The Running Skirt Revolution?

Some of you have surely heard of this new craze in the fitness world by now: the running skirt.

If you believe this month's Runner's World , they are taking the world by storm, and are a must have for active fashionistas. I was surprised to see the large variety they had found to review, but most of them were pretty pricey at $40-$60. But the biggest proof that you will soon be seeing them in malls across America -- Target now carries not one, but a whole line of running skirts in their C9 line, and at $20, they are a bit more affordable.

The curious among us might be wondering how are these much touted (in the press, on blogs, by friends) garments different from our mother's skorts? For starters, the running skirts are not so much a hybrid, as an actual skirt that looks like a real skirt both going and coming, and most of them come with built-in shorts/ panties of some sort. Most of them are also made of stretchy, wicking hi-tec fabric, and do feel cooler than even my thinnest yoga pants (including those made of wicking fabrics). But their biggest attraction to most of us is that not only does the running skirt break the monotony of our exercise wear, but they also look cool and make us feel sassy!

A friend of mine swears by the SkirtsSport Outlet so as a slave to research (and yes, a sometime slave to fashion!) I ordered their "gymgirl" and "marathongirl" and even purchased a C9 version from Target. My verdict on all three: too damn short! If they are too short on my 5' frame, how must they be on normal sized women? Or perhaps I am too self-conscious? Now keep in mind, I am a prime candidate for starring on "What not to wear" since I often run errands before or after working out in my gym clothes! (perhaps reprehensible to some, but it does save me time and gas, and I am all about efficiency and multi-tasking!) Plus my gym happens to be located at my work, so it is a little uncomfortable to run into your VP in a 3 inch long skirt that barely covers them thighs, irrespective of how well sculptured said thighs might be!

As it turns out, Skirtsports does not do refunds on outlet items, so I decided to splurge on the uptown girl in exchange for the previous purchases, with the rationale that it could also do double duty as versatile vacation wear. I have to admit I like the Uptown Girl - it covers my thighs, and will come along on the next vacation. However, here is the catch: while it is great for running or hiking or the elliptical machine, it is useless on bikes, and even more useless for serious stretching or weight-training (leg-press, anyone?).

So, now I rock my running skirt only 2-3 times of a week instead of daily as I had hoped. And though it failed to revolutionize my life as claimed in many a fitness magazine and blog, it does add that little bit of pizzazz to my mood and a definite sass to my walk, and that is worth its weight in gold!

Walk and Talk at the Same Time?

Yes, that's what we do on the San Francisco City Walking Tours put on by City Guides. Well, the (volunteer) Guide does most of the talking, and we all do the walking as we learn choice morsels of San Francisco or California History.

Being that both Kevin and I are history/ architecture geeks and trivia junkies, it is pretty close to heaven for us. Throw in a meal before or after the tour in our favorite foodie town, and we are happy as clams. And since San Francisco is fairly hilly, the tours also double as mild to moderate exercise. We often bring visiting friends or relatives on these and sometimes even manage to drag local friends/ family and a dog or two, thereby satisfying my almost primal need to multi-task. What more could I possibly ask for?

Jokes aside, these tours are truly an amazing way to enjoy The City and learn more about its checkered past (and often more checkered present). They are offered year round, are free(though donations are suggested) and run by an entirely volunteer staff and guides. Check them out here. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Easy Spicy Shrimp and Easier Not-So-Spicy Green Beans

By popular request, here are some "India friendly" recipes. For anyone else, you will find AamChoor (Green Mango Powder) and Chaat Masala (a mix of certain Indian spices) at your friendly Neighborhood Indian Grocery Store or online. Email me if you can't find it, and I will try to get some to you by US Mail.

