Sponge Cake Guru

Finally, I think I've mastered the sponge cake. They've always collapsed in previous attempts.

What worked:
- Beating egg whites even stiffer than I thought they should be
- Folding in egg whites a portion at a time
- Tipping springform pan upside down while cooling
- Using cake flour (1 cup + 2 Tbsp = 1 cup all purpose)

Otherwise essentially followed this Tres Leches recipe

Thanksgiving Notes

Lots of fun trying to plan, coordinate, organize, and execute a full Thanksgiving menu (a few coworkers came over). I was relieved the turkey came out good, but I thought most of the sides needed a few tweaks that I would have caught had I had more time/energy while putting on the finishing touches (e.g. pecan topping on sweet potatoes wasn't toasty & sweet potatoes were way too sweet). But everything was edible and fine, and nothing was a major disaster.

Turkey:
-A brining bag was perfect as was 10-11 pound bird
-Followed Alton Brown's recipes on Food Network site with success
-500 degrees for first 30 min, then 325 for about another 1 hour 15 min (maybe even a bit longer). Got thrown off because breast temp was 190 F, but bird was not overcooked at all--not sure why that happened.

Make Ahead Gravy:
-Had trouble getting a deep, rich flavor; definitely would not follow the recipe that said buy some turkey wings ahead of time. Will just use giblets and neck from bird and work on tweaking that for make ahead gravy.

Cranberry Sauce:
-Adding a granny smith apple and pear (chopped up very finely) was a nice addition. Kept it simple with orange juice/sugar bath to boil it all in.

Mashed Potatoes:
-Tip from friend to add some garlic (preferably in a tea steeper) to the boiling potatoes was a good idea. Also, liked using Boursin flavored soft cheese as the mix-in.

Macaroni & Cheese:
-Still struggling to get a good strong flavor to the bechamel + cheese sauce. Need to play around with multiple recipes and figure out what I like.

Sausage, Cranberry Stuffing:
-Do not use turkey sage sausage, go back to porky salty Jimmy Dean or similar--sausage was really bland this time around.

Chestnut Pie:
-Don't overcook next time. Bake until it's set but not firm, leave a little wobble.

November Workouts

A year ago today

OK, I am happy I have this web log of jottings.

I checked my postings from Nov 2010 and discovered that a year-ago today I received the offer for my current job. That was a good day.

But more importantly, I re-discovered my Thanksgiving stuffing recipe with full detailed notes on the modifications I made. Unfortunately, I have no idea what I meant when I said "One 24-oz loaf of hearty bread". What the hell is hearty bread? Oh well, I'm going to be substituting in some gluten-free breads for one of the guests anyway, so I'll be limited in what bread choices get used.

Way too social

Been trying lots of eats around Portland lately. There's an intern and new team member at work who both live by me and they've been doing a good job of dragging me out of my house.

I just noticed that I complained about the price for every one of these places. I don't know if I'm just out of touch with what restaurant prices are these days or that I am a cheapskate. Probably a bit of both.

Olympic Provisions for happy hour: Just had some tastes from a charcuterie sampler--seemed pretty good though pricey. Will try purchasing one of there to-go cured meats another time. Can't say I'm particularly compelled to try them for a full dinner.

Laurelhurst Market: Not what I was expecting based on the name. Mainly a fancy butchery with a few sandwich selections. Super overpriced but delicious. I had a cup of meat-bean soup and a half of a ham sandwich thing that was $10.50 total for a teeny portion of soup and teeny half sandwich.

DiPrima Dolci: Possibly the closest I've ever seen Portland match an East Coast Italian style eatery. Love the atmosphere (zero hipsters) and that they sell freshly made Italian pastries. Not sure whether the food is worth the price, seemed like there was pre-cooked frozen peas/carrots in my bolognese sauce. Will come back here another time and try the pizza--has potential.

Broder: Swedish breakfast. Overpriced but worth it. Delicious round light fluffy pancakes with fresh lemon curd, wow. Decent potato hash with smoked trout, small little chunks of walnut toast on the side. Would have loved portion sizes that were about 25% larger...but I would definitely eat here again. Coworker from Europe said the food at Broder was better than any she'd had in Sweden. Apparently Swedish food is generally ill-prepared and that people there really do go eat at Ikea (akin to Americans eating at Costco).

Otto's: Always notice that people are hanging out at this deli as they grill sausages out front on the weekend. I didn't think the chicken sausage link I got was that fantastic for $3.25 (and that was the price without a bun)--but I enjoyed how un-zen it was to eat a sausage right after yoga.

October Workouts

I finally got a Garmin GPS watch -- I love collecting my running data with it -- I wish I would have bought one years ago.

Anyway, I'm now tracking all my workouts through Garmin's site, so now I finally have my workouts formatted nicely, though you have to click on the image to see it in full.

I joined a Crossfit gym this month; the accountability of having to show up for classes has been really helpful for me in staying on track each week with good eating habits. It's still tough at times in the office of endless treats and managing going out to eat with coworkers; but staying consistent with my workouts (and staying clean with my own eating at home/packed lunches) has helped keep it all in check.

