Yoga? Me?

We've been making out like bandits on our farm share this summer. Every week, we drop by the farms booth at the farmer's market and get a huge amount of local produce (as above). We've been eating a lot of bruschetta and cucumber salads (though we don't have a good use for bell peppers, as neither of us are really excited about them). I am especially partial to the adorable fingerling potatoes we get in three colors. It's actually rare for the strawberries to make it home from the market, so you can tell we were restrained this week. We have been trying to use our produce in different ways, like this onion/tomato focaccia:


I bought a groupon for a local yoga studio this summer, and just started going this week. Previously, I've always dismissed yoga as being too touchy-feely. Then again, I didn't think much of stretching or cooling down after a workout either. Here in Boulder it seems like half the people you meet are yoga enthusiasts. Yes, this town is full of hippies. But it's also full of phenomenal athletes, many of whom do yoga to keep up their core strength and flexibility. I did my first session of hot (100F) yoga this afternoon, and despite feeling a little ill at times, I got some unbelievably good stretches. Though I probably won't dish out the $160 a month for a membership to this studio, I hope to make the most of my month of yoga and to incorporate some poses into what has become my regular stretching routine.

Fall has set in for real here. The students are back, the temperatures have dropped, and soon enough we'll be getting those crazy chinook winds out of the mountains. Even though I'm not taking classes this semester, my schedule is a lot more structured than in the summer. I started tutoring at the engineering student center, and I really enjoy going through problems with students. Maybe I miss have a concrete answer to a problem and then being able to move on the the next problem. Or maybe I just miss math and physics. They seemed so magical when I studied them in college.

Matt and I have been watching old episodes of Good Eats. If you've never seen it, you should. It's cooking for nerdy people who wonder why things happen the way they do in the kitchen. In an episode about cinnamon buns, he makes this ginger ring bread that I couldn't resist trying on my own.

Citrus-Ginger Ring
from Good Eats

For the dough:

• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 6Tbsp melted butter
• 6 ounces (3/4 cup) buttermilk or yogurt
• approx. 4 cups flour
• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

For filling:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• zest from 2 medium lemons
• 2 Tbsp candied ginger , finely chopper
  
• 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 Tbsp melted butter

For the glaze:

• 4 ounces apricot or other jam
• 2 Tbsp candied ginger, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp water

1. For the dough, combine yolks and egg (should be at room temperature) and sugar, butter and buttermilk. Whisk in 2 cups of the flour, yeast and salt until combined. Add 1 1/2 cups more flour and knead for 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes on high and 5 minutes on low in a mixture. Add more flour if the dough is sticky. It should be soft, but not sticky. If mixed in a mixer, knead by hand for 30 seconds. Oil a large bowl, place dough in it and let rise until double (2-2.5 hours)
2. For the filling, mix sugar, flour, gingers, and zest until combined, and set aside
3. When the dough is risen, roll into a 12x24 inch rectangle. Brush the 2 Tbsp melted butter on the dough and sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough, leaving one inch along one of the long edges. Press it in lightly. Roll the dough and seal using the inch you left free of filling. Pinch it together real good. Place on greased baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
4. Place the ring in an unheated oven with a pan of boiling water and let it proof there for 30 minutes. Remove from over
5. Preheat oven to 350F. When ready, put ring in middle rack and bake 30 minutes.
6. While ring bakes, combine jam, ginger, and water in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 5 1-minute intervals on high, stirring each time. Brush over the warm ring when it comes out of the oven.
   
7. Serve as soon as possible.

Dog Days

Every summer since I was in elementary school, I've always made a huge list of things to do, books to read, people to visit. And I never accomplish most of the things I aim to do. So it continues with this summer. I've been travelling a fair bit, to conference, visiting home, visiting old friends. Thus I have gotten very little done at work, and feel like I am never at home.

I had a hamstring injury in April, and didn't realize how serious it was until June, when I ceased to be capable of playing ultimate. I've been trying to rehab it, but have recently realized that if I ever want to be able to run fast again, I should probably rest it over the winter. So no frisbee for me this season, despite joining an awesome team full of awesome people that I would love to play with. Booo.

Three of our best friends are leaving town for good and starting new jobs elsewhere. They were the first friends we made here, and it's hard to imagine Boulder without them.

You probably shouldn't read this recipe if the thought of beans in baked goods grosses you out.


Black Bean Brownies

• 1 15-oz can black beans (1 1/2 cups)
• 3 eggs
• 3 T oil (I used applesauce)
  
• 1/4 c cocoa
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line and grease a 8x8 square pan
   
2. Blend the beans to bits in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and whiz together.
3. Pour into pan and bake 30 minutes.
   

