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Month: November 2020

it’s pie time!

it’s pie time!

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i was hoping that quarantine in the fall meant i’d see nothing but pies all over my feeds just like spring brought the bread, but no such luck. but what better way to celebrate fall than with some pie?

i had some cranberries that i wanted to use, so i did a search for fresh cranberry options, and let me tell you – there aren’t a ton. but i found a cranberry custard pie that looked like a good starting point. i sort of followed the recipe but added about a cup of pumpkin puree into the custard along with some pumpkin pie spice.  also it calls for two crusts on the bottom, which may have been my downfall. i went with just one.

since there was much success with it last time, i used the test kitchen recipe for crust that had vodka in the ingredients. i also tried out blind baking the crust with my pie weights, and that just does not turn out well for me. the crust shrinks up on the sides and just overall isn’t a good time. i’m going to have to do some research on that.

but it’s delicious!

the cranberries add an awesome bite to a more traditional pumpkin pie, and it tastes really fresh, even if there’s more sugar in this pie than you can shake a stick at.

it doesn’t exactly look very appetizing – you should have seen it before i dusted some powdered sugar on it. but it does taste pretty awesome. my crust, unfortunately, has a soggy bottom even WITH the blind baking and me putting it in a 500º oven (a tip from an expert pie baker). mary berry would’ve sent me out of the tent. the rest of the crust is spot on though.

then i made some cute little leaf cutouts. i really should look into finding cookie presses so i get the little details better.

and since i was making crusts anyway, why not go all out? i made my squash galette today, an autumnal staple for me. it’s just delish.

oh no i’ve already lost

oh no i’ve already lost

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well, a blog post every day of november is off the table now. i was just so productive yesterday! thanks, election results, for kicking me in the butt to get stuff done!

  1. nate and i put up the outdoor christmas lights. it was warm out, which is a huge plus when putting up the lights. i’m always scared the stupid ladder’s going to slip on cold concrete while i’m up at the peak of the garage. plus nate was holding on to the ladder, so that adds an element of ease. so the lights are up! i still have two strings i could do something with – we’ll see what that could be!
  2. after the lights were up, i came in to find a text message from my coworker, an IT dude who should be retired, who is a reagan republican turned democrat (he voted for obama, GW once, etc. and now he’s full blown dem – we have a lot of fun at work) with the updated election results. i spent the next hour or so feeling a sense of relief that the next four years won’t be spend in fear of dying in nuclear war. and found a GREAT video that i will try to find a youtube of (it was on instagram).
  3. i was all keyed up! wanted to do something with the mask on. called jane to see if she was up for a socially distanced MOA visit that evening, and she was! but first….
  4. a run for two miles. two very sloggish miles, but two miles. outside! it may have been the last outdoor run of the season, and i wish it would’ve been better. but i can’t win them all.
  5. headed down to the moa and met jane’s BF, had a couple drinks, wandered around the mall, etc. overall, the mask usage in the mall was pretty good! there were only a couple times i saw some weirdos without masks, and i stayed far away from them.
  6. came home and played a game with the fam via zoom!

that was saturday! i’m backdating this so it counts for saturday and will post something else for sunday later on.

a lite interlude

a lite interlude

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let’s talk about some things that are pulling all through this tumultuous time right now! well, me at least. you take these tips and run with them, if you’d like. or tell me to stuff it because these suck! your call.

  1. fluffy slippers. i was looking at a pair of fur-lined birkenstock slides to get me through the winter because i LOVE my other birks but they have a toe thing, and there isn’t much better than pulling off your work socks at the end of the day and then putting on a fluffy pair of thick socks for the cold evening. so i needed a sock friendly slipper! instead of doling out $100 for a pair of furry birks, i spent $25 on a knockoff, and oh boy are they nice! supportive cork base, furry insides, and a sandal top. perfect for socked OR bare feet.
  2. lighting a candle for yoga. i have a candle on the floor while i do yoga, and it really sets the mood! i have rather ambient light in my living room anyway, and to add a candle on top of that just makes it so nice and cozy. and then when my fireplace goes off? woo!
  3. weekly tv shows. the mandalorian and great british baking show release new episodes weekly, which is FANTASTIC and i missed the anticipation of waiting for a new episode of a tv show and the joy of seeing OH BOY look at that new episode up there!
  4. instagram is a nice social break that can be nonpolitical. i do follow people who CAN be political, but it is more than possible to follow people there who will just post pics of their food or plants or weird japanese creations or makeup or home improvement or tequila and lifting or whatever you could ever imagine. some people i am enjoying looking at IG right now are martha stewart, the splendid table, greg nohner, my tattoo artist, explore minnesota, seed savers, a bunch of cats, national geographic photographers, etc.
  5. new phones! i know my dad just got a rockin new flip phone, and this morning i preordered the iphone MINI! i’m excited because the camera will be good and the size will be small! it should be here nov. 13. i don’t know if a new phone is in your future, but it’s the small things. or the expensive small things, at least. (yikes.)

and now that the light’s basically gone forever, i’m pulling out some oldies but goodies: puzzles are coming out this weekend and i’ve alreayd made a crapton of bread that’s hanging out in the freezer.

so! let’s hear what YOU are doing to pass the time delightfully during the pandemic! or while you’re waiting for election results. or while you’re waiting for 2020 to die a slow death. whichever version of funk that you may have!

what’s the word?

what’s the word?

