the best of pumpkin

I’m pretty sure it’s no secret by now that I absolutely LOVE pumpkin.  I don’t even like pumpkin pie all that much, but there’s just something about pumpkin puree that makes me swoon.  So, we decided to devote our day to the best of pumpkin.

But first, we had a race to catch!  The Lewis and Clark Marathon/Half Marathon was this morning.  This was my original plan before signing up for Chicago, but I absolutely hate this race course.  You start out in industrial Earth City, cross the Discovery Bridge on 370, head into Frenchtown, and then make your way down to Frontier Park in St. Charles, as the marathoners continue on down the Katy Trail.  It’s just not very spectator friendly… and crappy for the runners whose cars were parked at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater and had to wait in an ungodly long line for the shuttle back.  I’m just sayin’… it’s not my favorite course.  But, this was the last of the Lewis and Clark – next year it will become Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis and move to downtown.  I’m currently debating on doing the half, but other “plans” might get in the way…

We were actually there to see a few people.  Lauren, who has been my running buddy this entire summer, was planning to run the full, but switched down to the half.  Matt’s mom was also doing this for I think probably the 5th time, but I still enjoy watching her finish.  And, Bob, who we coach with was there… I only have a picture of cute little Ava though.

 

After the race, we headed to Trailhead Brewing Company for some of their Spiced Pumpkin Ale!  It was packed with runners, so much so that it was a 40 minute wait inside to sit… so, we took advantage of the beautiful day and sat outside.  It was nice seeing all the runners enjoy a beer, as I plan to do next week after my race!

I have never had this beer before (I am a recent beer convert), but we knew they sell out of it quickly, so we wanted to get it as soon as it came out so we wouldn’t miss out on it.

This beer SMELLS amazing!  Like pumpkin pie in a glass.  And the flavor definitely doesn’t disappoint either!  Smooth and pumpkin-y… not too spicy.  I LOVED it!

Along with some pretzels, in memory of my grandpa.  (He loved beer + pretzels.) 

Since we were already out, it was still early in the day, and we were loving the pumpkin beer, we decided to head closer to Downtown St. Louis to Schlafly Bottleworks.  I had also never had Schlafly’s pumpkin ale (even though you can pretty much get it anywhere right now), so it was definitely a must.  Plus, straight from the freshly brewed tap… it can’t get any better than that.

And it definitely did not disappoint!  I have been bragging about how awesome O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Ale is, but Schlafly is hands down the best I have had so far.  [OK, so my list isn’t very long right now, but it is going to be tough to trump it!]  Much more spicy than Trailhead’s, which I enjoyed more.  It didn’t have as good of an aroma as Trailhead’s, but the tastes was AH-mazing!  I will be returning soon… and buying a 6-pack until I can get back! 

And, since we were already out + closer to downtown, we figured pumpkin custard had to be had!  And what better way to end an early afternoon than with some Ted Drewes’!  [And Matt owed me because he cheated on me and went to Andy’s in Springfield without me.]

Ted Drewes’ pumpkin concrete is similar to Doozle’s in that they take a whole pie piece and blend it into the vanilla custard.  Mmmm… it was heavenly!  So smooth and incredible pumpkin flavor!  I could’ve done without the whipped cream, but that of course didn’t stop me from eating all of it!  Of the 2 we’ve had, Ted’s is at the top of my pumpkin custard list!  [Of course, Matt said that Andy’s was better, but until I taste it, Ted’s will remain at the top.]

Matt went for the Caramel Apple Sundae:  a whole apple pie piece + vanilla custard + caramel + almonds.  Although I am not a big pie fan, apple is my absolute favorite pie!  But, I kind of thought the caramel and custard overpowered the apple pie taste.  Don’t get me wrong though, it was still delicious!

    

[Matt made me take a picture of this since it was only 2 PM and the trash can was already full of cups!]

Thus ends our Best of Pumpkin Tour of the day!  Next stop, CHICAGO!   

festival custard

After my long run on Saturday, I spent the afternoon sitting on the couch, planning my lessons for the week. I wanted to relax a little bit because I knew we would be out + about later at the Festival of the Little Hills!

I have to admit, this is only the 2nd time I have gone to the festival, but it is probably the biggest out of the several that take place down on Main Street St. Charles. It is full of crafts, entertainment, and of course, my personal favorite, FOOD! Well, there's not much for a vegetarian like myself to choose from when it comes to festival food [I mean, they had chocolate covered bacon, for gosh sakes], so we ended up at Trailhead Brewing Company for some of their beer and Cardinals baseball. [I promise I will get better at taking pictures of my food, but I'm still not in 'food blogger' mode yet.]

