Chickpea Pancake Pizza

Tonight for potluck, I decided to make a pizza out of the chickpea
pancake recipe that I posted the other day.

The potluck theme was curry, so I created a quick pizza sauce by first  sauteing onion and garlic in olive oil, then adding diced fresh tomatoes, curry powder, nutritional yeast, garam masala, and salt/ pepper.

After the "crust" had cooked, I added chopped greens (chard, mostly), crumbled tempeh, sliced yellow bell peppers, and enough cheese to hold it all together.  It disappeared quickly at potluck, so I think it's a success!

The chickpea pancake/crust is very eggy in texture, so I think my next experiment will be to make a breakfast pizza.  NOM.

CAKE VS. PIE

Cake:

Pie:

For Easter, I decided to stage a CAKE vs. PIE battle.  Except that there would be no losers in this epic fight because, really, what could possibly go wrong?

The cake: a triple layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  The cake (a recipe from The Buttercup Bakeshop Book) was full of carrots, apples, pecans, spices.  To give the pie a fighting chance, I lightened up the recipe a bit by substituting applesauce for some of the butter (since it called for, oh, a whole cup AND A HALF--three sticks--of butter) and using flaxseed/water instead of two of the eggs.  However, slathering it with a rich cream cheese frosting didn't hurt anything.

The pie: a lemon crostata, courtesy of Gourmet (now defunct!), via my Epicurious iPhone app.  I used this pie as an excuse to try cooking with my iPhone, which actually worked out pretty well.  The pie was a good contender: the crust was made of toasted almonds and lemon zest, filled with a silken lemon curd.  The crust was more like a shortbread, and the lemon really sang.  And I'm a sucker for lemon. (Even though I'm biased toward cake, I had to make it a fair competition!)

The two opponents faced off over the Easter table.  The pie looked humble with its overly-darkened crust, while the cake stood tall and proud with its festive frosting carrots and coconut sprinkled sides.  Cake won for presentation.

It also won for ease of preparation, because even though the carrot cake was a fancy layer cake with colored frosting, the crust for the crostata was way too fancy and fussy.  And I had to blind bake the crust, make the curd separately, then bake the whole thing again.  The crust got too dark due to the double-bake.  But--it was still lemony and almondy and really freakin' tasty.

The battle began when everyone had to choose their dessert.  Lance's mom unequivocally voted in favor of pie: she is a pie person and cannot resist lemon/almond flavored pastries.  Lance went for pie, but ate some of my cake, and I got cake. Because I'm a cake girl.  Several people got both and insisted that they could not decide.  One was not dissuaded from cake, even though there was coconut and he hates coconut. But he liked the cake.

In the end, I asked everyone to pick, and most claimed they could not decide.  The two were so different, they cried, that how could they possibly choose?  And really--why should there be a battle when two such lovely desserts could exist happily side-by-side?

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
(makes 3 9-inch layers or two loaves)
adapted from The Buttercup Bakeshop Book

This is possibly the best carrot cake recipe I've ever had.  You could feasibly make it slightly healthier by substituting up to half the flour with whole wheat pastry flour.  It is a delicate cake, so be careful with the layers. 

Cake:

• 2.5 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger (or more, if you love ginger like me)
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 4 tbsp warm water (or just use three eggs total)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1.5 cups grated carrots (3-4 medium)
• 1 apple, grated
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 3 tbsp heavy cream, half and half, or even whole milk

Frosting:

• 2 blocks cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 cups powdered sugar

For cake: preheat oven to 350.  Grease pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.  Butter/spray parchment (optional, but very helpful in the removal of cakes from pans).  Set aside

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices.  In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the apple sauce, then the eggs/egg substitute.  Add the vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the apple juice, beginning and ending with the dry.  Stir in the apple, carrots, pecan, and cream until everything is well incorporated.  Do not overmix.

Divide the batter and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.  Let cakes cool in pans for ten minutes then remove (CAREFULLY) from pans and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, make frosting: beat cream cheese and butter until creamy and fluffy.  Add vanilla.  Beat in powdered sugar a little at a time until frosting is desired consistency/sweetness.  If colored decorations are desired, set aside a bit for dyeing.

After cakes are completely cool, frost.  Place one layer on a plate, layer frosting, then add the next layer, more frosting, then the final layer.  Frost with a light crumb coat, let sit in the freezer for a few minutes, the frost with the top coat.  Decorate with colored frosting, chopped toasted pecans, or dyed/toasted/plain coconut.

PS:  Here is why CAKE WILL ALWAYS WIN

(same carrot cake, just decorated with Peeps!! Also, it's a tiny cake!)

