A New Day is Here.

It has been a disappointing amount of time since I last posted, but I hope that I am now turning a new leaf today.  After reading many articles, I have decided to deactivate my Facebook account.  I read one article in particular in the International Herald Tribune (which is the international version of the New York Times), about a group formed in Ireland called Europe Versus Facebook.  It was formed by a young Irish man who asked Facebook to send him a hard copy of all of the personal information they had stored about him.  He received a package containing about 1500 pages.  In addition to this rather creepy information storing, I have also realized that while I sit on Facebook and scroll mindlessly through my news feed which consists of an overwhelming combination of annoying gossip, unnecessary complaining, and self-centered gloating, I am missing out on the real world and my life is passing me by.  We will never get this time back again, so why do we waste it by living in a virtual world?

Since I have given up my virtual world, I have decided to jump back into the real world with both feet by signing up for the Amica Seattle Marathon, which will take place November 25, 2012.  At the moment, with 9 months until race day, just thinking about running for roughly 5 hours and covering 26.2 miles, makes me start to break out into a cold sweat and my stomach suddenly turns over and fills with butterflies.  That's why, I am trying to take the training process one day at a time.  My training will officially start on Monday with the first day of an 8 week half marathon training plan from Shape magazine.  I used this same plan a year and a half ago when I ran my first half marathon.  I will start with this plan, run a half marathon in April, here in Germany, and then begin with my official training for the full marathon.  

Before I start my training, I decided to brush up on my history of the first marathon, which, according to legend, took place in 490 BC.   Pheidippides, an ancient Greek soldier ran the 42.195 kilometers from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to carry the good news that they had won the battle against the Persians.  Upon arriving, he shouted "Νενικήκαμεν" (Nenikékamen, 'We have won.'), collapsed, and died.   I truly hope that this will not be my fate, but it is good to know the race's history.

Other than the excitements mentioned above, my life has been going on in a rather 'normal' way.  Cooking, baking, working, running, sleeping, eating, etc. I have been trying many new granola bar recipes lately, hoping to stumble upon some fabulous, extremely healthy, flavor explosion in the shape of a granola bar or breakfast muffin that I can eat along side my morning coffee... One of my friends and coworkers also has a passion for making healthy, low-fat granola, muffins, breakfast bars, and other such foods, so we often share ideas and recipes back and forth.  She recently sent me the link for truly wonderful, no-bake, all-natural energy balls.  They are really easy to whip up in a hurry, and simply delish!  I reduced the honey a bit and also tried them once with a bit of baking cocoa for when I was craving some chocolate.  Both ways were hits, in my humble opinion!  Here's the link:  http://www.recipeforcrazy.com/2011/11/natural-snack.html

Well, now I am semi-caught up on my much belated blogging, so enjoy!  Adieu! 

So far, so good! Plus a soup recipe!

I just want to give a quick update on my first attempt at sourdough bread from scratch!  I have never made a sourdough bread before, so I am really hoping this works!  Last Friday I mixed up the flour and milk for a milk sour starter.  It needs to sit for a total of 7 - 9 days, with a few mixings in between.  To give you an idea of what has happened in the last few days, here is a picture of the starter.  When I first mixed it, it was very runny and rather like thin pancake batter.  Now, though, it is much thicker, and you can see the bubbles pushing up to the surface.

Yesterday, I needed bread so I decided to try a Whole-Wheat Italian French bread.  That sounds like a contradiction, but it is just a bread from Italy but made in the shape and size of traditional French bread.  It turned out pretty good but not explosion-of-flavors-in-my-mouth amazing.  The reason I am sharing about it, though, is because I tried an old way of 'signing' bread.  You basically just cut out a letter or shape (I used a 'G') out of paper or cardboard and lay it on the top of the loaf right before it goes in the oven and then sift flour over the whole loaf.  Remove the letter and you will have non-floured initial on your bread!  Here's mine:

Finally I wanted to share a wonderful soup recipe!  I just made it up yesterday, because I had some leftover carrots that I was not sure what to do with.  The measurements are not super exact, as I did not measure anything.  So here goes!  It is a lovely appetizer, very healthy, and so simple. Also can be vegan if preferred! Enjoy!

Creamy Orange-Carrot Soup

2 medium - large carrots, peeled and cut into thin slices (the smaller the pieces, the faster it cooks)

1 medium orange

1 cup low-fat milk or coconut milk (coconut milk makes a slightly more exotic flavor and is vegan friendly)

1 tsp. salt or to taste

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Garlic salt to taste 

1/2 + rosemary 

1.  Boil about 2 or 2 1/2 cups water (enough to just cover carrots).  Meanwhile, use vegetable peeler to peel just the orange part off of the orange (use a bit less than the whole peel if using regular milk) and cut orange in half.  When water boils, add carrots and orange peel.

