Running to Eat

Last night was the Christmas party of the Striders, a local running club. I've been a member for the past four years or so, but sadly I'm not making many of the group runs since I had the twins. I used to always run with the Monday and Wednesday group, and often made a track workout Tuesday nights as well. I miss it, but hopefully will get back to it this spring when the weather is warmer and I've gotten back a little speed. It's so lame to do most of your running on the treadmill. I am thankful to be running again though. My doctor (who is a runner himself) wanted me to stop running at 20 weeks because the risk of premature labor with twins is so high (lucky for me this didn't end up being an issue). I will talk more about the pregnancy in another post sometime though. :-)
The party was at a railroad museum downtown. They had an orchestra and lots of food. Runners love to eat! I brought homemade candy. They are so simple to make. The first involves melting two cups of chocolate chips on the stove (be careful not to scorch - melt on low heat). Remove from heat, stir in 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract, then spread in a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of crushed peppermints and place in the fridge to cool before cutting.

I made two batches of cream cheese peppermints. You soften cream cheese and butter, add vanilla, peppermint extract, and food coloring. Mix and then gradually add powdered sugar. Form into balls, roll in sugar, then smush with a fork. These are so easy and people love them because they melt in your mouth.

I got lots of complements on the dish, which people said looked like a snowman. My mother in law brought this for me from a trip she took to Turkey.
My mom watched the boys so we could go to the party. It was fun to have a night out. I was jealous listening to everyone's race stories though. Looking forward to racing again this spring, I hope.
And now for some pictures of the babies who don't sleep through the night (YAWN). Reid:

Cort: