How are you feeling today?
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Weird Kid Wednesday- Envelope Emotions
Recently found these photos on the camera.
How are you feeling today?
How are you feeling today?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Warrior Dash
Did it! (Click this link if you want to see a few more of the strangenesses I've challenged myself with over the years.)
Sometime back in May we signed up for the Warrior Dash, something I wasn't one hundred percent sure I could do, but I damned well wanted to try. It's a 5K run up and down the side of a ski-slope (Copper Mountain) with a bunch of obstacles thrown in for good measure.
And look we're smiling! In fact, I smiled for most of it. It just felt so good to know that my body was up to the task.
We'd started out at the very back of the pack, the 3 last people in fact, possibly because we knew our best pace and kept to it. By the time we made it to the really steep part of the hill, most of the people around us were walking. Going up the hill, several people even cheered for us as we passed them. A fact which really typifies the race... not a lot of pressure, but plenty of fun.
Jenny and Aurora and I did it, along with Aurora's husband and Jenny's and my little brother Matthew (who painted himself blue in honor of our Gaelic heritage).
Before
After
So, yes, for those of you who are asking, I did make it over the wall. Luckily it was nowhere near as tall as the one we'd practiced on. There were actually three of them, though, so that sort of made up for it, difficulty-wise. No pictures of us on the wall, but here we are going through mud and jumping over the fire.
And finally, here's a video that I didn't take, but was made on the same course that we ran later in the day, so you can see the obstacles from our point of view. And though it might not look that bad, I have to say the most difficult obstacle was going uphill through the tubes.
Gotta get me a helmet cam for next year's race.
Note- the rest of the pictures from that day can be found here if you're interested.
Sometime back in May we signed up for the Warrior Dash, something I wasn't one hundred percent sure I could do, but I damned well wanted to try. It's a 5K run up and down the side of a ski-slope (Copper Mountain) with a bunch of obstacles thrown in for good measure.
And look we're smiling! In fact, I smiled for most of it. It just felt so good to know that my body was up to the task.
We'd started out at the very back of the pack, the 3 last people in fact, possibly because we knew our best pace and kept to it. By the time we made it to the really steep part of the hill, most of the people around us were walking. Going up the hill, several people even cheered for us as we passed them. A fact which really typifies the race... not a lot of pressure, but plenty of fun.
Jenny and Aurora and I did it, along with Aurora's husband and Jenny's and my little brother Matthew (who painted himself blue in honor of our Gaelic heritage).
Before
After
So, yes, for those of you who are asking, I did make it over the wall. Luckily it was nowhere near as tall as the one we'd practiced on. There were actually three of them, though, so that sort of made up for it, difficulty-wise. No pictures of us on the wall, but here we are going through mud and jumping over the fire.
And finally, here's a video that I didn't take, but was made on the same course that we ran later in the day, so you can see the obstacles from our point of view. And though it might not look that bad, I have to say the most difficult obstacle was going uphill through the tubes.
Gotta get me a helmet cam for next year's race.
Note- the rest of the pictures from that day can be found here if you're interested.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Cousins
I think I have learned that the best way to lift one's self up is to help someone else.
-Booker T. Washington
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Crabapple Butter
There is a contrary part of my nature that loves the process of taking something that seems totally useless and making it into something great. Which might explain my compulsion to turn crabapples into apple butter every year. (For those of you who don't know, regular apple butter is basically a thickened applesauce. It's sweeter and also spreadable.)
Crabapple butter is fantastic on toast or a topping for hot cereal. You could throw some of it in a smoothie or on top of ice cream. Our kids even love to eat it plain, though it is pretty tart. You can make it with or without sugar.
The process is fairly straightforward.
First you pick a bunch of crabapples, avoiding any that have holes or are bruised. Don't worry if they still have stems, though.
Part way through harvesting we decided to spread a big sheet out on the ground to catch those that fall because when they're ripe, for every one crabapple that you pick, five will shake themselves out of the tree.
