My first visit to Minnesota was in 1991 when I went on a bike tour with a crazy bunch of high school and college aged folks. It was a ten-day tour through the southeastern portion of the state. I barely made it into the Twin Cities, but from that moment, I was in love. Maybe [...]
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Nothing Lost, Nothing Gained
I actually expected to gain this week. With the race on the weekend, I took the liberty of eating pasta, pie, and well, everything else, or at least it seemed that way.
Graham Heaven
I’ve been doing a slow but steady purge of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) from our house. A large part of that reduction was eliminating soda from my diet. I’m far from perfect on this, and even though some items still live in my pantry and creep into my daily diet (I might have a little thing or Wheat Thin Fiber Select crackers and Baked Lays), I feel really great about making that adjustment. More importantly, I don’t want Sophie to grow up on a steady diet of HFCS.
Twenties
This was a challenging week food and exercise-wise, so I’m surprised and happy to see that my body’s still shedding unnecessary weight. It was my highest mileage week to date (21 miles over four days) and also the highest calorie-wise. I blame the graham crackers.
Apple Crumble Nom.
This is the recipe. I didn’t use puff pastry, and instead made a batch of pie dough from a Martha Stewart recipe, halving the butter. Because half a cup of butter is enough for a pie, right? I’m sure there are more buttery pies out there, but it tasted fine to me.
Blind baking ensured the crust didn’t get soggy on the bottom. I highly recommend this technique.
Happy Fourth of July, everyone!
Because I’ll try (almost) anything once
Life’s an adventure, right? Let’s add this recipe to the Tried Once and Never Again (especially since a good bar of bittersweet chocolate was sacrificed in the process). Brownies should taste like brownies, even if they’re low-fat or reduced calorie. Something came over me — a brownie fever — and it had been so long [...]
Suits, Cake, and Me Time
April 3, 2008 was the last day I wore this suit, and not comfortably. It fits. Nicely. I never thought I’d get back into this suit. Okay, maybe not never, but I feared it might be eaten by moths by the time it happened. the same moths, by the way, who have been munching on a few of my J.Crew cashmere sweaters. Let’s just say I’m not feeling very charitable toward bugs at the moment.
It turned out I needed to lose 14 pounds. That’s it! Why didn’t I do this sooner?
Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Tomatoes and Feta
I can’t tell you if I’ve ever eaten quinoa before. It’s possible I’ve had it in something and didn’t know it, but I know I’ve certainly never made it myself. I’m starting to get a little bored with the food I’m keeping in my regular rotation. I mean, how many turkey burgers and spinach salads [...]
Facebook, flaxseed, and trying to bake a little goodness into my life
Like millions of people, I have a Facebook account. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I check it fairly regularly, usually when I’m bored at work or trapped on the couch with the baby while she’s eating. In short, this is often. I’m linked to hundreds of people, some very good friends, some who [...]
It’s a Recipe! Italian Turkey Burgers
I knew the only way I’d be able to make this new healthier lifestyle work was to be prepared. This meant not leaving for work without having thoughtfully packed a lunch, otherwise I’d be too tempted to wander to the fast food court across campus. It would be the same with dinner. If I didn’t [...]
Good Things: My Moop Market Bag
I came across Wendy’s Moop Shop a few weeks ago. I wish I could remember who pointed me in her direction, because I’d love to thank them. Her bags are beautiful, well-crafted, and well, beautiful. It’s as if someone got inside my head and asked me what I wanted my bag to look like and [...]
Moving on outweighs the costs
Two weeks ago, I dropped my kitchen scale, one of my most valued tools in the kitchen, and it seems to be broken. At the time, I was in a terribly good mood, which is the only reason at the time it didn’t seem like such a big deal. “I’ll look at it,” Scott told [...]
You say tomato, I say make this sauce. Now.
I feel a bit cheated that I only found out about this recipe today. Many people have talked about this sauce on their blogs (too many to list here), and if it weren’t for them, I never would have found this recipe. I was skeptical that one could make a flavorful tomato sauce without the [...]
Not a Recipe (Twice-Baked Mash)
I’m convinced that Thanksgiving by itself is not the reason so many people find they’ve gained a few pounds after the day is over. It’s the leftovers. In our case, we ate Thanksgiving leftovers in some form for four days straight. After Day Two we ran out of stuffing and gravy, but we had a [...]
