Squid Mixes: Cardamom

Our most recent trip to DC (it's where my parents live) inspired a wrinkle in my quest for the perfect Manhattan: cardamom.  My parents' favorite restaurant is Lapis, an Afghan place in Adams Morgan (read here).  I have been several times now and have never ordered something I didn't enjoy.  Their Lapis Manhattan is delightful: rye, orange peel, cardamom, angostura, vermouth and scotch.  The cardamom definitely brought an exciting, spicy kick.  Obviously, I had to try it myself!

The question was how much?  This recipe for Blueberry Cardamom Manhattans suggested 1/8 teaspoon which seemed as good a starting point as any.

1/8 teaspoon was way too much!  My wife, who fortunately didn't mind the intensity as much as I did, has suggested crushing a single seed into the mix instead.  Alternatively, one can buy (or make) cardamom bitters.  Maybe that's the way to go.  I don't know how much whiskey I'm prepared to devote to such experiments but if I can create anything approaching that drink at Lapis, it would be worth it.


Happy, Healthy Squid

A quick fitness update: I've found my phone to be inconsistent in counting steps.  So, I'm altering my goals to 11,000 steps or 50 active minutes, which I'll just have to measure with a clock.  Perhaps my weight will start heading in the right direction now that the holidays are over, too. 

Squid Eats: The Boardroom

via Facebook

As discussed in this post, our game-playing group has been in search of a new home.  I believe we have found it!  The Boardroom recently opened in Burlington and, if anything, it's a huge improvement on the mead hall that closed.  The food is significantly better and the in-house game collection exponentially better.  They also have beer on tap, which I'll take over mead anytime.  There is a $6/person table fee and while nothing on the menu is too expensive, it can add up if you're sitting for a while - best to go in with a plan for food if we're to become regulars, I think.

I've been twice now, once with the boys and once with the family.  Menu highlights: grinders (subs), milkshakes and an especially enjoyable orange freeze.  A lot of the offerings are, quite frankly, stoner munchies though I suppose that's fitting.  One particularly welcome improvement on the mead hall: coffee!  The old place didn't have anything with caffeine.  Crazy, right?  The java at the Boardroom is $2/cup.

The staff is well-informed about the games and prepared to jump in for a quick tutorial if needed.  Our favorites, so far:

Team 3 - A wonderfully silly cooperative puzzle game for three players - perfect for our family!  One person sees the shape to be made but may communicate through gestures only.  A second person interprets the signals verbally for the third person who builds the shape while keeping their eyes closed.  Sounds crazy but it actually works and it's loads of fun.

Wingspan - Can't imagine that a game about building a wild bird sanctuary would be engaging?  Well, you'd be wrong.  Even if I weren't already a bird enthusiast, I'm sure I would love this one.  Plus, the artwork is stunning.  The game has been so popular that the initial printing sold out.  New copies will be available next month.

Takenoko - In this one, you build a captive panda enclosure - similar animal concept, though game play is quite different.


Happy, Healthy Squid

I lost my FitBit.  I put it in one of the bins at airport security over Christmas and completely forgot about it until it was too late.  I was definitely disappointed as FitBit's gamifying of fitness has been a meaningful motivator for me.  On the bright side, I'd gotten mine for free and have since realized that my phone has already been tracking most of the stats without my realizing it - Big Brotherish, yet handy as I nearly always have my phone with me.  I am going to increase my daily step goal to 11,000.

Squid Eats: Pizza 44

via Pizza 44

Pizza 44 is a wood fired pizza joint in Burlington.  It's conveniently located for us as it's right by my wife's work so it's a great place for a quick bite and good beer if we're meeting downtown anyway.   The pizza's lovely: fresh ingredients in interesting combinations.  Sometimes circular, sometimes square, just to keep you on your toes.  On this latest visit, we had a local greens salad to start, then a Classic Margherita (circular) and an Angry Grandpa (square).  The latter included hot peppers, pepperoni and meat sauce.  Both were excellent.  A bit salty but nice.  Did I mention the outstanding beer list?  Definitely helps to wash it down.

We were in town for a concert, one of the Vermont Symphony's Jukebox series featuring its string quartet.  On the docket for the evening were several rock music arrangements and other rock-inspired pieces.  My favorites among the covers were Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" (arr. Vitamin String Quartet) and the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" (arr. John Reed).  Among the originals, I thoroughly enjoyed "Black Run," a solo piece composed by Norwegian cellist Svante Henryson.  Imagine virtuosic bluegrass cello and you'll just about have it.  "Black Run" is the first of three movements in a larger work entitled Colors in D.  Here is the composer himself performing the piece:



"Kashmir" - Vitamin String Quartet



"Paint It Black" - The Hampton String Quartet



The Jukebox series has been a fine supplement to our symphony subscription.  I love small ensembles, so much more intimate than a big orchestra.  The tickets are relatively cheap and the performances are at a hip restaurant/music venue, ArtsRiot, rather than a big concert hall.  Each concert is thoughtfully programmed with a wide variety of music, much of it fairly modern yet also accessible.  The audience is much younger than what we see at the symphony, too - great way to build the audience of the future.  I'd love it if they did more of these sorts of things.  Strings are great but how about brass or woodwind?  A wind quintet would be especially appealing for our clarinetist daughter.


