Trail Running on Whidbey Island

 I'm not afraid of a lot of mud, hail, or ants.  On my trail run last night I encountered them all, while briefly quick-footing right through the center of an ant hill.  In my barefooting shoes.  All I could think of after I had shaken my foot off in a patch of Salal was that I felt sorry I had wrecked the ant's home.

South Whidbey State Park Trails, November

Trail running on South Whidbey Island is full of incredible sights, sounds, and smells.  Especially this time of the year-Spring!- when the plants and animals are coming alive to the warming temperatures and the call of nature.  We humans certainly hear the call as well.  This is one of the finest times of the year to run in the trails.  All your senses are heightened and there is a feeling of emerging into a brighter more active world.

It is during these emerging moments, that the animals appear.  In the moments of silence.  Running up Brainers Road I stopped to have an energy gel.  Right next to me on the telephone wire was a large owl.  It must have been about 8 or 9 in the morning and there it was, sitting rather conspicuously and  looking ridiculously over-sized on that little wire.

Another time I was waiting to meet friends for a swim at Goss Lake.  I had just run to the lake from my house and the Putney Woods trails.  During my quiet moment of introspection I sensed movement in a small tree to my left.  As I peered closer I saw a young eagle sitting low in the branches of a Douglas Fir.  The eagle didn't mind that I was there or that I walked closer.  It seemed to tell me, we are always here, you just have to slow down and quiet your mind to see us.


Here are some of my favorite trails on the Island.  I do not include any North Whidbey Trails, although if you live up North or are willing to make the trek, there are some AMAZING trails there as well, I am not as familiar with them.   

Marina's Birth Tree

Clam and Garlic Tortilla Pizza II

 Homemade pizza without the work?  Yes, please!  This is an easy, quick recipe with just a few ingredients and you can include your kids in the process.  For all that ease it is incredibly good!  A special bonus is that it is entirely wheat and gluten free for those of you with food allergies.

I also love that the crust doesn't take over the flavor of the pizza, which is so often the case with cheap pizza.  You can really add any toppings you want keeping in mind that all you need are good small corn tortillas (I use sprouted corn) and good pizza sauce.  I don't recommend buying the cheapest corn tortillas for this as the "crust" is an important part of the pizza.  The pizza sauce can be homemade if you have the time.  I get a good organic one from my local grocery store.  Have fun with this!

How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally

Here is my blog post from last year about how to dye Easter eggs naturally:

This was a lot more fun than buying dye and making the eggs that way, plus the colors were amazing and much lovelier.

The naturally dyed Easter eggs we made turned out beautiful! I love the colors and the patterns the natural dyes imprinted on the eggs. I was able to compare our dyes with the girls' grandma's store bought dyes and I have to say that the natural dyes are well worth the time, as the colors are so much more vibrant, realistic, and healthy! Here is what I used to achieve the dyes:

Spring Means Fresh Salads

Soon we will have fresh lettuce coming up in the garden.  It is warm and sunny today and it made me *want* a salad so much!  I used the nettle pesto I made a few days ago as a dressing. Here is what I used:

romaine lettuce
fresh grated beets
thin sliced cucumbers
tomato
avocado
nettle pesto
pan seared tuna

Happy Spring Dear Friends!

Here is the nettle pesto from my blog post.

Nettle Pesto

 Stinging Nettle Pesto

It is that magical time of the year that inevitably surprises me with the lush green of spring and the abundance of nature.  Now is the time to begin foraging for wild edibles!  I picked a sack full of nettle leaves to make nettle pesto today.  The end result was amazing!  I'd like to share it with you as well as some other food combining and menu ideas.  I have made nettle pesto before, and to refresh my memory on the ingredients and amounts I visited Fat of the Land, a great Seattle blog that posts recipes made from foraged food in the pacific northwest.  Fat of the Land has many delicious recipes that you can easily make at home using wild plants in your backyard (depending on where you live).

Nettle Pesto
adapted from Fat of the Land
~2 cups blanched nettles (2 cups worth after having blanched and then squeezed out all the water and chopped) or about 8 cups of fresh (approximate)
~1/4 cup pine nuts
~1/4 cup walnuts
~1/2 cup olive oil
~1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
~2 TBS fresh lemon juice
~2 cloves of garlic (less if you don't want a garlic-y flavor) 

Preparing the Nettles:
Use heavy gloves to pick the nettles.  Pick the top most, healthiest looking leaves.  I don't bother to pick any stems because I only use the leaves anyway.  In a large pan bring about 1/2 inch of water to a boil.  Measure out 8 packed cups worth of leaves and put them in the boiling water.  Blanche them for 1 minute then pour out the remaining water.