Thank God I saved the leftovers
The cafe in town occasionally serves this chicken coconut curry soup that is TO DIE FOR. I have been trying to find a recipe that comes close and have failed so far. This post is not about that recipe. To my knowledge, there is not a single restaurant in town that serves French Onion Soup. [...]
Baggu!
I was feeling guilty about the piles of plastic shopping bags that we have thrown in balls in the pantry at the house. Then I remembered about Baggu bags and ordered six. Six seemed like a good even number. I use these for groceries and miscellaneous items, for the beach, and for toting around baby [...]
When life gives you lemons, make these
Going to Pat’s house is like having a own culinary library at my finger at my disposal. She subscribes to numerous cooking and home mags. I love looking through the ones that I would never buy myself but have gorgeous pictures and occasionally, recipes I think are worth trying. This recipe is for the famed [...]
The post where I lose all of my vegetarian readers
With Thanksgiving coming up and kids present for this year’s dinner (it’s an every other year thing) we’ve been planning our menu for the past week. It’s pretty basic Thanksgiving fare: Turkey, (garlic) mashed potatoes, corn, peas, cranberry sauce (homemade, boo yah), dinner rolls, sweet potatoes, cranberry jello, and pie (pumpkin and apple this year). [...]
Comfort me with frozen pastry
I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but our range is a piece of shit. I’d date it at almost 20 years old, a hand-me-down Westinghouse something or other that Scott’s had in this house for years. Electric, uneven heat, door that won’t stay closed on the oven. Keeping it shut while baking [...]
Baked, a Saturday Edition
I’ll admit that when it comes to baking, I always go to the things I love most, pies and cookies, especially chocolate chip. I’ve posted about this before, how I rarely repeat a recipe, which isn’t hard to do considering all of the different versions there are out there on the web alone. Over the [...]
The Very Best of Intentions
Every fall we have a hot dog roast / potluck to welcome new and old students to campus. Not that Lutherans need an excuse to have a potluck. I’m pretty sure if Luther would have had room for more Theses at Wittenberg, Number 96 would have read, “Thou must provideth fruity jello salad and sloppy [...]
Catching up
I have so much catching up to do, on this site, and in LIFE IN GENERAL. I’ve been fairly pleased with my return to running, even though I missed the long run I planned on doing this weekend. Before you send angry email, I am completely aware that trying to play “catch up” on marathon [...]
The Mother of All Pet Products
You have not known joy as a pet owner, namely an owner of a pet who sheds constantly, until you have used The Furminator. Yes, many have used it with excellent results. I first read about it on Jon Armstrong’s blog (sorry, can’t find the link now). I thought, this would be a wonderful tool [...]
Big Tuna
Last month I spent an obscene amount of money on groceries, given the incoming salary. The local IGA runs a good deal on produce, and I just can’t resist a good deal. We’re trying to stock healthier options in the house, so I loaded up on fruits and veggies. Tonight’s low-key dinner consisted of a [...]
Fourth of July Cheese
Every few months it seems I’m replacing the damn power supply for my Powerbook. Yeah, it’s old but it’s what I’ve got and there’s no money to replace it. I’m starting to wonder, as I purchased yet another one today on eBay, if the problem’s with my machine. Is it frying them? I don’t know [...]
Farewell to Ale
We said goodbye to our friend Alessandra last night. She’s moving back to Italy to put her newly attained grad degree in Industrial Archeology to work and live for awhile in the real world. Houghton is no place to accomplish that. Dinner turned out to be quite the production, and I don’t think we’ll have [...]
Movie Theater Popcorn
.flickr-photo { border: solid 0px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: center; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } I picked up a small bag of this at the Co-op. Sadly, my lunch consisted of a few bites of the bag and nothing else. I was preparing a ginormous dinner [...]
A plan
If you are looking for a guaranteed way to gain weight and realize you’ve gained it when it’s too late to claim it’s “just water weight,” then follow my plan* for success. Start working from home, preferably a job that doesn’t require you to meet anyone face-to-face, except for a trip or two every six [...]
Cobble Cobble Cobble
.flickr-photo { border: solid 0px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: center; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Triple Overtime is a rotten way to lose a game that could have been the Stanley Cup winner. Fortunately, peach cobbler softens the blow. This is Cook’s Illustrated’s version of peach [...]
