatch!”

Suck iced water out of a sponge as a chaser.

OK, these are DEFINITELY not “low cal,” but these bars were a wonderful present from our IronTeamMate Chris’ wife Meenu. Also not gluten-free, but who knows, you might be able to figure something out . . . or, as Coach Helen (who posted the recipe) said, “perhaps you should just stop reading now.”
++++++++++++++
[email from Meenu]
i loved being out there and supporting the ironpeople :) of course, here’s the recipe:

 Ingredients
 * 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
* 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
* 1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® sweetened condensed milk
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels [NOTE see changes, below]
* 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
* 1 cup chopped nuts

 Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees for glass dish). Coat 13×9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust only for 10 minutes.
3. Combine sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, coconut and nuts in a bowl. Spread evenly over crust. Press down firmly with a fork.
4. Bake for additional 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store covered at room temperature.

Variations:
-Substitute 1 cup (6-ounces) butterscotch flavored chips for 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and proceed as directed above (this is what I did)
-Magic Rainbow Cookie Bars: Substitute 2 cups plain candy-coated chocolate candies for semi-sweet chocolate chips.

2 lbs wild mushrooms, 1/2 c unsalted butter, 1/3 cup chopped green onions, 6 garlic cloves, peeled, 3T flour, 6 cups chicken stock, 3/4 c heavy cream, 2 tsp tarragon, 1/4 cup Creme Fraiche, 1 egg yolk, 1 T lemon juice, 2 tsp salt, 1 Tb Metaxa.

Saute mushrooms in 1/4c butter for 5 minutes. Add green onions & garlic, saute for another minute, set aside.

Make roux of remaining 1/4 c butter and the flower. Cook for 4 mins over medium heat, whisk constantly, don’t let it brown.

Add chicken stock (you can do veggie stock if you want) to the roux, bring to a boil/stir frequently, then simmer for 5 mins. Add mushroom mix,simmer for 15 mins. Take off heat. Puree, add heavy cream. Add tarragon, salt, Metaxa.

Make liaison: Stir together egg yolk, lemon juice and creme fraiche (made by mixing a cup heavy cream with 1 Tb buttermilk – or as many cups as you want with 1 Tb buttermilk to each, combine over medium heat just to take the chill off, pour into a glass jar, cover lightly and let sit in a warm place at about 70 degrees for 20 hours). Pour soup in heated bowls, Dribble liaison into the soup in a design.

(We made the soup, and the liaison, but will heat the soup back up for dinner at 4:00).

Next, made the salad: Arugula & Roasted Pear Salad w/Walnuts and Parmesan Cheese (serves 6):

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place a baking sheet on the rack, and heat to 500 degrees.

Peel and halve 4 firm Bartlett pears lengthwise. Remove core. Set each half cut-side down and slice lengthwise, into 5ths (4 cuts). Put the slices in a large bowl, and toss with 1 T melted unsalted butter, then add 2 T sugar and toss again. Spread the pears in a single layer on the baking sheet, making sure each lies flat. Roast until browned on the bottom, about 10 minutes. Flip each slice and roast until deep golden brown on the other side, about 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and put on plate to cool.

Take 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toast in a small dry skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Be SURE to not let the smaller pieces or “dust” get in the pan – go for even pieces. Otherwise the small ones burn and the big ones don’t get toasted. Trust me. We discovered this the hard way.

Make vinaigrette: Whisk together 1.5T extra virgin olive oil, 2 t white wine vinegar, 1/2 t salt, ground pepper.

Combine 2 bunches arugula (stems removed, leaves washed and dried then torn into bite sized pieces) with 4 oz Parmesan cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler off a big block with the roasted pear slices in a large serving bowl. Add the vinaigrette and toss gently to combine. Put in bowls – put walnuts on top.

We have stuffing and an organic, pre-roasted turkey from Whole Foods (yeah, cheaters, cheaters, I know), and mom is bringing spiced onions with almonds, plus some appetizers (cheese/veggies), plus some small French tarts (as in, SMALL) for dessert. Champagne for before – wine with din-din.

