Changes

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This space has been underused within the last year for a lot of reasons, work being the biggest, BUT, changes are afoot. Yes, I’m actually busier now with work than ever, but in a slightly different way. To make a long story very short, I’m now working in San Diego Monday – Friday and living in a hotel. No, it’s not ideal, but it does allow me to continue working and it’s only until June 1.
Aside from that change some other stuff has happened recently and I haven’t blogged a single bit about any of it, partly so I could inform those that needed informing before I went about shouting from the virtual rooftops (i.e. twitter, facebook and this delightful little space).

So here it is. We’re moving. We’re moving far away, like across the country far, and it’s happening the second week of June.

I will once again be a student, this time a PhD student, and Allison will have the unfortunate, but very necessary task of supplementing my meager but apparently liveable stipend so we can live better than, say splitting a bean for dinner.

Oh, yeah, we’re going to be living in Connecticut. Did I leave the location out? Not big city Connecticut (is there even one?), but rural Connecticut. We’re talking like Coventry, CT, which is right next to Storrs, CT, which is located right where I will be going to school at the lovely University of Connecticut, or as the kids call it, UConn (go huskies, woof-look mom I made up a cheer).
The good news is this is going to be a nice 5 years of something different, or rather a nice 1-2 years of something different and then 3-5 years of something very similar to the new different after thereafter.

Here are answers to some vital details you may or may not be panicking about on our behalf. I found out in March and we began furiously planning and replanning and rereplanning immediately. We have a place to live that we put a deposit on and got some of Allison’s cousins to check out and make sure it wasn’t a straight up roach motel. They say it has doors windows, a roof and snow removal included in rent. I say who cares about walls if you have a roof, windows, and snow removal. Lucy will be moving with us and she will be flying in style under the seat when we fly back June 1 to run a half marathon (well some of us – Allison has a stress fracture, and Hope is growing either the mother of all gummy bears, a baby, or a waterbed in her uterus – so really, just Old man Joanis and me). Yes, we had thought we’d move June 1, but with work and me being in SD 5 days a week, it’s just not going to happen. And yes, there is salsa in the refrigerator.

Allison and I will be taking a quasi honeymoon via Subaru and the large mass of land between LA and Connecticut starting sometime around June 10 and ending sometime around June 16. The route isn’t planned yet, but it will be soon. Hopefully all the reward points I’m earning by staying at this hotel 4 nights a week will allow us to have free lodging for the whole trip.

More on this trip and maybe even a tumblr or twitter account will arise soon.

So I’m hoping to blog more at the urging of my wife and really because I pay for this space and don’t use it, and that’s not OK. I like to write and really this could be a good way to keep in touch with my west coast peeps.

There is plenty of content coming, I just thought of four topics that I can write about right now, but I won’t because it’s late and because I need to pace myself to get back into the swing of things. I mean come on, I could pull a finger with all this typing or an eye muscle from staring at the screen. What I can say confidently is that there is more to come very soon.

A Tale of Two Cookies

GF Cookies sidebyside

Today I conducted a comparison baking of the same gluten-free chocolate chip recipe I posted previously with two new gluten-free flour mixes. Rather than making four dozen cookies, I halved the recipe. The mixes come from two very reputable sources. The first was from Bette Hagman, one of the early gluten-free baker-authors. The second was from the current star of the gluten-free cooking scene, gluten-free girl. The mixes I used were as follows

Bette Hagman Mix (From The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread)
2/3 part Garfava bean flour
1/3 part Sorghum Flour
1 Part Cornstarch
1 Part Tapioca Flour

Gluten-Free Girl Mix (link)
200 grams superfine brown rice flour
150 grams sorghum flour
50 grams potato flour
250 grams sweet rice flour
150 grams potato starch
100 grams arrowroot powder
100 grams cornstarch

And of course, I would be remiss to not post the exact recipe I as I used it here since it was a halved version of the original, producing only about 1 dozen rather than the usual 2 dozen cookies.

    The Recipe (My Adapted GF Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies)

Note: I converted all the prior measurements into grams so the math would be easier. I agree with Gluten-Free Girl that grams really is the way to go for all your baking measurements. Three cheers for the metric system!

½ cup (one stick) butter, softened
53 grams light brown sugar
18 grams granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
74 grams GF flour mix
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (I used kosher)
170 grams (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 teaspoon instant espresso coffee powder
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

If you looked back at the original recipe, you’d see flaxseed meal. I eliminated that in this recipe since I wasn’t sure how much oomph these flour mixes needed. They both had much more protein than the KAF mix I’ve been using.

    The Results

Four Bean Flour Cookie
Bette_Cookie

This cookie doesn’t look like much. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s a bit on the homely side. What it does pack is an excellent texture, no wacky taste, and absolutely no grittiness. Also, I haven’t calculated the caloric value, but the flour mix likely has a ton of protein, so these suckers are fairly filling (I still had two – in the name of testing of course). The dough was somewhat watery, and I’m not sure why. I think part of the problem may have been that the butter was a touch too hard. This batch was made first, so the butter may have not been quite as soft as ideal. Even after refrigeration (15 minutes – I usually don’t refrigerate my dough at all), it had that gluten-free semi-solid appearance. the cookies, however have a cookie texture, so it could just have been an issue with how everything came together, or even a scaling issue with the recipe. Verdict: B+ for good texture and taste, but ugly appearance.

The GF Girl Mix

GF_Girl_Cookie

Now these little suckers came out of the oven looking like little blimps, but they settled down into a proper cookie shape once they cooled. Their general look was much nice than the cookies I shall henceforth refer to as the Bettes. These cookies were a bit firmer and had just a hint of grit in the aftertaste. Overall, they weren’t bad though. My general concern with this flour mix was that it had sweet rice flour in it, a flour that is fairly gritty (take a pinch of some and rub it between your fingers sometime). The dough came together a bit easier and was firmer (although not as firm as in the original recipe) after refrigerated. I wasn’t praying that my cookie scoop would drop them on the parchment paper like I was with the Bettes.

