cucina di salamida

Cleaned up

2008-03-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

Tattoo session 1

2008-03-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

Took a break from soaping to get my tattoo started. The artist is Marie Wadman of Diving Swallow! (their site appears to be down right now)

The concept is a manzanita branch curving up my back, with a base of peonies, and a fairy lantern to the site. If I can afford it, we're going to add butterflies as well.

My great-grandmother, grandmother and mom all love peonies -- so to me, they symbolize NY. My mom grew them in a corner of the yard, called them "pine-ees" like her grandmother. The manzanita is from Mt Diablo -- representing California.

In this shot, the top flowers haven't been inked -- the rest is done. Outline took two and a half hours, next session is the undershading of the leaves and branches. After that we begin the color.

Check out the koi piece in the upper left. Marie said it wound all the way around her client's arm, then torso, finally ending curling around her belly button. INTENSE! I love it.

Dahi Chicken

2008-03-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to recreate the "Monsoon Masala" Dahi Chicken at our favorite Indian restaurant -- while it didn't really come close (at all) it was a very tasty dish!

Trader Joe's was out of white onions, ugh, so we had to use purple. There is also garlic and ginger, red pepper paste (wicked hot) and dried chilies from the farmer's market. Added garam masala too.

Chilies I dried over a few weeks, don't you love the color!!

Cooking the spice paste

Added yogurt -- maybe too much. I was supposed to simmer, I accidently boiled it. It made the mixture separate but it was still tasty.

The nan looks perfect -- thanks Trader Joes!! I didn't make it :)

Finished with cilantro and tomatoes:

Fantastic Papercraft shop

2008-01-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

Check out MonAmi! She's a wonderful Etsy seller who makes great papercrafts.

Here's her etsy store! Mon Ami Greetings

I've been featured!

2008-01-22T01:32:00.001-08:00

Check out Sara's amazing blog, I am so honored to be featured there!

2008-01-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures I snapped while processing orders for the holiday season.

Cutting into a big, forty-pound tub of creamy vegetable soap:

Chop chop!

I can see some Hawaiian, Coffee, Orange Blossom, Chocolates, Aloe Vera in this shot:

Another angle, can see some Lime Chiffon, Peppermint Bark, Pomegranate,

I love the Lime!!

Some Papaya and some others:

Chocolate Milk, always a star seller!

Orders being processed:

Featured again!

2008-01-01T23:58:00.000-08:00

Forgot to post since I was on vacation. Check out this feature the Soap Queen did of lil me!

Soap and the Finer Things in Life

Anne-Marie's got a lovely blog and makes great soaps!

Featured Seller!

2007-12-16T12:48:00.000-08:00

Yay! Featured Seller on Daibe's awesome blog:

http://daibebeads.blogspot.com/2007/12/featured-weekly-seller-savor.html

And I just hit over 700 sales in less than two months!! Outstanding :) I'm so thrilled!

Got Soap?

2007-12-11T21:52:00.001-08:00

Got Soap?
Originally uploaded by Jeremy Brooks

This is Jeremy Brooks' awesome shot of my new calendula oatmeal soap (it doesn't have a snappy name yet!)

He's rad! I think the pic rocks.

Here's Jeremy's flickr:
http://flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/

Runnin

2007-11-29T02:39:00.001-08:00

Back on the treadmill! Working off thanksgiving.

Monday Monday

2007-11-25T23:55:00.000-08:00

"Black Friday" was a great day for my store. I've got 25 orders ready to go -- in the Costco bag, US priority and first class mail, and in front, International priority and first class.

This is going to be a heavy trip to work.

Runnin'

2007-11-13T22:13:00.001-08:00

A nice, hilly run-walk on the treadmill today:

Not to Fifty!

2007-11-13T03:36:00.000-08:00

Fans of Princess Bride might recall this line spoken by Count Rugen when Prince Humperdink shoves The Machine up to fifty, bringing a world of pain to Westley.

Well I hit fifty today: fifty miles! Hopefully not in as bad of shape as poor Westley.

Treadmill Runnin!

2007-11-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

OK! Treadmill take two. I did an "aerobic" workout, where it varied the incline to change up the intensity. This one, the ipod did not eat:

This was my NEW personal best mile! Sweet! It was 10'11''!

Treadmill Runnin!

2007-11-08T23:08:00.000-08:00

Got on my first treadmill today, at the gym. Work basically pays for membership (I pay income tax on it) so why not go -- sidewalk has been mucho rougho on my knees lately and I've been using that as an excuse/reason not to run.

