a long weekend in keystone, colorado

Colorado averages almost 250 days of sunshine a year. If it weren't for being landlocked, it would be my favorite state. Even so, I've considered packing up and moving out there. When I was single, I joked I'd move there to find my dream man - a lumberjack, naturally. Now I'd do it for the hiking, rafting, snowboarding, and did I mention hiking, rafting, and snowboarding? 

Callie, my closest girlfriend from my JET days (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program) lives in Denver, and her father owns condos in the ski resorts. My new favorite tradition is jumping on a plane out to visit her in the winter and spending a day or two snowboarding (life knows how to make me feel downright charmed sometimes). This year we had a mini-JET reunion. Our friends Hozumi and Ryan came out, too, from North Carolina and Louisiana, respectively, and we all spent a long weekend in Keystone. 

Seeing them again was like coming home. We never tire of talking and laughing, and we definitely never tired of doing all of our talking and laughing in an outdoor hot tub while the snow fell on and melted right off of us. They're family-friends. You know those friends that know you so well and with whom you've been through something so significant and life-changing that friends just doesn't cut it? I could be lost in a desert with them, and it'd be a memory I never want to forget. 

It has been so cold in D.C. this March that it's starting to wear me down. My body and heart and mind are craving sunshine, craving that warmth on my skin and in my bones. But since Spring is playing shy, I figured I'd revisit some of my favorite photos from our reunion in Keystone, Colorado, where the sun shines 250 days a year, and great, old friendships make even the snow feel warm. 

if you go... 

Keystone day lift pass: $80-100

Snow tubing: $31 for an hour

Snowboard/ski gear rental: $30-40/day

We stayed at The Springs: check website for availability and pricing

run update + giambotta recipe

I blogged last week about my fear of running and my 3 mile wall. Last night, I finally beat that fear and my doubts. To make myself do it, I started by mapping out a run. I know if I plan for it, if I give myself a route, I'm more likely to stay on it.

The first 2 miles were hilly, but I kept a steady pace and managed not to stop. The next 1.5 miles were level or downhill for the most part, which helped give me the confidence I needed to keep going (also, I wasn't so tired, but I wanted to stop? Mind over matter.) Then came that last half mile.

I live on a hill that is not insignificant. It's a full 1/3 mile. Ending my first ever 4-miler on a hill felt like an impossible ask. And then I turned up the volume on my iPod, skipped to the next song with a hard beat, and I ran it. I sprinted the last two blocks home. It wasn't a fast run, and most certainly probably wasn't pretty to see! but I didn't walk, and I finished.

I also registered for my first race yesterday. I'll be running the Capitol Hill Classic 10k on May 19th. After last night, I know I can do it, and I honestly think I'll be trained for it well before it's here. That feels pretty damn good, you know? So thank you to everyone who encouraged me via here or facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. Letting y'all into my fears held me accountable for overcoming them.

Onto what I ate post-run.... 

Ciambotta (sometimes called Giambotta), or Italian vegetable stew found in the southern regions of Italy. It. Is. Bomb. It's my new favorite one pot meal. If you have leftover veggies you need to use, some chicken, beef, or vegetable stock/broth laying around (wine would work, too!), canned or fresh tomatoes, and seasonings, you've got this dish practically made. Here's the recipe. 

spring is for wine tasting | 3 virginia vineyards

cork love, at veritas vineyards

Oh, this photo, the one up top, is imperfect - the light does weird things, and the lower half is just a little blurry, but I "love" it so much I had to share it anyway. Zan and I spent our cold, gray sky Sunday in Charlottesville last weekend wine tasting at a few nearby vineyards. Natasha, the beautiful blogger behind Paper Crowns, recommended that we try Veritas and King Family Vineyards, so we took her advice and headed out into the mountains. We had such a great time that the weather didn't phase us, and we even stopped in at Afton Mountain Vineyards just because we saw the sign. It might as well have been a Spring day in blossom. I can't wait to spend this entire season squeezing in a winery or two after a hike in Shenandoah National Park. 

