How about some veggies to balance out all the sugary goodness I usually flaunt around here? Last night I came up with a new yummy recipe: Southwest Stuffed Squash

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
3-4 cloves of garlic
tomatoes, diced
green onions, diced
zucchini, broccoli or any other vegetable you like, diced
2 cups black beans, cooked and well rinsed
olive oil
lime juice
cumin, cayenne, pepper to taste

Directions:
Cut acorn squash in half, remove seeds. (If you are particularly crafty, you can toast these with a bit of cumin and add them to salads later on. I typically pitch them.) Drizzle baking sheet with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Place 3-4 peeled garlic cloves on baking sheet and place acorn squash flesh side down. I like to hide the garlic cloves in the seed pod area so they don’t burn. Roast squash for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove squash from oven carefully and turn them right side up. Place them in a glass baking dish (a banana bread dish is perfect). If you need to, remove a bit of the squash with a spoon to make a cavity for your remaining vegetables. Fill the squash and top with spices. Pour fresh squeezed lime juice (1-2 limes) over this and return to oven. Cook at 300 for 10 minutes.

You could also add chicken, queso fresco, shrimp or a variety of other veggies. I made green chili chicken enchiladas on the side.

I didn’t take photos of the brownies we had for dessert, but needless to say, they were gone before I could. My low-guilt trick for brownies? Make them with either canned pumpkin or sugar-free applesauce instead of oil. You cut out the fat and you still get the fudgy flavor.

The best part of cooking a feast is leftovers for lunch.
Chop fine,
~K

If I were ranking exhaustion, it would go something like this:

Red:
College when I was taking 19 credit hours and working full-time, therefore getting about 5 hours a sleep a night and eating 2,000 extra calories a day as a result.

Orange:
Finishing my last marathon, which was more mentally exhausting than I can explain. In my experience, marathons are about 10,000 times more difficult than a triathlon.

Yellow:
Anytime I travel to Africa or Asia and it takes two or three days to get on the right time and be productive.

Blue:
Most Fridays at 4 pm or so after a week of work and workouts.

Today I’m currently between orange and red. I’m beyond tired. The Urban Dare caught up to me when Adam and I tried to then run the New Times 10K the next day. Dumb move. We’d bowled the night before (yep, it was an overly-scheduled weekend) and wow am I paying for it today.
I seem to have been born without the ability to recognize my limitations. On a weekend when I had back-to-back races, one would think I wouldn’t start re-painting my condo. Or ordering new appliances and picking up new furniture. Alas, my common sense was misplaced and yesterday after a failed race and legs that were on fire, I sat in the middle of my bedroom throwing a tantrum at my truly horrific painting abilities. Not surprisingly, this morning it all seemed a bit more conquerable. Amazing what a bit of rest can do.
New appliances being delivered this week. New bed being put together tonight. New paint thanks to truly gracious friends who are always supporting me and can be lured into such work with promises of pizza, beer and baked goods. No new races on the horizon.
My week is already off to a good start! Three cheers to us all having a fabulous week,

~K

The Salty Senor and I tackled Urban Dare Tempe this afternoon and wow — it was such fun! We covered 7.3 miles of running/walking/gasping across the city to reach 12 check points in 2 hours and 12 minutes. It is essentially a mini Amazing Race, complete with dares and trivia at some stops. There were probably 20 teams and we finished third. The idea was to figure out each clue and take a photo at the Tempe landmark. In order:

Clue 1: It’s the type of pass you throw when time is running out and you absolutely, positively need a touchdown. Get your picture with the place that bears this name.

Hail Mary’s! A bar on Priest Dr, north of Southern Ave.

Clue 2: You will find your baseball dare at the intersection of CCCLXXIV divided by XXXIV and the first name of the lead singer for the Cowboy Junkies. 374/34 = 11th street and Margo!
~No photo. We had to go around a baseball bat head down 8 times and then run bases. From there…

Clue 3: This is the place to go for the tattoo that you will always be happy with. Get your picture in front of stonegerr (2 word jumble) Tattoo. No Regrets Tattoo on University, between Priest and Mill.

(You wouldn’t know by the photo, but a scary drunk dude was trying to grab the camera away from us at this point.)

Clue 4: Go to the tenth letter of the alphabet plus the third letter of the alphabet park for your spellbound dare. JC Park on 5th and Hardy! No photo. The challenge on this one was to find letters on cards to spell a pre-assigned word. Each letter had a numeric value. To get a stamp to go forward, you had to come up with the right total for your word. This was made a wee bit more complicated because a couple little kids at the park started playing with the letters. We still figured it out quickly and moved on to…

Clue 5: Get your picture in front of the store with lady bugs and mushrooms over the door.
Anyone who’s visited Mill Ave. knows that is Hippie Gypsy!

