C25K!

Summer is a great time for reflection, thinking about what you'd like to accomplish and setting goals. One goal that I have been working toward this summer is completing the C25K program!

Running has never been my thing, primarily due to the terrible side stitches I have always been cursed with - and I mean always. I remember quitting gymnastics at a very young age because the conditioning running we did hurt so much. It's been a bummer, because I've always wanted to be a runner. I'd watch others run and think "Man, I wish I could do that!" Throughout junior high, high school, college, etc, etc, I would occasionally try to pick it up but it never worked out. That is not to say that other fitness routines didn't work for me - I could keep up with an intense elliptical workout forever. Just not running!

Finally I said enough, I'm going to do this thing! Enter C25K, short for Couch to 5K. It is a program designed to help non-runners gradually build up to running 5K through a combination of timed walks and runs. I use the iphone app, which I really like because you can play your own music through it and it alerts you when you should switch from walking to running and vice versa... plus it's FREE! I must say I'm really impressed with it. It's amazing how far I've come in only five weeks, from struggling to run repeated 60 second intervals to running for 20 minutes straight!

Of course an app alone won't get you off the couch, so I've employed a few other motivational tasks. This one's on my fridge:

There were several charts already available online, but some were variations on the program I'm using and some were, well, ugly, so I created this one to keep track of my progress (if you'd like one of these for yourself, there's a clean copy at the bottom of this post you can snag!). I'll confess that I really look forward to getting to cross off another box after each workout - somehow it substantially increases the feelings of accomplishment! I also assume my hubs would notice if the chart just "disappeared" one day, so it is a small measure of accountability.

Another motivational tool was that of financial investment - got me my first pair of REAL running shoes:

Love these shoes! I went to an actual running specialty store to go through the whole fitting process, which was pretty neat. I hesitated to do this - I'm the kind of gal that likes to do my research, go into the store, find what I want, try it on, buy it (preferably with a coupon), and leave. But, as a coach I know firsthand what happens when you don't take the effort to get the right equipment; and as a coach it would be pretty hypocritical to lecture parents about the importance of making the right investment and then not follow my own advice.

Five weeks down - more than halfway there!

Just right click on the picture below and save. Good luck, spud!

Southern Biscuits & a Shortcake

Nothing better than complete spur of the moment baking! As I sat on the couch, it occurred to me that I had cream, I had strawberries, I had your typical baking ingredients, and I had an awesome new biscuit cookbook that simply must have a shortcake recipe that I would love to try. And thus, a strawberry shortcake was born!

Biscuit first, baked in my mini-cast iron skillet. By the way, this cookbook is amazing, another I would recommend.

Look at these layers! Ohm nom nom...

Finished product:

Don't worry, he didn't help - he just watched.

A Brief Recap

It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks! Here are some highlights from our little corner of the world I haven't mentioned...

Last Friday (6/28) we went to the Blackhawks parade and rally! p.s. Thank you Metra for the super cheap "special event" fare that day.

Then on Saturday we went to Indiana for a Mother's Day/Father's Day/Sister's BDay dinner. Sis just got a new (to her) Jeep - here's a picture I texted to her of me hanging out beside it as she waited inside the restaurant:

On July 3rd we went to cheer on the White Sox to victory defeat. It began with a very slight rain delay, but the weather turned out to be beautiful, and the fireworks after the game were awesome.

Look who/what else showed up!

We celebrated July 4th by going to see "Monsters University" (not as brilliant as the first, but a fun flick). After the movie, from the parking lot of the theater we were able to watch another fireworks display (and in the distance the fireworks from 5-6 other townships; ah, suburbia).

July 6th - we went to see "Fiddler on the Roof," presented by one of the local community theaters. We can boast that we know the star of the show (along with several other cast & crew members)! It was an excellent production.

And then of course there was the baking of the chocolate cinnamon bread, which is hard to top. What will this week bring?

Loaves, not Fishes

Another baking day; no pie this time. I have been tempted by the Starbucks chocolate cinnamon bread recipe available online for a while, and since I was signed up for fellowship snacks this week I decided that this was the time! Two loaves of CC bread, two loaves of BN (banana nut) bread:

Both were big hits at church! The CC bread was soooo good that I am now guaranteed to gain about 20 lbs. If you have never tried this, you are missing out! Unfortunately, it is not available during the summer months, so you will have to wait until it comes out again. Don't deprive yourself of the experience!

I had to show off the tags - aren't they cute?

Currently July

It's a new month, which means a new Currently with Farley!



Listening - It's a nice peaceful day in the neighborhood, with just a couple of yaps and vrooooms in the background. Ahhh, summer days with the windows open...

Loving - Summer is reading time! Finished my first serious fiction read of the summer, "Sophie's Choice." It doesn't get more serious than that, that's to be sure. Excellent book though, and fantastic for learning more about the non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

Thinking - We're going to see the Sox tonight, and the game will be followed by a fireworks show. Hopefully we don't get rained on too much! (Note: started this yesterday. The rain ended before the game, and the fireworks were great. Best of all, the Stanley Cup was there along with Patrick Sharp!)

Wanting - I've just started watching "Boardwalk Empire," and am totally hooked. I overheard bits and pieces as my husband watched it in his man cave, and became interested enough that I'm now working on catching up to him so we can watch it together. Two more episodes!