I'm no oenophile (just a regular old wino), but I'm happy to share the sights and views and tell you what I liked. 

Veritas is sprawling - one of the biggest vineyards in Virginia. I liked the Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier - both were crisp and refreshing, my perfect complement to a warm Spring day (if it ever warms up!). Zan enjoyed the Red Star - a great table red wine, and the Claret - a Bordeaux style blend that I found pleasingly tanniny. As we walked along the wrap-around porch, with the blue ridge mountains framing the vineyard, Zan said, "I could get drunk sitting on the porch and taking in the view all day." So we added that to our to-do list.

Tasting: $5

As I was snapping a few final photos and trying to drag myself away from Veritas, the couple that had been wine-tasting beside us asked if we'd been to Afton Mountain. Nope, we shook our heads. "It's a must. It's right up the road, about 2 miles, you can't miss the sign." It was on our way, and they were right, it was impossible to miss. As we drove in, I gasped. It's breathtaking. There's a sign inside the tasting room that reads, "Grapes don't grow in ugly places." It's no joke out there. 

We were surprised by the wines, too. Afton offers two wine tastings - house and reserve. The house tasting has a heavy focus on sweeter wines, so the reserve was more my style. We tasted 8 wines, and we enjoyed the majority of them. We left with four bottles - 2 steel Chardonnays (a crisp, fruity, dry chardonnay - we got one to give as a gift), Cab Sauv, and we splurged on the limited-case Petit Verdot, planning to uncork it on our next special occasion. 

House tasting: $5

Reserve tasting: $8 

Zan is hard to get riled up, about anything other than traffic. He's a happy man, but you won't find him breaking into excited laughter or jumping up and down over much. But when he does it, man, it's worth the wait. He was head over heels for King Family - for every little detail about it - from the bustling tasting room, to the polo field in the near-distance, to the wines themselves. He stage whispered to me at the end of our tasting, "I love this place!"

I loved this place, too. I loved it so much, in fact, that I planned out my whole future life living in the massive white farmhouse beyond the polo field. I could handle that view every day, couldn't you?

The most remarkable thing about King Family is that we liked every single wine. I don't think that's ever happened before. And there was a donut truck out front. And giant, rustic checker boards inside so you can challenge an opponent while you sip on that bottle you ordered. There's polo in the summer on Sundays, and we'll be there with Jess and Brian as fast as you can say, "Chukker" (that's a polo joke I learned at the winery. Dorky, huh?).

So we ordered a bottle of almost all of the tasting wines. Yep. Six bottles. We skipped the port, but we ordered a second Cab Franc because it's good with anything for anyone. Their Cab Franc might be our new all-purpose go-to wine. My favorite was the Roseland, a 2012 Chardonnay and Viognier blend.

Tasting: $5, goes up to $7 on April 1

celebrating with chocolate peanut butter cake

A year ago this weekend, a cab driver told Zander that he'd be crazy not to go paddle boating with me.

We went to dinner at Zest Bistro, a delightful, delicious, intimate restaurant in a neighborhood that we don't visit often enough. We polished off a bottle of wine over dinner, and I remember thinking, "I'm lost in conversation," and getting back into whatever topic was at hand. I wore a pair of skinny jeans with black flats and a v-neck black top. Lordy, it was much warmer on that night in March than the same one this year.

After dinner, we walked down the street, past the lively bars and closing cafes, and Zander asked if I'd like another glass of wine before heading home. We stopped into one place or another, and we continued where the dinner conversation left off.

The cab driver that night took me home first. On the way I mentioned a few friends and I were going to try the paddle boats at the National Mall. We wanted to see the cherry blossoms from the water's point of view. I invited him, but he hesitated. He was remodeling his bathroom, and well, he needed the day to work on it. I hopped out of the cab, and he walked me to my door. We said goodnight with a hug.

A little downtrodden, unsure what I thought or what he thought or what I felt or what he felt - the usual way of those painful post-first date moments, I reached in my purse to find my phone to text a friend how it had gone. How had it gone? Before I could finish typing the message, my phone vibrated with a text. "Our cabbie said I'd be crazy not to go paddle boating with you, and I would. What time do I meet you?"  

