More Monday Musings

Happy Monday! A beauty of a day again. Gotta luv this weather. Just a little this 'n that for posting today.

Talked with the always upbeat Jim Hebl at the Y at noon today. He's so much fun. :-) He was just leaving for a run.

Lace-Up Against Breast Cancer mugs have been removed from Running Room. If you still have not received yours, contact Laura Lenz.

Fetzer shirts were printed today. I'll run out to Kasson tomorrow to pick them up and then get them labeled and down to Running Room ASAP. Thank you for your patience. The timeline was a bit out of my control.

Rochester Half Marathon meeting this evening at Shoppes at University Square. Pictured below are Jean Murray, Dave Morrill and Jen Woodford.

Larry Pederson, Jean and Dave.


I'm still being pegged for race director. Yikes. I think Jen is a better choice. :-) And I'm trying to convince her of that. Or at least a co-directorship.

From The Nordic Shop, also at the Shoppes at University Square:

Join us in the Store Thursday, May 7th from 5pm till 8:30pm as we get ready to celebrate Norwegian Independence Day with tips on how to make all of your favorite Scandinavian baked goods. Free samples will be available while supplies last. A free cookbook will be available to all customers who come in that evening. There will be special pricing on all bakeware Items that evening only.

Our friends from Otto's Bakery will be here that evening as well with goodies from the bakery. They will be happy to help answer some of your Scandinavian baking questions and to take your bakery orders for those of you who won't have time to get your baking ready for Norwegian Independence Day.

There's a new magazine in town ... cien fuegos. I picked up a copy of the premier issue at the office today. Very nice. Very artsy. On the website is a list of locations where you can pick up a complimentary copy.

My cooking group has taken a few cooking classes at what is now called Garden Road Cooking School outside Harmony, MN. They were excellent classes. Chef Stephen has changed things up a bit and here's a bit of an email from him. I'm tempted ...

Calling all people interested in becoming a cooking class assistant! Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be the personskillfully assisting the chef teaching a cooking class to a group of enthralled students? My wife Lisa won't be joining me in the kitchen duringthis new round of cooking classes (she's going to be too busy in thegarden), so I am searching for people that would be interested in assisting me during my classes. OK, I won't sugarcoat it, these assisting jobs are basically a glorified (albeit very easy) dishwashing position, but there are real benefits. In exchange for each block of time you work, you will receive: a copy of the recipes demonstrated during that time frame; a meal made from those recipes; the opportunity to observe and ask questions during the class (in between those pesky dishwashing duties); and a $25 credit good toward participating in a class session of your choice (where someone else will be assisting!). There are four opportunities per weekend to assist and each consists of a 5-hour block of time; Fridays from 4:30PM to 9:30PM, Saturdays from 10AM to 3PM and 4PM to 9PM, and Sundays from 10AM to 3PM. My primary need will be for the Saturday and Sunday sessions. So, here's your chance to "be the Lisa"....what do you say, are you in? If so, give me a call at the number below at your earliest convenience and we'll talk. Please contact Stephen Larson directly by calling (507) 886-3134 for any questions you may have or to sign up to assist.

Made this little project in the last 24 hours. It also will be a thank you gift ... filled with cookies, of course. It's all fabric.

I will be baking cookies for the Out of the Sun Run (Friday, May 15) volunteers. Gosh, I'm also a volunteer ... I better make something I like! Here's a very favorite of mine, but I'll probably actually make something without nuts:


Oatmeal Super-Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

1 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 c. brown sugar, lightly packed
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. vanilla (not 1 tsp!)
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (I usually add 1/4 to 1/3 cup more and flatten them slightly before baking)
2 c. dry oatmeal, ground
1 c. pecan meal or 1 c. finely ground pecans
2 c. chocolate chunks
1 c. chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. chopped, toasted pecans, optional but also very good!

In a large mixing bowl, mix by hand (about 30 strokes) the melted butter, sugar, eggs, syrup, vanilla and salt; the mixture should lighten in color slightly. Stir in the baking soda, flour, ground oatmeal and pecan meal, then the chips/chunks and bit and nuts.

To make big, palm-sized (3 1/2 to 4-inch) cookies, apportion dough with a muffin scoop or 1/4-cup measure. For smaller cookies, use a tablespoon cookie scoop, or a tablespoon generously heaped with dough. Deposit the cookie dough on ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheets. (I flatten them slightly here.)

Bake the cookies in a preheated 350 oven until they've puffed, about 12 to 14 minutes. (For my smaller cookies, I bake them about 11 1/2 minutes.) They'll appear almost underdone, but will firm up once they come out of the oven. Remove the cookies from the oven, allow them to rest on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Yield: about 24 large or 48 smaller cookies. (I usually get about 36 out of this recipe with a large cookie scoop.)

Guess this turned into a "foodie" post. Oh, well. There are worse things ...

No quote for the day. I'm too tired.

Cheers!