Just like in the Bush, but with subtle notes of plastic
Here’s a tip: when baking bread in the oven — bread that’s been rising for hours — you may want to remove the saran wrap from the bread before popping it in the oven. Just a thought. Ever start a recipe, get halfway through and just KNOW in your deepest darkest place that it’s not [...]
Chips and change
I’d been getting outrageously high electric bills for the past four months. I have electric heat in my tiny closet-less apartment, so a high bill in the winter would not normally seem unusual. However, I haven’t run the heat in my place for over a year. Just call it my summer home, or the place [...]
Almost No-Knead Bread
Click on the photo to go to the flickr page with the recipe links and information. I’m about to go running now, since Scott and I will undoubtedly devour this entire loaf of bread tonight when he gets home from work. I love Cook’s Illustrated. We’ll probably try to make another one tomorrow, for when [...]
Brownie obsession
So I’ve been into brownies lately. Found this one while flipping through a magazine and think it could be possibly the best brownie recipe I’ve tried. So here you go, Lori!
Better than Ikea
One of my favorite meals from childhood is Swedish meatballs. It was probably the creamy sauce, because I am all about sauce. I asked my mom for the recipe she used and her response was, “Swedish meatballs? I never made those.”Yeah, bullshit, mom. How she cannot remember this, I have no idea. My obsession for [...]
Gyro at St. Clair Broiler
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Socks
I’m in a sock knitting frenzy as of late, but can’t seem to get motivated to finish any for anyone but me. This is mostly due to the fact that I have this insistent fear I will run out of yarn, so I end up finishing them to fit my size 6 mini-me feet. Most [...]
Birthday present
Total surprise to replace my broken one. And I love the color!
Dear New Yarn Store Whose Identity I Will Keep Hidden,
I finally got around to stopping by yesterday. It was the perfect situation: I had to run M into town and by the time I was swinging back around on the way home, you were going to be open. It was a little out of my way, but what the hell! Gas is only $3.20 [...]
And now we eat
Pasta PrimaveraFrom Cooking Light May 2007This recipe is a winner. I’ve made it twice this week (halved), providing me a dinner with leftovers. I use fat-free half & half and throw in some spinach with the tomatoes for good measure. I haven’t made it with “real” half & half, and I suspect that it thickens [...]
Famous family sighting
So I’m just minding my own business, doing some knit blog surfing, and I come across this entry on a site. Lo and behold, my cousin Suzanne is modeling the Michael Kors cape! This happens all the time, though I hadn’t seen her in print for awhile. Then again, I don’t read as many magazines [...]
These are the days for knitting from one’s stash
At the beginning of 2007 I said I would not buy any yarn, unless it was for knitting a gift, or maybe for a pair of socks. I’ve done pretty well, with the only yarn purchased being some cheap cotton yarn for some dishcloths (which have been gifted, mostly) and today’s purchase, two skeins of [...]
Starting Over
When I started this sweater, I joked that it was The Laid Off Sweater. I thought it would be a good gauge of how long I stayed jobless. I received my copy of IK on Monday and was casting on before going to bed. My only real obligations for the next two days were running, [...]
Butter Pecan
.flickr-photo { border: solid 0px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } God, I’m not even a real ice cream person, but I could eat this every day for every meal. You have never had ice cream until you’ve had homemade stuff. Seriously.
Irish Monkey Socks
.flickr-photo { border: solid 0px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } When you live in a place where winter lasts from November – May, you find things to do. I knit socks. .flickr-photo { border: solid 0px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } [...]
Suomalainen pannukakku
Finnish pancake that got a little burnt. Since this is the only one I’ve ever had, I can’t comment on whether it was any good. I guess it’s time to pay a visit to the Suomi Bakery, a Finnish breakfast favorite in Houghton. I’ve never been, but I hear the food is good. And they [...]
Michigan House Cafe
.flickr-photo { border: solid 0px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } The Pepperdew appetizer at The Michigan House Cafe. They fill the peppers with a creamy cheese mixture and serve with garlic toasts. Tasty. .flickr-photo { border: solid 0px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment [...]
KBC Sampler
Martin was in town so we hit the Keweenaw Brewing Company (KBC to the locals) and The Library Brew Pub. Evidently I do not go out enough, because when I do, I decide to have 3+ beers. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I do recommend the sampler at the KBC, though. For $3 you can sample six [...]
