Author Archives: kaprise

Socks! This Changes Everything!

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I wrote a post a while back about my favorite running gear  and a while before that about a successful race I ran in Columbia, MD… which brings me to the title. SOCKS!

Sometimes I forget that normal people don’t count their socks going into the wash and then pull them out one by one and gently reshape them one by one before letting them air dry. Sometimes I forget that normal people put their socks in the dryer and don’t freak out when they find one fried dry in the dryer. Well, this last Friday (my laundry day), I found one of my poor little socks in the dryer. I was on the phone with a friend when I found it and let out a little shriek. There was a long silence on the phone when I told my friend how I treat my socks. Then… the doofus told me I was mental.

Okay. I’m not mental. For the record, Smartwool’s website even tells you to treat your socks nicely. They do say you can dry them… but I don’t because I’m trying to avoid CRISPY socks (like my poor little sock). If I’ve worn a bunch of socks that week, then I wash them separately in Woolite before gently reshaping each one and letting them dry in a dry room. Sometimes they get washed with the rest of my laundry… and occasionally one escapes me and makes it into the dryer. Sad sad sad.

Anyway… my sock neurosis aside, Smartwool socks are literally the BEST thing that has happened to me since I started running. Don’t get me wrong… I love all my running stuff, but my affair with my Smartwool running socks is totally different. These socks change the way you FEEL when you run. They change the PACE you run. They change how fatigued you feel when you run. They change everything.

My current favorite Smartwool socks are an older generation, but the Smartwool PhD Running Ultra Light Micro socks are a dupe for mine. They come in pretty colors and you can purchase them online or at EMS.com or REI.com or any sporting goods store that stocks Smartwool.

You know what I love so much about Smartwool socks?

  1. They are special. Each pair is made for a specific activity. They make ones for hiking, cycling, running, skiing, snowboarding… the list continues. The point is, because each of the styles are made for a specific activity, they actually boost performance.
  2. The running socks are made with reinforced heels to prevent chafing. The arches of the socks are knitted to create a tight support for your feet. The toes don’t have those pesky and weird seams that make your toes bleed.
  3. This might be my favorite: The socks come is sizes. The average American female wears a size 8… which means ONESIZE fits all socks? They are made to accomodate a size 8 foot (and a standard deviation above and below that size). Smartwool sizing starts small. A small is sized to fit a women’s size 4.5-6.5. I wear a size six, so this is PERFECT. My socks actually fit. I never realized what a huge difference this made in performance. Socks that fit? Totally awesome.
  4. In the cold, they keep you warm, and in the heat? They feel just like normal socks. I hate when I run during the winter and I can feel the wind whistling through the little holes in my shoes and it makes my toes cold. Smartwool socks? Totally not a problem. Your feet stay the perfect temperature and none of that pesky cold wind.

What kind of socks do you guys wear? Also… compression sock wearers? What kind and brand do you use? When do you use them? Tell me more!!!

 

 

Hazelnut Almond Scones with Chunky Chocolate and Cherries

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What a mouthful…. both literally and figuratively. Let me tell you… these scones? Amazing. Totally and utterly drool worthy… these are the scones that you drive an extra 15 miles to a different grocery store to get the right ingredients for. These are the scones that you get heart palpitations when you see someone else reaching for the last one that you wanted to add to your tummy (in addition to the 2 others you stored in there).

Forget the whole wheat thing… these are made of nuts. Nuts!!! This will change your life forever. I mentioned the recipe by Nom Nom Paleo, but being the nudge that I am, I had to tweak it. I couldn’t help it. Anyway – here is my recipe, just adapted a bit.

