Spiced Persimmon Butter - Preserving the Season

One of my favorite fruits is the persimmon. In my area there are two commonly available types of the fruit, the jiro, which I like to eat when it's still crunchy like an apple, and the heart-shaped hachiya, which has a a high level of tannins and has to ripen until it's completely soft, or else you're basically eating sawdust.

This year I came into a bumper crop of hachiya persimmons which ripened at pretty much the same time. I wasn't about to toss a single one because I knew I wouldn't see them again until next October. My answer: persimmon butter.

Following a recipe from a persimmon-focused cookbook from Bear Wallow Books, I peeled and strained and boiled the persimmons into a surprisingly few jars of lightly spiced persimmon butter that I will TRY to get me through until October.

Spiced Persimmon Butter
Adapted from Old-Fashioned Persimmon Recipes

Ingredients:
4 cups persimmon pulp
1/2 cup orange juice
2/3 cup honey
4 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Remove pulp from persimmons and force through a fine mesh strainer.
2. Combine pulp and remaining ingredients. Cook until thick.
3. Remove cloves and cinnamon stick, cool and refrigerate or process in a hot water bath.

Your persimmon butter should keep for two weeks in the fridge. I suggest canning if, like me, you are trying to savor the bounty of fall.

New Old Skirt

I'm wearing a skirt I bought 7 years ago for the first time today - it finally fits!

In other news. In day 2 of juice cleanse and its not my favorite thing. I will at least finish out today but unless something changes I'm not sure about tomorrow. I see the point of eating fruits and vegetables (and nuts in my plan's case) but I don't totally see the value in consuming almost no fiber... I don't feel nutrient starved.

Anyways... so far my juices have been pretty good. Yesterday there was too much tart citrus in everything so I tweaked a green juice for today and added blueberries. The cashew smoothie (really) was good and once I got over my starvation fears it was satisfying but I think I need to kick up the flavor tonight a little more (it was just raw cashews, a banana and some spices).

Full disclosure, I had a small box of whole raspberries and 2 dried prunes yesterday and I've brought an emergency orange into work today :) So its really, almost a cleanse...

On the wedding front, I've made my dress fitting appointment for the first Sunday in December. Time to face the music.

Wedding Dresses and Evil Hips

Hello again.

Last weekend was wedding dress shopping. Man that's an ordeal. I did find something I liked but it is tres $$$. If nothing else, I found style elements that worked well for me (strapless, sweetheart neck, no duchess silk, etc.).

Am thinking of going to a dress sale that benefits breast cancer patients the weekend after next. It is nearby and the dresses are used but not older than 2009 (I think). I'd hate to be too concerned about messing up my expensive dress (like hell I'm only drinking the white wine at my wedding.... the red is gonna be the good stuff).

Oh, the evil hips... Well, it turns out that I really do need to order a dress by the end of November if I'm going to have one made for me. That means in a month the first set of measurements are taken and BOY did my hips make trying some of the dresses on difficult. So, in an effort to make as much progress as I can in the next month (except for thanksgiving of course) I'm trying to be really good.

Now that I'm on my own (boot camp and trainer are both over) I've really got to push myself to work out frequently and its pretty clear that I need to work out in the mornings. I'm too hungry by 5:00 pm to run off to an intensive workout. So I finally went back to spinning today (my last spin class was when I lived in Bethesda, MD... not recent). I was not really enjoying it but that could be because I was uncomfortable on the bike and I think I could readjust a little bit if I try again, It was a challenge and I didn't really feel like I went too easy on myself at the end (a common problem)... so I should probably try it again. Perhaps there is a more motivating instructor - although this one was pregnant... not huge but significant bump... that is actually pretty impressive/motivating right?

I've actually succeeded at my first significant dress trial, that being the bridesmaid dress I am wearing for a friend's wedding on November 17th. I bought a dress probably 2 sizes too small and now it looks ok. However, the rest of the bridesmaids are super tiny and I'm guessing my escort will be as well so I'm going to do an at-home juice cleanse the week before (3 days) just to get as close to them as I can, and also justify eating a full Chinese wedding feast the day of. (see not crazy). I found this plan online and it seems pretty doable (not 1000 ingredients to manage and overbuy). I've already gotten my raw cashews. I'm really looking forward to that drink... although maybe I will make a thinner version. The recipe calls for a whole cup of nuts. that sounds INTENSE.

Last note: in my continued effort to dress better I went through my clothes again and made little outfits. Unfortunately I realized that none of my shoes went with them so I had to go out and get another pair. I really like these and they go with everything!

Total weight lost: 27 lbs - time to kick it up!

Ok, back to work I guess... that's a whole other story but a much less interesting one.

Morning Snack

Just checking in today over my morning snack of coffee and banana bread. Its pretty delicious actually. I used the somewhat healthy recipe here but skipped the millet and ground cloves. Mark said it could be his favorite banana bread ever but would benefit from some nuts.

