Tag: Food

The Road Thus Far

You haven’t heard from me since Wednesday, and even then Wicked Word Wednesday is a scheduled post – I don’t actually stay up to midnight just to hit “publish”. Unlike last week, this lapse wasn’t my fault. From noon Wednesday to 10:00 PM Friday, I was at a teacher’s conference without a stable internet connection.

Seriously, what kind of convention center doesn’t make wifi available to a three-day convention unless one is also staying in the attached hotel? It’s a teacher’s convention, people – and education has moved online. I know you offer wifi to conventions because I looked it up on your website – using my own data, I might add. But for our convention? We were told “No, you don’t have wifi unless you’ve also checked into the hotel.” After three days of this, I’m wondering if this will be a plot point in AHS: Hotel (I won’t be able to see until it comes on Netflix).

Coffe Cup with Bow TieEven the wifi in my actual hotel room was spotty; constant buffering and loading with a required new login every 45 minutes. Oh, and did I mention I only had my mobile? My laptop’s batteries bit the dust, and I’m supposed to receive a new (to me) laptop from my principal on Monday. Of course it would happen after the convention, but at least I won’t have to worry about the whole thing dying in the middle of a class. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my projector. Oh well, improvements are improvements no matter how small.

I must say that the food was wonderful because it’s the one time of year we get to eat out wherever we want (within reason). Mexican, Chinese, and American all made the list. These foods might be good to the taste buds, but not so good for running a race, which I just did.

Yes, you read that right: I just finished my first official race in two years. I know, for a blog called “Running In My Head” I haven’t talked much about running lately. I run on my own, but had to cut out official races due to finances. Then, a few weeks ago, I got a message from a friend asking if I was interested in running a local 5k – and it was already paid for! I said yes and began training slightly more seriously. I felt good starting out, but three days of sedentary living and high-fat eating took their toll and I fell 8 minutes short of my goal. However, I had a blast running with my friends, meeting new people, and honestly – it was a beautiful fall day for running. I daresay it was the best 5k I’ve ever run (apart from the time, but that’s my fault).

Bridge Run 5k Map Bridge Run 5k Results

I finished 57th overall and 6th in my division (male ages 25-29). I looked at the winning times for my division, and I can totally place – maybe even win – next year. Now that I’ve said so, karma will deflate my hubris.

The reception area was also superb – I had my first Monster energy drink (Banana flavor, Muscle variety) and my first post-race massage. The massage was given by our local Sports Medicine clinic, and I felt great afterwards; in addition to helping my calves, they prescribed yoga. Yes, yoga. We’ll see.

The next few weeks will be busy with school events, so I may not post as much as I’d like. Then NaNoWriMo kicks off, and I’m planning an entire month of scheduled posts. My life is punctuated with long stretches of boredom followed immediately by several weeks of insanity.

 

 

Whatever you’re up to, have fun doing it!

 

 

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Monday Morning Grievance: Limp Bacon

It’s Monday and I haven’t had my coffee.

Monday Morning Grievances Logo 1

Limp bacon is disgusting, hardly worthy of even being called bacon. I’d even prefer the pseudo-bacon of “Canadian Bacon” over a piece of flabby, flaccidly limp bacon. Bacon is meant to be fried, along with eggs, chicken, green tomatoes, potatoes, and Twinkies. None of these should be soggy post-fry; indeed, they should be nice and crispy – and bacon is no exception. When bacon is not crisp and crunchy, one has the culinary experience of chewing on a piece of warm fat. Maybe that’s your thing, and that’s OK – but don’t you ever dare call that monstrosity bacon. Such things will never be bacon and I question your sanity if you find eating unadulterated fat appealing. Look, I know fat is a necessary ingredient, but when’s the last time you ate a spoonful of lard just because you wanted to? If you have done that recently – first, don’t answer the question and second, gross. Anyway, bacon makes almost everything taste better, but limp bacon destroys lives. So get out our pan, invest in a bacon press, and fry it good. Remember:

Friends Don’t Let Friends Eat Limp Bacon

 

 

What annoys you?

 

 

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Sunday Snapshots

The week was busy; you’d think I’d enjoy having some time off right at the beginning of a school year (several of my classes were cancelled due to fields trips), but reality dictates that deviations from routine must result in tiredness. Such is life.

So, what did I do this week?

I wrote lesson plans, prepared projects, caught up on grading, and found some time to read. I also wrote a more student-friendly adaptation of “The Story of the Flood” from The Epic of Gilgamesh.

One of my coworkers brought in a cheesecake for her birthday. She didn’t want us to know ahead of time (at least, I didn’t know), yet she brought in food to celebrate. It went well with this Dunkin Coffee the same teacher gave me for helping her with our upcoming Veteran’s Day program.