Unfortunately, our main courses left something to be desired... Matt's tuna sandwich was dry and I actually found a piece of meat with my portobella stack. But, I did have these amazing roasted sweet potatoes with maple glaze that I will be trying to recreate! The beer was pretty good too... I had their Raspberry Ale and Matt got the Honey Wheat Ale. I would definitely recommend going there for beer. I plan on going back as soon as their Pumpkin Ale comes out this fall! I hear it is amazing but sells out quickly!

We walked around the festival for a little while [I am not much of a crafts person, but it was something to do], and low + behold, we came across Ted Drewes'!

Because of the fame of Ted Drewes', they also sell their 'minis' and quarts for fundraising [as this was] and also at some of the local grocery stores. We've had the vanilla in the quart before, and honestly, I think it tasted like cardboard. So, we decided on their chocolate since neither of us have tried it before.

[Sorry for some crappy photography... my camera obviously doesn't like to shoot at night.]

Since it was frozen solid when we got it, it lost most of the creaminess it could've had. But, overall, I definitely liked it a lot! Tasted a bit like a Wendy's frosty, just a bit more frozen, and not so grainy of a texture.

Oh, and we stopped by Grandma's Cookies. I am telling you, these are the absolute BEST cookies I have ever had in my entire life! [Sorry, mom-in-law, yours are a close second, but Matt thinks yours are better still!] And they are only $0.60 a piece! Bargain and it's best! You must try them now... go, go, GO!

Yes, we only bought food, but we had a wonderful time together! Always nice to have something to do on a lazy Saturday night.

bobby's best thing he's ever ate + training tip #1

So, if you don't know me well, you may not know that, although a vegetarian, I am a HUGE foodie, along with the Hubs. There is always at least one Food Network show we are DVR-ing every night. Last night, we just so happened to record probably one of my favorite FN shows, Best Thing I Ever Ate. On this show, they interview different Food Network chefs, along with food writers, editors, and executive chefs about the best things they've ever eaten of a certain theme and where to find that particular item/meal. Last night's theme just so happened to be Sweet Tooth. As they scrolled through the opening credits, the very first image they showed was a Ted Drewes concrete! And who's best thing they ever ate was it? The one and only Bobby Flay (or as the Hubs and I like to call him, Flobby Bay)! OK, I must admit, I have a little crush on Bobby (along with Alton Brown), so this took the excitement to a whole new level. They also have never had anything on this show in St. Louis, so it being something I have actually eaten in the past week... I was floored! So, read about our trip and GO if you are in the St. Louis area. If a big-name chef like Bobby Flay claims it as the best sweet tooth item he's ever ate, you gotta try it! Again, to quote Ted himself, "It really is good guys... and gals!"

Training Tip #1: Listen to Your Body
I am now officially 2 weeks in to training for the Chicago Marathon (10.10.10) and albeit a little hot + humid at times, training has been going pretty smoothly... until my long run this past Sunday. I was scheduled to run 9 miles, which is still pretty short for marathon training. However, I had been sick with a pretty nasty cold/sinus infection I lovingly received from the Hubs (thanks babe). I was starting to feel much better, but it reared its ugly head again Saturday night. I took some Ibuprofen to ease my aching sinuses and prayed to feel better in the morning.

Needless to say, I slept horribly... my nose was running like a faucet and I woke up continuously coughing all night. My alarm went off at 7 AM, and I decided that I've ran through feeling crappy like this before, so I should be fine... or at least get by. I fueled up on half a banana with some peanut butter (again, the obsession), some Alkaseltzer, and some more Ibuprofen.

It wasn't too bad of a start, a little warm outside, but I felt OK. I decided to view the run like 3 5K's (OK, that sounds WAY longer now than it did then) to break it up a bit, and planned on walking 1 minute for every mile I ran. As I got into mile 2, I started to feel nauseous, my stomach not settling well from the seltzer or the heat. I kept going, still keeping a pretty good pace. As I got into mile 6, my legs were rubber. I know I wasn't getting in the oxygen I needed to keep my muscles going. I decided to start walking... I just couldn't handle it any more. I walked most of miles 6 + 7 and ran the last mile in - slowly - and still finished with a 9:00/mile average pace, which I could still break 4 hours with.

