Cream puffs and Father's Day.

Today - my first Saturday off - has been filled with lots of fun, relaxing things. Started of with a nice  easy run in cool temps. Saw my grandparents in their garden and stopped to say hello! Came home and whipped up some cream puffs for my dad for Father's Day weekend... this was my first time making them in several years and I'm so pleased with how they came out! There are many steps and it's definitely a time commitment but they are NOT hard to make and I recommend it. You'll impress all your friends! I followed THIS recipe.

The first thing I did was make the custard. It has to chill for quite awhile so I wanted to get that part out of the way. It's extremely thick and even has flour in it!

Next is the slightly tricky part... the actual pastry dough. As long as you follow directions properly, you won't have any issues. The dough is very particular and needs constant attention but once it's done, it's done! There's something very satisfying about liquid forming into dough right in front of you as you stir it.

Then, you scoop it out and spread some egg wash on top! Be VERY careful not to let the egg wash drip onto the cookie sheet... it will stick and stop the pastry from rising. 

Once you pull these babies out of the oven, make sure to slit the sides immediately with a pairing knife... if they don't ventilate they might collapse!

Then the fun part! Whip some cream into the custard and fill the pastries!

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Got to have some healthy food in here too... I've resorted back to my favorites from my kitchen in Luxembourg... sweet potatoes and broccoli. Except here, the sweet potatoes are GIANT! Classic America...

Baked is best :)

Random, but I love babysitting for rowing families because it means I get to read their US Rowing magazines...

For Father's Day we headed over to the grandparents for our typical family dinner. My grandpa, who used to be an avid runner and marathoner - gave me some hand-me-downs from 1988... I guess he's excited for me to do my first marathon :)

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Today I did 6 miles in some gorgeous weather. I think I'm going to take most of the week off of running (and maybe from exercise all together). I can tell my body will want a nice rest before my intense 16 weeks of training starts up (a week from tomorrow).

I've been getting a little overwhelmed by all of my extracurricular commitments and things I want to do... between my exec position for the rowing team, my current job, training for the bike race, the marathon, and the upcoming rowing season (I have 2+ races in a double and have to make it to at least a few practices with my partner!), the magazine I write for, and all of my research and courses, I feel like I have a lot on my plate. I recently had to quit a good job that I got for during the school year because I realized I was way, way too over-scheduled. I'm interested in everything and have trouble quitting anything. 

A lot of this is pre-anxiety for the stuff I have coming up - how will I be able to manage it all!? While I was worrying I found myself in the kitchen prepping my lunch and breakfast for tomorrow... I have found that cooking and preparing food is so therapeutic for me! I love getting my lunches and breakfasts ready and look for new ways to make them exciting (today I put strawberries in my overnight oats for some extra color.... usually it's just blueberries and bananas!). 

I try to remind myself that everything I'm doing is stuff I get to do and that is fun for me. I think I'll feel better once I get the bike race behind me but to be honest, marathon training is hugely daunting for me.

Sorry for all the rants/tangents in this post! Just had a lot on my mind lately. See you tomorrow :)