Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Swapping

Basil Egg Noodles. Chocolate Stout Cake. Soy and Sesame Kale Chips. No, this isn't my weekly grocery list. These are some of the items I bartered for at my first official Indy Food Swap.

An eclectic group of 40 or so foodies gather once a month at the Indianapolis City Market to participate in Indy Food Swap - an event that allows amateur culinary wannabes like myself to showcase their cooking and baking skills and trade culinary goodies with others. So if you have too many pickled beets in your pantry or find yourself sitting on an overabundance of hand-foraged mushrooms, the Indy Food Swap is calling your name.

Suzanne Krowiak started the Indy Food Swap in August 2011 and it has taken off. In fact, today's food swap sold out in a mere two hours (who knew?). There are entire websites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and blogs dedicated to food swaps (the Food Swap Network is a great resource and lists food swaps nationally and internationally). The concept is simple: People bring in homegrown, homemade or foraged foods and set up on tables in the farmers market tradition. But instead of paying with cash, participants trade the items they brought in for new ones.



Suzanne Krowiak explaining that some swappers won't want to trade with you due to allergies, special diets or general distaste (hence the face).


When I arrived at the swap, I filled out a name tag and my official bid sheet, which included spaces to write my name, item, notes and special information (i.e. gluten-free, vegan). The bid sheet also had numbered spaces for bidders to write their offers. As the tables began to fill up, I noticed the offerings were as diverse as the swappers: There were traditional baked goods like old fashioned chocolate cake, but there were also Gianduja Bars, jars of Cara Cara Orange Curd and Ball Jars brimming with Pickled Peppers.

I set up my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, cut samples to dole out to swappers, signed my bid sheet and wished for the best.



My Peanut Butter Cups packaged up, ready for swapping. Also on my table: (two)bite-size samples.


About 30 minutes in, Suzanne called out, "Ladies and gentlemen, start your swapping." Suddenly, 40 foodies were hustling to get to their favorite tables to sample and fill out the bid cards. Feeling the adrenaline in the air, I couldn't help but take a peek at my station and wonder what my humble Peanut Butter Cups would earn. Would I score Kathy's French Herb Cheese Spread? Or Blaire's Spicy Pizza Sauce? What about Suz's Goat Cheese Balls? And though I couldn't tell you what it is, the Estonian Kringel Bread had my name, er, bid written all over it.


A very full bid sheet. The Estonian Kringel Bread (a cinnamon braided bread) was the "A-Lister" of the swap.

For a few seconds, I had that last-kid-to-be-picked-by-the-captain-of-the-dodgeball-team feeling. As the swappers began walking from table to table, I kept looking back at my Peanut Butter Cups, listening to the swapper's reactions as they were being sampled. But it was only a matter of minutes before my Peanut Butter Cup bid sheet began to fill up - front and back.

Isn't swapping just the best?

The actual swapping didn't occur until the last 30 minutes. Swappers were instructed to look at their original bid sheets and seek out the offerers via name tags. I was relieved when one swapper sought me out almost immediately, handing me a pretty jar of Basil-Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil for a three-pack of giant Peanut Butter Cups. (You see, I made one amateur mistake of making about five dozen Peanut Butter Cups last night, thinking there would be way more food and way more swappers then there actually were. Needless to say, there was plenty of chocolate to go around!). 

I left the City Market with a basket full of local goodies: Limoncello, Spicy Pizza Sauce, Strawberry Black Pepper Jam, Orange Craisin Bread, Basil-Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Soy n' Sesame Kale Chips (a treat on the ride home) and Chocolate Biscotti to name a few. A special shout out goes to swappers Suz for the Orange Craisin Bread and Jen for the Chocolate Stout Bread (it comes as no surprise that two of my favorites are carbohydrates). 

So what did I think of my first food swap? To sum it up, my fridge has never had it so good.

My loot: Chocolate Stout Bread, Limoncello, French Herb Cheese Spread, Soy n' Sesame Kale Chips, Chocolate Biscotti and more. Indy Food Swap: my fridge thanks you.


