Apparently, you do it like this:
In contrast, this is how you weigh the world's saddest baby cheetah. Why so sad, baby cheetah?
Apropos of Nothing...
Ever wondered how to weigh a baby giraffe?
Apparently, you do it like this:
I really love the giraffe's expression, like this is so blase, you know.
In contrast, this is how you weigh the world's saddest baby cheetah. Why so sad, baby cheetah?
Apparently, you do it like this:
In contrast, this is how you weigh the world's saddest baby cheetah. Why so sad, baby cheetah?
Grilled Pizza Dough
We made pizza on the grill tonight for the first time, and it was sooooo good. It's a bit hard to get the hang of, because once the dough goes on the grill then everything moves really really fast and you have to be ready with the sauce and toppings and oil and whatnot in a well-choreographed little dance, BUT it is pretty easy once you master it and totally worth one or two screw-ups to get right. I modified Alton Brown's dough recipe a little and came up with this, which was so so so good. (If I do say so myself)
Grilled Pizza Dough
Nouns-
16 ounces all purpose flour
1 ounce gluten flour
10 ounces warm water
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for brushing on the dough later
1 tbsp molasses
Verbs-
Add the flour and yeast to the bowl of your mixer. Using the dough hook attachment, mix the flour and yeast, then add the remaining ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. Then, turn the mixer up to medium speed and knead for fifteen minutes. If your dough is too stringy or sticky, add a little more gluten flour and knead a few more minutes. If you can pinch off a piece of dough and stretch it thin between your fingers until it becomes translucent, then it's ready.
Scoop the dough out of the mixer and put it a bowl coated with olive oil, turning the dough a few times to coat it. Let it sit, covered, at room temperature for about an hour, or until doubled in size. Then, cut the dough into three equal pieces. Take each piece and pat it into a ball. Alton Brown says to form a disc, then roll into a ball and then roll it around on the counter for a while until it forms a "round". I'm not really sure what all that's about, but I did roll mine around on the counter for a bit before patting them into a rounds and putting on a tray and covering them with a tea towel for another forty-five minutes. That seemed to go pretty well. Or, if you are not using the dough right away, then put wrap your dough ball sin plastic wrap and stash them n the fridge for use for up to a week. Be sure to give them time to come to room temp after you take them back out, though.
If you are using the dough right away, now is a good time to start your grill or get your charcoal going. It is lame to have the dough all ready and no fire. If you have fire, then take one of your dough balls and roll it out to about 14 inches in diameter, turning and stretching the dough between each roll. Then, put the rolled-out dough on a lightly floured pizza peel or if you are fancy like me, the back of a cookie sheet. Oil the top side of the dough really well with olive oil. Oil your grill really well, too, with a clean kitchen rag covered in olive oil and held safely with grill tongs, and not with some undeniably macho but unfortunately burn-y hands-on method. Then flip the dough, oils-side down onto the grill. On a hot grill, it will be only a minute or two before the dough is ready to be flipped. In that minute or two, you need to oil the top side of the dough, again, carefully and using a basting brush held in your grill tongs, and not using your hands. When you flip the dough, be speedy on the spot with your sauce, toppings and cheese of choice. Then, close the lid on your grill for another minute or two, which should be enough to melt the cheese. (Note- if your toppings need more than that long to cook, precook them a bit, then put them on)
After a minute or two, your pizza should be ready, and you should be very very happy, because your pizza is going to be delicious.
Grilled Pizza Dough
Nouns-
16 ounces all purpose flour
1 ounce gluten flour
10 ounces warm water
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for brushing on the dough later
1 tbsp molasses
Verbs-
Add the flour and yeast to the bowl of your mixer. Using the dough hook attachment, mix the flour and yeast, then add the remaining ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. Then, turn the mixer up to medium speed and knead for fifteen minutes. If your dough is too stringy or sticky, add a little more gluten flour and knead a few more minutes. If you can pinch off a piece of dough and stretch it thin between your fingers until it becomes translucent, then it's ready.
Scoop the dough out of the mixer and put it a bowl coated with olive oil, turning the dough a few times to coat it. Let it sit, covered, at room temperature for about an hour, or until doubled in size. Then, cut the dough into three equal pieces. Take each piece and pat it into a ball. Alton Brown says to form a disc, then roll into a ball and then roll it around on the counter for a while until it forms a "round". I'm not really sure what all that's about, but I did roll mine around on the counter for a bit before patting them into a rounds and putting on a tray and covering them with a tea towel for another forty-five minutes. That seemed to go pretty well. Or, if you are not using the dough right away, then put wrap your dough ball sin plastic wrap and stash them n the fridge for use for up to a week. Be sure to give them time to come to room temp after you take them back out, though.