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Hazelnut Almond Scones with Chunky Chocolate and Cherries, a mouthful in every way (Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo)

  • 2 cups of finely ground almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1 cup of finely ground hazelnut mean (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 4 tablespoons of cold butter
  • 2 large eggs (Did I ever tell you guys about the difference in egg size?)
  • 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons of honey
  • 1 teaspoon of bourbon vanilla
  • 2 – 3 ounces of good quality dark chocolate, smashed (because baking is all about stress relief)
  • 1/4 cup of dried cherries (I chopped mine in half)
  1. Preheat your oven to 335F (I know. It’s a weird number, but I promise it works)
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and a pinch of salt (I didn’t use any because I used a salted chocolate and salted butter, but this is totally your call).
  3. In the dry ingredient bowl, grate the butter (using the chubby grater holes) into the dry mixture. I like to dip my butter into the flours and grate so that the grated butter doesn’t stick. You can also freeze the butter, but I normally just dip and grate.
  4. Once the butter has been grated, crumble the dry ingredients with the butter. Make sure you have some chunky bits. Think the pea-sized bits you want when you make good fluffy biscuits.
  5. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, vinegar, honey, and vanilla.
  6. Make a well in the butter and flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients.
  7. Combine gently. Your mixture should be cohesive, but very wet.
  8. Gently add the chocolate and cherries. (As I mentioned above, I smashed my chocolate bar. I also used closer to 2.5 ounces because I ate some before I added it to the bowl)
  9. Portion out the dough into even balls and shape on a parchment lined sheet.I managed to make seven large scones, but you can just as easily make daintier ones.
  10. Bake at 335F for 12 minutes before raising the temperature to 350 and rotating the pan. Bake at 350 for another 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  11. Gobble them up!!!

Notes:

  • You will notice that the original recipe used baking soda, but I chose to use baking powder because the smell of the baking soda was unnerving to me. Baking soda and powder are basically the same, except baking powder has cream of tartar in it. For whatever chemical reason, baking powder does not have the same smell. I’m weird about smells… so this made a huge difference. Keep in mind, because baking powder does contain less baking soda (leavening agent), the dramatic rise and pouf of my scones is much less dramatic. However, barring your strange obsession with smell, feel free to use baking soda for the dramatic lift and the pillowier texture.
  • In the same vein, these scones are not light and fluffy… instead they are moist, a little heavier, and deliciously flavored.
  • I used a cup of hazelnut flour because I saw it at the store and I figured… why the hell not. It definitely adds a certain nutty flavor and luxuriousness to these scones, but you can also just use almond flour. Also… something important to note? Hazelnut flour smells TERRIBLE, but it bakes perfectly and it loses that strange smell. They turn into beautifully nutty scones.
  • I did try this recipe with 100% hazelnut flour and NO almond flour… they do not turn out the same because hazelnut flour is a great deal chunkier than almond flour. The resulting “scone” was more of a pile of semi-stuck together ground up hazelnuts. While it was delicious, they were not scone-like in nature.
  • I am pretty convinced the reason these scones are just so glorious is the quality of ingredients that are used. Most of the ingredients are on the pricier side, but well worth it. I think when you use truly good quality and well sourced ingredients, everything is bound to taste delicious. I’m not really sure why this comment is included, but it popped into my head so I’m leaving it.

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Sunday Seven

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Eeek! I almost forgot that today was SUNDAY!! The weeks have just been whizzing by and I’m still studying… I need to do more!

Anyway! Here are my seven… I’ll have to load pictures later (also… I’ve figured out Instagram… so I put a little link in the left hand side bar. Click away! You can see live updates of what I’m doing!)

  1. Almond Hazelnut Scones with chunks of cherries and chocolate. DIVINE! (I’m posting this recipe TOMORROW!)
  2. Pretty Socks to keep my feet warm while I study and to brighten up my day
  3. Random nice people. Like the guy at the gas station who couldn’t get my gas cap open (and might have jammed it even more…) but was super nice and friendly even though his fingers were probably breaking off in the cold.
  4. Coconut Water… I’m unusually thirsty today so I’m really loving anything liquid. I think I drank 4 of them today plus two huge bottles of water. So. Thirsty.
  5. Miniatures of anything… I love mini mint tins and teeny little binder clips. They make my day
  6. Great shopping deals. I just got this amazing summer dress on super super sale, and I’m thrilled. I’ll share pictures once it is warm enough to wear
  7. Beautiful shoes… because no matter what I just like having beautiful things on my feet. I recently opened a box of boots that I’ve had fo a while, and they still make me smile. Pretty!

