I’ve been digging my runs lately – I’m not trying to hit any specific pace, just whatever the legs want each day. I’m back in NYC (I was only gone for 5 days but oh how I missed it!) and ran a chilly 8 miles in Central Park yesterday morning in these:
New Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12s – this new model is a fantastic update (in my opinion). They have the perfect amount of cushion and stability for my semi-flat, mildly over pronating feet.
I toyed with the idea of trying out the Ravenna instead of my beloved Adrenalines, but after testing them out on the treadmill at Jack Rabbit we (the helpful Jack Rabbit staffer and I) saw on the video that I over pronate with the Ravennas but not the Adrenalines, so they provided slightly less support. I guess I shouldn’t mess with a good thing!
I’m still trying to figure out my marathon plans for this spring – I really want to PR and kick the crap out of my next 26.2, but the next 5 months are going to be the busiest of my entire life in terms of work and school. I’m not sure if it makes sense to add marathon training to the mix, but I think I’m going to try. Stay tuned for more details…
But first, more cookies!
Just because Christmas is over doesn’t mean it’s too late to make Christmas cookies – we still have the New Year to celebrate, after all. One of my Grandmas makes a mean cut-out sugar cookie, and we decided to make a few batches earlier this week when I was still in Buffalo (I may or may not have eaten all of the ones she already made…)
I don’t have an electric mixer, so it was exciting to make cookies the “proper” way.
Also, Gram doesn’t skimp on butter – two whole sticks for the win.
old recipes written on index cards are the best kind.
I forgot how time consuming it is to make cut out cookies, but totally worth it in the end.
After baking the cookies and letting them cool, my sister and I decorated them – the last time we did this together we were probably around 10. I like to think our decorating skills have improved over the years…
Grandma’s Classic Cut-Out Cookies
- 2 sticks softened butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 2 cups AP flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour (you can use all AP or all whole wheat flour too – whatever combo you prefer)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp orange zest (Gram uses 1 tsp anise, but she was out so we improvised!)
Instructions
Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add in vanilla, egg and orange zest (or anise) and mix until creamy. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and add to wet mix a little at a time, beating with electric mixer until all has been added and the dough is uniform. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
Preheat oven to 375. Take dough out of refrigerator and clear a large surface area for rolling it out. Cover surface with a cloth and sprinkle with flour. Do the same with a rolling pin (my Grandma covers the pin with an old sock!) and take a big chunk of dough. Roll it out pretty thin and then use whatever cut-outs you like to form different shapes.
Place shapes onto cookie sheets covered with parchment paper. Once you get all of the shapes you can out of the dough, ball it up again and roll out to make more cookies (you can reuse leftover dough once). Once you’ve used up all of the dough, put the cookies into the oven for 6-8 minutes, until the edges are browned.
Let the cookies cool and make the frosting. My Grandma uses Crisco and powdered sugar to make her frosting – yes, I said Crisco and no, I haven’t been drinking. Heh. Once the cookies are cool, frost and decorate with sprinkles or candies as desired.
This sugar cookie recipe can also be used for any occasion if you pick up some festive cookie cutters (Valentine’s Day cookies, anyone?).
Question: Do you have a favorite holiday cookie recipe? Get any new running toys for Christmas?
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