After doing the above, I went for a RUN. We were supposed to do 800 repeats – oh, come ON. That means finding a track, or knowing exactly WHERE 1/2 mile is. I just wanted to get out, do it, and come back. So instead, I ran out to Court Street and back (I have done that mileage before, I don’t have it here and don’t want to map it right now, but it’s way less than 5 miles I know that). I decided to run to the tempo of the music I had in the playlist. Some were too slow (noted – I will move those to a lower “position” in my playlist – hey, it’s all a learning!), and some (Sexy Vampire in particular) kicked my boo-TAY! I had fun. Total, including walking Moody up home (which was 7 minutes) was 56 minutes.

PLAYLIST (and comments):

When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Great Big Sea. I know I know I am stuck on this one. It makes me happy
Scar That Never Heals, Jeremy Fisher (ditto above comment)
Suddenly I See, KT Tunstall. This was my favorite song from 2006 when I last exercised!
Oh Oh Oh Sexy Vampire, Fright Ranger. This kicked my BUTT! The tempo was actually a blast to run to. I just kept my steps small.
I Am The Walrus, Bono & The Secret Machines. Too Slow
With A Little Help From My Friends, Jim Sturgess & Joe Anderson. Too Slow
Spotlight, MuteMath. This was a great one! Thanks Hannah!
She’s Got The (Who-Hoo), Sugar Ray. Too Slow.
Single Ladies, Beyonce. Fun, but just not quite the right beat – couldn’t get into the “running groove” with it
Calle Ocho, Pitbull. Good one, Leann!
This is How A Heart Breaks, Rob Thomas. Ditto – great one Leann!
Solsbury Hill (Live), Peter Gabriel. Too slow.
Daniella, John  Butler Trio. Surprisingly this worked – I was slowing down by then though!
Get The Party Started, P!nk. Just not quite the right tempo. Sort of like the Beyonce one. Surprising.
Mony Mony, Billy Idol. This worked well.

That got me home! Time to get the turkey in!

My “auntie” Rosemary Manell was one of Julia Child’s best friends. She and Dorothy Cousins (Julia’s sister) used to be clients of my mom’s – and became friends. Rosie used to come over for Thanksgiving, in fact, driving up with her white mane of hair and her white Jag. She and Julia were in France together – it’s my remembrance that they were actually at the Cordon Bleu TOGETHER, after they were both in the Service. She, Dorothy, and Julia were all of course around 6′ tall (or taller) and all their husbands far shorter. You gotta love it. (As I’m 6’2″ and have ALWAYS been tall, the idea that “having to date a man taller than yourself” was “comPLETE NONsense” per these awesome women – which was great to hear growing up).

Jane Lynch, who played Dorothy Cousins (Julia’s sister) was EXACTLY LIKE Dorothy. I saw Dorothy a lot – Julia was in Santa Barbara and so I never actually met her until she was very, very old. But WOW, was Dorothy spot on. The audience was full of folks who “knew” the sisters, of course, but the rest of the audience must have thought we were mad when we were laughing “inappropriately” at comments made between the two sisters – just because it really was like Dorothy was “right there.” The characterization was just so great, it made you giggle because Dorothy was just such a character. It was like seeing her alive again.

Mom and Shirley (Sarvis) talked a lot while we were waiting for the “afterparty” to begin about what a wonderful guest Julia was. Mom’s “fear factor” of cooking for Julia was assuaged at Dorothy’s when she met Julia the first time – if you’re curious, ask me to relate the “G+d D+mn Rat Turds!” story.

Ivan loved Dorothy just like Paul loved Julia. The person that the folks who knew them the best marvelled at wasn’t so much Streep’s portrayal of Dorothy. Sure, some said it was great, all were relieved it wasn’t “Saturday Night Live-ish”, some said it was a little over the top – but the portrayal of Paul by Stanley Tucci had folks wet-eyed. (Of Streep, one panelist said, “It was a bit of a ‘Hollywoodification’ of Julia, but if it brings her back to us and get folks cooking, versus reality shows and the horror of “Food TV”, it’s great”; another said, “The ‘Instant gratification’ of Food TV juxtaposed against watching Julia slowly putting a dish together is like night and day – people need to see this again”; Jim Dodge said about Food TV, “It’s against the labor laws to treat people like that. Make food. Travel. Love Watch Julia. Change your world.”)

They said that Tucci “was” Paul, and marvelled at how he could be “so right” about the characterization, as there is not that much film with him. I’d love to let Mr. Tucci know how much love was aimed at him that evening. Jim Dodge was particularly touched at how Julia and Paul’s “romance, and true, deep and abiding love” was portrayed. He apparently took Julia to see her kitchen in the Smithsonian, after Paul had passed. Her only comment was “Gosh, I wish Paul could see this.” Shirley also said that the house that they picture (the big white one) “Must have actually been” Paul and Julia’s – because she had been there many times, and “if that wasn’t THE actual house, it’s exactly perfectly like it.”