Spicy Oven Baked Shrimp
Aam choor (can substitute with lemon or lime juice to taste)
Chaat Masala (can substitute with cumin powder + coriander powder +ginger powder+garam masala)
Red Onion (or yellow,white, green if your heart desires)
Lots of Garlic or to taste
Olive oil or any mild vegetable oil (or even mustard oil if you so dare!)
Salt
Green (serrano) chillis
cilantro (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees if cooking shrimp or 475 degrees if making fish
Mix all the above ingredients together in the food processor to make a wet rub. It should be of spreadable consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. If necessary add a smidgeon of sugar or splenda to balance the taste. The rub should be fairly strong tasting.

Mix the wet rub with tail-on raw shrimp or apply the rub liberally to both sides of any firm fleshed fish filet (salmon, halibut, sea bass and bake in the oven. Spread the shrimp or fish or lightly oiled cookie sheets, taking care not to crowd them. Bake in the oven until almost done as it will continue to cook even after it comes out of the oven. A couple of pounds of shrimp will cook in as little as 4-5 minutes, and a lb of salmon in about 8 minutes (4 minutes per side). Serve warm, accompanied by a white or sparkling wine with some residual sugar for maximum impact. This would likely also work pretty well with most light beers, or any fruity cocktails.


Easy Peasy Roasted Green Beans
Green Beans -- about a lb
Olive oil
salt, preferably coarsely ground or non-iodized sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
Lots of peeled garlic cloves, at least 6-8 large ones

Toss all the ingredients, and roast in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. Take out of the oven, retoss the green beans, for another 12-15 minutes until cooked through, and parts are lightly browned/golden. Serve warm or cold as a side dish or a cocktail snack. Goes well with many lighter red wines, and almost all white/sparkling wines that have some acidity.

wines, wonks, and weddings

How do wine wonks celebrate their wedding anniversaries? In the wonkiest possible way...

First there was the long deliberations about where to go... the criteria were hardly modest: it had to have a good wine list, it has to have good food to match the wine, it has to be a good value, and be Caltrain-able. The first 2 are not that hard to do in the San Francisco Bay area, but the third condition combined with the 4th was a toughie. After extensive research, I narrowed down my list to: Bar Tartine, Bar Crudo, CAV, South Food and Wine Bar, and The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton. CAV was doing a tasting of older Rieslings, so that finally won out.

But then my lovely husband of 2 years came home after work, and remarked how beautiful it was in the backyard. And it was pretty warm to boot! So, out the window went all the research, and CAV was shelved for another day. Besides, we had gotten married in our backyard 2 years to the day, our dogs had been part of wedding party, and we still had the wedding music play list on semi-frequent rotation on our ipod. What a sweet little opportunity to recreate the magic -- how could we let it go?

We rooted through our fridge and cellar for something worthy of our anniversary celebrations. We found some spicy roasted shrimp and some sweet roasted peppers (recipes coming soon) that went nicely with a 2006 Toulouse Riesling (rich & balanced, slightly oily on the palate, off dry -- nice!!) and a couple of chunks of petit basque and aged manchego and some lightly salted cashews to match a 1999 Allegrini Amarone. The Riesling was lovely (Toulouse is fast becoming one of our favorite wineries) but the Amarone just blew us both away. It was a classic Amarone - a dry wine with a raisiny nose reminiscent of a tawny port, it was smooth and unctuous with nary a tannin in sight, and IMHO at its peak drinking age. It was everything I had expected it to be, and a little bit more! When I have such high expectations from something, it often fails to live up to it, but the Allegrini Amarone was a happy exception to the rule!

But the geekiest and best part was.....ta da...me reading aloud articles about Amarone and Riesling from Hedonist in the Cellar as we sat sipping our wines.

It was a magical night -- the moon was just barely visible among the clouds, the jasmine & honeysuckle smelled heavenly, our 3 dogs were relaxing around us (technically, Masala was sitting on my lap, Junnu was playing soccer with Kevin, and Sammie was scrounging for scraps :)), and our wedding music was playing softly in the background. In my mind, it was the perfect way to celebrate the now, while looking back on the wedding and other sweet memories of the past, and looking forward to the not-too-distant future and our trip to Veneto to see the making of Amarone in person. I could not have asked for a better or sweeter celebration!

