Gluten free cookies for Susi et. al

Hi all: This is Linda & no Cath, the cookies you had were the chocolate chunk with peppermint. Susi has wheat allergy issues & mentioned one day how she always felt left out at the end of a race, in that she could not eat the cookies being given to the athletes unless she wanted to be in pain & worshiping the porcelain god big time. So I went on the web to find a gluten free cookie recipe & made her a batch for her next race. Since then I've made her cookies on several occasions & today I actually measured quantities, because Susi wanted the recipe so when she moves to B.C. she can have cookies any time. For those who don't know, I tend to be the kind of cook who plays with her food, so recipes tend to be modified on the fly & I tend to be visual - if it looks right, it will work so measurements are not my normal modus operandi. Anyway, we wrote down quantities & for Susi (& anyone else who wants) here is today's recipe for gluten free cookies.


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar (I like demerara), 1/2 cup white sugar (I like extra fine berry sugar), 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. baking powder & 1/2 tsp. baking soda. Mix in 1 tbsp. powdered (dry) ginger & 1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger (you can buy ginger already minced from most stores, look in the asian food section). At this point, I add any combination of fruit/nuts/chocolate that I feel like combining & happen to have on hand. Today I added 1/2 cup dried blueberries, 1/2 cup pecans & 1/2 dark chocolate chunks (we buy Bernard Callebeaut dark chocolate chunks from Real Canadian Superstore - you can also get milk chocolate & white chocolate from there). Now, if this was the NON gluten free recipe, I would put in 1 cup large flake rolled oats & 1 cup of flour, standard wheat variety most people use. But since Susi can't have wheat, today I put in 1 & 1/2 cups large oat flakes & 1 & 1/2 cups chestnut flour (I found this at an Italian supply shop & never having used it before, was eager to see how it worked). In previous recipes baked for Susi I used potato flour. The trick to remember is, if your mix is too 'wet' your cookies will spread out when baking & you will be cursing & prying flat cookie tortillas (that break into tiny bits as you pry) off your cookie sheets. Edible crumbs perhaps, but not much fun to clean up. Plus because they spread out, they also tend to burn so maybe not that edible, either. 


So, once you have a mix that is not too wet, you drop spoonfuls of batter on your cookie sheets. I don't grease my sheets but people can if they want to. I pop the sheets in the preheated 350 degree oven for 12 minutes (note: altitude makes a difference as does atmosphere - Calgary is high & dry, so you may have to adjust cooking time depending on where you live). As Susi can testify, today's cookies came out just fine, they were very soft when first they came out so I let them cool about 2 minutes before I slipped a spatula under the cookies to loosen them from the sheets. Because of the chocolate chunks, I find that if I let the cookies cool too long they tend to stick to the sheets, but greasing the sheets may prevent this from happening. Susi & Keith test drove the finished product & Susi ordered Keith to step away from the cookies & mentioned her black belt in martial arts, so I am confident that the cookies were acceptable.  


Cath, if you want to make the chocolate chunk with peppermint just use the non-gluten free version of the mix, I would not put in blueberries but pretty much any kind of nut can be used. Also, make sure you do not put in vanilla but only put in peppermint - if you mix vanilla & peppermint flavours you tend to get an odd taste as the flavours clash. Enjoy!

There was an amazing sight during the run today

Friday's schedule for me depends on what Linda's schedule is. She doesn't work Fridays, but ends up scheduling stuff. So I got dropped off at the pool at 6:15 am. I shared a lane with M, who's a regular, swimming almost every day. It used to be that I could barely keep up with her. Today I passed her even though she was wearing fins and paddles, though I had to work at it. I had a good feel for the water, so that 600 m set ended up at 11 minutes exactly. I'm really liking the pull these days. Worked on stroke mechanics and seemed to be doing fairly well. I did an extra 100 m of backstroke to make it an even 3K in 64 minutes.

From the pool I walked 45 minutes home, changed, and headed out for the run. It was still cold enough to see my breath on the air so I put a wind breaker over the long sleeve tech shirt. The first half was with the wind, nice and easy to start, then into a half marathon pace. The way back was into the wind, and I was aiming for a 10 K pace. For some odd reason my heart rate was 5-10 bpm lower than what I expected based on my breathing, pace, perceived effort. That made it difficult to hit my expected pace, but then I went with it and went more by perceived effort. This was 60 minutes of fun goodness on tired legs. I had to push to finish.