But back to Ivan (Dorothy’s husband). Yes, he really was that little. At their home, Dorothy had built up the kitchen counters so she (and Julia) could cook better – and Ivan cooking or chopping literally had to raise up his elbows like a little kid. Mom always relates in their later years, how Ivan would just look at Dorothy who would sometimes come out with off-the-wall comments (a la Julia) and his eyes would get soft and he would say “Isn’t she just WONDERFUL?”

Mom and Dad also had Dorothy and Ivan over for dinner at one point, and Ivan took the chair that my mother usually took. He looked a bit startled, and then Mom realized that our big white Persian-ish cat, Samson, had hopped in Ivan’s lap, as that is what he would do to Mom. Mom was horrified, but Ivan smiled and said, “Leave it to Sally-Jean to provide a living napkin. How warm and welcoming.”

What else did I learn from the panel? Tidbits that I Tweeted about:

1.  They felt that it’s important to read the book “My Life in France.” They said that the author reminded Julia of Paul when he was young – and they feel that’s why she was so open in it.

2.  Julia hated lines, but did stand in line for Graceland, “Because that’s just a must-see.”

3. Julia was a breast cancer survivor and lots of organizations were ‘annoyed’ she wouldn’t support them. However, the panelist stated that Julia “was earthy, but she was a lady. And she felt that we just don’t talk about that.”

4. Words used for Julia over and over by the Panel: Humility  and Curiosity. 

5. Jim Dodge had a couple of stories about Julia that were great. He apparently had a red truck in Santa Barbara, and got sideboards specifically for Julia so she could “step up” and into the cab. He also told a hilarious story about Julia finding out about “cat sex” – you can ask if you want to hear it (has to do with unmatched kittens). Finally, apparently they were together at a big important dinner, and a woman sitting by Julia was continually bragging about her jewelry and flaunting it. Julia took it for a while and finally just looked her in the eyes, jut out her wrist, and said loudly, “‘LOOK at my WATCH! $9.95!!” It shut her right up…

6.  Mrs. [Marguerite ?] Mondavi mentioned that as they got older, the women would get together and talk about various “cures” and “miracles” and “concoctions,” and going to see “Dr. this and that for this and that,” for their various aches and pains. Julia listened for a while and said, “Why don’t you just take some Tylenol and rest and stop complaining about it?” Made me laugh.

7. There was a lot of talk about Julie – her affair, why Julia said what she did, how Julia received her blog (which she did read). Not that important to go into here.

8. Mom said if she could sum Julia up, she was Julia was “bawdy, fun, LOVED food and wine, and was  truly devoted to her husband.” My heroine!!

SO (wow, long post, but I post so seldom now, wanted to get this out!) – this all made me take down some of the cookbooks that Rosie had given to me. They have great comments – for example:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Volume I, first edition): ”Rosie and Abe – Who have been in on this from before the beginning. Let us cook many more great meals together. Julia.” “A le premiere cuisiniere Americaine, avec toute mon admiration et mes compliments. Simone Beck.” “October 1971 And – after 10 years MORE of friendship: These further signatures, as a symbol of continuance and pleasure. Paul Child.” and after that “Julia” with a little heart with an arrow through it.

Mastering The Art of French Cooking (Volume II, first edition): “To Rosie – our favorite cook, with infinite pleasure in all the shared tastes, smells, sights, feelings & sounds over the years, from 1948 to today (1971). Paul Child. Julia Child.”

In BOTH of these books, if you page through it, you can see cross-outs and annotations, as obviously Rosie tried various recipes and “fixed” them (wonder if she told Julia – e.g., if any of these are in the later editions?) They are splattered beyond belief – love that.

From Julia Child’s Kitchen (First edition): “FOR ROSIE!!! From two loving eaters, pussy-strokers, Kauaian swimmers, ex-Marse(i)lle(?) pals (lousy spellers), adorers and creators of le carrillon de l’amitie pour toi. Paul & Julia” with a big heart under with an arrow through it.