Interested in attending a swap? They take place once a month at the Indianapolis City Market, usually on a Saturday from 2:30-4. Registration fills quickly. A few tips:
• Arrive at least 15 minutes early. You will want this time to unpack, assemble samples and "beautify" your station.
•  Don't make five dozen of your item. Depending on the item, usually a dozen or so should be substantial enough.
• Make something unique. The most swap-worthy items are things you wouldn't - or couldn't - make yourself or buy from the grocery. Example from this swap: cheese pierogis, black pepper shortbread cookies and goat balls (a mixture of goat cheese, dates, glazed walnuts and brown sugar).
• Samples are a must.
• Bring a reusable bag or basket to carry your goodies home.
• From a Google search: “It’s uncool to repeat yourself."

Peanut Butter Cups
Adapted from Design Sponge
*Note: Has been known to cure even the worst of chocolate cravings 

Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate (or any chocolate of your choosing)
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup graham crackers, crushed

The Deal
Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Set aside.
Melt 1 cup of the chocolate in a double boiler. Remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the stove and turn off the heat.
Using the back of a spoon, paint a layer of melted chocolate onto the bottoms and sides of the paper liners. Don’t skimp on chocolate here; coat the liners generously. Set the bowl aside with any remaining melted chocolate left in it.
Put the muffin pan in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while you make the peanut-butter filling.
In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, crushed graham crackers, and powdered sugar. Stir with a spoon until well combined.
Return the bowl used to melt the chocolate to the top of the double boiler. Add the remaining 1 and 1/2 cups of chocolate and melt.
As the chocolate is melting, remove the muffin pan from the refrigerator. Put a mound of peanut butter (about a tablespoon size) into each paper liner. Tap down each mound with your fingertips to “nest” it into the chocolate bottom (easiest to do this is you wet your fingertips slightly).
By now, the chocolate added to the double boiler should be melted. Using a spoon, dollop the top of each peanut butter mixture mound with a generous portion of chocolate and smooth out the top.
Place the muffin pan in the refrigerator. The cups should be set within an hour.

The Cycle Studio: Rollin' Like a Big Shot

I love bikes. No, not the fancy kind with the slim tires, low handlebars and sleek, flat seats (really, whose tush actually fits comfortably on that type of seat anyway?). A mountain bike isn't really my style either. I doubt you'll ever find me "off-roading" on a rocky dirt path with muddy shoes and calves. I'm more of the cruiser-type. You know, the type of bike with oversized tires, an upright riding position and most importantly, lots of cool vintage styling. Add a basket to the front so I can jaunt around with a fluffy white puppy on a perfectly sunny day and I'm in my happy place.

So you can imagine my hesitation when I was told to check out The Cycle Studio - an indoor cycling training facility in Carmel that is powered by CompuTrainer. CompuTrainer is a state of the art multi-rider system that collects and displays data such as power watts, mph, cadence, average watts/kilogram, heart rate and basically everything a "real" bike rider would want to know. Needless to say, I decided to leave my cruiser parked in my apartment garage and give The Cycle Studio a try.

My first class was humbling. I walked in and everyone was warming up on their individual CompuTrainers, switching around fancy gears and pedaling their legs at lightening bolt speed. You know when you are driving in your car on a fall day and you see a pack of riders with the whole get-up - bike shorts, jerseys, clip-on shoes - zip by you? Well, that's what it was like inside The Cycle Studio. And then there's me in my lululemon crops and tank, Asics and pink hybrid bike.

Shea Rankin, the owner of The Cycle Studio and triathlon coach, helped me get my bike set up on the CompuTrainer and explained the different gears and how to adjust them. About every 20 or 30 minutes I would maneuver the wrong gear adjustment and the entire chain would come off and my bike would come to a screeching halt. I was truly an amateur.

All set up on the CompuTrainer for a Saturday morning ride. That's me bopping around in the back left corner.

Shea then explained the course, which can range from customized races with hills and sprints mixed in to actual Ironman races (I think it's perfectly fair to tell people that I once completed Ironman Canada). The CompuTrainer is calibrated to each rider's weight and the fly wheel adjusts as you ride hills. In spinning, you can adjust your own resistance as you see fit. On CompuTrainers, the resistance changes for you based on the course and whether you want to or not, you better adjust your speed and power with it.

At the front of The Cycle Studio is a giant screen with the course and each rider's name, stats and place on the course. You best believe that for my first few rides I was consistently stuck in place number eight, thousands of miles behind place number seven. Number seven, though seated right in front of me, was so far off in the distance of the course that I would have to hop into a motorized vehicle, nay, a flying engine, to ever catch up with him.