Savory Pancakes

I love pancakes.  I am, in fact, plotting a Pancake Fest, in which I will whip out several varieties of pancakes and feed lots of people.  (Booze, waffles, and breakfast meats will also be available).  Pancakes, however, are something that I can't eat daily for breakfast.  Something about all the sugar or something--basically, I end up hungry two hours later.

Lately my breakfast routine has been a bit rushed or dull.  I eat some fruit, and then I get a muffin from the coffee shop.  Not exactly healthy, so I obviously needed to shake up my breakfast choices.  I read somewhere that eating more protein keeps you fuller longer.  Since I'm a vegetarian, I can't really eat any meat, and while I like eggs, I usually want something else with them and too much animal fat (eggs, butter, etc) upsets my stomach. (Yes, I'm picky)

Then I remembered The Hungry Tiger had posted about breakfast lentils. Interesting!  I was lacking in many of her ingredients, but I liked the idea of something involving legumes and vegetables for breakfast.  I grabbed out my How to Cook Everything Vegetarian to see what Mark Bittman had to say about breakfast lentils.  Which was nothing.  However, he did have a recipe for lentil pancakes.

I didn't want to soak my lentils overnight, so I decided to use his recipe as more inspiration.  I'm pretty happy with what came out--it turns out that savory pancakes are almost as good as the traditional ones.

First, I cooked lentils and brown rice until they were done.  I had some leftover tomatoes from the shakshuka from dinner the night before, so I added a few scoops of that to the lentils/rice.  Then I added some spices, onion, green onion, mushrooms, celery, and garlic and pureed it in the food processor. It needed a bit more texture, so I added some oats, oat flour, and one egg.

Using my cupcake scoop, I scooped out portions and cooked them on the griddle until brown and toasty on each side.  I tried one, and they were delicious and, I imagine, infinitely customizable.  We tried one with salsa.  I imagine they'd even be good with a poached egg on top, if you're into that kind of thing.

Breakfast food experiment, success!

I also made this chickpea pancake (or socca) from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for dinner.  It was kinda odd, but tasty--eggy, even though it didn't have any eggs.  It was also amazingly simple and contained relatively few ingredients.  I imagine it'd make a great base for a pizza-like dish.  Seriously, this book will never get old.  If you don't own, I highly recommend it.

Lentil Pancakes
Makes 10-12

This is a VERY rough recipe. Feel free to make substitutions like mad, depending on what you're in the mood for.  I'm sure you can skip the egg if you're after a vegan dish.  (I really should measure stuff when I experiment in the kitchen, especially when it's delicious.)

• 2/3 cup uncooked lentils 
• 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
• diced canned tomatoes (~1/3 cup or so)
• onion and garlic, to taste
• celery
• nutritional yeast
• mushrooms
• spices, such as cumin, curry powder, chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper, to taste
• ~1/2 cup rolled oats
• ~1/2 cup oat flour (to thicken)
• 1 egg

Cook the lentils.  When the water begins to boil, add the brown rice (I just tossed in a handful).  Cook until lentils/rice are done.  Drain off excess liquid, if any.  Add the tomatoes.  Let mixture cool to room temperature, then puree in a food processor with onion, garlic, and celery (I'm sure some carrots would be good--I tossed in some chopped mushrooms).  Add oats, flour, and egg, and puree.  Add salt/pepper and spices to taste.  Scoop out and cook on a griddle like a pancake and eat with whatever you think will taste good.  I suspect ketchup, chopped tomatoes, a poached egg, greens, a mixture of the above, or anything else would go well.

Chickpea Pancake (Socca or Farinata)
Adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Feel free to substitute other flavors for the onion and rosemary.  The original called for regular onion, but I used that in my lentil pancakes.  It makes a pancake that is eggy in texture and would be a good pizza-like base--simply cook, then add toppings and finish baking, instead of broiling.

• 1 cup chickpea flour (also known as gram or besan flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper, to taste
• olive oil
• green onion, whites and greens, sliced
• fresh rosemary leaves

Put 1.5 cups warm water in a bowl and sift the chickpea flour into the water (else it'll be super lumpy).Add the salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp of olive oil together.  Cover with a towel and let stand for a few minutes or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 450.  Put ~2 tbsp olive oil into a cast iron skillet (oh, skillet!) and heat on the stove top until the oil and pan are hot (just like making cornbread, if you're a good Southerner).  Stir in the onion and rosemary (or whatever) and pour the batter into the hot skillet.  Put in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes until the pancake is firm and the edges are set.

Preheat the broiler.  Brush the top of the pancake with a bit more oil (which I forgot, and it totally turned out okay) and broil for a minute or two, or until brown spots appear.  Cut it up and eat it with salsa or whatever you want!