My first savage tournament: The Bob Loblaw Law Blog

I got back to 5,600 ft. and immediately played in a savage tournament. 10 people per roster, 7 play per game and no subbing. My kind of game. I played with a group of wildly talented Minnesotans who made the trek to Colorado for the weekend. The fickle weather gods around here rewarded them with perfect weather. Ultimate is my happy place.

Since I got home, I've been catching up on work and food magazines and baking up a storm to release stress about my field study this summer. Despite my chagrin that this month's Bon Appetit had a person's face instead of a beautiful food item, I made it's salsa verde in anticipation of summer grills. I also could put my lovely glass jar collection to use, and give the man less excuses to harass me about how many glass jars I've accumulated. I made pickled red onions recently too. See Jen's blog for a good recipe.


Salsa Verde
from Bon Appetit June 2011

• 6 oil-packed anchovies, chopped
  
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
  
• 1 1/2 Tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped
• 1 jalepeno, stemmed, seeded, and minced
• 4 cups loosely packed fresh parsley leaves, chopped
• 2 cups loosely packed mint leaves, chopped
• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• kosher salt to taste

1. Grind anchovies, garlic, capers, and chile in food processor until chunky.
2. Add herbs and stir to combine (I whizzed it here too, but only because I don't like parsley chunks)
   
3. Use a fork to slowly whisk in the oil.
4. Season to taste with salt.
5. Let stand for 30 minutes at room temp before using.
6. Store in the fridge for up to one week

As a microbiologist, I have somehow adopted the resolution that microbes don't make you sick, so I will probably be eating this for a month. I'll let you know if this action results in severe discomfort.

Ultimate and balls

Ultimate season is here. I played ultimate several days a week all through college, and only sparingly since. I definitely hadn't gone to a practice since 2008. On moving to Colorado for grad school, I thought maybe my ultimate days were over. I know so many people who have been seriously hurt playing. And there are so many other things to do here, right? I didn't miss it until I started playing again. Now I don't think I can stop.

Playing ultimate is one of the only situations in life where I feel like I can be my crazy self with people I hardly know. I'm usually super shy until I know someone for a month or so. Maybe its because I learned the sport with my best friends. Maybe it's just because I'm good at it. Either way, I am happier during ultimate season. And I like myself more. Which rocks.


In other news, I defend my PhD thesis proposal in front of my committee today. Wish me luck! I can hardly believe I'm actually doing this crazy thing.

When I was a small child, I used to eat cake in a most appalling way. I would mush the frosting and cake together into a sweet goopy paste. I did the same thing with a lot of food. Everything is homogenous and even. And it's not gross, because it gets like that in our tummy anyway. Or something. I think I've always been a little obsessed with ratios in my food. Even now, I can't eat lucky charms because I have to worry about having the exact same ratio of marshmallows to cereal bits in each spoon.

Potting soil? Biosolids? Or cake bits?

Anyway, this recipe enables me to connect with my inner cake-mushing self. I used a store-bought chocolate cake mix, because I was feeling lazy and made dulce de leche for the frosting. On that note, I love dulce de leche. It's like magic. Condensed milk into pot; 2 hours later, dulce de leche out. For dipping, I used a package of that funny white candy coating stuff. I didn't look at the ingredients for fear of being creeped out. Sprinkles help too.

Cake Balls
adapted from seemingly everywhere these days

• one 13x9 baked cake, any flavor (from a box or otherwise)
• one batch cake frosting (homemade or store-bought)
• one package candy coating (or tempered chocolate if you're good at that. I'm not)

1. Bake the cake however you like and let it cool completely.
   
2. Mush the cake in a bowl a little bit at a time. Add the frosting and mix.
3. Form the cake goo into little balls of your favorite size and place on a cookies sheet. Stick them in the freezer for a couple of hours.
4. Melt the coating or chocolate over a double boiler. Take your frozen cake balls out and dip them.
   
5. These keep best in the fridge.
   

Madness

I am so excited to spend this summer in Boulder. Last summer was awesome (Cape Cod Micro Boot Camp), but Boulder is such a beautiful place, it seemed a shame to be away. I haven't been out on my bike yet, but I'm playing ultimate again. It's like crack. I know it's not good for my body and I can't play it forever, but it makes me so darned happy. I can't stop. I'm hoping to play with a club team this year and make it to a bunch of tournaments. And practice. I miss practice. Sometimes when the Colorado women are practicing behind my building, I sit and stare. I might look creepy, but I don't really care.

This month has been and will continue to be insane. Thesis proposal defense, getting concrete samples made and into my field site for the summer, conference poster in May, trying to get two different types of sequence data. Etc.