I'm also loosely following Hal Higdon's 1/2-full marathon training planning with my runs; at its simplest, it is 3 short runs a week (3 to 5 miles) plus one longer weekend run (6 or more miles). As I said, loosely following...there's some nuances built in about tempo and increasing mileage each week.

Butternut Squash Sausage Soup

I'm currently obsessed with eating butternut squash, sausage, and kale soup for work lunches (more like a stew than soup). There's a variety of recipe variations on the web, here's an approximation for what I threw together last week based on using ingredients I had on hand.

Butternut Squash, Sausage, and Kale Stew
1 butternut squash, peeled, roasted in some maple syrup/butter, and cubed
1/2 pound Hot Chicken Sausage from New Seasons
3 cloves garlic
Onion powder (would have preferred to use a real onion)
1/4 cup red lentils
1/4 cup quinoa
5 leaves of kale roughly chopped
2 cup vegetable broth
Sprinkling of rosemary (and maybe some sage if I had any)
Salt and pepper to taste

= Peel a butternut squash, cut into cubes, toss in some kind of sweet buttery mixture, and roast until pieces are nice and browned. This will be way more butternut squash than needed -- probably only need about half of it for the stew. Set to the side.

= In a large soup pot, lightly cook some garlic (and if you had onions, do an onion) in olive oil. Add ground sausage to pot and cook through.

- Add 2 cups of vegetable broth, and about another cup of water to the pot. Add lentils and quinoa to the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes or so.

- Add roughly chopped kale to the pot. Add some more water if needed to help cook the lentils and quinoa. Add some spices (rosemary, sage, salt, pepper) to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

- Add a bunch of cubed butternut squash into the pot until the consistency and taste is how you like it.

Zombie Finger Cookies

My new favorite cookie recipe of the year. Everyone at work got a huge laugh out of them, and I managed to scare lots of little kids who were at the company for a trick-or-treat event.

Modifications I made:
1. Dip almonds in melted jelly and place on fingers before baking.
2. Lower cooking temperature to 305 and bake for only about 15 minutes.

Unfathomable smart person stupidity

We had a highly-regarded person come in for a job interview. He's the kind of person that everyone knows who he is if you're in my area of work: he's written multiple books, founded a well-known consulting company, etc etc...the kind of guy whose name you want to have associated with your group.

Man, he f'd his interview day up--and it was so preventable.

All he did was take a phone call at the end of his interview day. He took this call right in the middle of our bullpen (we have a little couch/hang out area)--everyone can hear you--it's clearly not a private or secluded area whatsoever. And what did he decide to loudly discuss with this unknown person on the phone (WHERE WE CAN ALL HEAR YOU):

- Other companies he's interviewing with
- His expectations of the kind of company he wants to work for & commuting preferences
- Cursing multiple times saying things like: "Design firms are bullsh*t--which is kind of ironic because he founded one
- Naming people in the field and talking about their personal lives (and yes, we all know these people even if they're not at my company--our field is small)
- Denigrating two companies by name and saying that they had poor design groups

I mean, really? REALLY? This is what you thought would be appropriate to have a conversation about in the open area where you've been interviewing all day? Did he think this was demonstrating self-awareness and honesty? I was seriously stunned and for the length of his conversation (maybe 20-30 min), just IM'd back and forth with my boss about everything he was saying.

Needless to say, he won't be getting an offer from us.

LUNCHNOODLE--Keep this post in mind. He's actually super interested in your company, I kid you not. He may have even already interviewed with you guys (though I know you have multiple teams that do design, so maybe it's not directly in your line).

More self-indulgence: Manual home timeline

I'm oozing nostalgia of all sorts tonight, though maybe that Facebook timeline stuff I've been hearing about is influencing my thinking.

I haven't seen how the FB timeline works yet, but if it's only pulling from what you post (which I'm assuming is all it can source data from--at least for now), that seems to be a limited impression of "your life."

My little timeline of where I've lived, since about age 6.

Los Angeles memory preservation

I have pretty poor recall when it comes to events in my life, so this post is just to capture one odd event in Los Angeles when I was there in 2008. This post is prompted by the fact I Googled one of the people from that summer, and a 1988 LA Times article about that person appeared: "Two Accused of Running Ten-Million Prize Scam." Woah, that hadn't been digitized & indexed previously when I first met this person.

I was renting office space--just a desk, computer, & phone really in the main reception area of a 3 room suite to work on my dissertation--I think it was $200 a month. It was on Sawtelle Blvd., a few miles from my apartment, I found the space through Craigslist. I never realized it was next to a medical marijuana facility until the end of the summer, those places do a good job at being subtle.


I first met JR (the woman who leased the office suite & posted on Craigslist looking for a sub-letter) in the parking lot of La Salsa on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. This is the coolest looking La Salsa I had ever seen. I was meeting her there because I wanted to sign a sublet agreement, and her fancy Lexus roadster was in the shop (so I would pick her up because La Salsa was near her Malibu home and we could chat/talk about lease while driving to Santa Monica together so she could get her car.)


