Eat, Run, Read

Best of the Week #45

2012-01-27T12:54:00.002-05:00

I am having a day today. So my words will be brief, but the usual Best of the Week links still apply.

My most popular post this week was Lunchtime Running, which I wish I were doing now.

And my Coconut Chocolate Cake was featured on Celebrations' National Chocolate Cake Day. Yay!

I want to see the Northern Lights sooo bad! But the closest I’m going to get (for now) is this time lapse video.

I hate the word “impact.” This post captures exactly why:

Today, finding an evaluation in which nothing is IMPACTED would rank with bagging a live platypus.
IMPACTED was useful for hundreds of years in geology, surgery, and a few other fields where things were frequently jammed in between, or up against, other things. Otherwise, IMPACT went about only as a noun, meaning, in the succinct definition of the Oxford English Dictionary, “the striking of one body against another; collision.”

Take the “sandwich or modern art?” quiz. I got 3 right.

"Rude Responses to Annoying Questions." I particularly enjoy the “are you eating that?” part. And this:

Are you tired? You look tired.I’m beat. Exhausted. Spent. Drained. Pooped. I’m tired, dog-tired, of cutting my night short to ensure that I get ten hours of uninterrupted sleep, waking up on time, fixing myself a decent breakfast, commuting to work and arriving fifteen minutes early only to be asked if I’m tired because I decided maybe I didn’t want to apply my makeup with a torch gun this morning. Soooooo tired.

I love coffee, but I definitely agree with this post: "For the love of God people, it's just coffee."

If you are the kind of person who goes on a thirty-five minute tangent about how “OH MY GOD I NEED MY COFFEE I AM SUCH A WRECK WITHOUT IT UGH I WOULD DIE IF IT WEREN’T FOR MY COFFEE AMIRITE?!?” you need to not only get a grip on the meaning of the word “need,” but you also need to re-asses the hilarity of those webcomics you love to post everywhere that echo your inability to function without a morning cup of bean residue.

Agreed. Thank god for gchat. (source)

This is awesome, for obvious reasons:

I did not love The Descendents as much as the rest of the world. Mr. Blattman agrees.

"Usually a good litmus test for a character-driven story is: “Would I feel much emotion if one of the characters were hit by a bus?” In this case, not really. There is no sense they are real or interesting and hence worthy of attachment."

If I ever get tired of living and working in DC: UK woman crosses Antarctica solo.

Marathon Cookies with 26 ingredients – just in case I ever run a marathon.

Also, this cupcake looks insane and I want it. Preferably now.

This article captures my work-life. Read it. Spread it.

And yet. The New Groupthink has overtaken our workplaces, our schools and our religious institutions. Anyone who has ever needed noise-canceling headphones in her own office or marked an online calendar with a fake meeting in order to escape yet another real one knows what I’m talking about.

Have I mentioned that I love India? (source)

Alright, hope you have a great weekend and that your Friday is going better than mine!

Literary Bite: The Glass Castle

2012-01-26T11:11:00.003-05:00

I read The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls when I was home for Christmas and could not put it down. This book is absolutely crazy. And I mean that in a good way.

It’s the true story of Jeanette Walls’ (the author’s) childhood living in poverty within an insane family. And when I say insane, I mean insane. Her father was a charismatic alcoholic, and her mother an artist who didn’t really believe in raising her children. The family lived all over -- from Arizona to Nevada to West Virginia -- and were taught to see their nomadic lifestyle as an adventure.

Some "adventures" included:

Being “rescued” from the hospital after being severely burned at the age of 3 while cooking herself a hotdog.
A visit to the zoo where father and daughter reached inside the cheetah's cage to pet the cat.
The father lighting their Christmas tree ablaze with his cigarette lighter.
The kids scavenging in garbage cans at school for food.

But some parts are nice. “In one especially lovely scene, Rex takes his daughter to look at the starry desert sky and persuades her that the bright planet Venus is his Christmas gift to her.” (NYT)

What is really touching about this story is how Jeanette and her siblings really looked out for each other. One by one they escape to New York City and help create normal-ish lives through work and school.

The Glass Castle is a great book because you really care about the characters. Every time Jeanette is disappointed by her father I felt genuinely angry at him. And let me tell you – there is a twist at the end that will kind of sort of blow your mind.

It’s a fast and interesting and amusing read – definitely worth getting this book!

This is a video of Jeanette and her mother talking about the book:

Running Update and Two Awesome Workouts

2012-01-25T12:10:00.001-05:00

I haven’t blogged about running in forever. And for a blogger who promises a delightful combination of eating, running, and reading, that is just not acceptable! (Just look at my cupcake - she is running.)

I wrote a post way back in November (Time flies!) about running goals. They included running a race and not getting injured. I’m ashamed to admit that I failed on both counts, which is why I haven’t been blogging about running as much as normal.

Basically, I can only write, Welp, I appear to have hurt myself again! so many times before a) you get sick of me, and/or b) I have to burrow into a corner and cry for a bit.

But this is not a post about my injuries. Because they are in the past. I have re-learned the same lessons I’ve learned before (Wise Words on Days Off, The Comeback, Overexcited: Too Fast, Too Soon, How to deal with aches and pains when you’re getting back into running, and Running Smart) and now I’m looking forward.

Forward to what? you may wonder. Well here’s the update: I did not run the Jingle All the Way 8K in December, but I am entered to run the St. Patrick’s Day 8K on March 11th. And in even bigger news, I got into the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run on April 1! So I’m excited for that.

In a joyous return to all things track, I have attended not one but two early morning workouts in the past week! (Am I becoming a morning runner??? Maybe…)

Here’s how it goes:

5:15 am: I get up, put on my running clothes, and eat a handful of trail mix or a spoonful of peanut butter.
5:25: I stand on the corner outside my house and Cris picks me up to drive to the track in Ballson.
5:40-6:00: I nap in the car while Cris starts her warm-up.
6:00-6:30: I warm up.
6:30: Workout time!
Friday Coach George assigned us a tempo run: We ran 3 miles (jog ½ mile recovery), then 1 mile. Then a 15-minute cool-down jog. Fun times were had by all.
Tuesday was an interval workout: We ran 1 mile (jog ¼ mile recovery), then 4x ½ mile, i.e. 4x800, (jog ¼ mile recovery between each). Then a 15-minute cool-down jog.
Both workouts totaled to about 8 miles.
7:30: Metro back home.
8:00: Proceed with day as if nothing happened.

I highly recommend both these workouts for anyone trying to get back into the swing of things. Happy running everyone!

Cake of the Week: Chocolate Coconut Cake

2012-01-24T15:44:00.001-05:00

We’re having a freakishly mild winter here in DC. Though I like wearing my medium-weight coat, running outside, and avoiding the misery of frozen toes and nose, I miss the snow!

I love how it looks in the city, and how it feels falling out of the sky, and the way OPM freaks out and gives us snow days (flashback to 2010 –Snowmageddon + Snoverkill = best week ever.). Plus I really really really want to go skiing. And mountains sans snow are just not as much fun.

So consider this my snow-dance cake (much like rain dancing, but drier). I made it two weekends ago, in a fit of boredom and wanting-cake-dom. It’s a Vegan Chocolate Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting, and toasted coconut on top to give it a snowball look and tropical crunch. Yummmm.

Followers may notice that I've made this vegan chocolate cake a few times before (why vary perfection?). This time around I halved the recipe to make a smaller cake.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Get the printable recipe.

Makes one to two three 8 or 9-inch round cakes

1 1/8 cups organic all-purpose flour
1 cups sugar
11/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoons white vinegar
1 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line two 9” round pans with parchment paper. (Warning: This recipe tends to stick, so I strongly suggest you go for the parchment paper.)
In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, water, vanilla extract and vinegar.
Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients being careful not to over-mix. The mixture will be quite wet, but that's ok.
Pour the batter into the pans evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. I recommend putting cakes in the freezer for an additional 30 minutes before frosting the cake, it will make them easier to handle.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz (one block) cream cheese
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2-4 tablespoons milk, as needed

With an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter for 5 minutes.
Blend in powdered sugar.
Blend in rest of ingredients. Add more milk or powdered sugar as necessary to reach desired consistency.

Coconut Topping

1 cup sweetened shredded or flaked coconut

Preheat broiler. Spread coconut on cookie sheet and broil until slightly brown. (Warning: watch the coconut, it burns very quickly!)
Cool completely.

Frost cake, then cover in toasted coconut, then THINK SNOW!

Get the printable recipe.

Weekend Report: Hipster Dance Party

2012-01-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

Hipsters are hard to define.

Urban Dictionary says, “Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter.”

Wikipedia tells me “Hipster culture has been described as a ‘mutating, trans-Atlantic melting pot of styles, tastes and behavior[s].’ Christian Lorentzen of Time Out New York argues that ‘hipsterism fetishizes the authentic’ elements of all of the ‘fringe movements of the postwar era— beat, hippie, punk, and even grunge’ and draws on the ‘cultural stores of every unmelted ethnicity,’ and ‘regurgitates it with a winking inauthenticity.’”

And there is, of course, the site "Look at this f****** hipster" if you need visuals.

Those definitions sound very complex. All I know is that much like pornography and obscenity, hipsters fall into the category of you know one when you see one.

And the dance party I went to on Saturday night was a lot of knowing it when I saw it. DC may not be Chicago or San Francisco or New York or Brooklyn, but it does have a pretty significant population of the skinny-jeans-clad, dark-rimmed-glasses-wearing, messenger-bag-carrying, PBR-drinking hipster types.

Fatback is a monthly DJ’d party off of U Street with a mix of boogaloo, funk, soul and R&B music. It was kind of a cultural experience – everywhere you looked there were plaid shirts and fake mustaches. I’ve been to Fatback once before, but this weekend was their 4-year anniversary, so it was an even bigger deal. Oh don’t worry, there’s video online (just to be clear: I am NOT in this video).

I won’t be calling myself a hipster any time soon (or ever), but I’ll probably return to Fatback.

In other weekend news, SpeedyKate and I did an epic 2-hour pool run on Saturday, and on Sunday I trekked deep into the depths of Maryland (and by trekked, I mean took a bus) to visit my refugees and practice English. Good times were had by all and I was reminded, yet again, that I am terrible at middle school math. Does anyone remember how to do a box-and-whiskers graph? Because I don't...

Best of the Week #44

2012-01-20T10:15:00.003-05:00

It’s 9:23. I’ve been up for 4 hours and 8 minutes, gone to Virginia, run 7 miles, come home, walked to work, got a breakfast muffin, and checked my email.
No bad for a Friday, huh?