AND, in Mastering (Vol. I), I found the following recipe (I have a few letters that were in Rosie’s Larousse, to her from Julia when she was trying to perfect Roast Chicken, but I’m too tired of all this typing to put those in – just let me know if you want’em…):

Dated 1965, typed on a typewriter, lots of cross-outs, etc. on St. Francis Hotel stationery, Union Square, San Francisco, CA:

PATE BRISEE FINE (a la Wondra Machine)

1-1/2 cups granular flour

3 tablespoons chilled Crisco

1stick chilled butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Put flour, Crisco and butter in bowl of electric mixer and mix at low speed for a minute or two until mixture looks like very coarse meal.

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon sugar

1/3 cup very cold water

Dissolve salt and sugar into water; pour into flour mixture and blend for about half a minute, or until dough masses in blade of mixer.

Turn dough out onto marble. Shape into a rough mass, then complete final blending by pushing nut-sized pieces of it with the heel of your hand out and away from you in a rough, quick 6-inch smear. Scrape dough into a mass again, knead rapidly into a ball, flour lightly, and wrap in waxed paper. Chill for 2 hours or over night. (Rest is necessary to re-hydrate flour, to relax gluten, and to harden butter.)

UPSIDE-DOWN PASTRY SHELLS: Roll dough about 1/8 inch thick. Butter outside of a cake tin, turn upside down, and press dough on it. Even off to a depth of 1 inch with a ravioli wheel. Prick all over (including sides) with a sharp-pronged table fork. Chill for an hour or two (this again relaxes gluten, preventing shell from baking out of shape). Bake at 425 degrees, 7 to 8 minutes for a partially baked shell (for quiches), 4 to 5 minutes longer for fully baked shell.

PROPORTIONS FOR LARGE BATCH (4 times above):

6 cups flour

12 TB Crisco

4 sticks butter

_____________________

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1-1/3 cups water

P.S.: The line in the movie where Dorothy and Julia are looking in the mirror, and “Dorothy” says the “We look good….well, good, but not great” line was actually Rosie! I just found it, page 82, in My Life In France by Prud’homme. I’ll be doggoned! Some “poetic license” – but then again, bringing Rosie and Abe into the calculus (another tall woman, ambassador, childless couple who were Julia and Paul’s best friends) would have probably just confused the narrative. :-)

Well, so, that’s all I have to say for today. :-)

Sounds pretty good, eh? The problem is – this is what I ate when I returned home from a FABOO workshop (more on that in a second) – at 11:00 last night! And then SLEPT on it!

AND I had dinner, too, at a more “regular time.” So why did I eat this? Because my darlin’ husband was sitting on the couch, watching a new TV show (Warehouse 13, something like that) eating it, and it looked good. Noooo I was not “hungry.”

We’re not talkin’ a taste. We are talkin’ serious blue cheese hunkage.

Now that I signed up to be a BeachBody coach, I am being way more conscientous about getting out and doing SOMETHING to move my body every day (even if it’s walking the dog, instead of just “letting him outside”). I even did an “accountability partnership thang” with Sheila Stewart last night after her chat at Empower180 – we both have, as she lovingly put it, “pork chops” on our sides, and so we’re going to text each other to get movin’.

See, the thing is though, this just doesn’t keep me away from the food. Even when we were on that yoga retreat in Peru…my hubby is like James Bond in From Russia With Love. Remember the suitcase full of caviar, champagne, etc. that he snuck into the “Health Spa”? That’s my “James”! We went “over the wall” – dining on wine, beef, alpaca, cuy, you name it, while everyone else was having vegetarian. Yeah, bad. just SO BAD. Then we would sleep IN and not do the yoga in the morning…!!!

I start out really well in the mornings. I usually have a cup of Creme Caramel tea with a little stevia, and a Shakeology shake. The “Creme Caramel” tea is one of those Lipton teas that if you add a tiny bit of stevia (which doesn’t increase your insulin), tastes GREAT and has no calories. I have a sweet tooth, what can I say (heck, I have a FOOD tooth!), and I love starting my day out with one of these, especially if I can sip it when out walking the dog.

For lunch, I’m usually good too! I might have a snack in between breakfast and lunch of a chicken leg – then lunch a big salad, something like that. THEN….3:00 happens.

