Irony & Lemon Blossoms

In an uncommon moment of thought I realized that I often eat junk food while watching The Biggest Loser and work out while watching Man vs. Food. Kind of ironic.

So, while watching Man vs. Food last night I ran 4 miles on the treadmill. We've had a lot of company lately so my workouts have been very sporadic. I have my eyes on the Martian Marathon in early April. It's a fun local race that I've done the last couple of years. My only problem is deciding between a half marathon or a full.

After finishing my second marathon in May in near dead condition I vowed I'd stick to half marathons. I reasoned that I just have too much mass to run that far without doing damage.

However, the last few weeks I've started considering it again. I think it's generally the same phenomenon that happens to women after giving birth to a child. After seeing my wife give birth to our first child naturally I'll never understand how she brought herself to have another. It's like we get amnesia after doing something that is supremely unpleasant but ultimately good for us.

I'll let you know what I decide. I just hope I don't end up deciding to have another kid.

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I'm back on the treadmill because Detroit is awful... in the winter. Today's recipe is like eating a little bite of sunshine. Somehow I always end up eating 15 bites of sunshine before my wife manages to pull me away from the plate.


Lemon Blossoms

Ingredients
18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel.

Glaze:
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

From Paula Dean