Today was a walk/run for 30 min. Nike ate this workout so I can't find my little widget for it :(

Blogs

2007-10-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

I've been scouring around to find some interesting blogs, here are some that caught my eye:

Chocolates:

http://www.boogaj.com/chocolate_blog/
http://www.chocolateobsession.com/

Dessert making:

http://www.chocolategourmand.com/blog/

Food:

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/
http://cookingwithamy.blogspot.com/

New Flickr Page

2007-10-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

In the interests of self-promotion I've made a Flickr page, and then I had to go look at all the SF photos and found Jeremy's site (hi Jeremy!) and then I had to go look at all the FOOD PICTURES and now I am really hungry.

I better go running tomorrow, this is getting silly. I gotta hit 50 miles total, I am so close! I am feeling discouraged because running on the sidewalk is really hurting my knees now. I am going to have to get up early and hit the trails, or run at work (which is still basically sidewalk). UGH.

Whew, soap makin!

2007-10-23T01:53:00.000-07:00

I opened my Etsy store today! Only a handful of items up, as it does take a bit of work to get organized. Now I really really really want a nice SLR to take some great product photos with. I think that'll be the Salamida christmas gift this year.

My store is called "savor" -- soaps based on food, basically. Yeah I'm a bit one-dimensional sometimes :)

Check it out: savor !

Runnin

2007-10-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

Runnin

2007-10-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

Runnin

2007-10-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Tough run today -- planned 3 mi but only made 2.66

Runnin

2007-10-16T09:07:00.001-07:00

Longest run yet!!

Back to runnin!

2007-10-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

Did my first post-flu run today, in the pouring rain. It sucked.

I've been sick and I got a new kitty

2007-10-06T15:20:00.001-07:00

This is Neva, the stray that we just adopted. Unfortunately she's FIV+ but we are going to keep her anyway. The only real alternative is putting her to sleep and we just can't do that. Here she is on our first night. Poor girl was so dirty, she had been living in our parking lot for at least several months, since we moved in in March.

Neva means snow-covered, in Spanish.

Here she's a bit more cleaned up, much nicer! And not smelling so much like a dog.

I've had the flu for the past couple days so I have not done any running or weights. I'm gonna pick it up tomorrow where I left off. Still mangaged to lose two pounds, just keeping my food consumption in check.

Today, we decided to introduce her to our other three cats (Zad, Coco and Miki). Coco and Zad have been spending all day outside her door, talking to her, etc. Miki is a momma's boy and he's been downstairs sulking, so he hasn't had as much interaction. Coco and Zad came into her room, Coco immediately ate her food, and Zad jumped in her litter box. Weird cats!! Then they finally noticed her, and while there was a little bit of hissing, there was mostly some yowls, but nothing physical at all. I am really struck by how much bigger our housecats are compared to Neva! She might weigh five pounds and they're around 12-15. They're too fat, really. Neva was pretty nervous, but Coco and Zad we're mostly ho-hum about the whole thing. I took Neva downstairs to meet Miki, I sat her on my lap and he just stared and stared at her. Miki hates Coco, but grew up with Zad and likes him, so I was nervous about how he'd react to her. Honestly, he was huffy, making snorting noises, but otherwise he didn't really care! Neva gave me this look like "How many freaking cats do you guys have???" but she was OK. I fed them all some wet food but Neva was too nervous to eat near them, so we just took her back to her room to chill.

Neva still needs a good bath so we'll probably do that today. I gave her a bath the first day with a very gentle, fragrance free bar soap (for humans) because I figured that was better than the parking lot grease and oil she had on her, and we did get her a leave-in soap foam for cats, but I think she needs a good scrubbing. She is absolutely docile and such a sweet cat.

Coco, chillin in Mike's old apartment:

Zad, when we lived in the Mission:

Miki, also when we lived in the Mission:

Dinner

2007-09-29T23:46:00.000-07:00

We had Margot and Joanna over for dinner, and I made chicken adobo, rice, pumpkin fritters, no-need bread, chapatis for the adobo, a cheese plate and lemon mousse pie. We played a lot of Nintendo Wii and watched Curb Your Enthusiasm. Mike and I had a double TKO in Wii boxing, it was amazing. Margot and Joanna each scored a run and tied in Wii Baseball.

Fritters:

Bread:

Ooh gourmet!

