Category Archives: Cooking

A long bike ride

August 8, 2013

This past weekend I really wanted to go on an adventure. I was hoping it would involve camping but Walker is back on his study schedule so he gave me all of Saturday but we had to be home that night.

Saturday morning we rode our bikes to the ferry downtown and hopped on the one to Bainbridge island. We visited their farmer’s market and got a few things to add to our picnic lunch and started to bike the 7 miles to Fay Bainbridge state park on the more northern part of the island. It was not an easy ride. The island is full of really big hills and I kept having to take breaks. We also stopped at a garage sale and an estate sale along the way. Finally we made it and after the ride we were hungry!

walker and jessica ohsoantsy.com

We explored a bit, almost took a nap, and then headed back south on our bikes. We stopped at a winery about half way back and then rode another 2 miles to another winery, brewery, and a distillery (they are all in the same business park) and did a bit more tasting. Then we biked back into town for dinner before heading back on the ferry. By the time we got to downtown Seattle my legs felt like rubber and we still had just under 2 miles to go but all uphill of course. Walker was encouraging and I was wanting to give up. I walked at one point and was like I can’t make it, but I got back on my bike and pushed on.

When I got home I was sweaty and dead tired but you know what?! I did it! I biked all day and I didn’t give up even when I wanted to so badly. It felt good in a sore kind of way. Ha! I would do it again, I think.

Berry monday: muffins

August 5, 2013

Welcome to the second berry Monday! Before I share how I used some of these berries I wanted to introduce you to all the berries that are featured in upcoming recipes.

First on my recipe list are muffins! I used the following berries:

Blueberries:

Tayberries:

Boysenberries:

For the muffins I used a basic fat free vegan muffin recipe that also uses whole wheat pastry flour (fat free means you’ll usually see applesauce in place of oil in the recipe). You can also find a traditional basic muffin recipe if you prefer. I then split the recipe into thirds. To 1/3 I folded in about a 1/3 cup of blueberries, to the next 1/3 I folded in 1/3 cup of tayberries, and then the final 1/3 was pretty exciting. Since the boysenberries are so large I put a little bit of batter on the bottom of the muffin liner, I placed a berry on top, and covered it with batter making what I hoped would be a berry center filled muffin. Each berry mixture made 4 muffins for a total of 12.

They were delicious and my berry filled muffin was a success!

Which flavor would you like to try the most?

A summer day

August 1, 2013

Note: It is not a Monday but I will be mentioning berries.

The other day I got an invitation to go berry picking in a nearby park. I was also told I would be able to swim so I slipped on my suit and covered it up with a t-shirt and pants so I wouldn’t get too scratched up.

It was a warm summer day and we were out around the hottest time of day in the full sun picking berries. I was seriously happy as I could be. I didn’t even really mind so much that I was getting stuck my the blackberries bushes or probably burned by the sun (whoops no sunscreen again) I was just finally enjoying having a day that really felt like summer.

I picked a decent amount of berries and decided I was ready for a swim. I found a nice little spot that was easy to get in and went for it. And by “went for it” I mean walked in slowly while adjusting to the water and them finally getting in all the way. I swam around a bit letting the waves push me back to shore and then I’d swim back out and do it again. Finally I went to a shallow area and just sat in the water enjoying the boats in the distance and the cold waves splashing my body. When I was finally done with the water I dried a little bit on the shore before finding my friends.

Then I went skipping around in the blackberry bushes in my bathing suit in the hot sun and I felt like a kid again-just for a few moments-and it was wonderful.

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