I picked some flowers for you.

I picked them from this little garden.
You're welcome.

On an unrelated note, here's another picture (via Steph's camera) from L.A. that I haven't had the chance to post. I guess now is as good a time as ever.

S'more Brownies

Summer is quickly approaching. Do you know what that means? Campfires by the lake.

Do you know what campfires mean? S'mores!

If you're anything like me, it's hard to build a campfire in the middle of the city. And it's not like I can go camping every weekend. Yes, there is the microwave option, but it doesn't toast the marshmallow quite the same way.

Solution? S'more brownies. They are gooey and delectable, but messier than you'd believe. I could have been mistaken for a 2-year-old with all marshmallow everywhere. But I'll tell you what, they are WELL worth it.

S'more Brownies

Ingredients

Crust
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch fine salt

Brownie (Erika's note: I'm a cheater. I used a brownie mix. My patience level was low at the time.)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
4 large cold eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour

Topping
4 cups large marshmallows

Directions

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 by-8-inch square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch.

For the crust: Lightly butter the foil with some of the melted butter. Stir the rest of the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the brownie. Put the butter and chocolate in a medium microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on 75 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir, and microwave again until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. Alternatively, put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl on the pan without touching the water. Stir occasionally until melted. Stir the light brown and white sugars, vanilla and salt into the melted chocolate. Add the eggs and beat vigorously to make a thick and glossy batter. Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat on low. Layer marshmallows across the top and toast under the broiler until golden, (keep an eye on it, it can go quick), about 2 minutes. Cool on a rack, gently removing the brownies from the pan using the aluminum flaps. Carefully separate any marshmallow from the foil and fold away. Cut into 12 (2-inch) squares.

Ta-da!

top picture and recipe via food network

little letters

dear legs,
thanks for carrying me through 22.7 miles of running yesterday. i really appreciate that you didn't let me collapse.

dear fork in the trail,
please don't ever confuse me again. that added mileage due to a wrong turn was not appreciated. i curse you.

dear friendly runners,
thanks for your words of encouragement as we passed you along the burke gilman trail. you felt our pain as much as we felt yours.

dear water,
i'd die without you. (literally. i'm not even being dramatic.)

dear cookies and cream powerbar,
you taste like heaven after 10 miles.

dear seattle weather,
thank you for holding off until the last mile or two to start dumping rain on us. at that point, it was welcomed to cool us off and wash off the salt. (yes, you become rather salty when you run long distances.)

dear fellas (joe, ryry and james),
thanks for welcoming us stinky girls as we made it to redhook brewery from BALLARD. i hope you enjoyed your bonding time since we were late. (damn fork in the trail.) and joe, thanks for making us medals. that's why you're awesome.

dear redhook brewery,
thanks for having the most amazing nachos on this planet. it may have been the severe lack of calories in my body, but they blew my mind. so did the guacamole.

dear autumn and maddie,
we're crazy. but at least we're crazy together. thanks for being the best running buddies.

dear marathon,
three more weeks and i'll be done with you and resume a life that might resemble normal.

and finally...

dear monday,
how much would it cost to convince you to magically become friday? i'm willing to pay big bucks.

TGIF

Gotta love a picture of us taking a picture.
Also gotta love our excitement. Especially Susannah's.
(P.S. I hope you're not sick of vacation photos yet. Who am I kidding? You can't ever get sick of these 3 faces, can you?)

That's how excited I am that it's FRIDAY!

Shockingly, you know what else I'm excited about? Running 20 miles on Sunday. I'm so ready to beat the living poo out of that 20 miles. And then eat a cheeseburger.

Brunch is my fave

Brunch cannot be beat. I honestly don't know if there is a brunch (ok, breakfast) dish that I don't like. It's that good. So when we decided to have a little brunch action outdoors in L.A., I was pumped.

We had blueberry cornmeal pancakes, buttermilk pancakes, fruit and bacon. Please, please, please try the blueberry cornmeal pancakes because they are amazing. Not sure how this compares to the recipe Suze used because I would imagine she sprinkled in some rainbows, fairy dust and love. (She does things like that, ya know.)

Brunch in the backyard. Very cute set-up.

Don't you love their old-fashioned stove?!
(Mom, there are your measuring cups!)



Master pancake flipper. Look at that concentration... 1....2.... 3!



Chow time.



Don't mind us, we all just woke up... From left, Rob, Michelle, Gene, moi and Steph.

The vegetarian eats bacon TOO?!

Cary Grant is quite the ladies man

Last Saturday, we went to the outdoor movie at the Hollywood Cemetery to watch North by Northwest. (You may remember the outdoor movie scene from the movie Valentine's Day? Same place.)

Here are the reasons I liked it:
1. I'm kinda smitten with Cary Grant. He's adorable.
2. Old movies have such a fun vibe.
3. We got to picnic with wine and cheese.
4. Vegetarian Susannah ate a piece of salami! (And bacon at breakfast) It was the first time I've ever seen the lady eat meat.
5. We were surrounded by palm trees which invariably means warm weather.
6. Since we were in the Hollywood Cemetery, we were undoubtedly visited by famous ghosts. (Why hello, Lucille Ball! Funny seeing you here.)

The crowds of movie-goers.

The loooooong line. So glad we got in!

Taking a seat in line.

Why not take pictures when waiting in line?

Cary Grant looks like he's kissing her face off here, but I still like him. Plus, don't the palm tree shadows look rad?

Good times.

More L.A. adventures to come!

California Dreamin'

To prove I haven't in fact fallen off the face of the Earth, I will share a couple bloopers from our weekend in sunny L.A.

Full report to come. (But seriously, AWESOME vacation filled with fun people, sun, relaxing, good food and drinks.)

But while you wait, here are a few to hold you over.

Picture #1: Suze is giving Steph "talk to the hand" or "brick wall" - take your pick. Steph thinks it's hilarious. I'm about to either take a nose dive or I really, really, really want to be in the "brick wall" picture.

Picture #2: Mid-photo shoot a big wave SOAKS Susannah. Karma from the "talk to the hand" picture? Quite possibly.