The giant screen at the front of the studio with the course and each rider's stats.

The neat thing about The Cycle Studio is that each cyclist rides at his or her own pace. A 20-minute time trial (yes, it's as brutal and ferocious as it sounds) determines your LT (lactate threshold), which then determines your other heart rate zones, starting at Zone 1 or Tempo all the way up to Zone 6 or VO2 Max. So essentially, you are riding at your own skill level and your own ability. But once that competitive streak sneaks in, it's hard to resist trying to edge yourself past the person ahead.

My hybrid bike. Notice the pink accents.

Fancy road bike with slim tires and low handlebars.

For triathletes who want to improve their cycling performance, The Cycle Studio is top notch. Riders can actually race on real courses such as Kona, Louisville and Wisconsin. Most importantly, riders get personalized coaching from one of the best - Shea. Shea has competed in hundreds of triathlons, from sprint distance to Ironman. She is a competitive age-grouper, often winning sprint races and placing in the top 10 of her age group on the national level.

But besides her skills and impressive biography, Shea is warm, welcoming and funny. I am probably the only rider who visits The Cycle Studio with goals just to get a good workout (no plans anytime soon for an Ironman for me), but Shea coaches me just the same as she does her other riders ("core tucked in," "relax your shoulders," "get those watts up") and has the same high expectations for me as she does her top riders.

Bikes in storage at The Cycle Studio. Indiana winters mean riding inside. It's always 68 degrees and sunny at The Cycle Studio!

The Cycle Studio has shown me that with effort, patience and stamina come improved results (in my second time trial on Thursday my LT went up from 164 to 178). I have been riding at The Cycle Studio since last summer and can proudly state that my chain no longer falls off when I switch gears and I'm not consistently stuck in place number eight. After six months riding with Shea and her athletes, I am now a more confident person on and off the bike.

Fitting quote on a wall inside The Cycle Studio.

While I will never be the studio's next "Mindy Nicolet" - who was the Top Amatuer Female in the 2012 Ironman Arizona - Mindy and the other riders at The Cycle Studio inspire me. Athletes like Mindy remind me that there will always be people ahead of you in the race - sometimes by thousands of miles and other times by just a few miles. But you are truly in a race with only yourself - a race to achieve your own maximum watts and then maybe - hopefully - improve those watts over time. Baz Luhrmann said it best in his famous song "Everbody's Free To Wear Suncreen": Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself. 

PitFit Conditioning: Don't Stop, People Are Watching

Despite our reputation as the cornfield state, Indiana has it going on. Our state flower is the peony - quite possibly one of the prettiest and most elegant flowers; we produce more than 20% of the United States’ popcorn supply; we host the nation’s largest half-marathon; and we are the birthplace of James Dean, Kurt Vonnegut, Michael Jackson and John Mellencamp (how is that for diverse?).

But you can't write about Indiana without mentioning the Indy 500. No other race in the world has the traditions and statistics like the Indy 500. Needless to say, the Indy 500 is kind of a big deal.

So you can imagine my excitement when I heard about PitFit Training, a facility on the Northside of Indianapolis that trains Indy 500 drivers and also offers conditioning classes to the public. Since Jim Leo started PitFit in 1993, and opened his new facility in 2010, PitFit has been a game-changer in the development of motorsports-specific human performance training. The facility hosts chiropractic medicine, physical therapy, rehabilitation, massage, yoga by HTL Yoga and a training center filled with numerous fancy tools and machines to train race car drivers as well as people like me who just want a challenging, fun workout.

When I took my first PitFit Conditioning class last week, Jim didn't hesitate to announce my rookie status to the rest of the group and henceforth referred to me as "Amanda The Rookie." Totally fine. I knew I would successfully graduate from that status within an hour. Jim recorded my height and weight into his computer system and gave me a Polar heart rate monitor to strap around my chest. He then gathered the group around a white board to explain the different circuits and if needed, especially in the case of rookies like myself, demonstrate how to perform the exercise (if you have never done a Turkish Get-Up, yes, it is as difficult as it sounds). And then it was game time.

Jacobs Ladder, treadmills, flat screen with heart rates on display and other contraptions at PitFit.

