Showing posts with label Sustenance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sustenance. Show all posts

Friday, April 1, 2011

Following the Pie Truck Around

Sadly, I have not been going to the gym as much as I would like… well, let me clarify. As much as I should.  And perhaps that’s where the problem lies: I have been going as much as I like

I did go to the gym on Monday for Pilates and I went to the gym Wednesday for a workout with my trainer.

And, since I aim to be as honest as possible here, I’ll admit this: I had pie for lunch yesterday.
Yep, you read that right, pie.

I read on the blog Let The Tide Pull Your Dreams Ashore a while ago about something called the “Baltimore Bomb” pie.  It’s made up of Berger Cookies (which apparently are very famous in Baltimore) and a kind of vanilla pudding/chess type filling.  There is a place that makes the Baltimore Bomb called the Dangerously Delicious Pie Co., and, I recently discovered that they have their very own food truck.

The food truck phenomenon has hit DC hard.  Over the past year or so, we have seen an explosion of food trucks.  I’ve seen the empanada truck, the Mac ‘n Cheese truck, the Lobster Roll truck, various cupcake trucks, and several others.  So, when I heard about the Dangerously Delicious Pie truck, I was intrigued and figured this could be my chance to try to Baltimore Bomb pie without, you know, hoofing it to Baltimore.

I started following the Pie truck on twitter, hoping that someday, they would schedule a stop close to my work.  That day finally arrived.  I got the twitter notice, or “tweet” that they would be just one block from my office.

So, I walked out to the pie truck, and perused the menu. They did have the Baltimore Bomb pie, but they also had so many other types of pie.  And, they weren’t just sweet pies; they also had savory pies.  Since I had actually forgotten to grab my lunch before I rushed out the door in the morning, I thought I might try one of their savory pies for lunch and grab a sweet pie to save for later.  Then, I saw they had a chocolate peanut butter pie.  Hubs s chocolate & peanut butter.  So, I picked up a piece of that to give him for after dinner.  I also got a slice of the Baltimore Bomb to try at home with Hubs.  And then I saw they had something called “winter berry”.  It had apples, blueberries and cranberries.  So, I thought, I’d like to try one of those.

I am embarrassed to type that I got 4 slices of pie. (in my defense, they were not all for me; all except one was intended to share!)  When I got back to my office, I was so hungry that I just started scarfing down the savory pie (which had steak, mushroom, onion and gruyere and a little bit of cream.)  I had about 3 bites before I realized it was just too rich.  I knew that if I ate the rest of it, I would have the biggest stomach ache later on.  Plus, it was a little heavy on the onion and I’m more of an ‘onion-in-moderation’ type of gal.  So, I had a few bites of that pie, but I was still hungry, and I wanted to kinda get the flavor of the savory pie out of my mouth. 

Sooooooo, I turned to try a bite of the winter berry pie.  It was sooo good.  Just the right amount of sweet and tart.  Sadly, before I really paused to evaluate the situation, I had eaten most of the slice.  At least, in my defense, it had a lot of fruit in it.  (No?  Not going for that one?? Ok, give me a minute…)

I did stop myself before I finished the whole slice.  I left about 1/3 of it.  But it was gooooood. J

Until about 2 ½ hours later when I found myself in the gym, working out, and intermittently burping up the savory pie…  not good.  (Curiously, the fruit pie was just fine, with no encores… I blame all those dang onions!)

I did make it through the workout without tossing my cookies (or pie, as the case may be) but I think I learned my lesson.  That lesson is: Pie is not a wise pre-workout meal choice.  Message received.

And, that workout was TOUGH!  I was dying about 20 minutes into it.  One new thing my trainer had me do was the “rope swing.” I’ve seen folks do this on The Biggest Loser and always thought, ‘what’s so tough about that? Looks pretty simple to me.’ Heh.  Well, God heard me and had his finger on the “Smite” button.  It. Is. HARD!  It’s a huge, heavy rope and just swinging it back and forth is exhausting!  So, the point is, if you are looking for something new and challenging, don’t ignore that huge rope in the gym.  And, whatever you do, do not mock it; it will make you pay.
(I actually asked my trainer if he would take some pictures of me doing some of these exercises, but he said he would probably get fired if someone complained that he was taking pictures on the floor; fair enough. Although I would have loved to have some pics of the rope swing to show you…)

Later that night (I promise, I’m getting to the point) I shared my pie purchases with Hubs.  He really liked the chocolate peanut butter pie.  He thought the Baltimore Bomb was “ok.  It’s good, but not great.” Which was just fine with me because I thought it was quite tasty!  And, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate & peanut butter, so I was happy to let him enjoy that one.

