Helen's Loom

a waste of Whoppers

Above, you should see two of the four forms of chocolate that are in the batch of what I'll call Double Malted Chocolate Cookies that I baked yesterday, from a recipe I found on the internet. Pretty good, but as is, it's not a keeper. They needed to be more chewy and less poofy/risen (here's a photo of them, baked); perhaps I'll try one of the suggestions here. The main travesty is that the malt balls don't have that fabulous crunch any more. IT'S JUST WRONG. Ah well, I hope the coworkers enjoy them on Monday.

Notably, I didn't use Whoppers; SuperTarget was out of them. But they did have chocolate malt balls in the Jelly Belly bins, and the chocolate on them is far superior to what's on Whoppers.

Labels: cooking, food

posted by arah @ 3:58 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

I'll make mincemeat outta you

This is what's currently in our biscotti bin: Mincement & Walnut Cantucci.

As an American, the first time I heard the term "mincemeat" was probably from dialogue in a cartoon of some sort, maybe Popeye. Luckily, a visit to the British Isles sometime in my late teens fixed that, and I got exposed to mince pie. YUM.

Still, I'd never baked with it until last week. You can buy mincement in a rather large jar, or in a condensed vacuum pack, which is what I chose when the recipe called for a fairly small amount. These cookies are quite tasty, even though they are cantucci of the butter variety, so they are softer, but not as crunchy as I generally prefer.

For these, I adapted the recipe of the same title, in The Best 50 Biscotti Recipes. This little cookbook has a nice collection of pretty creative concoctions.

Labels: cooking, food

posted by arah @ 10:17 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

I'm sorry I grabbed your butt

How can a race go poorly, when it starts with a teenage girl grabbing your butt?

This did happen to me, within the first mile of the Trail Loppet Half-Marathon, yesterday. The first 2 miles were pretty much a conga line, as the trail was fairly narrow, and even with only about 250 people running, the effect was still similar to that of 5+ highway lanes, attempting to enter the Boston tunnel. The two girls were chatting along happily behind me, and then one of them tripped on a root and stumbled into me. She giggled and apologized, to which I responded, hey, no problem, just don't knock me down!

So, after that fabulous omen, my first trail run, which was also my first half-marathon distance race, went very well: I didn't get hurt, I didn't get lost, the scenery was fantastic, and I even beat my expected pace/time.

I hadn't had the opportunity to scope out the course, but I'm glad I didn't: it was a wonderful adventure, and there's no way I could have found the course without the blue race markers, anyway. It went all over, and in and out of, Wirth Park. It even went into chainlink fence apertures that may not have existed prior to the course-setting.

At the start my husband encouraged me to try to get up towards the front, but I was a little hesitant to do so. For the shorter road races I'd done until now, I'd had to spend the first half-mile hurdling slower runners, in order to get to a good spot for my pace. I didn't think that would be a problem, given that I knew I had to dial in a sustainable slower pace for this distance. I moved up ahead just a little, in the starting queue. Then, in the first mile, a lot of people passed me, at the first opportunity. Hmph, their time would come. I have a good second wind.

The range of terrain was immense, for an urban park: it was steep, and in a variety of orientations: quite a few paths were along the sides of ridges, at pretty steep angles better suited for -walking, not running- billy goats. There were a few short flat paved stretches, but in general, it was rolling hills all the way, as the posted topo map had indicated. In my months of training, I'd been teaching myself to walk up all steep hills that were longer than about 10 steps. We all held to this policy, for the hills after mile 3. Why did we all run up the first few steep ones? Adrenaline? Ah well, clearly it didn't hurt my stamina, near the end.

There was grass, packed dirt, and pavement in various degrees of decay; I think this range may have something to do with my sore shins today. Thankfully, at least one of my weekly training runs was on pavement!

The width of the trail also varied, as it transitioned from narrower-than Arah's-shoulders single track (forcing me to fast-walk) all the way out to paved urban bike trail width. The singletrack made for fun movement, but didn't leave a lot of opportunity for passing. More often than not, the runner behind me & myself just seemed to be pacing each other. We'd get a wide spot and no passing would be happening.

There are some great photos here that show some of the terrain & congestion, especially in the "Half Marathon Mile 1" batch.

Fuel and hydration-wise, I did quite well, aside from foolishly skipping the 4th water stop. The 2nd and 3rd ones were pretty close together, so by the 4th I felt a little waterlogged. Then along came mile 11 and I started to see some of the familiar, unwelcome signs of slight dehydration: cramping stomach/torso muscles. I knew the mile 12 water -and banana- stop was coming up, so that reassurance allowed my breathing to get back to normal. Silly girl, tricks are for kids. Bring your handheld water bottle, next time! After that, it was pretty smooth, "wahoo!" sailing.