I turn into like Solitaire Jekyl. I will eat ANYTHING that’s in my way. And I don’t care. I have the “good Soli” in the back of my head saying “hello, get your HAND OUT OF THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS and WHAT are you doing with a glass of wine?” – but I don’t listen to her. I’m sure there is some chemical reason – brain dip, serotonin dip, avocado dip…whatever. I’m sure I should do something like work out at 3:00. But Evil Soli takes over and it’s OVER! I’m watching Bones reruns on TV and snacking on whatever I can find. Then I make dinner for my James, snacking all the while, and eat that, too!

Mind you, there isn’t that much “bad stuff” left in the house (the Evil Girl Scout Cookies and chocolate chips are gone now) - but my hubby loves to bring home things like baguettes and cheese. Somehow, he has no problem taking a small slice of cheese, and then a slice of bread, and munching on that, and calling it a day. Me? I’m like a freakin’ wolverine, I just wallow in the stuff. Bad ferret. Bad.

My brain says that I am working so hard on all other stuff – NOT spending $, 3 businesses, coaching, relationship, etc. – that it just doesn’t want to “deal with” this issue “too.” I have made a “deal” with my brain (scary how that happens, innit?) – that if I keep working out every day (yes, walking the dog counts as working out, because I wasn’t doing it before), I won’t bother it right now about the food rampages. Working out every day AND getting onto a more even keel foodwise makes my little brain stamp its tiny little feet in tantrum.

But I DO KNOW that the reason I don’t really want to work out – the reason that it’s hard for me to even walk uphill with the dog without huffing and puffing – is BECAUSE I’m doing things like eating hunks of Stilton on baguettes and drinking red wine and then going to bed right afterwards. I’m lucky I don’t wake up with a cheese-shaped hunk sticking out of my thigh. I DO KNOW that’s why I feel like crap. I do. I do.

And I can type this feeling all virtuous because it’s 9:00, I have done my walk, I have 2 hours of pole dancing class in an hour, and I have had tea and my Shakeology and feel TOTALLY FINE. My will power is HIGH.

Just waitin’ on 3:00…!!!

And why so little blogging? Twitter. I admit it. I have started Tweeting, and it’s so easy, that I have become a slacker here. Mea maxima culpa. I’m fempowerment on Twitter – so if you’re there, say HEY, I’d love to hear from you!

Lots of stuff going on since I last posted (besides the Peru trip). I’ve finally reached the highest total weight I have ever been in my LIFE – by pounds and pounds. How’d it happen? Stress, mainly. I’m a stress eater (and wine drinker). Money stress, trip stress, time stress, managing 3 businesses AND trying to do the work at the same time…you know the drill. I wish I was a stress RUNNER, but even as a kid, I was never much for exercise. We were raised that studying/books/reading/etc. were GOOD, and exercise was just something that you did in between. My folks are both VERY active – so what happens when you have a kid that isn’t attracted to exercise naturally??

I was lucky to have a great metabolism when I was younger (growing to be over 6′ probably helped!) Then when an adult, I found out I was fairly coordinated for a gal who never really had gym as a kid (thanks, private school), so I became part of the UC varsity fencing and karate teams. I luckily kept working out, finding usually karate dojos to join as I moved around the country, and then for a time my friend Leslie and I decided to do triathlons – which we did. I guess that once you get the rock rolling, it keeps rolling.

I was in the greatest shape of my LIFE for our wedding back in 2006. I was HOT HOT HOT! Unfortunately, we went on a 6 week honeymoon that incorporated a lot of driving, riding on barges, and eating, drinking, eating and drinking! Then I moved into a completely sedentary, high-stress job for nearly a year…rescued by my publisher telling me I HAD TO GET THE BOOK FINISHED (and H agreeing to pay me to stay home and do it – how’s THAT for a great husband?)

I just never really got back in the workout “groove.” My life had been completely taken over by working out to get into that tiny tiny wedding dress (I wore my mom’s – I’m 6’2″ she’s 5’7″ – don’t even ask!) I am now 35 lbs heavier than I was back then – and it’s some SERIOUS weight, the nasty kind – the kind that makes you look at clothes in your closet and say “WHAT? Who’s closet IS This?”

I don’t like being fat (no one does, I know). But it’s tough to get the rock “rolling” again. I have recently signed up to be a BeachBody coach (you can check it out at www.BestLifeStyleNow.com if you want) – and hope that this will help me get back in the groove. BeachBody has some great workout stuff – I already had a number of the DVDs – and this gives me a “Community” to report back into.