The amazing sight was a guy on a unicycle on the bike path. The hilly, ice and snow covered bike path. He was going along pretty good, gradually pulling away from me even during the fastest part of my run. I was seriously impressed.

At the moment Linda is teaching Susi how to make the famous alternate wheat ginger recovery cookies. [Look, a polar bear! Snatch. QA purposes, of course.] We've pigged out on sushi already, the cookies are baking, and a bottle of wine is open. This is gonna be good.

Hey! What happened to Tuesday?

I missed blogging about Tuesday. How could I do that? And none of you noticed. Hmpf.

Tuesdays are really similar to Thursday's so you'll have to pay attention here.
The push up plan said to put my feet on the bottom stair. That lasted 4 pushups. Amazing how the smallest change has a big impact. I didn't quite fall on my face, but it was close.  Went back to normal pushups, from the toes, and got through the sets. Everything else was good, even plank on hands for 90 seconds. It took a couple goes to get through heels 6 inches up though. 30 minutes or so.

The bike was 1.75 hrs of goodness, lots of interesting stuff, with different times to keep track of. Trying to see through sweat infested glasses hasn't got any easier.

Headed downtown to have a beer after work with a buddy I see once in a while. I used to work with him and it's good to stay in touch. That threw my evening schedule off, so that's probably why I didn't get my blog done.

Thursday now, talking about today. Which was ugg right from the start. Wed is a big workout day for me and I didn't sleep particularly well. Once I got home, I couldn't face going right into core, so I had two cups of coffee while dealing with blogs and email. Life in blog land is a little slow these days, so get with it guys!

Stretched a bit, then got into a tough core routine. Several new moves. I was supposed to go through the routine twice, but ended up doing parts of it for a third time to get the time in for wall sit with fit ball, and planks. The problem with wall sit is that my feet start slipping out from under me. I tried the padded mat but that didn't work. Maybe the yoga mat might work. Tried a leg lift once during side plank and that worked better than ever. Improvement does happen. 45 minutes of core and stretching.

Then onto a tough bike workout. Lots of big gear work. Lots and lots of sweat. Legs, especially hip flexors were tired when I got out of bed, and they're even more tired now. 1.75 hrs of bike, and another 15 minutes of stretching after. All right, 5 minutes of that was lying there with my feet up. Love it.

Lamb, spuds, and corn for supper, with Mourvedre red wine. I think I'm going to go to bed early. Another big day tomorrow.

No swim toys at all this time

The swim plan was more for drills today, not needing the pace clock so much, so I went to FOMC instead of CM. Shared a lane for a while, and ended up swimming with Mr. Beautiful Stroke. He swims just a hair quicker than me, but takes about 10% fewer strokes doing it. What with the workout and a bit of extra swimming I was in the water 60 minutes. Then into the dive tank for 15 minutes of core and some stretching.

It was 5 C (41 F) and sunny today. Perfect running weather. For a while I was actually hot in tights and long sleeved tech shirt, and wishing I'd worn shorts. Then the wind picked up a bit near the reservoir and it turned out to be just right. Walked 15 minutes warm up and cool down. Here's the run route, 11 K altogether, 76 minutes. Average heart rate 133!! Right where I wanted it.

This was a nice steady pace for me, slowing down only slightly to slurp down 2 semi-gels that Cath sent me. She gets them from the UK, and they don't need to be taken with water. They're about twice as long as Gu, and are more liquid. They taste really good. Took one at 20 min and the other at 40 minutes. Worked on keeping my arms swinging and my stride nice and relaxed. Stretched 15 minutes after I got home.

Yoga was a perfect followup, with good shoulder stretches, and good hip opener stuff. That's 1.25 hours, and if it was like that all the time, I'd go every day.