My average mile pace was 10.7 minutes; with a few 12-minute miles in there, down to a 7:30 minute mile, near the end, as well, though I doubted the accuracy of that mile marker. My pace felt pretty steady (for running in rolling hills), though I did surge to pass a few people each mile. Maybe that was just a remarkably flat (or downhill) mile? I've done 7:30 miles in tempo runs, but my turnover just didn't feel rapid enough to warrant that split.

I came in 18th out of 40 women in my division, and 142nd overall (out of 232). It appears that I was in a tough division- the women's winner was also in my division, and she came in 12th overall!

This trail run was most excellent fun, partly made so by bringing along a fan club to cheer me on: the loving husband, and my pal Julie. They were also most useful after the race, when we went to Isles Bun & Coffee and a bought a cinnamon roll that NO human should attempt to consume all on their own. But oh, was it tasty!

Labels: running

posted by arah @ 11:25 AM 2 Comments Links to this post

wee tim'rous beastie

Well, perhaps not so wee: he's about the size of my thumb.

This creature was waiting for me on the back stoop, when I got home. This cicada -the first I've ever seen!- is far more welcome than those charming feces-ejecting rock doves who sometimes congregate back there.

Labels: garden

posted by arah @ 8:10 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

not much left for tomorrow

One of our favorite weeknight meals is to make pizza; invariably we take one of two pretty simple recipes and adapt it a little, based on what's in the fridge. Tonight's was based on this Triple Jump Pizza recipe.

Normally -per the guidance from the other recipe- we slice up the prosciutto, and tonight we found out why. It may be easy to cut the whole pie into 8 slices, using the pizza wheel (Steve's weapon of choice) or the butcher's knife (mine). However, biting into it makes eating pizza an even more interactive experience. Not necessarily a bad one... just a potentially messy one. And, most likely we exceeded the healthy limits of cured meat volume. The flavor was definitely worth the cost of the experiment!

Tonight's variation proved to be quite tasty; today's notable substitution was the Mama Mary Thin and Crispy Crust (and, not burning it, this time). Thus far, in terms of crust, we've most liked the refrigerated pizza dough you can buy at Cossetta.

Our favorite substitution (one we used tonight, as well) is a bottled artichoke-garlic bruschetta spread, in lieu of minced garlic.

Labels: cooking, food

posted by arah @ 7:43 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

It's fall, but it's not

It's not fall: I haven't put away my sandals, yet. Some of my sunflower are still in bloom; my cosmos sure are. As is my Golden Wings rose. The basement isn't done yet. The maple sure as heck hasn't dropped its leaves (that'll happen in November). The Honeycrisp season is not in full swing yet. The climbing gym is still using its "summer" hours.

It's fall: look at the date! I want to go clothes shopping. Birches are dropping leaves. Kids are in school. It's getting light so late, and dark so early, now! And the TV season.. well, it's still awful. Yay for DVDs. I'm loving "The Closer."

And, like the big change that awaits a kid going back to school, so goes my choice of hobby. I'm four days away from my big race, and my interest in running is waning. Which is a little ironic considering that I'm really enjoying this taper week of low mileage. I can actually get in a run, over lunch hour! Things that are more appealing: I'm eager to do a little gardening, maybe plant a shrub, lay down a few sacks of mulch before the Big Freeze. Perhaps tend to that knitting project (or two) or sewing project, or wedding scrapbook project. All of these options have been languishing in neglect for not months, but years, just waiting for my Serial Hobbyist tendency to swing their direction.

Stay tuned.

posted by arah @ 4:44 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

blue and green

A food stylist I am not (no, that's not Shrek, melted in a Pyrex dish), but if you think Mexican food, this photo looks better. Tonight, hubbie and I made & ate Chicken Chilaquiles, using a recipe we adapted from Cooking Light. Our adaptation: soy milk for the milk (it's all we had); Jack cheese with habanero, rather then with jalepeno, peppers; and blue corn tortillas for the tortillas.

Yum!

Yesterday, I did my last long training run before my half-marathon race. My training plan called for a 12-mile run; I'm estimating my pace at Afton to be an 11-12 minute mile, so I did the math & ran for 2 hours & 20 minutes (that last 4 minutes seemed trivial- esp as combared to last week, I was adding 30 minutes to my run.

It was pleasantly chilly, and I got rained on for about a half hour. I LOVE THIS WEATHER, FOR RUNNING. I adjusted my course in order to swing by my car for the Gore-tex jacket, but by the time I got there, the ran had long stopped, and I was half-dry, and certainly warm enough. So, I got a Fig Newton out of the trunk (I'd eaten my packet of gu about 45 minutes prior), refilled my water bottle, and headed to the southern part of the park. My favorite part! The terrain seems more varied in that area, and it doesn't feature long spells up on the hot prairie. Actually, yesterday's run didn't feature any long hot spells. Suddenly, I liked the prairie areas better. The grasses are getting so tall, at this time of year. It was pleasant to run along the side of the trail, letting the wet brushes hit my legs.