Rinse them well. Add more water to the pot with them. If you've got a smaller batch, you can add enough to just cover them. But for the bigger batches, I've found that adding 5 or 6 cups and then keeping the lid on will do the trick. (If you add enough water to cover a big batch, you'll end up with way too much water in the end.) Just make sure that it doesn't all evaporate when it's cooking. You can add more as necessary.
Now you can simmer these guys until the skin starts to split and they are really soft. Turn off the heat and let them cool a bit because this next part can be messy, and if they're still hot, it'll be messy *and* painful.
Now comes the one piece of kitchen equipment that you may not already have, a food mill. I got mine from Aurora (who was selling it at a garage sale) and even though it's sort of wobbly to use, it does get the job done.
The kids love to use it, so, you know, free labor.
Scoop the apples in there and rotate the handle while pushing down. You'll need to use your other hand, or a helper, to keep the thing steady. I'm sure there are more expensive models that work better than mine, but I've learned to make do.
As you turn it clockwise, it pushes the apples through the sieve at the bottom. If you turn it counterclockwise, it cleans the holes by scraping off the skin and seeds. If you don't have one of these, you can also use a spoon and a fine meshed sieve, working the mixture through with the back of the spoon.
What you'll have at this point is basically pink, tart applesauce, well, crabapplesauce if you want to be technical about it.
You can keep it plain, or add spices and sugar. I usually add just one thing... cardamom. I really like its flavor with the crabapples. I usually add about a half teaspoon for every four cups of sauce. And part of the appeal of using crabapples, is that they're so tart, so we don't add much, if any, sugar (maybe a half cup per batch). But feel free to add as much as you like.
To turn this applesauce into "butter" I usually cook it down on the stove until it's nice and thick. Though, this year I tried it in the oven, which I preferred. Pour all the sauce into an oven proof pot, or if you've got a huge batch, into two oven proof pots. I used an enameled cast-iron and the ceramic insert from my slow cooker. Clean off the sides of the pot really well with a spatula. Set the oven for 325 degrees. Put the pots in and cook for 2 or 3 hours, stirring occasionally. What this does is cook out much of the water, reducing the volume and thickening the mixture. When it's done, it'll look like this.
Just scoop out the non-charcoaled stuff at the bottom. I'm guessing that if I'd been more diligent about scraping the sides of the pot with a spatula both before and during cooking, there'd be less black. But I'm fine with this because it didn't require me to stand over the stove for hours on end.
I canned this in little half pint jars using the waterbath method. If you haven't canned before, please know that it isn't particularly difficult, you just need to follow the directions.
The original plan was to make these for Christmas presents. But if Joey has her way, I doubt there will be any left by then.
Crabapple butter is fantastic on toast or a topping for hot cereal. You could throw some of it in a smoothie or on top of ice cream. Our kids even love to eat it plain, though it is pretty tart. You can make it with or without sugar.
The process is fairly straightforward.
First you pick a bunch of crabapples, avoiding any that have holes or are bruised. Don't worry if they still have stems, though.
Part way through harvesting we decided to spread a big sheet out on the ground to catch those that fall because when they're ripe, for every one crabapple that you pick, five will shake themselves out of the tree.
Rinse them well. Add more water to the pot with them. If you've got a smaller batch, you can add enough to just cover them. But for the bigger batches, I've found that adding 5 or 6 cups and then keeping the lid on will do the trick. (If you add enough water to cover a big batch, you'll end up with way too much water in the end.) Just make sure that it doesn't all evaporate when it's cooking. You can add more as necessary.
Now you can simmer these guys until the skin starts to split and they are really soft. Turn off the heat and let them cool a bit because this next part can be messy, and if they're still hot, it'll be messy *and* painful.
Now comes the one piece of kitchen equipment that you may not already have, a food mill. I got mine from Aurora (who was selling it at a garage sale) and even though it's sort of wobbly to use, it does get the job done.
The kids love to use it, so, you know, free labor.
Scoop the apples in there and rotate the handle while pushing down. You'll need to use your other hand, or a helper, to keep the thing steady. I'm sure there are more expensive models that work better than mine, but I've learned to make do.
