by Sam Tackeff | Sep 27, 2012 | Baking, Blogging, Books, Holidays
Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the most sacred day of the Jewish year, the day of atonement. It follows at the tail end of Rosh Hashana, the week long celebration of the Jewish new year, and typically is the day that you reflect upon all of your sins and bad deeds. While I’m not particularly religious anymore (despite the fact that my mother has served on the board of our synagogue and is currently on the education committee), I do consider myself quite spiritual, take great comfort in many of the tenets of the faith, and particularly relish the holidays.
Most Jews fast on Yom Kippur, abstaining from food and drink, and aside from a cup of coffee, I did as well. One of the things that I wanted to do on this day was spend some time thinking about what it means to live without. For the past several weeks I’ve been choosing to abstain from foods, certain bad habits, and negative thought patterns. It has been a challenge. One of the great things that has come out of it is a desire to share with you all some of the changes I’ve been making, and I’ve been really moved by all the support that I’ve received. I’m not taking any of this for granted, I feel particularly lucky.
On the topic of living without, I spent a good part of the day reading Shauna James Ahern’s ‘Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back & How You Can Too‘. Shauna writes a beautiful blog, about food, family, and her life – choosing to make living without gluten a practice in living fully and well.
In her pages she is candid about her experiences with Celiac disease, and living gluten free, but it’s about so much more than a life without – it’s about discovery, learning to eat well, learning to love food, learning to live fully. Learning to say yes.
The book skips through her life, from her childhood in California with quirky parents eating TV dinners and Clark Bars, traveling the world, teaching high school English on Vashon Island, a stint in New York in her early 30’s, living in England with an absurdly wealthy family for 6 months, to finding herself back in Seattle where she ends up falling in love with the man she would later marry. (And have an adorable daughter with. But that comes after the book!)
The pages are filled with food memories, friendship, first tastes, and recipes. I spent the afternoon smiling, tearing up, and (very) hungry.
This book came out in 2007, and I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t read it until now. I don’t know Shauna personally, but she knows several of the friends that I made over the years at Omnivore Books, and my heart lifted to see so many of them mentioned in her wonderful book.
* * *
After regretfully reaching the last page, I put the book down and headed into the fresh air to walk around the neighborhood before heading to our family feast to break the fast. I wandered into this guy.
By the time I got back from my walk, Devon had returned home and we drove over to my aunt and uncle’s house together. The sun had sufficiently set, and so I made a beeline to the appetizer table, where I immediately proceeded to gorge myself on carrots, cucumbers, and fresh pistachios that my mom had brought back from her trip to Istanbul. (I abstained from the lovely cheese selection, hummus, and chopped liver, but I thought it was a nice spread.)
Because my aunt works magic, the table had been set: bagels, lox, multiple types of kugel (noodle pudding), herring with blueberries, cranberry sauce, fruit compote, mini challah, and bread. For our family, Yom Kippur ends up being a cross between traditional Jewish foods and Thanksgiving.
That’s Cooper, 6 months old, eying the gefilte fish.
If you insist Coop, you can definitely have my gefilte fish! Mmm.. carp! (I should note here that in addition to some excellent training – he can now heel, lie down, roll over, and shake – he is also learning good manners and isn’t being served people food. I’m totally impressed by my cousin-pup!)
The highlight of the meal was actually this turkey.
While I knew that I would have to hold back from so many of my favorites (Cheryl Ann’s mini challah rolls!), I didn’t find myself wanting. Here’s my dinner plate – turkey, pistachios, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, and a whole bunch of pineapple. I sat myself down strategically next to the carved turkey, so when I finished this plate, I ended up having another half pound of bird. It may have been slightly excessive.
For dessert, I had more fruit, and a cup of coffee. Because of this challenge, yet a second holiday in a row where I’ve abstained from dessert. It was… a challenge. The spread included my mom’s apple cake, my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cake, my aunt’s spectacular banana bread, and Eleanor Bloom’s famous brownies – dense, fudgy, chewy, and perfect from the freezer in the middle of the night.
Next time!
Happy Holidays to my kinfolk!