English blue cheese, brie, honecomb, quince paste. We also had white truffle porcini mushroom oil and hawaiian black sea salt for the no-knead bread.

New placemats cause the old ones were getting grungy.

Fight!

Swing batta!

Keep your fork, there's pie!

Lemon Mousse Pie

2007-09-29T23:40:00.000-07:00

I had another batch of the yummy lemony crust from the lemon tart last week, so I thawed it and made it into a lemon mousse pie.

Weighting down the crust to prebake it. The rice helps keep the dough from puffing up.

Dissolving gelatin in lemon juice, mixed with rind. I then creamed together confectioners sugar and cream cheese, then added to the lemon gelatin. I next whipped heavy cream, and folded the two batters together after the gelatin had set for 15 minutes in the fridge. The pie had to sit for 2 hours after assembling.

Pie crust cookies are always a good leftover (and they make good garnishes!)

Chapati

2007-09-29T23:37:00.000-07:00

I made chapatis to go with the adobo I made for the dinner party. Here's the dough -- almost 1:1 whole wheat flour to water, plus curry powder (like a tbsp or so). Let sit for 2 hours. It's very wet dough so you need a lot of extra flour to roll it out with.

Frying -- cast iron pan, chapati is brushed with ghee on both sides.

Oooh yes. Easy to reheat in the microwave.

Pumpkin Fritters

2007-09-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the dishes I made for our dinner with Joanna and Margot! A nice, quick appetizer.

These were soo tasty! Pumpkin, flour, curry powder, cardamom, salt, pepper, egg. Fried in peanut oil and salted at the end. Yum!

Chole - Chickpea curry

2007-09-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

Last night Mike needed some sinus relief, so I made a chickpea curry called chole, with shrimp added. I used ginger, garlic, chilis, red pepper paste, onions, curry poweder, garam masala, chickpeas and water from the can, and shrimp.

It was very spicy!

I had a craving for a sunny side up egg, so I added that on top. The creaminess made such a perfect contrast to the curry. Egg and curry = friends4evar

Weight Training

2007-09-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

Cleaned the house to warm up! Gonna have Joanna and Margot over tomorrow for Chicken Adobo, curried chapatis and a secret dessert (actually I just haven't planned it yet, heh).

Workout A
Bench 4x10 @ 20
Overhead lift 3x10 @ 20
Squats 4x10 @ 20 <-- improvement!
Abs 3x20
Supermans 3x15
Curls 3x10 @ 10 per arm
Tris 3x10 @ 10 per arm <-- improvement!

Lifting

2007-09-27T23:48:00.001-07:00

A nice, solid guide on Strength Training. This blog looks promising, I like it!

http://stronglifts.com/how-to-build-muscle-the-definitive-guide/

Runnin

2007-09-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

Weight Training

2007-09-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Cleaned house and did laundry as warm up!

Workout B
Incline press 3x10 @ 10
Pullups 5x5
Lunges 3x10 @ 20
Calf raises 4x20
Abs 3x20

I am trying to convince Mike that we need to adopt a stray kitty I have named Snow Cat. Any advice appreciated!

Runnin

2007-09-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

2 Miles completed today:

Weight Training

2007-09-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

I ran 1 mile to warm up today and hit a new personal best mile! 10:13!

Workout A
Bench 4x10 @ 20
Overhead lift 3x10 @ 20
Squats 4x10 @ 10-20-10-20
Abs 3x20
Supermans 3x15
Curls 3x10 @ 10 per arm
Tris 3x10 @ 10 with both arms

Tri Tip Roast

2007-09-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tri tip is not my favorite but I've never made it and it was a good price at Trader Joe's. We also got some wine, this is a bordeaux, which I've never had before. I enjoyed it. We're going to try working on our wine education. I know that I love Nero d'Avola, syrrah and vin santo, but we want to try more. Mike likes Cabs.

Coco wants steak.

Here it is after searing and baking in the oven until 130 degrees. Let stand for 10 minutes until almost 150ish.

Perfect.

Sorry for the flash but it was otherwise too dark. Tri tip, rice noodles with broccoli and sesame oil, and a side of palm hearts. Sauce is oyster sauce, peanut sauce and hoisin mixed.

Palm Hearts

2007-09-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

My first recipe (well, I only made part of the recipe) from the French Laundry cookbook Jeremy let me borrow. I want to go to dinner there soon but it's a couple hundred dollars for all the courses. I think Mike and I might go there for Christmas but we'll have to see what's available.

