Morning Massachusetts!

Good morning from Northampton, Massachusetts!  I woke up bright and early this morning to a singing Sarah and a piping hot mug of dark roast.  After we were fully caffeinated and filled with eggs, we headed to meet Diana for a brisk hike up Mount Sugarloaf.

Sarah brought Diana to Tampa in January so we already had the basics out of the way and were able to chat about the good stuff as we hiked through the wilderness.

It was chilly, chilly, but oh so beautiful.

We made it to the top and took it all in.

And then it was time to get our shop on!

The Dutchess, In Pictures

Breakfast:  Greek Yogurt

Lunch:  Artichoke Pasta with Marinara and Parmesan

Snack:  Banana Nut Odwalla Bar

Yoga!

Dinner:  Spicy Veggie Dumplings with Broccoli

 I received confirmation from the virtual world tonight that I’m kicking butt with regular yoga practices!  I’ve been averaging about two Black Swan visits per week since I arrived in Austin and I can already tell a difference in my practice.  My vinyasas are slow and strong and I can hold positions that I’ve never been able to before, like crow.  Now if I can only cut down on Easter candy and baked dairy carb bombs, I just might be ready for bathing suit season!

Gimme That Sauwce

If only I had a dollar for every time I realized how easy something is to make that I, at one point, believed would be super difficult.  I’d have oh so many dollars!  Like maybe enough to buy these

But can you believe I had never even glanced at a hollandaise recipe before?  For someone that loves the stuff so much that I might just choose eggs benedict as a last meal, you’d think I would have hunted down a recipe just for kicks.

But nope.  It took two artichokes and a little boredom with butter to initiate the search.  The search which ended almost as quickly as it began because I ended up using the first recipe that came up on Google, which was perrrfect.  Perfectly creamy, perfectly zesty, perfectly spiced.

Missed the artichoke mash I made a while back?  Check it out!

Truffle Mac

Remember the bribe-new-friends-with-baked-goodness plan that I devised during my final days in Tampa?  Well, I started strong by baking the most amazeballs truffle mac and cheese and spreading the love.

I used this recipe, skipping the mushroom/sherry steps.  Not only was I unable to purchase sherry on a Sunday morning, but I wanted my first homemade truffle mac experience to be classic and uncomplicated.

I prepped the first batch for Skylar as a huge thank you for infinite number of ways she helped me out during the move and as a celebratory treat for finishing the Statesman Cap 10k.  The second batch was for a Mad Men viewing party at Matt & Lauren’s.  I forced the leftovers upon both parties as we parted because, simply put, this stuff is too dangerous for my fridge.

Truffle butter, sharp cheddar, and gruyere?  Need I say more?