Interestingly, I came back from Peru and got an intestinal bug…I hope it’s not a “real” bug as in creepy crawly (my dad brought this possibility up – uck). Even with that, I am serious fat-packed at that 30+ extra pounds. I’m trying not to hate myself for being so “weak” – and I want it all to fall off like TOMORROW. Yeah yeah, where’s that magic wand???

Before we left for Peru, one of my best grrls Tweeted me – I was saying something about not fitting into the clothes that I wanted to bring (small wonder, last time we travelled I was at least 12 lbs less booty), and she wrote back basically “Yeah you’re fat but you’re happy, you have a great life and a man who loves you” blah blah. Of course what do I read? the “yeah you’re fat” part. (She didn’t really say that, but I think it was something like “Yeah, well, you have some to lose” or “Yeah, well, sure you’ve put on some pounds” or something.) This is a gal where we used to be mistaken for twins all the time – no issue now. And she just had a baby.

So, I’m here blogging, because I feel bad that I haven’t – and I thought I’d let ya’ll know that when you’re in the depths of whatever-it-is, we all get there. My publisher wants me to do a workbook based on my book – which I want to do, but right now, I can’t concentrate on that. Then again, my thought is to work THROUGH my book just like a newbie reader would – maybe that would help me with the workbook!

I’m off to a Tony Robbins 4-day “thang” end of this month, then the Dallas eWomenNetwork convention for 4, and all that jazz. I am meeting a friend in Dallas who has become my BeachBody coach – and I need to look hot by then! At least – hotter than THIS. So I’m working out…I’m on Day 2, but at least I got up this morning.

Peace, out!

1. Save yourself for the really good desserts

If your cafeteria is anything like mine was, you could eat two desserts a day. That is the path to the Freshman 50! But you don’t want to deprive yourself. What’s a girl to do? I came up with a simple rule for myself: eat only the really good desserts. My college had a dessert night every few months with gourmet pastries. Every few weeks, we had a fancy dinner with luxury cakes. You know what, if I’m getting gourmet desserts every few weeks, I don’t mind missing out on the three-day-old apple strudel on the lunch cart today.

2. C is for coffee (That’s good enough for me)

Getting up for an 8 am class is hard. Sometimes your brain needs a little kick-start. But that doesn’t mean to grab a Venti Frappuccio. If you do, you can down 500 calories before you’re awake to enjoy it! To get your caffeine hit, get a regular coffee, load it with milk and sugar, and it’ll still be less calories than a “coffee drink.” If you want to consume 500 calories in a drink, that’s great. But just remember point #1. 

3. The new SS: soup and salad

Here’s a trick I learned from Barbara Rolls’ Volumetrics. If you eat a bowl of soup before your meal, you’ll naturally eat less of the main course. And you can eat a ton of salad, feel full, and not consume too many calories. It’s probably a good idea to eat at least one salad a day, anyway. And if someone else is preparing it, why not! A word of warning, though: stay away from the cream-based soups and go easy on the dressing. Those calories add up!

4. The janitor doesn’t cares if you finish your vegetables (or anything else)

Maybe you’re from a family where Mom wouldn’t let you have dessert if you didn’t finish your veggies. Maybe she used the “children are starving in Africa” line. This may have led you into the bad habit of cleaning your plate, even if you’re full long before that. Now that you’re on your own, no one cares! Certainly not the janitor who’s collecting the plates or emptying the garbage! Eat until you’re full, then stop. And remember, it takes the stomach 20 minutes to send the “I’m full signal” to the brain, so don’t rush for seconds right away.

5. Don’t eat out when you’re eating in

Most cafeterias I know offer some good choices… and some really bad choices. I could have had pizza and burgers twice a day for a year, if I wanted. But I bet you consider those “eating out foods” already. Think about how often you want to eat out and plan accordingly. Sure, grab a burger every now and then, but don’t make it your first pick.

Attention Bond Grrls “of a certain age”:

Okay, maybe you’re now faced with cooking your own meals. Spending hours cooking can be a time drain. But on the other hand, you can control exactly what you put in your body. You’re not subject to the whims of the Olga the cafeteria chef. Everybody can use the tricks above, not just college students. Just make sure that indulgences are special occasions, not everyday events.

Are you having an issue with Will Power? Are you stressed out? Have you just tiptoed up to the precipice and looked over…into the abyss of Holiday Feasting Madness? Scott’s here to give you a lift – and a plan.