Burnt is Better

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Remember a while back I mentioned stuff on how to roast vegetables MY way? Well, I wanted to revisit how to roast vegetables because it is SO easy and really an amazing way to get tons of vegetables into your diet. Winter vegetables can get old REALLY fast. I mean… how much kale and squash can you possible consume before you lose it and resort to stuffing your face with chocolate and cheeseburgers (maybe not together though…).

Anyway… I like my vegetables to get this unbelievably golden (almost burnt) salty crust on them before gobbling them up with some protein (sausage, egg, steak… anything).  My favorites these days have been cabbage, brussel sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, and sweet potato. You can really roast any type of vegetable like this… acorn squash, butternut squash, radishes, beets… anything.

My oven and I have come to the understanding that 400 F is the right temperature because it is low enough to get the vegetables soft and chewy, but hot enough to get the edges crispy. I use a good helping of good olive oil (between 1/4 to 1/2 cup of olive oil for every sheet of vegetables). Good salt. And about 60 minutes to 120 minutes depending on how chunky your vegetables are and how “burnt” you like them. I make plenty of roasted vegetables at a time and store them for up to 1 week in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. It’s an excellent way to prepare for healthy meals for the entire week.

Obviously… just salt and oil can get a little boring, so there are some add ins to toss with the salt and oil:

  1. Herbs de Provence (oregano, lavender, and some other yummies)
  2. Chopped garlic and parsley thrown in for the last ten minutes of the roast
  3. Chunky slices of onions with root vegetables
  4. Honey glazed – add a few tablespoons of good honey with the salt and honey, and toss to coat the vegetables before roasting
  5. A generous sprinkle of black pepper and pink peppercorns for a zingy punch
  6. Cayenne and red pepper flakes for spicy vegetables

Here are some pictures of the vegetables I’ve roasted recently.

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What about you guys? How do you like your vegetables? Crispy crispy? Or less?

Chocolate Study Break

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I was rolling around in bed thinking about studying, but then decided to take a drive to get gas and get some chocolate. I had originally only intended to purchase my NEW favorite Salazon Chocolate Co. bar – the dark chocolate with natural sea salt… but then I saw that the store had two other kinds of Salazon bars, so I bought those too! And two other new kinds of chocolate that I haven’t tried yet either. Anyway – I thought I’d run through the chocolates and what I thought of them for you guys! (long study break!)

First bar!

The Nirvana Organic Belgian Chocolate Bar. I chose the dark chocolate with sea salt and caramel bar. It’s pretty, isn’t it? Unfortunately, I wasn’t in love with the flavor. I expected the bar to be flecked with caramel and have a delicious saltiness… but when I bit into it the chocolate was simply a smooth chocolate bar. No flecks of caramel, no melty flakes of salt, nothing. So, I flipped the bar over, and AH HAH! There is no ingredient for caramel… but caramel “flavor.” What does that  mean? While I am not in love with the flavor, I am positive it will be delicious baked into some almond scones. This was 3.5 ounces for $4.99. ($1.43/oz)

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Next bar…. Chuao Chocolatier! I picked the honeycomb bar out of the bunch. The packaging is really pretty. It’s a thick plastic bag with the chocolate bar in it, unlike all the others that are paper and foil wrappings. Anyway, there is a whimsical drawing of honey comb and a little bee… totally sold me. The chocolate itself is filled with plenty of crispy pieces of honey flavored “candy.” This bar? Hit it out of the park. The chocolate is dark and has great depth. The flavor is spot on. It tastes perfectly of honey, and the crisp little bits taste just like what I imagine crystalized honeycomb should taste like. Added plus? The cheesy little blurb on the back of the bar from the founder of the company. Definitely on the “buy again” list… and I’ll be interested to check out the other kinds. I will note, this was the most expensive out of the bunch. Weighing in at 2.8 ounces, it cost $5.49. ($1.96/oz). (I did get $1 off, so on sale? Totally a good deal for something this delicious).