As you turn it clockwise, it pushes the apples through the sieve at the bottom. If you turn it counterclockwise, it cleans the holes by scraping off the skin and seeds. If you don't have one of these, you can also use a spoon and a fine meshed sieve, working the mixture through with the back of the spoon.
What you'll have at this point is basically pink, tart applesauce, well, crabapplesauce if you want to be technical about it.
You can keep it plain, or add spices and sugar. I usually add just one thing... cardamom. I really like its flavor with the crabapples. I usually add about a half teaspoon for every four cups of sauce. And part of the appeal of using crabapples, is that they're so tart, so we don't add much, if any, sugar (maybe a half cup per batch). But feel free to add as much as you like.
To turn this applesauce into "butter" I usually cook it down on the stove until it's nice and thick. Though, this year I tried it in the oven, which I preferred. Pour all the sauce into an oven proof pot, or if you've got a huge batch, into two oven proof pots. I used an enameled cast-iron and the ceramic insert from my slow cooker. Clean off the sides of the pot really well with a spatula. Set the oven for 325 degrees. Put the pots in and cook for 2 or 3 hours, stirring occasionally. What this does is cook out much of the water, reducing the volume and thickening the mixture. When it's done, it'll look like this.
Just scoop out the non-charcoaled stuff at the bottom. I'm guessing that if I'd been more diligent about scraping the sides of the pot with a spatula both before and during cooking, there'd be less black. But I'm fine with this because it didn't require me to stand over the stove for hours on end.
I canned this in little half pint jars using the waterbath method. If you haven't canned before, please know that it isn't particularly difficult, you just need to follow the directions.
The original plan was to make these for Christmas presents. But if Joey has her way, I doubt there will be any left by then.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
BioShield- A Review
Some of you may have noticed the butcher block surface under much of the food I photograph.
It is the top to a movable kitchen cupboard that used to belong to my mom and that I adore, despite it's wonky drawers, missing handle and doors that don't quite stay closed. But I thought we might be able to do something about the cabinet part of it, which was getting pretty beat up. We decided on a red color to pick up the color in the curtains.
So I started searching the internet for an eco-friendly stain. I found two of them, but only the BioShield was available at a local retailer. So being the impatient person I am, I bought that. And then Jeff and I spent the next week and a half sanding.
Turns out I could have waited for delivery after all.
(beginning of the entirely ridiculous amount of sanding that Jeff and I did)
And here's my final opinion of BioShield stains. Though I'm happy with the way the project turned out, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the stain itself mainly because it isn't at all like most stains. All traditional stains that I've used involve wiping on the product, letting it sit for a few moments and then wiping it off again, which gives a nice even surface. The BioShield dried so quickly that not only would it not wipe off, but I spent the entire project trying to blend in the marks from the previous brush strokes. Some of which I was never quite able to smooth out.
I did eventually work out a somewhat passable method that involved lightly applying the stain and then working the rest of it in with the mostly empty brush, but I'm not sure how to go about describing it here. Overall it really did behave more like a super quick drying paint than a stain. And it definitely had the tendency to go on too thick, hiding all the wood grain. In fact, the directions themselves suggest adding multiple coats, something that would have completely hidden the grain.
You can see more of those lap marks on the top right of the cabinet in this picture.
I'm not sure if these drying problems were because it was a fairly warm day and, as it always is in Colorado, very low humidity. Or if it's always like that.
But overall I'm pleased with the project, despite the finicky weirdness of the stain's application.
And for some people I bet it would be perfect.
First of all, this stuff comes in a range of surprisingly bright colors. I've never seen wood stain this rainbow colored before. Secondly, if you don't care about being able to see the wood grain (something I definitely did want to be able to do), it would be easier to do multiple coats and create a really solidly colored surface without worrying about the brush strokes. The benefit of that would be that it would retain the surface texture of the wood as opposed to that of paint.
It also comes in small sizes which makes it easy to mix your own custom color. I mixed 2 of the crimsons with half of an ebony.