Friday marked the 14th anniversary of 9/11. I remember where I was at 8:46 that day – I was at the dentist, just as I was for the Oklahoma City bombing, the attack on the USS Cole, the Atlanta Olympic bombing, and at least one other tragedy I’m forgetting. For the first time, none of my students were alive on 9/11/01; does this officially make me “old”? I imagine this is how others remembered Pearl Harbor or the Kennedy assassination. I was responsible for placing the flag at half-mast fourteen years ago. Today, I did so again.

This weekend I began working with K and my cousins on a webshow (coming October 2015). Here are some of the promotional materials we developed:

Nerdeek Portrait

Nerdeek Panorama

Check out our website-in-progress and tell your friends!

On some of my downtime I surfed the net and messed around with Siri. Here’s two notable things I found:

 

What Did You Do This Week?

 

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Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Sunday Snapshots

Sometimes I forget what I’ve done over the past week.

Then I look at the photos on my camera and think “Oh yeah! I remember that!”

Such was the case this week.

Mr Toms Birthday CupcakesMr. Tom’s birthday was this week.

He turned 97.

He wanted cupcakes, so he got cupcakes.

I”ll be honest, the “balloons” looked a bit odd.

Blackened WalmartApparently I went to Walmart at some point. I know it was during a storm, and for whatever reason the overhead lights were out. Everything else was working just fine . . . just not the lights. Go figure.

I’m fining I take quite a few pictures of food . . . maybe so I can remember what I ate? For example: I went to Wendy’s when K was craving something salty and we had nothing in the house; I picked up some french fries and a vanilla frosty to go with them. On Monday, a student brought me a bacon and egg croissant from Dunkin’ Donuts. And, for reasons yet unknown, I took a picture of buttered bread.

I think I took this picture of a book and coffee for last week’s photo challenge (today was a good day) but never posted it. In other book news, the last Discworld novel The Shepherd’s Crown was released. The last book is for me to keep track of stuff in. So long as I don’t lose that book, I’m ok.

And finally, this past Friday was National Bow Tie Day (International??)

Red Bow Tie

Sunday Snapshots

I accomplished two things this week:

First, I helped fix the drainage at the school:

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Second, I salvaged some old books from the dumpster:

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Oh, and K’s plans got moved to this week. You know what that means:

For the record, I also got Wal-Mart brand Ginger Ale like I said I would last weekend.

What about the milkshake? For a whole 40¢ more, I bought this carton of ice cream! w00t!

Hey, before you go, would you mind giving me your opinion?

What Did You Do This Week?

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

An Apple [Pie] a Day

 
I’ve heard it said there’s nothing more American than baseball and apple pie.

Baseball I can do without.

Apple pie is another story.

 

Specifically, this story.

 

My pie starts with Grandmother’s pie.

For years, Grandma baked deserts for the lunch counter at the local sale barn.

Sadly, her legendary lemon meringue secret died with her.

When my mother married my father, she determined to make a better apple pie – specifically a better pie crust – than Grandma.

For years she labored, until one day Grandpa John said

I reckon this pie’s just as good as Gertie’s.

At least, he said something remarkably similar. This was before I was born.

 

 

Interestingly enough, when we moved Grandma out of that house sometime in the early 2000s, we found the secret to her pie crust:

packaged, premixed Flako Pie Crust

Flako Pie Crust Advert - Copy

Grandma was a cheater.

 

 

And so, for as long as I can remember, Mom made the best apple pie – no questions asked (or answered, for that matter).

I wish I could say I learned mad ninja pie skills at Mom’s knee, but the truth is I never really paid attention to what Mom did in the kitchen. What came out of the kitchen, everyone paid attention to.

Like countless generations before me, I didn’t miss Mom’s apple pie until I left home. One year I was given a very nice Pampered Chef stoneware pie plate, and I thought

I’m not going to let this go to waste. I’m going to learn to make an apple pie.

So I emailed Mom; several weeks later I received actual, hand-written recipe cards for our growing collection.

Even if I failed, I’d have these priceless family momentos.

Apple Pie Recipe Cards

I had several false starts.

Delicious false starts, but not quite what I wanted.

I set out to make Mom’s pie recipe my own.

I experimented with apple varieties.

I tweaked spice combinations.

I adjusted various and sundry quantities.

Finally, I baked a pie I was proud to call my own.

And when they next visited, Dad said

I think this pie is just as good as Mom’s.

And he’s not just saying that.

My pie is now in demand at nearly every holiday party.

My students frequently request a pie or two throughout the year.

If they pay for the ingredients, I’ll make them a few.

$20 will buy all the ingredients for two pies.

In fact, I’m baking pies today for a get-together tomorrow.

I started getting messages last Sunday that folks were anticipating my pie.

Now, I won’t tell you exactly what goes into my apple pie, but here’s some pictures to whet your appetite:

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And don’t worry; I’m not the next Mrs. Lovett – or Mr. Lovett as the case may be.

 

 

Thanks to Vanessa of Petal & Mortar for contributing to the Prompt Box!

Apple Pie Prompt Card
 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

 
Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

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