I used the occasion to test-drive my new Dirty Girl Gaiters, which performed swimmingly: not a speck of grit got into my shoes or socks. And, I looked like a fabulous freak with my blue leapard-print spats. Victory! This, in combination with the red buff around my head: I was the lycra weird-clothing item poster child. The rest of me had fairly normal running attire on. Shorts, tech tank, long-sleeved wind jacket. Short Smartwool running socks. Sunglasses. Which sadly got too fogged up, in the rain. I was relying on their prescription, so for the 20 or so minutes before I got the fog under control, I was risking life and limb against tree roots that I couldn't see. Luck was on my side, however.

I finished up with a half-loop in the wildflower loop near the parking lot - it's a funny trail that feels like a dude with a mower and some booze had a joyride- it meanders a bit. It's s good way to knock of the last few minutes of a timed run. Reminds me of the figure-8's I had to do, when I was rehabbing my knee, after my surgery: nice ankle workout. Which frankly, I was surprised I could handle, after 2+ hours of running. My left ankle in particular was speaking to me; it's been a little stiff lately and I've been icing it at night.

Otherwise, things went quite well. About an hour into the run, I started to feel like a sort of [wet] Energizer bunny: I had a stream of energy, not high-powered energy, but steady endurance, that just kept me going. There were several moments when I didn't seem to feel my legs; they were stumps that just kept pumping up and down. I'm still trying to decide if I'm okay with that feeling. I've always had a particular knack for endurance in general, I'm very drawn to more powerful types of energy movement. In comparison, they are so rewarding, at least, in an instant. But this, this is weird. It's very... yin.

Why am I running? Weight control, fitness, vanity... A need for attainable, short-term goals. A competitive need, to a degree. Presently, as I'm not walking as much, it's the way I'm getting out and seeing the streets or the stuff on the trail. It's time to think. I work at a computer all day, so my runs are my opportunity to experience time and space in a more lively and linear way.

I read a few articles recently that give me other ideas for why people run; maybe they apply to me as well. Kristin Armstrong writes a great column for Runner's World, and in her recent post she talks about the yogic notion of practice... how there are certain things that you do regularly that are part of a daily devotion to learning and growth.

Another post was written by a non-triathlete who stumbled into spectating at a triathlon, and came upon these revelations: "...It's about making a promise to yourself and then making it happen. It's about being, for one minute, something more than you are during your every day..."

These are things to consider, when my Sept. 20 half-marathon is done and I'm wondering if I'll want to sign up for another race, and if so, what distance, what type of race?

Labels: food, running

posted by arah @ 9:51 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

The Omnivore's 100

So, this fellow Andrew has posted a list of foods that he thinks every omnivore should try at least once in their lifetime. Seems like a fun enough game. I've bolded the ones I've tried (sorry, the link style makes that a little confusing):

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet peppe
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I'd like to add these, because I absolutely love and recommend them:
101. Tarte flambee
102. Black rice pudding
103. Spare ribs roasted with just soy sauce and Lawry's seasoning
104. Socca (or farinata)
105. Grappa
106. Curried okra from this awesome Indian restaurant not far from the Museum of Natural History in New York.
I'll probably think of a few more.

Want to play? Visit Andrew's original list for the unbolded version of the list.

Labels: food

posted by arah @ 9:59 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Protesting ... peace?

Well, I'm sure if you're watching the news lately, you're seeing more about the hurricane than about the RNC (the big republican convention) event here in St. Paul.

But just in case you do see pictures from St. Paul of the police in riot gear, and tear gas bombs, rest assured that so far this week, hubbie and I are ok and are also able to slip by the excitement to get to work and on time.

We do live within a couple miles of the action - and just 4 blocks away from the site of the Friday police raid of a place where a national anarchist group has its temporary local headquarters (they have rented an unused theatre building).

Some good photos of the ugly stuff are here.

I went for a run last night that took me within a quarter mile of the excitement (not intentionally), and upon my return, found that the bridge that was between me and my house -the High Bridge- was blockaded. Not just with squad cars and police officers, but with huge dump trucks-one for each lane on both ends of bridge. Nobody was getting on that bridge. This had been set up within an hour. Luckily, the police were calm and helpful, and within 10 minutes or so they started letting pedestrians over.

On the other side there was quite a gathering, of local onlookers as well as some of the types of people just looking for trouble. And the KARE-11 van. Before I crossed, one woman, about my age, maybe a little older, even commented to me, "oh, I really should have been a kid in the 60s. I just love this stuff! I wonder if they'd let me in?" Oh, good lord. If she were just talking about the peace marchers, that's fine. And probably likely, in retrospect. Or maybe she's a molotov cocktail/bucket-of-urine -throwing type. Who knows. I went home to cook some Dover sole for dinner.