If you are using the dough right away, now is a good time to start your grill or get your charcoal going. It is lame to have the dough all ready and no fire. If you have fire, then take one of your dough balls and roll it out to about 14 inches in diameter, turning and stretching the dough between each roll. Then, put the rolled-out dough on a lightly floured pizza peel or if you are fancy like me, the back of a cookie sheet. Oil the top side of the dough really well with olive oil. Oil your grill really well, too, with a clean kitchen rag covered in olive oil and held safely with grill tongs, and not with some undeniably macho but unfortunately burn-y hands-on method. Then flip the dough, oils-side down onto the grill. On a hot grill, it will be only a minute or two before the dough is ready to be flipped. In that minute or two, you need to oil the top side of the dough, again, carefully and using a basting brush held in your grill tongs, and not using your hands. When you flip the dough, be speedy on the spot with your sauce, toppings and cheese of choice. Then, close the lid on your grill for another minute or two, which should be enough to melt the cheese. (Note- if your toppings need more than that long to cook, precook them a bit, then put them on)
After a minute or two, your pizza should be ready, and you should be very very happy, because your pizza is going to be delicious.
Marathon Training
I have plotted out the next few weeks of training and figured out where my long runs will fall and where I'll take a step-back. I plan to do a step back every other week for the last bit of training here, because running 20 miles every weekend is nutso, and even I know that.
So this morning I ran 14 miles as a step-back, and then next weekend will be the big 20. Whee! 20 miles! I'm going to be very conscientious about my stretching and my short runs this week, because 20 miles is way far, and because my let shin is a little unhappy these days. Important note: MUST NOT GET SHIN SPLINTS RIGHT BEFORE MARATHON.
After my 20, I'll step back to 16 the next week, then do another 20, step back to 16, and then I will run 22 miles as my last long run before the marathon. Because I am a BAMF. (Grandma, if you're reading this, don't google BAMF. Just assume that it means I am a well-behaved young lady) And then I will taper off for two weeks, including the week I am at altitude for my sister's wedding. Yeah, I am not running more than 10 miles at altitude, because I am not that much of a BAMF. My sister lives at 5500 feet above sea level, and I live.. at sea level, more or less. So I am going to be hurting just walking around, and there is no oxygen up there! How did I live for 18 years with no oxygen? It's a mystery.
7 weeks to go! It's going to be awesome.
So this morning I ran 14 miles as a step-back, and then next weekend will be the big 20. Whee! 20 miles! I'm going to be very conscientious about my stretching and my short runs this week, because 20 miles is way far, and because my let shin is a little unhappy these days. Important note: MUST NOT GET SHIN SPLINTS RIGHT BEFORE MARATHON.
After my 20, I'll step back to 16 the next week, then do another 20, step back to 16, and then I will run 22 miles as my last long run before the marathon. Because I am a BAMF. (Grandma, if you're reading this, don't google BAMF. Just assume that it means I am a well-behaved young lady) And then I will taper off for two weeks, including the week I am at altitude for my sister's wedding. Yeah, I am not running more than 10 miles at altitude, because I am not that much of a BAMF. My sister lives at 5500 feet above sea level, and I live.. at sea level, more or less. So I am going to be hurting just walking around, and there is no oxygen up there! How did I live for 18 years with no oxygen? It's a mystery.
7 weeks to go! It's going to be awesome.
Skipping a Run
I woke up this morning with really really achy legs. I ran yesterday, but not very far or very hard, so I am not sure why they were bothering me, unless I just didn't stretch enough or I slept funny last night. Anyway, all day my knees have been creaky and my muscles sore, so I'm skipping my run today in the hopes that I'll be in tip top shape for my long run tomorrow. I've been skimping on the shorts runs for the last few weeks, but my long runs have been going fine anyway, so I am pretty confident that this is a good choice. It's important in this process to listen to my body and not push too hard, but to push just hard enough.
Also, it's been a really nice lazy day and I'm feeling really.. nice and lazy. Tomorrow will be a long run and then we're having some friends over, so I'll be plenty busy then. For now, I'm parked on the couch and happy about it.
