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  • Unknown's avatar

    eatveggiesdrinkwine 9:45 pm on April 12, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure 10/52: Slow i n g d o w n 

    vacation mode

    If only I could be in vacation mode all the time...

    So, I haul a$$. There’s just no other way to say it. Doesn’t matter if I have a destination or not, I walk like I needed to be there FIVE MINUTES AGO, people. Outta my way!

    If I had to pinpoint where this all started, my guess is college. Far from overprotective parents, I could finally walk places after dark, all by my lonesome. Since I’m five feet tall on a good day, I realized I needed to adopt a don’t-mess-with-me glare and accompanying pace. It also helped me get to my 8 am Calculus class, give or take a few minutes.

    A few weeks ago I realized that this mad rush is not limited to my gait … it’s taken over my entire life. It’s not unusual for me to drive 20 miles over the speed limit on my way to work. I practically attack the keyboard when I’m typing emails. I often find myself taking the first chance to end a conversation, in person and on the phone. This is a rather embarrassing discovery for a yogini to make. It’s not like I can’t be mindful and move through life with intention, but it’s sadly just not my default mode.

    In an effort to reset my internal speedometer, I spent a few weeks in slow mode. (Because just a few days would be rushing things, right?!) I intentionally picked the slowest grocery line, walked behind the slowest person possible on the path from the parking garage to my office, lingered over a discussion, and drove the speed limit. When I remembered, and when I felt like I could do so without losing my mind.

    This was by far the toughest adventure I’ve undertaken, and probably my least successful one in terms of accomplishing my goal. I did make some important observations: (More …)

     
    • Kimberly Hula's avatar

      yearof52adventures 10:03 pm on April 12, 2010 Permalink

      I love this post because I do EXACTLY the same thing. I even had a mantra “slow down, you die” but, but, but at the end of the day there is nothing wrong with taking a moment to take it all it. This is an inspiration and I thank you for taking the time to tell us about it.

    • Unknown's avatar

      lisa 7:20 am on April 19, 2010 Permalink

      You have made me slow down, if not for just a moment. I am going to have people blowing the horn at me and giving me middle fingers and such because i’m slowing down on the road. I’m going to do the speed limit. I’m going to walk when it is possible and i’m standing in the longest line in Walmart in stead of rushing. Thanks for the inspiration with not persperation!

  • Unknown's avatar

    Stephanie 4:05 pm on April 10, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #13 – Push up Contest 

    March 6, 2010

    My last gift to Lydia and Chris before they headed out west was to throw them a going away party.  The theme – “Winter Wine Festival”.  As with all wine festivals, the idea was to feature a selection of food and wine pairings.  Each guest brought a dish and a complementary wine.   We had a variety of cheeses, an Antipasto tray, dips, and even a fondue platter for dessert!  Needless to say, this party was intended to be a classy affair…

    Somehow the kitchen turned into a dance floor and I heard a rumor that someone was actually performing “the worm” at one point, and another person was giving lessons on “the superman”.  We clearly underestimated the food to wine ratio!

    Just when things to started to mellow out, Lydia decided it was time to challenge me to a push up contest.  I have been known to throw down in push up contests, even beating men twice my size.  I look small, but I pack a powerful punch, and am freakishly good at push ups.  Lydia has never been able to beat me at push ups and I felt bad making her look like a chump in front of all of her friends, so I tried to find a more suitable (i.e. weaker) competitor.  Our friend Mali decided she’s up for the challenge, but then my wine muscles kicked in and I decided I can’t resist the chance to take on two competitors at once!  We adjusted our party clothes into push up ready position, and then it was GAME ON!  Lydia was out by push up #3 and I was doing two for every one push up that Mali was able to crank out, so the official judge determined that I was the winner.  Although I dared to put my title on the line, I am still the reigning champion of  push up competitions… (More …)

     
    • eatveggiesdrinkwine's avatar

      eatveggiesdrinkwine 8:26 pm on April 12, 2010 Permalink

      This is seriously fantastic — I clearly need to get invited to better parties … or throw one myself.

  • Unknown's avatar

    Stephanie 3:23 pm on April 10, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #12 – Culinary Conundrum: A “Light” Cassoulet? 