My Happy Place: The Anderson Valley (and its Wineries)

When life gets too hectic, my favorite escape is to the Anderson Valley, specifically to The Other Place . I wish I could say that it is really my other home, but sadly that is not the case :). It is a dog friendly rental home perched high above the town of Boonville and Hwy 128, and we like to go there once or twice a year for our vacation -with-the-pups. They get a couple of fenced acres of their own to run around unfettered, and dig for moles and voles to their hearts' content. Sammie likes to swim in the pond, which also doubles as Kevin's Kayaking training area. And then there's a few hundred acres of private land to hike around on. Our favorite cottage is The Oaks, named after a couple of ancient oaks that shade it, and it offers 270 degree views of the mountains that surround Boonville.

I love the bucolic Anderson Valley -- It is green and lush and still a whole lot unspoiled, at least compared to Napa & Sonoma. No fancy tasting rooms, low/ no tasting fees, no attitude, and no drunken frat boys veering wildly on the road. It is mercifully free of fancy hotels and resorts, and celebrity chef restaurants.

What is has instead is several very good wineries -- most specializing in dry Alsace Whites and dustier, earthier Pinot Noir. Navarro is a long time favorite of ours and we served some of their dry whites at our wedding - they are also very dog friendly, and have a nice picnic area -- make sure to taste their late harvest dessert wines -- sweet, but with enough acidity to make it interesting. We also like to stop by Roederer (preferable to go during the week when it's less crowded) Greenwood Ridge (the prettiest picnic area, and a very cool tasting room designed by one of Wright's disciples), Handley Cellars (with a female wine maker making some kick-ass wines) and Husch (their lighter white and dessert wines are a great value) and a comparatively new presence in the area: Zine Hyde Cunningham. I would be remiss not to mention, Golden Eye - they are the pinot arm of the venerable Duckhorn empire, but that venerability comes at a slightly higher price, at least by Anderson Valley standards. It is certainly worth visiting, especially if you can do a tasting in their beautiful outdoor tasting area overlooking the vineyards.

Our latest winery discoveries here are two of our favorites next to Navarro, and definitely fall in the category of not-to-be-missed. And it is not just because they are really nice dog people, but also because they make great wines and are warm and welcoming when you visit. The first is Londer - chances are you will be tasting with Shirlee Londer in her kitchen, with her dogs at your feet. My favorite is their dry Gewurtaziminer but I also like their syrahs and pinots, especially the Anderson Valley Pinot. The 2nd is Toulouse, which we found entirely by accident
since they were one of the last ones open at the end of an afternoon of wine tasting. We really liked their wines and enjoyed talking to the owner, Vern, and his friends and bought a couple of bottles. The next day we went back and retasted the wines to make sure that our judgement had not been impaired the previous evening. We liked the wines almost as much, and bought quite a bit more. We have pretty much drunk our way through our Toulouse stash, and recently when I called to see if we could restock, learned that they had sold out of all our favorites. And that is also when I looked through their website and discovered that some their wines had been reviewed very favorably by both the Wine Spectator and SF Chronicle. Go Vern, we said, but we were just a little bit sad that it was no longer "our" secret winery. But we are happy at their most deserved success and wish them all the best!

A warm salad for a cold day

True to form, the weather here now has cooled down to the point of being categorised as sweatshirt weather in the evenings and early mornings. In other words, Masala is sporting one of her now famous sweaters.

So, I made a warm salad, or at least a salad that warms me up!

The World's Easiest Goat Cheese Salad

*Several Handfuls of mache or watercress (very tender baby spinach or baby arugula could be possible substitutes)

*Several clementines or mandarins peeled and "strings''removed, or segmented oranges (Though to me segmented oranges are not synonymous with any "easy" recipe) or even canned mandarins in a pinch

* Finely shaved slices of sweet red onions or shallots (optional)

* Spicy Pecans from Trader Joe's (or lightly roasted pecans/ walnuts plus a tiny bit of crushed red pepper or cayenne or a couple of flavored croutons) - ground coarsely using a mortar-pestle or any similar implement of your choice

*a small log of goat cheese

Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 350.

