The group celebrating the start of the modern Olympics
I forgot that I had restarted the blog. The WV Sports Council hosted a youth event down at the park this week and I had the opportunity to go be a part of it. They had wonderful kids there, just excited about life and excited to be out DOING. We did a two mile run/walk with a baton that the kids were supposed to hand off so that every kid got to carry the baton for part of the run. I think they actually accomplished that task, which is pretty impressive for a group of any age people. I also accomplished the entire two mile run/walk and got to visit with a bunch of the kids en route (I mostly walked, I have to admit, other than a sprint finish, which I lost). They all seemed so smart, articulate, and talented for being in elementary school still. It makes me question whether I’m still taking advantage of all of the opportunities of Learning that I have. Which I guess is why it’s good to check in with the under-12 group every once in a while.
Talking & answering questions
The start of the run/walk.
One of the participants getting a high five from Eric at the finish.
Welcome to the new www.lauravalaas.com!
In reflection of my recent de-centralization of cross country skiing from my life, I have decided to recreate my website as a much less ski-focused place for me to write, ponder, post pictures & generally stake out my small homestead in the wide world of the web. For those wishing to reminisce, the classic lauravalaas.com archives are still available for your referencing under the “Past” tab. You even get to view them in the old formatting.
Speaking of my old formatting, I have to give a major round of applause to Mr. Alan Schmitz for creating a website back in 2006 that was able to take me through four years of blogging and to Miss Rebecca Jensen for creating a banner that I like enough to never change. Until now, of course. Now I just want to be a little more well-rounded and not be committed to a single theme. (Not that I didn’t do my share of off-topics when I was ski-focused.) I also want to express my appreciation for all the people who have encouraged me along my way, whichever way it happened to be.
So, without further ado, I welcome you, the few who have checked back in after my very dedicated attempt to shed all readers, to the new, at-least-different-if-not-improved… Miscellaneous Blog of Laura.
As long as I have been skiing, I have been irked by CONSTANTLY (especially here in the heavy, wet snow of the Pacific Northwest) digging snow out from the bottom of my ski boots. Furthermore, every time I have to scrape out the ever-growing snowballs, the pole tip inevitably scratches the bottom of the boot which makes future snow more likely to bond to it. Having to do this every time I go skiing (and have to walk across snow before actually clipping into the skis) adds up to a lot of wasted time. So, I have introduced the BootBuddy! The BootBuddy is a nifty gadget to clip into the bottom of your ski boot whenever you’re in ski boots but not in skis. It saves your boot soles from wearing down AND keeps the snow from building up there. hurray!
Imagining, refining, prototyping, testing, perfecting, and finally producing a finished product has been a wonderful, challenging & fulfilling pursuit. I have been so pleased to be able to turn one of my complaints into a solution and to be able to bring that solution to the entire Nordic skiing community.
Designing and bringing new, innovative cross country skiing products to other skiers who, like me, are looking for a better way to do things, is currently my full-time pursuit. The second product from SkiTraxx is the BootMate– the best way to carry and store your cross country ski boots. My goal in making these (and other!) products available for skiers is the make cross country skiing more convenient, more fun, and more accessorizeable for all skiers. (I am also happy to be able to manufacture SkiTraxx products 100% in the USA out of recycled materials!)
More information can be found at www.SkiTraxx.com.
Rhubarb is my current favorite flavor and one of the things that actually grows very well here in Anchorage. There’s only a few small plants at my house but I’ve been trimming back the rhubarb plants at my neighbors’ house regularly.
Ingredients:
1/3 c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 c chopped rhubarb, raw
2 c sourdough starter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
Cream butter & sugar. Add egg, vanilla. Add everything else. Bake in greased loaf pan at 350°F for 1 hr or until done.
I have actually quit measuring ingredients but the above is the amounts I think I should be using. And I probably shouldn’t call this “bread” it’s more like cake without frosting.
Maybe the best cornbread I’ve ever made… okay so the only cornbread I’ve ever made not from a package but still…
2 Cups White Flour
1 Cup dry Polenta
1/2 Cup Ground Cornmeal
2 1/4 T Baking Powder
1/2 T Salt
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Corn Kernals
2 Eggs
1/2 Stick Butter, melted
1 1/2 Cup Buttermilk
Mix the dry ingredients, including corn kernals. In separate bowl whip eggs and add butter and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients to dry, do not over-stir. Pour into greased pan, about 8-9″ square and bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until done.