    February 27-28, 2010

    There is nothing more comforting on a cold winter day than a warm bowl of cassoulet and a glass of red wine.  Cassoulet is a French casserole, usually made with white beans, duck, pork sausage, and various types of animal fat, cooked in a stew, topped with crusty bread crumbs, and then baked.  I tried making one last year during a snow storm and the results were OK, but I wasn’t blown away.  It had a good flavor, but I thought it was a bit dry.  This year, I wanted to one-up myself (perfectionism at its finest!) and make a PERFECT moist, flavorful cassoulet.  My other challenge was to lighten the fat and calorie counts by not using duck or pork fat in the cooking process, and using lighter cuts of meat (i.e. pork tenderloin, boneless/skinless chicken thighs, and turkey smoked sausage).   I also added a whole lot of veggies to up the nutrition factor.  A classically-trained French chef would shake their head in disgust, but it’s not feasible for most of us to confit a duck in our home kitchens!  I found three different recipes for Cassoulet from Cooking Light, which I used as a guide to put my own twist on this classic French comfort food.  It took two labor intensive days in the kitchen, but the results were so worth it!  Stay tuned, recipe coming soon for the Perfect “Light” Cassoulet….

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    Stephanie 2:38 pm on April 10, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #11 – Heavy Metal Show at Club Whiplash 

    February 21, 2010

    Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m a standard girly girl.  In fact, my friend Matt has been calling me “Pretty, Pretty Princess” since high school.  I like my high-heeled shoes (especially patent leather), expensive handbags, little blue boxes with white ribbons, mani/pedi’s, and my ridiculously overpriced and inconvenient salon on Newbury St.!  I love shopping and am very excited when my friends at Banana Republic send me weekly coupons.  When I cook, I wear a retro Jessie Steel apron with pink cupcakes all over it!   So how did this cupcake baking, shopaholic in Banana Republic adorned with Tiffany’s in her black patent high-heeled boots end up at a Heavy Metal Show in Stoughton, MA?  She was DUPED!

    My friend Lydia was moving to California in a few weeks, so I pledged to spend as much time as I could with her before she left.  When she invited me to a “rock show” with her and her husband, Chris, I jumped at the chance.  One of her former co-workers was in a band and they were going to go see him play.  They worked at an architecture firm, so I figured the band would be a bunch of geeky architects with their T-squares doing Billy Joel and Elton John covers all night.  When we walked in and the warm-up band was covering Metallica (and not a T-square in sight!),  I realized just how severely I misjudged the situation.  This was heavy metal at its finest, and I was in for a long (and loud) night!  I swear I saw Brett Michael’s and Big John milling around, along with biker dudes and a lot of women who clearly hadn’t seen a stylist since the eighties!  Perhaps Lydia and I were out of our league?

    All in all, the night turned out to be great fun!  We moshed with the bikers, screamed with the crowd, and listened to some pretty decent music, as far as heavy metal goes (Steel Assassins is definitely a band worth checking out if you are into Heavy Metal).  Chris taught me how to make my hands into devil horns, which I showed off to my friends the next day while sporting a Steel Assassins T-shirt.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    Stephanie 1:55 pm on April 10, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #10 – Strawberry and Champagne Cupcakes 

    February 14, 2010

    In honor of Valentine’s Day I decided to transform my favorite wine and food pairing into a delicious dessert!  My love of champagne and strawberries began with “Pretty Woman” (who doesn’t love the scene where Richard Gere takes prostitute Julie Roberts up to the hotel room and “takes the liberty” of ordering this classy treat??), but has since grown into my go-to choice to end a fabulous dinner.  I figured I wasn’t the first person to think of champagne cupcakes, so I did a google search to get me started.  I found a great recipe for Champagne Cupcakes with Sweet Champagne Buttercream from gimmesomeoven.com.  I added my own little twist by filling the cupcakes with strawberry jam.  The results?  A light, sweet cake with a creamy, buttery frosting and a fruity, tart center that brought the whole package together.  The champagne wasn’t overpowering, but it gave the cakes a lighter consistency and slightly sweet taste.  I wish I had pictures of the look of sheer delight on people’s faces when they found the surprise in the middle!

    Below is the cake and frosting recipe from gimmesomeoven.com.  To fill the cupcakes, I used store bought strawberry jam.  I transfered the jam into a plastic bottle with a pointy tip and a hole large enough to squeeze out the jam.  When the cupcakes are cool (and before they are frosted), I poke a hole in the center of each cupcake with the plastic tip and then squeeze about a tablespoon of jam into the center.  Cover with the frosting and red sugar crystals and voila!