13.1 Miles

On Sunday, April 11th, after about 4 hours of sleep, I crawled out of bed.  My stomach was jumping and I felt nauseated and nervous.  I choked down a bit of toast and peanut butter (before Lance ate it all) and drank some sparkling water.  Then Lance and I headed down to the square because the big day had finally arrived: the day of my first half-marathon.

Since December, I have been training for this day.  I have logged roughly 300 miles since the start of the year. I may have not always run happily or even as much as I could have, but I ran consistently, and it showed.

I honestly had no idea what to expect, so I simply planned to run it in under 2:15.  I didn't really even look up to see what my mile splits would be.  When I arrived, however, I discovered that Fleet Feet had pacers, and that one of my running buddies was the 2 hour pacer.  He asked, "Do you want to run with me?" and I said "Sure," thinking I would slow down if the pace was too intense.

At first, it was, but I kept J and his balloons in my sight until my legs adjusted to the faster pace, and I caught up.  I held that pace for about 9 miles or so, or until I hit the hills (if you look at the graph, you see that it begins and ends with some mean hills).  Then I hit a really ugly hill, and I had to walk.  (But then again, so did most people).

I rounded the corner on the last mile to be greeted with cheers and offers of a beer, not to mention pirates.  Fleet Feet was manning the first/last water stop, and they were amazing and so encouraging.  From that point on, I had a giant grin on my face. Even though I had woken feeling poorly, even though I got a crappy nights' sleep, even though this was my first half and I had no idea of what to expect, I knew I was going to finish and finish extremely well.

I crossed the line at 2:02:47, way under my initial goal of 2:05 and my revised goal of 2:15.  I was ecstatic.  Lance had cheered me on at the very end, and they announced my name as I crossed the finish line, and someone handed me a neat finishers medal.  I did it!

And now I'm completely hooked.

Too Cool For School

In Act III of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the first song has three groupies singing about Captain Hammer's dry cleaning bill, "Four sweater vests!"

I do not possess four sweater vests.  I like sweater vests, however.  So I made myself one (Ravelry link).

 (Oh yeah, and I cut all my hair off.)

 This is the Back-to-School U-Neck Vest (Ravelry link) from the book Fitted Knits.  This book has so many cute projects, and the speed and ease with which I completed this project means I may pick out a few more to do from the book.  In fact, I finished it in three weeks, and I feel like I could have finished it in a few days if I had focused on it.  It's knit with Cascade Lana D'Oro, a soft alpaca-wool blend that I love.

Though I'm not in school (yet! Though I am accepted at UA...) anymore, this vest is perfect for work.  It's soft and comfortable, and I want three more in different colors, so that someone can sing about my four sweater vests, if I ever gain any groupies.

Super Special Birthday Cake

Today is Lance's grandma's birthday. We were supposed to go up and take her to church and have lunch on her, but then we got a foot of snow:


Crazy. Anyway, with all the snow, we postponed special meal until (probably) tomorrow, though I have to fit my 12 mile long run in there somewhere. She requested a chocolate/coffee flavor combination, which gave me lots of options. I've made this espresso chiffon layer cake before, but I wanted something different. Fancier.

So I pulled out my awesome baking book, In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley (a great resource for bakers, FYI) and found a recipe for a walnut layer cake (note to self: make this cake later) with espresso buttercream. Not a chocolate cake, so it didn't qualify, but I liked the idea of the frosting. So I consulted another cookbook and found a recipe for an intense chocolate cake. I decided to bake that cake with the espresso buttercream and decorate it with melted chocolate and chocolate-covered espresso beans. It turned out extremely well, and the buttercream is amazing--not a "quick buttercream," (which is just butter and powdered sugar and is usually way too sweet for my tastes) but instead one that involves meringue and obscene amounts of butter.

The beautiful, lovely buttercream:


Spreading the beautiful buttercream on a layer:


The layers all stacked up:


The finished cake:


The cake was lovely (I tasted the bits I cut off to somewhat level the layers), the buttercream is not too sweet and is also lovely (I may never make a quick buttercream again), and the cake looks beautiful and special. And as soon as the roads are clear, we'll be heading up to share it with her!

And in case you want the recipe, here it is!

Super Special Chocolate Cake with Espresso Buttercream

Chocolate Cake (from The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook):

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup freshly brewed coffee, cooled
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 6 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour 3 cake pans. Line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper and lightly grease the papers (can skip this step, but it helps to get the layers out of the pan)

In a small bowl, whisk together cocoa, coffee, water, and vanilla. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. Set both bowls aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in the eggs one a time, then beat in the melted chocolate. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the liquid mixture, beginning and ending with the flour, in three additions. Do not over mix.

Divide the batter among the three pans and bake 20-25 minutes, until cakes are done. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, the remove from pans at let cool completely on the wire rack.

