Tomatoes and Tofu (+ Rosemary Focaccia)

Today I made tomatoes and tofu. Trying to keep it simple by pairing two food elements and letting them interact with each other. Seeing as tofu doesn't have much flavor of its own, I felt it best to highlight the textural differences of the two items. The tofu was sliced thin and seared in a pan of oil and garlic. The (organic heirloom) tomatoes on the other hand were broiled in the oven, drizzled with some oil, and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and some chopped basil. They paired quite well, and I'm proud of my creation.

I also made some Rosemary Focaccia bread for the first time. It really wasn't that different from pizza dough, though the end result was a pleasant surprise. The crust is browned and crispy, while the center is light and airy. I look forward to trying more breads. (Kneaded and mixed by hand, its quite relaxing for me)

Green Tea Cookies

I attempted to make some green tea cookies the other day. I modified a snickerdoodle cookie recipe, which was originally a modification on a sugar cookie recipe. The cookies were good as sugar cookies, though there wasn't that much green tea flavor to it. I had used the powder from Trader Joe's Matcha Latte Tea as my green tea ingredient, mistake number one. After tasting the cookies, I made the Matche Latte, and realized for the first time that it didn't have much taste to begin with. In fact, I don't think I like the Matche Latte enough anymore to finish the container I bought.

Now I'm left with a ball of dough (I don't bake all the dough when I make cookies, I normally make them in batches of 6 or 12 over the course of a few days) in the fridge that I'm not to excited about. I'm considering making it into snickerdoodle cookies. Seeing as the flavor isn't too strong, there's not much to loose from furthering the experiment... by taking a step back.

Run

I miss running. I've been running since I got to Oregon, it wasn't the same feeling as I remembered it once being though. In trying to maintain a common routine, I've realized I was also holding myself back. Doing things like pacing myself and negative splitting workouts like I learned in high school. It's all well and good in trying to accomplish specific time goals and competitive stuff like that. That's not really why I've been running though.

So, I let myself go the other day and ended up running for... a long time and distance. I probably should have had water and a snack with me for as long as I was out. I probably should've stopped in one of the coffee shops I passed by and asked for water. I'm still alive though. And it felt great. I didn't intend to go for as long as I did, it just sort of happened. I probably couldn't have ran for as long as I did with a specific goal in mind. It felt good to just get out there and go. That's all I've been trying to say right now. Sometimes it just feels good to get out and go.