And here's one I really can't handle: The Great American Apparel Diet.
The women who put together this blog have vowed not to buy any new clothes (excluding things like underwear) for a year. I'll be curious to see how this turns out.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I never liked diets
And here's one I really can't handle: The Great American Apparel Diet.
The women who put together this blog have vowed not to buy any new clothes (excluding things like underwear) for a year. I'll be curious to see how this turns out.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Walk with me
This article in Shine quotes a Rutgers researcher who explains why couples who exercise together are also more connected. (The comments readers have on the article shed light on why couples who don't exercise together might get disconnected!)
I go to belly dancing and power yoga classes on my own, but once a week the Scholarly Gentleman and I take an Iyengar yoga class together.
How much does this help our relationship? Not sure. But I have noticed that it helps us come home from class and prepare and enjoy a much healthier dinner than we would usually eat. Last night I stir fried garlic, a hot pepper, ginger, carrots, zucchini, cabbage, and tofu with a mushroom broth sauce. This is a Szechuan recipe I learned from a New Haven restaurant and martial arts center many years ago. We put the stir-fry on brown rice, and it was delicious.
I go to belly dancing and power yoga classes on my own, but once a week the Scholarly Gentleman and I take an Iyengar yoga class together.
How much does this help our relationship? Not sure. But I have noticed that it helps us come home from class and prepare and enjoy a much healthier dinner than we would usually eat. Last night I stir fried garlic, a hot pepper, ginger, carrots, zucchini, cabbage, and tofu with a mushroom broth sauce. This is a Szechuan recipe I learned from a New Haven restaurant and martial arts center many years ago. We put the stir-fry on brown rice, and it was delicious.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The holidays are coming: Cookies!
Was it really three years ago that I wrote about cookie decorating for Joe Kissell's Geeky Gourmet site? Since then, I've discovered I don't really like cookies that much. But I was glad that I finally cracked the mystery of how to get them perfectly decorated.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Flow yoga
Susan Powter stopped teaching her Fremont yoga class last month, so I've been back to belly dancing at Visionary Dance studios, taking the Power Belly class (belly dancing with a special weight belt) on Thursday evenings. I'm also doing Iyengar yoga at Taj Yoga at the Crown Hill Community Center on Mondays.
But I really miss the Ashtanga and Vinyasa styles of yoga that Susan was doing with us because they provide a tougher workout.
If you've read this blog much, you know that one of the biggest barriers to exercise for me is getting comfortable in a new class environment. A new studio. Strange classmates. A new teacher, with new terminology.
But somehow I got myself over to the Power Flow Yoga class at 11:30 a.m. at Ballard Health Club. Outstanding! The instructor, Carl, teaches the Baron Baptiste type of power vinyasa flow yoga; I'd read Baptiste's book, but had never done one of the classes. I found it to be completely do-able, and I hope to become a regular on Sundays. I encountered a couple of new poses, including The Fish.
And I liked the studio at the Ballard Health Club. It's underground, has a great sound system, and they dim the lights, and it's very easy to forget the rest of the world and focus on the workout...er, the practice. Susan used to have us work out to rock and hip hop, which I loved. Carl uses Nick Drake-style indie pop tunes, and that was a pleasant surprise.
Ballard Health Club offers several yoga classes including Power Yoga Wednesday evenings, Saturday mornings, and Sunday afternoons and Carl's Power Flow Yoga on Sundays (late morning). The club also has a variety of payment options, including memberships, drop-in, etc., this some of the most affordable yoga in town.
But I really miss the Ashtanga and Vinyasa styles of yoga that Susan was doing with us because they provide a tougher workout.
If you've read this blog much, you know that one of the biggest barriers to exercise for me is getting comfortable in a new class environment. A new studio. Strange classmates. A new teacher, with new terminology.
But somehow I got myself over to the Power Flow Yoga class at 11:30 a.m. at Ballard Health Club. Outstanding! The instructor, Carl, teaches the Baron Baptiste type of power vinyasa flow yoga; I'd read Baptiste's book, but had never done one of the classes. I found it to be completely do-able, and I hope to become a regular on Sundays. I encountered a couple of new poses, including The Fish.
And I liked the studio at the Ballard Health Club. It's underground, has a great sound system, and they dim the lights, and it's very easy to forget the rest of the world and focus on the workout...er, the practice. Susan used to have us work out to rock and hip hop, which I loved. Carl uses Nick Drake-style indie pop tunes, and that was a pleasant surprise.
Ballard Health Club offers several yoga classes including Power Yoga Wednesday evenings, Saturday mornings, and Sunday afternoons and Carl's Power Flow Yoga on Sundays (late morning). The club also has a variety of payment options, including memberships, drop-in, etc., this some of the most affordable yoga in town.
Grapes
I have a love/hate relationship with the grapevine. It came with the house, and every other year, it has lots of grapes. They're Candice (also Canadice and Candace) grapes — a red grape that makes a wildly colored pink grape juice.
The vines get pruned every January or February. This year I was sure I'd pruned too harshly — all the way back to old wood — but there are certainly plenty of grapes now. Go figure.