To celebrate our one year this weekend, we spent the night in Charlottesville, Virginia. I've wanted to go, well, pretty much all year. It's more suburban and developed than I anticipated, but that didn't mar the beautiful bed and breakfast that Zan surprised me with, or the picturesque scenery on our way out to go wine tasting on Sunday. It was a weekend that I wish I could bubble wrap for safekeeping and take out every time I need to remember that time in our lives of cherry blossoms and new beginnings and the start of a Spring romance.

As part of my anniversary gift to Zan, I made a chocolate peanut butter cake that he has been drooling over ever since our friend Sarah tweeted about it. I don't like peanut butter because I'm a crazy person, but I gotta tell you - making a cake when you aren't even tempted to eat it is the best. All the joy of batter tasting without the guilt at over-indulging on the finished product.

Without further ado, the extremely time-intensive chocolate peanut butter cake, from Smitten Kitchen.

ingredients for the cake
Makes an 8-inch triple-layer cake (did you just say "holy hell?" because that's what i said!)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup canola oil
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

steps 

1. preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch-round cake pans. Line each with wax paper and grease the paper. 
2. whisk the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, cocoa power, baking soda, and salt in a large standing mixer bowl. 
3. whisk in the oil and sour cream. gradually mix in the water. blend in the vinegar and vanilla. next the eggs. make sure you're getting the bottom and sides of the bowl. 
4. divide among the three cake pans. it will be a light, runny batter! but delicious! 
5. bake 30-35 minutes (i baked 32 minutes, and it was perfect), until a toothpick comes out nearly clean. let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes. 
6. invert the cakes onto wire racks, super carefully peeling off the wax paper (mine were still so soft that little bits came off). let them continue to cook. Deb suggested putting them in the freezer for 30 minutes to let them harden a little to make them easier to work with. yes. do this.)

ingredients for the peanut butter frosting
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups (!!!) confectioners' sugar
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter (use a commercial brand so the oil doesn't separate)

steps

1. in the same large bowl that you made the cake batter and since cleaned (yay one bowl!), beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. 
2. beat in the confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time (make sure to get the sides and bottom, as it'll stick)
3. beat for another 3-4 minutes just to make sure
4. add the peanut butter and blend thoroughly 

assemble and frost the cake 
build and frost the cake like a sandwich. place one layer of the cake (a sturdy one), flat side up, on a large serving plate, cake stand, or if you have neither of those, a pizza pan (for the win!). frost the top. place the next layer (your worst layer) on top next. frost the top of that one. place the final layer (hopefully your best) on top. now frost the top of that one and the sides. make sure you reserve a little of your frosting. let the cake chill (fridge/freezer) for 15-30 minutes until the frosting has set. then frost over your frosting with the remaining frosting (how many times can i say 'frost' in one sentence?!) to give it a more cohesive look. put your cake back in the freezer to let it set some more while you make the....

ingredients for the chocolate-peanut butter sauce
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter (optional)
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half (optional)

steps
use a double-broiler, or set a bowl over simmering water. melt the chocolate, mixing in the peanut butter and corn syrup. if you don't want it overpoweringly peanut buttery, you could leave it out of this sauce, but i put it in. whisk it real good until it's all smooth and saucy. remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half. i forgot about this part, and mine still tasted delicious but wasn't as drippy and runny down the sides of the cake. use this while still warm.

final step
remove the cake from the freezer/fridge, and drizzle the warm chocolate sauce on top. make sure your cake is on a baking sheet to catch any runaway sauce. spread it evenly over the top just to the edges, so it's pretty when it runs down the sides. set it back in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let the glaze and frosting set completely. remove 1 hour before serving. (i served it while the glaze was still warm, then let it set.)

this cake is delicious, but if you add up all the setting and baking times, you need to allow for 3-4 hours to make it. in summary? baking this beast is real love, yo.