Here are the links that Scott mentions in the interview:

The MotivationToMove.com Holiday Survival Guide

Free Premium MotivationToMove.com Membership

 Enjoy and… Step AWAY from the marshmallow yams!!!

1. Don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
2. Avoid foods containing ingredients you can’t pronounce.
3. Don’t eat anything that wouldn’t eventually rot.
4. Avoid food products that carry health claims.
5. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket; stay out of the middle.
6. Better yet, buy food somewhere else: the farmer’s market or CSA.
7. Pay more, eat less.
8. Eat a wide diversity of species/foods.
9. If you eat animals, eat animals that eat grass, plankton, or what’s natural for them.
10. Cook and, if you can, Grow some of your own food.
11. Eat meals. Eat them only at tables.
12. Eat deliberately, with other people whenever possible, and always with pleasure.

Amen to that!  Have a great weekend!

Chocolate or Honey-Dipped Sunglasses…

Or, for those of you who are afraid that you could only eat, like, one lens, a chocolate bar with the calories all marked out for you to count!

One of my Bond Grrls is in Morocco, and recently sent me information on Halal Meat.  It sounds very similar to Kosher butchering (the animal is humanely treated, etc.) – but now another friend who has a blog that I love (hey, it’s pictures… say no more) did a post on Halal Meat, and included a great link to the New York Times article on why we should all be checking into this more.

Here’s the link to his blog, SFPhotorama.com (scroll down to see the photos of the San Francisco Halal butcher shop).

I hope you enjoy this podcast, and please let me know if there are other experts you might like to hear interviewed on our Coffee Chats.

If you have comments on this episode, call the Listener Comment Voicemail at +1 (206) 350-3537, e-mail sandy [at] beabondgirl [dot] com or leave a comment below.

Click the red button below to listen.

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In this vodcast, we take the bourbon from the julep and create an Old Fashioned. Then, we discuss how to have a Signature Cocktail without being branded High Maintenance, plus some Old Fashioned Virtues… such as manners, etiquette, language, and listening. 

In particular, we discuss how you Bond Girls can understand how men communicate, and to embody this secret weapon to be even More Enticing than you already are!

Let me know what you think – either give me a ring on my Listener Feedback line 206.350.3537, leave a Comment here, or email to sandy[at]beabondgirl[dot]com.

Ever seen da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”?

The Bite

Then you know food can be art. And that’s what the founders of Slow Food International – a nonprofit devoted to bringing back whole foods that are cooked and savored slowly – are all about. If you’re into food prepared the old-fashioned way (and with sustainability in mind), add slow foods to your daily menu for a more vibrant…er, palate.

The Benefits

• Eating becomes art. Getting to know ingredients, producers, and the cultural history behind our foods makes for more soul-satisfying meals.
• An easel way to avoid empty calories. Many additives in processed and fast foods are chemicals that lack nutritional value and sometimes wreak havoc on your health.
• Painting a greener landscape. The slow food movement promotes biodiversity of crops, organic farming, and the preservation of family (not factory) farms.
• An energy-saving Renaissance. Example: The production of a 1-pound box of cereal requires almost seven times as many kilocalories of energy as it provides in nourishment.

OK, you know, it’s the last one that gets me. I keep harping on posts like The Story of Stuff (long, but worth watching), but those are the things that astonish me.

When I posted my comment today on IdealBite, I was reminded of my Podcast 8 about Life-Affirming Rituals, including Saying Grace (start at 25:00 for this portion). As you may remember from that one, a student of mine wound up losing weight, literally just through the act of thanking the “folks” that had gotten the food to her. She used to eat in the car, standing up, junk-food-on-the run. When I suggested she and her husband start saying Grace over everything they ate, they originally balked because they “don’t do that God thing.” I explained that wasn’t what this was about — this was Giving Thanks to the farmers, truckers, plants, animals, etc. that got that food TO them. The actual physical energetic “beingness” that went into what they were putting in their mouth.

Once she started doing that, first, she found it ‘disrespectful’ to eat standing up. And in the car. She and her husband felt weird saying grace over take-out boxes, so they put the food on plates. Which made them stay at the table longer, and the Grace started them talking about something besides Their Hard Days. Ultimately they started cooking.  And she started losing weight.