It was my first track workout in a while – a 3 mile and 1 mile tempo! It was dark and cold, aka the usual good time. Though it’s still only January, I have a feeling that the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler is going to sneak up on me…

Anywho, much like my morning tempo, this week started slow and finished fast! And now to kick off your (and my) weekend: Best of the Week!

And speaking of cherry blossoms, my most popular post this week was Cake of the Week: Cherry Cupcakes with Cherry Frosting.

Pictures of South Pole expedition go online -- from 1911! (watch the slideshow)

Headline of the Week is brought to you by Opio Juris:

It’s Not The Onion, It’s Fox Nation. (Not That There’s Much of a Difference.)
Sovereignty’s a bitch, isn’t it?

Is it just me, or are people following Stephen Colbert’s campaign closer than the actual campaign?
Why is Stephen Colbert's former super PAC attacking him?

"Yes, we know that sounds contradictory, but that’s what appears to be going on. The “Definitely Not Coordinating with Stephen Colbert Super PAC,” now headed by Mr. Colbert’s friend and business partner Jon Stewart, has just released an ad that appears to bite the hand of the person who formally fed it."

Sorry guys, apparently I’m feeling abnormally political this week. Please don’t hold it against me. This article on “Libertarian Illusions.”

"Compassion, justice, civic responsibility, honesty, decency, humility, respect, and even survival of the poor, weak, and vulnerable -- all are to take a back seat."

To lighten things up: 1.1 lb baby polar bear. I want one. (Watch the video!)

I am also newly obsessed with Thought Catalog.
1. "Lines For The Fortune Cookies, 2012" (read them all)

It’s time to retire that sweater you wear. You know the one.
Be kind to the other girls. Even the mean ones. They are very scared.
You will frequently wind up kissing boys sitting next to the boys you should be kissing.

2. Usually I’m opposed to run-on sentences, but this is just impressive: “One Sentence Love Story.”

3. Ok, last one – this is super sweet: “Meet Me Offline.”

Unless you’ve been living in a nuclear fallout shelter, you’ve probably seen "S#*& Girls Say” and any number of its spin-offs. On Rock Center, Brian Williams meets The man behind "S#*& Girls Say.”

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This is real and that is why it’s crazy: "The goats with spider genes and silk in their milk."

The transplanted gene means the goat produce milk containing an extra protein, which is extracted and spun into spider silk thread.

Sometimes people try to make me feel guilty for reading fiction almost exclusively. To them I say 1) I don’t care, and 2) “The Business Case for Reading Novels.”

Theory of mind, the ability to interpret and respond to those different from us — colleagues, employees, bosses, customers and clients — is plainly critical to success, particularly in a globalized economy. The imperative to try to understand others' points of view — to be empathetic — is essential in any collaborative enterprise.

"Even Better Than the Real Thing: The 10 best fake Twitter feeds on global politics." (see all)

A spot-on parody of Chinese state propaganda.
Sample tweet: "We admit we're no experts at democracy, but we swear we did not program Comrade Huntsman to believe that 3rd place equals winning."

More about China: It's not a land in which the foreigner suffers. It is not a hostile land or a wild land. It is, rather, a land of pointless minor absurdities and wholly unnecessary inconveniences, which coalesce to infuriate the ill-tempered and delight the rest. (source)

This list is surprisingly useful. I bookmarked it. "Foreign Country Land Mass Compared to United States"

Fiji is slightly smaller than New Jersey.
The Gaza strip is slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC.
New Zealand is about the size of Colorado.

And at some point this weekend I am going to attempt a Checkerboard Cake! Wish me luck!

Literary Bite: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

2012-01-19T10:24:00.001-05:00

I love this book. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (translated by Alison Anderson) is beautifully written, the story is compelling, and I really am totally head-over-heels in love with it.

It’s pretentious in just the way I like: elaborate vocabulary, beautifully constructed sentences, and obscure literary references one has to know Russian classics to understand.

The story has two narrators, both living in a bourgeoisie building in Paris. Renée Michelle is a 54-year-old concierge who secretly adores literature, education, and art but feels that she must camouflage herself as an ignoramus. “I may be indigent in name, position, and in appearance, but in my own mind I am an unrivaled goddess -”

The second narrator is 12-year-old Paloma, one of the building’s wealthy inhabitants. Paloma is extremely intelligent and precocious, thinks life is silly, and plans to commit suicide. (“People aim for the stars, and they end up like goldfish in a bowl. I wonder if it wouldn't be simpler just to teach children right from the start that life is absurd.”)

Mr. Ozu says, “M. Michelle has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside she’s covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside she has the same simple refinement of the hedgehog; a deceptively indolent creature, fiercely solitary – and terribly elegant.”

I will admit, The Elegance of the Hedgehog wasn’t love at first page. The NYT review agrees: “Especially in the novel’s early stretch, Barbery, a professor of philosophy, seems too clever for her own good.” But by about 50 pages in I was hooked, and 150 pages in I was 100% sold.

The story is written in a series of short chapters, alternating between Renée and Palmoma. Some have more action, and some are more like essays. The story really picks up when Mr. Ozu, a Japanese businessman, moves into the building. The three become unlikely friends and it is wonderful.

Have you read this book? Did you love it?

The language in this book is so good - there are certain passages I read over and over just because I wanted to savor the sounds and ideas.

“Do you know that it is in your company that I have had my finest thoughts?” (Renée to her best friend Manuela)

"They didn't recognize me," I say. I came to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk, complete flabbergasted. "They didn't recognize me," I repeat. He stops in turn, my hand still on his arm. "It is because they have never seen you," he says. "I would recognize you anywhere." (Renée and Mr. Ozu)

I could copy and paste quotes to you for ever...but I won't. Just read it!

Here's a good review /summary. and an interview with the author.

Mushroom, Leek, Butternut Squash & Barley Bake

2012-01-18T10:33:00.001-05:00

I came across this recipe in my usual mishmash of blog reading last week and immediately sent it around to my friends – this looks like us.

YES! Everyone agreed. So when Jess visited over the weekend we decided to test it out and see if this Mushroom Leek & Barley Bake is as delicious as it looks. (Spolier alert: it is.)

After a hunger-inducing day of yoga and shopping, we stopped by the ridiculously fancy Whole Foods in Foggy Bottom to buy ingredients: barley, leeks, mushrooms, and parmesan. It really is that simple!

Back in my kitchen we started sautéing and roasting (the original recipe doesn’t call for squash, but Jess and I are firm believers in the fact that roasted squash makes everything better). And I learned something new: you don’t have to peel butternut squash! You can roast or sauté it with the skin on and it’s fine. It’s even better than fine, it’s good for you.

Because we added the squash we had extra filling on the side. No problems with that! This bake is awesome, and could easily be made with any grain or veggies. It's also good cold and made a delicious lunch for me on Monday. Total win.

Mushroom, Leek, Butternut Squash & Barley Bake (recipe adapted from So Good and Tasty)

serves 4-6

Go here for the printable recipe.

1 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 ounces mushrooms, chopped
1 leek, white and light green parts only, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups cooked pearl barley (about 1/2 cup dried cooked in 1 1/2 cups water)
2 cups cubed butternut squash
1/2 cup Parmesan, divided
4 eggs
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375˚F and grease a 1 3/4 qt. baking dish. We used a 9-inch cake pan.
Prepare the barley: Cover 1/2 cup of pearl barley with 1 1/2 cups of water and simmer for 30-40 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Spray a baking dish and toss the butternut squash with salt and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until tender.
In a large frying pan heat the oil over medium heat. Add in the mushrooms and a pinch of salt, cooking for about 3 minutes or until just beginning to soften. Stir in the leeks, cook another 2 minutes, then add in the garlic. Continue cooking until everything is softened and the mushrooms are a nice brown color, about another 3 minutes. Mix in roasted squash. Let cool slightly.
Place the barley in a large bowl. Stir in the mushroom mixture and half the Parmesan.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and salt. Fold the eggs into the barley mixture, then pour into your prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the last half of the Parmesan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven, cool for 10 minutes, and serve.

Go here for the printable recipe.

Weekend Report: Jess Visits DC

2012-01-17T10:43:00.000-05:00

This weekend I talked to Jess.

If this were some sort of minimalist blog, that would be all you need to know. We talked, in various DC locations, from Friday night through Monday morning, only stopping to sleep.

I always talk a lot, and I talk a lot with most of my friends. But something about Mollie + Jess = talking at a speed/volume/level of excitement unknown to most normal humans. The sheer level of our shared conversational-ADD is generally of epic proportions. (I stole that from this article, which pretty well sums it up – mostly we talk about everything.)

Friday night Jess arrived from very cold Boston to very cold DC. We went to dinner at ShopHouse, the much-talked-about Asian Chipotle. It is around the corner from my house, opened 5 months ago, and I can’t believe Friday was my first visit! Like the burrito chain, you choose your base, your protein, then an assortment of toppings and sauce. We were starving. I went for brown rice, grilled satay chicken (LLC says the pork and chicken meatballs are the best, so that’ll be my next visit), eggplant with Thai basil and green beans with caramelized onions, and spicy curry. The server asked which garnishes I wanted – green papaya slaw, herb salad, pickles, toasted rice, crushed peanuts, or crispy garlic – umm all of them well duh?

Delicious. But I will warn you, I’m no whimp when it comes to spicy food, and this was HOT. The veggies themselves were spicy, and the sauce was too – next time I’ll probably go for the mild sauce option.

And then we got fro-yo and talked at my house.

Saturday we started with a Bikram yoga class. Last time Jess visited we did Bikram and she hated it, but some major change of heart came over her in the past year, and this time she actually enjoyed it. For the rest of the day we shopped in Georgetown, then did some cooking of our own (recipe tomorrow).

We met up with one of my friends-from-home-since-birth who was also visiting DC for the weekend for a late dinner at La Tasca. How’s this for a small world moment – four people at this dinner were Petalumans! Who knew so many of us made it to DC?

Anyway, now let’s get to the important part. Sunday morning all-you-can-eat/order brunch at Masa 14 was the anticipated focal point of our weekend. (I've been once before - read about it here.)

We worked out beforehand to ensure maximum hunger, then headed to the restaurant to arrive when it opened at 11 am. There was a moment of panic-face anxiety when they told us they didn’t have any tables, even though I could see many many empty tables! Unbeknownst to me, they do take reservations, but they’re booked months in advance. And they don’t have a wait list for tables of people who have canceled. (Yes, agreed, this makes absolutely no sense and is incredibly inefficient.)

But Jess worked her magic and within 10 minutes we were sitting at a table: Jess, myself, SpeedyKate, and Jess’ friend Matt.