I now think -and hope- that my bridge was closed for a short while because tear gas was wafting up to it, from below, and if so, I'm really glad I didn't wander into that stuff. I watched a few boats with bunting on them pass below the bridge, and wondered if there were dignitaries of some sort, who needed the bridge secured in order for them to pass, but that seems a bit ridiculous. In the past month, locals have been informed of the planned road closures, but all notices were footnoted with a disclaimer about unplanned closures that may occur, in reaction to protester actions. I'd already planned to do most of my commutes via bicycle this week, anyway. And even so, I'll have to modify my usual route.

The prior 6 miles of my run were a little different from usual, as well, but mainly in terms of scenery. I saw no fewer than 10 or so squad cars, 20+ police officers parked at various corners, and plenty (20+) of the people they were worried about: young, kind of dirty-looking, darkly-dressed "protesters" from out of town, milling about, all within a mile of the convention site. Now, it's very possible that many of them were College of Visual Arts students (similar outfits are de rigueur), returning to school for the fall semester. But I doubt it. The huge art pads & plastic tool boxes were conspicuously missing.

I'm not sure what to make of them, but they do have a certain look, and they're not particularly friendly-most I passed would barely make eye contact, even up on Ramsey Hill. As I finished getting a sip of water from a fountain at the foot of the bridge, a few of them approached, saying, "oh, man, you mean that works? We've been looking for water all over!" I told them, "Yep. There are about 5 functioning fountains within a mile of here." The fountain did have some graffiti on it - and it was dry when I got there- so perhaps their assumption was understandable. Clearly, these folks aren't from around here. Cool, come visit, spend a little cash, maybe. I'll help you stay hydrated, even. Please don't blow up my town, however. Don't blow up the RNC delegates, either.

While there was a planned march for peace yesterday that went off swimmingly, the troublemakers appear to be these people who... just like to make trouble. They're not protesting anything other than public order (and maybe perceived or real police brutality). The police showed up in riot gear from a good reason. If your group is about anarchy, and some of you show up wearing face masks, why wouldn't they? Good grief.

Now, I hope those people from New Orleans are doing ok. Hopefully they've all left.

Labels: running, saint paul

posted by arah @ 3:01 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

The b is back

Ok, the blog is back. I have such grandiose plans for its next incarnation (inwebation?), but alas, they are still vague, as well, and I have stuff to say.

I'm still running; my prep for the Trail Loppet half-marathon (Sept. 20) is going well but why oh why have I gained 5 pounds? Of course I know: all that hill running is building muscle. But that in turn is building muscle mass that I have to carry over 13.1 miles of hills and dales (that's about 2 and a half hours of running, I'm estimating). Meh. Grr.

Oh well, at least I look good while training: I bought a few new running skirts (one from Atalanta, the other from RunningSkirts), and have been sporting them around the 'hood and on various trails around town. Variety is the spice of life! Also on the retail therapy front: out of curiosity, I got a pair of Injinji socks. I generally don't deal with foot blisters, so these ingenious socks aren't really getting a chance to prove their worth in that way, but I am surprised that they don't bother my feet at all. I remember once trying similar socks, as a kid in the 70s (and yes, every toe was a different color). Having fabric between my toes drove me nuts. Not so, now! The benefit for me: just looking at my toes with sock-fingers on them makes me laugh! It's a great way to start a run. Muppet feet!

Stu and I, or at this point, I should really say Stu, is making progress with our prep to finish the basement this fall. Oh, such a spacious basement it is!

I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife, after a rather long bout of not being in a reading mood. This is a very enjoyable book.

I'm still climbing like a fiend (2-3 times a week), in spite of the fact that I have to wait til next year for my next climbing trip. I attempted to lead climb Jump Start (here's a great photo of some of that route) down at Barn Bluff. Got 98% there. Spooky finish!

Greg posted a great story about the importance of DIY in our country. While I'm not super-inclined to get all Miz-Fixit in order to benefit my country, I think I may have come upon a solution for my own ennui. I'm a creative person, but aside from cooking a new recipe or two each week, I haven't been creating much. I think I'll be a happier person if I start making stuff or fixing things I hadn't ever fixed before. Once a week, shall we? This will be a fun experiment. The tomato salad dressing I made yesterday, that counts for last week. Some candidates for upcoming weeks: that wedding shawl I still haven't knitted, a new design/idea for this blog, a baby shower gift for Kat (sewing! I'd better dust off that Elna)...a new basement. Fun.

Labels: books, climbing, creativity, running

posted by arah @ 11:56 AM 0 Comments Links to this post