Needing - I promised him I'd make some curtains so that he could enjoy more darkness in his cave. I've got the fabric, just have to get in motion!

Tips, Tricks, Hints - Figure out why you're blogging and what you want to get out of it, and let everything else go. There are so many linkys and giveaways and so on and so forth that you can get kind of bogged down in it if you try to do everything or get focused on followers and pageviews. For me, this blog is primarily just a way for friends and family to check in on what I'm up to beyond the limits of Facebook, with the occasional teaching/classroom idea thrown in.

Happy July to all!

Ode to a (BBQ) Pastry Fork

When we combined kitchens after getting married, I discovered this "BBQ" fork that Mike owned:

I promptly commandeered it as my pastry fork. I love it! It is fantastic for pie crust. I use it for whisking the dry ingredients, cutting in the shortening, finishing cutting in the butter (I usually have to start the butter with a pastry blender, given the stiffness of the chill), and best of all blending in the ice water. Works like a charm, and makes pie crust come together so much more quickly.

Yes, I like to use my stand mixer bowl for pie crust - the high sides keeps me from 

getting flour everywhere when I get a bit overexuberant.

If you've never tried a pastry fork before, I highly recommend it.

Moving on, today's pie is apple. It is a recipe I have made several times before, always in my cast iron skillet. This time I wanted to try it out in the mini-cast iron skillets I purchased over Spring Break. And that means I got to use two pie birds!

The secret to this pie is the caramel on the bottom. I start off by melting a little butter with brown sugar until it's thick, and, well, caramel-like.

Mmmmm, caramel.

Bottom crust is laid right on top of the caramel.

Then the pie birds!

You've gotta start working quickly, because the crust softens quickly on top of that hot caramel. In go the apples!

Top crust, which at this point is kind of challenging to pinch with the softened bottom crust - totally worth it, though.

I brush the tops with a little reserved liquid from the apple mixture.

Into the oven! Not chancing a messy oven.

Fresh from the oven! Good thing I took precautions...

All ready to go - just needs a little ice cream. Another win for the mini skillet!

-

When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big...

Yes, Pizza Pie counts!

Homemade crust, one half sausage (the darker half, due to the grease), one half mushroom & roasted red pepper. Pizza of any kind is always a big hit at this house!

Cookbook Journaling

Things that I think are awesome:

1. Handwritten recipes.
2. Recipes with notes, dates, stains, etc.
3. Cookbooks with writing, notes, dogears, etc.
4. Any and all kinds of journaling.

Which is why I've started "Cookbook Journaling." When I get a new cookbook, I print out a label to stick in the front where I record the name and page number of the dishes I prepare, along with the date I prepare them. At first I would record every time I made something from the book in the front, but I've changed that to only recording the first time I create that particular dish to save space.

Then on the page of the actual recipe, I record the date each time I prepare that item, along with notes. I record recipe specific notes such as choices that I made, hints for next time, what I made to go with it, etc. I also often record personal details, like why it was chosen, what the occasion was, who was involved, what else was going on, etc. 

It's fun to see my own little culinary history in the pages. Give it two, three, five, ten, fifty years, and my most used cookbooks should become quite the gastronomical scrapbooks!

Pie x 2

Two more pies!

The first was for last night's dinner, a Tomato Tart with Basil & Garlic Crust:

How I do love my food processor! The crust is made from basil, garlic, flour, salt, butter, and ice water. Top with mozzarella, tomato, olive oil, salt and pepper, bake it up, eat it up! This is worth it for the crust alone, yum!

For last night's dessert, Over the Top Banana Cream Pie:

Whipped cream and bananas "get a little tired" after the first night according to the "Pie" book (from whence the recipe came, not surprisingly I'm sure), so I divided this guy up into three little guys so I could make the topping fresh each night. It starts with a graham cracker crust, filled with a simple custard, topped with banana chunks, fresh whipped cream, and chopped Butterfinger. Mmmmmmmmmm...

Tires and Earrings: A NON-Pinterest Hack!

I had to replace a tire last week - a giant, mean screw stabbed my rear driver's side tire, in a location that was naturally completely non-fixable. You know that story about the elephant and the thorn and the mouse? It made me think of that... though really it was nothing like that.

ANYWAY, I was sitting in the waiting area flipping through an eighteen-year-old edition of "Woman's Day" (not an exaggeration, it was dated Spring 1995), and found this brilliant inspiration:

#4 is the one I fixated on. I don't own a "jewelry box," seeing as most of my earrings cost me less than a magazine, so they're all thrown in a little container and I have to dig around to find matching pairs. No longer! Here are a few examples:

I'm pretty excited about this. And in case you're wondering, I've owned those "Don't Worry, Be Happy" earrings since 4th grade, when Bobby McFerrin's hit and pretty much the entire "Cocktail" soundtrack was all the rage. My students love them (the earrings, not the songs from "Cocktail"). As I paired up my earrings I couldn't help but realize that most of them were chosen with the students in mind. Many of them are sooooo impressed when I wear earrings (particularly dangly or hoopy ones) that color match my outfit - this is what they consider haute couture. I'll take whatever cheap and easy points I can score with them!