Then the ordering commenced. Over the course of 3 hours, we ordered (and consumed) 22 small plates (read the menu here, we ordered almost everything). Considering that Matt left over an hour before the rest of us, this is a lot of small plates. By the end our waiter gave us a nod in admiration – You know girls, I have to say I’m impressed.

Go here for a great photo slideshow. Above you see the Wild Mushroom Flatbread, Pain Dulce, Masa Chicken Salad, and Chilaquiles,

We rolled ourselves home and spent the rest of the afternoon lying around, watching the Golden Globes, and talking non-stop (of course).

Sadly, Jess left Monday morning, but I'm looking to when I should visit her in Boston this spring...

Hope you had a great weekend and Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Best of the Week #43

2012-01-13T10:07:00.002-05:00

Last night LLC and I had a movie date planned, but by the time she arrived at Metro Center we had a half-hour before showtime and thus no time for dinner.

We solved our problems 24-year-old style…i.e. went to FroZenYo and planned to get popcorn at the theater. The froyo was delicious (dulce de leche ftw!), but unfortunately the theater was full. Womp womp, no depressing and violent Thursday night entertainment for us. So I went home and watched The King’s Speech – I love how many corgis are in that movie!

For the first Best of the Week of 2012, my most popular post was S’mores Cookies, closely followed by Costa Rica Vacation (my tan is still present but fading fast).

Ender’s Game is finally becoming a movie – my excitement is only rivaled by my Hunger Games movie anticipation! (more info)

This is video is cute and will probably make you smile.

This is the second video in Mama Hope's (http://www.mamahope.org) Stop the Pity. Unlock the Potential Campaign. At Mama Hope, we believe that the essential first step in changing the world is telling the story of connection instead of contrast and potential instead of poverty. People everywhere have talent and capacity, and people everywhere share a desire to be able to use those gifts to improve their lives and the lives of the people they care about. To learn more about the projects we undertake to unlock this potential and get involved, visit us at ‪http://www.mamahope.org

Best headline EVER: "Kings’ Dustin Penner injures himself while eating a stack of delicious pancake"(source)

Back in November 2009, I read Amy Tan’s Saving Fish From Drowning, which was partially about the Karen people of Myanmar/Burma. And then this week, the Monitor posted “Who are the Karen people?”

Following persecution in Myanmar, close to 140,000 predominately Karen refugees have fled to rudimentary camps in Thailand across the border. Still, they've had some of the largest number of fighters among the ethnic groups fighting for self rule in Myanmar.

Hip Hop Dressage. Yup. “It just doesn’t get any better than that.” (Though I have from a reliable source that the music was edited in because lyrics are permitted in musical freestyle dressage.)

National Parks are free this weekend for MLK Day – that’s fun!

This is embarrassingly relevant to my life:

Fun Fact: Namibia is roughly twice the size of the state of California and actually has a similar landscape. It's the second least populated country behind Mongolia… (via a food blog actually!)

A little McSweeney’s to perk up your day: “Short Imagined Monologues: Mitt Romney’s Haircut Will Not Be Denied.”

I know some folks derive a kind of sick enjoyment from the quadrennial pageant of televised intelligence-abatement that is the United States presidential election, but it’s time to stop the charade. There is no primary. There is no general. There is only this: I am Mitt Romney’s haircut. This is my year, and I will not be denied. (read it all)

An interesting article about women in business from the Washington Post: “For women in business, the squeaky wheel doesn’t get the grease.”

Our findings run counter to media coverage of the so-called phenomenon that “women don’t ask.” Instead the problem may be, as some other research has shown, that people routinely take a tougher stance against women in negotiations than they take against men…If women are asking, but are still not advancing as quickly, maybe we need to frame things differently. Perhaps it’s not that women don’t ask—but that men don’t have to.

For my “Parks and Recreation” fan friends: "23 Pictures Of Ben Schwartz And Aziz Ansari Partying" And look to the bottom of the post for a "special bonus"!

I want this keyboard. I think it would make my work day so much happier.

And with that I bid you good-weekend! Jess is visiting from Boston and we have EPIC plans...mostly involving the Masa 14 brunch. YAY!

Literary Bite: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

2012-01-12T11:04:00.000-05:00

In Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Paul Theroux re-creates his first cross-continental train trip (chronicled in The Great Railway Bazaar), thirty years after the fact. In a 25,000 mile journey, he revisits England, France, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan, and Russia. He travels by train because it is "probably the best way of getting a glimpse of how people actually live—the back yards, the barns, the hovels, the side roads and slums, the telling facts of village life, the misery that airplanes fly over."

In many ways this is a sequel – Theroux often compares his travel experiences in 2005 to 1973/4. But Ghost Train is a stand-alone work, so you don’t have to have read The Great Railway Bazaar to appreciate it. (I’ve read four of his other books: Dark Star Safari, The Elephanta Suite, and My Other Life, and will get to The Great Railway Bazaar eventually.)

Along the way he meets up with fellow authors Orhan Pamuk (Have you read Snow? I loved it), and Haruki Murakami (who I do not love).

Though I enjoyed the book, it’s probably my least favorite of Theroux’s works. I most liked the parts about India (probably because I’ve been there). Also because I could see where people he met on his travels fit into The Elephanta Suite, a book that started as short stories he wrote on this trip.

The book is long (about 500 pages), but most chapters are pretty short, and tell of one leg of his journey (i.e. “Night Train to Ankara”). I found myself thinking of recommending specific chapters to specific friends – like like Jess should read the Vietnam parts, SpeedyKate should read about Turkey. That could be the best way to read Ghost Train, by geographic relevance.

The NY Times did not love it - they think Theroux is arrogant. Which he is, but he is also a great writer...

Telegraph UK was a bit harsh too.

NatGeo Traveler Magazine liked it.

The Places I've Run: Costa Rica

2012-01-11T10:11:00.000-05:00

I left the house – our castle on a mountain – and started down the much-too-steep driveway. Immediately I knew that running was a bad idea. I’d slept too late, waited too long, and now at 8:30 am the Costa Rican sun was already too high, my shoulders too exposed, the sky too blue and the jungle too green to make a run anything but an overheated sweaty mess.

But I’d put on my shoes and sports bra, so no turning back. I made it down the driveway to the Intercostal Highway, hastily applied sunblock already dripping in my eyes. It reminded me of running in Burkina Fasso – the heat and humidity and a general feeling of internal ickiness.

The wide road provided no shade at all, and as I slowly and steadily put one foot in front of the other I could feel my face going all blotchy red and white (as it so flatteringly does when I’m overheated).

I jogged along, past the semi-hidden beach entrances, past the palm-thatched ceviche stands promising “camarones, pescado, mix.” Whizzing by on the road were passenger cars and 18-wheeler trucks, making their way up and down the Pacific Coast towards Panama or Nicaragua, and they in turn were passing each other – sometimes multiple cars at once – with complete disregard to blind turns…or lanes (the Ticos are not known for cautious driving).

I plodded along for 15 minutes before turning around in defeat. Ugh, I’ll finish this run in the pool later. I gasped, wheezed, and struggled up the hill to the house (did I mention that it’s on top of a mountain?), my blood pounding in my ears for minutes after I finally finished.

Immediately I stripped off my sweat-soaked clothes, put on a bathing suit, and plunged into the cold water of the pool. I pushed off towards the edge of infinity (literally), feeling my body temperature normalize and my sense of well-being return.

Welp, that was a bad idea. No more late-morning Costa Rican non-pool runs for me.

Read other "The Places I've Run" posts: Niger 1, Mammoth CA, Brooklyn NY, Niger 2, Petaluma CA, Vermont, Colorado, Burkina Fasso, Boston MA.

Patacones (Fried Plantains with Black Bean Dip), Guacamole, and Nachoes

2012-01-10T10:50:00.003-05:00

I can’t take any credit for this recipe. All bow down to Elysse, the jefa de patacones! (Literally means female plantain chief/boss. Which is awesome.)

Patacones are a common appetizer in Costa Rica - they're fried plantains (not sweet), with a smooth and creamy black bean dip. Aka, heaven on a plate. After some true Tican chefs came to our fabulous vacation abode and prepared this side dish/appetizer, Elysse employed her expert Spanish skills to inquire about the exact recipe process.

A few days later, after an afternoon at the cave beach, we all returned to the house tired and hungry. Elysse, Sean, and Sigal took over the kitchen, chopping and slicing and frying away as the rest of us looked on in hungry anticipation.

What resulted was the best snack ever: patacones and black bean dip, a mixing bowl o’guacamole, and nachos.

The following recipes are not exact, but you get the idea.

Patacones with Black Bean Dip
For the plantains:

Slice 3 plantains about ¼ inch thick.
Heat vegetable oil about ½ inch deep in a frying pan.
Add plantains, only one layer at a time.

Cook for about 3 minutes on each side, using a slotted spoon to turn them. (3 minutes is approximate – turn them when browned.)
Remove from oil onto a paper towel.
Sprinkle with salt.

For the black bean dip:

1 can refried black beans
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon cumin
Chili pepper or hot sauce if you want it.

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan, stirring until hot and smooth.
Enjoy!

Costa Rican Guacamole
We ate an obscene quantity of guacamole this trip. Every day our group went through a mixing bowl, at least.

4 avocados
1/2 cup diced red onion
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Chips for dipping

Smash avocados and mix in other ingredients.

Nachoes
Ok, so who really needs a recipe for nachos? Take everything that is good in the realm of Mexican/South American food, put it on chips, heat and eat!

In this case Sean layered on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil (do yourself a favor and use the foil - it makes cleaning up so easy!).

Tortilla chips
Cheese
Diced red onions
Jalapeños
Refried black beans
Black olives
Hot sauce

Best afternoon snack EVER.

Costa Rica Vacation

2012-01-08T21:34:00.000-05:00

Dear EatRunRead-ers,

I apologize for suddenly dropping off the face of the earth. I really did plan to tell you about my impending trip to Costa Rica, but despite the fact that I am responsible and “serious” and punctual in almost all aspects of my life, I am completely unable to read a flight itinerary…thus I found myself leaving CA rather suddenly a day earlier than expected.

But all that was quickly forgotten as I met up with 10 of my college friends for The Best Vacation Ever, again. (Rumor has it that 20-somethings having fun are incredibly boring to everyone other than themselves. This may be true, but I can’t not share with you the insane awesomeness of this vacation.)

We arrived the first night to a house full of family – Sigal’s parents build the house with a friend and all were there. (Below is our favorite hosts, + the two missing family-members Photoshopped in.)

Eighteen people sounds like a lot (myself, +9 friends, Sigal and her parents and brother, the other couple and their two daughters), but in the sprawling expanse of Villa Mayana it didn’t feel crowded at all.

