Fall is creeping ever so slowly into North Georgia. The days are going by in a blur- cross-country meets and fall festivals abound- and I'm not being particularly adventurous in the kitchen.
For a teacher potluck, I signed up to bring in a gluten free dessert. I had a bag of unsweetened coconut flakes in the pantry so I thought I would make coconut macaroons, based on this recipe. I've made cardamom and saffron macaroons before; they are a lovely, chewy dessert for anyone who loves coconut.
This time I mixed together 4 cups coconut flakes and 1 can sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl, then added some salt and vanilla for flavor. I whipped 2 large egg whites to stiff peaks and folded them in. Then I used a 1/8 cup measure to dollop the sticky mixture onto 2 parchment-lined sheets and baked them at 325F for about 20 minutes. I got 22 golden macaroons and dipped the bottoms in melted dark chocolate. My "artful" chocolate drizzle was a bit of a flop but the macaroons are tasty.
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Media round-up
- TV: I started watching a random Netflix recommendation that I had never heard of, a sitcom called Still Game. It turned out to be a cult Scottish comedy series and I am enjoying it. The show centers around the lives and misadventures of a group of pensioners, complete with thick accents and salty language. What I love best is the depiction of male friendship, although my favorite character is the nosy and lovable neighbor lady Isa Drennan.
- Family TV: We started watching the latest installment of the Great British Baking Show. The first episode amazed me. The contestants are taking it to the next level- making an overly fussy bake during the technical round without a recipe (!!) and making hyper-realistic cakes for their show-stoppers. Although I must say I cannot stand all the fondant that goes into realistic cakes.
- Books: Short stories used to be my favorite thing to read, as I wrote in this post some years ago. I recently read a really great collection of short stories, Pastoralia by George Saunders. The first three stories are fantastic, each conjuring up a weird and dystopian but uncomfortably believable America. The story titled Sea Oak in particular, about a male stripper and his dysfunctional family, about the struggle to get out of poverty, is the most absurd yet amazing, darkly funny story I've read in a long time.
- Music: I listen almost exclusively to music from the 90s (when I listen to music at all) but thanks to readio I discovered some more recent pop music to add to my playlist, from a band called almost monday- three songs I like are cool enough, live forever, broken people. I'm entering a new century, y'all.
- Highlight: I spent a blissful hour rummaging through endless tables of donated books at the biannual library book sale where you get to fill a bag for 10 bucks. Here's a picture of my haul. The meditation book, Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn made it to my bedside table immediately and I'm enjoying reading a couple of passages before bed. The book without a title (gold rectangle on the cover) is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. The Color Harmonies is for my dad who loves sketching and painting. The Calvin and Hobbes is for my son. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is for my daughter, a middle-grade novel that I've read and loved before. I was very pleased with the number of science books I found this time.
- The base of the cylinder consists of the pelvic floor muscles
- The top of the cylinder consists of the diaphragm, a key muscle involved in breathing
- The sides of the cylinder are the internal and external abdominal obliques, involved in twisting and turning motions
- The superficial muscles of the core are the "six pack" abs ones- the rectus abdominis in front of the abdomen
- The deep core muscle is the transverse abdominis which wraps around the trunk
- The erector spinae are deep muscles connected to the spine, involved in stability
- Dynamic core exercises (dynamic= you move during the exercise)
- Cat cow stretch
- Bird dog
- Dead bug
- Leg raises
- Russian twist
- Mountain climbers
- Static core exercises (static= you hold the pose for some amount of time, say, 30-45 seconds)
- Plank
- Side plank
- Bear hold
- Boat pose
Nuper, Thanks so much for the information on "core". My husband & I do Yoga at least twice a week and it's good to know that many of the exercises listed are already incorporated into our life. Also, just want to tell you how much I enjoy your posts. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteBobbi
Hi Bobbi- Thank you so much for the nice note! Absolutely, I meant to write this in the post- yoga is wonderful for building core stability and strength!
DeleteLove those coconut macaroons - isn't it amazing how much work you need to put into drizzle to make it look effortless and impressive! And french toast for tea is a great weekend meal.Your haul of books is so impressive - I think maybe I should try and read more short stories as I am back into being too busy for reading and finding it hard to do which makes me sad. And I am stuck in the past with music too so I am giving almost monday a listen as I write - it seems the sort of music to be active to!
ReplyDeleteJohanna- LOL I don't usually do drizzles and now I know they're not easy to pull off with a bowl and a spoon. I was too lazy to use a squeeze bottle/piping bag.
DeleteShort stories and graphic novels/memoirs are my go to when reading time falls short. Also, some middle grade novels can be surprisingly deep and fun for grown ups to read. I hope you find more cozy reading time soon!