Espresso Syrup (adapted from Smitten Kitchen):

• 1/3 cup freshly brewed espresso or strong coffee
• 1/3 cup brandy or rum
• 1/3 cup sugar

Mix all together until the sugar dissolves (I had to heat mine slightly).

Espresso Buttercream (adapted from In the Sweet Kitchen):
NB: good quality butter and eggs are a must, since they'll really add to the flavor of the buttercream.

• 4 large egg whites (be careful not to allow any yolk or fat to drop in)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1-1/4 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2-1/2 tbsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 1-1/2 tbsp hot water, cooled

In a pot, bring an inch or so of water to a simmer. Lightly beat the egg whites, the add the sugar and whisk until frothy. Set the bowl over the water and whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is very warm (but not hot), about five minutes. Transfer to a clean bowl and whip the egg whites until it is cool to touch, about 8-10 minutes. If it's not cool enough, the heat will melt the butter and give you issues, so don't be afraid to beat it. The meringue will be stiff and glossy.

Beat in the butter, a little at a time, making sure it is completely incorporated before adding more. Don't be afraid to beat it and make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Once all the butter is incorporated, add the vanilla, then add the espresso mixture a little at a time, beating well.

The frosting should be glossy and smooth. If it's not (and it wasn't for me) or if it starts to separate or look funny, put the bowl over some hot tap water and whisk it until it gets smooth. It smoothed out beautifully for me (as you can see from the pictures).

To assemble the cake:

1. Brush extra crumbs off the layers, and level them off. Brush the top of the cake with some of the syrup (I didn't use all of it--it is optional and helps to keep the cake moist.)
2. Put a dollop of buttercream between the layers. Brush off crumbs.
   
3. Frost the cake (Smitten Kitchen has some good tips--I like putting the crumb coat on, chilling briefly in the freezer, then applying the top coat.)
4. Melt 2 oz. dark chocolate and use a fine tip on a pastry bag to make the criss-cross. Put a dab in the center of the diamonds and place a chocolate-covered espresso bean on the chocolate dots.

A perfect cake to share with a loved one for a special day.

The First Day of Spring

Last Night:




This morning:





And it's still snowing!

Bag Lady

I made a bag:


It's the French Market Bag, and it was my first felted project. Also my first use of the Kitchener Stitch, which was surprisingly fun.

I started this bag a few years ago, and when I decided to start working on projects that were languishing in my project bags, I picked this one back up. It's a fairly easy pattern, and I finished it quickly, once I focused on it. I'm pretty pleased with it.

Felting was quick and easy: throw thing to be felted into the washing machine with some towels, hot water, and soap. Let agitate until desired level of felt. Dry. Tada! Felted object.

I use this for my lunch sack currently because wool is awesome and this keeps my food pretty cold if I decide to leave it out. It's also handy for toting things generally.

Stay tuned for another FO: a sweater vest!

Dinner Quandries

You all know that I love to cook. Lance and I both are passionate and adamant about cooking and eating good food, shopping at the local market and natural foods co-op*. We prepare most of our own meals and love nothing more than to share our creations with others.

Lately, there's been a discussion going on in Google Reader on shared items involving food, food choices, food regulation, and how socioeconomic status plays into it all. Of course, I was vaguely aware that my ability to purchase fresh, organic produce or to buy from the Farmers' Market on a regular basis was a privilege. I don't make tons of money, but I make enough to afford good quality food, and we make it a priority to spend a bit more on it (instead of, say, paying for cable or eating out a lot).

I'm lucky to be able to have both the financial means to purchase organic produce and to have access to it. I realized, however, that not everyone lives where they can easily buy organic goods or can even afford them if they did have access. When I was growing up, my parents couldn't afford to purchase enough fresh fruits and vegetables to feed all seven individuals all the time (two adults and five children), and so we ate lots of spaghetti, ground beef or turkey, cheap lunch meat, white bread, peanut butter and jelly, and macaroni and cheese. We had canned or frozen vegetables mixed in (but not always), and I don't think we ever had a big green salad with our meals (which I eat almost daily now). We generally had bananas, and sometimes oranges or apples, but not always. I used to hate fresh green beans because I only ate the canned ones. We had our free school lunches, but as this blog points out, school lunches aren't exactly the paragon of good nutrition. We had plenty of food growing up, but now when I go to my parents' house, I have to bring my own food or I'll have a bad case of indigestion from the food I grew up eating. (Not to mention that they don't exactly good vegetarian-friendly dishes, so I just cook for myself and share with them, if they like).

People who are poor and live away from a good grocery store where they can buy anything fresh (let alone organic) don't have the same level of access that I now have to good quality food. They have to rely on the cheap, processed products they can afford and have access to for nutrition. Those in higher socioeconomic groups ignore the base problem of access, and insist that poor people are ignorant of their health and just need to be better educated**.