We awoke the next morning to a gorgeous Costa Rican day. This is the view from my bedroom.

Tropical vacations = minimal activity for this group. We got up early with the sun and birds – long before 7:30 for most of us – and went to bed on the earlier side too. We did approximately one activity per day.

Mine included an epic sun-burning beach walk to the end of the Whale’s Tale, hiking to the waterfall on their property (take a moment to let that concept sink in), a day trip to the beach at Dominical, and a few real runs plus a lot of pooling.

As you may be able to deduce from this blog, I usually do too many things, think too many things, and worry about too many things. But when on a vacation such as this, my mind slowed to match the pace of my days. My usually elaborate daydreams were barely coherent, and I spent a solid amount of time just sitting around chatting or staring into space (or the beautiful sunset).

And reading, of course. Our most gracious hostess, Jo-Mama, immediately engaged me in book conversations – over the course of the week I read The Paris Wife, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and Cutting for Stone. On Facebook there are probably 5 pictures of me reading in different postures/locations around the house and pool. (I'm in the background of this picture.)

We had two particularly ambitious days/activities. Months ago, when Sigal first invited us all on this trip, she suggested a horseback ride to a waterfall – Yes! I am in.

We were each assigned a horse (/pony? They were pretty small, and the guide said they’re from Panama).

Mine was the Karen of the group – every time someone tried to pass us she would give them a look and cut them off. It was great. We rode to a café-ish thing where they gave us fruit and coffee and some sort of corn pancakes for breakfast. Surrounding the tables was some tourist-amusing wildlife: parrots and monkeys and a peacock. (The bug was actually on the screen door of my room...bugs in the rainforest are insane!)

Then we re-mounted like the cowboys we are and rode to the waterfall. It was epic. We looked at the “for looking at” waterfall upstream and got soaked by the spray and water-generated wind. (Who isn't jealous of Scott's Tico-tastic tan?)

Then jumped in the pool at the “for swimming at” waterfall a bit lower down.

One of the guides swam to the waterfall, climbed up, and fastened a rope to the top. With that the Costa Rican Water Park was open for business. I watched a few people climb up the slippery rock face to jump into the pool below, telling myself that it was dangerous and I didn’t actually want to do it.

But of course I found myself swimming through the choppy water and scrambling up the waterfall face, eyes barely open and water pounding on my head. We posed for a picture at the top, and then I jumped!

The other ambitious activity was on my last day full day. Four of us decided to hike to the waterfall on their property (is Costa Rica full of waterfalls? Yes.), and then to explore further.

We made our way upstream via paths and creeks and some impromptu bush-whacking. We discovered another waterfall, plus a field (full of spiders – I should never lead on expeditions), and ended up hiking down someone else’s road to the beach then back to the house.

The whole venture took about three hours -- it's no secret that I love exploring/scrambling over rocks. Maybe the hiking exercise made up for all the guacamole we'd been eating...but probably not.

In conclusion – cheesey alert – the trip was awesome and I love my friends. I’ll blog about our amazing Tico food adventures tomorrow!

Cake of the Week: Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls with Bourbon Vanilla Glaze

2011-12-27T10:41:00.000-05:00

I just awoke to a very dreary, grey, cold, and ominously foggy Northern California morning.

Later on I may psyche myself up to put on some real clothes, leave my book behind, and go on a bike ride or something. But for now I am settled into the warmth of my parents' kitchen, a hot cup of coffee, and the last Sweet Potato Cinnamon Roll left over from Christmas morning.

The best thing about these cinnamon rolls is that there's no yeast involved, so you don't have to worry about them rising. I started these first thing in the morning on Christmas, and about 30 minutes later we were eating them while listening to Christmas music.

Sweet potatoes are relatively new to my family. For some reason I had never tried one until I went to college! But now we're converted -- sweet potato fries, roasted sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes in stew, etc. This is the first time I've baked sweet potatoes into a dessert and so far I am totally pro. The potato gives these cinnamon rolls a slightly pumpkin-y flavor. The rolls themselves are barely sweet, but with the sugary filling and bourbon vanilla glaze, I think they are perfect.

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls with Bourbon Vanilla Glaze (adapted from Chocolate & Carrots)

Go here for the printable recipe.

Filling

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

dash of salt

Dough

2 medium sweet potatoes (I know this is vague - I did about 1 cup mashed sweet potato)

1 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 skim milk

3 heaping tablespoons of buttermilk powder

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, melted and cooled

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon bourbon

milk as needed

Directions

Prepare an 8 inch square baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray and setting it aside.
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Wash the sweet potatoes and poke them with a fork.
Wrap in a wet paper towel and microwave them for 6 minutes, or until tender.
Set aside to cool.
In the meantime, prepare your filling by combine all of the filling ingredients together in a bowl and setting it aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer (I used a spoon and bowl, and once all the ingredients were in I kneaded the dough), and then when , combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix just for a few seconds to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk the skim milk and buttermilk powder together and pour into the mixing bowl.
Scoop the potatoes out of their skins and mash with a fork and add it to the mixing bowl.
Add 4 tablespoons of the melted butter to the mixing bowl and mix with the dough hook attachment for about 2 minutes (this is the kneading part). The dough will be sticky
Turn out the dough onto a heavily floured surface.
Roll out the dough to a 9″ x 12″ rectangle.

Brush the dough with the last 2 tablespoons of melted butter, leaving a 1/2″ border.
Sprinkle the filling mixture over the butter.
Roll the dough up along the long edge (so that the dough is long).

Cut into 9 equal parts using a pastry scraper or serrated knife (You can also cut until 12 equal parts for smaller cinnamon rolls).

Gently reshape cinnamon rolls as your put them in the dish to be more circular (if they became more oval when cutting).

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 12 minutes.
Uncover and bake for another 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Whisk together glaze ingredients. Add milk as needed to thin it to a spreadable consistency. Spread the glaze over the cinnamon rolls.

Serve warm and enjoy! Go here for the printable recipe.

Christmas and Yoga on the Beach

2011-12-26T10:42:00.002-05:00

Christmas is a big deal at my house. My family loves everything Christmas-y and we have very specific traditions.

It starts on Christmas Eve. Every year we go for a hike or beach walk.

This year we went to Dillon Beach, where Sister1 and I did some yoga. She is a much more committed yogi than I am - she and Geoff go almost every day! But I can still throw down a pretty solid standing bow pose, so there's that.

For the eve part of Christmas Eve, Sister1 and Geoff (to whom I have yet to give a blog nickname...but he's my brother-in-law as of last December) go to dinner with his family. (Sister2 is conspicuously absent this year because she's traveling in Peru, so my parents and I watched some Christmas movies while they were at dinner.)

Then when they return, Geoff drives us all around Petaluma to look at the best Christmas lights. We've been doing this for probably 8 years now, so we've perfected the routes.

Then we usually watch Christmas Eve on Sesame Street before going to bed, but this year were too tired, so we postponed that viewing. (Feel free to watch it now. You're welcome.)

And on Christmas morning we open presents!

I made a breakfast of Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls (recipe will be posted tomorrow).

Then I went on The Run before returning to the epic prep that is involved in hosing Christmas dinner for the whole family.

We (i.e. mostly Mama) made shrimp salad, steak, dinner rolls, roasted root vegetables, sauteed asparagus, and leek bread pudding.

When the whole family arrives (cousins, aunts, uncle, and grandma), we snack on appetizers until dinner time. Then we go around in order of age and open presents. It's pretty fantastic. And then we eat dessert - eggnog bundt cake, pumpkin pie, and many many many cookies!

Merry Christmas! Hope yours was wonderful too!

December Dipping in Lake Tahoe

2011-12-23T09:56:00.002-05:00

I'm home in CA for Christmas. My mama and I drove from our home in Petaluma to our cabin in Tahoe, originally planning to ski, but the 4 runs open did not justify the $90 ticket prices (bahhhh no snow!), so we opted out. Instead we went for walks, read books, oh, and dipped in Lake Tahoe.

Let me give you some back-story on "dipping." Mama worked at a camp in Michigan this past summer, and first thing in the morning the kids ran down to the lake to dip. At the end of the summer, awards were given to all the "Perfect Dippers" -- campers who had dipped every day of the summer. Mama, being the competitor she is, was upset -- If I'd known there was a prize I totally would have done it!

So when she returned to CA in August, she decided that as long as she and my dad were in Tahoe, they had to dip in the lake every day. And they did it through October, but then moved back to Petaluma (there's some weird house-splitting going on in my family right now).

Naturally, we just had to dip in December, mostly for the sake of saying we'd done it.

The day was surprisingly auspicious -- December 21, Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. What better day to jump into an icy cold lake?

The water temperature (50 degrees) was only slightly warmer than the 40 degrees air. (Yes, above is an ice-covered rock.)

We drove the one mile down to the lake feeling a bit apprehensive. I'm not much of a jump-in-water person even in the summer, so doing it when there's ice on the edges of the lake and patches of old snow on roadsides did not immediately appeal to me.

We got out of the car and a woman and her husband looked at us like we were absolutely nuts.

"You're not going swimming, are you???"

"No no," responded Mama, standing outside in a bikini in late December. "We're just going to go dip and come back out."

I held out my camera to the woman, "Actually, would you mind taking pictures of this?"

Luckily she obliged and was a very good photographer! Thus, we have evidence.

I took off my fleece and was ready to go.

We walked down the rocky beach and kicked off our flip-flops at the edge of the icy-blue lake. I saw Mama's feet go into the water and thought, Oh my gosh we're really doing this! I took three big steps into the water and plunged.

(You may notice from the picture that I dipped first...not saying it was a race...but I won.)

We came up gasping and spluttering and shrieking.

We trudged out of the lake, shaking and freezing, but surprisingly elated. Our hastily enlisted photographer snapped photos all the while, herself shouting, "Oh my God! I can't believe you're doing this! Quick get a towel you crazy girls!"

It took some time for me to stop shaking, but I'm happy to report that dipping is just as fun and satisfying as Mama promised it would be.

I hope that wherever you are, you're having a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and wonderful winter season!!!

Cake of the Week: Mocha Coconut Fudge

2011-12-19T22:31:00.001-05:00

Every year, my family’s Christmas dinner changes slightly. Sometimes it’s turkey, sometimes beef tenderloin. Sometimes we have roasted root veggies, sometimes green beans. Dessert could be a chocolate torte, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, or any variety of cookies.

But one thing is constant: Auntie Robin’s Fudge. It’s a once-a-year thing that can only be once a year in the interest of special-ness and pants-fitting-ness. One particularly ridiculous year Sister2 ate something to the tune of 20 pieces of fudge! That girl is impressive. Or something.