JR was like a cartoon character crossed-between Ghost World and the Simpsons--a punky-gothic misfit of sorts with an over-the-top townie personality. She was in her 50s, had a brusque East Coast sounding accent, was very talkative, and decked with a spiky faux-hawk, she looked like this random person from the Internet except older.


She boasted about her talents throughout the drive from Malibu to Santa Monica. She had written a hit pop song in 1973 and was a highly-desired organizational consultant, brought into large companies to help them restructure their business plans and improve bottom lines. She also said she was a pioneer in a new form of advertising called 'live advertising'--which was essentially having digital screens outside of businesses. She was a self-made wealthy woman with a home in Malibu by the beach, a dog she loved, a Lexus, and cool-hair. That was the story she told, anyway.

The ensuing 6-months that I leased the office space were bizarre to say the least. The self-described organizational consultant appeared to me to be running a low-rent headhunting firm (there was only a single client--some friend of JR's that needed pharmaceutical or sales reps of some sort). From 10am to 4pm each day, JR would be on the phone with unsuspecting young ladies with resumes on Monster, where she would pepper them with questions such as:

"Based on your college graduation date, it looks like you're probably in your late 30s. Can you doll yourself up and look younger? The client really needs women who are lookers."

"Do you have kids? The client needs women who have flexible schedules and aren't running off to pick up their kids all the time. Is that going to be an issue?"

When JR wasn't on the phone asking inappropriate interview questions, she was on the phone with Monster, yelling at their tech support for something being wrong with the web site ("I PAY A LOT OF MONEY TO YOU GUYS EACH MONTH! WHY ISN'T THE SITE WORKING/GIVING ME THE RIGHT SEARCH RESULTS?!?!).

She also seemed to get into a lot of screaming matches with people who I thought were calling to find out more about her business and whether they might hire her (JR). Since I could only hear one side of the conversation, I never could figure out what would set her off, but these calls would end with a low growl and she'd be shouting "LOOK, YOU CALLED ME BUDDY. DON'T CALL HERE AGAIN, I WILL BE CONTACTING MY LAWYER ABOUT YOU."

I sat out in the main reception area with an unfortunate-young-lady-of-the-week who was desperate enough to have taken a job with JR directly. This unfortunate-young-lady was tasked with doing the same work as JR, except she was paid practically nothing and her salary was supposed to come from a commission for successfully soliciting other girls into the sales rep positions for the client.

I'm not sure how legitimate the sales rep positions were because there were about 6 unfortunate-young-ladies who came through in a single month to flex their headhunting skills, lasting only a few days each. Marci lasted the longest at about 1.5 months working for JR, though she seemed to leave on the verge of tears at the end of each day.

And then the weirdest person to ever have a stint in JR's office was someone I'll just call Bob. I have no clue what his name was, he had many. He kind of looked like this random person from the Internet, though without a genuine smile and more of a creepster air about him.


I arrived one day, and Bob was sitting at the spot typically reserved for the unfortunate-young-lady-of-the week. JR said he was just going to be here for a few days borrowing space. OK, whatever, I was used to random faces at this point.

I was not, however, used to such a LOUD person. JR could be loud at times, but Bob was LOUD FOR 6 HOURS STRAIGHT. And just vile and weird in all his conversations; he was trying to sell something, and for each lead he would call, he would take on a fake accent and fake name while being super aggressive. So if he was calling an Arab guy, Bob was now Mohammed with some rendition of an Arab accent. "LOOK MON, I GIVE YOU GOOT PRICE!"

If it was a Jewish guy, he was Shlomo; Italian? Maybe Vinnie. I wish I could say I was being facetious, he really did this--I had no clue parts of the world operated this way.

I don't have any great build-up to this story, except I think I now can guess a bit more of the shadiness that happened right in front of me after reading the LA Times telemarketing scam article from '88. My hypothesis is that this was a multi-level marketing scheme and the sales rep girls were used to help lure in new "investors." Hence, the high turnover rate of these sales reps and constantly needing to stock new ones (who wants to do this job once you realize it's scamming people?).

In all fairness, I have to say that JR never bilked me out of any money (my security deposit for the keys was returned in full without issue) and she never tried to involve me in any of her dealings. I suspect I must have had some smell of nerd-snitch about me that made me less desirable for the picking.

2008 ended on a positive note: Julie and I had a great vacation to Mexico City and Mazunte, and then I moved to San Jose -- though it would still take me another year to finally complete that damn dissertation.

I look forward to Googling JR in a few years to find out the latest installment of her saga.

I like the library again

I finally have reason to use the library again--being able to check out books on my Kindle is perfect for me (as someone who is never willing to make the time to check out books in-person because I find it too inconvenient). Now I just have to figure out what the unpopular titles are to check out, I'm 52nd on the waiting list for Jennifer Egan's "A Visit From the Goon Squad."

