It started as a suggestion. Then it became a persistent request. I felt it even when it wasn’t there. The need for turducken was growing. A turducken is a chicken stuffed inside a duck, inside a turkey. For a year I had been advancing my culinary skill on non-critical friends once a week. One turducken infatuated friend kept pushing the idea my way. At first I had just said “No.” Over and over again. Eventually my curiosity was piqued. That was the mistake. Once I started the research I couldn’t be stopped. I scoured the internet. Five years ago, I didn’t find that much. There were butchers and small groceries that would assemble it for you. Just a handful of brave souls were doing it from scratch and posting about it. The Road To Turduken was my favorite story. I set a date, required RSVPs and cash, then took three days off of work to do the beast. Continue reading
Adventures in Turducken
Posted in Kym Cooked
Tagged challenge, chicken, culinary adventures, duck, food, meat, turducken, turkey
3 Comments
Yoga brain cramp
Ommmmmm
I am one. I am at peace. I am balanced.
Phppbbbbth. Yeah right.
I am increasingly cross-eyed in the process of studying these ancient systems and traditions of peace and balance. In mid September I stared a 230 hour, 9 month Yoga Study Program at the Yoga Center of Minneapolis. I keep thinking I should share yogic insights and this personal and professional journey. I run into two problems.
Any personal flashes of budding wisdom are as delicate as tissue floating in water. I might spot one but actually getting my hands on it is a challenge. It seems to dissolve upon capture. What once seemed like a golden insight appears to be as common as mud on closer inspection.
Any sharing of the things I’m learning and in my head I hear “Booooring! Pretentious bull shit!” At this point not only am I no expert, I’m not even sure what kind of student I am. There is no way I’m going to write about all the crazy topics in yoga. I am struggling to wrap my mind around all of the concepts, I don’t know what I think about them.
Other aspects of yoga are confounding because it feels like deja vu. I have a sneaking suspicion that I have always approached athletics in what could be called a yogic way. Yoga can quiet the mind, but it does not have a monopoly on meditation. Yoga is mindful breath and movement, but I can also swim and run that way. Part of why yoga is such a great fit for me is because in some ways it’s so very familiar. Modern yoga was founded on ancient systems of brining unity and balance to mind and body. I’m pretty sure this concept was at the core of my upbringing.
Meanwhile I’m not so sure which or how the specific teachings and techniques will be absorbed in to my life. I’ll hang in there and eventually it’ll come together. I promise to share along the way.
What to bring: Ginger Pumpkin Bread
This is my potluck go to. At a time that you maybe thinking “What should I bring?” I thought I’d share mine. It’s easyish and damn tasty. It’s just unusual enough to feel a little special. I also chose it because I could bike with it.
Stillness before snow
The day before the snow was perfect. Everything was clear and still. The sky was a cloudless eternal blue. It was beautifully bright without any oppressing heat. The water was glass. Our canoe glided effortlessly as paddles dipped and pulled the depths of sky mirrored in it. The air reverberated a perfect symphony of sound. Distant bird calls traveled across the stillness.
It wouldn’t be so entombed in memory if it hadn’t been followed by days of misery. Continue reading
YWCA Endurance Sports Social
Hello Twin Cities Friends!
I know so many of you have done, would like to do, or are doing such amazing things. Wouldn’t it be great to come together in one place to celebrate our awesomeness or aspiring awesomeness? Sometimes our personal pursuits can get kinda lonely. Sometimes the small and large successes can get buried in the day-to-day grind. Sometimes goals and motivation can get lost in the daily grind. Come for lunch and I’ll give you a free hug!*
You don’t need to be a member. You’re welcome to bring something to share. If not, don’t let it stop you from coming!
Sunday November 17th 12-2pm
Midtown YWCA
2121 East Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN 55407
612-215-4333
Please RSVP to me at kzest@ywcampls.org
*My hugs are always free 🙂 but I’d thought I’d throw in an extra incentive. On a selfish note, you should come because I’ll be sad if you don’t.
Posted in Fitness
Tagged athletics, Endurance Sports, fitness, goals, inspiration, Social, YWCA
Leave a comment
Hot wet hair to cold wet boots
Will’s wet clean hair
We were now solidly in the BWCA and entering our second week of paddling. Will was finally feeling not so sick. We were actually really enjoying ourselves. The weather had been so nice Will had developed what he called “South Arm Syndrome” where all the sunblock in the world would not prevent his right arm from tanning darker than his left. October 2nd was so hot I declared lunch a good time to wash our hair. If I had known it would be the last for 14 days I might have savored it more.
The next morning we paddled by some pictographs. Continue reading
Halloween Buckeyes
My Halloween tradition has become handing out candy from my front step. I bring the fire pit around to the front yard, invite a few friends, make chili and hot spiced spiked cider, and Halloween buckeye treats.
We bundle up and sit around the fire and front step. This is a much better way to way to hand out candy than jumping up from the couch every few minutes. Continue reading
How bike commuting works for me
It was the summer of 2009, Will totaled his car and didn’t replace it. That’s how I ended up being a year round bike commuter. I certainly didn’t choose it, but there’s something about new love that makes you gung-ho for anything.
My very first time riding in snow. We biked to a bed & breakfast in the first winter storm December 2009. Lots of things have changed since this epic learning experience.
People bike commute in all sorts of ways. My mom rides a tiny folding bike for social outings. She will decorate herself in a sparkly cape for visibility. My brother in law will bike shirtless in his dress slacks to work, the rest of his suit in his backpack. I’ve tried different bikes, different clothes, different packs, and different methods. Lots of friends ask what works for me. Here it is. Continue reading
Emergency snuggling
Will woke up coughing and wishing for home. He had been toughing it out with wads of yellow snot and an achy tired body. We had paddled 57.5 miles and I was rip roaring ready to do more, but Will looked so sad I proposed numerous options to get out of the woods. What kind of honeymoon could it be with him that miserable? Still he wanted to push on.
Will holding his snot rag
Posted in Adventures
Tagged BWCA, camping, canoeing, honeymoon, outdoors, paddling, voyageurs national park
1 Comment
Veggie Fritters
“Have we had this?” Will asks. He made his slightly disgusted and seriously skeptical face. I wanted to show you but he won’t do it on command. This food is really not that strange. It’s really easy and I’m sure you could get way more creative with it. I didn’t measure a damn thing and most things I just happened to have in my fridge. While I made it once before using the recipe, this time I didn’t even glance at it until I had to link to my source. Just whipped up whatever was in the ol’ memory. The original inspiration was from smitten kitchen, which is an entertaining read and a great source of inspiration. She made her veggie fritters for her two year old. I think sometimes cooking for a toddler and cooking for a husband might be similar. Sometimes I have to say “Honey, just don’t watch me make it. You’ll love it. I swear.”
I chopped up some broccoli and cauliflower. I put it in a large bowl with some garlic powder, salt, lemon juice (from bottle), and a splash of water. Covered and zapped in the microwave for 3 min at a time until it was just tender. In retrospect I would have chopped the pieces smaller.
yes, orange cauliflower. It’s in season and just looks so cool. I also read that it’s creamier than the standard white stuff.
Posted in Kym Cooked
Tagged broccoli, cauliflower, cooking, food, healthy food, pancake, vegetarian
2 Comments
Midwest With Zest 