Also, it's been a really nice lazy day and I'm feeling really.. nice and lazy. Tomorrow will be a long run and then we're having some friends over, so I'll be plenty busy then. For now, I'm parked on the couch and happy about it.
Long Day
Today was a hard day at work. I spent hours trying to figure out how to best address a complex and sticky issue that has come up in several of my cases, but it's a confusing analysis with lots of moving parts, a tight timeline, and few definitive answers. I ended up bothering my various bosses (I have five, but I only bothered two of them... so that's... good?) many many many times trying to figure things out, and I felt like a pest and also like I should have been able to slog through this issue on my own. I was a little embarrassed and very very frustrated by the whole process, and I think that showed.
I was beating myself up about it until my boss told me not to be so hard on myself. And I realized that I was being hard on myself. I've gotten this same feedback a lot recently, that I don't give myself enough credit, that I judge myself too harshly, that I set unrealistic standards for myself. And generally, I brush off that feedback, because it's important to me to do well and because I thought that I was setting reasonable standards for myself. But perhaps I'm not. So perhaps I am being a little hard on myself. Perhaps it's okay that I don't have all the answers. Perhaps it's okay if I need help sometimes.
I was beating myself up about it until my boss told me not to be so hard on myself. And I realized that I was being hard on myself. I've gotten this same feedback a lot recently, that I don't give myself enough credit, that I judge myself too harshly, that I set unrealistic standards for myself. And generally, I brush off that feedback, because it's important to me to do well and because I thought that I was setting reasonable standards for myself. But perhaps I'm not. So perhaps I am being a little hard on myself. Perhaps it's okay that I don't have all the answers. Perhaps it's okay if I need help sometimes.
Hurray! We have a car!
After much travail and torment, at last we have a car. It is blue. It runs. It is ours. There was much rejoicing.
The Husband deserves most of the credit because he devoted his staycation to driving from Hillsboro to Gresham to Forest Grove and other faraway places to test drive a relatively endless stream of Hyundais, and he dealt with the logistics and financing and price negotiations while I was down in Salem doing that thing that is my job.
I hesitate to say so, because I don't want to jinx anything, but I really really like this car. I really do. And I hope it will last a long time and not strand us on the side of I-5. It is pretty cute, too. Yay! Car! Special Thanks to Jared, emergency transportation provider extraordinaire, for lending us his truck while we were carless. Jared is awesome. Also, I felt pretty cool driving a truck with a skull and crossbones air freshener.
The Husband deserves most of the credit because he devoted his staycation to driving from Hillsboro to Gresham to Forest Grove and other faraway places to test drive a relatively endless stream of Hyundais, and he dealt with the logistics and financing and price negotiations while I was down in Salem doing that thing that is my job.
I hesitate to say so, because I don't want to jinx anything, but I really really like this car. I really do. And I hope it will last a long time and not strand us on the side of I-5. It is pretty cute, too. Yay! Car! Special Thanks to Jared, emergency transportation provider extraordinaire, for lending us his truck while we were carless. Jared is awesome. Also, I felt pretty cool driving a truck with a skull and crossbones air freshener.
Home
Recently, a friend was going through a really hard time and, at a loss of what else to do, I sang him lullabies to comfort him. I never sing for people any more, and I barely sing for myself. I used to sing every day, almost every minute of every day, and looking back I'm not sure how or why or when I stopped. But my friend needed some comfort, and in that moment, a song was what I had to give. Lullabies and love. And that got me thinking about a time when someone did the same for me. Many years ago, in college, when I was having a really hard time, my roommate, Kaitie, sang me to sleep for more nights than I care to admit. She was tender and patient and giving with me, and despite the sadness of that time, that is one of my favorite memories of college.
Kaitie is incredibly gifted and has a beautiful voice, and she practically explodes with creative energy. The last time I publicly sang for people, (while sober and not doing karaoke) it was because Kaitie and her boyfriend wrote a show and badgered me and a bunch of our friends into being in it. Thinking about all that reminded me of one of the songs from that show, a song about loss; about death, about mourning the end of a relationship, about losing a part of yourself and finding some peace in saying goodbye.
I am sharing the song almost as a lullaby to myself, I think. A song from the past me to the present one, to lull me to sleep and comfort me.
(note, the first verse is all Kaitie, then we sing a duet for a verse, then our friend Emma joins in for the last verse. Also, this is a pretty amateur recording accomplished on dorm room recording equipment in 2007)
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