BLT's

Being on my own for a little while, I've had to figure out things that are fairly simple to cook, and also cost-effective. There's nothing worse than whipping up a huge meal, slaving for hours over it, and realizing you have to then eat it and clean up the whole mess all by yourself. Enter the BLT. My Mom used to make us BLT's every once in a while, and I always loved them. Crunchy bacon, toast, fresh lettuce, and a little bit of tomato? It's even almost healthy!

Start with bacon. Good bacon. I use Boar's Head but other great brands are Farmer John and Niman Ranch. VERY IMPORTANT: do not heat up the pan before putting the bacon on it!! Lay the bacon down on a COLD pan or griddle, and then turn the heat on. This will allow the bacon to stay as close to its original form as possible, and not crinkle up into little rounds that do not work well for sandwich-making.

See how straight these bacon strips are? That's what you want.


While the bacon is cooking, place 2 piece of your favorite bread into the toaster. We want a nice crunch, but not so much that grandma loses her dentures when taking a bite.

Mayonaise is a standard on BLT's. I happen to hate plain mayo, so I chose a thin spread of ranch dressing instead. You are welcome to use any type of sauce, or omit the sauce if you are a sauce-o-phobe like my husband.

Next up, tomatoes. I like to use yellow or heirloom tomatoes to give it a little more flavor, but any good fresh tomato will do. Sprinkle it lightly with sea or kosher salt.

By now you should have been able to flip the bacon (I recommend cooking it for approximately 3 minutes on the first side, and then about 2 minute on the second. I like my bacon very crunchy because I don't like actually feeling like I'm gnawing on fat.)

Add a thin slice of crisp lettuce (I use Romaine) to the sandwich, layer on the bacon, and voila! Dinner (for one) is served.

My Friend Who...

I have friend at work. Her name is Erin. She's a fairly new friend but we've hit it off pretty well. Our boss calls us the dynamic duo, which I pretended to think was lame but actually think is pretty cool. Erin took this picture. It's awful. But she took it, and posts are always more fun with pictures, so I'm posting it.

My friend Erin loves food. She loves food almost as much as I do. She also loves ME, so, really, this friendship offers me only good things. Does that make me selfish? Maybe. We live in a selfish society. I can blame society for my issues like all of Reality TV does, right? The one sad part of my being friends with Erin is that she is only working with us temporarily... and that temporary is coming to an end very soon. Like any sane and encouraging friend/co-worker would do, I have convinced Erin that we need to eat lunch out every day until she leaves. Who am I kidding, it didn't take very much convincing. Unless you consider my convincing the scale to not go up every day... but that's when we start pointing the finger at Arizona.

So my food and Kristin-loving friend Erin and I have been eating lunch together for the past few weeks and it's been fun. With a capital F. Fun. I typically allow myself one or two lunches out every week. Eating lunch out every day has its challenges. Where to go every day, for example. Should we do an old stand-by like Nordstrom Cafe (which I introduced Erin to, thankyouverymuch) or Urbane down the street? Do we try something new like Z Pizza or Noodles & Company? Do we eat on campus? No, we don't eat on campus. Who wants to eat on campus when the world of San Diego lunch places is at your finger tips? I digress.

Anyway, I think I'm digressing even more than originally intended because now I'm forgetting why I'm even writing this post... except to say that food is awesome, friends are awesome, and friends who love food are hands down the best kind to have around. Wouldn't you agree, Erin?

Look What I Found

So when your husband leaves town, and leaves you in charge of the home and all things home-related, here is what happens.

I was calmly walking to the laundry room (by which I mean junk-filled garage, naturally) to be responsible and do the laundry (typically the husband's responsibility, duh) and found this horrifying creature. DEAD. Bugs crawling out of its eyes.

Naturally, I had to take a picture and then avoid its general vicinity for several hours until I got over it and just ignored the thing while I finished what I started - the white load. The creepiest part of this whole situation wasn't just that I found it, but that the next day, it was gone. Kind of makes me sick to my stomach, actually. Gross. Sorry.

Arizona Makes You Fat

Arizona's been getting a lot of flack lately, and I'm jumping right on that bandwagon and telling them they are the reason for my jiggly middle. Consider this my very own public service announcement and warning against Arizona.

I'm a fairly health conscious California girl. I eat vegetables. I run. I partake in the group torture called CrossFit. Then my husband up and moved to Arizona.

Ok I guess I'm being a little dramatic. He didn't exactly up and move to Arizona. He has been working really hard so that I can continue pursuing my dreams which, believe it or not, probably won't wind up making me any money... I digress. Anyway, he was offered a great *temporary* opportunity in Arizona and I was completely supportive but like pretending to throw him under the bus because, well, that's what I do. All this to say, Arizona is going to be getting a lot of the Murdock dollars because this wife enjoys actually spending time with her husband.

As I was saying, here in California I am pretty healthy. I enjoy being active and treat myself to frozen yogurt instead of brownie sundaes on most weekends. In Arizona, even in May, it's too flipping hot to do anything but find the closest Anthropologie, watch TV on the couch in an air conditioned apartment, and go out to dinner after dark. Just walking through the Costco parking lot I broke a sweat! I tried to be healthy last weekend when I visited the hubs and his new digs, but look what happened. I consider myself a victim here, and refuse any personal responsibilities you may think I have.

Friday night: I fly in. I get picked up in a gas-guzzling Dodge that kind of looks like a superhero car and has awesome air conditioning. We get lost. For 2 hours. [This explains the next day's Costco trip to get a GPS.] We are so hungry we could eat anything. But you know when you're THAT hungry, everything and nothing sound good? We drive around for at least 30 minutes looking at place after place, strip mall after strip mall. We settle on Texas Roadhouse. ?!?!?!?. I order a beer. ??!?!?!?!?!. We consume at least 3 times more calories than normal Californians should consume.