I left out the marrow beans from this recipe because I didn't want to do anything fussy, but I loved the idea of coating the palm hearts in panko. I had both, so it was a simple thing to make. Coated in flour, egg, then panko and fried in peanut oil. This is my new favorite oil: light, flavorless, and high smoke point.

These were soooo good. Crispy, briny, and kinda like artichoke hearts. Some times almost creamy and nice and salty. Mike was reminded of scallops.

Suppli

2007-09-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

OK the main reason I wanted to make risotto was to have leftovers, to make suppli!! Or arancini, but that's the sicilian version. Basically, these are balls of risotto stuffed with cheese, breaded and then fried. YUM OH MY GOD.

Traditionally they have sauce, meat, even peas inside, but I wanted just cheese. Couldn't get a good pic of the inside but I tried. I think these were stellar. I made the sauce w/ tomato, tomato puree, basil, oregano, garlic and olive oil.

Coconut Pudding

2007-09-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be a gelatin/jello kind of dessert but it never solidified. I guess not enough gelatin. I boiled coconut milk (the light version), vanilla, anise and pink food coloring with some cane sugar.

Poured into vintage tin molds after straining out the anise seed. It was a very good pudding but not what I expected. I served it with chocolate covered bananas.

Shrimp Stuffed Squid

2007-09-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

I marinated baby squid and shrimp in Hot Lime sauce, mango chili vinegar, chilis, lemon and mint for two hours. Then I chopped up the shrimp and tentacles, and stirfried them quickly in the marinade and added some breadcrumbs.

Then I stuffed the squid and broiled them. They were soooooo good! This recipe was from the Silver Spoon (although it was modified).

Negra Modelo Chicken

2007-09-23T20:39:00.001-07:00

My current favorite beer is Negra Modelo, and we had one bottle left so I made beer chicken.

I browned the chicken first (only salt and pepper on it) and then poured in the beer and braised for 30 minutes. At the end, I poured off the beer and browned the chicken again.

Served with pasta.

Lemon Tart

2007-09-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

Another recipe from the Silver Spoon cookbook. I have to say I was disappointed in the filling -- maybe I used the wrong pan tho, because I used a removable bottom tart pan and my filling leaked out. My bottom crust was very soggy and the filling was very concentrated because so much leaked out. But it was extremely tasty!

Here is the crust. I am going to use it for a lot of things. Oddly, there was no water in the recipe. I had to add some! It wouldn't hold together with just butter and egg yolks. It contained a lot of sugar, and lemon peel as well.

Even adding a scant 1/4 cup of ice water, it was still crumbly.

Here is the filling, basically butter, eggs, sugar, lemon juice and lemon peel.

Baked. You can see the second pie plate under to catch what leaked out.

Dusted w/ confectioner's sugar.

Food porn close-up!

Flat iron Steak

2007-09-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite cut of meat. This cut was only recently "discovered": flat iron cut

It's still nice and cheap, so buy it now! I marinated it in Hot Lime sauce from Jeremy (thanks!!), mango chili vinegar and a bit of soy sauce for about two hours. Melted some butter in my Le Creueset (thanks, Mom!) and seared it for 4-5 minutes a side. Nice and RARE. I think I heard it bleat for momma.

Paired with asparagus risotto:

Asparagus Risotto

2007-09-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

My first try at making risotto. I think next time I will not boil the asparagus, I like them a lot crispier. I'll just fry them at the beginning when I sweat the onion and garlic.

Coating the arborio rice w/ the butter:

Chopping the asparagus. See how limp? Not my favorite.

Adding ladle-fulls of stock to the rice. Took about 20 minutes and a lot of attention:

All absorbed. Added parmesan at the end. It was very creamy, toothsome and tasty!

Runnin

2007-09-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

As I'm On Call this weekend for work, I couldn't go more than 15 mins out, so no bike ride. Did a toughie 2.5 miles instead. It just rained today, so it was hot and humid, like Rochester!

Weight training

2007-09-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Workout B
Incline press 3x10 @ 10
Pullups 5x5
Lunges 3x10 @ 20
Calf raises 4x20
Abs 3x20

Cleaned the kitchen to warm up!

Runnin

2007-09-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

I did it!! I hit three miles today. Personal all-time best :)

Here is a recap of my goals as well!

Two goals completed, so time to work on two new ones!

Weight Training

2007-09-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today for warm-up I cleaned and vacuumed the house.