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today’s word of the day: tenterhooks.

used in a sentence? “it’s safe to assume that all my readers are waiting on tenterhooks for the election results.”

so what’s the background on tenterhooks?

back in ye olde timey days, people would make their own woolen cloth. after it was woven, the cloth was still oily from the fleece (lanolin!) and dirty. it was cleaned and then it had to be dried in a certain way, or it would shrink – as those of us know who’ve accidentally thrown a wool sweater in the dryer.

but pre dryers, the cloth would be stretched out on a wooden frame called a tenter. and on the edges of the frame were hooks! hence, tenterhooks. i guess this could be a large-scale operation, with fields of wool-laden tenters oft seen by ye olde peasantry.

soon after the word became a word in the 14th century, on tenters became a phrase known for tension, unease, anxiety, or suspense. between the nervousness of keeping wool in shape and the tension of the stretched fabric, it’s an apt metaphor. also, sheep are skittish, so the whole operation was probably a lesson in patience.

bread break

bread break

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say hello to the new addition!

bed bath and beyond had a sale on their cast iron, so i got the baby in the front for $40, which is a steal. it’s a 6 qt, which is bigger than my black lodge cast iron in the back. now i can bake two loaves at once! also, do not put your cast iron pots directly on your pizza stone. you get burnt bottoms. worse than a soggy bottom? not sure.

i took monday off, so i got out my sourdough starter on sunday and boy did it go gangbusters. i ended up making 5 loaves of sourdough on monday, and it actually turned out like it was supposed to – holey!

i also made myself another loaf of honey oat sourdough, which is pretty good.

for my white bread loaves, i ended up splitting a recipe that was probably meant for smaller pans. next time i make it, i’ll try to make one giant loaf in the big pot. next time!

so now i’ve got three loaves of white sourdough and one loaf of honey oat in the freezer. not too shabby. we’ll see if pie season takes off like bread season has.

a tipsy election nite

a tipsy election nite

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i’m only posting right now because it’s kablamo, but i really would rather not. it’s  election nite and i’m anxious about the state of the country and how people can think trump is any good for any of us. and so i started drinking some wine at 6:30 and did a little stress-relieving yoga and now i’m doomscrolling through twitter and ready to go all-out revolution because you KNOW one of my forebears was a signer of the constitution (yeah charles carroll!). ugh. welp. we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

yoga mat review take III

yoga mat review take III

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ah, we come upon the close of the yoga mat reviews! to recap:

i compared the natural rubber version of three mats: bmat, manduka, and hugger mugger. each of these mats cost $70-95, so i’d expect something magical from them.

the hugger mugger came in the mail on friday, and i immediately unfurled it and threw it on the floor to compare to the bmat, the clear winner in bmat vs. manduka.

first impressions? i like the color/design of the HM better – but that’s purely aesthetic.

the bmat is once again the winner on the width on this one, too. that extra 2″ – you just can’t beat that!

the HM is almost as sticky as the bmat, and much stickier than the manduka. it’s also a little bit cushier than the manduka, but not quite as cushy as the bmat. this is probably due to the fact that the bmat is 6mm and the other mats i got in its price range were 4 and 5mm.

but the HM is thicker than the manduka, that’s for sure. but bmat wins thickness, and since i do yoga on a wooden floor, i’ll take the cushier mat. i know there are some yogis who would rather have a more solid experience, but i’ll take the extra help for the knees.

so one thing i noticed on this one is how the mats are constructed. i wish i had taken note of this when i had the manduka, as well, but alas. take a look at how thick the construction of the mat is.

i can see why the bmat is certainly a better experience on the feet!

so, there is my final yoga mat review. rankings of the high-end natural rubber yoga mats:

3. manduka eko
2. hugger mugger para
1. bmat strong

if you’re ready to drop some dollars on a decent, long-lasting yoga mat, i recommend the bmat strong.

welcome, kablamo!

welcome, kablamo!

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it’s november, and that can mean only one thing! it’s time for KABLPOMO aka !!KABLAMO!!

the past couple years, i planned out the month’s posts, but this year i just didn’t because november kind of snuck up on me. thanks pandemic! i should have saved all my yoga mat reviews until november, but alas.

so, i guess i’ll do a bulletpoint sunday funday for you.

  1. nate and i went to rochester/st charles this past weekend to celebrate charlie’s 5th cheatin’ the reaper versary. i got us a hotel friday night, got sushi from ichi tokyo, then went to my parents on saturday for pizza and celebratory cake. on the way home, we swung by jenee’s mazeppa home and saw her halloween extravaganza, which  was actually pretty amazing.
  2. CURSE YOU AXIAL TILT regular time is upon us! it’s supposed to be great running weather this week, and i’ll be at work til the sun is set and the dark is just suddenly upon us. whomp. i may just go to the lake wobegon trail and take my headlamp to get my miles in outside.
  3. because the transition to treadmill this fall has been TREACHEROUS. something is totally off on my left-side gait, because my IT band is hating on me. i have to make sure to stretch out my hip after every run and roll the crap out of it because it makes my knee wonky, then my calf, then my upper ankle. thanks, body and time, for reminding me how annoying it is to maintain as the years roll by.
  4. but the good news is that i took tomorrow (monday) off and i’m going to try to get an outdoor run in during daylight hours. i may also put up my christmas lights while it’ll be warm out, because putting them up when it’s 40º is no fun.
  5. i have one more yoga mat to review, but that will probably be tomorrow. but, i have one yoga related item to address: i took off my rings for yoga last week and forgot to put them back on. the next morning, three of four were on the ground below the coffee table, but the fourth is lost to the ether of my living room corners and dustbunnies. of course it’s the diamond. so i was at kohl’s today to do an amazon return, and i stopped by the jewelry section. i found a temporary left-hand set until i either 1) find the ring or 2) decide to actually just replace it. it was a $50 sterling silver/cubic zirconia set that actually doesn’t look that bad. and it was on sale AND i had a coupon, so it cost $16. not too shabby.

i’m drinking an amaretto sour out of my custer state park buffalo glass. classy stuff, here!