Congratulations to All the Running Crazies

Birds of a feather flock together, so it TOTALLY makes sense that I have a lot of crazy friends. We practice all sorts of different brands of crazy, but somehow some of them are the brand of crazy that likes to run. On purpose. When there aren't any bears hot on their trail.

It's so weird.

I mean, I can run, but I *hate* to run. Hate, hate, hate. Put a basketball in my hand and it's not so bad, but just running? Down a road? On purpose? Nope.

All the nopes.

Alas, there are enough Running Crazies in my life that it sort of made sense to get up early and kind of cheer for them while they ran in the Pittsburgh Marathon. It's actually the second time we've done it, so apparently it's fun or something.

It's definitely more fun standing on the sidewalk than it is running down the road. DEFINITELY. Especially when right behind you is The Pub Chip Shop and all of the delicious terrible for you things (Three magical words = Pecan Sticky Bun).

Anyway.

There are a few things that are worth noting this year. First of all, Mila had ALL OF THE OPINIONS about the fact that there were orange slices juuuuuust beyond her reach sitting there, uneaten. Perfectly good orange slices! Right there! Unattended! She really super wanted one.

Also of note, Tiny Captain America was a rock star.

Especially when he met Not Tiny Captain America.

And then Not Tiny Captain America stopped running long enough to for real meet Tiny Captain America and ZOMG. The awesome.

More awesome, the fireman who ran in full gear. I mean, COME ON.

But the most awesome was Alexis following the marathon. As we were driving away, she had lots of questions.

"How far do they run?"

"What do they get for running?"

"But ... Mom. MOM. They run 26 miles and all they get is a medal? That seems kind of ... not smart."

Yup.

We've got plenty of brands of crazy in our family, but Running Crazy is not one of them.

(Congrats to everyone who ran, especially Jenna, Scott, Josh, Kelly, Eileen, Bobbi, Michael, Becky, Erica, James, Melinda, Katie, Aimee, Missie, Missy, Emilie, Eliz, Steve, Candy, Ali, Tom, Michelle, Lori, Amy, Priscilla, Mel, Amy, Deanna, Chelsea, Abby, Angie, Allison, and all of the other Running Crazies who kicked butt.) (OMG I KNOW SO MANY CRAZY PEOPLE.)

Baked Apple Cinnamon Donuts

The fact of the matter is that I'm still on my donut kick.

It may never end if I keep winding up with things like this on my kitchen table.

I blame Alexis for these ones because she is all about the apple everything right now. It would just be mean if I were to ignore what's happening with her, right?

Right.

(By the way, I bought my donut pan at Target, but Amazon kicks Target's butt at pricing these things.)

Baked Apple Cinnamon Donuts (Makes about 6 donuts)

1/2 cup sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 large egg
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped apples

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray a donut pan with nonstick spray.

3. Dry stuff goes in a bowl. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

4. In a separate bowl, stir the egg, sugar, milk, vanilla, and yogurt until well blended. Then add the melted butter and stir some more. Introduce the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well.

5. Fold in the apples.

6. Place the donut batter into your pan. You should fill each hole about 2/3 full.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-14 minutes. They're done when you can poke one with a toothpick and it comes out clean.

8. Allow the donuts to cool for a minute or two in the pan then transfer them to a cooling rack. Eat one before they cool off completely, though. Because I said so.

The fact of the matter is that I'm still on my donut kick.

Solo Garden Adventures