Happy, Healthy Squid

As noted in this post, I'm working on amping up my breakfasts as a means of finding better food balance in my day.  For years, it's been cinnamon raisin toast and coffee - pretty light.  Recently I've added yogurt and granola bars.  I'm actually full after breakfast.  What a concept!  I'm still hungry by lunchtime.  It's a crazy busy morning every day at work.  Maybe I need to carve out time for a quick snack somewhere.

From my walks:

Squid Cooks: Stir-Fried Beef with Vegetables

This is a variation on the stir-fried beef with basil and chiles from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: The Basics (read here).  I added onions, green peppers from my band director colleague's garden, red peppers and green beans.  It was fine but I think I'd like to find ways to boost the flavor of the sauce.  Basil, onion, garlic, crushed red pepper, lime juice and soy sauce should be plenty and yet, it still lacked the Wow! factor.  I don't want to resort to the corn starch that makes the bottled stuff so goopy.  Maybe just more of something?  More heat perhaps.  I don't know - might require some experimentation.

My wife did make one request: thinner slices of beef next time.  I thought the thicker pieces were kind of nice but she thought they were harder to eat that way.  Fair enough.  Duly noted.


Happy, Healthy Squid

One of my favorite exercise activities is racquetball.  I first learned the sport in college, actually took a class.  I hadn't played much since until a few years ago when some friends took it up and invited me along.  We have a reasonably consistent group of four these days, two of whom have been featured in The Squid before: Mock (sadly hasn't blogged in years) and Blue Liner.  Our fourth we shall call simply Racquet Man as he is the best player among us.  I generally run a comfortable second strongest, I think.  I try to keep RM's superiority in perspective: he's 15 years younger than I am and a far more active athlete.  It's a friendly group, though competition can get intense.

We try to play once a week.  Last year, that didn't work out so well for me but with a few shifts in the schedule, I think I can make it work better this year.  So far so good.  It's a fantastic way to pad the FitBit stats!

Otherwise, I can say it's definitely harder to stay motivated on the FitBit goals as the cooler weather and the shorter days creep in.  There were two nights this past week when I fell short.  In both cases, I chose going to bed instead.  Mind you, sleep's important, too.  But big picture, I want both the exercise and the sleep.  So, I'm trying to think of good motivators to stay up.  I think the baseball playoffs might help - something to do while jogging in place.  Plus, I have all of those Star Trek episodes to watch.

Happy Autumn!

Squid Mixes: Tom Collins

According to 3-Ingredient Cocktails by Robert Simonson, a Tom Collins combines gin, 1:1 simple syrup, lemon juice and soda water.  As noted in this post, the distinction between a Tom Collins and John Collins is fuzzy but Simonson's awfully persnickety so I'll trust him.

The resulting drink was quite pleasant, a sweeter version of a gin & tonic.  Simonson recommends a lemon wedge and a brandied cherry for garnish.  My wife didn't see any jarred brandied cherries at the store so we may need to look into making our own - such a hardship!  I used a regular maraschino cherry this time.


Happy, Healthy Squid

I'm down half a pound this week so the weight now stands at B-8 (baseline minus 8 lbs).  I'm actually rather surprised.  I was not so well-behaved this week, missing my exercise goals twice, once by accident, once through laziness.  I was half-expecting a spike.  Surprises abound.

From my walks:

Healthy, Happy Squid: Losing Weight

For the first time in my life, I am making an active effort to lose weight.  It is sort of a couple's project for my wife and me, though so far the only thing we're both doing is weighing in each week.  I am by no means huge but I have put on about 50ish pounds since I was a scrawny teenager in the early '90s.  So losing some, while not doctor-mandated, is probably a healthy choice in the long run.  For now, I'm working on establishing healthier habits as opposed to dieting per se.  The trouble with diets, as I see it, is that most people can't wait to get off them and go back to their usual routines, thus putting the weight back on.  Instead, I would like to gradually change my normal and see where that gets me.

via Giphy

I began in earnest in March.  Since my original weigh-in, I have lost 7.5 pounds (3.4 kg for you sensible metric types).  While there have been a couple of spikes, they've only been temporary and this new number - let's call it B-7.5, B for baseline; so baseline minus 7.5 lbs - has become my new floor.  The good news is that I have managed this modest loss with only two deliberate lifestyle changes: being more diligent about exercise and drinking more water.  The bad news is that if I'm going to go any lower, I'm going to have to tackle the much fiercer beast: food.  Let's celebrate the good first.