Chuckanut Mountain 50K 2010 in Story and Pictures

South Whidbey (Down Sound Racers- DSR) represents at Chuckanut Mountain 50K in Bellingham March 20th.  Kick-ass times and lots of PR's. 

(I'm 3rd from the left, upper row)

All Photos courtesy Susan Janow, thanks Susan!

I can walk today!  Here I am writing to you a day after finishing the Chuckanut Mountain 50K.  Very, very cool.  After the Orcas Island 50K a moth ago (Feb. 6th) I was wiped out.  I barely was able to walk for a day, maybe two.  Oh, it was painful.  Being that it was my first 50K and it was one of the toughest around, I understand why.  Orcas has 7,000 feet elevation gain (and decline!) over its 31 to 35 miles.  We climbed four major "peaks" to make our way to the finish.  We earned it, but not without some bodily pay-back.  Ouch.  

Chuckanut's elevation gain is 3,500 feet, half of Orcas'.  That combined with my experience, allowed me to have an easy recovery post race and day after race.  In fact, I went for a swim today.  Lap swim in the pool.  I really felt it in my chest/lungs, and an overall tired body feeling.

Seriously ladies, how do you do it?  Tank tops and shorts in 35 degree weather?!

Setting my watch for the start, almost ready to go!

And they're off!!!!!

The Race

Chuckanut starts and ends with a mostly flat 10K (6.something miles).  The 10K is on the interurban trail in Bellingham, a lovely 2-bike wide trail that follows historic Chuckanut Drive and the coast for 6 miles, connecting with trails and dirt roads that lead up Chuckanut mountain.  The first aid station was at 6.1 miles, at the base of the mountain.  Read to climb runners?  Here we go!

Free and Fun Event for Kids: Whidbey Island Waldorf School Presents . . .

A Message from Whidbey Island Waldorf School

PUGET SOUND EURYTHMY TROUP

presents the Grimm’s fairy tale

“The Devil and the Three Golden Hairs”

 Please join us in welcoming to the island the Puget Sound Eurythmy Troupe, who will present the Grimm’s fairy tale “The Devil and the Three Golden Hairs” on March 23, 2010 at Thomas Berry Hall, The Whidbey Institute, Clinton, beginning at 9:00 a.m.  Sponsored by the Whidbey Island Waldorf School, admission to this all-ages event is free and open to the public.  Please join us for a lively, colorful, fun-loving extravaganza!

Eurythmy is a movement based art form developed by Rudolf Steiner in collaboration with Marie von Sivers in the early 20^th century.  Eurythmy can be thought of as a performance art form that has applications in education and other fields such as the workplace (“social eurythmy”) or health and wellness.  Eurythmy is also used therapeutically to restore equilibrium to sufferers of attention deficit, sleep disorders, respiratory illness and other conditions.

Eurythmy is not to be confused with Eurhythmics, a method of music education developed by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze that uses movement to teach music concepts; or the Eurythmics, the popular British band many of us may remember from the 1980s.

Eurythmy is usually performed synchronously with either speech or music.  Starting with the premise that all art is the revelation of concealed laws of nature, eurythmy takes the instrument of the human body and makes visible the hidden gesture of the speech organs, or of musical tone.  Through deliberate, sculpted movement, sounds take on physical form.  It is often said that eurythmy is “speech or music made visible.”  Young children respond to its simple rhythms and exercises, while older students find new meaning in poetry, drama, and music they are representing with their body.  Eurythmy augments coordination, strengthens the ability to listen, deepens perceptions, enhances social relationships and group cohesiveness, and is generally intended to harmonize a student’s body and energy.

We are delighted to invite members of the community to share in this rare opportunity to see a professional eurythmy troupe bring language alive in gesture and movement.  Parking at The Whidbey Institute is limited, so please arrive early.  For additional information, contact Maureen Marklin, Administrator, Whidbey Island Waldorf School, 360-341-5686 or wiwsadministrator@whidbey.com.

Whidbey Island Waldorf School

6335 Old Pietila Road

Clinton, WA 98236 (Please note that the event is not at the school, it is at Thomas Berry Hall) 

 Whidbey Island Waldorf School (picture courtesy their website, which you can visit here)

Finished the Chuckanut Mountain 50K 2010 . . .