Anyway, Auntie Robin’s Fudge is her thing, and I would not presume to re-create it for blogging purposes. But I did make my own fudge – a little more complicated, and (dare I say) a little prettier…Mocha Coconut Fudge.

It probably won’t become a Mollie-family Christmas dinner staple (some people don’t like coconut or coffee…I know!), but it’s pretty freaking delicious.

Mocha Coconut Fudge (From How Sweet It Is)

(Go here for the printable recipe.)

makes one 8×8 pan

12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
12 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped
1 can (15oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tablespoons espresso powder (or instant coffee)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
1 tablespoon coconut oil (I didn’t have this and the fudge turned out ok)
1/2 cup flaked coconut, toasted

Spray an 8×8 pan with non-stick spray.

Add semisweet chocolate to a double boiler, and melt completely.
Once melted, add in half of the sweetened condensed milk, the vanilla, the coffee powder and 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil. Stir with a spatula until combined and fairly smooth, then spread evenly in the bottom of the pan. Mixture will be thick. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Add white chocolate to a double boiler and melt completely.
Add in remaining condensed milk, coconut oil and coconut extract, stirring until combined. Remove fudge from freezer and add white chocolate on top, spreading evenly to coat. Top with toasted coconut, then chill in the refrigerator for 60-90 minutes.
When ready to cut, fill a large cup with hot water. Dip a sharp knife into the water, then blot on a towel. Use knife to cut fudge into your desired size of squares.

Note: the melting can also be done in the microwave. I suggest melting the chocolate first on medium power in 30 second increments, stirring after each time. Once melted, add in remaining ingredients and stir until smooth.

(Go here for the printable recipe.)

Weekend Report: Shopping and the Spy Museum

2011-12-19T09:33:00.000-05:00

First things first, it is officially 6 days until Christmas. And 10 days until I find myself in Costa Rica! So there’s that.

This weekend marked the end of my Christmas shopping. By 3pm Saturday, all my gifts were purchased, in the mail, or waiting in my suitcase to go home with me. I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself.

Saturday morning I met 6x6 for a pleasant jog on the Mall (6.2 miles), before heading to Eastern Market with LLC. It was cold, so Eastern Market was not the same pleasant experience of last weekend. We bought a few gifts (which I won’t describe here on EatRunRead since the recipients are readers), then sat down in a warm coffee shop to thaw before venturing to the next leg of our shopping venture: Georgetown.

Georgetown is usually ridiculously crowded, but it wasn’t too bad. I actually really enjoy Christmas shopping – I love finding the perfect gifts for people! We finished our shopping around 3, got free eggnog cupcakes from Sprinkles (follow them on Twitter, trust me it’s worth it), and headed to my house for a late afternoon Christmas movie.

We watched The Holiday while eating popcorn (with pepper - have you tried that?) and our cupcakes on my couch. I’d never seen that movie before – it’s cute, but not particularly Christmas-y. Also, it's very strange to see Jack Black in a romantic comedy...he's still Jack Black.

Sunday started off with a pool run at Wilson. 6x6 and I met at 9am for 90 minutes of fun in the pool...or something like that. Wilson pool is now doing short-course (25 meters) on Sundays, which is a bit of a bummer. I definitely prefer long-course (50 meters), because it means each lap takes a full 5 minutes. Oh well, at least I had company for the workout! (Go here for Wilson's official schedule.)

Sunday afternoon I went to the Spy Museum. I’d never been before, since it’s not a Smithsonian and I don’t usually go to museums that aren’t free. BUT it is one of those DC things you’re supposed to do, so why not? It was pretty ridiculous – cameras hidden in watches, guns in umbrellas, microdots (which remind me of this McSweeney’s article), etc. I think the Cold War is fascinating, so I enjoyed it. There were also exhibits about the history of spying, everything from the Trojan War to ninjas to the American Civil War.

And that, my friends, is that. And as of 9:30 pm tomorrow I will be back on the West Coast - YAY! :)

My mama and I were supposed to go skiing, but there isn't much snow, so we may just go up to Tahoe and hike around.

Best of the Week #42

2011-12-16T10:16:00.003-05:00

Alright, it’s time for Best of the Week. I hope you’re excited about the impending weekend. Less than 10 days until Christmas! And if you need an exact count:

My most popular post this week was S’mores Cookies. Here is a testimony from my cookie-eating co-worker Matt: Rarely does a cookie come along that transports you back to your childhood days of camping in the woods with your family. This is that cookie. Delicious.

This is awesome – 10 major news stories of the past 12 months created in Lego by Flickr members.

My friends and I totally agree with this.

There’s a total lunar eclipse this weekend (last one until 2014). But boooo we won’t be able to see it here on the East Coast. For those of you in the West: The spectacle will last nearly three and a half hours, starting on Saturday at 4:45 a.m. Pacific Time. Totality—when the full moon will be completely blocked from direct sunlight—will start at 6:05 a.m. PT and last until 6:57 a.m. PT.

Somalia’s Insurgents Embrace Twitter as a Weapon. Most notable from this article: "Shabab fighters recently held a quiz show for children. (The prizes were grenades and an AK-47.)" Yeah, think about that...

LLC sent me this article about a Hunger Games cookbook. My reaction: insane/love. I think we’re going to have a Hunger Games dinner party before the midnight showing of the movie.

Each of the recipes comes with an explanation of the textual origins of the dish, and it’s amazing to see just how many significant or weird food references the Hunger Games trilogy contains.

The Harvard Sailing Team is probably my favorite thing on YouTube. “Girls Will be Boys.”

Durban: Winners and losers

For some reason that I've not quite figured out, lots of people in the dying embers of this UN climate meeting were asking "who's a winner, and who's a loser?"
There are loads of perhaps more rational questions you could ask, the most pertinent being: "What has this done to curb climate change?"
But what the heck - winners and losers is as good a way as any to set up a quick review of the meeting - so here goes.

I’m not a vegetarian, but I want all of these. Five Hearty Holiday Vegetarian Main Dishes
Meatless main courses guaranteed to satisfy everyone at the dinner table. Mushroom Risotto with Caramelized Onions - ummm yes please!

I love when McSweeney’s publishes articles about DC. "The Long Walk: A Column About Washington"

To put it another way, we’re constantly approaching tragedy here—let me check my calendar for the next scheduled government shutdown—and we’ve learned to roll with it.

Also from this column, the word “seriocomic.” I wouldn’t have believed it was a word if the google didn’t tell me so…

Do you speak runner? As in, do you know what this means? Have you ever had this kind of exchange?

Person 1: "I'm wiped. I just did three at 6:30
then eight by 400 with 200 recoveries."
Person 2: "I thought you still had that ITB thing?"
Person 1: "I did, but I foam-rollered it and now it seems okay."

I challenge you not to cry when watching these videos. It’s a whole blog of reunion videos of soldiers coming home.

I might want to go see this movie tomorrow, but I’m not sure…Unbreakable: The Western States 100. Has anyone seen it? Is it good?

25 clever ideas to make life easier:

This article is hilarious and I love it. It’s about a serious subject (the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court), but it’s sooooo over-the-top that when I started reading I thought it was a joke.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the name synonymous with the International Criminal Court, belongs to a man whose heavily slurred Spanish accent and five o’clock shadow have inspired fear, respect and caricaturing in Kenya and many other nations. A man for whom the international system is but a stage for, some would say, his matador-esque manner of prosecuting the world’s bad/worst people.

Elephants and Africa – two of my favorite things in this photo series.

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, but have a few more things to find...hope you have a great weekend!

Cookie Week Day 3: Apricot Bars

2011-12-15T10:07:00.001-05:00

These are ideal breakfast cookies – LOTR-Emily’s Apricot Bars. I don’t know if words can express how much I love them…but clearly I’ll try.

They’re in the shape of biscotti, but with a scone-ish texture and mild sweetness (minus the usual scone-y dryness). A biscotti-shaped cookie-scone? Yes. That’s exactly what this is. They have dried apricots for chew and walnuts for crunch, and since LORT-Emily uses whole wheat flour, I can easily convince myself they’re semi-healthy.

They go really well with coffee - definitely the kind of cookies that get me excited about the morning!

Apricot Bars
(Go here for the printable recipe.)

1 cup butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda, blended with 2 teaspoons cold water
3 c whole wheat flour, 1.5 c white flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
8 oz chopped dried apricots
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Cream together butter and sugar.
Beat in 3 eggs.
Mix in 1 tsp baking soda that is blended with 2 tsps cold water.
Add flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Fold in dried apricots, and chopped walnuts.
Chill the dough for at least 1 hour, then shape into two long rectangular logs about ¾ inch thick on one greased baking sheet. Bake 25 min at 350 degrees.
Cool for 10 minutes, then slice the cookies into bars.
Spread the bars on a cookie sheet and bake for another 15 minutes until they are almost beginning to get brown around the edges, but still chewy in the middle.
Cool completely before storing.

(Go here for the printable recipe.)

Cookie Week Day 1: S'Mores Cookies

Cookie Week Day 2: Lacey Oatmeal Cookies

2011-12-14T10:04:00.002-05:00

I have made the executive decision that this is officially COOKIE WEEK! This occurs as a reflection of my recent diet, the number of cookie pictures on my camera, and the annual mid-December world-wide obsession with all things cookie.

Today’s recipe comes from 6x6. Or, more specifically, 6x6’s Aunt Michelle.

The recipe is super-simple and these cookies are insanely addictive. For our weekend Cookie Exchange, 6x6 made them with chocolate chips.

My only concern about these cookies is that they’re very fragile. My mama has this life rule that broken cookies don’t count. If that is the case, then I may or may not have recently consumed a whole lot of nothing...

Lacey Oatmeal Cookies
(Go here for the printable recipe.)

1 c butter (if you like non-lacy cookies, do 1/2 c butter and 1/2 c shortening)
1 1/2 c light brown sugar
2 1/2 c quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 c flour
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
Optional: 3/4 c nuts and/or 1 c choc chips and/or ½ cup raisins

Directions:

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add egg, vanilla, oats, flour and remaining ingredients.
Drop tablespoon-sized cookies on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8 – 10 mins.

Easy!!!

(Go here for the printable recipe.)

Cake of the Week: S'mores Cookies

2011-12-12T22:04:00.000-05:00

We’re long past s’mores season - camping and bar-b-q’s and bonfires will have to wait for the spring. But why is it acceptable to have chestnuts roasting on an open fire in December, while marshmallows have to wait for June?