I'm a FitBit fiend.  Mine is a FitBit One and I generally afix it to a belt loop.  My goal right now is a green screen every day: 10,000 steps, 5 miles, 10 floors and 30 minutes.  The screen turns green if I make them all.  Or at least, it did until FitBit recently updated its phone app.  It still does a little fireworks show celebration but I liked the green screen better.

So far, things are going really well, though I know from past experience such habits set in summer can be really tough to keep up through a Vermont winter.  My default exercise choice, you see, is a long walk in our neighborhood.  It's a gratifying hobby.  We live in the woods and even on a rotten day, Vermont is still one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Partly as an incentive, and partly as a way to keep myself honest, I take photos during my walks and post one on social media each day, like this one:

In so doing, not only am I getting the exercise but I'm also going outside everyday, gaining a better appreciation from my surroundings and connecting with friends - wins across the board.

But some days are definitely easier than others.  In June, I felt as if I could point the camera (my phone, of course) in any random direction and catch dazzling colors.  Early spring, aka Mud Season, was a lot tougher.  I can bank on foliage season once it hits but after that?  It's a long, monochromatic winter.  Days will get shorter and I won't have as much time, especially during the work week.  Our private dirt road will get icy - treacherous for driving and, if anything, worse for walking.  And, of course, it will be brutally cold.  Hibernation instincts are powerful.  I don't worry so much about the exercise itself.  Even jogging in place is better than nothing and FitBit happily counts the steps all the same.  But with fewer opportunities to take pictures, I worry about losing the meaningful incentive they have provided.  Even so, I have time.  Perhaps I can find a meaningful indoor incentive to take the place.

Water is, so far, the only food habit I have addressed meaningfully.  I aim for 64 ounces per day, the recommendation for my body weight.  It's hard work.  But, apart from being a generally healthy habit, it also helps with appetite.  Often, when you think your body is telling you it's hungry, it's actually thirsty.  Miraculously, water fulfills a basic biological need and it has zero calories.

Food is going to be tough.  As my blog clearly suggests, I adore food.  It is my favorite hobby of them all.  Learning to eat less feels too much like learning to love less.  But maybe it will be less painful if I can look at it as eating more sensibly - establishing new habits just as I have with the exercise.  Thoughtfulness as opposed to systematic deprivation.

I need to learn more, about food in general and my own current tendencies.  I love dummy books and the like so I invested in one: Weight Loss Kit for Dummies by Carol Ann Rinzler.  Part V of the book is entitled Lifelong Weight Control.  It seemed a perfect place to start.

One of many suggestions Rinzler makes is employing a "food trigger tracker" to gauge when you're snacking.  I tried it this past week.  Fortunately, it would seem I don't snack as often as I might have guessed - or at least, I don't when I'm paying attention.  Even so, I have identified a few of my vulnerable moments: being stuck in a long meeting; doing a long, tedious chore; getting home from work (big one) and after exercise (notable yet understandable - and maybe forgivable?).  I also have a couple of enablers in my life who will occasionally put irresistible food in front of me.  One is a colleague, one is (sorry, Honey) my wife.  Yes, I know I can say no.  But I rarely want to.

via Giphy

Being hungry is no sin, nor is eating when you are.  The key, instead, is to make healthier choices in one's snacks: grabbing an apple instead of a box of crackers, for instance.  I have a lifelong passion for fruit, a passion I'm counting on to save me from another one, just as potent: baked goods.  In her Part of Tens, Rinzer supplies a list of diet-friendly foods, including a few surprises: water (huzzah!), skim milk, cantaloupe, tomato, lettuce, onions, grains (sadly, this does not include fluffy, gooey pastries), chicken breast, tuna fish and chocolate.  That's right, chocolate!  This is an especially helpful discovery in regards to my enabling colleague whom we shall call French Teacher.  She always has chocolate and she favors the really good European stuff.  Dark chocolate is best for my current purposes and I have told her so.  So far, she has been most accommodating.

Yes, I know, still best in moderation.  But it's a better choice than the Japanese rice crackers she knows I adore and which she also always has in ample supply.  Even an enabler can be diffused.  I think I can manage similar adjustments in other circumstances as well, especially at home.  My wife manages the shopping list but she is happy to take requests.

Next, I want to approach my meals differently.  For years, I've taken a light breakfast, medium lunch and a heavy dinner.  This is, of course, the exact opposite of what one is supposed to do so I want to work on inverting that, beginning with more at breakfast.  Apart from being generally healthier, I figure it might also help prevent my feeling famished by the time I get home from work.

So, I have a lot to work on - definitely a long-term, challenging project.  I'll keep you posted.  My history has taught me one very important thing about blogging: it helps to keep me honest.