Another problem is that the government subsidizes the foods that have been shown to lead to obesity, diabetes, and cancer. If the government would switch to subsidizing salads and ensuring better food access for poor people, then maybe they would be able to afford to eat better and make better food choices.

Food and politics and morality are all tangled up in very wrong ways in America. Eating isn't a simple act. I'm fortunate to be able to be picky and shun processed foods, but not everyone has that choice. Sometimes all my parents could afford to buy us for dinner was a 25 cent box of macaroni and cheese and a package of hot dogs. They were sharply aware that it wasn't very healthy, but they didn't have a choice.

*We do, of course, occasionally eat something that might not fall into this category, like fried potato wedges on a road trip. But we try to mostly eat the good stuff, since too much junk/fast food makes us feel like crap.
**I do think that some education needs to happen, but poor people are not the only ones who are ignorant--middle-class children raised on pre-packaged food because the parents are too busy to bother cooking a real meal certainly need to learn that they need to change how they eat to be healthy. And a thin person who eats burgers and won't touch fruit or vegetables falls into that same category.

A Miscellany of Items

• I really need to just do my taxes. It's ridiculous that I keep putting it off, especially when the government will give me some money when I'm done.
• I had a weird sense of satisfaction in listing my and Lance's relationship as "unmarried partnership" on the census form.
• I didn't get into University of Illinois.
  
• I have three more chances to get into a Ph.D. program (with funding, please).
• My race this weekend (a 20k trail race) was cancelled because someone got lost in the woods on the 50 mile race the day before. The runner was eventually found and was all right, I believe.
• Our weekend road trip started off ominously with a sick child (we were riding with friends), but it ended quite nicely with flea market shopping, games, and good food and a trip to Serenity Farm Bread (NOM) on the way home.
• Cilantro is gross, and Taco Tuesday was nearly ruined by its presence.
• Still running lots--I even got a Garmin!--and I signed up for the Hogeye Half-Marathon.
• Leaving for the weekend means I have way too many items to catch up on in Google Reader. Might be time to thin the subscriptions down a bit, since I've acquired so many sharebros, and they keep Reader pretty busy.
• I have things that I have made and would like to post about...sometime.
• Happy birthday shout out to my sister-in-law!
  

Running Doldrums

A few weeks ago, I was in the midst of the running doldrums. I was dutifully running, but I wasn't super excited about doing so. I almost (or did) skip some runs, and I even failed to go to a race I signed up for. I couldn't get out of bed for the Sunday early morning group long runs, though I somehow still manged (grudgingly) to get them in later in the day.

I think that the combination of cold, increasing mileage, and lack of sun contributed to this feeling. I have to say that I'm very glad it's gone, since I'm now excited and motivated when it's time to go for a run.

Today, I meant to get up early and go run outside but failed to do so. I really wanted to get that run in today, and since I'm unable to run tonight (which I normally do with the group), I just didn't know when. The weather promised to be lovely, so I grabbed some workout clothes with the thought that maybe I would run at lunch.

And I did. And it was great. I did a 30 minute tempo run, which felt wonderful. The sun was out, the temperature was perfect for running, and the sky was so blue that I couldn't help be feel the pleasure of moving myself outdoors. I walked for a few minutes to cool down, the stretched/sat down on the lawn to finish. I came back to the office refreshed and energized.

I think I'm going to make a habit of going for long walks or short runs when it's nice. It's a great way to move more during the day (since sitting will kill you, even if you work out regularly), and it's a good break from the office. Yay for fantastic weather!

Climbing the WALL

One year, when I was still an undergrad, I overcame my fear of heights (well, falling, actually) and climbed a rock wall. It was exhilarating, I loved it, and promptly forgot about it.

A few months ago, I visited my brother. He's a big fan of rockclimbing, so he took us to his climbing gym. We climbed for a while, and I really, really liked it. When I returned home, I promised myself that I would use the wall at my gym to climb more often.

Then I forgot about it.

Yesterday, I was at the gym with some time to kill until a fitness assessment. I had forgotten my ID, so by the time I made it back, the class I planned to attend had started. I played a game of racquetball with Lance, but then S. showed up to play with him, so I had to go find something to do for 20 minutes. Then I walked by the rock wall. So I went in and climbed it.

It was so much fun that after my fitness assessment, I went back and climbed some more. I can't explain why I--girl who is terrified of climbing tall ladders and is deeply afraid of falling off of things--really enjoy climbing. It's exhilarating--trying to figure out where to go next, keeping my grip on the rocks, planning my next move. And getting to the top. Even if I miss and "fall", I simply dangle there securely until I either try to grab back on or am lowered down.

