Wrapping Up The Holiday Food Insanity (Hopefully)
Tonight I made Duck Wellington with Mole Sauce (aka "A Madman's Wellington with Mole") from the Paley's Place cookbook. It's an incredibly complex recipe for me with the amount of ingredients involved and the timing of everything coming together at roughly the same time. The most challenging thing to time is the defrosting of the puff pastry, which comes frozen but needs to be thawed out when you wrap up the wellingtons before putting them in the oven.
It was the 4th time I made it to kick off 2011. Marc picked a 2004 Shafer Relentless, which was a superb pairing. This is a pretty hard core dish and it needs a wine that will stand up to it. I'm not saying you wouldn't enjoy a Pinot with this but the Poblanos and mole sauce might overpower a more lighter-bodied wine. That said, you should drink whatever the heck you like regardless of the dish, and make any adjustments that you see fit.
We ate some other great meals along the way, like the New Year's Eve dinner at Tilth last night, and my mother-in-law's "peppermint goodness" over Christmas weekend. Then there was the "Duck the Halls" insanity that I blogged about in our last entry. Good thing I am slated to have a track workout with the new coaching team (TN Multisports) on Tuesday as I need to get into gear for ½ marathon season. In my initial discussions with them, I am really excited how they asked a boatload of questions about me before I start my 1st workout with them. They have good consistency with respect to the coaches and their tenure, which is important as you need to develop relationships with those folks. I think it will pay dividends as I map out my fitness goals for 2011.
Seattle has a reputation for rain, but the last few days have been absolutely stunning in terms of sunshine and mountain views. Don't get me wrong – it has been in the 30s for this stretch, but when you can clearly see the mountains in all directions with snow on top in late December/early January – life is really good and you should get outside to run so I have been making an effort to do just that! Today I went out for a run around Queen Anne (which is on a hill for the non-Seattle folks) and Tricia and I caught some amazing views while having some laughs and chatter. Earlier in the week, I went on a pretty tough hill run with Tricia and Patricia in the neighborhood and I was pleasantly surprised that I did the run a minute faster than I did 10 months earlier. Unfortunately I was about 30 seconds slower on the toughest hill mile on the run, which tells me I have some work to do (READ: hill intervals on 70th – ugh!).
I did manage to get in a track workout on Christmas Day, and it wasn't as horrible as expected in terms of my times. I probably could have gone another round of a tough 800 meter run, but I decided to quit while I was ahead. And I managed to piece together a Crossfit workout the day after Christmas based on what I have learned to date. I think Marc was shocked at what was involved in just a 20-minute workout! My friends who already do Crossfit have been very supportive with answering my many questions as I figure it all out.
I managed to read a supplement guide that went along with the movie "Waiting for Superman", which was informative with respect to the different perspectives it captured as they documented the story they presented in the film. I have also been reading more about some nutrition and fitness, and I am going to hold off a bit on the nutrition stuff until I have a chance to vet it out myself. I don't believe all of it and I think you always have to think about what is going to work for you in terms of your lifestyle and how your body responds, but I like challenging myself to think in areas where I wouldn't normally go.
As I wrap up, it's worth noting that 2010 was as good of a year as it could have been (yes, even taking into account the "unexpected summer vacation"). I am so fortunate to be married to someone who takes such great care of me, makes me laugh, drives me crazy and is so supportive – all at once. The people in my life, who support me, treat me with respect by being truthful and know the right thing to say when I need that "thing to be said" – they remind me day-in and day-out how lucky I am. I can only hope that 2011 is as good, if not better.
Bring it, 2011! Mrs. PTC is ready! I think Mr. PTC is too! J