We Are Under Contract!!! :)

Okay-most important news first:

Househunting. Our offer on that house was accepted last week, and as of today, we are under agreement! There is so much more that needs to happen before we become homeowners, but we are definitely thrilled to have a signed P&S and a closing set for July 24. If all goes as planned, we should be moved in by August 1 and ready to enjoy the best time of year in New England...the end of summer-autumn-slide into the holidays...in our own (first!) home. Here's hoping!

And in other news...

Mount Desert Island YMCA Spring 10K. Why do people volunteer to do these kind of things? (For the record, my reason is that I was coerced by 2 very persuasive, yet sadistic, girlfriends.) What on earth possessed all of the other people who participated in this event!?

Perhaps you are picking up on just how much I enjoyed my first 10K a couple weeks ago...to sum it up, I'm glad I did it, but it's fair to say that it was my first and last. As I've said, I am not a runner and I am not in shape. Add to that the fact that 80% of the other participants were Lance Armstrong doppelgangers (including the women) AND that the race took place on the only hot and sunny day we've had in the last month (figures), and what you have is a miserable, hot, sweaty LT straggling behind the fit masses, wondering why she wasn't sitting on a seaside bench enjoying an ice cream cone instead. ;)

BUT it bears repeating...I AM glad I did it. I not only achieved my goal of finishing a 10K, but managed to run the whole way except for about 50 feet at the top of a steep hill when I thought my head was going to explode. (I think we can all agree that that's an undesirable event.) So, checked that off my list, and have implemented a 5K maximum policy from here on out!

Cherry Clafouti. I feel like I have been leaving out some of my more domestic endeavors lately, so here's my latest culinary effort. I had some sweet cherries that I needed to use up, and plenty of eggs on hand, so I decided to take a stab at a cherry clafouti. I based it on the following recipe from Martha Stewart Living:

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 pounds cherries, pitted
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 3 tablespoons kirsch
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 10-inch porcelain tart dish, and fill with cherries. Set aside.
2. Sift flour and salt together into a large bowl. Add sugar. Gradually whisk in whole eggs, egg yolks, milk, and cream. Add vanilla-bean scrapings and kirsch; whisk to combine.
3. Using a sieve, strain the batter over the cherries. Bake until puffed and browned, about 45 minutes. Let cool until warm; it will sink slightly. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve.

I did make some small changes based on what I had in the house (skipped the kirsch, used vanilla extract instead of bean, and increased the milk amount to 1.5 cups because I didn't have heavy cream) and it still came out pretty well!

Straining the batter over the cherries:
Right before putting it in the oven:

The finished product:
It was really quite good, like a warm eggy fruit custard, but I think next time I'll use a recipe (such as this one) that calls for more flour, just to make it a little more cake-like. Also very good cold the next morning!

Random Randomness

Nothing huge going on these days...but some random tidbits:

-I just started reading this book...

and so far it's awesome.  All kinds of nature, travel, science-y kind of stuff.  I'll do up a proper review when I finish it.

-This Saturday I'm running the Mount Desert Island YMCA Spring 10K in Bar Harbor with a couple of my best girls.  This is actually going to be quite the escapade, as I am not a runner by any stretch of the imagination, and supposedly my compatriots have not been training very diligently either.  (I've been fooled by them before, though, LOL.  When I decided to do my first running event ever, a 5K last fall, one of these tricksters was all "I don't know how to run either, I hate it, I'm gonna have a heart attack" etc.  What happens when the race starts?  She zooms past not only me--the meatball of our trio--but also past our other friend, whom I consider to be a "runner", as she does so regularly and actually finished a, gulp, 10 mile road race just a couple months before!)

A shot taken right after the run in question ;)

In all seriousness though, it's always nice to set goals and challenge yourself, and this is just one of those things.  My goal is simply to finish the 10K, ideally without having to stop or walk...which is something I was not able to do for the 5K.  If I can do this without any major calamities, especially those of the gastrointestinal sort (oh, don't laugh.  the last time I tried to run "far"--i.e. 4 miles--there was an...incident.  But that's a story for another time...) I'll consider this a major feat!

-We put an offer in on a house today!  Normally I wouldn't even say anything about it, as I'd be afraid of "jinxing" it...but considering how little my superstitions have assisted in the house buying effort so far, I'm just going to let it fly.  And I'm not even going to pretend to be nonchalant about it...we LOVE this house!  

It's our favorite style (turn of the century colonial), with most period details intact, a really nice 1/2 acre yard, and a quick walk to the town commuter rail station.  It's in one of our "B" towns, needs some cosmetic updates, and has a slightly odd kitchen layout...but I'm in luuuuuuuuuurve.

Yes, yes...I know better than most that the cruel I-can't-believe-we-didn't-get-that-house heartbreak monster is lurking in the bushes, just waiting to jump us.  And he's got a good shot at crushing us, since the house already has multiple offers after only 3 days on the market.

But you never know, this could be the one.

That's all for now!