Our new bikes
So we bought two new bikes during the weekend. After a week of searching online and a day of walking around with our friend who knows a lot about bikes, we finally found them. My bike is a cyan woman style bike. My husband’s bike is gray and green.
We have been on our bikes almost all weekend. It’s so much fun. It’s a little hard though, especially because there are lots of hills here and I am not really used to it. There are lots of parks and trails that we can ride our bikes in. Besides being fun, we are doing some much needed exercise too, which is great.
Here are pictures of our bikes. (Courtesy of SportCheck and Norco Performance Bikes websites)
There are just a few sore hands and butts in ForeverInSchool residence, which will eventually go away. But I’m telling you, it’s so worth the pain.
Biking in the city brought back memories
Last weekend we went out to get some food for lunch, when we accidentally ran into three of our friends from school who were going to eat at the same place. They had come with their bikes. After lunch, we went to waterfront for an afternoon walk. (Well, we walked, but those poor guys had to carry their bikes all the way!!) My friend offered me her bike for a short ride. At first I hesitated, but then I went for it.
I hadn’t ridden a bike for about 5 years. Oh, my goodness! I had forgotten how good it felt. The feeling of floating in the air, with a breeze on my face, …. It was awesome.
And it brought back memories… lots of memories.
Memories of 5,6 years ago, biking with my sisters and my fiance at the time, in Chitgar park…, excited about my relationship with him…, couldn’t wait to start a new life together….
Memories of 15 years ago, biking with my best friend in a square near our houses…. How happy and carefree we were, how curious we were about people, especially boys!! We were looking forward to seeing what future had for us….
Memories of 20 years ago, in a small alley where our house was, biking back and forth in the alley…, my father trying to teach me to take right U-turns. (I was only able to turn left and refused to try otherwise!)
.
.
.
We are going to buy bikes and we are determined to use them this summer.
Cooking or not cooking?
I used to enjoy cooking and I usually liked what I cooked. I have always considered myself a good cook. My husband also liked everything that I cooked for him.
During the past couple of months (OK! It has been a little more than that, about 4, 5 months!) I don’t feel that way anymore. Most of the dishes that I cook don’t taste as good as they used to do before. Some of the dishes actually turned out to be failure! Weird, ha?!
How did this happened to me? I don’t know. I use the same ingredients, the same techniques, and I cook the same dishes, but THEY ARE NOT GOOD ANYMORE. As much as my husband tries to make me feel better by complimenting the food, he can’t fool me. I am the best judge for my work. The meat is not cooked well or is overcooked, there is too much tomato paste in the sauce, the rice is too sticky or too dry. Even the saffron doesn’t taste as before. (Saffron is a fancy ingredient in Persian foods and adds a wonderful flavor to the dish, especially rice, if used properly.)
So what is it? Am I losing my touch? Or my tongue is losing its tasting ability? Should I quit cooking altogether? Somebody help me please!!!!!
My first brownies
Last weekend I baked brownies. Brownies are not really popular in my culture, so I was nervous about it. I wasn’t sure if I could bake good ones. But I came across this blog. It’s all about baking, a lot of recipes with great pictures of the final result. I mean OH_MY_GOODNESS_I_HAVE_TO_EAT_ONE_OF_THOSE pictures. I have never seen homemade cookies and cakes look so good and professional.
I found the blog, saw the pictures, and I had to bake something. I chose double chocolate brownies. Well, let me tell you, it really really is as good as it looks. My brownies were moist inside and crispy outside. They looked good too. My husband liked them a lot. I also gave a piece to a native Canadian who liked them too. So I guess my first brownies were quite successful. I am definitely going to try other recipes from this blog.
Did I forget to say that I LOVED the brownies!!!???
Here is the recipe, in case anyone wants to try it:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter an 8″square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving 2 inches hanging over the sides. Butter parchment paper.
In a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stir together butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder. Set aside to cool slightly.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Combine sugar, eggs, and vanilla using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Spread evenly with spatula. Bake about 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet. Let cool in pan about 15 minutes.
Lift brownies out of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.
Makes 9 large or 16 small brownies
