Thank you Mallories and Matt Matt for a wonderful birthday present — Homemade heart shaped CAROB ALMOND BUTTER CUPS!
Can you tell it is heart shaped from the picture? Mmmmm…. FYI, my birthday is Saturday, March 21!
Last year, Mallory made me homemade peanut butter cups — complete with a delicious cookie shell! Also, little banana bread chocolate pieces. The year before, loaf of BANANA BREAD! You might remember the story of me eating it straight from the box on my walk home from the post office. Good times.
Back to this year – um, YUM! I LOOOOOVE carob, so much that I tend to talk about it to anyone who will listen. I can’t buy bags of carob chips because I eat the entire bag, so I am limited to getting it as a topping when I go out for frozen yogurt — which is very often in the warmer months!
And Mallory was just telling me about the delicious almond butter she and my brother got from Whole Foods. That’s what she used and it was perfect, gooey and delicious — just how I like it! I popped two in my mouth as soon as I got them and had 2 more with breakfast this morning.
Beautiful Night in NYC, Rollerblading, Walking, Shred
Last night was such a beautiful and warm night in New York, so the boy and I decided to skip the gym and go for a long walk. We walked up Pier 1 at 70th street and then along the Hudson River uptown and it was so wonderful. There were so many people out running, walking, biking and rollerblading.
I am SO excited for the entire spring and summer with all this at my fingertips! I plan to walk, run, rollerblade and relax out there! Luckily the path is smooth so Missy and I can take our rollerblades with no fears.
Last summer Missy and I had some interesting experiences with our rollerblades — the highlight (lowlight?) being in Central Park, unaware that there would be steep hills, speeding downhill at super fast speeds with no idea how to stop. I was SCREAMING “MELISSAAAA, MELISSAAAAAAAAAA!“, unsure if she was in the same precarious situation as I was. She was. A woman with a baby carriage had to run out of my way — luckily my screaming alerted her. I feared for my life. I looked to my right — wooden fence. I looked to my left — metal fence. I knew the only way I could stop was to crash into one of the fences. Which would hurt less? I decided on wooden (in retrospect I believe this was the wrong choice), but luckily it never came to the point of me crashing. The ground finally leveled. We took a break and decided it couldn’t get that bad again, so we should get back on the trail and skate some more. Not a minute later we were in the same situation. A group of children on some sort of trip were walking across the road and I was headed straight for them. I was going to run over children. Luckily I was able to get around them as they started to head off the path. We took off our rollerblades and walked home.
And the first time we skated last year, on the boardwalk, someone told us that we looked terrified for our lives. We were! So obviously, I am looking forward to skating on this smooth, flat surface. I also hope to get up early and run outside there! And of course more long walks to meals with the boy. I love warm weather!
I have another idea I would love to try out. The path along the Hudson River runs all the way from Battery Park City (where I work) to the Upper West Side (where the boy lives). I just looked it up, and it is about 5 miles between work and his apartment. Now I really want to walk home from work on the river! AND I want to wake up early and walk TO work once the weather is nice! How long do you think a 5 mile walk would take? I’m thinking an hour and a half – NOT BAD if it means avoiding the subways and getting in my eksusize while going where I need to go.
I used to walk to and from my job that was 2.4 miles away from my apartment every day, even in the cold weather. I feel like once I changed jobs and started taking the subway I stopped being as fit. So I am excited to have this 5 mile walk every now and then! If I do it twice in a day I will have 10 miles walked and can just relax when I get home, no gym needed!
Back to last night – we walked until we reached the entrance to Riverside Park. At that point, we ventured out into the streets and strolled along, admiring the beautiful brownstones and thinking about where to go for dinner. We walked and walked, had dinner and walked home and even though I was so tired I knew I had to figure out the DVD player so I could go back to Level 1 of the Shred.
I played around a little and found a way to get the DVD player to work (but in black & white) — the only problem is that it means the cable box will not work. So I have to move the cords back and forth. While this solution is okay for now, I need to figure this out for the long term so everything can be plugged in at the same time.
But I was able to do Level 1 which was most important right now. It felt so good to go back to where I currently am with my fitness level — and I will be able to do it every day. In black & white, but who cares. Phew.
24 comments on Carob Almond Butter Cups, Rollerblading Horror Story & Walking to Work
4Pingbacks & Trackbacks on Carob Almond Butter Cups, Rollerblading Horror Story & Walking to Work
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[…] I used one silicone pan and one metal pan. They both worked just fine. When I made Dori’s Almond Butter Carob Cups in March, I used some mini heart-shaped silicone ice trays. These were ADORABLE. When […]
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[…] discuss rollerblades. On my walk, I was thrilled to see a woman on rollerblades who is worse than Missy and I! She looked so terrified, was barely moving, her legs were far apart and looked like she was just […]
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[…] while I got on my rollerblades! I haven’t used them since last summer when Missy and I had a rollerblading horror experience. We learned the hard way that we don’t know how to slow down. The boy lives right on the […]
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[…] combine those two and work out in the sun. I attempted this the year before with Missy through rollerblading but that wasn’t right for me. It is impossible to rollerblade outdoors when you are terrified […]
FoodsThatFit
March 19, 2009 at 9:15 am (16 years ago)I bet a 5 mile would take about an hour and 15 minutes or so…
I’ve been fortunate to live close enough to my last 2 jobs over the past 3 years and it is so nice to not have to battle traffic!