I left the wall satisfied and content, knowing that I will be making regular time in the future to climb the wall.

The Difference

Last year, I tried training for a half-marathon and ended up injured and unable (or afraid) to run for six months. Last year, when I would return from my long runs, I would be exhausted and sleepy. Sometimes I would end up gobbling down whatever I could eat and would either feel nauseated or (occasionally) threw up. My long runs left me wiped for the day.

This year, everything is different.

I'm sure part of the difference is that I've been training consistently since August, whereas last year I was inconsistent and lazy about running. I'm smarter about my runs, more experienced, and in much better shape this time. And I can really feel the difference.

For example, the last two weeks we've had 10 mile runs. Last year after an 8-10 mile run, I felt horrible. Exhausted, nauseated, and I just wanted to sit in the bath tub or take a nap. This year, I feel energized. I come home and eat something non-sugary (part of my problem last time was that I consumed a lot of sugar--now I make sure to eat something with protein and complex carbs), stretch, take a hot shower, and maybe take a nap. I think my sleepiness has more to do with the 6am alarm rather than feeling completely beaten down.

The runs themselves also feel completely different. I feel strong and maintain a good pace. Last year, I was bringing up the back of the pack, this year I'm in the middle-front. That feels nice. My body hurts a little toward the end, but it's a discomfort that fades quickly after resting and stretching.

My motivation is definitely higher. I know that if I don't run consistently, I'll get hurt. So I go run even when I don't want to, which makes me feel great in the end.

I only have six more weeks until the half-marathon, and I'm starting to realize that I'm going to do it this year. And my next challenge? An actual marathon this fall. The rest of the spring and summer will be spent strengthening my body and building up my mileage so that I can tackle marathon training with the same dedication and vigor that I have had for the half-marathon.

Ruffle Slayer

The ruffles, oh the ruffles! I like a ruffle here and there, but I cannot abide an over abundance of them. And this top that I picked up a couple of years ago was overrun with ruffles:

Now, I found this shirt in a thrift store a while back and tried it on and liked it in spite of the ruffles. It had some great style points, like the buttons to one side and the color. But if I was going to make this shirt part of my wardrobe, those ruffles would have to die.

I got out my handy seam ripper and took out the faux-Shakespearean neck ruffle and the two ruffles that ran from the front to the back, while leaving the comparatively tasteful ruffles around the sleeves. When I pinned it back together, I stopped--it needed more work, but I was too afraid to just jump in and cut into the fabric. What if I messed it up?

After the inspiration of reading New Dress A Day and my weekend thrift adventure, I felt bold enough to tackle this shirt again. So I busted it out of the project bag and finally sewed the seams back up.

What had been stopping me from completely finishing was that I wanted to change the neckline. Once the ruffles were gone, the neck was boring and plain and didn't really fit with the style of the de-ruffled top. So I took a deep breath and cut into the fabric. Then I seamed it up. Then I tried it back on--and I really like how it turned out.

Not a perfect fix, but it helped me see that I have nothing to lose by trying something. I like the asymmetrical neckline with the buttons to one side, and I like that I turned a ruffled monstrosity into a sassy, interesting top. That's what I get for taking a chance!

*Edited to add: I have to think my fellow thrift adventuress, AW, for spurring me to haul this out of the bucket. I think she said something along the lines of "Just finish the darned thing." And that's what good friends are for.

Old Things Made New

My parents bought a lot of my clothes at thrift stores when I was a kid. Now, I didn't mind that so much (when I found things I liked), but some of the things my mom would buy for me were hideous or just not very trendy. I can vividly recall a pair of pants straight from the early eighties with a floral pattern in blues and greens and pinks. It looked like someone vomited a bouquet, and I refused to wear it, causing my mom to swear she'd never buy me clothes ever again.

When I started making my own money, I stopped going to thrift stores as much, preferring new clothes that were in style and new.

Fast forward a few years, and now I love finding things secondhand. For one thing, they're so cheap! And I can often find good quality clothing for a mere fraction of the price. While I would willingly purchase secondhand clothes if they fit, I never really thought about buying something with the goal of making it into something else.

Last week, a friend sent me a link to the New Dress A Day blog. The author's goal is to create a new outfit out of cheaply ($1 or so) thrifted clothing. Some of the outfits are a little out there for my own style, but I loved her ideas. She is creative and often completely transforms an ugly article into something adorable.

After reading through her backlog of posts, I promptly planned a Great Thrift Excursion with a friend and hit up many of our area thrift stores. I found lots of adorable things (that wouldn't need work) and several pieces that would need a little work, and a few that would need a LOT of work before they would be wearable.

One item was a cute corduroy blazer. While it fit perfectly in length and fit, the sleeves were too short.