Each circuit lasted one minute and had something unique to offer: CrossCore 180, battle ropes, Jacobs Ladder, kettlebells, Indo Boards, rowers and Concept 2 Ski Ergs to name a few. Jim even makes his own equipment, adding a steering wheel to a TRX to simulate the strength and coordination it takes to drive a race car. And because the group's heart rates were displayed on a flat screen the entire time, I was extra motivated to not let my heart rate dip lower than the average. Don't stop, people are watching...right?

Don't stop.

One of the coolest parts of the workout was seeing the names of J.R. Hildebrand, Scott Dixon and Pippa Mann on the various white boards throughout the room, and knowing that I was doing similar exercises as Indy 500 drivers and working out on the very same equipment they use on a daily basis. Not to mention, I took class alongside Charlie Kimball who drives the No. 83 car for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series (though I'll admit I didn't know this at the time).

PitFit is truly the real deal.

Following class, Jim gave me a personal lesson on the Dynavision D2, a fancy name for essentially a five foot board with lots of little squares that light up. When the light comes on, the user quickly taps it with one hand. The data - instantly displayed on a computer - shows if the user has better vision in a certain quadrant of the board. Jim explained that the board helps improve the driver's reaction, vision and peripheral skills. This reaction training is done after the driver's heart rate is elevated to simulate what really goes on inside a race car.

By the time I got home, Jim had already emailed the class a training session report with all our names and our training results including maximum heart rate, average heart rate and calories burned (all the more reason not to let your heart rate dip too low). My average heart rate was 148, my max heart rate was 179 and I burned 566 calories. Now why would you ever do a boring treadmill workout when you can have this much fun and burn almost 600 calories?

What? You don't practice changing tires everyday?

PitFit Conditioning classes are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5:30-6:45pm. Walk-ins are $20 or you can purchase five sessions for $75 or one month unlimited for $99. Do your body and mind a favor: get off the treadmill or elliptical and go have some fun!

The pit crew - 47 circuits complete on Jim's 47th birthday!

CrossFit: It Ain't Your Mama's Workout

If you participate in any type of physical activity, you've probably heard some buzz about the latest fitness trend - CrossFit. To be sure, CrossFit has been around since 2000 and has probably surpassed the "trend" category. Sometime within the past two years, CrossFit reached a tipping point in Indy. Up north, we have CrossFit Indy North in Noblesville, Inner Strength CrossFit in Castleton, CrossFit Fishers, CrossFit Carmel, CrossFit Zionsville and CrossFit Broad Ripple and downtown we have CrossFit Naptown.

So what exactly is CrossFit? I hear that question often and I have a hard time coming up with a concrete explanation because every workout, or WOD (workout of the day), is uniquely different. CrossFit is constantly varied, functional movements executed at high intensity. It's the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.

In other words, CrossFit is not easy.

Torture devices at CrossFit Zionsville: therabands for modified pull-ups, kettlebells and box jumps as tall as I am.

I've done many different types of workouts: hot yoga, pilates reformer, zumba, TRX, spinning, kickboxing, CompuTrainer and barre to name a few. I can very confidently state that CrossFit is the toughest workout I've done to date. You won't see anyone walking on a treadmill and reading Vogue. There are no pretty elliptical machines with built-in televisions. The only machines are rowers, powered solely by your muscles, not electricity. There are also plenty of intimidating torture devices including barbells, kettlebells, climbing ropes, squat stands, ab mats and PVC pipes.

The format is simple: a warm-up and a WOD. The actual workout is usually 20 minutes or less, but it's the most challenging 20 minutes of your life. Really. No joke. Here is what a typical class looks like:

Warm Up

Jump rope for 5 min, score = number of missed jumps (shoot for low score)

5 min to establish max reps on DU's or practice DU's

Strength:

1a. DB Seated Press 3x10

1b. 1 Legged lunge on Bench 3x10 (5 on each leg then switch = 1 set)

1c. DB Row 3x10

Conditioning:

"Fran"

21-15-9

Thrusters 95/65

Pull-ups

It ain't your mama's workout. I can only box jump on the shortest box, I have to "assist" my pullup by placing my feet in a theraband and when doing double unders, wait, I cannot yet do a double under. But in the CrossFit world, it's not necessarily about who can do the most pullups in five minutes or who can jump on the highest box. Each gym (what CrossFit refers to as "box") has its own mini community. The same members work out together at the same classes, they cheer each other on during workouts and they even share recipes. (CrossFit athletes commonly eat Paleo - a diet based on eating meats, eggs, non-starchy vegetables, seafood and some nuts and seeds.)