Finally, and most importantly, this stuff is solvent free, water based and zero VOC, all of which means that I could bring the finished piece right into our kitchen after it dried with no smelly chemicals and no worry of chronic health issues.
This entire project actually started when I decided to sand down the top of the block to remove a few year's worth of knife marks. Once I'd done that I started looking around for wood sealers, all of which, I was grumpy to find out, had mineral oil in them. Mineral oil, despite it's label as 'food safe', is still a byproduct of the petroleum industry. I won't even put mineral oil on my body; I'm not particularly keen to be using it where I chop my veges. Happily, when we were buying the wood stain, right next to it was a bottle of wood sealant with zero petroleum products. So as I stained the bottom cabinet, Jeff used the BioShield salad bowl conditioner on the butcher block top.
So this 2 week project (most of which was taken up with sanding... next time I will pay someone to sandblast the damn thing) has finally come to a close and all our cake, pie and cupcake pans are all safely tucked back into their home and off of our dining room table. And, more importantly, their home has been finished with a fun new, non-toxic finish. Though I don't know that the cake pans actually care, at least not as much as I do.
The only thing I have left to do is decide on the new drawer pulls, something which I know will take me months.
It is the top to a movable kitchen cupboard that used to belong to my mom and that I adore, despite it's wonky drawers, missing handle and doors that don't quite stay closed. But I thought we might be able to do something about the cabinet part of it, which was getting pretty beat up. We decided on a red color to pick up the color in the curtains.
So I started searching the internet for an eco-friendly stain. I found two of them, but only the BioShield was available at a local retailer. So being the impatient person I am, I bought that. And then Jeff and I spent the next week and a half sanding.
Turns out I could have waited for delivery after all.
(beginning of the entirely ridiculous amount of sanding that Jeff and I did)
And here's my final opinion of BioShield stains. Though I'm happy with the way the project turned out, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the stain itself mainly because it isn't at all like most stains. All traditional stains that I've used involve wiping on the product, letting it sit for a few moments and then wiping it off again, which gives a nice even surface. The BioShield dried so quickly that not only would it not wipe off, but I spent the entire project trying to blend in the marks from the previous brush strokes. Some of which I was never quite able to smooth out.
I did eventually work out a somewhat passable method that involved lightly applying the stain and then working the rest of it in with the mostly empty brush, but I'm not sure how to go about describing it here. Overall it really did behave more like a super quick drying paint than a stain. And it definitely had the tendency to go on too thick, hiding all the wood grain. In fact, the directions themselves suggest adding multiple coats, something that would have completely hidden the grain.
You can see more of those lap marks on the top right of the cabinet in this picture.
I'm not sure if these drying problems were because it was a fairly warm day and, as it always is in Colorado, very low humidity. Or if it's always like that.
But overall I'm pleased with the project, despite the finicky weirdness of the stain's application.
And for some people I bet it would be perfect.
First of all, this stuff comes in a range of surprisingly bright colors. I've never seen wood stain this rainbow colored before. Secondly, if you don't care about being able to see the wood grain (something I definitely did want to be able to do), it would be easier to do multiple coats and create a really solidly colored surface without worrying about the brush strokes. The benefit of that would be that it would retain the surface texture of the wood as opposed to that of paint.
It also comes in small sizes which makes it easy to mix your own custom color. I mixed 2 of the crimsons with half of an ebony.
Finally, and most importantly, this stuff is solvent free, water based and zero VOC, all of which means that I could bring the finished piece right into our kitchen after it dried with no smelly chemicals and no worry of chronic health issues.
This entire project actually started when I decided to sand down the top of the block to remove a few year's worth of knife marks. Once I'd done that I started looking around for wood sealers, all of which, I was grumpy to find out, had mineral oil in them. Mineral oil, despite it's label as 'food safe', is still a byproduct of the petroleum industry. I won't even put mineral oil on my body; I'm not particularly keen to be using it where I chop my veges. Happily, when we were buying the wood stain, right next to it was a bottle of wood sealant with zero petroleum products. So as I stained the bottom cabinet, Jeff used the BioShield salad bowl conditioner on the butcher block top.