The jacket is a petite. Apparently I have a petite upper body except for my long arms. This jacket is no good without a littl help, so that's exactly what I decided to do.

I wear a lot of 3/4 sleeve sweaters, shirts, and little jackets (because of the long arm problem, even "regular" lengths are often a little short on my arms), so I simply lopped off the jacket sleeves to an appropriate 3/4 length, hemmed it up, and tada! new jacket.

It's great what a little creativity and $2 can get you. I also fixed a couple of belts to wear over outfits, but that's pretty boring (I punched new holes or cut off some of the length so they fit me better).

I look forward to showing you some more of my transformations--I certainly have enough projects to keep me busy for a while!

Crossing Over

I have officially crossed over to being a runner. (Officially because I recognized that I'm a little obsessed with running now).

What led me to this conclusion? When I found myself setting out for a 5 mile run yesterday at 6am even though my brain didn't really want to, running up hills that I'd normally avoid, and being really, really happy about it all, I realized that I'd become a runner.

That is just one sign, however. I've also become part of the running community in my town, running with them two or three days a week. I have different kinds of runs for different days (this morning was a tempo run, which means run faster, yeah!) and I get antsy if I miss one of my runs. I even fell asleep last night thinking about running.

I love being a member of a running group. I have other people to talk about training, events we're looking at, progress, tips and training aids. (Several of them have Garmans, and I think I kinda want one now...) I've also been picking out runners in the group who are a little faster than me and trying to keep up with them so that I can end up running faster.

A few weeks ago, I fell on some stairs, and my first thought was not "Ouch, I fell down," it was "My knees! My running!"

So, yes, I am a runner.

Soup School

I made another soup this weekend to eat on throughout the week. A big pot of soup easily lasts us the entire week for lunches with a dinner or two thrown in. I don't mind eating the same thing for both lunch and dinner; if I do, I'll vary what I have with it (salad? bread? cooked greens?) so I don't get bored.

I realize that one reason I can just whip out a soup without a recipe is that I use the same "base" recipe for soups and just vary what I put in it, based on what's in my fridge/freezer. Since I figure some of my intrepid readers might like to experiment with making delicious, nutritious, and filling soups of their own (without much fuss!), I thought I'd post a short course on soup making.

I like to start my soups with a mirepoix, which is just a fancy way of saying onion, carrots, and celery. If I don't have celery or carrots, I simply start with onion, but I prefer celery and carrots for my soup base. Finely dice the mirepoix and saute in butter or a splash of olive oil until the vegetables begin to soften and get fragrant.

For those who are meat-eaters or like a little meat flavor in their soup, feel free to add a ham hock or bit of chopped stew meat, a smoked turkey leg (really good with split pea, incidentally), or something like a venison neck bone that is lurking in the depths of your freezer (yes, that would be us). Searing the meat helps release some of the flavors into the soup base.

The liquid part of the soup can be plain water, a bit of flavorful stock (you really should try to make your own occasionally, or at least buy good quality stock free of MSG or preservatives), or a bit of bouillon and water. We have a salt-free vegan vegetable bouillon that is nice to use if we don't have any vegetable stock on hand. (I use a salt-free bouillon because I can add my own salt, and I'm after the vegetable/herb flavor anyway. I'm planning on trying my hand at some homemade bouillon soon.)

Now here's the hard part: what are the main components of your soup? As a (mostly) vegetarian, I obviously want gobs of vegetables and beans. There is nothing wrong with a bit of meat or dairy, of course, for those who want something a bit heartier. I find the best soups showcase the vegetables and use the meat as a flavor rather than primary component. You can use a mixture of fresh vegetables or frozen, whatever you might have on hand.

The soup I made this weekend was a freezer clearing soup: I used frozen squash and a partial package of peas, a lone can of green beans I needed to get rid of, some beans we'd tossed in the freezer a while back, a frozen pepper, frozen leek tops leftover from another recipe, and some frozen celery. I also thawed out a couple of cups of pumpkin puree to add to the liquid, which was a delicious way to add flavor and thicken it a bit. My primary seasonings for this one were an Italian herb mix, parsley, nutritional yeast (which ups the umami quotient without using animal products!), and salt and pepper.

Other ideas would be to add more legumes (like lentils or split peas) for a legume-based soup, or adding more vegetables if you want a mixed vegetable soup. Potatoes, squash (winter or summer), greens, etc. make great soups. You could even roast cubes of vegetables to change the flavor profile. Adding milk, cream, or cheese (or a combination) would make the soup creamier and thicker. Adding a vegetable puree (like potato) would also thicken it up. Adding a bit of rice, oats, bulgar wheat, or any other grain lends a different texture to the soup.