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 26, 2012 | Blogging, Books, Challenge, Lists
A few thoughts on list-making. When I read, I make lists. When I walk in the woods, I make lists. I think best in lists. God forbid I find myself without a pen, because I’ll get downright cranky. Perhaps that’s why I dislike long showers. I fear that I’ll forget those small flashes of thought that tend to flicker through my head as my eyes are shut and the water rushes down my face.
And then there is the joy of choosing what to write your list on. I have lists on my computer, on a whiteboard by the side of my bed, but physical tactile lists are undeniably the best. My uncle, who I should note has particularly fine taste, has his own monogrammed mini note pads that fit in his wallet and he carries around at all times. I have notebooks big and small. My favorite, usually, is my smallest moleskine, which has a pocket to keep the lists that didn’t make it in the book and were scribbled on the back of an old envelope, receipt, or library slip.
There is little I like better than writing my lists, except perhaps, reading other people’s lists. I have much to thank my friend Kassie for over the years, but I owe her the biggest debt of gratitude for introducing me to Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings, filled with the lists of creative people throughout history. If you’d like to procrastinate, click on that link.
This was the banana that I ate directly following my morning workout. I headed to CrossFit with trepidation. We’d be working on three things that I’m not good at: pull-ups, hang squat snatches, and toes to bar. One of my biggest challenges with CrossFit has been keeping a positive attitude when I’m not good at something. When you’ve lived your life competing with over-achievers, accepting that you are not good at something takes some effort.
But I’ve surprised myself at how quickly I’ve found joy from my progress at the gym, tackling new challenges that seem insurmountable. Each day I learn something new, I become both physically and mentally stronger, and this keeps me coming back week after week. These days I’ve been coming and going with a smile on my face.
Tuesday WOD 9/25/12
Strength
A. Back Squat – 6 Sets of 4 @ 80% of your 1 rep max, rest 2:30 between sets (20 min. cap total)
B. Strict Weighted Pull-up – 8 minutes to a heavy set of 3 reps (if you can’t do them, practice pull-ups and kipping for your TTB)
WOD (workout of the day): “Black Bart”
AMRAP 8 Ladder of 2,4,6,8, etc.
Hang Squat Snatch 95/65
Toe To Bar
This was not an easy day for me. My two rep max is 95, and although I hadn’t found my one rep max, Coach E determined that I’d work with 80 pounds for my back squat. I’ve been working on keeping my heels down, sticking my butt out, and squatting down low. I felt good at the end of my sets, gaining confidence that I’m building up muscle. I definitely can go heavier.
And then came the pullups. Up until now I’ve been doing jump-ups standing on a 24 inch box to jump up over the bar. Today, we pulled out the green band. Three pullups no problem. (I surprised myself here). And then the blue band (less resistance) – three more down (huh…) . The red? Okay, so I got one. But now I know that I can do this.
After our strength we had our WOD. My technique on my lifts could use some work, so I ended up dropping the weight down to 35#. Because I have to learn how to hang properly on the rig, I ended up with knee raises instead of toes to bar. Toes to bar is infinitely more difficult than when I was six and could do it easily. I think I need more time on the playground. Result? In eight minutes I got past the 8’s and 3 lifts in.
(Black Bart, for the record, is one of my favorite outlaws. He was a poet, and would leave verses at crime scenes!)
“I’ve labored long and hard for bread,
For honor, and for riches,
But on my corns too long you’ve tread,
You fine-haired sons of bitches.”
When I came home, I made myself this superbly good bowl of leftover beef stew. Having eaten all the meat off our marrow bones the night before, I cooked up some crumbled fresh sausage from the butcher shop and then heated up the leftover carrots and braise. I topped it all with some fresh parsley and lemon zest, and it was positively the best thing I’ve eaten in weeks. Recipe coming in the next day or so as soon as Yom Kippur is over and I can post my notes without this rumbling hunger. {Edited: recipe here!}
In the afternoon, I was craving something sweet, but decided that I’d make myself a treat for the evening – Chai Chia Pudding. I pulled out my favorite Masala Chai from Samovar, heated up a cup of coconut milk on the stove, and steeped a tablespoon of tea in the milk as it warmed.