I still have half a cake at my apartment. Who wants to come over for wine and dessert?

fear of running

I'm scared to run. I'm scared to keep running. I'm scared to keep putting my feet one in front of the other until I reach my goal. I'm terrified that I'll never run more than a couple of miles at once, fearful I will never wear a race bib because I won't be able to finish. I'm scared that I'll be embarrassed that I made so public a goal - to myself and to all of you - that I'd run a half marathon this year. I'm scared I'm going to fail.

So I stop running. 

I put on my running shoes most days of the week, and I go out, and I hit the pavement or the trail, and I hit it hard. I run hills, and it's really hard, and my lungs are probably going to collapse, and I'm certain I'll be found dying on the roadside, but most days I still lace my running shoes, and I hit the road. I run 2 miles. I run 3 miles. But never more. I stop.

Once, I ran 3.5 miles. Back in January going into February, I hit the day on my training plan that asked me to run 4. I laced up my shoes, and tightened my ponytail, and within half a mile, I was so exhausted, for no reason that made physical sense to me. I felt paralyzed. So I walked the rest of a mile and called it a day. I didn't run again for a month.

I'm back up to 3 miles now - I got there in a few weeks, and it's not so hard for me, except for the hills - those will never be easy; I don't want them to be easy. I want to feel the pain, feel the burn, and feel the rush when I reach the top and hit my stride on the way down. I feel that way - excited by the challenge of hills, so why can't I feel that way about distance?

I'm scared 3 miles is my wall, my limit, my pinnacle, and that I will never get beyond it. In my mind, 3 miles is a lot, it's crazy - I ran three miles! I didn't grow up around very active, athletic people. I didn't have a friend who was a distance runner until I was, what? 24, I think. She ran a half marathon, and I cheered her on, and it was inspirational, and she was incredible. At the time, I ran a mile a day to try to get fit. I thought that was impressive!

Since I've moved to D.C., I'm surrounded by distance runners, triathletes, Ironman finishers. Every one of them amazes me. I think every distance runner is superhuman, because it's a superhuman feat to put your feet one in front of the other at the pace they do for 6 miles. 10 miles. 13.1 miles. 26.2 miles.

I want to meet my goal of running a half marathon this year. I know that I'm physically capable of it. But I'm scared to fail, scared that I'm wrong, that I don't have it in me, that my body can't physically handle it, that I'll pass out on the course, not make it to the finish line, finish past the allotted time.

I'm scared to run.

Where are you on your 2013 goals? 

5 {travel} things!

(in rhodes, greece. i live for the chance to jump for joy.)

Mel passed the torch on to me. Here are five {travel} tidbits about me! 

• I was 21 the first time I stepped foot out of the country. It was my senior year in college, and I boarded a jet plane to study abroad in South Africa. Go big or go home.

• I've pooped my pants on two continents. I mean, what can I say? When you go big or go home, you also just go, a lot. (They're both epic  stories. One you've heard, and one involves skinny dipping, bandits in the night, and Cormac McCarthy - it's quite the tale/tail.)

• I'm really outgoing in my every day life and get a lot of my energy from being around other people. But secretly, I'm a closet-introvert who loves reading, writing on my own time, exploring remote places far away from the big cities, and who one day wants a house in the mountains or country near great hikes and beautiful vineyards.

• The first mountain I ever summited was Stellenbosch Mountain in South Africa (I don't count Stone Mountain in Georgia - no way, no how!). I hated outdoorsy things, especially climbing up large hilly things and things that generally involved sweating, and I don't even remember if we really made it to the top. But I do count it as my first foray into hiking. Here's how that first hike went:

• I studied karate in Japan....... with black-belt elementary schoolers. And a few incredible adults. My sensei went with me to be fitted for a gi (women's sizes were too small, men's were too large - I was so awkward there!). She surprised me with having my name inked onto my uniform in kanji - Chinese characters. Culturally, kanji names are treated with reverence and used only for Japanese-born. She translated my name, "Cynthia," as forest, poem, and Japan. It's one of my most treasured memories.