Bench 4x10 @ 20
Overhead lift 3x10 @ 20-10-20
Squats 4x10 @ 10 -- "ass-to-grass"!
Abs 3x20
Supermans 3x15
Curls 3x10 @ 10 per arm
Tris 3x10 @ 10 with both arms

Runnin

2007-09-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

A really nice run tonight! Mike joined me on his bike.

Can you believe this steady pace?!?

Weight training

2007-09-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

Ran for a mile to get the heart rate up. Nice and steady pace!

Workout B
Incline press 3x10 @ 10
Pullups 5x5
Lunges 3x10 @ 20
Calf raises 4x20
Abs 3x20

Roast turkey drumsticks

2007-09-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

As the weather is changing, I was really in the mood for a fall dish. Turkey drumsticks were on sale, so here is how I prepared them. Honestly, they were good, but too much work for comparatively little meat.

Browning in olive oil, onions, chicken grill rub, Worcestershire sauce and stock:

Finished in the oven. Took about two hours and I burned myself through the potholder:

Finishing the gravy by whisking in corn starch:

Mmm nice and brown:

Blurry pic of dinner: baked potato, corn and turkey. The potato was rubbed with salt and olive oil and baked straight on the rack for 60-90 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie

2007-09-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

I had some leftover pate sucre from making a strawberry custard tart a while ago. I found low-fat sweetened condensed milk and some pumpkin on sale at the grocery store, so pie it is!

Pie crust does not have to be round!! Really...!

Pumpkin, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, 2 eggs, and sweetened condensed milk. Topped with pie crust cutouts dusted with cinnamon.

Fresh from the oven!

Polenta pasticciata with anchovies and veal piccatta

2007-09-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

My first recipe from The Silver Spoon, a highly-regarded traditional Italian cookbook. I made this minus the cream and all the butter.

Shredded parm, mozz, romano and something else I forgot. Polenta, white wine, garlic and anchovies.

Sauteeing the anchovies with garlic, in some olive oil and butter:

After cooking the polenta in water and wine, whisking in some cheese:

Pan frying the veal, which was just dredged in flour:

The anchovies are soft and browned:

After cooking the veal, tossing together capers, shallots, lemon, white wine and a dab of butter:

Plated the soft, cheesy polenta, a swipe of the anchovies, half a veal cutlet and the piccatta sauce on top, with rough-chopped parsley. This was a quick meal before going out for drinks and a concert last night (The Cinematic Orchestra, in North Beach) so it was a very small meal. This was actually served on a small bread plate.

I took the leftover polenta and mixed in the anchovies and the rest of the parsley, and spread it to solidify in a glass dish. We broiled some later and had it with the stuffed peppers from Friday.

Seafood pancit

2007-09-15T14:36:00.001-07:00

Pancit! Here are rice noodles (vermicelli size) soaking in warm water.

Carrots, mushrooms and snap peas in chicken broth:

Baby octopus and shrimp:

Ginger, red chilis, garlic, white onion, green onion:

Sauteed in sesame oil and red pepper paste. Added shrimp and octopus too:

Tossed together noodles (which were also boiled in the chicken broth), soy sauce, fish sauce, and the garlic/ginger/onion/seafood stuff:

Added mung bean sprouts at the last minute, and some peanuts (why not?) and also added a hard cooked egg later. It was perfect!! Mike said not as oily as pancit usually is -- but I didn't want to add all the oil I had seen in most recipes.

No-Knead Bread revisited

2007-09-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

For this iteration I used 2.5 c white flour and .5 c of whole wheat flour. I liked it a lot -- gave the bread a nice color and nutty flavor. I also let the bread rise again after shaping. It made the bread beautifully spongy.

2.5 c white flour
.5 c whole wheat flour
.25 tsp yeast
1.25 tsp salt

1.5 c warm water

Cover, let sit 12-18 hours. Top was sprayed with canola pam.

Shape into a ball, let rise 2 hours. Towel is sprinkled with whole wheat flour.

Plopped into 475 oven, dutch oven and pizza stone preheated 1 hr.

After 30 min, placed on pizza stone to brown, 10 min.

It's like, so good man!
Spongy, moist, perfect flavor. Gotta try this w/ some sourdough! The crust was perfectly crispy and chewy.

Stuffed Peppers

2007-09-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

My grandparents made the very best stuffed peppers in the world. I tried to recreate them tonight -- we'll see tomorrow, since I've already eaten enough calories today!