    Champagne Cupcake Ingredients:

    • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
    • 3 tsp. baking powder
    • 1 tsp. salt
    • 2/3 cup butter
    • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
    • 3/4 cup champagne (the sweeter the better – even strawberry would be great!!)
    • 6 egg whites

    Sweet Champagne Buttercream Frosting Ingredients:

    • 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
    • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 3 tablespoons champagne, at room temperature

    Method:

    To Make The Cupcakes:

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Prepare a cupcake pan with liners.  (This recipe yielded about 20 for me.)

    In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with champagne.

    In another large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites.  Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

    Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

    To Make The Frosting:

    With an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter. Mix on low until well blended, and then on medium for another two minutes.  Add vanilla and champagne, beating on medium for another minute.

     
    • Kelly Smith's avatar

      Kelly Smith 2:49 pm on April 10, 2010 Permalink

      if you want to try something different with this I suggest:
      leaving off the buttercream frosting. When cupcakes cool slice the top off to make a “sandwich” make some homemade whip cream and mix in fresh strawberries. layer the whip cream on top of bottom half of cupcake and sandiwch with the top half.

      I do this with vanilla cupcakes and raspberry whipped cream or blueberries.

      (I accidentally replied to the wrong one the first time so I thought I’d repost)

  • Unknown's avatar

    Stephanie 8:22 pm on April 6, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #9 – Forgiveness (a love story) 

    February 13, 2010

    I started off 2010 with an email from an ex-boyfriend I hadn’t spoken to in 7 years – not since he married some chick while we were in (what I thought) was a long distance relationship.  The marriage was bad enough, but to make matters worse he neglected to ever inform me of the event (or break up with me), so I had to find out from my best friend who had heard it through the grapevine.  During our tumultuous 4-year on and off again relationship, I lovingly nicknamed him my “Krytonite” because I knew he would eventually destroy me but I couldn’t stay away from him.   Fitting, wouldn’t you agree?

    Needless to say, his New Year’s email caught me off guard, and then of course, brought back a maelstrom of emotions.   I was angry yet intrigued.  What could he possibly want after all this time?  I was in turmoil for weeks trying to figure out what he wanted from me.

    What he wanted was to meet up with me next time I visited home and have dinner.  I was torn between shutting him out forever (you had your chance loser!) or taking the opportunity to get closure and possibly get some of my questions answered.  For instance, why was I out of the loop about your wedding?  I probably should have been the first to know, don’t you think?  Do you realize you never broke up with me, so does that technically mean we’re still together?

    I decided to go ahead with the dinner, and I have to say it’s a night I’ll never forget.  My beloved Kryptonite allowed me to look him in the eye to tell him how much pain he had caused me and how my life had never been the same since.   He apologized and accepted responsibility, but explained his side of the story.  I actually walked away feeling like he did me a favor by marrying that other girl.  What I viewed as the most disrespectful and hurtful thing that someone had ever done to me was actually him having so much respect for me and my dreams to not drag me into a life he knew I would hate.  He said that the driving force behind why he didn’t choose me was that he truly believed I didn’t need him and that I would be better off without him.  I told him he probably could have told me that 7 years ago, so I didn’t waste so much energy despising him!  He seemed proud of the person I became and I felt he had a lot of respect for what I’ve done with my life.

    Thank you, Kryptonite, for seeing the possibilities of what my life could become without you in it, even when I couldn’t see that for myself.   Thank you for empowering me with independence and courage to journey through life solo, making my own choices and forging my own way.  Maybe  I should change your nickname to Red Bull, since you gave me wings!  😉

     
    • Kelly Smith's avatar

      Kelly Smith 2:31 pm on April 10, 2010 Permalink

      if you want to try something different with this I suggest:
      leaving off the buttercream frosting. When cupcakes cool slice the top off to make a “sandwich” make some homemade whip cream and mix in fresh strawberries. layer the whip cream on top of bottom half of cupcake and sandiwch with the top half.

      I do this with vanilla cupcakes and raspberry whipped cream or blueberries.

    • Kimberly Hula's avatar

      yearof52adventures 10:05 pm on April 12, 2010 Permalink

      this is beautifully touching. I want what you’re drinking (Red Bull). What a great story of flight!

    • goldtang's avatar

      goldtang 1:57 pm on April 19, 2010 Permalink

      This has so inspired me, as my boyfriend left me two weeks ago, saying I was better off without him (which meant he wanted someone else and got her that night!) He wanted “more experiences” in life but has actualy taught me that even a good thing that has been useful to us becomes an unnecessary burden when we no longer need it to.

