This weekend I started – and finished – reading Marie Kondo‘s book “the life-changing magic of tidying up“, which I highly recommend to anyone who feels like they need a little bit more order and organization at home. The book is full of practical advice, and simple, clear instruction. It’s another great success of the current Ten Speed Press lineup – one of my favorite publishing houses.
Today we took a long drive West. I’m always up for a road trip, and this was a particularly beautiful day to meander through small towns, past gentleman farms, and out into the country – or as much “country’ as you get out here. We did manage to see some animals – cows at the Tufts Veterinary campus in North Grafton, and a few llamas in someone’s yard. Being an impromptu trip, I left without a camera and with a minimally charged cell phone, so most of the trip I just looked out the window and admired the scenery. One amusing point of note: at some point we’d noticed we’d been driving through farmland for miles and decided to take bets on when we’d see the next Dunkin’ Donuts. Devon bet ten minutes, and I bet four. Given that it’s New England, we essentially both won. There are approximately three Dunkin Donuts establishments per capita around these parts.
When we came home, I spent an hour in the evening writing in longhand on crisp white paper – making lists and scratching out fragments of ideas with one of my trusty Pilot G-2 pens. They are my favorite pens these days – the right shape, and with good ink. During the week I spend so much time tethered to my computer and my phone, that words flow differently when I can use my whole hand and my body to get something out onto the page.
This week was lovely and full – I found myself marveling that all the things that happened could have possibly fit into a mere seven days. At work we launched our new step tracking app, Breeze, which makes your iPhone 5s essentially the equivalent of a Jawbone or a Fitbit, except with the added benefit of guided coaching and a beautiful user experience. The team started working on Breeze not long after I started at RunKeeper, and it feels good to be working with such a creative group of folks and seeing a product created from idea to launch.
Another major thing of note is that I received a package in the mail from Ten Speed Press, with a copy of my friend Karen’s new book Asian Pickles. The book is coming out this spring, and would be a lovely resource for dealing with abundant produce – you can pre-order it here! I’m looking forward to working my way through her recipes.
The week in food began with a Passover seder, where we observed Sephardic Moroccan tradition of Bibhilu – circling the seder plate over each persons head, singing a short passage – Bibhilu yatsanu mimitsrayim – “In a hurry we left Egypt”, and tapping the head with the plate before moving on to their neighbor. It’s a lovely mystical experience that makes the meal even more special. We read the four questions, we sang songs, and ate whole eggs to symbolize life and the possibilities of the future. There were mini meatballs, matzah ball soup, gefilte fish, my aunt’s Tsimmes (braised beef, carrots and sweet potato), and my grandmother’s potato pancakes. My mom made my favorite charoset – an apple chutney studded with dates and walnuts, and our hostess Roz made the most incredible frozen lemon torte. I’ve acquired the recipe and will likely be making it again this week – it has about a dozen egg yolks in the recipe, so I may have to scale it down.
In fitness and health news, I had a fun day lifting on Wednesday – practicing push jerks and split jerks, went to the Marathon Expo on Friday, went for my first run in weeks on Saturday – two short miles and then about three more walking ones, and have been working through Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra’s 21-day Meditation challenge. I’ve a slight tendency towards attention deficit symptoms when I have a lot going on in my life, and meditation is an excellent way to calm my mind and give it a rest. Even 20 dedicated minutes without distraction is rare around here, so I’ve been enjoying each guided practice immensely. This coming week I’m looking forward to spending some time outside logging some miles, doing nightly planks to work my core with FitFluential’s #FFAprilAbs challenge, heading to CrossFit for Oly Lifting Clinic on Wednesday, and hopefully squeezing in a yoga class.
Here’s what’s on tap for our meals:
Week of Sunday, April 20th
Sunday: Whole Foods Hot Bar. In honor of Marathon Monday, Whole Foods was offering 50% off hot bar from 4-7 pm this weekend, so I took full advantage of the deal and ended up going home with some chicken, mashed potatoes, and their Italian zucchini, tomato and garlic.
Monday: Roasted Mediterranean Chicken, Turkish green beans, and sweet potatoes. For two of us I’ll roast a tray of chicken thighs, or in this case, a half a chicken with herbs rubbed into the skin. If it’s really nice out, I might barbecue it.
Tuesday: Tropical Taco Lettuce Wraps with tomato and avocado salad. I saw Mel posting a tropical taco recipe today that included some chopped mango and allspice (which I can’t get enough of lately), so I’ll be doing something similar here over salad.
Wednesday: Jerk pork tenderloin and brussels sprouts. Again with the allspice – I can’t get enough of it – it’s one of the real stars of jerk seasoning. I’m a fan of Lucinda Scala Quinn’s basic jerk chicken recipe, which I’ve adapted over the years to go with chicken or pork.
Thursday: RunKeeper Night of Awesomeness Barbecue. Once a month a RunKeeper coworker is in charge of planning the festivities, and this month Doug, our VP of Engineering, has invited us to a barbecue at his house in Somerville.
Friday: Out.
What’s on your table this week?
–– Sam
I follow Food52’s ‘Tournament of Cookbooks‘ – The Piglet – with the same fervor that I follow my Boston sports teams. Every year there are excellent selections, usually books that I have and cherish, and a handful of new ones that I have yet to explore. The judging is done by the culinary elite, professional chefs, food writers, and a few wild cards – this year I grinned excitedly when I saw Josh Malina’s name on the list. The reviews are always thoughtful, the judging is taken very seriously, and most of the time I find myself nodding along as the rounds progress. (One noted exception would be the upset when Burma lost last year, grumble.)
This season I had some favorites: Nigel Slater’s Notes from the Larder (i.e.: Kitchen Diaries II), which has a perpetual home on my coffee table and makes a weekly appearance on meal planning day for inspiration, Megan Gordon’s Whole Grain Mornings, because I hope to have a first cookbook as lovely as this one, and Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy – just a great overall work. The winner, as it turns out, was also one of my favorites: Louisa Shafia’s ‘The New Persian Kitchen’.
I’ve had a copy of Louisa’s book for nearly a year now, and I’ve cooked out of it many times. The seared chicken with peaches (and saffron, turmeric, and cinnamon) became a summer favorite. Her flavors are reminiscent of my own familiar Turkish and Jewish culinary roots, and Sara Remington’s photographs are stunning – especially the ones of Louisa herself. In honor of the win, several of my meals this week are inspired by her recipes, specific recipes with page numbers listed below.
Week of Saturday, March 8th
Saturday: Teriyaki Chicken Legs, broccoli, and mashed potatoes. This is my comfort food. The mashed potatoes in small quantity acquired from the Whole Foods salad bar.
Sunday: Vietnamese takeout. I’ve been meaning to try the Vietnamese restaurant inside the Super 88 – and I have a Bodypump class at Commonwealth Sports Club right next door late Sunday afternoon. Perfect!
Monday: New potatoes with dill and lemon (p. 29), brussels sprouts and pancetta, with some olive oil poached fish (p.93). In my childhood home, there was a line down the middle of our table between the dill lovers (my mom and I), and the dill loathers (the men). I think my brother has now moved into “ambivalent” range, thank goodness.
Tuesday: Creamy beans and chicken/turkey sweet basil sausage, salad. The sweet basil sausages are from Trader Joe’s, and they are excellent! (I like all of their chicken sausages really.)
Wednesday: Lamb meatballs with mint and garlic (p. 88) and cucumber salad. Her version of kufteh is very similar to the Turkish Köfte I make quite often.
Thursday: Turmeric chicken with sumac and lime (p. 103).
Friday: Out.
What’s on your table this week?
–– Sam