In this bowl is ground beef, parsley (Italian flat leaf), mint, onion, garlic, pepper, salt, 2 eggs.
The mixture is almost slimy. I really wanted to see if I could duplicate their mixture, which was almost slippery after cooking.

Here is a close-up of it all blended. You can see it looks pretty wet. The last thing I wanted would be for the stuffing to turn out like crumbled ground beef. I wanted almost a sausage consistency inside.
Here they are stuffed. Unfortunately, all I could get were a type of bell pepper. I really wanted bigger Italian frying peppers, but the ones I got were too narrow to stuff. Bell peppers in general taste like crap, but these were smaller farmer's market ones so hopefully they don't suck. For god's sake, please do not attempt with GREEN bell peppers. Honey please!

Oooh fresh outta the oven! They took 45 @ 300. I can already tell the bell peppers are too thickly walled for what I really want in texture, but hopefully they will taste right. They smell right!!

You can see the fat/juice from the hamburg in this shot. All of that should be discarded. I used 90% lean instead of 80%, but even that is too much fat it turns out. I will probably attempt with 93-96% lean next time, I just don't want them to be dry (It's not even worth it if they are too dry).

The goal is moist, juicy, slightly slippery, and very rich tasting. After all, it's basically all beef!

Weight Training

2007-09-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

I did a 1 mile run today to work on speed and as a warm up for my weight session. I hit a new personal best mile! It may be slow but 10:25 is my best yet, and I wasn't even pushing it to the max.

It's kinda all over the place, it's pretty funny. I still need to find my steady pace to run at. Every time I would speed up, I would get nervous that I wouldn't be able to finish the run, so I would taper off. I've gotta just try to keep it steady!

My Workout A was today:

Bench 4x10 @ 10-20-10-20
Overhead lift 3x10 @ 10
Squats 4x10 @ 10 -- today I did them "ass-to-grass"!
Abs 3x20
Supermans 3x15
Curls 3x10 @ 10 per arm
Tris 3x10 @ 10 with both arms

Weigh-In

2007-09-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

My current goal is to shed 35 lbs.

Today was my weigh in, and since July I am down 9 lbs. I didn't start to get serious enough until August 11, and now I'm seeing much better progress (serious=calorie counting). I'm currently on a zig-zag cutting plan, where I have some higher-cal higher carb days (typically after cardio days) and lower-cal higher-protein days, typically just before and just after the weekend. I have one cheat meal each weekend day.

I am down three pounds from last week and down 1% body fat since Aug 22. I don't really like to lose 3 in one week so I may be doing more cardio than my calorie intake will support. However, I did run more than usual last night and it may be water loss.

If I continue to lose more than 2 lbs a week I'll add more calories in, since I don't intend to do less cardio.

Runnin

2007-09-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

I hit my LONGEST RUN today!! Ever!!! 2.53 miles. It took me 28 minutes and it was worth every step. This run felt almost effortless.

As a woman runs a mile, her breasts bounce 135m

2007-09-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

Oh my god, make sure you tie down the girls if you're a runner!

Dude, check this out: You can enter your cup size and activity level, and it will estimate your level of... bounce...

Shock Absorber

Weight Training

2007-09-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

Did a "quick" 1 mile run before my workout "B" tonight:

This brings me very close, or ahead, of all my goals! Woohoo!

Workout B was as follows:

Incline Press 3x10 @ 10 lbs
Pullups (well, kinda) 5x5
Lunge 3x10 @ 20 lbs
Calf Raise 4x20
Abs 3x20

Overall, very strong workout, even if my pullups were more like "jump and hang for a second."

Runnin

2007-09-11T22:50:00.001-07:00

Didn't make it a 1 mile/1 mile split so I had to do all the running tonight. It was a tough one -- I had to fight for each inch!

Weight Training

2007-09-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

Day one of getting seriously on track with weights. Here's my feebleness -- it can only get better from here, right?

Workout A
Bench: 4x10 @ 20 lbs
Overhead lift: 3x10 @ 10 lbs
Squat: 4x10 @ 20 lbs
Abs: 3x20
Supermans (back extensions): 3x15
Curls: 3x10 @ 10 lbs
Tris: 3x10 @ 5 lbs

Tomorrow: 1 mile for speed in the a.m. and another in the p.m.!

Ethiopian Beef Stew, and Injera

2007-09-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

I found my Ethiopian food pics on my husband's blog.

This is injera, beef stew, salad and yogurt. It was stellar!

Flourless chocolate cake

2007-09-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted a quick dessert that was not heavy at all.