Well, I can’t wait and you shouldn’t have to either. These cookies are s’mores, winter-style: they have a graham cracker base, chocolate chip cookie dough with mini marshmallows mixed in, and then a Hershey’s chocolate on top.

No fire, no smoky-smelling clothes, and no bug repellent required. They travel really well, so they’re a good Cookie Exchange contribution. And most importantly, they taste awesome.

S’Mores Cookies (adapted from Lovin' From the Oven)

Go here for a printable recipe.

Ingredients:

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (The original recipe called for 11 tablespoons butter. If you want your cookies to be more bar-ish, then do that.)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into square

Directions:

Cream together the butter and both sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla.
Gradually mix in the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper or tin foil. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.
Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). For thicker cookies, use less graham crackers and more dough.

6. Place rounded tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. Use your fingertips to slightly press down.

7. Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top.

8. Bake for an additional 10 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. The foil should make it easy to lift the cookies out of the pan and break them apart.

Go here for a printable recipe.

Weekend Report: Eastern Market and Christmastime!

2011-12-11T22:56:00.001-05:00

It could be the cold weather, or perhaps its all the decorations? But let's be real here, most likely it's the fact that about 90% of my weekend's food consumption consisted of cookies, cookie dough, cookie crumbs, and chocolate.

This can only mean one thing - it's Christmastime!!! And after a Sunday of Eastern Market, Cookie Exchange, and a Christmas party, I am feeling the Christmas spirit.

My ideal Sunday afternoon involves sitting on a bench in direct sunlight on a chilly-ish December day, sipping a cup of coffee and nibbling on a cookie while working my way through the crossword puzzle. And that is exactly what I did. Kitty-corner from my sunny bench at the entrance of Eastern Market a saxophonist played Christmas carols, and upwind a grove of Christmas trees smelled awesome.

I know most people love Eastern Market in the summer, but I definitely prefer it in the winter. Instead of feeling trickles of sweat drip down my back and needing an iced coffee for both temperature control and hydration, I could calmly peruse the craft tables and actually enjoy the feeling of a hot coffee cup warming my hands when I eventually sat down.

From my extensive people-watching experience I can tell you that people at Eastern Market on a Sunday afternoon fall into 4 categories:

Small groups of girlfriends meeting up to shop
Couples
Couples with dogs
Couples with children

And there isn’t much variation in clothing. Women wear coats, colorful scarves, and boots. Men are in jeans, fleeces, and hats. Everyone wears sunglasses, and most carry a paper cup from one of the many coffee shops in the area.

I saw a surprising number of people with timing tags from the race I was supposed to run attached to their shoes. (I made the "smart" call Saturday night not to run…but I’m still a little bummed about this situation.)

The crossword puzzle beat me at about the same time the sun left my bench. And the saxophonist had apparently come to the end of his repertoire – I’m pretty sure I heard "Away in a Manger" more than twice…so around 2:30 I finished the last of my coffee and headed home.

Retrospectively, I probably shouldn’t have eaten the cookie with my coffee, since my next Sunday activity was a Christmas Cookie Exchange with my three best friends. And we take our cookies seriously.

We exchanged (and ate) chocolate crinkles, gingerbread with almond frosting and coconut, apricot walnut bars, s’mores chocolate chip cookies, mocha coconut fudge, and oatmeal lace cookies. (I'll post recipes over the next couple weeks.)

After that late-afternoon sugar coma, my Christmas celebrations continued. Four of my roommates are soon to move out, so we planned a house Christmas dinner party complete with a gift exchange, tree to trim, and sugar cookies to decorate.

(I know, I should probably quit my day job and become a cookie artist...right???)

And here's an update from the Gchats this morning...no name attribution, but YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

8:46 AM

I ate two gingerbread cookies last night when I got home.

I left all of the baked goods in my freezer, thank God, or else I'd have eaten them all!

At one point last night my internal dialogue went something like this-

"Well you could take the gingerbread out of the freezer but then it would be frozen and you don't have a microwave. but i guess you could put it in a saute pan, that might be weird, but it would work. Okay, put it in a saute pan. No, don't do it..."

And so on and so on.

I ended up not sauteing the cookie...and somehow, that is counted as a victory...NOT sauteeing a gingerbread cookie

This is what we've come to.

Hope you had a happy holiday weekend!

Best of the Week #41

2011-12-09T09:28:00.001-05:00

This week had its ups and downs…despite a minor hip flexor situation, I am still hoping to run the Jingle All the Way 8K this Sunday. In the past 5 days DC has given us a weird combination of disgustingly rainy and gorgeous weather, which I have not been able to take advantage of (refer back to aforementioned “situation”), so I’ve been a wee bit cranky-pants.

On the brighter side, the CAR holiday party was last night – love my teammates and coach! (Coach George in his new CAR bathrobe.)

My most popular post this week was the Weekend Report: Jersey Boys and Hot Chocolate 5K/15K. I imagine its popularity has something to do with all the controversy surrounding that ridiculous race. Because I wrote the WRR article I find myself peripherally involved in this controversy…major bummer. I do not like receiving hate mail, thank you very much!

Anywho, here are your weekly links:

I did Zumba once and did not particularly like it…this article is snarky and funny.

“You could do it naked. You could do it half-naked. You could do it alone. You could do it with 65,000 other people.”

Zumba classes are populated by people who are either amazing dancers or believe themselves to be amazing dancers. Zumba is the kind of freeing experience that causes its attendees to fling themselves about in delirious passion, so moved that they do not even notice when they have Zumba’d their own bodies into unnatural and inadvisable contortions.

I love the muppets. Mrs. Piggy sings "Baby It's Cold Outside." (singing starts at 1:40)

A while ago I read Life With Picasso. This series of pictures is pretty cool and reminds me of that book.

If you happen to be an IR nerd, check out the debate on the International Criminal Court jurisdiction in Sudan.

A second argument, however, is much more interesting. South Sudan could invoke the Eichmann “precedent” and argue that a state should have the right to give the Court retroactive jurisdiction over any and all crimes committed against its citizens, even if the state did not formally exist at the time of their commission.

China building new airport the size of Bermuda (source)

The Chinese are building a new airport just outside of Beijing, because the other two giant airports they have in the area just can't keep up with demand. When it's finished, it'll be the largest airport in the world by far, at approximately the same size as the entire island of Bermuda.

I find this deal on a trip to Turkey incredibly tempting…someone stop me? SpeedyKate just got back from Turkey and her pictures look fabulous!

I’m not usually into this sort of thing, but these engagement picture s on Tartlette are adorable.

LOTR-Emily told me about Coeur de Pirate, a French singer - great work listening!

I want to go to here. Who’s in DC? Who wants this pizza? "The Countryman pizza with black truffle, fontina cheese, and a soft egg. The yolky truffleness was ridiiiiiculous."

The title of this got me: Lost puffin found at Winchester hospital sex clinic. How can you not click on that????

Pretty bad-ass: I Believe I can Fly ( flight of the frenchies). Trailer

I Believe I can Fly ( flight of the frenchies). Trailer from sebastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

Have a great weekend!!!

Literary Bite: Bossypants

2011-12-08T10:45:00.001-05:00

Tina Fey is funny, Saturday Night Live is funny, and 30 Rock is really really funny. Therefore, well duh I liked Bossypants, Tina Fey’s biography. This is definitely a 1 day read – the style is conversational and the chapters short and amusing (you’ve probably already read it…seems like I’m the last kid in the literary pool in this situation).

But for a book by a comedian, Bossypants isn’t just making jokes. I thought it was really interesting to read about Fey’s career path and how she fought against “women aren’t funny” sexism to rise to the top of her profession.

The title comes from her role as boss of over 200 people on her show 30 Rock: “Because ever since I became an executive producer of ’30 Rock,’ people have asked me, ‘Is it hard for you, being the boss?’ and ‘Is it uncomfortable for you to be the person in charge?’ You know, in the same way they say, ‘Gosh, Mr. Trump, is it awkward for you to be the boss of all these people?’ I can’t answer for Mr. Trump, but in my case it is not.”

She starts with her childhood in Pennsylvaina, then on to University of Virginia and working in improv until her start on SNL and later starting her own show. In case you have been living under a rock (no judgement here, that's where I usually reside), Tina Fey is the comedian who did the hilarious Sarah Palin impressions on SNL.

Some great quotes from the book:

"A development deal means they pay you while you’re thinking, which is a pretty great deal, unless you’re like me and you feel constant anxiety that you haven’t thought of anything yet. (My ability to turn good news into anxiety is rivaled only by my ability to turn anxiety into chin acne.)"
“By the way, when Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have overextended yourself, you need to examine your fucking life.”
“It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don’t like something, it is empirically not good. I don’t like Chinese food, but I don’t write articles trying to prove it doesn’t exist.”
“To say I’m an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair.”
“Gay people don’t actually try to convert people. That’s Jehovah’s Witnesses you’re thinking of.”
“A coworker at SNL dropped an angry c-bomb on me and i had the weirdest reaction. To my surprise, I blurted, "No. You don't get to call me that. My parents love mel I'm not some Adult Child of an Alcoholic that's going to take that shit.”
“I was a little excited but mostly blorft. "Blorft" is an adjective I just made up that means 'Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.' I have been blorft every day for the past seven years.”
“MAKE STATEMENTS also applies to us women: Speak in statements instead of apologetic questions. No one wants to go to a doctor who says, “I’m going to be your surgeon? I’m here to talk to you about your procedure? I was first in my class at Johns Hopkins, so?” Make statements, with your actions and your voice.”

Ok, I just spent far too long reading Tina Fey quotes online…read the NYT review and also a great piece on Slate to learn more about the book. Which, in case you can’t tell, I enjoyed and you should read it!

Vacation Announcement

2011-12-07T10:26:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry guys, but I am uncharacteristically uninspired in the blogging realm today. I could blame the weather (rain), but really it's probably just me....

So instead of writing something unamusing and uninteresting, I'm just going to take today to GET EXCITED about my upcoming vacation plans!

First, I'm going home for Christmas, which will involve some Lake Tahoe skiing time.

And then, dun dun dunnnnnn, I'm heading to Costa Rica to re-create the most fabulous vacation ever! That's right, in a matter of weeks this infinity pool will again be mine...

Hope you're having an exciting and interesting Wednesday!

Cake of the Week: Chocolate Crackle Cookies

2011-12-06T08:35:00.001-05:00

People get really excited about cookies at Christmastime. I get excited about cookies all the time, but since it’s December, and I just made these, and I’m giving them away as a gift, let’s be festive and call them Christmas Chocolate Crackle Cookies!

