I heart cooking

Weekend was very mellow for us which was nice. On Saturday Rocky headed out to the last run of the summer season while I slept in with the doggies :o) I got up and got ready around 9ish and headed out to Walnut Creek to take my car in to get services. The day turned out to be nice and sunny so instead of just sitting and waiting for my car I walked around downtown til it was ready. Car was done in about an hour and then I headed home. We did nothing pretty much all day. I got some knitting in which made me happy :o) Around 5ish we started getting ready to head out to pick up Olivia for dinner and then head to Antioch to watch Jeanette's band. They were having a concert at a nice theatre in Antioch. Because Olivia had to carbo load for her half marathon on Sunday we hit Pasta Primavera for dinner. It was yummy and she got her pasta in. The concert was awesome and we had a great time. East Bay Mudd always puts on a great show. I'm glad we were able to make it and support them.


Sunday was more relaxing. I got some cleaning done around the house and more knitting. Sunday afternoon however, was an afternoon of cooking some yummy food. A while ago I stumbled upon a blog which I now read everyday and now Ree, blog owner, has a separate blog, cooking with Ree, which has quite a few recipes on it. If you recall not long ago I made her spicy shrimp and jalapeno thingies, as she calls them. I decided that this weekend I'd try her Beef Brisket and Twice Baked Potatoes. I had invited Olivia over for dinner, she reads the blog too and loves her recipes.


I picked up the beef on Friday at a butcher shop in Alamo. I needed to marinate the brisket for 24-48hours, which I did. I also started the potatoes so that all I had to do on Sunday was heat them up to warm them and to melt the cheese :o) me love cheese.


I gotta say if my doctor saw her recipes I'd be in big big trouble. Cheese, sour cream, butter, bacon and a big piece of beef are probably not what his idea of "healthy food to lower my cholesterol" are :o) Oh well. I'll start my diet back up today :o)


Anywho, plopped the brisket into the oven around 2:30 for 3 1/2 hours of cooking. Ms. Olivia was gonna make the jalapeno thingies and bring over a salad. She was at the house around 5:30 for some appetizers and wine. Everything was ready on time as planned and OH MY did my beef brisket look super yummy. THANKS REE for the recipe. We had a very nice dinner and everything turned out very good. Although I had brisket to feed 10 people. Butcher man told me that 5lbs of beef would be enough for dinner for 4 because the beef would shrink down. It didn't shrink down much so we had plenty to give Olivia to take home and for left overs tonight and maybe even a few days :o)

Doesn't it look so yummy?

Today though it's time to get serious and no more junk for the week. I've got 7 days til the Nike Half Marathon. I've got my ankle to deal with and that is enough don't need to have issues because I didn't eat or drink properly all week. So it's time to start hydrating and eating the right food for the next week.

Rocky and I will both be running the Nike Half portion of the Nike Women's Marathon. It is my 4th time running it and Rocky's 2nd. He's been training hard so I'm sure he'll kick butt and do great. Darn fast hubby. Then our plan is to stick around and watch our friends Phil and Brandy FINISH the marathon portion. We are very excited for them. YIPEE 7 MORE DAYS!