So this 2 week project (most of which was taken up with sanding... next time I will pay someone to sandblast the damn thing) has finally come to a close and all our cake, pie and cupcake pans are all safely tucked back into their home and off of our dining room table. And, more importantly, their home has been finished with a fun new, non-toxic finish. Though I don't know that the cake pans actually care, at least not as much as I do.
The only thing I have left to do is decide on the new drawer pulls, something which I know will take me months.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Chia Jello
I'm not sure if all the exercise that I've been doing since January has finally started paying off or if it's the glassful of super healthy chia seeds I've been drinking every morning before my runs, but I've been feeling really good lately.
Just in case it is the chia, I've been finding ways to get more of it into my body. So I've been working on perfecting chia jello. Not using the boxed stuff, but real fruit juice, so I can tell myself that it's actually good for me.
And I think I've finally got it.
Ingredients
1/4 cup chia seeds
3/4 cup fruit juice
3 cups fruit juice (to boil)
1 cup fruit juice (this needs to be cold)
4 envelopes gelatine (I use Knox brand)
Directions
-First, you'll want to put the chia seeds into a container that holds two cups of liquid. (I mixed these in a one cup measure which made one of the steps below a bit more difficult.)
-Add the 3/4 cup of juice to the seeds and stir well.
-Let sit for 3 minutes and then stir again. Now let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two to give the seeds time to plump up.
-Remove the chia and juice from the fridge and stir well, making sure there are no clumps.
-Put the 3 cups of juice in a pan and heat til boiling.
-While the juice is heating, sprinkle the gelatine over the 1 cup of cold juice.
-Let sit for a minute and then stir til it's nice and smooth.
-In a heatproof bowl (or the pan itself), mix the boiling juice in with the gelatine and juice and stir for 5 minutes until all of the gelatine is dissolved and the mixture has cooled down somewhat.
-Now add some of this liquid to the chia seeds, maybe a quarter cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. This thins the mixture and keeps it from clumping when it's all combined.
-Stir the thinned chia seed mixture into the rest of the liquid.
-Pour in your mold(s).
I used wide mouth half pint jars because I liked the idea of making individual serving sizes. I was guessing that they'd be handy to pull out of the fridge after each day's run, and you know what? I was right.
Just in case it is the chia, I've been finding ways to get more of it into my body. So I've been working on perfecting chia jello. Not using the boxed stuff, but real fruit juice, so I can tell myself that it's actually good for me.
And I think I've finally got it.
Ingredients
1/4 cup chia seeds
3/4 cup fruit juice
3 cups fruit juice (to boil)
1 cup fruit juice (this needs to be cold)
4 envelopes gelatine (I use Knox brand)
Directions
-First, you'll want to put the chia seeds into a container that holds two cups of liquid. (I mixed these in a one cup measure which made one of the steps below a bit more difficult.)
-Add the 3/4 cup of juice to the seeds and stir well.
-Let sit for 3 minutes and then stir again. Now let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two to give the seeds time to plump up.
-Remove the chia and juice from the fridge and stir well, making sure there are no clumps.
-Put the 3 cups of juice in a pan and heat til boiling.
-While the juice is heating, sprinkle the gelatine over the 1 cup of cold juice.
-Let sit for a minute and then stir til it's nice and smooth.
-In a heatproof bowl (or the pan itself), mix the boiling juice in with the gelatine and juice and stir for 5 minutes until all of the gelatine is dissolved and the mixture has cooled down somewhat.
-Now add some of this liquid to the chia seeds, maybe a quarter cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. This thins the mixture and keeps it from clumping when it's all combined.
-Stir the thinned chia seed mixture into the rest of the liquid.
-Pour in your mold(s).
I used wide mouth half pint jars because I liked the idea of making individual serving sizes. I was guessing that they'd be handy to pull out of the fridge after each day's run, and you know what? I was right.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
