by Sam Tackeff | Jul 14, 2014 | Books
Who needs sunshine when the neighborhood flowers look like this? Most of today was spent curled up doing work under a blanket. For some reason I was chilled in 85 degree humidity. I swear I’m not getting sick though – I wouldn’t dare. By late afternoon I hadn’t yet left the house, so I went out to grab coffee before my afternoon meeting, and took three minutes to walk around the block for some floral therapy. And then tonight was Boozy Book Club, another sheepish occasion where I’d neglected to read the book. To be honest, I usually go for the food! After listening in to folks chatting about the book, I plan on reading this one soon – Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner – have you read it? It’s been a full month of half-read books, and I’m looking forward to finishing up several at once, and getting on with some new summer reading.
by Sam Tackeff | Jul 13, 2014 | Uncategorized
This weekend I…
read: “Delicious” by Ruth Reichl – or some of it. I’m actually listening (rather slowly) to the book on tape version. It’s a little frustrating when the reader of a book on tape mispronounces words related to the subject of the book. Grumble.
watched: agile programming for your family (TED talk). Agile is a workflow method commonly used by modern engineering teams – that we happen to use at RunKeeper. In this talk, Bruce Feiler shares how he’s brought the methodology home to his family. I particularly like the adoption of retrospective questions at family meeting: “what worked well, what didn’t work well, what we should work on in the week ahead”.
went to a party on a roof deck in Somerville. A vest party. In the middle of summer. I had to bring it, so I brought it in the form of a white leather metal studded vest from Forever 21. There are no pictures of me wearing this vest, but I assure you it was spectacular. Devon was my complement in a rather neon Reebok safety running vest.
ate at our favorite date-night restaurant – yep, the same place we eat every Friday night – we shared a steak with asparagus, and a lobster sandwich with paprika aioli. Our favorite waiter is heading off to Cleveland to get his graduate nursing degree, and we’re pretty bummed out about it.
ran my very first trail race! Vert Sasquatch, from the Stone Zoo out through the Fells. It was FUN! Unsure of what was in store for me, I ran part of it a little bit conservatively, and still managed to finish faster than I has assumed I would, and! managed to get in quite a few kills. Who knew that I’d like trail racing?!
and… forgot to meal plan for the week. Whoops! Let’s hope we don’t starve!
by Sam Tackeff | Jul 7, 2014 | Meal Planning
Okay, I recognize the fact that this “recipe” has two ingredients. But some of my favorite recipes are really that simple, and in the summertime I’m not inclined to do anything that feels too much like cooking. One of my current summer goals is to make full use of my glorious Vitamix – so I’ve been doing a whole bunch of green juices and smoothies lately. Typically I try to go for all vegetable varieties, but as a post workout snack, I’ll stick some fruit into the mix. Here was yesterday’s sweet-tart combination:
Blueberry-Orange Smoothie
1 cup frozen unsweetened blueberries (wild organic from Maine, if possible)
1 cup orange juice
Put blueberries in a blender, add a cup of orange juice, and blend until smooth. {To this, you could add some plain yogurt, or a frozen banana, or an ounce of gin, or some frozen spinach if you are feeling virtuous, but frankly, it’s quite refreshing on it’s own.}
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For the holiday weekend we drove up to Montreal, but I was excited to get home, because waiting for me was my brand new bicycle, Beyoncé! I haven’t had my own two wheels in several years, so I spent a few hours on Sunday evening taking her around and practicing starting and stopping. The seat height is about 6 inches taller than I’m used to, but the bike rides like a dream. My first ride was a 12 mile leisurely (read: very very slow) trip. I tried to avoid pedestrians, birds, and squirrels, and made it safely home in one piece… Once I get my training wheels off, I’ll be using her for longer distances, maybe some commuting, and dare I say it, triathlons?
The other part of my Sunday was spent food shopping. I made my way to the store (three actually, none of which had real full fat buttermilk?!) to stock up for this week’s meals. I’ve been reading my way through Diana Henry’s new book A Change of Appetite, and dreaming of all the vegetal foods that we’ll be eating to make up for our gastronomic excess this week in Canada.
Per usual, I start out with a list that changes on a whim based on what’s looking good at the store. (Forgive the spelling mistakes…”buratta”?? I should know better.) Wild sockeye steaks were on sale for 9.99, so that’s coming up for Monday night, nectarines were as hard as rocks, so they got replaced by cherries, and while I had the full intention of actually cooking something last night, I ended up with chopped up leftovers tossed in salad for dinner.
Happy Monday everyone! What will you be cooking up this week?
by Sam Tackeff | Jun 30, 2014 | Blogging, Photography
June, which, somehow is gone already, was a good month.
I went to Dublin, to speak at LocWorld. I ate at a Michelin starred restaurant. I had many cups of good coffee, and a few great scones. I have pictures that I’m still processing. I’d love to be back on Howth right now.
I had dear friends come stay with me for their Wellesley Reunion year – we had a house full of college nostalgia. Somehow I missed both Secretaries of State Clinton and Albright – they were both back to celebrate their reunion cycle. I waved at stylish women in antique vehicles who graduate college in the 30’s. I hope that one day I’ll be just as awesome.
I drank a lot of green juice. It got hot around here quickly! I also purchased more straws for my home. Everything is better with a straw.
I got a new photography light – a Lowel Ego – to shoot photos in my kitchen at night.
I ran two races. One of them included a pre-run kayak portion.
I went to track workouts at work. Track workouts are hard!
I but the bullet and got a membership to the Y, mostly so that I can use the pool. I’d forgotten what it was like to swim — and mildly surprised that I could swim a thousand yards without getting bored or exhausted. Sure, an eight year old could beat my pace, but I’m happy to be out there mixing up my workouts, and swimming never feels like “exercise”.
I got a new bicycle. I’m a little afraid of riding it because the seat is high, and I don’t *really* know how to stop yet.
I walked 10,000 steps every day. (My average was 14,000.)
I acquired a modest number of new cookbooks from the New England Mobile Bookfair: one by Bernard Clayton, another by Waverley Root, and the third by Diana Henry.
I listened to several episodes of the Splendid Table, and caught up on RadioLab.
I have a new work commute that lands me in Harvard Square at the end of the day. In the morning, I’ve been enjoying the smooth cold brewed iced coffee at 1369 coffee house. I have very few vices, but coffee is my favorite.
A new air conditioner only raised my electric bill by about $5.
Here’s to a fabulous July!
by Sam Tackeff | Jun 18, 2014 | Photography, Salads
Just a few images that I’ve been sitting on. These cookbooks ^ bringing in summer.
This lovely lady below, who just was featured in Food + Wine (her portrait on their site my very first contribution to Food + Wine!)
This summer salad: chopped cucumber, fennel, mint, and feta, with a sprinkle of sumac.
The driveway, in New Hampshire.
This jam that I won from Eat Boutique.
Happy Wednesday!