Melted chocolate and butter:

Dusted spring form pan (coated with a quick spray of Pam) with cocoa powder:

Mmmm melty:

Whisked it into eggs, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla:

Poured into pan:

Baked for about forty minutes:

Couldn't get it off the spring form bottom, but it looks nice:

Served with banana slices and some hot mulled cider. Going to have to bring the leftovers to work, because this is dangerous to have in the house!

Fried Chicken Baked, and Chayote

2007-09-09T21:11:00.001-07:00

Chicken breaded with seasoned flour, dipped in egg + sour cream, and the more seasoned flour:

Pan fried in a little peanut oil, until golden, then finished in the oven for 20 minutes:

Nice and crisp, no greasiness, just perfect! Plated with a side of quickly browned chayote, with olive oil and pepper. This squash is crispy and mild, very good!

Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream

2007-09-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

Cubed one peeled butternut squash:

Boiled it with stock, cider, sage, thyme and pepper:

Pureed it:

Drizzled with sour cream whipped with a reduction of apple cider:

Perfect with the no-knead bread I made yesterday!

Runnin

2007-09-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

2 miles today:

Also went for a great 2 hour bike ride this morning around Pleasant Hill. Some of the most beautiful scenery and views of Mt Diablo!

Current Running Goals

2007-09-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Run 15 times in 4 weeks:

Run 24 miles in 4 weeks:

Run 5 times under 11" -- 1 run completed!! Finally!!

Chicken Adobo Take 2

2007-09-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

Take 1 didn't have any photos (oops). That was before I made this blog. From now on I document tho!

Onions and garlic sweating in a little butter:

Mike happily stirring 1:1 soy sauce and vinegar, with spicy red pepper paste, pepprercorns, bay leaves, and fresh ground pepper.

Chicken thighs and breasts added to the mixture. The chicken had been brined for a couple hours beforehand. If you have ever seen the movie Pan's Labyrinth you won't look at chicken skin the same way again. I added some diet doctor pepper too, cause I like it like that.

After simmering the chicken until done (maybe 20 mins or so), panfry it to caramelize the sauce and crisp up the skin.

Them is good, oh yes. Sticky white rice is the perfect partner:

Roasted garlic crushed into olive oil, with salt and red pepper flakes for the fresh bread:

Mostly I think we used the bread to sop up the adobo sauce!

.

Who needs bread?

2007-09-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

I don't -- not anymore!

I didn't take pics of the beginning of the process, just the end, but I'll be making this one again -- and again and again so I will document the steps later. This is so easy it feels like a crime.

Mix
3 c flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt

Add
1 1/2 c water

Glop the mixture together, once it comes together, it's DONE.

Leave the mixture (covered) for 12-18 hours.

Shape into a ball, cover with a dash of whole wheat flour, bake covered in a pre-heated dutch oven (or cast iron) @ 500/30 mins. Take out and finish for another 10-15, on a pizza stone is nice. NO KNEADING!! What!!!!

Injera Starter, Day 1

2007-09-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

I've read conflicting instructions on how to make a really nice sourdough starter for injera. I decided to go with the recipe in my current favorite cookbook: The Soul of New Cuisine. Basically, 1:1 teff to water, let sit for three days. It's gonna be interesting.

Fake Pad Thai

2007-09-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

One of the quickest meals I can make is this quick shrimp stir fry. Rice noodles, hot red pepper paste, oyster sauce, fish sauce, peanuts, lemon grass, scallions and shrimp. Black sesame seeds to top it off.

Rice noodles don't like to sit long (they get dry and clumpy), so make with a quickness! I generally add a tablespoon each of fish sauce and water to the noodles to loosen them up.

Oyster sauce probably isn't really in pad thai but the shit is so good. Just don't spill fish sauce all over yourself because you'll reek...like rotten fish....This red pepper paste is so good but it is very spicy. It's been a really versatile purchase.

Shrimp, scallions, etc. I found that freezing scallions works very well, which is good cause I never use a whole bunch at once and they get bad so quickly. I just throw them (washed) into a freezer bag, and take one out when I need it. They are quite cuttable when still frozen.

And plated, mmm.

1 Mile Runs

2007-09-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

I've started a goal to practice my 1 mile speeds. Today I did my best 1 mile! As you can see, I was not anywhere near a steady pace. One of my points to work on is achieving a nice, even pace and maintaining it.