After we finished our respective pies, (and Hubs told me some nasty & sad story about a man who ate so much and didn’t get off a chair for 2 years that he got stuck to the chair – literally.  Thanks for at least letting me swallow the piece of pie I had in my mouth before sharing that Hubs…) I realized that, if I counted the 3 bites of savory pie I had at lunch, and I should, I had eaten 3 slices of pie that day. THREE!!!!

That’s when I said to Hubs, “I think I need to unfollow* the DC Pie Truck.” 

(*now, for those of you who are familiar with twitter, you know the term “unfollow” means that you basically elect to no longer get tweets from a certain source you previously signed up to get tweets from, right?  You just say, “thanks, I don’t need to know about your comings and goings on a minute-by-minute basis anymore.”)

Hubs then says this:
“Yeah, I think you should quit following the pie truck around.”

Silence.
Deep breath.

I’M NOT FOLLOWING THE PIE TRUCK AROUND!!!!!!!  I’m not chasing after them in the streets screaming “I NEED PIE!!!!”

Really, I’m not. Really.

So, last night, right before I went to bed, I unfollowed the DC Pie Truck.

But I’m still following @BronxZoosCobra.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Random thoughts on... TEA

I am not a coffee drinker.

There.  I said it.

Hubs is; he's a HUGE coffee drinker. (like 10 cups a day, some of which are brewed and consumed late in the evening!)

I like tea.  Lots of different kinds of tea. 

In fact, taking a look at the collection of tea I have in my desk at work makes me wonder if I don't have a problem...

keep in mind, this is just the stuff I have AT WORK.  There's even MORE at HOME!!!  Plus, this picture doesn't include the loose bags of P&G Tips, Maple Tea, and Madagascar Vanilla Rooibos Red tea stashed in a little baggie...

Now, while I don't enjoy drinking coffee, I love the smell of it.  And, occasionally, I will drink a cup.  Particularly if I happen to find myself at a Dunkin' Donuts; I'll get a medium french vanilla with extra creme and extra sugar.  One the rare occasions that I do have a cup of coffee, people usually make fun of me beacuse I put so much creme and sugar in it.  But, with tea, I drink it straight up. 

Actually, I can't stand milk or sugar in my tea.  I think it tastes gross.  (I know, I know, my "Southerner" card has just been revoked and Southern Living has just cancled my subscription immediately, but I CANNOT STAND sweet tea.  I think I am the only person born below the Mason-Dixon line that always orders UNsweet tea; even at chik-fil-a and Bojangles...)

I prefer to enjoy the flavor of the tea all by itself. 

Somebody once told me that they try to like tea, but after a few sips, they realize that it just tastes like hot water to them.  Not me.  I don't want to sound like a tea snob, but I can DEFINTILEY tell the difference in taste between a certain black teas, green teas, white teas, and hot water.

I just finished drinking a cup of the "Chocolate Mint" tea included in the picture above.  I must admit, the first time I tried it, I was skeptical.  And it smells a lot stronger than it tastes.  But it tastes so nice; it's like an Andes Mint, without the sweetness.  It also has the benefit of making my office smell really nice and reminding me of a crisp fall day. 

There are actually many teas that have a flavor memory for me: The Mango Ceylon reminds me of the middle of summer beacuse that is when Hubs first gave me an iced tea pitcher along with a box of Mango Ceylon to make iced tea with.

Bigelow's Constant Comment (which is one of my absolute faves: if any freinds are ever stumped on what to get me for my birthday, you can seriously go to the grocery store and get me a box of this and I would be soooo thrilled!  In fact, it's a gift my dad gives my mom every year for Chirstmas and she loves it. - or, she's a really good actress...) anywho, Constant Comment reminds me of the holidays.  A spicy citrusy blend that just FEELS like November and December to me.

And, I find watching the tea brew in my cup kinda relaxing.  I enjoy watching the layers of flavor emerge from the tea bag as its submerged in the hot water.  Seeing the flavors swirl from the bottom to the top as the water darkens and the tea steeps stronger. 

Kooky, right? Some folks enjoy the hustle and bussel of yelling their order to an indifferent barista in the special starbucks language, but give me a clean mug with some hot water and a bag of tea, and I'm a pretty happy girl.