I’ve hit a blogging bump in the road with the sudden death of our desktop computer mid week last week. Yes, we still own a desktop, and yes, it’s the computer where all of my photos live. The photos are backed up, but not having my photo editing system is throwing me off…

So stay tuned–990 Square will be back soon! This is a good incentive to finish some old draft posts that have photos already online!

So I guess I’m sort of a bad blog author (blog mommy?) because I didn’t realize that 990 Square had turned 2 until after the fact. You would think the calendar reminder with the blog’s birthday would help me out, but no go.

But it’s okay, because I bought the blog a really nice birthday present to make up for it. Behold, the new netbook:

Hopefully the netbook will make blogging on the go a bit easier. I’ve tried it on the iPad and it just doesn’t work for me. And it’s just so damn cute. Happy Birthday, 990 Square!

So here we are and it’s almost July. And I’ll admit, I haven’t been cooking too many new or exciting things lately. Not that I haven’t been cooking, just that it hasn’t been very blog worthy.

I mostly think this is because I’ve been preoccupied for most of June–mostly with big, fun, celebration cakes and the parties that accompany them. This has been so much fun, and I love being part of someone’s wedding in that special way, but when I’m trying to figure out how many cups of batter it takes to build a really big cake, I’m a little distracted from my normal recipe perusal. I was so distracted that I pretty much missed strawberry season. I didn’t even make a strawberry rhubarb pie. That’s REALLY distracted for me.

But now that July is right around the corner, I’m getting excited for a few things. July is going to be the month of the beach this summer–and I have so many fun things planned. We’re kicking off the month with a big blow out party at the Broadkill Beach Club (BBC) to celebrate our first full year of knowing our favorite beach. It was Fourth of July weekend last year when our family found Broadkill and the BBC.

Along with my month at the shore there will be a whole series of races at the shore. I know races in the summer are a little crazy, but the local running club, the Seashore Striders, runs a summer championship series. I’ve already completed one (and the longest) of the six races I need to qualify, so I’m planning on running the other 5 (they’re all just 5ks!) in July. I think the idea of being an official Championship Series finisher might be just what I need to convince myself to get out of bed at 5am to run these next couple of weeks. I’m a morning person, but not that much so!

We have a few other fun things planned for the month, including my first ever blogger conference (I’m excited!) the last weekend of the month. A fun weekend with our favorite oldest niece! And then a friends invasion at BBC! So the good times keep on rolling [to the beach] this month!

I promise to get back to cooking!

We had quite the exciting weekend here at the Ratskellar!

On Friday afternoon, my sister, Kori, and her boyfriend Larry, arrived at my house to head to my cousin’s wedding. This was the wedding of my “baby” cousin who is a few weeks older than my sister. Well, needless to say, he’s not really much of a baby anymore! We had a great time dancing the night away and partying it up! We girls sure know how to drag our boys out onto the dance floor and make them boogie!

After we left the wedding, which was conveniently located in Downtown Baltimore, we were walking back to our car when suddenly Larry fell behind. As we were looking for him a random homeless guy showed up looking for change. We found Larry, then walked around the homeless guy and to the car. Well, it turns out Larry was trying to get ready to propose but the homeless guy threw him off!

[I love this old picture of Kori and Larry from breakfast at the Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World. Hopefully we'll be back at WDW celebrating with them soon!]

At the time, we all had no idea what was going on, but Larry told us all the next morning after he actually proposed! We are all so happy and excited for them! Of course we celebrated with food–in this case, some excellent Whole Wheat Waffles!

Congratulations again Kori and Larry! Can’t wait to be at your wedding with you!

Announcement time!

Remember back when I was pondering what I should do with myself this spring? Well I finally decided!

Okay, actually I decided like two months ago, but I sort of forget to tell you all with that whole trip thing I did! So here’s the official announcement–I’m running the Maryland Half Marathon on May 15. The race is in the Maple Lawn Community of Howard County (quite close to my old stomping grounds actually) and I’m excited to get back out there and race!

But the Maryland Half isn’t just a fun race, it’s also a fundraiser for the Greenbaum Cancer Center at the University of Maryland. The Greenbaum Center is a nationally recognized cancer treatment center, where they use a collaborative team approach to treat cancer.

As part of my commitment to the Maryland Half, I’m raising money for the Greenbaum Cancer Center. And to sweeten the pot a little, I’m holding a raffle for everyone that sponsors me in the race! For each $10 you donate, I’ll enter your name into a raffle for a $50 Amazon.com gift card. $50 to buy cookbooks, or gadgets, or if you’re crazy like me, a new subscription to Runner’s World!

To sponsor me, just click on the link below, which will take you to my personal runner page on the Maryland Half Webstite:

Beth’s Page

And if you’re a blogger, or a facebooker, or a tweeter, and you donate and share a link to the raffle I’ll throw in an extra entry for you! Just tell me in the comments what you did!

The raffle will stay open until May 7! And the more you donate, the faster I’ll go!

It’s Mobbies time blogland!

For the second straight year, 990 Square has been nominated for a Mobbie–the Baltimore Sun’s contest to recognize Maryland’s Outstanding Blogs! We’re nominated in the Foodie and the Personal categories, so vote early and vote often! You can follow this link to vote! Voting is open from now through November 12!

I’ve just taken a big step in my life–and I feel the need to share!

Earlier this year (late Spring/early Summer) I started running for real again. I say *for real* because for the better part of the last decade, I’ve only dappled in running as part of my normal workout routine. In high school, when I played soccer, I used to run all the time. And then I got injured, and I stopped, and I never picked it back up. When I started excercising regularly again in 2003, it just never made it in to my regular workouts, because I was scared that I would reinjure my knee. I would run sometimes, but never very consistently.