Running

2007-09-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

Running

2007-09-03T23:26:00.000-07:00

Today:

2.26 mi
25 min 2 sec
11:01 average pace
Record!! Longest and farthest run yet!
Hit a high speed of 9:30 pace for a few minutes, near the end

I have a couple goals going:

Run 15 times in four weeks: On Target! 19 days left on this goal
Run 24 miles in four weeks: 1.5 miles ahead of my goal, 27 days left
Run 5 times at a pace of 11 mi/min or less: zero completed! 19 days left on this goal

So far I have run 5 times with the Nike trainer. 9.2 miles, average pace of 11:31 per mile.

Labor Day Lunch

2007-09-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

Lunch for Labor Day:

Hot (I mean HOT) Italian sausage on cracked wheat buns
Grilled aji amarillo peppers and grilled onions

Grilled corn on the cob
Pan de Sal with a variation on a Peruvian salsa criolla
Corn salad with tahini

Negro Modelo
Coconut rice pudding and coconut rum shake for dessert

Golden Semolina Batard

2007-09-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

This bread's flour is only semolina -- durum semolina. Light golden colored, grainy, and delicious. It makes a very thick and crunchy crust and a very soft crumb. (The container in this picture is a Polly-O Ricotta cheese container from my grandparents. Just mentioning that in case a Salerno reads this post ;) )

The starter is allowed to ferment first -- the flour, water and yeast are covered by a blanket of flour+salt. I like to leave it outside in the sun to rise,

The starter has fermented and bubbled up out of the flour blanket,

After the whole mixture is gently combined, it is kneaded and allowed to rise until doubled,

It is then turned out into a batard/torpedo shape, risen again and then baked,

And here it is plated, topped with sweet butter and a drizzle of honey,

Coconut Rice Pudding

2007-09-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make bibingka but I wasn't in the mood for any of the recipes I found. So I compromised and made stove-top rice pudding with coconut milk. If I made this again I would use shredded coconut as well to bring out the flavor, and top with toasted coconut I think.

Ingredients assembled, raisins soaking in rum,

Milk and spices added to cooked rice,

Raisins (and the rum too, why not) and butter and vanilla added,

And plated,

Corn Salad

2007-09-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

I made this as a quick side dish for Labor Day's grilled sausages. Corn, peanuts, cilantro and tomato, topped with tahini.

Toasting peanuts,

Adding sweet white corn,

Adding cilantro (whole leaf) and roma tomato (diced, seeds discarded),

Plated with tahini to taste,

Pan de Sal

2007-09-03T18:30:00.001-07:00

I've started to experiment making Filipino food, and pan de sal seemed pretty straightforward and I had all the ingredients on hand -- yeast, water, salt, flour (King Arthur unbleached white all-purpose).

After proofing the yeast,

Kneading together the flour+salt and proofed yeast,

Then I kneaded the dough until silky and stretchy, about 10 minutes (yeah, by hand, ouch),

Let rise until double,

Shape into logs and then cut into rounds,

And let the rounds double in size, and then bake, (some are sprinkled with Hawaiin sea salt),

Yum!

Coconut Rum Shake

2007-09-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

For fun, I blended 1 frozen banana with a half cup of rum and about a cup and a half of coconut milk (the light variety). I added a handful of ice cubes and a bit of splenda, and topped with cinnamon. Mmmm!

Running

2007-09-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

Today:

1.79 miles
20 min 3 sec
11:10 average pace
Record!! Fastest mile: 11:19

Running

2007-08-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

Today:

1.81 miles
20 min 7 sec
11:04 average pace

Running

2007-08-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

Today:

1.71 miles
20 mins 7 sec
11:44 average pace

Running

2007-08-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Today:

1.61 miles
20 mins 47 sec
average pace of 12:52

This was my first "Nike" run. I got the Nike tracker device that hooks to my iPod nano. It's just wonderful! Tracks my runs with a very small accelerometer in my shoe, and a voice that talks to me and tells me how I'm doing, overlaying my music. There's even a special button for a power song -- if you're flagging, just kick it up with a song you know gets you motivated.

White Sandwich Bread

2007-07-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of my second attempt at a basic white sandwich loaf. This one is actually 1/3 whole wheat white flour.

The book I've been studying from is The Bread Bible. It's a fantastic book with lots of detailed theory and history about the making of bread. Many cultures are represented in this book, which I really appreciate.

A tip I have for this loaf: too much whole wheat lends a sour or bitter note to it. I wouldn't go above 1/3.