The recipe comes from my good friend Mary at Bake Break!. She just started this fabulous blog from her home in Montana, and her pictures are gorgeous! Mary and I go way back to the days of summer camp in Colorado. We were cabin-mates one year (she did rafting and I did mountaineering), and then both worked at camp for a couple summers after that.

When she started her blog, I was pretty psyched to see what would come out of her cookie-loving kitchen. And so far I have not been disappointed.

I made these cookies last night – be warned, you must refrigerate the dough for 2 hours! This minor but significant factor ensured that I was up until far-too-late-o’clock baking cookies…but I didn’t really mind, the dough was delicious! And the resulting cookies taste as good as they look – they’re dense and chewy, more like brownies in cookie shape than traditional cookies.

My office “secret snowflake," will not know what hit her!

(Go here for a printable recipe.)

Chocolate Crackle Cookies (adapted from Bake Break!)

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
2 teaspoons meringue powder + 2 tablespoons water (or you can just do another egg)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup powdered sugar

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
In a stand mixer or large bowl, beat butter until smooth and fluffy. Add melted chocolate and sugar, mix until incorporated. (I mixed the sugar into the melted chocolate to cool it down because I was worried it would completely melt the butter.)
Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time, mixing fully between additions. Mix in the meringue powder and water. Stir in flour mixture.
Let the dough chill until firm, about two hours.
When dough is cold, roll into small balls before coating in powdered sugar and baking on a greased cookie sheet at 350 F for 10-13 minutes.

Notes and Tips:

Chilling this dough is absolutely essential – plan accordingly.
If you have trouble with the dough sticking to your hands, try rolling the dough with wet hands. Don’t get the powdered sugar wet though…

Enjoy!!!

(Go here for a printable recipe.)

Weekend Report: Jersey Boys and Hot Chocolate 5K/15K

2011-12-05T09:30:00.001-05:00

On Friday night I saw Jersey Boys, a musical full of music that I didn't know I knew so well! (How’s that for a confusing sentence to start your Monday morning?)

But really, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons are awesome. You probably know a lot of their songs – Big Girls Don’t Cry, Bye, Bye, Baby, December 1963 (Oh What A Night), Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – to name a few.

Before the show, SpeedyKate, Ex-Co-Worker-Rachel, and I met for dinner Ella’s Pizza. We split the special that had calamari, anchovies, and capers, the “Genovese” (pesto, parmesan, fingerling potatoes & prosciutto), and the “Pucillo” (tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella, prosciutto & fresh arugula). I think the Genovese was my favorite – potatoes on pizza are surprisingly delish!

And after the show, thanks to SpeedyKate’s awesome connections, we got a backstage tour! We walked through the dressing rooms, then onto the stage where we saw all the set pieces and quick-changing areas. They have all real instruments, which are pretty awesome, and “historically accurate” props.

On Saturday morning, I got up before the crack of dawn to cover the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K for the Washington Running Report (read my article here).

It’s a good thing I wasn’t racing - the race was a logistical nightmare: traffic, cold, and an hour-late start. "I think the logistics were set in such a way to weed out the weak,” said my teammate Chris. (If I were racing, I definitely would have cried multiple times through the experience.)

But everyone I talked to did surprisingly well and enjoyed the course, so that was a win - congrats to all my CAR teammates!!!

I may not have run the race, but after a 5:30 wake-up and series of transportation shenanigans, I definitely deserved a good brunch! I met LLC, 6x6, and LOTR-Emily at Matchbox, a pizza place that also has amazing breakfast. I went for the lox and flatbread (cream cheese, capers, red onion, oven roasted eggs), and we split the cast iron skillet cinnamon rolls. Sooo basically brunch was huge and really good.

Then Saturday afternoon (the day just kept going and going and going), I stopped by the National Gallery for a brief visit to my favorite exhibit, then walked around the Sculpture Gardens and Capitol.

Sunday I really wanted to go see Zoo Lights and eat fro-yo, but unfortunately that was not to be...there's always next weekend!

Best of the Week #40

2011-12-02T09:24:00.001-05:00

Happy December!!! That means we’re getting into Christmas season, aka my favorite season! But before I get all cookies and carols and Christmas trees, it’s time for Best of the Week. And this is two weeks worth of links, thanks to Thanksgiving. Sooo here we go!

My most popular post this week was Thanksgiving Break in Pictures. I'm from a beautiful place, no?

Speaking of beautiful places, I also live in a beautiful place right now. I LOVE this. A lot. See an Amazing Stop-Motion Video of DC at Night:

District Nights from Drew Geraci on Vimeo.

This article is hilarious and true on all counts: “10 Things 90s Kids Will Have To Explain To Their Children.”

Liking the Backstreet Boys gave you a bit more of a cultured palate, as there was no clear Diana in those Supremes. Nick was kind of the wholesome, if northern-Florida-redneck safe choice (save for his humiliating younger brother, Aaron). Brian was the shy, sensitive type. AJ was the hottt, dangerous meth addict. Kevin Richardson was mute with sexy, sculpted facial hair. No one liked Howie.
“I wanna really really really wanna zig a zig ahh,” has a meaning, and all true nineties kids know it, but we must never share it. Like the Illuminati, it must remain between us, the keyholders. With great power comes great responsibility.

A win for BU – go terriers! “Just today, Unigo ranked Boston University the best place to go to school in the United States.” (article here)

Amusing:

New Zealand is the least corrupt country in the world (it scored a 9.5 on a scale of 1-10), North Korea and Somalia tied for last place with scores of 1. Read the full results and enjoy the infographic.

Gum chewing makes us smarter! Now I feel totally justified…

Those randomly assigned to the gum-chewing condition significantly outperformed those in the control condition on five out of six tests… The sugar content of the gum had no effect on test performance.

This video is going viral, I’m really impressed with how well-spoken this guy is. Powerful stuff.

Congo Election in Pictures (look at images 19-30).

And speaking of the Congo (because I usually am), my post about Congo (A Brief History of Congo's Wars) was on the Christian Science Monitor this week. AND at work I finally launched the brand-spanking-new The Crisis and Our Programs sections on our Congo website. I can't take all of the credit, but I'm going to go ahead and take most of it...

I find octopi fascinating. Seriously, I could (and maybe have) watch the one at the zoo for hours. Read the article.

Smithsonian's National Zoo has a feisty new grapefruit-sized octopus that is lacking only two things: its sexual identity and a name.

Running quote of the Week:

"Overtraining is the biggest problem incurred by runners who lack the experience or discipline to cope with their own enthusiasm." - Marty Liquori, former American record holder for 5,000m

I also like this quote. (Remember when I read Heart of Darkness?)

“Moulded in the template of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, an eighteenth century explorer novel, today’s Congo is often seen as a dysfunctional jungle state of horrific mass rape, endless conflict, incurable tropical diseases and blood coltan. These largely Western constructions rarely go beyond the singular, stigmatising tropes of Conrad’s savagery to understand the complexities of post-conflict nation building. As the Congolese prepare for another flawed, but necessary ballot, it’s clear the creation of alternate, multiple Congo narratives is possible.” Tendai Marima writes in Al Jazeera

I read a blog about writing blogs, called Will Write for Food. I thought this post offered some wise advice for any and all bloggers.

Comparing is evil. But it’s normal too. I try not to let it crush me. When it does I can’t write anything because I am too busy beating myself up…After falling apart for a while and questioning myself and all my abilities the one thing that brings sanity is to stay true to yourself and keep in mind why you are doing this in the first place. Many want to find fame and fortune through blogging and photography, and many do. Most don’t.

I want this gingerbread house!

There’s a sugar-cookie-shingled roof, Romanesque Smarties columns, and stained-glass windows (the sugar versions melted, so now they’re acetate sheets). Outside, marzipan children play amid gumdrop trees and Rice Krispie treat bushes on a layer of edible shimmer. Now, in the dining room, a candy-filled train acts like a (cute) moat around the castle to protect against kids with wandering fingers.

Hmm ok, I guess that's all. Is anyone running the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K this weekend? If so maybe I'll see you there! :)

Literary Bite: All the King's Men

2011-12-01T10:57:00.001-05:00

I can't say that I loved All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, but I can see why it's considered an American political classic. The 1946 NYT review said, "Warren's "All the King's Men" is magnificently vital reading, a book so charged with dramatic tension it almost crackles with blue sparks, a book so drenched with fierce emotion, narrative pace and poetic imagery that its stature as a "readin' book," as some of its characters would call it, dwarfs that of most current publications."

I do agree with that part...the part I can't get on board with is the statement, "Here, my lords and ladies, is no book to curl up with in a hammock, but a book to read until 3 o'clock in the morning, a book to read on trains and subways, while waiting for street cars and appointments, while riding elevators or elephants."

My problem with this book is that I had a hard time getting into it. I found myself daydreaming while reading All The King's Men...part of this could be that I've been distracted with many things recently...but part could be that there are boring segments that are totally skimmable.But I kept reading to though the end for two reasons: 1) it's a book club assignment and as a matter of pride I finish all book club books, and 2) The parts that were good were really good. Especially towards the end.

All the King's Men is the story of the rise and fall Willie Stark, of a political titan in the Deep South during the 1930s. "The Boss" rises from poverty to become a corrupt politician and presents the classic questions, does power always corrupt? And do good intentions justify questionable means? The book is about Willie Stark, but really it's the story of Jack Burden, Willie's right-hand man. Jack uses his historian skills to dig up dirt on the boss's enemies, but in the course of doing so uncovers uncomfortable secrets about his own life. At its core, the novel is much more philosophical than political.

I'm glad I read All the King's Men - it ended well, and as I said, I got into the story by the end. So this isn't an un-recommendation, just not a shining endorsement. Proceed at your own risk.

Making a Difference with Charity Running

2011-11-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is a guest post by Jackie Clark, who blogs for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance's blog. Jackie has a personal blog, Jackie's Arc, that shares health and fitness tips. Jackie has been participating in charity marathon running for the past 3 years. To stay in shape she runs 5-6 times a week either outside or at her local gym. Feel free to contact Jackie with any questions @ jclarkmca@gmail.com.

Many people take their good health for granted. Until recently, I never thought anything at all about being able to take a deep breath or get up out of bed, feeling ready to take on the day. However, people who are battling cancer often struggle just to maintain a halfway normal routine. Some days they cannot get out of bed at all. Because they cope with so many physical demands of their illness, they cannot go out in the public and fight for awareness and research funding to help find a cure for cancer. People like me are needed to advocate for these patients.

I like to run charity races for cancer patients. My family has witnessed several relatives fight cancer, as a matter of fact. My great-uncle, who served in the Navy, developed mesothelioma and lost his battle against it. His cancer, as with so many other mesothelioma patients, left him unable to breathe, eat, and go to the bathroom unassisted as the disease progressed. When I run these races, I keep him in mind, knowing that each mile I conquer makes a difference in the lives of patients like my uncle.