All the pool toys, and a short resolution

Today's swim workout called for all the pool toys that I'm willing to touch. Pull buoy, paddles, kick board, and fins. After seeing where geezers and kids put pool noodles, and what they do with them, I'm never touching one of them. This was the first time I'd used fins since I was a kid. I was supposed to do 4 x 100 on 1:50, and did the first one in 1:20, even getting a lung full of water the first time I tried to breath. The bow wave is much bigger when you're going faster. Then I settled down a bit trying to figure out the optimal amount of push for the amount of breathing needed. This was kind of fun. What depresses me somewhat is that there are lots of people who can swim 100 m in that time *without* fins. Sigh. Flip turns are much much easier to do when wearing fins, which was a bit of a surprise for me.

Second from the end was 4 x 50 on 60 seconds. That was ok. Then 100 m easy, then 4 x 50 on 55 seconds. Turns out I need that 5 seconds of breathing. I'd like to have another go at that without someone trying to talk to me about joining the lane. I was in the water 67 minutes.

Skipped the hot tub again, and sat briefly in the steam room. There was only a mild bought of the snuffles about 3pm. Just outside the steam room door is where the shallow water aquasize class instructor does their thing. I kept shaking my head trying to get the water out of my ears, because all I could hear her yelling at people was "assholes, hard, harder!" Lots. I didn't think the City would continue to hire such a person for the people in such a class.

The run wasn't quite shorts and a T shirt. I was *that* close. Tights and long sleeve tech shirt. It was just above zero C and the ice on the sidewalks was just beginning to melt. Oddly enough, I didn't slip once while running 5 K, 35 minutes nice and easy. But twice I was nearly on my ass while walking for cool down.

The great shorts saga is over. Found. They were behind the chaise lounge, snugged in between the leg of the lounge and a briefcase. It was in a shadowed spot, and it's tough to spot black shorts in a shadow. What's odd is that I had looked there twice, and I think Linda looked once, and we never spotted the shorts. Maybe it's time to get the prescription for the eyeglasses checked. I've already got the trifocals, how much worse can it get?

Brick, Geezers, Shorts

For once I wasn't the first person to show up at Katie's Sunday spin brick. There was a couple people waiting for rides to go to the spin-athon. So I guess I was the first real class person. However, I sustained a brutal disappointment along the way. I was waking up slow and steady, but during the drive to class I had a sudden yearning for good coffee. No 7-11 or Starbucks swill. Real coffee. There's a good place just past Try-it called Lazy Loaf and Kettle. (all worship and sprinkle rose petals.) I was going to get a coffee to go, and maybe one of their squares or cookies to sustain me during the ride. But they don't open on Sundays till 9am. Boohoo!

I think a coffee would have been perfect to give me a bit of zip during the spin session. I felt a little slow and flat, and could feel myself start to run out of gas at the 90 minute mark. I pushed through to 120 minutes, though the last sets were a bit of a struggle, and I was in much easier gears than normal.

One of the things that I find really amusing about spin class is how people set up their bikes. At Try-it we usually end up in an L shape along the outside wall, then toward the middle of the store, with Katie on the stage facing us. Once about 10 people have set up this way, it's totally impossible for anyone else to get in. Or out to get water. Why do people do this, blocking the path to the exit? There's lots of other places and ways to set up. The spin class at Speed Theory did exactly the same thing, though in a different pattern. Do other spin clubs have the same problem?

During the run it felt like a layer of flab had been surgically inserted on the outside of my thighs, just below my butt, and I could feel it moving around with the muscle for the entire 30 minutes. I worked really hard to stay at the top of zone 2 and keep good running form. It was a beautiful day for a run, about 0 or just above, very little wind. I saw a couple people running in shorts. I had tights with a long sleeved tech shirt over a short sleeved shirt, and was just about right. Lots of people on the path, including several sets of people walking 3 abreast with no consideration for others. Or the two really really slow joggers (I look like Mirinda Carfrae in comparison both because of my speed AND good looks.) that insisted on going down the middle of the path.

Then I totally weenied out of the core. The first thing was a brutal plank /pushup combination. We were doing one or the other for what felt like about an hour of subjective time. I think if I'd been fresh I might have got through more of it. Maybe. Then some other stuff. Everybody else did a half hour or so, but I'm only counting 15 minutes of it because of the time spent flopped on my mat.

