Finally...the right pinole recipe.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Well…if I’m not going to work out…I’m not going to eat. I’ve got this all figured out. I skipped breakfast and lunch today, but did put in some baking time working on perfecting my pinole recipe. I had to do something to make it moister and Holly had suggested using an egg or some oil. I figured I’d try it both ways.

Now…to my way of thinking…if you’re going to leave out ¼ cup of water, you should add an equal amount of olive oil…which I did. I made the other batch with an egg instead of the water. I kind of make the recipe into a giant cookie, molding it into a round shape about a ¼ inch thick…and they pretty much stay that way, but when I pulled this batch from the oven after 20 minutes, the oil version had morphed into a thin, puddle version of its former self. It was crisp and brittle, unlike everything else I’d been making…normally the consistency of a chewy, oatmeal cookie. I gave a piece to Holly.

“This is really good…but why is it so hard?” I told her about the ¼ cup of oil I’d substituted for the water.

“Really? You’re that dumb? The sugar and the oil together will do this every time. You should have put in maybe a tablespoon,” she admonished.

I mean really…that dumb? Why the surprise…it’s not like I’m new or something. “Yeah…well…I guess that didn’t work so well…but you like the way it tastes, so I’ll just cut the oil and keep everything else the same,” I said…and did…and it tastes great.

I went to my sister’s later that evening because Donnie and his family were there and brought along my pinole. Everyone who tried it, liked it. I ran into a running coach I know and told him the whole Tarahumara story since he hadn’t read the book yet (Really? Have you been living in a shoe?) and had him try some with the same results. I’m starting to think I’d discovered the next, great energy bar. Have a Clif bar sometime and read the promo on the bar or box that tells the story of how the founder worked hard and long in his kitchen trying to develop a good tasting bar. He succeeded so why not me? I mean…other than that little screw-up with the oil thing, I’m doing pretty well.

So…I was off again in ‘Active Rest’ land. It was raining when I came home and by the time it stopped, it was too late to ride and I had to go to my sister’s to eat like a pig…which I did. I had two plates of spaghetti and meatballs, five pieces of chicken (skinless breast meat, at least), and some more pinole. Actually, other than pinole, it was the first time I was eating for the day and so I had some catching up to do…though I overdid it.

I’m really getting antsy, though. I hate to go into the mountains on Saturday having done so little over the past two weeks. It’s really more about my head than my body. I know I’m in shape, but the nagging conscience thing keeps telling me to do something…anything. If I can’t get in a ride tonight…Marie is coming over to plan her gear and to figure out what she’ll eat (she’s the one who eats porridge for breakfast and makes pinole that tastes like an old shoe), I’ll just go for a long walk…without a pack. I NEED an exercise fix…