I had a nice afternoon hiking around Tryon Creek park today. I really liked this park for an easy nature jog--there were some hills, but not too many, and the paths were super-maintained and pretty wide (so easy to pass people and stable surface). Also, all the trail spurs were pretty short, so it was always easy to modify the route at any time and start heading back.

I'll have to come at a less popular time though, there were a ga-zillion dog and child walkers out.

Media Experimenting Continued

This definitely is the year that I am noticing a shift in how I value access to media (TV shows, movies, whatever). And yes, this is major #firstworldproblems, I get it. I'm just trying to figure out how to easily find stuff I want to watch while minimizing having to pay for things I'm not interested in.

I cancelled Netflix today because I don't want to have to use 2 separate sites for streaming & DVD rentals. I can stream the content Netflix has from many other services and I don't want to start from scratch building up my ratings and queue on a new site for rentals. Now I will just try starting fresh and paying for new movies I want to watch on a pay-per-view basis.

I'm still wanting to cut the cord with broadcast cable (I would keep the uber-basic local channels), but I secretly still want nonsense to watch without having to seek it out, any time of the day.

Cake Ball Making

In celebration for someone's return back to the office, I am Dean of Treats (other people are doing cube decorations, etc.), with dark chocolate M&Ms being the theme and favorite candy of said person.

I've decided to work on my cake ball making skills (cake truffles if you wanna be fancy), and I've improved drastically since when I first started making these a few years ago. Mine used to be way too sweet when I followed previous recipes that insisted on incorporating a can of frosting, so I eliminated canned frosting completely for just my own mixture of cream cheese, butter, and minimal powdered sugar.

However, it's still seeming impossible to get more of a cake texture inside, and while my coating is better than prior years (I used to coat them really unevenly), it still looks very amateur. Of course, tacking on an M&M to anything doesn't exactly help in that area.


Too gooey looking inside (and I barely used any binder):


The successful things to do again were:
1) Use Alton Brown's red velvet cake recipe, weighing all ingredients--fantastic tasting, not too sweet
2) Use chocolate melting pot & tap off excess chocolate after rolling cake ball in it
3) Don't use canned frosting
4) Use minimal sugar in any binder

To try for the future:
1) Drying the cake out so it's less moist
2) Finding some kind of icing/candy writer to make a drizzle pattern

Gardening Outcome

Well, it took 3 months, but I have successfully birthed more peppers than I will ever use. I will definitely be planting again next summer, but not peppers -- though now I understand why someone would be inclined to make pepper jelly. Actually, I'm still not inclined to do that, and so these will be taken to work and given away. May they end up in many delicious salsas, curries, or stir fries.

September Workouts

1 - 5.5 mile light jog/walk
2 - 4 mile run
3 - Nothing

4 - Nothing
5 - Fishing
6 - Nothing
7 - Nothing
8 - Nothing
9 - Nothing
10 - Nothing

11 - 3.6 mile run
12 - Nothing
13 - 5.4 mile run
14 - Nothing
15 - Nothing
16 Nothing
17 - Nothing

18 - Nothing
19 - Nothing

Peanut butter geeking

Small package from Amazon with great joys inside.

Roku2 XS -- Has the same level of technology cuteness & personality akin to TiVo. I'm hoping it will wean me off cable TV.

Who knew Powdered Peanut Butter could be so delicious? Happy to be able to get my PB fix with fewer calories involved -- I mixed this with a little raw cocoa powder and a smidge of almond milk.

August Workouts

Aug 1 - 2 mile run + 2 mile walk
2 - Nothing
3 - 2.25 mile run
4 - 50 minutes The Firm cardio DVD
5 - 3 mile run
6 - Nothing

7 - 3.5 mile run
8 - 4.25 mile run
9 - Nothing
10 - 4 mile run
11 - 3 mile run
12 - Nothing
13 - Nothing

14 - Nothing
15 - Jackie Warner weights DVD
16 - 4 mile run
17 - 4 mile run
18 - Nothing
19 - 4.6 mile run
20 - Nothing

21 - 4.3 mile run
22 - Nothing
23 - Nothing
24 - 4 mile walk
25 - 5 mile run
26 - Nothing
27 - 2 hour run/walk hike

28 - Nothing
29 - 5.3 mile run
30 -Nothing
31 - 10k work run

July workouts

Back on the workout wagon, pretty much starting from scratch. June ended with an ankle sprain (minor, but I couldn't do anything aerobic), and then with about 2 weeks vacation, I am back to square one in terms of fitness levels.

