If you go to an office supply store and flip through every calendar, you'll see that Lily on the Lam's birthday is in July. I believe it is a public holiday in most countries.
For some masochistic reason, I decided to do a half-marathon on my birthday with my childhood friend, JB. Now this particular half-marathon had two options - both a run and a walk. But if you signed up for the walk, you had to agree that you would NOT run. Or as I paraphrased "I am legally prohibited from running." A 13 mile walk is no problem for me. A 13 mile run is not so easy! My friend was going to do the walk option so I did a "Ohh well I suppose if you're walking, then I should sign up for the walk instead of the run too."
Now if you're planning on doing a half-marathon, whether you're running or walking; I have a tip for you. Don't spend the prior 3 days before the half-marathon doing a culinary tour. My friend lives in Portland, Oregon. I flew up a few days before the half-marathon to spend time with her and sightsee. And one of the ways I love to sightsee is through my stomach!
Portland, Oregon is a particularly good eating city. I very much enjoyed eating my way through the "Rose City." I'll save my other culinary exploits for future postings. For this post, I want to focus on the nail in my half-marathon coffin. The day before the half-marathon, JB and I went shopping and eating. We had a lovely lunch at Elephants Delicatessen. They have a mouth-watering pastry and chocolates area, but JB forbade me from having dessert at Elephants. "But - but - their desserts look so good!" I stammered. I wondered why JB was suddenly so mean. JB insisted that we save our appetites for Moonstruck Chocolate. All I could think was "Pfft - why should I save myself for a piece of chocolate when I can get a fruit tart as big as my head, here??" I briefly thought about outmaneuvering JB, vaulting over the bakery counter and shoving as many scrumptious desserts in my mouth before JB could drag me out. Sigh. I followed JB out of Elephants Deli and away from their beautiful, beautiful desserts.
We walked around, letting our lunch digest and then headed to Moonstruck Chocolate. I gasped when I saw all these truffles in the shape of animals. Who can say "no" to a Black Cat Truffle? I was overdosing on the sheer cuteness of it all! So many truffles, so little time. With a half-marathon in less than 24 hours, I should have picked the smallest item I could find. Or even better, buy something and save it for after the half-marathon. But nooooo..... Where's the fun in that?
Instead I went full-force glutton. I ordered an artisan s'more. (You had me at artisan ... and s'more.) I ordered a peanut butter cream cone. (I love my peanut butter and chocolate!) And then I wanted a drink. How about a nice coffee to cut the sweetness of the chocolate? Um yeah, no. I ordered a chocolate peanut butter shake! (Prelude to "How I died from a sugar coma.")
The artisan s'more tasted like a marshmallow between two vanilla wafers (maybe it was Graham but they tasted and looked like vanilla wafers.) It was delicious. Crisp, chewy, chocolatey. Delectable.
Next, I moved on to the Peanut Butter Cream Cone. I love peanut butter. I love chocolate. I had high hopes for this delicious bite of loveliness. (In the picture below, the artisan s'more is on the left and the peanut butter cone is on the right.)
I wanted to love the Peanut Butter Cream Cone. I wanted to hold hands with it, skip through a meadow and sigh at it adoringly. I wanted to scribble "Lily + Peanut Butter Cream Cone" in the margins of my 9th grade algebra notebook. I wanted to fall in love with it. I wanted to. I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps my palate is jaded by artificial peanut flavor, but I felt like the Peanut Butter Cream Cone was not peanut-buttery enough. It was way too subtle. I expected a burst of peanut butter flavor. My expectations fell flat. I regretted eating the calories on this one.
What was not a let down in any way, shape or form was the Moonstruck chocolate peanut butter shake. Decadence in a cup, covered with whipped cream. Heady chocolate, smooth creamy peanut butter ... the peanuty goodness I was so seeking in the Peanut Butter Cream Cone was here in the shake. It was beyond delicious. It was transcendant. If you find yourself in Portland, OR and you're a chocolate and peanut butter lover, get yourself one of these ...
I will whole-heartedly admit that a few minutes after gobbling 2 chocolates and a good portion of the rich shake, my stomach wanted to kill me. And the next day during the half-marathon, I wondered if I had burned even 1/2 of the calories in the shake. It was worth it though - I was gobsmacked by the chocolatey goodness of Moonstruck Chocolate. Thank you for being one of the highlights on my culinary tour of Portland, OR!
My goal for the half-marathon was "1) Beat JB's time in a June half-marathon and 2) Not finish last." I beat both goals AND got to indulge in chocolate. Win-win!