If you have my book, check out page 127 for a reminder about Mindfulness versus “Guilt-Ridden Scarfing” — and a discussion about “sensory awareness” when eating. It also talks about Living CAMP (check out the “eating a banana” link).  If you don’t have my book, it’s not pretty, but I have a PDF copy of the page for you here as I originally sent it in to my publisher: guilty-pleasures-sidebar-page-127

How’s about starting a quickie Thankfulness Practice, today?  You’re GOING TO EAT IT ANYWAY, my dear, so…why not?

Here is an organization that I found while investigating items for our Kentucky Derby vodcast — LUPEC — Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails. I’m sad because it looks like this site is not being maintained – last link was in 2007 – but it’s such a great idea, and has some great cocktail recipes, so I’m going to knock on their virtual door, and see if anyone answers!

BTW, the reason I wound up there was looking for a definition of “Julep” — and any website that uses Ladies…Preservation…and Cocktails in its first line grabs my interest. This is their definition of “julep” — as Mr. Martini told me during the vodcast, a “julep” is really a sort of drink “type” (like a “sour” for example) – I think he’s even going to do his next podcast on the subject of sours because, as with “juleps,” hey, I didn’t know there was more than just one. Fun for the summer!

[1] julep \Ju”lep\, n. [F., fr. Sp. julepe, fr. Ar. & Per. jul[=a]b, jull[=a]b, fr. Per. gul[=a]b rose water and julep; gul rose + [=a]b water.] 1. A refreshing drink flavored with aromatic herbs; esp. (Med.), a sweet, demulcent, acidulous, or mucilaginous mixture, used as a vehicle. –Milton. Honey in woods, juleps in brooks. — H. Vaughan. 2. A beverage composed of brandy, whisky, or some other spirituous liquor, with sugar, pounded ice, and sprigs of mint; — called also mint julep. [U.S.] Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. 

This first one is in celebration of the Kentucky Derby, which will be running on May 3rd. First, I give some tips on horse racing and betting, then Mr. M. shows us how to make a mint julep. And just in case you want to expand the recipe to cover 30 of your best friends who you’re now going to invite to a Derby Party on Saturday, we also discuss how to make the mint julep party-style!

Watch out for more vodcasts coming to you soon – Mr. Martini and I have been having a ball learning about this new medium, and as you can see, we just love to hang out together!

Let me know what you think – either give me a ring on my Listener Feedback line 206.350.3537, leave a Comment here, or email to sandy[at]beabondgirl[dot]com.

The video podcast that I refer to in this podcast is The Story Of Stuff by Annie Leonard. You can go back and find where I blogged about it a few weeks ago, or just click the link here. It’s a bit long, but it definitely explains the whole manufacturing process and Planned Obsolescence — I think this would be great to show kids.

If you have comments on this episode, call the Listener Comment Voicemail at +1 (206) 350-3537, e-mail doubleohsandy [at] yahoo [dot] com or leave a comment below.

Click the red button below to listen.

 As you know from a previous post, Mr. Martini from Behind The Bar Show and I did a video podcast on “how to make a cosmo” a week or so ago.

Last weekend, we got together and did a video podcast… which I posted last week. Well, by popular demand, check out the blooper reel, below!

Let me know what you think — either give me a ring on my call-in line 206.350.3537 or email to doubleohsandy[at]yahoo[dot]com. I am still laughing and have played it a dozen times…

We did it!  Mr. Martini from Behind The Bar Show and I met (accidentally, believe it or not!) in a bar in San Francisco now about eight months or so ago. I had been a fan, and was in that bar because he had recommended it, and then… well, if you’re curious, you can listen to the story here. First, we became fast “podcast friends,” then actual Real Life Friends.  (I bet there is some sort of web acronym for that, but I’m afraid I don’t know it — Comment, and clue me in!)

Last weekend, we got together and did this video podcast for you, showing The Bond Girl Way vis-a-vis the Bartender Way to make a cosmo. We had so much fun, it wound up running 53 minutes! No… this download is not that big, never fear!

Now is the time to send us email to beg us for the outtake tape. We had some things that were so funny, they still make me laugh looking at the video for the zillionth time. Go tell Mr. Martini that you want him to post that, too *smile*  I’m Ms. Non-Technology and so it’s all him, all the time.

Enjoy! Let us know what you think!

 P.S.:  If you are curious, the outfit that I’m wearing is by Nicacelly – it’s all recycled/organic and the yummiest, softest outfit you have ever worn!