 

Now that I've shared my five things, I want the dirt on Jess, Noe, and Paige!

7-day itinerary | tulum, mexico

sunday, day 1: hola! + salsa dancing
After going through customs and immigration at the Cancun International Airport, find the ADO Bus ticket counter in the middle of the exit walkway, wedged between car rental and tour companies. Ask for a bus that ends in Tulum - it will stop in Playa del Carmen along the way (150Pesos). The bus station in Tulum is located in town. You will have to take a taxi or walk to your hotel. After checking in, enjoy a great introduction to Mexican food dinner at Charlie's (great margaritas!) before trying free salsa dancing lessons at Zebra Bar on the beach (lessons only on Sunday).

day 1: 500P

monday, day 2: beach
Rent bikes from a shop in town (they'll be infinitely more expensive near the beach) and cycle your way to the beach. Try Playa Kin Ha for a quiet, secluded beach experience. Splurge on a gourmet Mexican lunch at El Tabano, or try Mateo's - both on the beach. Enjoy Tulum's favorite happy hour - 2-4-1 at Playa Kin Ha, or any of the many cabanas along the beach. For dinner, try your hands at al pastor tacos at one of the taquerias in town.

day 2: anywhere from 300-500 pesos, depending on food & drink

tuesday, day 3: mayan ruins
Visit Chichen Itza, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and/or Coba, a ruined Mayan city only discovered in the 1980s and 10% excavated. Don't miss the cenote, or underground pool, outside of Coba. The easiest, most efficient way to do all of this in one day is to hire a taxi, but that's muy expensive. You can take an ADO bus to Chichen Itza, about 2.5 hours away. If you choose to only see one set of the ruins, my pick is Coba, but I'd probably be outvoted on that. If you only do Chichen Itza, visit the cenote near it. Pack plenty of water, buy more, and when you feel hydrated, drink even more. A packed sandwich for lunch will keep you moving (Subway in town really is a good, easy, fast choice). You'll probably be exhausted when you get back, so check out one of the taco carts in town and explore the merchant stalls.

chichen itza entrance: 120P
coba entrance: 60P
coba cenote entrance: 100P
bus to chichen itza: 200P
taxi for the day: 2000P + tip

wednesday, day 4: turtle beach + dos ojos cenotes 
Hopefully you're well rested after yesterday and ready for more adventuring (albeit much more relaxing exploring)! Take it easy this morning with a leisurely breakfast at your hotel or a bakery in town. Rent snorkel gear wherever you find it cheapest in town (80-100P). Stand on the side of the street heading north and wait for a collectivo, or local bus, to stop to pick you up. Ask them to stop at turtle beach. If they don't know it, well, you might have to ask around town or the bus to find the name of this incredible beach because I just can't give away all my secrets! Snorkel on one of the most pristine stretches of beach you'll see, with fish that will light up your eyes for days. Wander back through the jungle to the nearby cenote. After your dip, jump in another collectivo toward Dos Ojos - it boasts the world's largest system of cave pools. Or check out some of the local watering holes (literally). Take a collectivo back to town and try El Camello or El Capitain for incredibly fresh seafood.

collectivo: 40-80P
snorkel gear: 80-100P
turtle beach/cenote entrance: donation
dos ojos entrance: 100P (note that you may need to take a taxi from the road through the jungle to the entrance)
other cenote entrance fees: varies

thursday, day 5: biosphere or beach day
If you have the time and money to splurge, head to the Sian Ka'an biosphere. The UNESCO World Heritage site is home to numerous bird and wildlife species, boasts beautiful sights and sounds, and a truly awe-inspiring wilderness experience. I've even heard rumors that in one kayak tour, you stop cliff jump into the clear water. If the steep entrance fee and guide (optional) isn't in your budget, spend another day at the beach. You are on the Caribbean coast, after all!

