Can It Be Spring Yet?

I guess not.

After enjoying temperatures in the high 40s and even in the 50s last weekend, it snowed Friday night and then dropped into the 20s. Then this Thursday the forecast is for a possible 2-6 inches of snow. It’s alright since we’ll be leaving for the Twin Cites for the weekend, but it better be drivable. There’s no way I’m missing Flogging Molly again. But anyway, back to the topic at hand. It was so nice doing my 12 miler in just one layer of tights and sans jacket last weekend, that I really don’t like the thought of doing longer runs back in the snow and cold temps. I’ve had enough of that.

On the bright side of things I’m doing alright on my New Year’s resolutions. Yep, I did actually make some and yep, I am just first mentioning resolutions now a month and a half into the New Year. Ok, ok, so maybe doing more frequent blog updates should be included…

1) Lose 30 pounds – Already lost 5!

2) Finish a marathon under 4 hours – Don’t think it’ll be the Madison Marathon in May but doing it at the TC Marathon is a definite possibility.

3) Eat better

a) Salad every other day – Mostly doing this

b) Oatmeal ever other day – Granola counts right??

c) No fried food – Not any that I can think of

d) Have pizza no more than twice a month – On track, and surprisingly not missing pizza at all.

e) Make real dinners – a.k.a. ones that actually give you leftovers; not ones that come pre-made from the freezer section

4) Run a total of 1000 miles in the year – should happen

5) Some sort of biking milestone – Bike commute 1000 miles? Ride the bike 1000 miles? Put more mileage on the bikes than on my car?

As far as eating better, I made thing of Tater Tot Casserole the other night and have made a new favorite – sweet potato fries – a few times now. I guess I’ve always like sweet potato fries since discovering them in of all places, the cafeteria at Luther. My homemade fries are super tasty with the curry ketchup that I get at Bavaria Sausage, a German grocery / butcher shop. Of course, I also get my ration of brötchen (German hard rolls) and salami there as well.

While I’m on the topic of food, I have to mention two other things as well. First at Pasqual’s (a small local Mexican restaurant chain) I had their tamale burrito. Tamales hands down are my favorite Mexican dish and coincidentally enough I ordered there 3 tamale meal last time we were there. However, I couldn’t pass up the ridiculous but delicious idea of the tamale burrito. So imagine – take a flour tortilla, cover it with refried beans, lettuce and tomato, and then most importantly flop a chicken tamale in the middle and roll it up. Of course it was too big to pick up and eat, but really, you can’t complain having edible gluttony all rolled up for your enjoyment.

Second, this weekend while grocery shopping, I discovered two beers that have become new favorites. Both brews were by the New Glarus Brewery, just from the town of New Glarus, down the road from Madison. Both the Berliner Weiss and the Bohemian Lager are part of the brewery’s “Unplugged” series, limited time only beers where they basically just let their brewmaster go loose. The Berliner Weiss is a golden Euro styled pilsner that’s simply just right. Nice blend of hops, caramel, and malt tones. The Berliner Weiss is a strange beast that I’m not sure if I can simply call a beer. It’s made with Pinot Grigio and Riesling grapes as well as Wisconsin white wheat. As noted on the bottle, Napoleon once called the style of beer the “Champagne of the north,” and I’m not going to disagree with the short-statured Frenchie. I would rather open a bottle of this on a special occasion then popping open a bottle of Champagne. It’s a slow drinking beer, in part to it’s complexity but also due to an addictive tart sweetness. If you find either of these beers in the beer aisle near you, don’t hesitate; put them in your cart!

"Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!"

- Martin Luther (joking a bit of course)