Place the nuts on a side of a large cutting board. Cut or divvy up the goatcheese into about 1 to 2 Tb portions, and shape each into a disk no more than 1/3 inch thick. Break each disk into half and roll it in the crushed nuts. Shape it back into a disk again and roll it in the nuts again to make all outside surfaces are covered, and be sure to press the nut bits (he heh he) into the cheese. Set aside.

Now make your easy-peasy dressing: Add freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice (or a mix or lemon and orange juice, or even plain lemon juice if you like) to a small jar with a tight fitting lid. Add sugar or splenda, salt, pepper and cayenne to taste and shake vigorously to mix. Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil to taste. I like 1/3 as much EVOO as the juice, but if you like your dressings oilier, you can use a 50-50 ratio of juice to oil.

Place the previously prepared cheese disks on a non-stick cookie sheet and place in the oven. Set your timer to three minutes, and start tossing your salad of greens, oranges and optional onion/shallot. Divide the salad onto individual plates (or large pasta bowls like I do).

As soon as the timer goes off check the cheese to see if it is just slightly melted, and warm to the touch (If it is too melted, you will need to set your oven to 300 next time.)

Place a disk on each plate on top of the salad and serve immediately. And more importantly, be sure to eat it immediately!

Bon appetit!

Did I just hear you say Canine Pilates?

"Did I just hear you say Canine Pilates?" Yes, that was my reaction last week when Masala (my 13 year old wirehaired dachshund diva extraordinaire pictured here) went to see the Doggy Orthopedist. As many of you know, Masala is the "mini" love of my life, what some might call my soul dog.

She is a client of Dr Andrew Sams, http://andrewsamsclinic.com/who is not only an extraordinary doctor, but also a nice guy. He checked her out, pronounced her in fine shape and attributed her slowing down to her age. And he had a solution to the slight problem with her spine (after all she is a doxie!) - rest and then rehab. Resting we had done for the last 6-8 weeks, and now it was time for rehab.

So off we went -- to see Sarah Johnson, his rehab specialist. Sarah has a Masters in Canine Rehab and used to be a a pilates teacher in a previous life. And she is the one that suggested doing Pilates and related exercises with Masala to build up her core. Now, I have been trying to build up my core as well, so I thought "hurray, we can do this together", and had visions of rebonding over sweaty sessions at the Pilates Studio. I even had quasi-matching outfits picked out for us.

The reality thankfully (and I can just hear my husband thanking the 330,000 Indian Gods that he does not even believe in!) turned out to be a little bit different. It was determined that Masala is too little (she is only 9 lbs, and her legs are barely 3 inches tall) to do most of the exercises on the "Canine Pilates DVD" that Sarah has put together. Same with the equipment in her exercise studio. Necessity being the mother of invention, we had to improvise. First Masala was made to walk around on exercise mats of different thicknesses and densities, and with different levels of squishiness. Then she had to walk all over, and balance herself on, a wobble-board http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G0ON2U, fitness disks of different heights

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Fitness-Balance-Disc-Rock/dp/B000OENSWY, and lastly the BOSU https://www.bosu.com/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=bosu/story.html.

(Disclaimer: I am not connected to the sale of these in any way :))

Funny, my butt hardly fits on the BOSU, and here she was walking around on it! And whereas I can barely balance myself on any of these objects, Masala walked around on them like Nadia Comaneci on the balance beams. She pranced around like she belonged there and had been practising as long as Nadia.

We concluded the session with a nice relaxing massage for Masala as Sarah showed me how to do this at home. And guess what, just like me, Masala is only able to partially relax on the massage table. As she worked on Masala, Sarah told me "Wow, this little one has some really well muscled hamstrings!" Ummm, swell! I have been trying to build up my hamstrings forever, but they are still puny shrivelled little twigs, while my quads have begun to look more like miniature tree trunks. And Masala has nice hamstrings without even trying? But then nobody ever said life was fair, did they?