However, my walking commute is only 5 minutes, not 5 miles. Way to go if you do it! 🙂
Danielle
March 19, 2009 at 9:27 am (16 years ago)Walking to work would be so awesome! I unfortunately have to drive, because ti’s about a 40 minute drive and I have to use the parkway which you can’t walk on anyway. I so wish walking to work was an option!
Mariposa
March 19, 2009 at 9:35 am (16 years ago)i could technically ride my bike to work from my parents house because it is about five miles away. i dont because it would tack on an extra 40 minutes to my 20 minutes commute. lol sheer morning laziness!
i walked from my job to my parents house once and it took me an hour and 40 minutes. i was lugging a big laptop bag though and did not have on great sneakers. i bet if you had a pair of good sneaks and not a lot of luggage- it would take WAY less time. sounds like a good plan though!
meloncauliflower
March 19, 2009 at 10:00 am (16 years ago)It takes me about an hour to run 6.5 miles (fast) so I feel like it would take me close to two hours to walk 5 miles. Also I am so lucky to live 8 blocks from my office because I loathe the subway. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I move!
meloncauliflower
March 19, 2009 at 10:01 am (16 years ago)Also the almond butter at whole foods is AMAZING and so is the honey roasted peanut butter (you grind it right there and it poops out of the little machine, so fun and not that expensive)
Mallory
March 19, 2009 at 10:09 am (16 years ago)Yay birthday treats! I think Santana is going to do a post about Carob because it is a puppy-friendly treat that can be used for baking for your pup!
I think an hour and a half is a good estimate…at home, Santana and I often did a walk that was a little over 3 miles and it took about an hour. What a great idea for exercise built into your day! (but will this mean no more ranting posts about the subway??)
Missy
March 19, 2009 at 10:26 am (16 years ago)I am so excited for rollerblading!! No more Central Park of course 🙂 That would be great if you could walk to work! I am jealous!
sara
March 19, 2009 at 10:38 am (16 years ago)Yay that’s my running path! I run from Christopher street down to the tip of battery park and back up and it’s about 6 miles (to and from). LOVEEE IT, it’s so gorg!
xoxo
s
Jen, a priorfatgirl
March 19, 2009 at 11:14 am (16 years ago)your walk sounds wonderful! I would love to live in NYC!
HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY!!
Diana (Soap & Chocolate)
March 19, 2009 at 12:05 pm (16 years ago)Hmm, I should think of trying the walk from my apt to work one day. Brooklyn Heights to Union Square, what do you think? Could be fun for a switch-up. Can’t be more than the walk you’re talking about. Oh and your roller blade story totally cracked me up, I’m sorry!
Dori
March 19, 2009 at 12:11 pm (16 years ago)Diana – you should definitely look into the walk! It’s probably even closer than Battery Park to Upper West. The rollerblade story is hilarious in retrospect. It was traumatizing at the time! I was thinking about rollerblading home from work but I would get too scared if there are any unexpected bumps or dips in the ground on the way.
sara
March 19, 2009 at 1:23 pm (16 years ago)Great bday present! So jealous! I can’t rollerblade for sh*t…Are you excited for your birthday???
Sara
Elsa
March 19, 2009 at 3:25 pm (16 years ago)Hi Dori, I love your story about the rollerblading. I had the exact same experience when I first bought my rollerblades a couple summers ago (I have not put them on since).
Once the weather gets nice the walk will be great. I use to walk from Wall Street and Broadway to 91st and 2nd, a little over 6 miles. It took me a little less than 2 hours. So I think your hour and a half estimate is a good one, maybe even less.
Heather McD (Heather Eats Almond Butter)
March 19, 2009 at 5:12 pm (16 years ago)Dori,
Don’t even get me started on my love of all things carob. How sweet of Mallory and Matt to send you those PB cups – they sound delicious, and happy early birthday!!!
The skating stories cracked me up. That so sounds like something I would do.
I sometimes walk to work. It’s about 2.75 miles and takes me 50 minutes. So 1.5 hours sounds about right for 5 miles.
Love the warm weather too – go glad that Spring is almost here!
Sarah (Tales of Expansion)
March 19, 2009 at 6:54 pm (16 years ago)homemade almond carob HEARTS??? that is serious skill!! i’m jealous.
and i am deathly afraid of rollerblading, for the exact reasons you described. prop-based cardio and i do NOT get along.
glad you figured out the shred (sort of). a good temp solution at the least!
matthew
March 19, 2009 at 8:41 pm (16 years ago)I am happy you like the present!
bhealthier
March 19, 2009 at 10:55 pm (16 years ago)OH Happy Birthday Early! Saturday is my brother’s girlfriend’s birthday too.
Re: Level 3,
I liked Level 2 better than level 1… but level 3 is pretty tough- I like it so far, its tough but its fun.
My joints hurt in level 1…. they don’t hurt as much in either level 2 or 3 but both are difficult.
I used to LOVE walking everywhere in college! I miss that, lucky lady.
Do you have a DVD player on your computer ?
Mariposa
March 20, 2009 at 7:16 am (16 years ago)Hi Dori.. AH HA!!!!!! i fixed my spelling mistake! thanks for the heads up! lol sometimes i forget to spell check : )
Ashley
March 22, 2009 at 6:53 pm (16 years ago)Hey! I had the same problem with my boy’s DVD player so instead I shred with it on my pc. Just an idea:) I’ve never Roller Bladed but it sounds so fun!
Dori
March 22, 2009 at 7:20 pm (16 years ago)Ashley – Thanks! We don’t have a computer that can be moved to the living room, but luckily I can easily unplug and plug the DVD player to use it when I need to 🙂