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Next: Salazon. As I’ve said before, the original dark chocolate with sea salt is my favorite… Salazon makes 4 bars. The sea salt, sea salt and coffee, sea salt and turbinado sugar, and the black pepper.  The store didn’t have the black pepper once, but I’m dying to know what it tastes like!! I will make a note that Salazon uses 54% dark chocolate, which is quite a bit less dark than I normally like, but the quality of the chocolate and the mouth-feel is amazing. These bars cost $3.99 for 3 ounces. ($1.33/ounce).

So. The Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Crushed Organic Coffee. It’s made with Fair Trade Certified Coffee, which I think is a good thing to know. The coffee is earthy and quite good… but the bar is actually pretty light on coffee. You can see the crushed coffee sprinkled over the bar, and it’s quite well crushed so not too crunchy or chunky. Overall, I think it’s great because the coffee doesn’t overwhelm the chocolate and the salt is just perfect as well. It’s a mild chocolate bar. Definitely a re-buy.

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Finally, the Salazon Organic Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Organic Turbinado Cane Sugar. I read online that this bar was created for people who wanted something a little sweeter than the original (that I love best). I’ll be honest, I bought two of these, and I’m regretting buying the second. It’s a good bar, but I found the turbinado sugar just a bit too crunchy and the bar over all just a bit too sweet. It’s still good, but I will stick to the original.

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What about you guys? What are the chocolates you have tried? What are your favorites?

Spicy Cinnamon Honey Tea

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Did you know that cinnamon is useful for something other than the cinnamon challenge?

My mother bought a giant container of cinnamon at Costco a week or so ago, and today she was puttering around the kitchen and pouring a spoonful of cinnamon. So I laughed and asked her if she was doing the cinnamon challenge… I had to show her a video of it before she got what I was saying. And then told me that it wasn’t funny (oh… mama, but it is!!). She also told me, before giving me a dirty look about finding people choking on cinnamon funny, that cinnamon has tons of health benefits and she was taking a little teaspoon of it every day before it helps with inflammation and gastrointestinal issues. Who knew?! (Health benefit-y stuff here)

Anyway – I haven’t been feeling so hot since that flu shot so I’ve been wandering around the house whining about feeling like “sheeeeet.” So my mom handed me a mug and pointed at the kettle before disappearing to do work. In light of our conversation about cinnamon, I dropped a teaspoon of cinnamon and some honey into the cup and poured some boiling water over it.

Guess what? The tea itself looks like mud, but it is delicious! It’s a little spicy, a little sweet, and it tastes yum!

It’s not a recipe people…. but here you go

1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp good honey, 1 cup of boiling water. Stir. Drink. Feel better.

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(This is not my picture. I found it on google images. It’s pretty. I picked it. Done)

What do you guys do with cinnamon? Please say cinnamon rolls. I love cinnamon rolls…

A Little Secret

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I’m going to let you in on a little secret… I am terrible at making scrambled eggs. The worst. Mine are normally dry or burnt or gooey or a combination of those three. If I do manage to make a good batch, I’m so thrilled I forget to eat them because I’m busy telling people “I MADE SCRAMBLED EGGS.”

Anyway – other than the normal scrambling of eggs like a normal person, I have discovered that a little sprinkle of feta cheese goes a long way to making those eggs more palatable. Seriously. It’ll change your life. Feta and eggs. Throw some spinach in there for good measure too!

Sunday Seven

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Yeah… I have one picture from this week, which is not to say I didn’t have a good week. It’s just been a little less dominated by me squinting behind my camera (or iPhone as it were).

  1. Friendships that, despite their oddity, make you a happy person.
  2. Flu shots, because even though it knocked me on my ass for 3 days, I feel a little less crazy about staying away from people while I study. Less crazy is always good.
  3. Roasted vegetables, because they are delicious, easy, and healthy
  4. Finally getting into the groove of things for studying
  5. Beautiful days… because looking outside while I study helps cheer me up. It’s just so crisp and clear out!
  6. Pizza. No seriously… there is this place near by that I have been going to eat pizza since I was a child. It makes my day. I don’t go frequently, but it’s one of those things that just makes everything a little better. Nostalgia, perhaps.
  7. Running. Running and running. It’s always on my list, but especially today because I went for a run and everything was good. No pain, no discomfort. Just plain good running.

 

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