This brings me to my point. You have to listen to your body. Although I listened enough to know it was time to walk, I probably shouldn't have been out there at all. I had been miserable the night before and didn't get a good night's sleep. My sinuses killed and I had difficulty breathing since my nose was all snotty. Although the rule of thumb is above the shoulders you can still run, but below the shoulders, take the day off, I have realized that just listening to how I feel physically is a good indication of whether I should run or not.

With the injuries I've dealt with training for marathons in the past, I know listening to my body will be key to my success at this training. I had to cancel training for my first marathon in 2007 because of an IT band injury that hurt to the point where I could hardly walk. And even training for Go! St. Louis in 2008, I dealt with neuromas in my feet due to hammertoes that caused me to take off training for 2 weeks. This is not going to happen this time. I know better and I want to treat my body with the respect it deserves. Distance running is grueling and tough on the body... it needs a break every once in awhile. Listen to it... your body knows best.

The Hubs and I had a voucher for free Cardinals tickets to use up this month, so instead of just attending the ball game, we decided to make it a full day of things to do in St. Louis. We decided to call this "The St. Louis Trifecta". (OK, so we did 4 things, but 3 main ones.)

First on our Tour de St. Louis was a stop at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in downtown St. Louis. Surprisingly, neither of us had ever been on the brewery tour. We had talked about going for a long time, and this was the perfect day to do it. Or so we thought. Figuring it was a brewery tour, we thought we would be inside the entire tour. As we walked up to the door, we noticed the sign reading "outside walking tour". Of course, as soon as our tour was supposed to begin, the heavens opened loose in true St. Louis summer severe storm fashion, delaying our tour about 30 minutes. However, once we got started on the tour, we didn't have a drop of rain the rest of the day! The tour was pretty cool. We got to see the AB Clydesdales and Dalmatian, the brewing factory, and learned a lot about brewing and AB history. After the tour, we got to sample some AB beers. And these weren't just little beer samples you get after a 5K run... no, these were BIG samples. Each person (over 21 of course) was allowed 2 samples and unlimited pretzel twists. Mmm... beer and pretzels. My grandpa would've loved this (miss you)! I sampled a Bud Light Lime and a Michelob Ultra Dragonfruit Peach. OK, so I am by no means a beer drinker. Give me the choice between wine and beer and I will choose wine EVERY time. But, the Ultra was pretty darn good. Great on a hot summer day. The Hubs decided on a Stella Armois and the new Beach Bum Blonde Ale. I think he enjoyed his, but he secretly liked my Ultra better. After we filled up on beer and pretzels, we headed just across the street for more pretzels! This time of the soft variety. We picked up our Gus's pretzels, and headed across town for the next stop to chow down. TED DREWES!

Ted Drewes' is a landmark in St. Louis. In fact, it happens to be located on historic Route 66. As far as I know, this was the first frozen custard stand in the St. Louis area, opening originally in 1931 and then opening the now historic location in 1941. In all honestly, I really have been to Ted Drewes' but a handful of times, so it is always a treat to go. This makes the menu a whole new experience compared to going to Fritz's (where I know the menu like that back of my hand). After a few minutes of studying, I decided on the All Shook Up in concrete form. This involved vanilla custard mixed with bananas and Reese's peanut butter cups. OK, so it sounds weird, but if you have read my Fritz's post, you will understand that banana and PB is my favorite combination! And I must say, as Ted himself would say, "It really is good guys... and gals!" The combo totally worked for me. And in true concrete form, they turned my dessert upside down before handing it to me through the window, showing me just how thick and mixed it is. The Hubs decided on the Terramizzou. No, not Tiramisou... we're from Missouri... it's pronounced Terramizzou (Go Tigers!) so it obviously should be spelled that way! He chose to get his in sundae form and it involved vanilla custard (unlike Fritz's, this is their only custard flavor) with pistachios and hot fudge. No, that is not caramel in the pic... it is hot fudge. And he claims was also delicious! If you are in St. Louis visiting, you MUST go to Ted Drewes'. It is a classic and a favorite of any St. Louisan, no matter what part of town they live in or where they went to high school.

Last stop, Cardinals game! So, our seats were all the way at the top, but we got to the stadium early enough to watch the Mariners' batting practice. It is on the Hubs bucket list to catch a foul ball or homerun, even if it is during batting practice and handed to him by a player. Of course, this didn't happen today, but we got to "meet" one of the Mariners' bullpen coaches, who had quite the resume after we looked him up when we got home. The game was great! Pujols hit a homerun and the Cards won! And it didn't rain until we were in the car on the way home! It was a fabulous day!