On the way home I passed a geezer wearing a fright wig, driving a tank from the 70's. Buddy behind me was in the middle of passing when the geezer simply moved one lane to the left. He was lucky there was a lane to move into. There was an indignant honk. The geezer looked to the left with a blank expression, as if to ask what's the big deal? She never looked before changing lanes. Guy sped up a bit to get away from her, and we exchanged glances as he passed me. She moved over another lane without signaling, and turned left onto Heritage without signaling. No idea how many people she frightened. Maybe she was going to take the next left to visit her children in the nursing home there. I seriously believe we need to start giving people drivers tests before automatically renewing their licenses. One of the conditions of renewal is that everybody should have to take a safe drivers or defensive drivers course during the 5 year term of our licenses. Then once you hit 65, say, or be the cause of a serious accident, you should go on a yearly renewal. I will cheerfully waive these requirements, if someone can come up with a reliable geezer-ometer. Then we relate the geezer score to your freedoms and responsibilities, or lack thereof.

The swim shorts are still AWOL. Both me and Linda are puzzled. We haven't torn the house apart or anything, but we've done a pretty diligent search. We now suspect Amelia the cat of having dragged them somewhere totally random, even more random than I could be. We aren't slandering Amelia; I had one cat that used to go into my hockey bag, dig out the socks, and drag them about the house. So the possibility *is* there.

Weekly Summary
Swim 3.25 hrs
Bike 5.0 hrs
Run 3.0 hrs
Walk 1.0 hrs
Core 2.5 hrs
Total 14.75 hrs

The case of the missing swim shorts

Those who've actually met me can attest that I'm just a little vague around the edges. Forgetful, in an amiable sort of way. So I rely on routines to get me through the day. For example, I always hang up my car keys, and running house key up on a set of hooks near the front door. That way I know where they are, as opposed to any number of jacket or jean pockets. Or somewhere else.

More to the point, I've learned that when I come home from swimming I need to unroll the towel, hang it over the stair banister with the swim shorts, and prop up the sandals near the heat vent so they dry out. Then at a convenient time when I'm going downstairs, the towel comes with me to be left near the washing machine. The shorts go back to the bedroom ready for the next days swim.

Except yesterday, the last half of that process went awry. I clearly remember picking up the shorts, and then, and then, things go all vague, in an amiable sort of way. I have wandered around the house several times looking at the tops of various surfaces where I could have put them down so I could do something else. I've done more diligent searches through piles of laundry, excavating layers of stuff on the chaise lounge in the bedroom. I've even looked in somewhat unlikely places. I have no idea where they are. Perhaps they discovered the hiding place where one Ironman sock hid for months on end.

Ran an hour today, with 10 min warm up walk and the same cool down walk. Easy 15 minute run to get the blood moving, then some faster intervals. Supposedly fast, faster, and fastest, each for a shorter time. That didn't work out so well. The first was good, but the second ended up being fastest, and the third was more reasonably faster. No, not faster than fastest, just faster than fast. Fast by my standards, of course. Easy in between, to say nothing of dodging dogs and stupid owners.

Snacked, then off to the pool for a swim. I was astonished when I got there. For the first time EVER I had the whole pool to myself. Nice. I could get used to that. I was about half done when a few other people showed up, but not as many people as lanes. Very nice. Actual time in the pool was 66 minutes for 2800 m of lots of different fun stuff. In addition to the swimming I really concentrated on the flip turns. Really focussing on tightening the core, pulling legs around, trying for a nice tight fast turn and surfacing well. 80 times. Abs are sore and tired after but things are better. I did some open turns on 100's to keep track of time, and some of the drills and choice didn't have flip turns.

A theory about pool snuffle was proposed to me. I usually hit the hot tub after a swim. These are festering vats of excess pool chemicals, which I knew, and didn't care about. I like the warmth. Still, the theory is that the excess chemicals, together with the froth of the pumps, means that I'm breathing in more fumes from pool chemicals. So I'm going to skip the hot tub for a while and see if that makes a difference. I'll keep you posted.

Oh, and any ideas about where the shorts could be, will be gratefully accepted.