Add your vegetables, legumes, and/or grains to the pot (after the liquid) and let cook until the vegetables are done and everything is tender. You'll want to taste and adjust your seasonings, since salt levels can vary wildly, depending. (And if you accidentally over-salt, just throw in a cubed chunk of potato to simmer until tender! Potatoes absorb salt like crazy.) If you plan to add cheese/dairy, wait until towards the end of the cooking time.

Making a good soup is largely a matter of taste, what you want in a soup, and (at least for me) which ingredients are available. I would just take the soup base and experiment with adding different ingredients and seasonings to see what you can come up with!

Pumpkin minestrone

As I just learned from Wikipedia, a minestrone is a thick vegetable soup, Italian in origin. So I can officially sorta call the soup that I created the past weekend a minestrone.

It's the season for soup: when I'm craving something warm and healthy and filling (but generally light), I reach for soups. I'm not normally very good at just making up recipes, but soup is one of the things that I do easily by feel. I usually start with a sense of what I'm looking for in a soup, scour my cabinets and freezer/refrigerator to see what ingredients I have, then throw it all together. This soup was one such concoction (with Lance's spicing help).

I wanted to make a pumpkin and bean soup. I had frozen pumpkin cubes and plenty of beans. I almost leaned toward a curried-coconut milk based soup, but veered toward the lighter minestrone feel. It made a huge pot of deliciousness--I just finished off the last bowl with half an avocado chunked into it. With a hunk of crusty bread and/or a salad, this soup makes for a satisfyingly wholesome winter meal.

Sorry about the approximations on the ingredients--I really did just throw things together. The good thing about soups, fortunately, is that there is plenty of wiggle room for ingredients, so feel free to add a vegetable or three (or even some grains or a little meat, if you're into that) or make substitutions like mad! (I thought that it might be especially good with a little chopped chard for some greenery).

Pumpkin Minestrone

• olive oil
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1-2 lbs cubed pumpkin or squash
• 4 cups vegetable stock or water
  
• 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes (I heartily recommend Muir Glen canned tomatoes)
  
• roughly 3 cups (or 1-2 cans) beans (I used baby limas, but I imagine that navy beans would be good. I put in about 1.5-2 cups uncooked lima beans in the pressure cooker and let them cook lightly, finishing them in the soup)
• salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, Italian seasonings to taste

In a big pot, heat the olive oil on a medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and saute until the vegetables soften some. Add in the garlic and cook a little more.

Add the pumpkin, stock, tomatoes, beans to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the pot to a simmer and let the vegetables cook. Add some salt and pepper and other seasonings to taste.

When the pumpkin begins to lose the corners on the cubes and gets soft, mash up a few of the cubes to thicken the soup (if you so desire--this was Lance's idea), taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

So simple and so good! I think this soup is delicious, and since it makes a lot, you could probably freeze some of it for later or share with several friends.

A Joke

Q: What does a vegan zombie eat?
A: GRAAAAIINS!!!

(I love cheesy jokes, incidentally. Love them to pieces. Really bad puns are also infinitely amusing. I don't know why, but this one has been making me giggle all weekend, especially as I was eating my bowl of GRAAAIINS!!! this morning.)

Just What I Needed

Several months ago, I encountered a pair of the loveliest boots when I was browsing for new footwear. I own a pair of black knee high boots, but they aren't always practical and comfortable for walking, so I was on the hunt (like Donna before me) for practical, beautiful boots. Then these Keen Bern High Boots came across my radar:Just...look at them. Don't they look lovely? They were everything I wanted in a new pair of boots: good quality, highly functional, warm, and purportedly comfortable. Lance owns a pair of Keens and raves about how awesome they feel on his feet and how well made they are. When I saw this review of them, my decision was made. I must have these boots.

Oh, but they are expensive. Quality shoes usually are, and these oh-so-durable and comfortable boots were outside my budget. So I sighed longingly and visited various sites that sold them each week, hoping for a sale, but alas, no such luck. I showed them to various people, eliciting opinions on which color I should get (the brown? the black?), finally deciding that I like the reddish brown color the best.

Several months later, I stumbled across them again on REI. On sale!! The stars had aligned. I had just taken the GRE and greatly improved my score, so I talked myself into them as a reward for my hard work (oh, the studying! The application process!)

And I must say they were one of the smartest shoe purchases I've made.

They are soft and comfortable and durable and quality. They fit like a dream. I tramped through snow on Christmas night in them, and my feet were cozy and warm. I've been wearing them all this week as temperatures reach dangerously low temperatures, and they keep my feet happy. They are the perfect mix of style, comfort, and walkability, and they are mine.

The lesson? Delayed gratification is sometimes more satisfying than impulse purchasing, especially when it results in cute and comfy boots.