After about 5 minutes, I took the creamy tea-milk off the stove, and stirred in about a quarter cup of chia seeds. The seeds expand in the milk and make a gelatinous pudding. Typically I’d add a spoonful of honey to sweeten it, but I’ve been strict about no added sweeteners this month, and the warm spices are enough to satisfy me lately. I put it in the fridge to cool down for later.
In the early evening I took my walk before Devon came home from work, just as the sun was setting. Just as I was coming home, I stumbled upon the IKEA drawer set I used to own (and loved) standing in someone’s front yard. I rushed home to get my car, drove over, and spent 15 minutes attempting to lift the thing by myself (not a problem now!), until I finally had to give up because there was no way it was going to fit in my tiny Volvo.
I headed to the store, silently praying it’d be there when Devon got back with the Tucson. It was not. You can’t win them all.
I did however win with dinner. I picked up a single packet of pre-cooked organic “love beets” at the store. Because I’m the only one around here who eats beets, this is the perfect convenience. I chopped my beets up and dressed them with cumin, coriander, salt and vinegar. I then set about cooking some grass fed beef with peppers and a tomato. Finally, I chopped up an avocado, heated up some spinach, and made myself this delightfully colorful plate:
Devon got his with refried beans, and we sat together and ate happily. For dessert, I ate my chia pudding, and we watched Bourdain’s Sydney episode before falling asleep way too early to admit.
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 25, 2012 | Blogging, Challenge, Restaurants
Sometimes I deal with bouts of anxiety and sadness. It happens. After the absolute thrill of completing my very first race on Sunday, I got into a funk. I’m not quite talking about depression (that’s another beast entirely), but more of a general gloom. Time and again, what follows intense highs of accomplishment is self doubt, criticism, or anguish. Was it good enough? Does it matter? While I spent a lot of time worrying as a child that it might just be me, I’ve realized over the years that it happens to a lot of people, people I respect, people I love, maybe even you, and I shouldn’t be ashamed of it. I went to particularly competitive schools, worked with highly driven people, and this gloom was something that seems inescapable.
This is where writing comes in. It’s one way to find solace when you are feeling badly, to lift yourself up when you feel like sulking. After waking up glum, I took this picture of my morning coffee. And then I set about writing my race recap. I debated omitting my time – it’s too slow. they will judge. – and even pictures of myself – i’m sweating. my face is red. these gym clothes look ridiculous – and my favorite – who cares about this. it’s not even a big deal. But I decided to include everything, as honestly as possible. And I could not have been more thrilled at how many of you responded in big ways and small, to remind me that my accomplishment was really just that, something I should be proud of.
So for that, I thank you.
Another wonderful thing to combat gloom is spending time with dear friends. I was so lucky to get Caroline for one more day before sending her back off to Texas. We spent the afternoon running around her old grad school haunts at Hahhhvahhd, and took lunch at Upstairs on the Square.
I hadn’t visited the place since my senior year of college, and was happy to enter into the land of whimsy again. The interior is decorated as a 7 year old’s fantasy land, but the entire place has subtly macabre details, such as wall paintings of cheerful zebras being attacked by arrows. I love it.
For lunch, I yet again found myself chatting with a supremely patient and friendly waiter about my food restrictions – no dairy, no gluten, and a few other things I can’t do. Another success – I ended up with this Salad Niçoise, with egg, Italian tuna, white anchovies, tomatoes, olives and capers, omitting the fingerlings and aioli. Instead of the vinaigrette, I ordered a side of oil and vinegar. I looked longingly at their delicious bread basket, but this was quite a good meal.
After lunch, we walked around for an hour, and headed to tea at Tealuxe right in Harvard Square. I ordered an iced Makaibari Darjeeling. I quite enjoy their tea selection, and their daily iced choices are always exciting.
After a few hours of fun, I had to send off my wonderful friend back to Providence to catch her flight back to Houston. When I got home, I sat down to work after getting myself a snack: canned Copper River wild sockeye salmon. This was one of the last shipments I received from the Copper River marketing board, and I was hesitant to open it so soon, but the stuff is so delicious I couldn’t help myself. I mixed it with a generous spoonful of homemade mayo, a few grinds of pepper, and a large handful of chopped dill.