The final test for these two sets of cookies will happen over the next few days when I pass them out to my delightful wife and our celiac friend. I’ll update this post when I have declared a victor.

Cookie Report Coming

I’m planning on having a bit of a Gluten-Free flour mix bake off in a bit. I have two flour mixes to test. One is Gluten-free Girl’s and the other is Bette Hagman’s four bean flour mix. I mixed both from scratch and have used both in some form or another, just never with cookies. I’m worried that the GF Girl mix, which has sweet rice flour could be a bit gritty, but who knows. at any rate. once I have a few more ingredients, the results will be posted.

Edit: I will be using the recipe I posted previously for chocolate chip cookies. This is the advantage of using weights – the amounts of flour should be about right.

The Walking Dead Stumbles Along

The Walking Dead Season 2 continues to underwhelm me. After reading this Salon.com interview with Robert Kirkman (comic and TV show creator) suggesting that former executive producer Frank Darabont was the reason behind Season 2 being so unbearably slow. The claim put forth in the interview is that the show will pick up with the new executive producer’s faster paced style.

Maybe it was a fluke, but last night’s episode was just as slow as the previous six of Season 2. In fact, from the entire episode last night, there were really only two major reveals.
Warning: Spoilers after the break. Continue reading →

Another New Look

I’ve been thinking about monkeying around with the appearance of my blog for a while. Although I haven’t been blogging much if at all lately, it appears I have more time to do that right now. I think I like this more spartan blog look. I’ll be messing with some new plugins too. In the meantime, let me know what you think in the comments.

In Memoriam

The world lost a great man this morning. Allison’s grandfather, Ronald Roth passed away peacefully in his sleep early this morning.Grandpa, as he was known to just about everyone except his two children was the perennial grandfather, discretely passing out cookies, and other sweets to all the grandchildren, and occasionally, lucky son-in-laws. He helped raise two children that are the most generous and caring people I know, a trait only surpassed by their own children. A man of few words, most of them wisecracks, Ron had a quick biting wit and a huge heart. He was always genuinely interested in what everyone had to say whether he agreed with it or not. Even in his last days, Ron was still in good spirits, dishing out wisecracks like someone a quarter his age. He spent his last days with his wife and children by his side, at home, predicting his peaceful overnight passing in an obituary that, in classic Ron fashion, he wrote himself. I can only hope that in my lifetime I am able to achieve the level of caring and love that Ron exhibited almost effortlessly. He will of course, be missed.

2011 in Review

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As the last daylight of 2011 fades away, I figured it was a good time to sit down and think back on the year. Turns out it was kinda busy. Luckily, I started the year taking pictures, and while that defintely tailed off towards the end of the year, I think I did a much better job of having the camera when it counted this year. So what happened this year? Continue reading →

Everything you need to know to start running

I saw this article in the New York Times the other day and completely agreed with the author for once. Running advice has become too complicated. Everyone has an opinion these days on what you should wear on your body and feet, how your feet should hit the ground, and even how you should train. The bottom line is that everyone is different and part of any sport is listening to your body and learning what works for you. So what follows is the completely uncomplicated guide for new runners. I’ve distilled all the advice for you into non-BS straight talk. There is only one number in the entire guide, so remember it and remember to have fun. I didn’t link to podcasts because you won’t enjoy your run if you’re listening to music. Experience the place you live on foot, including all the sounds.

Clothing: Wear whatever is most comfortable for you. If you like your middle school gym shorts and they still fit, go for it. If you prefer capris, or a shirt and tie. That’s fine too. Once you start running, just remember you’ll get warm, so if you start cold, make sure you have layers underneath your outer clothing so you can strip down without becoming a streaker. Streaking is a completely different sport/pastime.

Footwear: Get fit at a reputable running store. You’ll know they are reputable if they put you on a treadmill and ask lots of questions about what you’ll be doing in them. They’ll also likely have a good return/exchange policy. Don’t get caught up in a philosophical debate about minimalist vs traditionalist shoes. Your shoes should feel like the home your feet never had. Describe what you are feeling to the person fitting you and ALWAYS try at least 3 models on so you can compare them. Your feet will tell you what philosophy you should follow.

Form: Run however feels most natural to you and only you. Your neuromuscular system is designed to optimize your movements for maximum efficiency. Some of the fastest elite runners have “bad” running form, but it’s efficient for their bodies. Your body will work these things out over time. I promise you won’t look like these guys.

Training: Start slow and run how you feel. Again, your body is good at letting you know when you’re tired. Turn around at the first sign of tiredness or before. Remember, most of the time that turn around will be your halfway point. Increase your distances and weekly mileage slowly. The 10% rule is somehow real and the only number in this post. Only increase weekly mileage or time by 10% and you’ll be fine. Varying run distances is a nice change up, but not required unless you are training for something specific.

Pain: Running can hurt, but it shouldn’t. Again, run how you feel. If you have sharp pain, take some time off, RICE , and if it keeps up see a doctor. In my experience if you get fit for shoes and build up slowly, running can be pain-free until you decide to race or start doing more serious speed work.

Other: Don’t read the internet, it’s a great source, but a book will help you get started way better than the depths of the internet. They’ve been better vetted that most folks on the internet (that includes me) and if nothing else, books end, unlike the internet, which will give you more time to run once you’ve read it. I started with this one, but if you get super into it The Lore of Running is effectively the running bible. Out of my entire shelf of running books, those are the two I keep referring back to when I have questions.