kitchen mishaps

It turns out that our group run originally scheduled for this morning was postponed until tomorrow due to a snowstorm we were supposed to be pummeled with. Of course Oklahoma weather being Oklahoma weather-like, nothing ever happened. Believe me, I waited up as there were great plans in the works to commence at the fall of the first flake! So with an extra day on my hands and a freezer full of half-used packages of fruits and nuts and the like, I decided to do a little experimenting in the kitchen. First thing's first - the success of the day was a yeast bread that allowed me to use up the rest of a cooked millet, aramanth, and quinoa mixture (yes, this sounds like bird food, but no, it's meant for human consumption) and the remainder of some agave nectar hanging out in the pantry. I'm defining success by taste, by the way, and not appearance since it came out of the oven with a sunken middle. Anyway, while the bird food bread was rising (only to fall as it baked??), I moved on to this sourdough cherry and pineapple coffee cake concoction that I thought might be a fun change to bring for the group tomorrow. Now before anyone gets too excited, this turned out quite disastrous and will not be making an appearance. It seems you can't just stir frozen cherries and a can of crushed pineapple into batter without the entire dish turning a violent orange as it bakes. Remember Bridget Jones and the blue soup? That's what it was like, only scarier...no food should be that color! This was the sort of thing that could only be brought to a child's Halloween party. Luckily I've got a back-up loaf in the freezer that is not deflated or of demonic color.

Many of you know I'm an NPR junkie and listen to NPR podcasts when I'm running. Well, while frittering about the kitchen I was listening to this new non-NPR podcast (new to me, at least) called The Extra Mile. It's this fantastic piece that a guy called Kevin has put together. Runners around the world call in or email audio clips with stories about their training, racing, recovery...whatever, and they are compiled into various episodes for our listening enjoyment. It features snippets by everyone from Bart Yasso to a random lady who goes by Petra out of London....a sort of 'for runners by runners' collection. You can subscribe for free through iTunes and I just downloaded four more episodes to carry me over those hills tomorrow. I'm so excited! Sorry NPR. I promise you'll stay in the rotation! Anyway, since I don't know how to put a link in this text, I'll add the site to the list of blogs I follow in case any of you want to be a giant podcast-loving nerd, too.