O-H-I-O!!!

It's here! It's here! It's here! It's here! The beginning of college football season is here and for the first time in a long time my beloved Buckeyes are ranked ahead of Michigan and near the top of the polls. WOOHOO!!! So, what am I doing today on this inaugural day of football? Cleaning the house, taking Jack to be groomed, watching USC-Virginia and then Illinois-Missouri. No station here in Durham is carrying the OSU game. They are only playing Youngstown State after all. It's on the Big Ten Network which isn't carried by my cable company (neither is Bravo for that matter, but that's a different rant for a different day).

I will be almost as content watching the other games and catching the Buckeye highlights on Sports Center. Go Bucks!!!

Thursday Recipe

Okay - starting today I am adding a new feature to my blog, "Thursday Recipe". Every Thursday I'll post a favorite recipe. Today's inaugural recipe is a favorite among all of the staffs I've worked with, Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing. It's a Barefoot Contessa recipe and the cupcakes are scrumptious. Enjoy!


12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows
Chopped salted peanuts, to decorate, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

** Note** I personally don't use the chopped peanuts on top and I don't find I'm missing anything. I also don't use the ice-cream scoop to put the batter into the tins. Seriously. I use a big spoon.

Coming next week - my mum's favorite Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Back to School

Ugh. That pretty much sums up today. I could go into detail about waitlists and queries and level loads, but I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Suffice it to say that I looked up at the clock at 2:50pm this afternoon and thought, "Oh. My. Gosh. Where has the day gone?" I very rarely get days like that anymore. I used to have them all the time when I worked in Student Affairs. Catastrophe upon catastrophe can do that to you. Since I've moved to registration however the catastrophes tend to be few and far between.

It was the first day of school and though there was no discernible difference on my 0.7 mile trek to work, it was clearly evident by the empty shelves and dearth of carriages at Target last night. First day of school for K-12 kids and first day of school for Duke. Fortunately the Olympics are over and I can resume my normal sleep habits (poor as they are).

My top five Olympic moments:
1. The 4x100 free relay when Jason Lezak chased down Alain Bernard to give the Americans the gold and to keep Michael Phelps' gold medal hopes alive.
2. Michael Phelps beating Milorad Cavic in the fly. By .01. One one-hundredth of a second! The look on his mom's face as she sunk to her seat in awe and shock had me tear up.
3. Shawn Johnson finally getting a gold for the balance beam. Yes, Nastia is good, but she comes across as cold and haughty. Shawn is just a ray sunshine and she was always positive.
4. Sanya Richards chasing down the Russian runner on the last leg of the women's 4x400 relay. It was just a great track moment.
5. Dara Torres at 41 winning a silver medal in the 50m freestyle. She missed out on gold by .01. Point oh-one. Did I mention she's 41?

Next up? Vancouver in 2010. In the meantime, next up for me? I need to hit the books. I am way behind in my GRE studying. The math is not going to come back to me by osmosis. I should have gone out on a second date with the math whiz. At least I would have had a tutor. Just kidding. Not about the math whiz part. He was a math whiz, and I usually go for the academic type, but he was a little older than the guys I usually date and when you have to worry about whether he's older than your mom, it gets a little weird (he wasn't older than my mom, but he was pretty close).

Thoughts on the Olympics? What were your favorite moments?

American Anthem

This relay is the reason I love the Olympics so much. I was on the edge of my seat. If you fell asleep, or flipped the channel, or just plain forgot it was on, you need to watch this. It is beyond amazing.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=0811_hd_swb_hl_l0194&channelcode=sportsw

The Holiday

My vacation at home was practically perfect. The only way it could have been better is if I had more time to see more people. I missed a whole bunch of Boston folks that I would have loved to have seen. Next time. So what did I do? I ate. I ate a lot. There were birthday parties and anniversary parties and dinners out with friends. I got to catch up with my friend Michaela who is getting married next June. We got the chance to gush over details and squeal over wedding dresses.

I spent an afternoon in New Hampshire visiting with my friend Teresa. I hadn't seen her in 8 years. It was a great visit with her, her husband Shawn, and their three kids - Jamie, Clare, and Simon. Tree - I promise it will not be another 8 years before my next visit.

I got to see my family. I beat my brother at Trivial Pursuit. I saw my sister's new apartment in Brookline and we went to see her friend's 4.5 month old puppies. Cutest. things. ever. I went shopping with my mother; hung out with my aunts, uncles, and cousins; saw my dad and enjoyed not being at work for a week. Oh - and Beej had the twins!!! Welcome to the family Jack and Lila. You are already much loved.

And I got to see this:


I love my home state and I miss it very much. I don't get to go back as often as I'd like. Someday though. Hopefully, a few years down the road, my next job will take me back there.