 Race is about to start . . .  it is cooold!  Frost is still on the ground. 

(that's me in the light green long sleeve looking at my watch)

All pictures courtesy of Susan Janow, Thank you Susan!!!

What an amazing day to have a race, clear skies and cool temperatures.  Lucky me, I just barely got into the race.  The race filled up January 1st in five hours.  Somehow I knew I would get into it anyway.  When I heard on Monday at noon (5 days pre-race) that they were opening twenty-five more spots, I knew it was my chance! Monday, at 11:55, I was on the computer refreshing the page.  It was that easy, I was in!

This year's race was fast overall, with many of the Whidbey folks (DSR- Down Sound Racing group) setting PR's.  Go Whidbey!  Overall it was an amazing course with lots of flat, some rolling hills, wooded single-track trails, technical running around the rim of the mountain, grueling chin-scraping hills, miles of downhill on dirt roads and some truly magnificent views of the water and Mt. Baker.  To finish it off, was a final flat 10K, sweeping down to the finish.

I will have a full race story for y'all in the next day or so.  

Post race, trying to stretch, looks like I lost some flexibility (temporarily!)  Do you  like my dramatic "ouch" face?

Happy Birthday my 5 year old Leprechaun!

Marina was born on St. Patrick's day, almost 5 years ago.  As tradition we make a "Paddy's day feast" of corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes slowly cooked for many hours.  When Marina told me that she didn't want that for dinner on her birthday, but instead wanted "salad' I said, "OK I'll make a salad, but I'm still making the corned beef!"  She's really into salads right now, go figure.  Probably because I love them too!

Last year I posted a recipe on our Corned  Beef and Cabbage, see it here.

 Photo Courtesy of: http://www.culinary.net/articlesfeatures/FeatureDetail.aspx?ID=1607

Vegetable Quiche with Polenta crust

With an abundance of eggs around quiche seems like a great idea.  It took me 30 minutes to deal with two kids under 5 years old and to make the quiche.  It will take another 30 minutes or so to cook it.  Not bad for an in season dinner treat!  I considered naming it "Busy Mom's Quiche" and "Lazy person's Quiche" as it is relatively easy and quick, but instead decided on a more descriptive title.  What do you think?

Vegetable Quiche with Polenta Crust
makes 1 pie, doubled you have dinner for 2 days

Polenta crust:
1/2 cup polenta, dry
1 1/2 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube to flavor the water
2 TBS olive oil 

Quiche:
Equivalent of 2 cups chopped broccoli and cauliflower, or other vegetables.  I added some beet greens.
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
olive oil for stir frying
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F bake.

Begin by making the polenta crust.  Boil 1 1/2 cups water.  Crumble bouillon on the water and mix well.  Slowly add the polenta grits when the water is boiling.  Stir continuously and lower temperature to medium.  Cook until corn has solidified, just before it sticks to the bottom of the pan.  It should be thick.  Pour 2 TBS olive oil in a pie dish and evenly oil the bottom of it.  Add the thickened polenta, spreading it evenly along the bottom of the pan.  It is unnecessary to put it up the sides of the pan as well.  A nice 1/2 inch layer at the bottom is perfect.

Meanwhile, stir fry the broccoli and cauliflower in some olive oil until it turns bright green ( broccoli) but is still rather crunchy.  Spread evenly on top of the polenta layer.

Mix 4 eggs with 1 1/2 cups of milk.  Salt and pepper to your taste.  Pour over the vegetable and polenta layers.  The mixture should come close to the top of the pie dish, but beware of overfilling and over-spilling!  Cover the quiche with aluminum foil or a well fitting lid and put in preheated 350 F oven.  Quiche will take about 30-40 minutes to cook.  Check to see that the top of the pie (eggs) are solid feeling.  The top should not feel slimy, if it does then you'll need to cook it for longer.  Overcooking will make the eggs a bit tough, so watch closely.  The lid helps cook the polenta and keep it moist, I highly recommend a lid or foil!

Great served with a green salad and fresh shredded beets with rice vinegar and olive oil vinaigrette and a glass or so of cooled Chardonnay to drink.  

~Enjoy~

broccoli and cauliflower stir fry

Polenta crust

Pictured: polenta on the left, egg-milk mixture on the right

Easy Fennel and Spinach Spanakopita

 

I had just the right leftovers to make spanakopita.  Although I thought that it might be a difficult recipe having never made if before, mainly due to the rolling technique, I was wrong.  It is really easy.  If you like spanakopita, try this recipe!  And Fennel is coming into season right now in the pacific northwest.  It is peeking up out of my herb garden right now, teasing me...

