Soccer Camp and Orange Chocolate Chip Bread

It's been a crazy summer for us, so much drama and stress that I decided the kids needed something fun to do. In the Spring, I thought for sure there was no way Sydney would be interested in a Soccer Camp, 3 hours everyday of Soccer... I wasn't sure she would enjoy it. However over the spring we got a small soccer net and she already had a ball so the girls started having fun kicking the ball around. Given that the kids loves to run and there aren't any organized running leagues at this age I asked her if she wanted to attend Soccer Camp and she was ecstatic! She's attending Soccer through Euro Soccer Camps and today was her first day. I hadn't bought her any soccer gear as I wanted to see if she would actually enjoy it and if she did I would enroll her in our local Soccer League for the fall.

We picked her up and got to watch the last 20 minutes of camp.

This was the last drill they did, one player from each team runs to the cones to circle around it as they comeback, the ball is thrown into play and whoever gets the ball and scores a goal earns a point for the team.

Showing she is as speedy as her competitor

In the end he scored the goal, but she did good! 

 Needless to say she was thrilled and tired when we picked her up and said she loved it! So we went out afterwards and bought cleats, shin guards and some new dry wick gear for her. I hope she enjoys the sport I think it will be very good for her.

On to some grub! Yesterday morning I was watching the Food Network and they were featuring a bakery that makes all of these delicious coffee cakes and breads. One of the breads they made was an Orange Chocolate Chip Bread and it looked amazing. So I was off to find my own version! Here is what I made yesterday.

Ingredients

• 1 medium navel orange
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Wash and grate orange. Place orange peel in a small bowl. Juice orange. Add enough boiling water to the juice to measure 1 cup. Pour over orange peel; let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, beat egg, butter, vanilla and reserved orange mixture; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. 

To top this off I made an orange simple syrup. I may experiment with this more but this is what I did. I took one navel orange and grated the outside and juiced the orange. I added both to a small pot with 1 cup of sugar and some water to the orange juice to make 1 cup of liquid. I boiled until it became like a syrup.

Once the loaf came out of the pan I pricked the top of the loaf with lots of holes with a toothpick and than brushed the syrup all over the top. The idea is for the syrup to sink down the holes and help keep the bread moist as well as add a glaze to the top of the bread.

Enjoy!

Post 4th of July Recovery

The kids are wiped out, Mom is wiped out and poor Dad is back at work, equally wiped out. Our four day weekend was awesome but with the high temperatures was probably more exhausting than it really should have been. Swimming, running, slip n slide and BBQing every night and we all need a day of rest.

After Sydney was born I decided to take up running, something about the alone time and the instant sense of accomplishment at the end of the run was really gratifying. I blog about my running adventures as well at girls on the go. Running is primarily something I do by myself for many reasons, but a couple of years ago Sydney expressed an interest in running and it turns out she is really good at it! When the opportunity presents itself I would sign her up for a kids run. Two years ago we ran the Moraga 4th of July Run. Sydney did the kids run which she loved and I ran the 2 mile course. Last year Kylie did her inaugural run at this event as well. This year we were excited to have the entire family run! I am so proud of my girls, as a child I was never really encouraged to be athletic so it gives me great pleasure to see my girls love to run so much.

While I love to run by myself for the peace and solitude, it gives me nothing but pleasure to run with my entire family!

It was pretty warm here yesterday and temperatures reached the mid 90's, so we were all pretty exhausted after the morning's adventures. I almost forgot that I had to prep for our special dinner, instead of taking a nap! As you know my lovely neighbor is the creator of One Family, One Meal. Her menu options for the big weekend were BBQ ribs, I haven't made ribs in a long time, so I decided to give it a go! Amanda's BBQ Ribs  are AMAZING! It's worth the extra mile to do the spice rub and the homemade sauce, we could barely contain ourselves they were so good! Even Sydney ate some, which is a small miracle in our house for the kid who won't try anything new. Here is the finished product:

We finished our evening watching fireworks in our backyard. With such a long and eventful day, I just couldn't imagine actually taking the kids anywhere to watch the Moraga Fireworks. We are lucky enough to have a decent view from our backyard of the local show and we can even the hear the music from Moraga Commons.

I hope you all had a safe and fun 4th of July!