On another note, we saw the Atlas Shrugged movie last night. It was entertaining, though the acting and casting was a little off. It was rough to see my favorite character in all fiction portrayed as shaggy and chubby. But a lot of scenes were pretty good. And the sleazeballs sure were sleazeballs.

Matt likes to make mochas in the morning to take to work, and usually used Hershey's dark chocolate syrup. We happened to run out, and I happened to run across a recipe. I get serious pleasure from making simple things at home that other people just buy. Bread. Jam. Pasta Sauce. And now chocolate syrup.


Chocolate syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Mix sugar, water and cocoa in a small pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 30 minutes.
   
2. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
   

You can cook it longer or shorter to get the consistency you want. I also added a handful of chocolate chips to make it extra delicious. I put it in a cute squeeze bottle I'd saved.

The bacon bandwagon

I've been thinking a lot lately about all the wonderful things that have just landed in my lap over my lifetime. It's hard to be angry or frustrated when I realize just how good I've had it. I had an older brother to look up to, and he even let me hang out with his friends. I ran into the love of my life at age 16 and am still madly in love. An amazing family has conditioned me to succeed. I've had the opportunity to live abroad in 3 amazing locales. Everything, from school to music to career, seems to have been laid out for me to be the luckiest girl in the world. It's sobering, and I don't deserve most of it. I know Thanksgiving is long past, but thanks. Everyone.


I spent last weekend on an oil-soaked beach in Louisiana sampling for a bioaerosols project. We people so some stupid shit to this world. The oil impacts are still so scary. If you dig 3 inches into the sand, it turns brown and then black. And the liquid seeping through does not look like water. There were clean-up crews on the beach manually cleaning the sand by dragging rakefuls out to the surf and rinsing them in the seawater. Where the heck do they think that oil is going to go?

It seems that recently bacon + sweet things has been a growing trend. Bacon with nutella, bacon cookies, chocolate-dipped bacon, candied bacon. As general bacon enthusiasts, we had to try this recipe. They are addicting. Brushing them with bacon grease was definitely a brilliant idea.


Bacon and Date Scones
from Bon Appetit

• 10 ounces thick-cut bacon slices
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
  
• 3/4 cup coarsly chopped Medjool dates
• 1/2 cup chilled butter
• 2/3 cup buttermilk or yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook bacon in heavy skillet over medium until cooked but not crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to cool and reserve grease. Chop bacon when cooled.
   
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Stir in chopped bacon and dates. Grate butter into mixture using a cheese grater and stir in. Stir in buttermilk. Mix, then knead briefly.
3. Transfer dough to floured surface and form 8-inch round. Cut into 8 wedges and transfer to baking sheet. Cover and shill for 2 hours or overnight. Brush with reserved bacon drippings and sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake scones until golden brown, 16-18 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp. If storing, cool completely and store in an airtight container.
   

Return to RL

I've been a little too overwhelmed to write lately, partly because I haven't written about our Australia trip. It was awesome. The coriolis effect isn't significant enough to affect toilets. I really can't do the trip justice in words, so I'll just share some pictures.

delicious pavlova

yes. it snow in the rainforest in the middle of summer

serene beach in Queensland

holycrap! It's a wombat

We came home to some glorious skiing last weekend and a new semester for me. My project is getting underway, and I hope to be crawling in confined stinky spaces by next week. We took a weekend to visit friends in Miami and were disturbed to learn that it is the stupidest city in the country. No Cuban food, but we certainly ate well. Are you surprised?

A good friend (who happens to be unable to eat gluten, butter, or most other delicious things) got me the new cookbook from the Baked guys. Baked Explorations investigates American baking classics and re-invigorates them for the modern home cook. I've been ogling and deciding what to make first. This recipe not only facilitates my testing that marmalade is a delicious substitute for orange zest, it enables me to use my kick-ass whisk. It has a ball inside a wire ball inside a whisk and seriously kicks out soft peaks in about 5 minutes.



Mom's Olive Oil Bundt Cake
from Baked Explorations

• 3 cups flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• grated zest of 2 oranges
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 10" bundt pan
2. Whisk flour, powder, and salt together in a small bowl
3. Beat egg yolks until pale and light. Pour in sugar and mix until incorporated. Add yogurt and oil and mix until combined. Add zest and vanilla and mix.
4. Add dry mix to wet in two additions, beating until just combined. Beat again for 5 seconds
5. In a large clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Scoop half of whites into batter and gently fold in. Fold in remaining whites.
   
6. Pour into pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating halfway through. Cool completely. If desired, dust with powdered sugar before serving.