July 18 - 40 minutes aerobics DVD (lunges, shoulder presses, plies, woodchoppers)
19 - 30 minutes random bodyweight exercises with 10 minutes of jogging
20 - Nothing
21 - 30 minutes treadmill jog
22 - Nothing
23 - 2 mile jog + 2 mile hill walk

24 - 30 minutes yoga DVD
25 - 2 mile jog + 2 mile hill walk
26 - 4.25 mile flat jog
27 - Nothing
28 - 2 mile jog AM, pilates mat class PM
29 - 2.5 mile jog
30 - Nothing
31 - Nothing

High class apples

I had no idea I was buying such a sophisticated apple from the supermarket -- the Envy. It was quite tasty, and amazingly, it does not brown after cutting. I also did not realize so much marketing goes into an apple. My store said they only received 9 boxes of these, now I'm curious as to whether these are actually a difficult to find product or not.

European Vacation 2011

Back from 10 days in Budapest (4 days), Krakow (2 days) + Auschwitz day trip, and Vienna (3 days).

Mainly we did a ton of walking (usually at least 13 miles/day) exploring different neighborhoods, and of course eating eating eating.

I'd never been to Europe in summer and can't say I'd want to visit during a peak time again. There were just extensive crowds everywhere, and whatever previous stereotype I had about Europeans being refined, intellectual, and smartly dressed were completely broken on this trip--mainly I felt like I was in any part of a touristy US city, just with better architecture and more gorgeous cathedrals.

Some impressions before I forget them:

- Budapest worth re-visiting and spending more time there, city has a great feel to it. It was the least touristy feeling here, and had a much more relaxed vibe.

- The bus drive from Budapest to Krakow was amazing because of Slovakia. The Tatra mountains looked to be an incredible escape.

- I had no idea Krakow was a party town, akin to Las Vegas or New Orleans. Not my scene, but the food was great & inexpensive. A gelato shop every single block, but the best was the soft serve swirl cones.

- Seeing the Auschwitz concentration camps was difficult but really worth it.

- Vienna was dull in terms of easily finding low-brow/not for tourists, independent culture. Lots of chain shops everywhere (even for the bakeries), and so so so expensive! Plus, everything opened late and closed early. Interesting graffiti art scene there, but not worth another visit except if I wanted to go shopping or the Museum Quarter.

Dressing for Kale

Dressing recipe from a package of bagged kale/red cabbage/carrot salad -- yum -- I used less oil than listed though:

(8 oz. of kale salad blend) -- about 2 cups
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
1 T. sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp. sugar (I use Xylitol)
2 T. toasted sesame seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix dressing ingredients, then toss with 2 cups of kale salad. Let sit 30 minutes before serving. Says it will hold for 2 days.

Trying to Garden

I probably just threw away $30, but the spirit of Martha Stewart is in my belly and I want to have some herbs and veggies that I faux-grew myself. I wasn't quite ambitious enough to start with real seeds, but I did have to transplant these seedlings myself!

I have 4 kinds of peppers in a pot and in the bricked soil I have butternut squash, spaghetti squash, cilantro, and basil.




Well someone is enjoying the cilantro already. Argh.

June Workouts

June 1 - Bootcamp Warmup and The Bomb exercises from this web site
2 - Upper body mission from web site above
3 - Cardio & Conditioning Mission (BCx Boot Camp)
4 - Legs & Glutes Mission (BCx Boot Camp)

5 - Nothing
6 - 3.9 mile run
7 - Core & Upper Body Mission / 2.25 mile treadmill run
8 - 1 mile sprints (x3), interspersed with bodyweight exercises
9 - Nothing
10 - 2 mile sprint, followed by bodyweight
11 - 6 mile walk/jog around Portland

12 - 3 mile walk around Nike campus / Deck of Cards: Planks with rows, Jumping Jacks, Frog Squats, Walking Lunges with Overhead Press
13 - Lower Body Mission (BCx Boot Camp)
14 - Upper Body Mission
15 - 3.8 mile run
16 - Nothing

Austin 2011

I'm always missing TexMex food in Austin and have since developed a general nostalgia for my grad school years there (even though at the time I felt very bleh about my life because of my lack of discipline for working on my dissertation). I put together a quick weekend trip for myself and happily enveloped myself into the 100 degree Austin heat.

I had a free night voucher for a stay at The Driskill. You know it's fancy when your toilet paper comes with a sticker.


Though it looks like housekeeping needs some training on the art of decorative tissue set ups.


My delicious Pisco Sour drink from Takoba. There's powdered sugar along the glass rim, it was like lemon meringue I suppose.


I loved the salsas from Taco Deli, but the mashed potato & egg breakfast taco is not worth re-visiting. The migas taco was good.


Most disappointing was Gordoughs, an over-the-top doughnut food truck. You know it's bad when your pregnant friend won't even polish it off. The doughnuts pictured below are coconut/chocolate and peach/cinnamon sugar. Good flavors in theory, awful execution (way too much topping) and they looked hideous.



Fiesta supermarket never disappoints, though I actually didn't try these Bavarian Churros.


Ruta Maya coffee for D and to bring to a brunch tomorrow: Central Market raisin brioche thingee that I think I used to like back in the day, and Mexicanized chip flavors.

Pineapple, Cashew, Quinoa Stir Fry

Made this stir fry today for my work lunches following the recipe from Veganomicon cookbook The recipe is also posted online here.