biosphere tour: 1000P (my understanding is that you have to have a tour)

friday, day 6: tulum ruins + private beach + town
Spend your last full day in Tulum seeing the sight that'll put this city on the map - the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Take a taxi or rent bikes to head up there. The ruins overlook the beach, and when you're done exploring them, you can swim and sunbathe at the ruins' own private beach. There's nothing like swimming and looking up at ancient ruins. It's beautiful. After, head back into town for lunch and sight-seeing. Take a walking tour of the town, stopping to take pictures of everything. Buy some Mayan honey and Mexican vanilla in a local market. Eat wherever is still on your must-try list.

tulum ruins: 60P
bike for the day: 80-100P
taxi to/from the ruins: 120P
photography and walking tour: free

saturday, day 7: cancun
Jump on an early ADO bus up to Cancun and check into your hotel in the Spring Break Capital. If you're like me, one day is too much to spend in this city, but well, you need the experience, right? Hop in a taxi or on a local bus without giving it too much thought. Ask for the closest beach and see where you end up. A taxi driver took us to his favorite beach, a locals-only type spot, where we drank 2-4-1 margaritas in lounge chairs, watched kids splash in the waves, and loved every second of our day in Cancun.

ADO bus to Cancun: 150P
Taxi/local bus: varies

Cost breakdown: 
Hotel: $350 for 7 nights (based on Posada Luna del Sur = $100/night with 2 people)
Without including flights (about $350 from D.C.), Tulum can easily be a $1000/person trip. With two people, it was much easier to split things and take taxis instead of buses. The conversation rate as of 2/13 was 12 pesos for $1. I hope this itinerary and sample budget helps!

where to stay | tulum, mexico

My favorite keepsake from Zan's and my trip to Mexico last month is a map. It's so worn it looks like we moved to Tulum and lived off of it. It fell in the ocean when we forgot it was in Zan's pocket, and it dried in the sun beside us. It has directions scribbled on it, notes jotted in the corners, unmarked beach nooks circled. It got us where we needed to go, and when we explored off the map's territory, it guided us back. It's a map of Tulum, a town whose main strip is no longer than a mile, and Tom, the owner of our hotel, handed it to us in person when we checked in.

When I finally sold Zander on Mexico, we made a deal: he said no sleeping in huts on the beach, and I said no resorts. So..... we have very different ideas of what a vacation should be, and what kind of bed it should involve. To further compromise, we decided I would be in charge of research and logistics, and he would pick the hotel.

I was terrified.

Needlessly!

Zan found Posada Luna del Sur, a small - 12 rooms - hotel owned by an American expat in Tulum pueblo, or town. It's in the center of the local scene - near the best restaurants, bars, and artisan stands. It's 3-5km from the beach - an easy bike ride or cheap taxi trip. It was perfect.

A hotel staff member greeted us when we check in and showed us to our room, a spacious one-bedroom with a queen sized bed fitted with a sheet and a small, light blanket. We had a small balcony with two chairs, overlooking palm trees. The kitchenette comes equipped with a water jug to refill water bottles (!), a sink, microwave, fridge, even a coffeemaker. The hotel is three floors, has free wi-fi, and serves a free made-to-order hot breakfast every morning. It's a dreamboat.

About five minutes after checking in - enough time to set down our suitcases, Tom knocked on the door. He handed us our beloved map. He has carefully created this beauty, marking all of his favorite restaurants and bars, a place on the beach for salsa dancing lessons, the best cenotes in the area, trustworthy bike rentals, and pretty much everything you can think of.

Since it was getting late in the evening, and we were starving, he pointed us in the direction of a few restaurants and said he'd chat more in depth with us in the morning. And that he did. After breakfast, he invited us into his personal apartment, on the third floor of the hotel, and we talked for an hour. He graciously let me go through my entire list of places to see, things to do, and let me ask logistical questions. He gave us honest answers on what was worth it and what was a tourist trap, and he even gave us some "off the map" (even better than the beaten path!) places to check out.

Mid-way through our trip, when I came down with a nasty case of Montezuma's Revenge, I was so sick Zan sought Tom out for advice. Tom drove Zander down to a pharmacy in town and acted as a translator to get the medicine he thought I needed. Those meds? Oh dear, they knocked me out, but they also knocked the nausea out of me!