In the early evening, I set to work making dinner: beef shank stew with carrots and gremolata.
Devon got his served on a big bowl of mashed potatoes, but I just took an extra helping of carrots.
For dessert, I polished off an entire pint of raspberries before realizing that I hadn’t snapped a photo. We were watching Breaking Amish. I was totally engrossed by the “English clothing”, illicit tattoo acquisition, and that one guy Abe who seems to have such a good head on his shoulders.
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 24, 2012 | Challenge, Running
Three weeks ago, in the middle of the night, I had an idea. I was going to run a road race. My first road race. (Unless you count participation as getting kissed by sweaty runners several years in a row at the 13.1 mile mark of the Boston marathon, in which case, I’ve done lots of participating.) Somewhere around 12:35 a.m., I registered for the Charles River Center 5K Run/walk.
I should make a point here that at the time I signed up, I had been running little more than 200-800 meters at a time at CrossFit. So I devised a fancy training plan: run a few 5k training runs each week. That’s 5000 meters, or 3.1 miles. Because I’m obsessive, the morning after that middle of the night, I drove out to the race course and ran the course to see if I could do it without embarrassing myself totally. I had not up until that point actually run a 5k in more than a year. I then ran four more 5ks in the following two weeks, each run progressively slower. This was a little disconcerting, but I pressed on.
On Saturday morning, I picked up my race packet, there was no backing out now! My swag bag included a t-shirt, free toothbrushes, chips, lip balm, and a mini foam football. I will not lie, I was pretty elated.
The morning of the race, I woke up and googled the number 244. Not the most significant historical occurrences, although Alexander may or may not have been born this year. I took comfort in the fact that it was an even number. I opted for my typical morning pre-exercise fare of a cup of coffee and a banana with almond butter. I went for half of the banana for fear that something disastrous would happen to my stomach before the race. It did not.
We drove out to Needham where we parked at Olin and took the short walk to the race course. The Charles River Center supports children and adults with developmental disabilities, and I was thrilled at the turnout for this worthy cause – lots of families, everyone happy and smiling.
I was not at this point nervous. I took one last port-a-potty run (possibly the cleanest port-a-potty ever), and Devon snapped this photo of me.
I then took a photo of my trusty (re: old) Mizunos before lining up at the beginning of the race. Documenting your sneaker choice is apparently important to me.
Before lining up for the race, I ran into my challenge team-leader Kati! I was thrilled to see a familiar face. We lined up together and saw a few more of our gym-mates. There were tons of folks of all abilities at the race, and a good number of families running and walking together. Devon left us as we listened to the slightly inappropriate emcee, and a keyboard rendition of the national anthem. I turned on my Pandora, and my Runkeeper app, set up my Garmin, and then we were off!
My goal for the race was to finish. Seriously. My second goal was to do so in less than 34 minutes. (Keep in mind that a) I am slow, b) I take walk breaks c) I did not train for this.) Next year when I’m running a half marathon at a pace two minutes faster than this, I shall not laugh at myself.
The first mile of the race was largely down hill, which was pretty thrilling. I was surprised at how much faster I was running than normal, and surrounded in a sea of happy runners, it was actually quite easy to keep up a good clip. I started following a fit woman about my age, and took my first walk break near the end of the first mile for a minute. (I was a little emotional and choked up here.) I finished my first mile in 9:36, including the walk break.
We then ran through a little residential cul-de-sac, and there were people on the side of the road cheering! At 1.25 miles, we had our water break. I actually stopped on the side of the road and took thirty seconds to drink my water slowly. I had not practiced the “drink water while running”, and was convinced that I’d drink too quickly, choke, or give myself a stitch.
The next three quarters of a mile were largely down hill. At my halfway point, this guy came in before they had even finished setting up the finish line stuff. In 16:50. That’s a 5:25/minute per mile pace. That, my friends, is fast.