Saturday: I put on my running clothes, figuring I will at least get a power walk in. I drop G off at work. I attempt to find the Costco that was down the street. It takes 25 minutes. I break a sweat walking into Costco. "Did you know wine is less expensive in Arizona? I love Arizona!" I find the GPS, a bottle of Conundrum, a Pinot Grigio, string cheese, a massive pink towel for the pool, and granola. I break a sweat walking out of Costco. I still haven't eaten breakfast.

Insert another story here -- Glenn offered to get me breakfast near his work, but I decided I needed to be healthy after Friday's Texas sweet roll and rib attack. I stopped by a Starbucks to get a low-fat breakfast sandwich with egg whites only and they were out. Convinced I would find another healthy option between where I was and home, I kept driving. There were NO options that were not fast food. My choices at this point are to starve and then be in a food mood, or to choose between Burger King, Wendy's and Chick-fil-A. Back to the timeline.

I choose Chick-fil-A. I order a biscuit with egg and cheese. I plan to only eat half of the biscuit and get my protein fix in a non-fried form to at least be *moderately* nutritious. I take my order back to the apartment to eat in the air conditioning. They gave me a CHICKEN biscuit with egg and cheese! I ate almost all of it. Sabotage. Arizona hates me.

5 Half Marathons in 1 Year!

I have been trying to get into the Nike Women's Marathon for the last 4 years. A weekend in San Francisco. A chocolate mile. Pedicure and manicure stations. Firefighters in tuxedos handing you a Tiffany necklace as you cross the finish line. Could running long distance get any sweeter? So many people want to run this race that they have a 'random drawing' to determine who gets in. I have never been picked, and have been disappointed every year, but have stayed hopeful for the next year.

THIS IS MY YEAR!

Seven friends and I put together a group, registered for the race together, and found out this morning that our group was selected!! I have been freaking out all day because I'm so excited that this 'bucket list' (I hate that phrase - is there a better one that means the same thing??) race is actually going to happen for me before 2010 is over.

Interestingly enough, 2010 is also the year I decided I would run the Triple Crown - three Half Marathons in San Diego County ran within the same calendar year. If all goes as planned, I will run FIVE half marathons this year. I can't think of a better 'last race' for this season than the Nike Women's Half Marathon.

Did I mention I was excited????!!!!!

Stuff I Like - round two, I think.

With spring rolling in (April showers! Bring us more!) and the scent of fresh lilac and stinky mulch wafting through the air every morning as I walk from the parking structure to my office, I am reminded of just how lucky I am to live in this beautiful city. This morning started out like any regular morning - I worked out, I rushed home and managed to actually leave on time, I got on the freeway and realized there was no traffic, so I decided to make a pit stop at Coffee Bean for some iced tea. Iced tea lovers, I am telling you, once you ditch Starbucks for Coffee Bean, you'll never be satisfied by those green tea lemonades again. Coffee Bean offers different flavors of iced tea EVERY DAY! Back to my morning... being the sweet little assistant that I am, I called my boss to see if she wanted me to pick her up a Tuesday morning treat, too. She did, so I did. Large iced tea and iced mocha in hand, I drove to work, walked past aforementioned flowers and stinky mulch into my building, and gently rested the top of the drinks on my chest so I could unlock the door without spilling everything. That's when it happened. A massive drop of iced mocha planted itself on the top of my crisp white top. No amount of dabbing could get it out, so I promptly buttoned my cardigan and am pretending I was supposed to wear it this way.

In honor of my ruined top, here is today's Stuff I Like, which I think I'm going to make a regular part of my blog just because it's fun.

1. The Coffee Bean. Seriously people, how did I live without it? I told Glenn that if the Starbucks on Linda Vista and Napa were a Coffee Bean, I would use all of my spending money ($20 a week!) there every week and would not regret it one bit. It's relatively inexpensive, has amazing iced teas, small little crushed-ice cube things, and purple straws!!!!

2. Cardigans that fit, even when buttoned. Today's fiasco is proof of the importance of this, but honestly - when you have a cardigan that looks good both buttoned and unbuttoned, you should never let it go. That is why I wear mine almost daily. Thank you, Gap.

3. Easter baskets! Glenn put together the cutest Easter basket for me - it included a book I am so excited to read, a mini muffin tin, and some 'lounge shorts' as he calls them. So sweet, and useful!

4. Bronson Pate. He's one of the nicest guys around, has crazy hair, and has helped me in unfathomable ways over the past year as I've slowly been creating a new blog and brand that I can't wait to unveil! Plus, he's a great photographer and I refer all of my friends to him because, come on, he's pretty much the best.

Menu Planning

Tonight our dear friends Chris and Kelly Reynolds are coming over for dinner. We have had many lovely dinners with the Reynolds fam, like when we experimented with Thomas Keller, or when we had an 8 course Valentine's Day.

Tonight's meal is a little different. Nothing super experimental, although there are a few new items that will be first attempts. Tonight, you see, we say farewell to these dear friends. I wish we were just saying "Bon Voyage" and could welcome them back in a few weeks, but no, that is not the case. Tonight we say goodbye to living within 15 minutes of each other, to watching embarrassing TV shows together every week, to singing (screaming) along to old-school mix tapes while stuck in traffic... to a great couple that was willing to try all sorts of new things with us -- from stinky cheese and mussels to Kelly letting me run alongside her for her first half marathon.

To Chris and Kelly: We will miss you dearly, but boy are we gonna have fun tonight! And with that, I present this evening's menu. Double click to make it big enough to actually read.