It's really flavorful and it reminded me of sweet & sour Chinese take out (which I like).

My modifications:
- Left out scallion
- Used a can of chunked pineapple in its own juice (drained juice for quinoa)
- Replaced vegetable stock with plain water
- Used coconut oil, not peanut oil
- Did not garnish with lime

Fitbit

Since I'm working on a "quantified self" project at work, I've learned about FitBit, which is a pedometer that also tracks sleep patterns. They have a nice web site where you can also track your food, exercise, and other basic health statistics (weight, measurements, etc.). It's free to log and see all your data, but you can pay $50 a year to access an online fitness coach and compare your stats to people similar to you.

My goal is to see if this will motivate me to eat better and drop the "Int*l 5" I've put on since moving to Oregon and starting the new job.


I get the biggest kick out of seeing my sleep activity data -- mainly because I don't know how it's logging it.

Mangia Mangia

Had dinner with coworkers tonight in the Pearl District at an Italian place called Piazza Italia -- for those who know Italian food categories, it's apparently a place that's really good if you're in Portland, but just kind of average if you were, in say, Italy. I had linguine with some kind of thick prosciutto which supposedly had egg mixed in, but the eggy taste didn't come through for me. The food was fine, but for $13.75, I definitely felt I could have made my own version of this.

It's weird to go out to eat Italian style pasta these days. I feel like ever since the Atkins diet became the rage and carbs were demonized (and along with the fact that most pasta dishes seem replicable at home), I eat pasta at a restaurant maybe once a year, if that. More like once every 2 years. Going for noodles (e.g. ramen) is somehow different. Go figure.

May Workouts

April was pretty much a lost month to working out--way too much travel and work. Trying to set things right again.

May 1 - 4.5 mile walk
2 - 25 minutes bodyweight exercises
3 - 3 mile slight uphill incline run + 3 mile walk
4 - 1.75 mile uphill walk + Jillian Banish Fat workout DVD
5 - 2+ hour walk around Portland (approx. 8 miles)
6 - 3 mile treadmill run
7 - Walked around Portland for 3+ hours

8 - ChaleanExtreme weights DVD 30 min (biceps, triceps, squats)
9 - 3.5 mile flat run
10-14 - Nothing, travel ruined me

15 - Nothing
16 - Chalean weights DVD in morning, 3 mile run in afternoon
17 - 3.75 mile run
18 - Nothing
19 - 5 mile run
20 - Chalean weights DVD in the morning
21 - 2 mile hilly jog + 1 mile hill walk

22 - Chalean weights DVD
23 - 5.25 mile run
24 - 6 circuits of: (10 burpees, 1/8 mile sprint, 10 pushups, 15 upper body, 1/8 mile sprint, 10 lower body)
25 - 4 circuits of: (12 burpees, 24 pushups/arms, 36 squats/legs, 400m)
26 - 4 mile run
27 - Nothing
28 - 1 mile run, 2 circuits of burpees, squats, pushups

29 - 1 mile run, 2 circuits of burpees, squats, pushups
30 - Nothing
31 - 3 mile treadmill run

Twitter useful for NYT

Note: You can continue to get free access to any NY Times articles that they post on Twitter. I have used up my 20 free articles/4 weeks, but am able to read full text from twitter.com/nytimes.

Go go go

Month of April has been seemingly non-stop travel/long work meetings (with a trip to Louisiana too to visit D's side of family).

I'm sitting in Cafe Capriccio in North Beach/San Francisco right now, waiting for it to get closer to 10am for a meeting with a design vendor. The cappucino I got here is really good.

Other eating highlights:
Elizabeth's in New Orleans -- best fried egg sandwich I have ever had in my life. Delicious pecan-glazed bacon too.

Magic Grille in Monroe, Louisiana -- roast beef po' boy heaven, though I'm certain I've maximized my cholesterol levels for the rest of the year by eating here.

Gravy in Portland -- actually, not a major highlight though the food was perfectly fine. But I'm making a note of it here because I want to go back and try the creme brulee oatmeal, which looks to be a big bowl of oatmeal with a brown sugary glaze/crust on top. It looked great.

La Penita in San Jose -- first time eating dinner here. We usually just come here for breakfast (the chilaquiles), but I had the sopes last night, and they were just superb.

Just For You in Dogpatch neighborhood/San Francisco -- oversized, made from scratch beignets. Different than what you would get at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, but delicious in their own way. Great breakfast overall, I'd like to eat here again.

April Workouts

April

[1] - Nothing [2] - 30 minutes lightweight workout weight weights [3] - 30 minutes biceps/triceps/squats [4] - 3.5 mile flat run [5] - 30 minutes Jillian Michaels DVD [6] - Nothing [7] - Nothing [8] - Walk around Portland (1.5 hours) [9] - Walk around San Francisco (4 hours)

[10] - 4 mile flat run [11] - [12] - [13] - [14] - [15] - [16] - [17] - [18] - [19] - [20] - [21] - [22] - [23] - [24] - [25] - [26] - [27] - [28] - [29] - [30] -

Waffle maker in the house

Now that I live closer to my parents, I'm ending up with the dregs of my dad's odd purchases. I'm sure he bought a waffle maker because it was "a great deal" -- but considering my mom would have no idea how to make waffle batter or interest in using a new contraption, and my dad certainly won't either, I'm unclear why they bothered.