These races are important. They help raise funds for cancer research, and they also provide money for basic necessities for patients and their families. Without this funding, a cancer patient's survival rate may not be as high as what it is now. In fact, in most cases if the cancer is caught early, a patient has a very good chance of surviving the illness. As the website www.breastcancermarathon.com indicates, with 100% of money going to research and assistance programs, cancer patients need us to keep racing.

But people often ask me what I get out of participating in these events. Why would I continue to run if I myself do not have cancer? I participate for many reasons; the most important being that because of my relatives, I know firsthand how the disease affects people. I would rather run and raise money than sit idly by, hoping that others continue to advocate.

Second, scientific studies have shown that exercise is an important part of keeping cancer and other diseases away. By keeping fit, if I ever do develop cancer, I can fight it better by having a healthy and fit body rather than one that is out of shape and unhealthy. Running is a fun way to advocate for people who have no way to advocate for themselves. It also gives me the benefit of staying in shape and having fun running with others. Yes, it is a physically demanding activity, but the rewards of running general charity races outweigh the physical efforts of them.

Cake of the Week: Pumpkin Streusel Pancakes

2011-11-28T21:51:00.001-05:00

My home is kind of a scary place when it comes to food…and by that I mean there is a lot of it, most things involve buttercream, and I don’t have to do anything except appreciate and lick the frosting off my fingers.

If I lived there full time, this would probably become an issue (and by that I mean I’d have to buy bigger pants). But since I only go home once in a blue moon, it’s instead a perfectly acceptable vacation from reality and venture into the realm of all-desserts-all–the-time.

The tour guide on this sugar vacation is, of course, Sister1. She bakes and I eat. And then I let her and her husband mock me for my whipped cream consumption. Trust me, it’s a win-win.

One morning over Thanksgiving break, she decided to make us pancakes (us = me, Sister2, my dad and mama, and Geoff - the aforementioned husband). But not just any pancakes – Pumpkin Streusel Pancakes.

They were absolutely insane. Because not only are they pumpkin pancakes (yum), but they have a cinnamon streusel cooked into them (double yum), and then, because we are intensely awesome eaters, we slathered them with cream cheese spice frosting, syrup, and whipped cream (quadruple yum to the max!!!).

Sister2’s recipe is based on this one from Two Peas & Their Pod, but with some modifications (noted below in pink).

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the cinnamon streusel:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

To make the pancakes:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup milk (Sister2 used buttermilk)
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 large egg (Sister2 used flax egg substitute)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

First, make the cinnamon streusel. In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Mix together with your hands or a fork, until you have a crumbly mixture. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg, pumpkin, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and whisk until combined.
Heat a griddle or pan to medium low. Coat with cooking spray. Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto heated skillet. Add 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon streusel. Cook on the first side until bubbles begin to form, about 2-3 minutes. Carefully flip pancake over and cover very generously with cinnamon streusel. Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Continue this process to make the rest of the pancakes.
Serve pancakes warm with maple syrup and butter. (As previously mentioned, we did it up and used frosting and whipped cream…be prepared for the ensuing sugar coma…it’s worth it.)

Thanksgiving Break In Pictures

2011-11-28T00:00:00.001-05:00

I went home for Thanksgiving this year, and here's what it looked like...

After picking me up at the airport in San Francisco, my mama and I stopped by the Legion of Honor to see a Pissaro exhibit. This is the view from the museum (you're looking at the Marin Headlands).

Let's make this easy and all agree that my friend's baby is the cutest in the world.

My mama's rolls (recipe here). They are flaky and buttery and my family's favorite holiday food.

Sister2 showed me and Amy (our corgi) her newly acquired dance "moves" in the kitchen.

The big deal of this Thanksgiving was that our entire family was together for the first time ever. Here are all the cousins, plus our grandma.

Amy, trying to blend in with the floor.

What you're drooling over here is a pumpkin streusel pancake with syrup, cream cheese spice frosting, and whipped cream, compliments of Sister1. Yes, that is the intensely awesome sugar coma it sounds like.

It's tradition that on my last day home my mama and I always go on a beach walk. We barely fit it in this time, but made it out to Dillon for a beautiful sunset.

Mama looking cute.

And finally, on Saturday night before I headed back east, we did one final Thanksgiving dinner for just my immediate family. I made another turkey...

And my sisters picked it apart while my mama carved. (Don't worry, this is totally normal in my family. I'm not sure what that says about us.)

Hope you too had a wonderful family-full Thanksgiving break! And you know what this means...now it's Christmas season...get psyched!!!

Pumpkin Hummus

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's only a matter of hours until Thanksgiving! I hope you're ready...I know I am!

If you need something to bring to a party, or think your own feast might need a little spicing up, make this Pumpkin Hummus. It's a great seasonal dip -- it's savory, just slightly pumpkin-y, has some of the usual pumpkin pie spices, but also a little kick. (I know, it sounds weird, but trust me, it's really good and insanely easy.)

Pumpkin Hummus

Ingredients:

2 cans chickpeas, drained

About 3/4 of a 15-oz can pumpkin

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 shake of cayenne pepper

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. (I said it was easy, didn't I?)
Serve with toasted pita bread, carrots, etc.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Cake of the Week: Cranberry Upside Down Cake

2011-11-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

I’m on my way home!!! I have spent Thanksgiving many places –- at the homes of friends and families of friends -- in Boston, Virginia, and Niger. But thisyear I’m going home to California for the big Thanksgiving celebration for the first time since high school. And I am SO EXCITED.

I love going home. It always involves excessive family time: shopping with my sisters, running with my dad, fighting over the cross-word with my mama (dibs for this week!). Plus, of course, some good quality Petaluma-style chilling: meandering downtown, taking our dog (Amy) for walks, losing myself in a book on my parents’ bed. All things good.

And this year, for the first time ever, my entire family will be together. That’s my immediate family, plus my cousins’ family, grandma, and aunt (all of whom we usually spend holidays with), PLUS LLC’s family! YAY! My aunt will host the feast, so I don’t think I’m making anything for the big day.

(You may remember that I already put in my fair share of Thanksgiving cooking time.)

As you make your last-minute Thanksgiving plans, consider adding this super simple and insanely good Cranberry Upside Down Cake to your menu.

I made it for my feast, and no joke, one of the guests ate 4 pieces! He said it was the best cake he’s ever had. I love when I get that kind of reaction...And this cake really was delish, I wish I’d made two!

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake (from Brown Eyed Baker)

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Bake Time: 30 minutes

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1¾ cup fresh cranberries
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Ina small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

2. Rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch cake pan with 2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter (it will be a really thick layer of butter). In a small bowl, stir together ½ cup of the granulated sugar with the cinnamon and allspice. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Arrange the cranberries in a single layer on top of the sugar mixture.

3. Using an electric mixer, cream together the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and ½ cup of granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, until well combined.

4. Spoon the batter over the cranberries in the pan, and smooth the top. Bake until a thin knife inserted inthe center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

5. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake; invert onto a rimmed platter.Store any leftovers at room temperature.

Weekend Report: Pre-Thanksgiving #3

2011-11-20T22:04:00.001-05:00

Friendsgiving, Thanksfriendsing, Pre-Thanksgiving – whatever you want to call an excuse to eat feasts for the entire week leading up to the big T-giving day is alright with me.

For the third year in a row, I prepped my house, roasted a turkey, and hosted a mix of roommates, friends, friends-of-friends, and family to celebrate the start of the Thanksgiving season. It was, as always, a process.

I started Saturday with a 10-miler, to properly prepare for a weekend of eating. (I love this run!) Then it was house maintenance time. I channeled my inner old man and handled the extreme leaf situation in my front yard, all the while grumbling to the trees that they’d better not drop any more leaves on my beautiful walkway.

I don’t own a rake, but a snow shovel worked surprisingly well! Two full trash cans and two trash bags later, I was extremely pleased with my accomplishments.

The grocery store was surprisingly uneventful – for once Soviet Safeway had everything I needed! (We call it the Soviet Safeway because of the long lines and lack of food. To give you an idea, “While Belarus canonly dream of recreating life in the USSR, we live the dream every day in Dupont Circle. An optimist would say the shelves were half full, but on most days they’re just totally empty. And the lines go on forever because Dupont hipsters enjoy the ironic semblance of waiting for bread rations…")

Anywho, I bought a 20-lb turkey and carted it home. Brining worked really well for me last year, so I wanted to repeat the process.The only problem was, how do you brine a toddler-sized turkey without a bucket or bathtub??? I contemplated a few unreasonable options -- maybe it’ll fit in my biggest bowl? I could block up the sink and do it there? -- until genius struck and I pulled out a trash bag. What you see below is a 20-lb bird (ceremoniously dubbed “Trudy”), in a bag, in a bowl, filled with brine, and duct-taped into shape. Win!

On Sunday Trudy made her way into the oven at 12:45.

All was going relatively well party-prep-wise -- I made pumpkin hummus and a cranberry upside down cake (recipes tomorrow!) -- until I checked on the bird around 4:30. She was drowning in her own juices!!! Seriously. Turkey juice almost filled the pan she sat in. Uhoh. I tried to take her out of the oven, but 20+ lbs of turkey and juice is no joke, and the flimsy aluminum pan was useless.

I panicked, called my mom (no answer, she was skiing), panicked some more, contemplated the situation, and finally came up with a plan of action.

Ok, alright, let’s do this… (Crisis like this are when it’sok to talk to myself.)

I slid a cookie sheet under the flimsy pan, braced myself, and went for the lift. Ok ok ok oh oh… All went well until the pan tilted on its way up to my stovetop, and Trudy juice sloshed all over. Oh-God-oh-no-oh-God-oh-no-oh-God-oh no no noooooo!!!

I got her to the counter and sprinted upstairs for paper towels to wipe the worst of it from the inside of my oven. Then I used a measuring cup to scoop out most of the extra juice.

With that crisis averted, Trudy returned to the oven, covered in foil, to finish cooking.

The rest of the party went smoothly. I love potlucks because you never really know exactly what you’re going to get. Our menu included: turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, dinner rolls, mashed sweet potatoes (sans marshmallows, thank God!), roasted sweet potatoes and apples, salad, homemade cranberry sauce, cheese and bread, pumpkin hummus (recipe tomorrow), apple oat bars, cranberry upside down cake, apple and pumpkin pies.

All was awesome! And the best part, of course, was enjoying it all with my family of friends here in DC!

Countdown - 3 days until Thanksgiving!!!