Clue 6:
Nearby get your picture with the well named sculpture — Above the Crowd.
This one was annoyingly difficult to find and we lost some serious time, but we did finally find it behind the Borders on Mill.

Clue 7:
When you name musical instruments in alphabetical order, youw ould use this for the letter X. Here in Tempe, it is art. Get your picture with it.
Oy vey we got of course here and had to loop back. Xylophone bicycle rack and public art on Myrtle and Mill Ave.

Clue 8: He equals MC Squared. Go to his eatery for your trivia dare.
(Do these people know that I eat at Einstein’s every morning? HELLO!) No photo, we completed the trivia fairly quickly. Unfortunately the two teams before us were super slow and we had to wait about 5 minutes for our turn.

On the way to the next clue, a way to make up those precious five minutes! For bonus 5 minutes, we had to get volunteers (non-racers) to perform a human pyramid. Viola — good sports on ASU campus:

Clue 9: Find the Urban Dare official next to the Mars Space Flight Facility for your double dare.
Done! We had to put together a puzzle and then do three dances. Woo hoo! Found on ASU campus and moving forward to…

Clue 10: Get for your picture with the Southwest Pieta.

Yep, I’ve walked by that thing 10,000 times when studying and never noticed it until today. Check! On to the next clue:

Clue 11: Come together at the art installation Come Together and get your team picture with it.
Lordy — another one I’ve driven past 10,000 times. That pretty metal bus stop at Broadway and Mill? Not just a bus stop, but apparently an official piece of community art too.

Finish: Tailgate Bar and Grill, where your aim must be true on your final dare.
The grill was at Broadway and Hardy. By this time, I was exhausted. Adam shot a bullseye in darts and voila! We were done. One of the teams that beat us took the bus, which although was within the rules (as was being able to use your phone to call for help) I still think it was cheap. We ran the whole thing.
Great teamwork, great running and great planning. I can’t wait to see what they do next year!

~K

Ann of Tasterspoon fame was so incredibly sweet to me during my race training. She would send me these thoughtful emails about her experience training and right before the race sent me a giant box of race foods to try out before competing. She is an amazing athlete and really just a cool girl.

To show my appreciation for the dozens of emails she sent, answering my every question about training, the race, the food, the clothes (oh my GOD — some people pee in their shorts during the race?!), etc… I made her a bag I thought was appropriate to her northern California athletic sensibilities.
Using this plastic fusing tutorial and a bit of canvas, twill and some alphabet stamps, I created my first tri tote:

Swim. Bike. Run. Rock the race.

Now she can load up her wet swimming suit, dirty cycling cleats or sweaty running clothing and wipe out the interior of the bag afterward. Woo hoo! I finally figured out what to do with those stupid plastic bags in my junk drawer. Sewing, recycling and triathlons. I swear I think I just went to hobby Nirvana.
Thanks again Ann!

~K

Thank you for not collectively rolling your eyes at my anxiety-fueled post yesterday. Oy. More than once I’ve come back to my blog and re-read my rants only to be sheepishly embarrassed, especially when there are comments and I know I can’t delete it and just move forward. Anyway — I am sorry that many of you feel the same way, but thankfully it seems collectively we agree that being panicked solves nothing and we’ve got to stay focused on change: administrations, energy policy, seasons…

I’ve currently got a workout-glow and happy mood and figured I’d share a bit of this cheeriness by celebrating bloggers who inspire the panic right out of me. (How can the world be bad with these folks around?)

Jessica is transforming the health of a community in rural Brazil. Single-handedly, this woman has raised money on her blog to help poor children have milk, schooling and clothing. Her dedication is incredible, and talk about being the change you want to see in the world! I am so proud to call her my friend. I’m planning on donating money to her work in lieu of gifts for the holidays. I hope you’ll consider helping too.

Jane is sewing up crayon packs for children in Tijuana — sharing a bit of pre-holiday CAOK love and creativity. When this woman isn’t revolutionizing the way children should be taught in the LA public school system, she finds the money and time to help kids across the border. Love it!

Andy is cooking up a daily feast to celebrate his children. This single dad talks about the importance of sharing his family history with his three children through food and how their lives make his worth living. I just wish I lived closer and could get in on a plate or two. Yum!

And for a bit more of the icing on the blog cake, have you read Ree’s series: Black heels to tractor wheels? She is madly in love with her cowboy husband and is writing about their courtship to honor their anniversary. It isn’t Fabio material; it is incredibly heart-felt sentimental sincerity and is great blog writing.

And when all else fails, I think of that lovely state of Colorado, with its cool weather, healthy folk, dog culture, liberal life… I bet they even have four seasons.