My second mile was 10:13, winding past the Babson campus, and by the Wellesley country club. I paced with what appeared to be an 9 or 10 year old girl for a few minutes, followed a mom running with her son, and a few parents pushing their disabled child in a jogging stroller. (Seeing these kids beaming made this race so worth it.) I opted not to take a walk break other than at the water station.
My third mile was 10:53, taking three short walk breaks, and by the end I was thinking that I would like to be finished with the race. We ran past Volante Farms, and around the corner to the finish line. I saw a few gym folks near the finish line, and was pretty excited.
Here I am coming up the final hill!
Here I am realizing that I’m about to be smoked by an 11 year old, and should maybe push a little harder!
In the end, I finished in 32:14, a 10:22/minute per mile pace. Not horrific for my very first race with zero real training! (I kept on feeling shocked that fit people were finishing after me!)
Here I am a happy red-faced runner!
After the race, we walked up to the after-party where there was free Sam Adams, pizza, hot dogs, and Crescent Ridge ice cream. None of which did I eat, alas – sticking my guns to the challenge. Here I am slightly incredulous at turning down the free ice cream and re-fueling with an apple! Thank you Whole Foods!
I didn’t have to feel sorry for myself, because I got to partake in the best reward of all – free post-run massage and adjustment with Dr. Adrian of Granite Family Chiropractic!
After the race, we headed home, making a pit-stop at Chipotle. I had a bowl with lettuce, carnitas, pico de gallo, hot salsa and guacamole.
When we got home, I snacked on a cashew cookie LÄRABAR (just dates and cashews), and took a long hot shower. For dinner, I put together a beef and broccoli stir fry, and ate the extra cabbage from the previous dinner.
Feeling pretty good about things, and looking forward to the next race already!
Do you run races? Want to? (You should!) Do you remember your very first race?
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 24, 2012 | Blogging
When you write a blog, you quickly learn that you get a thousandfold more spam comments than you ever will actual comments. This can be disappointing at first, until you figure out that you can take immense pleasure in reading some of this spam every so often. I’ve noticed a new trend in spam in the past month or so – highly pertinent “foodie” spam. The topics are actually in line with your original posting, and read like so:
Spam, on Thomas Keller: “I have been to Per Se not once, not twice but thrice and it was tdcnsaenrent each and every time (Mere mention of his Oysters and Pearls inspire erections/lubrication). He owes me; however, Erika owes me not a thing. Rather, I owe her a favorite. I’m going to go with anything truffle. Truffles fill me with warmth and mirth. Godspeed, Erika. Godspeed”
Spam, on Scotch Tasting: “I don’t think I could live without a good sligne malt in the house. 16 Lagavulin or 10 Laphroaig do me just fine. The 12 year old Lagavulin cask strength was disappointing though. Too bad.I don’t think I’ve ever had Ardbeg. I’m too poor to sample them all.”
Spam, on Cabbage: “still if I step in something I always know what it is !!!As to the smell of cabage it always reminds me of when I worked with the homeless in Liverpool and the centre always smelt of cabbage and it was overcooked yugh ; it put me off it for years.”
Spam, on Pizza, and Reviewing: “The lasagna pizza doesn’t have feta on it. It is fresh rcoitta. Not intended to pack a flavor punch like feta.In fact nothing at il pizzaiolo has feta. If you really wanted to try their signature dish you would have tried the margherita D.O.C. which is made with imported San Marzano tomatos, buffalo mozz, extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil the closest thing you can get to what you’d eat in Italy.If you are going to write a review, at least get your facts straight. I’m relived I had eaten at il Pizzaiolo before reading this review not only because I would hate to have missed the pies at il Piz, but also because now I know not to take you seriously as a food-reviewer.” {Editor’s note: Oh thank goodness, I was worrying how you would judge me.}
I’m guessing that some of these are actually scraped comments from chat boards or blogs, and I’m certainly glad that Aksimet catches them, but I’ll award points to spammers for changing it up. I’ve been so sick and tired of Viagra advertisements.
For more entertainment, please spend some time over here at “Tom Reads His Spam”, where you can hear Tom reading his own spam in dulcet tones. I’m particularly fond of this one.
Do you take pleasure reading your spam? Bonus points if you share the most creative spam you’ve received here.