But earlier this year, for some reason, I just decided to try doing it regularly again. And after the initial pain of getting myself and my legs used to the running motion, I discovered that I LOVE TO RUN! So I trained all through the summer, and in July registered for the Baltimore Marathon weekend 5k. If I was going to run, why not race?!

And now, I’ve taken the next step and registered for a big race–the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on January 8, 2011!! As I’ve discussed before, Walt Disney World is one of my favorite places, and the thrill of running up Main Street USA towards the Castle was just too much for me to pass up!

So now, I’m officially in training, and I’ll admit, I’m a little scared! 13.1 miles seems like a lot but I know it will all feel worth it once I cross that finish line in January. This is a journey and a challenge, and I’m ready to face it! But to keep myself motivated, don’t be surprised if there are some running related posts that show up around here. Because I’ve found, there’s no motivation like being held accountable by the internet!

PS-Does that lighthouse look familiar to anyone?! It’s the Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde, Maine, and it’s where Forrest Gump ran to on his famous “run across America”. Nothing to get me going like that picture!

In honor of Maryland’s Buy Local Challenge Week, I’d like to talk a little bit about why I buy local.

Buying local. It’s something that’s very near and very dear to my heart. If you’ve ever talked to me in real life, we’ve probably reached the point in the conversation where I start waxing romantically about eating local, going to the farmer’s market, the taste of fresh baked bread. Even if you’ve read the blog for a while, you probably have an idea about my love of local, farm fresh food. Remember how excited I got about the opening of the Farmer’s Market?

Hopefully you didn’t roll your eyes–it’s just something I really care about!

Why do I like eating local so much? Well, mainly it’s because it just tastes better. Since local produce is picked at it’s peak ripeness–since there is no need to pick it early so it can be shipped long distances–you get the full flavor. Don’t believe me? Go buy a peach at a roadside stand, then get one from the grocery. I guarantee you the peach from the stand tastes better–like a bit of summer in your hand.

I also enjoy the relationship you can develop with farmers when you buy direct from them at a farmer’s market or roadside stand. We shop the Baltimore Farmer’s Market almost every Sunday from May-December, and so after a while, you get to know people, and I find that they’re all friendly and willing to answer just about ANY question about their produce. Can you freeze this? Can you use this to make that? Any question, they’ve probably got an answer. But even if you’re not on a first name basis with the vendor, I’m sure they’re happy to answer any and all questions. Try finding someone at the grocery store who can even help you find an item, much less tell you what to do with it.

I’ve also learned a lot about my Maryland since we started eating local. Who knew there was a bison farm right up the road, or that Noel LOVES local lamb. And I’ve certainly seen, and eaten, many types of produce I never knew existed before we started frequenting the market. From patty pan squash to kholrabi, there’s a little bit of everything growing on this fine Maryland soil.

I didn’t always eat this way–I ate my fair share of lean cuisine in college, just like everyone else–but now that we do I can’t imagine going back!

So in honor of Maryland’s Buy Local Challenge Week, which runs now through July 25, I’d like to know–do you buy local? Where’s you’re favorite place to buy local produce, and what is your favorite item? If you answer that question, I’ll enter you to win your choice of one of the following locally themed cookbooks:

or

Yeah, I’ve had my eye on both of these for a while, so if you win, I’m going to be jealous!

So just tell me about your favorite local produce source, and be entered to win! I’ll run the contest through the end of the Buy Local Challenge (7/25), so enter away! And if you need to figure our where to find some local produce, check out the Local Challenge website.

Happy 4th everyone!

Hope you eat something delicious!

A year ago I started 990 Square in the hopes of sharing my little Baltimore story with the world. I love to cook, I love to take pictures, and I wanted to share.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this year, and I have you all to thank. This blog has introduced me to many wonderful people, many of whom I now consider to be my real friends in the virtual world. It’s also connected me to a fantastic food blogger community here in Charm City.

But most of all, it’s kept me in touch with food, one of my true loves in life. I feel like I’ve learned so much about food, and myself, in the last year. I’ve thought more about what really matters, and what I really love, mostly while I’m working dough with my hands or icing a big tall cake.

So thank you, for joining me on this journey, and I hope we enjoy the next year together as much as I enjoyed this one.

Without further ado, here is my salad for one year.

Chicken Tostada Salad
Adapted from Everyday Food

This is a fantastic summertime dinner. It’s light and it’s flavors are bright, cheering anyone up on a hot summer night. You can either use leftover chicken as the recipe suggests, or cook your own chicken breast. We’ve had it both ways, and it’s always delicious! You can also use a toaster oven to toast the tortillas. It sure is nice not to turn on the big oven when it’s hot!

Ingredients:

4 corn tortillas
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese (2 ounces)
1/2 small red onion, diced small
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced
Breast meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, torn into bite-size pieces (we use two chicken breasts)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice (or the juice of one lime)
6 ounces baby spinach shredded
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced small
Fresh cilantro, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with 2 teaspoons oil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden and crisp, 10 minutes. Divide cheese among tortillas and return to oven. Bake until cheese is bubbling, about 3 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high. Add half the red onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add chili powder and garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add chicken and 1/4 cup water and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is warmed through (or cooked through if you’re using uncooked chicken) and water is almost evaporated, 2 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon lime juice and remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine lettuce and 1 tablespoon lime juice; season with salt and pepper. Toss well to coat and divide among tortillas. Top each tortilla with chicken mixture, tomato, avocado, remaining onion, and cilantro.

Enjoy–and I hope you continue to enjoy reading 990 Square!