Recipe from TheFreshLoaf.com
Can’t help but love banana bread. AND it’s better because I can use my sourdough starter!
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup mashed banana
1 cup sourdough starter
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla or 1 tsp grated orange rind
Cream together the shortening and sugar, add egg, and mix until blended. Stir in bananas and sourdough starter. Add orange rind or vanilla. Add dry ingredients, stirring until just blended. Pour into greased 9×5″ loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour.
This came from Don and Myrtle Holm’s Sourdough Cookbook in 1972 via TheFreshLoaf.com.
When I made this for Alan, he asked if it was a quiche. Silly boy, who puts whipped cream on quiche, although now that I think about it…
So my pie didn’t turn out a brilliant lime green like the ones in the store, but it tasted delicious. My sister, Kirsten, was co-cook for this one.
Lime Filling
4 tsp grated lime zest
1/2 c freshly squeezed lime juice (3-4 limes)
4 egg yolks
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
Graham Cracker Crust
9 graham crackers, broken
2 Tbs granulated sugar
5 Tbs unsalted butter, melted & still warm
Whipped Cream Topping
3/4 c chilled heavy cream
1/4 c confectioners’ sugar
1/2 lime, sliced paper thin & dipped in sugar
Directions:
1. For the filling: Whisk the zest and yolks in medium bowl until green, about 2 minutes. Beat in the condensed milk, then the juice; set aside to thicken at room temperature, about 30 minutes.
2. For the crust: Preheat Oven to 325 degrees with oven rack in middle position. In a food processor, process the graham crackers until evenly fine, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and pulse to combine. Continue to pulse while adding the warm melted butter in a steady stream; pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer the crumbs to a 9-inch glass pie plate and evenly press the crumbs into the pie plate. Bake the crust until it is fragrant and beginning to brown, 15-18 minutes; transfer to wire rack and cool completely.
3. Pour the lime filling into the crust; bake until the center is set yet wiggly when jiggled, 15-17 minutes. Return the pie to wire rack; cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours.
4. For the topping: less than 2hrs before serving, whip the cream in a chilled bowl with an electric mixer to very soft peaks. Adding the confectioners’ sugar 1 Tbs at a time, continue whipping to just-stiff peaks. Decoratively pipe the whipped cream over the filling. Garnish with sugared limes.
I don’t know why I call this the recipe page, I should call it the “Things Laura Likes to Eat” page. Yuri was in Cable this weekend and brought me a box of Candinas truffles. Candinas has the prettiest packaging of any choclate I have met. I always thought that Godiva was the best, but it looks really flashy next to a Candinas box. Check out their website at www.candinas.com for a picture of their chocolates. And not just the packaging, you open the box and there sit 9 truffles in a perfect square looking almost too gorgeous to eat. Almost.
I would recommend serving this with some ice cream to your competition… that way the get fat and slow. In fact all of the foods in my recipe collection would be good to fatten up the competition. I really do eat healthily most of the time. Susan Heyvaert made this for me while I was visiting.
Ingredients:
1 c sugar
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp instant coffee (I don’t usually like coffee things, but this is really subtle)
1 c heavy whipping cream, divided
1/2 stick butter
Directions:
Combine sugar, cocoa, and coffee.
Add 1/2 c of whipping cream and mix into paste.
Add the remaining cream and butter.
Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved & butter is melted.
Cook 5-8 minutes on low heat until thickens.
Name: Candinas Truffle- from asst. Candinas gift box.
Cocoa: unknown, guessing 60%
Country: Verona, WI
Form: Round truffle dollop
Review: This truffle had a crisp outer shell coating a silky fudge filling. I found it a refreshing treat for a summer evening. The flavor is delicate with a very short finish. The inner chocolate has a hint of hazelnut and melts quickly on the tongue, leaving the outer shell to finish the taste with a classic sweet chocolate. In the end it left me searching for a deeper, more complex flavor. Luckily, Candinas is associated with CXC so I will hopefully get to try their other chocolates.