The vine is trained to a high arbor, so harvesting the grapes involves climbing a fairly large ladder and plunging my head and arms into a jungle of grape leaves. Once a cluster of grapes is clipped, it then needs to be lowered through the tangle of vines, grapes, leaves, and arbor structure to a basket. This results in a hail of grapes, with about 3/4 actually making it into the basket.
One year I was snipping away at the grapes when I realized a pair of eyes were staring at me from the grape leaves — one of the cats had clambered up into the arbor to "help" me.
I harvested about half of the grape crop this past weekend, and have been giving grapes to the neighbors.
Candice grapes are supposedly a fairly unusual variety, but I saw some Candice vines for sale in the garden shop at the Ballard Market last week. This is your chance to embark on a love/hate relationship with a grapevine. Don't miss out.
The vines get pruned every January or February. This year I was sure I'd pruned too harshly — all the way back to old wood — but there are certainly plenty of grapes now. Go figure.
The vine is trained to a high arbor, so harvesting the grapes involves climbing a fairly large ladder and plunging my head and arms into a jungle of grape leaves. Once a cluster of grapes is clipped, it then needs to be lowered through the tangle of vines, grapes, leaves, and arbor structure to a basket. This results in a hail of grapes, with about 3/4 actually making it into the basket.
One year I was snipping away at the grapes when I realized a pair of eyes were staring at me from the grape leaves — one of the cats had clambered up into the arbor to "help" me.
I harvested about half of the grape crop this past weekend, and have been giving grapes to the neighbors.
Candice grapes are supposedly a fairly unusual variety, but I saw some Candice vines for sale in the garden shop at the Ballard Market last week. This is your chance to embark on a love/hate relationship with a grapevine. Don't miss out.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Suddenly, it's all about sandwiches
It must be the economy, but suddenly it seems like every time I go out to eat, it's sandwiches. A meal for well under $10:
• Royal Grinders in downtown Fremont (next to the statue of Lenin). Their grinders are like a New Haven toasted grinder (especially if you ask them to leave off their rich sauce and just sprinkle on olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano). $7.29 for a grinder and a soda — and these are big sandwiches.
• Rizzo's French Dip on 15th NW in Ballard. As you'll see when you read the Yelp reviews, this place is something out of a short story. All they serve is lots of beef on a baguette, dipped in beef bouillon. $6 gets you a plain sandwich; there's also an option to add cheese.
• RoRo Barbecue on Stone Way. Beef brisket and pork, most of it on sandwich rolls. Several types of sauces, including North Carolina vinegar style. A choice of about a dozen sides, including fresh succotash (with edamame instead of limas); a (non-creamy) cole slaw; corn muffin; and baked beans. Friendly, sassy service. About $8-$9 for a sandwich with two sides.
• The Monkey Bridge on Market St. in Ballard. I have been disappointed with their main dishes, but you can't miss with their rich, juicy take on the traditional Vietnamese sandwich. Choice of chicken, beef, pork, ham and egg, or tofu on a baguette with mayonnaise, onion, cucumber, cilantro, pickled carrot, and daikon. About $5.
• Royal Grinders in downtown Fremont (next to the statue of Lenin). Their grinders are like a New Haven toasted grinder (especially if you ask them to leave off their rich sauce and just sprinkle on olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano). $7.29 for a grinder and a soda — and these are big sandwiches.
• Rizzo's French Dip on 15th NW in Ballard. As you'll see when you read the Yelp reviews, this place is something out of a short story. All they serve is lots of beef on a baguette, dipped in beef bouillon. $6 gets you a plain sandwich; there's also an option to add cheese.
• RoRo Barbecue on Stone Way. Beef brisket and pork, most of it on sandwich rolls. Several types of sauces, including North Carolina vinegar style. A choice of about a dozen sides, including fresh succotash (with edamame instead of limas); a (non-creamy) cole slaw; corn muffin; and baked beans. Friendly, sassy service. About $8-$9 for a sandwich with two sides.
• The Monkey Bridge on Market St. in Ballard. I have been disappointed with their main dishes, but you can't miss with their rich, juicy take on the traditional Vietnamese sandwich. Choice of chicken, beef, pork, ham and egg, or tofu on a baguette with mayonnaise, onion, cucumber, cilantro, pickled carrot, and daikon. About $5.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
A healthy dose of reality
The Independent has the best commentary I've seen yet on the healthcare debate. Excerpts:
The political climate around healthcare:
Right-wing cluelessness:
Liberal conciliation:
The political climate around healthcare:
It has best been summarised by the comedian Bill Maher: "The Democrats have moved to the right, and the Republicans have moved to a mental hospital."
Right-wing cluelessness:
Last week, one of the Republicans sent to disrupt a healthcare town hall started a fight and was injured – and then complained he had no health insurance. I didn't laugh; I wanted to weep.
Liberal conciliation:
As Arianna Huffington put it, "It is as though, at the height of the civil rights movement, you thought you had to bring together Martin Luther King and George Wallace and make them agree. It's not how change happens."
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