~K

Most days when my alarm goes off, I jump out of bed and hit snooze just so I don’t have to think about whatever horrific world news Morning Edition is reporting. Then I lie there for 9 minutes and think about hell breaking loose in Pakistan, child soldiers in Congo, Dinner Jacket getting nukes and how suddenly we’ve decided to police the world with several hypocritical asterisks.
Funny, but this top of the morning panic is what is fueling my desire to become more knowledgeable about all things domestic. I think about how one day Jews in Europe were living their happy daily routines and the next they were marching barefoot through the snow into concentration camps. How Hutus and Tutsis went from being family, friends and neighbors to butchers, murderers and victims of genocide within a matter of weeks. Japanese communities all over the United States were rounded up and placed in “camps” right in my own state’s desert. One day they were flower and strawberry farmers, the next prisoners. Their passports were as ‘Merican as mine.

How planes flew into buildings and I haven’t slept the same since.

How a man was caught last week driving into the nation’s largest nuclear plant with a bomb in his truck, and oh — this plant is about 35 miles from my office, where I was sitting when I read the news. I wouldn’t haven’t seen the plume; I’d have been in it.

I don’t know how to escape this sort of everyday panic, other than feel like if I survived some sort of terrifying tragedy, I could take care of myself and hopefully have the strength to take care of others too. Granted, it might just be easier to turn the dial and wake up to classical music to avoid the news altogether. I just can’t do it. I just can’t be another patriotic sheep in the apathetic pasture.

It certainly doesn’t help my mood that it is 96 in Phoenix today. That’s right — 96. As in a good 20 degrees warmer than it should be in November. Tell me Mother Nature isn’t giving us all the finger for having this administration in the White House for eight years? We are being punished and Mama Earth is, not surprisingly, a liberal.

In case your invitation got lost in the mail, Mr. Fall and Ms. Autumn, you are cordially invited to attend this season. Hurry up already. We’re sweating big, panicky bullets over here.

~K

I was reading my public health journal when I came across a poignant interview with Laurie Garrett — who recently won a Pulitzer for her book. To be honest, I hadn’t heard of her or of the book until I read this interview. I was refreshingly impressed by the what she had to say, including her answer to the interviewer’s question of “do you think global public health efforts are winning?”

[What a dumb question! 100 million people are expected to be infected with HIV by 2010. We are certainly not winning anything other than job security.]

Regardless, her thoughtful response:

“Winning, to my mind, has on obvious goal post — life expectancy. And by that measure, we have a paradox. Since 1948 when the World Health Organization was created, average life expectancy for the people of planet Earth has risen by 40 percent. This has overwhelmingly been due to a combination of public health infrastructural interventions and rising personal wealth and education.
But, if you break that 40% down, remember that is an average, something very disturbing pops up. The long-lived societies are getting more long-lived, while the short-lived societies are either failing to improve, or thanks to wars and HIV, are going backward. So, today the life expectancy gap is the widest in human history with a disparity of five full decades. What this means is that a very long-lived society like Japan now offers, as a matter of statistical probability, a child born in 2007 the probability of living long enough to know his/her great-grandchildren. In contrast, very short-lived societies like Sierra Leone, Nepal or Zimbabwe now offer that same child only a remote possibility to live long enough to see his/her children reach adulthood. That is a crime.
The ‘win’ as far as I am concerned, would be closing that gap.”

Bravo! This sums up exactly why I love working in international public health.

~K

Sent to celebrate Jen’s bachelorette party because I couldn’t be there to instead buy her a drink. She’s marrying a pretty sweet botanist, hence the bees and flower fabric. What bachelorette party reveler doesn’t want a zip full of supplies for the night? Photos of the night’s mayhem in Chicago can be seen here. Congrats Jen!

~K

For those who have made the mistake of asking me in the last five days, “What are you going to do next?” — a post, in detail.

I know I’ve reached a level of complete and total craziness after reading the November issue of Martha Stewart Living and agreeing with many of the items on her otherwise highly-annoying “gentle reminders” column.
This month’s reminders include: cleaning out the pantry, planning holiday menus, sending save-the-date cards for holiday parties you want to throw, purchasing wine and liquor for your parties, saving plastic containers to send home full of left-overs with guests, etc. Granted, I don’t have any China to set out, or silver to polish, but I am in charge of Christmas dinner this year and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t already been preparing.
Get to feed my family? Get to use all my cooking, organizational and prep skills at once? Get to wear an apron, swig wine and give gifts? I live for this stuff — the full Monica Geller mode. I’m considering having a dinner party at the beginning of the month to try out the menu and perfect any kinks. Want to come?
In the meantime, a holiday checklist for anyone interested in getting a jump start with me on Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year:

November

Week 1: Holiday inventory — go through gifts you’ve purchased while gallivanting in the developing world (or the GAP) and make a list of who you’ve already got covered. Pat yourself on the back for thinking ahead. Before you get too carried away with the congratulatory margaritas, make a holiday budget. Focus on buying locally, in season and handmade.