When Zan wanted to book a fishing trip, Tom was stoked - told him his favorite place to go and was truly bummed out he didn't have time to take off from work to go with him.

I can't say enough good things. If you're heading to Tulum, skip the expensive resorts because, let's be honest here, the restaurants on the beach are overpriced and overrated and as authentic as McCormick's taco seasoning, and being in town is the way to do Tulum. Unless you can convince whomever your travel partner is to sleep in a hut on the beach, of course.

I want to frame our map or do something creative with it. I have a feeling no matter where I keep it, it'll lead us back to the hotel on the corner near the Subway with the flag of Mexico out front.

Posada Luna del Sur
Calle Luna Sur 5, Tulum, Quintana Roo (about 3 blocks across from the bus station, pass the Subway, walk one more block, and turn left at the Pescaderia)
Rates: $99 high season / $55 low 
Email: welcome@posadalunadelsur.com 

Tell Tom hello! And that Zander and Cyndi recommended you! 

pi day | chocolate french silk

 Happy Pi π Day! 

My friend Melanie, the creative mind behind The Things They Made, linked me a few weeks ago to a delicious looking pie recipe that she intended to make for her company's "pi day" competition. March 14th, official "pi" day, makes for a natural celebration of the decadent baked good pie... and math, too. If that's your thing. But my thing is eating pie. 

My office, unfortunately, didn't have a competition - everything is better when you compete! - but I did opt to bring one in to spread the geeky cheer. I picked up my Smitten Kitchen cookbook, by now famous blogger Deb Perelman (you might have heard of her!) and flipped through until I landed on her chocolate silk pie. Decadent. Rich. Intense. Let's do it. 

I heard Deb speak at Politics and Prose, my favorite local bookstore in D.C., when her book was newly released. I was a fairly new reader of her blog, and I had only tried a single recipe. She charmed my socks off. She is a force of energy; she has a great laugh and a wonderful reading and speaking voice.  

She didn't read from her cookbook, that could have been strange (though I would have stayed to listen); instead she told a little about how she got to where she is now (published!) and answered questions. What was most remarkable to me about Deb is her humility and humor. She is as quick witted as she is dexterous in the kitchen. Pi Day gave me a perfect excuse to finally, finally, make a recipe straight from her book. 

Here are a few pics - find the recipe down below. 

 the crust

1.5 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (approximately 3/4 of a 9oz package of Famous Chocolate Wafers)

2 tablespoons sugar (I used a tiny bit less...)

pinch of salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (microwaved for 45 seconds)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Crumb the wafers - either put them in a ziploc bag and go to town beating them, or put them in a food processor broken up, like I did. Once crumbed, mix in the sugar and salt. Drizzle in the melted butter until it's even throughout. Using your hands (easiest), pat the crust into the bottom and on the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes and place in the fridge to cool. 

the filling 

12 tablespoons butter, room temperature (no joke.)

1 cup sugar (again, i tried to use a little less, but i like slightly-less-sweet things)

3oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled (i stuck my brick o'chocolate in a pan on the stove and stirred - melted in 2-3 minutes)

3 large eggs (you'll want organic, pasteurized, etc etc - the good stuff)

1 teaspoon vanilla (+ a few drops. always.)

in your stand mixer (or you could do it with a hand one), whip butter and sugar together until it's a pale and fluffy mixture. While still beating away, drizzle in the melted chocolate (my favorite part!). Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg into the mixture for five minutes (seriously). Make sure you're scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and blend well (a minute). Pour your delicious filling into the now cool crust and spread evenly. Allow the pie to chill for at least 6 hours.

the garnish

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

beat the cream and sugar until it "just holds soft peaks." this will take all of your life. plan to mix for at least 20-25 minutes. the whipped cream is kind of like falling in love - you'll know when you know (when it's done). spread on top of your pie, garnish with chocolate chips or bittersweet shavings, if you'd like, and devour.