2.  Let them boil on medium heat until carrots are quite soft.

3.  Remove from heat and use a stick blender (or pour into regular blender) and blend until totally smooth.  Return to heat and add the milk.  Also squeeze in the juice from one half of the orange and stir.

4.  Add all seasonings, stir, and taste.  Add more seasonings if necessary or desired.

Servings: 2

Tastes wonderful with bread.  

I hope that you all enjoy this recipe as I am very excited about it.  It literally made me want to lick my bowl when I finished it!

It's just sour!

Ok, I've been cracking open my new bread cookbook from my sister, and in the process, I've learned a lot about more complex breads.  I have baked bread much of my life, but I never really learned about using starters such as sourdough and porridge.  For those of you who don't know, a starter is just a bit of the dough that you mix up ahead of time and let it sit to develop a deeper flavor.  For sourdoughs, you often let it sit for a week or more, to get the sour flavor that everyone loves.
So today, I'm officially starting my first sourdough.  I am attempting an Italian whole-grain bread this time.  I just mixed up some flour and milk for a milk sour starter.  I have to let it sit for 3 or 4 days, mix it down, let it sit for 2 or 3 days, mix it down, and finally let it sit for another 1 or 2 days.  Long process, but I have high hopes for the end result!  I think it will be a good exercise  in patience though!
As the process goes along, I'll try to keep you posted on the results!

Sourdough Bread...what nice texture!

As I am still in need of bread for my meals tomorrow, I need to pick another recipe that does not require quite so much time...  I'm looking at a French whole-wheat one that sounds quite lovely!

Just a day, just an ordinary day...

You know those days when the weather is just awful?  As in a day like today... It is raining... And blowing like nothing else... And it is cold.
Well that's how it is today and fortunately it is my day off.
I have a personal policy for my days off.  I must relax.
It sounds simple and rather obvious, but I have discovered that my natural instinct to put off my laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, etc. until my one day off a week.  Then instead of regaining my energy by slowing down, I work extra hard and end up more tired than I was before.

  

So today, my laundry is done, my apartment is clean (enough at least), my groceries are purchased, and I can just... relax.
For today that translates into my spoiling myself by whipping up a killer guacamole (recipe follows), cutting up some fruit (mango, kiwi, and orange), making a hot pot of Earl Grey tea and reading a lovely book.  Later I may or may not be planning on pulling some leftover Christmas cookies out of the freezer...

My book of choice today, happens to be Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables.  I had read the first few chapters at the beginning of December, but had forsaken it when I downloaded The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie.  It is a mystery, of course, and I got hooked by it and could not put it down until I discovered who committed the murder.  Now that I finished it, I am returning to figure out what happens to young Emily Starr.
To sum up this rather random and unorganized post, I'll just say that I am quite thankful for my warm apartment (even though the windows are a bit drafty) and for good food... Cannot complain, as life is good and God is my great King...

Robin's Tasty Guacamole

1 large avocado, medium soft

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1 small tomato

1/2 lime, juiced

1 1/2 tsp. salt (more or less depending on taste preference)

fresh ground pepper, to taste

1 or 2 dashes of cayenne pepper

1)  Cut avocado in half with peel on, and remove pit.  Cut each half into cubes while still in the peel and then scrape the pieces into a medium bowl.  Use a spoon or fork to mash until it reaches desired texture.  I like mine with a few chunks, so I stop mashing it before it becomes totally smooth.  

2)  Dice onion into small pieces and add to avocado.  Mince garlic next and also add to avocado.  

3)  Slice tomato and remove seeds and all middle parts until you just have rings.  Then cut into small pieces and add to bowl with avocado, onion, and garlic.

4)  Add lime juice, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper and mix well.

5)  Chill for 20 - 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend and intensify.

6)  I like to serve mine with thin, toasted ciabatta slices, as they have a nice flavor that goes well with the guacamole and make a more complete meal for vegetarians.

7)  If you wish to store it, save the avocado pit and put it back in the guacamole to help it from become brown as quickly.

Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups guacamole.

Would you like red, white, or....orange wine?

After an embarrassing month of no blog posts, I finally found something that is worthy of sharing with the world.  Just today I stumbled upon (just meaning it popped up on Yahoo) an article that sparked my interest.
The article shares about a new, but actually quite ancient, idea for wine making.  It is something known as orange wine.  They described it as a white wine for red wine lovers.  Who knew?  Read for yourself...
 http://shine.yahoo.com/tistheseason/orange-glad-theres-wine-color-181100872.html