Working out has picked back up after my few weeks of travel (mostly without working out). I spent last week paying the rather immobile price for over exercising my quads. Overall I'm in much the same place as my last post but who knows what lies ahead :).

I've also been making an effort to be a bit more presentable fashion-wise. Been shopping mostly second hand, so it's taxing my creativity a little bit. Here's a picture of what I've done for today (please forgive the self picture).

I've gotten on a kick to make over Mark too and took him shopping on Sunday for like five hours. He was a trooper. I'm most excited about a pair of shoes he got. I tried to get him in some boots but the Al Bundy impersonator that was helping us was more on Mark's anti-boot side than mine. Can I just say how ridiculous it is that a boot seems to be anything that covers the ankle.... So limiting!

Coming soon: Wedding planning more or less begins.

On My Own

Hi again!

Had my last personal training session this morning and now I am on my own. To celebrate, I had a cheese sandwich for lunch on white bread. Crazy I know ;).

Status-wise I've exactly met my last short term goal (21 lbs lost). So that's good. I've also conquered my fear of falling on my face while doing pushups, so that's 2 good things. My new challenge, the one legged squat. These are super good for the lower butt area ladies.

I'll be traveling a lot in the next few weeks for work and vacation. Thinking about bringing my jump rope along to vacation. It's tricky because I hate jump rope but it is the lightest cardio equipment I can bring short of running. I also hate running. I'll figure something out.

I'm currently en route to the airport to attend a friend's bridal shower and help my mom shop for her mother of the bride dress. What's that you say? Why yes I do think August of 2012 is a little early to get a dress for a June 2013 wedding but it's what the woman wants.

Bye for now.

Checking In

I wanted to post another 'getting in shape' progress update before I go on vacation next week :). Overall my progress has been a little jumpy. There are stretches of days when my weight won't change at all and then all of the sudden it will drop. Sometimes I've even gained a pound or so, I've not been behaving perfectly by any means.

I am on my 2nd (and last) set of 6 weeks with my trainer. I think she thinks I could be doing a little better (I don't disagree) and she's really mad at my fear of doing a proper push up... (I don't go low enough which seems to mean my nose isn't touching the floor). Sorry. Her goal for this 6 weeks is a 10 lb weight loss, which would bring me to 21 lbs lost by August 23rd. I think it's doable as long as my resolve doesn't waiver. Hmm...

Current Weight Loss: 14.8 lbs.

I'm a little concerned about keeping the workouts challenging post-trainer, so I've purchased a $50 Groupon (yay Groupon) for a 5-week morning bootcamp class (5 days/week) that I can start in August or October. I've tried a bootcamp class before, and it was somewhat effective until I stopped going. :) This class seems a little better because it's in a park (not a dirty parking lot) and the instructor is not supposed to yell at you.

But Hey! We're Going on Vacation:

Mark and I are off to Santa Cruz and San Francisco next week for my first vacation since December. So excited.We have plans to go hiking and sailing so far. We are also taking a mountain-biking tour (eek!) Neither of us have ever done that before. We'll also get to spend some time with our friends Susan and Chris in San Francisco and see their new house! So jealous. Hope to also see Anja Gilbert if I can tear her away from her amazing internship, Lame Merritt photo walks and her roommate's amazing baked goods. Fingers crossed!

I haven't completely planned out the whole trip (despite my tendency to over plan) so I'm still looking for ways to spend the time. We are going to Monterrey and the aquarium one day. I'm toying with the idea of also stopping by Parker-Lusseau Pastries for breakfast there. I've also looked up thrift stores, yarn stores, yoga studios and spas (to some extent) too. For SF, my co-worker Katie also shared this amazing Google map she developed of things to do there. 

Any other recommendations for things to do in Santa Cruz or SF?

T Minus 358 Days (To my Wedding)

Time to start being accountable.

In preparation for purchasing the most expensive dress I will ever buy, I've begun a fitness regime. Also, I'm helping to save the planet since fat people cause climate change. (hope the link is accessible).

To help me get going I've hired a local trainer. She's a little intense. I work out with her twice a week in a small boxing gym in Burbank. (Side note: my first meeting with her basically consisted of her, me and Mario Lopez. Jealous?) She also makes me do horrible interval cardio twice a week on my own with a smattering of other physical activity.

I have started to eat better as well. This mainly consists of eating less but I'm already laughing because my crave-able treats are things like low-fat chocolate milk (one serving) and Newton Fruit thins (3 cookies). I'm sure the latter one will get me in trouble and they are probably horrible for you in some way, but I highly recommend them. Chicken wings suddenly seem a little intense but I hope to someday be able to eat a few again.

Diet-wise I've found the one thing that is really effective is not eating bread/rice/grains at dinner. BUT its not because I buy into some weird time-of-eating belief system, its more that not getting to have  bread/rice/grains seriously shrinks what I end up eating at dinner, so I don't blow a whole day with a big plate of pasta. See, totally logical.

It's been 24 days since I started in earnest. Current Weight Loss: 8 lbs.

Dress Shopping Slated to Begin: October at the earliest.