Easy Fennel and Spinach Spanakopita

1 package of frozen spinach, unthawed and diced

1 large onion

1/4-1/2 pound feta cheese.  I used sheep feta, my favorite from Trader Joe's

1 egg, mix it well

hand full of fresh fennel, diced

1 stick of butter, melted for brushing on to the filo dough

1 package of fillo dough pastry.  You will only need about half of the package.  FYI: I found that there are at least 3 spellings for fillo: filo, fillo, and phyllo.  No worries, they are all the same product!

Start by caramelizing an onion.  Cut it into thin strips and fry, stirring, in a pan with olive oil until soft and brown, add diced and thawed out (previously frozen spinach), the full package.  Continue to cook for a couple more minutes.  Set aside.  When the mixture is cool, add the feta cheese, crumbling it into small pieces.  Stir in mixed egg and fresh diced fennel.  You will use this mixture for the inside of the spanakopita. 

Preheat oven to 350 F Bake.  Oil a cookie sheet to place the spanakopita on.  Melt a stick of butter and have a pastry brush on hand.

 

You can find the fillo pastry in the frozen section of many large grocery stores.  Unthaw the fillo dough ahead of time.  Once you have made the spinach mixture as described above, it will be time to cut the fillo dough.  Roll it out flat.  Cut a 3 inch by 11 inch strip.  Use pastry brush to spread a thin layer of butter over the strip.  The butter will help the folding process.  Place a spoonful of spinach mixture about 1 inch from the top of the strip.  Now you will fold the fillo into a triangle pastry.  Fold the end over the spinach to form a triangle.  The continue to fold it into triangles, much like you would fold a flag, all the way to the end.  Brush a little butter on the top of the pastry before putting in oven.  See diagram below:

picture courtesy of http://lldzines.com/spanakopita/folded.htm

  

Above: spinach, fennel, feta, egg, onion mixture

  

Above, melted butter for painting on the fillo

  

Spinach mixture on the fillo dough, pre-wrapping.  

Below: wrapping the fillo

  

  

Bon Appetite!

 

  

Barefoot Professor Explains the Benefits

 Food for thought... also read Christopher McDougal's book 
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Velvet Scrambled Eggs with Sheep Feta on Sprouted Bread

OK, so I eat way too many eggs.  We have 20+ hens and a lot of eggs.  We sell some eggs, feed our dogs some, give some away, sell some, and eat lots.  Some of my favorite things to do with our fresh eggs are: soft boiled, scrambled, and in quiche.  What I want to share with you today is my *favorite* scramble recipe.  It is easy to do,  but it requires that you stir the eggs constantly for about 5 minutes.  You have most likely never had eggs this delicious.  I grew up eating dry tasting scrambled eggs and hard fried eggs.  I can't stand over cooked eggs now.  Yuck!  So here is a recipe for moist scrambled eggs.  Yum!

Velvet Scrambled Eggs with Sheep Feta Served on Sprouted Bread
 serves 2 adults and two kids

6 eggs, mix thoroughly
feta to taste
olive oil
cast iron pan, preferably (heats more uniformly and retains heat well)

Preheat a cast iron pan to (on my oven it's between medium and medium-low) just below medium.  Pour 1-2 TBS of olive oil in pan, enough to cover the surface.  Once you have thoroughly scrambled the eggs in a dish add them to the preheated pan.  Make sure to have your wooden spoon in hand to stir the eggs.  Once you have added the mixed eggs to pan, stir them constantly, making sure to get to every part of the pan.  When I make these scrambled eggs I stir without stopping until they are done, that way no part of the scrambled eggs gets overcooked.

The idea is to cook the eggs slowly but consistently so that they do not harden into larger size balls.   If you do it right you will have no egg "balls" just a soft, but thoroughly cooked mush.   Remember to stir until the eggs have lost all their water or moisture.  They will still be soft and mushy, just not "watery".  In other words they will taste cooked, but not rubbery or hard in any way.

Add crumbled feta to cooked eggs, as much or as little as you desire.  The eggs will be good served on top of bread (we love using sprouted Sesame "Ezekiel" bread, but you can use any bread.  Here is another picture so you can see the consistency of the eggs.  It may take a few tries to get them just right.

Soft Eggs, pictured with sheep feta on buttered Ezekiel Sesame bread.