Week 2: Address holiday card envelopes and hit the post office for stamps. Put out any Thanksgiving decorations and pay no attention to your messy patio. Leaves are so this season.

Week 3: Eat, drink, be merry! Make annual gratitude list. (I’ll be enjoying my turkey dinner beach side in Costa Rica. Along with several friends, I’ll be trading in my turkey for bikinis and kayaks.)

Week 4: Send holiday cards. Get supplies for homemade gifts and supplies for gift tags and wrapping. Will your knitting needles to obtain Go Go Gadget powers. Fire up the Singer and get your sewing projects started. Remember to enjoy these tasks. If you are stressed or annoyed or to worried you won’t finish it all — step away. Take a deep breath and a step outside on the patio to revel in Fall. Then sit your butt back down and get to work.

December

Week 1: Pull down Thanksgiving decorations and put up holiday decor. Basic craft week: make gift tags, stamp tissue paper for wrapping paper, buy wrapping supplies — or better yet, reuse fabric, brown paper bags, tissue paper or newspaper. Make baking list for neighbors, coworkers and friends. Shop for remaining gifts. Host test dinner party for a few friends.

Week 2: Wrap. Make thank you cards. Shop for Christmas dinner ingredients that won’t spoil in the next two weeks (booze, baking staples, etc.) Don’t beat yourself up for having chocolate and wine for lunch. Run off those calories and your stress after dinner.

Week 3: Bake! Pies, breads, cookies. Use gift tags, baking twine and a bit of creativity to wrap up a few sweets to send holiday cheer. Hand deliver — a perfect way to introduce yourself to new neighbors, or reintroduce yourself to those you haven’t spoken to since pie delivery last year. Also great holiday gifts for those service people you adore: the pedicure lady, the bagel man, the postal worker who lugged all those Mozambique goody bags for months, etc. Avoid enjoying these baked goodies by imagining the cute new dress you’ll rock come New Years. Go shop for the dress and resist urge to buy a size smaller “because you know you can lose that extra five pounds this month.” {Note to self: that never works and returns this time of year are a time hemorrhage.} Clean and prepare for company. Organize/borrow all serving platters you’ll need for Christmas dinner. Create a cooking schedule, giving yourself time to prepare some foods the day before so you aren’t in the kitchen all day when company is visiting. Order flowers for out-of-state relatives.

Week 4: Eat, drink, worship and be merry! Take photos of your family half-awake Christmas morning and watch them threaten to pour that coffee on you “merrily” if you don’t step off. (Hi Dad!) Enjoy the time with family, relax, take lots of post-feast walks. Find yourself some mistletoe and a great set of lips to kiss when the ball drops.

January
Week 1: Send thank you notes. Celebrate another great holiday season pulled off without a hitch! Find a great yoga studio. Relax.

Three cheers to enjoying this holiday season and avoiding the stressful pitfalls that bring feelings of inadequacy. Instead, let’s celebrate what we can do!
~K

Dear In Stitches Participants,

Hi there! Wiping your brow? Exhausted? Sipping margaritas sewing machine-side after a brutal two-month assignment? We hear ya. We know the patchwork bag wasn’t easy, but hey! We learned a thing or two. For example? Make sure your lining is going the right direction before you sit down to sew that sucker in by hand. This is a mistake that will make you angry at yourself for days. And patchwork looks much, much better once you sew all those suckers together. OR, once you throw it in the trash and start over with a single piece cut to size because you are a patchwork loser. In pieces on your kitchen table? It pretty much always looks like a disaster in the making. Hell, some even skipped the patchwork (see, “some”, not just Finny) and plodded forward with beautiful pieces of fabric as is. (Hence the new mantra for the September/October project: Cheaters never win? Nah, Cheaters Finish Bags.) Ha!
But you did it! Many of you completed the bag and learned right along with us. Bravo to you! In celebration of your fabulous tenacity, we are rewarding every patchwork bag submission with a prize because that is how we roll around here - pressies for everyone, even people who hate patchwork. Please email us with your mailing details by November 10th to claim your fabulous prize: africankelli at gmail dot com, finnyknits at gmail dot com

If that wasn’t enough good news, we are sending a handful of submissions during the last year to Ms. Amy Butler herself to pick a few grand prize winners. Ms. Butler will be sending along fabulous goodies from her line to reward a lucky few for their sewing prowess. We are thrilled! (And we will be super jealous if she sends you some of her new fabulous patterns. Hello, Spring wardrobe.)

November/December will once again be a two-month project with the holiday time crunch in mind. It’s dealer’s choice: pick any project from the book and share your mad sewing skills in our Flickr pool. Make it a holiday gift or not. Make a dozen, or just one. It is totally up to you!

Thank you again for playing along. We are excited to announce our new 2008 sewing monthly project January 1.

xoxo,
Finn and Donk