  • Unknown's avatar

    AG 9:54 pm on April 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #8: Hwa Gye Sa International Zen Center in Seoul 

    Photobucket

    Hwa Gye Sa

    As an attempt to do more productive activities on the weekends, I attended a meditation at a Buddhist temple with two friends who recently participated in a temple stay. I previously felt that a temple stay for a whole weekend would be boring or not able to hold my attention. Since I moved to Seoul almost a year ago, I have noticed I have become increasingly scatter-brained and even find it difficult to relax and read a book. So this meditation was much needed. Since it’s an international center, many foreigners attend
    and the monks speak English. We started with a 30 minute sitting meditation, followed by a 3 minute stretch, and then a walking meditation which was quite interesting. You walk very slowly and purposefully in a circle and by time the you are finished walking in the circle you end up where you started. Then you repeat everything 3 times which amounts to about 2 hours of meditating. I am someone who probably needs to be meditate, but I never really have practiced it. I’m sure we all need to meditate, but for me, it’s something that I find myself constantly thinking about but putting off. It was difficult to clear my mind as I’m sure it’s difficult for all beginners. Even when you try to focus, your mind is thinking. I tried to focus on my breathing and not think of anything. For a bit, the breathing kept my mind clear. But it constantly wandered and I found myself thinking again. It’s funny how, our mind is constantly going and we’re not even aware that we’re thinking until we stop to think about it. After the meditation we had a 10 minute break and then a monk came out for an hour to talk to us. I guess this is typically a talk from him followed by a question and answer session, but he talked a lot and went on several tangents. So there was no time for questions, but it was fine. He was really funny, which was not what I had expected. I thought he would be more stern and philosophical. He was still philosophical but in a comical way which I found it was easier to connect with what he saying because of this. I was especially drawn to a particular topic that he talked about: home. There were some people there who were leaving Korea that day to go “home” to Germany and to Shanghai. And he used this as a way to get us to think about our own homes. Immediately I thought of Chicago and my family and how much I miss them and how I’m planning to shorten my stay here because I’m homesick. And he said home is not in Korea or in Shanghai or in Germany, but home is here as he pointed to his chest. This struck me deeply. I know “home is where the heart is” or I’ve at least heard the saying. But it was as if I was hearing this for the first time. We get so attached to people and things and places, but these are just attachments. It was a profound talk, and I enjoyed it so much, that I will definitely go back. Since going to the meditation, I have found that my mood has improved and I feel a sense of peace. This could be from meditating or the monk’s talk or a placebo. Whatever it is, I feel great. And if it’s possible I could feel this wonderful from meditation then I think I’ll be doing more of it.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    AG 9:15 pm on April 1, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #7: I Ate Raw Shark 

    I’ve really been lax in posting my adventures…A quick update on #7 and then more to follow soon. I have become accustomed to eating raw fish over the past year so much so that I crave it on a regular basis. A few weeks ago a friend took me out for sushi. And I had my usual salmon, rolls, and miso soup. After some slight encouragement on my friend’s part, I tried shark. It was amazing! A little chewy but delicious. Next food adventure: dog meat. Maybe?

     
    • Jennabel's avatar

      Jennabel 7:45 am on May 4, 2011 Permalink

      What a joy to find such clear tihnking. Thanks for posting!

  • Unknown's avatar

    Berton 1:39 am on April 1, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Week 10 – Follow-up to The Playlist 

    Here is my playlist as of now. I won’t lie, it was fun receiving these and I would love to get more feedback.  So if you haven’t responded yet, feel free to send me an e-mail (d.amborn@gmail.com) with a song that reminds you of me and an explanation why.  So, in no particular order (actually, I randomized the playlist on my iTunes and here is what came up)…

    TMNT Theme Song
    Three Dog Night – Joy to the World (Jeremiah was a Bullfrog)
    Daft Punk – Around the World
    Beat Crusaders – Hit in the USA
    Garbage – Only Happy When it Rains
    Jefferson Starship – Sarah
    Tenacious D – Wonder Boy
    311 – Down
    Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer
    Less Than Jake – The Ghosts of Me and You
    Fall Out Boy – Graft Theft Autumn (Where is Your Boy)
    Five Iron Frenzy – You Can’t Handle This
    Brian Setzer – Jump Jive n Wail
    Anal Cunt – I Just Saw the Gayest Guy on Earth (thanks, Jamison)
    Reel Big Fish – Good Thing
    Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
    Billy Idol – White Wedding

    As of now, I have two comments: Firstly, I am kind of surprised by the fact that none of my three favorite bands made the list.  And B of all, two people chose Daft Punk songs; I didn’t realize that I listened to them enough for them to become synonymous with me somehow.  Kinda cool though, since they are a sweet band.

     

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