So the brand-new-in-box, sitting in their garage for 3+ years waffle maker, is now mine. I put it to good use this morning.

This is the waffle batter I made, adapting from this AllRecipes recipe to fit with the ingredients I had on hand.

Coconut-Based Waffle Batter

Serving size: Not quite 1 full waffle

This makes a subtly coconut flavored waffle that only has the vaguest hint of sweetness. I topped with fruit preserves.

1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. sugar (I used Xylitol)
Pinch of salt
Splash of vanilla extract
Sprinkle of cinnamon
1/4 c. water (may need to add more to thin out batter)
1-2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1-2 Tbsp. coconut butter
1 egg (separated)

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and egg yolk.

Whip the egg white until soft peaks form.

Microwave coconut oil and coconut butter until it's liquid, and then add to flour mixture. Add enough water to this mixture until it is the consistency of a pourable batter (not too thick, not too thin).

Fold in egg white to batter mixture -- don't overmix. Make waffle in waffle maker.


Note on Coconut Butter: Randomly purchased this at the Food Co-op yesterday. I think it'll make a good substitute for milk in sweeter recipes (which is what I did for these waffles).

Scone nirvana

I don't know what a proper scone is supposed to be, but the ones I typically encounter are really dry, crumbly, and lack oomph. The best scones to me are dry on the outside, but softer with just the faintest hint of being moist on the inside. The last good scone I remember having was 5+years ago at Royal Blend in New Orleans.

On recommendation from my hairdresser, I stopped in Ristretto's coffee shop today, and found a great scone and a nice cappuccino. The scone had tiny crumbles of pecan, mixed with a few bits of orange zest and some gorgeous chunks of chocolate, wow, it actually all really worked well together.



An intriguing looking clothing store next to the coffee shop, I didn't stop in, but will do so another day...


Some neighborhood cats who were about to fight, but I interrupted them.

I really like being in PDX

It makes me bizarrely happy that I can walk out my front door and amble over to stores I like to browse -- and then, if I get tired, easily take a bus home. I love that I can also step out and within a few minutes be at innumerable different trail heads and jog to my hearts content, and when I get tired of that I can (albeit, sweaty and gross at that point), go have a delicious French pastry and cappuccino before heading home.

I'm down to using my car approximately once a week for work (if I have errands/appointments I need to accomplish during the work day) -- but otherwise, I find it really pleasant to take the MAX and preferable to driving.

In random academic updates, I've submitted my dissertation to a "best dissertation" contest sponsored by APA, and I just found one other similar venue to do the same. I have no expectation of winning since admittedly I didn't spend much time on the 5-page summaries these contest require.

Korean eats

I have to give credit to my Chicago-transplant-foodie-coworker for telling me about Spring Restaurant. It's hidden above and within a sketchy looking grocery store just off of Canyon and 217. It's pricey for the location and weird ambiance (you overlook people grocery shopping). But, overall, I thought it was decent and you get a lot for the $, I have enough leftovers for at least 2 additional lunches. My only disappointment was the Mandoo (fried dumplings) -- my mom's version just tastes better, at least in my memories.

I'll definitely be back here again -- I like finding places like this where it's comfortable and easy for me to dine alone and not feel self-conscious about it. Not that I freak out too much about dining alone, but at some restaurants I can sometimes feel strange about being on my own.

March Workouts

Su	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa
		(1) Nothing	(2) 2 mile fast treadmill run + 1 mile hilly slow run	(3) 30 minutes cardio aerobics	(4) Nothing	(5) Nothing
4 mile run (light hills)	3 mile flat run + 1.75 mile hill walk	Nothing	4.5 mile flat run	Nothing	Nothing	Nothing
5 mile flat run + 1 mile walk	2 mile flat walk (fast)	30 minutes aerobics/bodyweight	3.5 mile flat run	40 minutes aerobics/bodyweight	Nothing	Nothing
8 mile bike ride	Nothing	5 mile flat run	6 mile flat run	Nothing	Nothing	3.5 mile flat run
30 minutes bodyweight	Nothing	4.25 mile flat run	Nothing	4.5 mile flat run	Nothing

Molasses Bonanza

In an attempt to incorporate iron into my diet, I went on a molasses cooking spree today:

1) Shoofly Pie (I made mine crustless)
2) BBQ Lentils


Both recipes were successful, but the pie was a bit too sweet, even for me. I'm gonna try it again another time with just 1/2 c. Xylitol. For this first time, I used 1/2 c. Xylitol + 1/2 c. brown sugar -- way too much sweetness. I didn't use any crust, just layered the crumb mixture and molasses mixture and baked for about 45 minutes -- I plan to eat this with plain yogurt for breakfast.