For some masochistic reason, I decided to do a half-marathon on my birthday with my childhood friend, JB. Now this particular half-marathon had two options - both a run and a walk. But if you signed up for the walk, you had to agree that you would NOT run. Or as I paraphrased "I am legally prohibited from running." A 13 mile walk is no problem for me. A 13 mile run is not so easy! My friend was going to do the walk option so I did a "Ohh well I suppose if you're walking, then I should sign up for the walk instead of the run too."
Now if you're planning on doing a half-marathon, whether you're running or walking; I have a tip for you. Don't spend the prior 3 days before the half-marathon doing a culinary tour. My friend lives in Portland, Oregon. I flew up a few days before the half-marathon to spend time with her and sightsee. And one of the ways I love to sightsee is through my stomach!
Portland, Oregon is a particularly good eating city. I very much enjoyed eating my way through the "Rose City." I'll save my other culinary exploits for future postings. For this post, I want to focus on the nail in my half-marathon coffin. The day before the half-marathon, JB and I went shopping and eating. We had a lovely lunch at Elephants Delicatessen. They have a mouth-watering pastry and chocolates area, but JB forbade me from having dessert at Elephants. "But - but - their desserts look so good!" I stammered. I wondered why JB was suddenly so mean. JB insisted that we save our appetites for Moonstruck Chocolate. All I could think was "Pfft - why should I save myself for a piece of chocolate when I can get a fruit tart as big as my head, here??" I briefly thought about outmaneuvering JB, vaulting over the bakery counter and shoving as many scrumptious desserts in my mouth before JB could drag me out. Sigh. I followed JB out of Elephants Deli and away from their beautiful, beautiful desserts.
We walked around, letting our lunch digest and then headed to Moonstruck Chocolate. I gasped when I saw all these truffles in the shape of animals. Who can say "no" to a Black Cat Truffle? I was overdosing on the sheer cuteness of it all! So many truffles, so little time. With a half-marathon in less than 24 hours, I should have picked the smallest item I could find. Or even better, buy something and save it for after the half-marathon. But nooooo..... Where's the fun in that?
Instead I went full-force glutton. I ordered an artisan s'more. (You had me at artisan ... and s'more.) I ordered a peanut butter cream cone. (I love my peanut butter and chocolate!) And then I wanted a drink. How about a nice coffee to cut the sweetness of the chocolate? Um yeah, no. I ordered a chocolate peanut butter shake! (Prelude to "How I died from a sugar coma.")
The artisan s'more tasted like a marshmallow between two vanilla wafers (maybe it was Graham but they tasted and looked like vanilla wafers.) It was delicious. Crisp, chewy, chocolatey. Delectable.
Next, I moved on to the Peanut Butter Cream Cone. I love peanut butter. I love chocolate. I had high hopes for this delicious bite of loveliness. (In the picture below, the artisan s'more is on the left and the peanut butter cone is on the right.)
I wanted to love the Peanut Butter Cream Cone. I wanted to hold hands with it, skip through a meadow and sigh at it adoringly. I wanted to scribble "Lily + Peanut Butter Cream Cone" in the margins of my 9th grade algebra notebook. I wanted to fall in love with it. I wanted to. I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps my palate is jaded by artificial peanut flavor, but I felt like the Peanut Butter Cream Cone was not peanut-buttery enough. It was way too subtle. I expected a burst of peanut butter flavor. My expectations fell flat. I regretted eating the calories on this one.
What was not a let down in any way, shape or form was the Moonstruck chocolate peanut butter shake. Decadence in a cup, covered with whipped cream. Heady chocolate, smooth creamy peanut butter ... the peanuty goodness I was so seeking in the Peanut Butter Cream Cone was here in the shake. It was beyond delicious. It was transcendant. If you find yourself in Portland, OR and you're a chocolate and peanut butter lover, get yourself one of these ...
I will whole-heartedly admit that a few minutes after gobbling 2 chocolates and a good portion of the rich shake, my stomach wanted to kill me. And the next day during the half-marathon, I wondered if I had burned even 1/2 of the calories in the shake. It was worth it though - I was gobsmacked by the chocolatey goodness of Moonstruck Chocolate. Thank you for being one of the highlights on my culinary tour of Portland, OR!
My goal for the half-marathon was "1) Beat JB's time in a June half-marathon and 2) Not finish last." I beat both goals AND got to indulge in chocolate. Win-win!
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