The BBQ Lentils are really really good (halved the recipe). I did not use 16 oz. tomato sauce (didn't have any) -- and the ketchup I used was Melindas Habanero Ketchup (which I think really helped give it a better flavor). My version is really flavorful and strong, so I'm going to try it over plain quinoa for work lunches.

Best Baguette

I'm trying to make a better effort at exploring food around Portland -- this weekend I tried Best Baguette (Beaverton location). I got the #14 (Pork Roll & Fried Egg Banh Mi), and I was hoping to break out of my comfort zone, thinking that a pork roll must be something really weird. It just looked like cold cuts to me, and this was not a scary sandwich at all. Very mild in flavor, and good. I want something spicier next time, though. Sandwich prices are awesome -- $3.25.

The Vietnamese iced coffee was really intense and delicious. While it looks like a large drink, it's actually mostly ice in the cup, and very little of the coffee/milk (which is fine by me, it would actually be too much beverage, otherwise).


The only weird thing about this place was that it seemed really popular with very regular looking white people (not hipsters). I guess banh mi is the new cheeseburger in Portland.

Working on being a Portland stereotype

I've had poor circulation and lower back pain at varying times and intensities for years now, but I know nothing is wrong with me in terms of thyroid levels or anything else that is testable by Western medicine. So, I decided to try a naturopathic "doctor" since I wanted acupuncture and the place I found is considered in-network by my insurance.

D. gave me a a detailed run-down about the various pseudoscientific methods they would use (e.g. pulse readings) and herbal homeopathic up-sells they would push on me. And, I even owe him lunch, since he accurately predicted they would have a bamboo fountain as part of the decor (check, they did).

While the fake-doctor did spout some junk about holistic wellness and wanting to know personal life stuff to check on my emotions, at the same time she did have valid recommendations for me (I need more iron in my diet, fish oil & Vitamin D supplements) -- and the acupuncture experience is very relaxing. And it's certainly more pleasant to see a doctor (albeit not an MD) in a non-hospital setting, where there's no one coughing up their lung or antiseptic-looking equipment around.

I am pretty confident I'll be able to maintain some scientific distance from the hokeyness of seeing a naturopathic doctor (I ignored the 2 homeopathic recommendations she had for me), and overall I am viewing this as a general therapeutic experience like going to a beauty spa.

But if anyone sees me slipping into believing in horoscopes or seeing people's energies...or buying crystals...please shoot me.

February Workouts

Su	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa
		(1) 4 mile treadmill run	(2) 20 minutes bodyweight workout	(3) 30 minutes hills on treadmill + 10 minutes bodyweight	(4) Nothing	(5) 4 mile run
Nothing	3 mile treadmill run	25 minutes bodyweight exercises	3.5 mile run	Nothing	Nothing	3 mile hill walk/jog
Nothing	3.5 mile treadmill run + 15 minutes bodyweight	Nothing	3 mile treadmill run + 15 min bodyweight	40 minutes bodyweight exerices	Nothing	3.5 mile run
Nothing	Nothing	Nothing	Nothing	3 mile walk	40 minutes weight workout	Nothing
2.75 hilly run	2 mile uphill walk + 25 minutes light aerobics

Chugging along

I've been in San Jose for work (and through the weekend for fun). Though the Bay Area is preferable to Southern California, I've been craving being back in Portland.

Admittedly, it was nice to have some great Mexican breakfasts in San Jose (almost on par with what I can find in Texas), and I stocked up on Japanese Kit Kats from Mituswa: Royal Milk Tea, Flan, Cheddar Cheese (yes, it's disgusting), and some kind of bran flour flavor.

January Workouts

Su	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa
(2) Nothing	(3) 3.5 mile treadmill run	(4) Nothing	(5) 45 minutes pilates mat work	(6) 3.5 mile neighborhood jog/walk	(7) Nothing	(8) Nothing
(9) 2 hour jog/walk (8+ miles?)	3 mile treadmill run	Nothing	Pilates mat class	Turbo-jam class	Nothing	Nothing
Nothing	2 mile treadmill + 20 minutes weights	30 minutes weight training video	4 mile treadmill + 20 minutes weights	30 minutes Turbo-jam class	3.5 mile run	Nothing
6.5 mile run

Can I has a bus please?

Okay, I shelled out $88 for a January bus pass (though work should reimburse $30 of it) -- and will be making my attempt to commute via public transportation tomorrow. I hope I like this routine and make it a habit -- the only annoyance I predict so far is that it makes it difficult to run random errands during lunch or after work -- but I can try and drive one day a week for that stuff.

I've even packed my lunch for tomorrow (back to standard quinoa and some self-made trail mix of raw almonds, raisins, and chocolate Sun Drops (I am addicted to them)).

Cooking on an electric range is very problematic though...my popcorn is really suffering and burnt.