Luckily, I've found a wonderful new box in Zionsville. A dear friend, Elyse Merchant, spent three years after college personal training, assistant coaching and lead coaching at other CrossFit gyms. She realized that opening up Crossfit Zionsville was a personal BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) and went after it. Taking a class with Elyse can be summed up in one word: inspiring. It's not only her skills, her abilities, her strength and her passion that inspires me; it's her way of coaching and making everyone - from the most advanced to the most amateur - feel welcome.

Coach Elyse cheering me on during a 500 meter row.

The workout today involved a warm-up of practicing our jump rope skills for 10 minutes. Don't let this fool you because the jump rope routines were nothing like what you did in first grade during recess. Split jumps, one leg jumps, heel-click jumps, double under jumps, you name it, it was in there. We jumped rope for five minutes for accuracy and recorded the number of missed jumps (the aim was to get the lowest score). Next, we moved to the wall and did four rounds of a 20 second handstand hold or kick-up. I opted for the kick-ups. The actual WOD consisted of three rounds for time of: 30 wall balls, 30 ab mat sit-ups and a 500 meter row.

And then you pass out.

CrossFit is, simply stated, hard. But if you find the right coach who welcomes you and all the whining and injuries and needs that come with you (er, me), it's rewarding. Almost everyone starts at the same level when they begin doing CrossFit, but, like any feat in life, those who stick with it, consistently keep at it several times a week and are mentally willing to put in the hard work, achieve the most success. Elyse at CrossFit Zionsville offers an intro class every Thursday at 6pm and it's a great way to start learning the different movements and the correct form.

Do one thing a day that scares you - check!

My support crew at CrossFit Zionsville.

Rene's Bakery "Perfect Homemade" Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone likes homemade chocolate chip cookies. Even my nephew Alex, who doesn't like ice cream (what teenager doesn't like ice cream?) and used to pick the sesame seeds off from his hamburger bun, enjoys the occasional chocolate chip cookie. The perfect homemade chocolate chip cookie is dense but not cakey, chocolatey but not overpowering and soft but chewy all at the same time. Most importantly - it's simple. Boom. I said it. All you need is: flour, butter, sugar, leavening agents, eggs, vanilla, chocolate and plus one - your favorite addition.

(Yes, I'm indirectly referencing the famous New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie with all its fancy bread flour and cake flour and sea salt and chocolate with at least 60 percent cocoa content. What gives?)

If I am not in the mood to make my own batch of perfect homemade chocolate chip cookies, Taylor's Bakery is a timeless favorite (the bakery just celebrated its 99th anniversary last February). I can count on Taylor's for the best "white on white" (white cake, white icing) in town. Nothing fancy. Does the trick every time. The Flying Cupcake never fails me when I need that last minute, no-time-to-place-an-order birthday treat for a friend at work. With four locations (and one on the way), this cupcake bakery is convenient to almost any neighborhood in Central Indianapolis. Indy is also home to Confectioneiress in Zionsville, Sweet Lucinda's in Zionsville (a personal favorite!), Sweet Tooth Bakery on Mass Ave (so elegant) and Circle City Sweets at the Historic City Market. I have also heard some amazing buzz about The Cake Bake Shop, scheduled to open this summer. I'll be the first in line to taste test!

Rene's Bakery in Broad Ripple

Broad Ripple is home to Rene's Bakery, a quaint, European-style bakery owned by A. Rene Trevino. The robin's egg blue bakery is tucked behind a side street in Broad Ripple and resembles more of a small cottage than a bakery. In the summer, you can find Rene's goodies at The Broad Ripple Farmer's Market, where his oversized chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chewies are stacked by the dozen inside pretty little glass jars. Such a tease, if you ask me. The bakery is known for its coconut macaroons, chocolate chip cookies and elegant tortes, but when I walked in for a visit yesterday, everything looked taste-worthy. Even the croissants (who knew I liked croissants?).

Little jars of heaven at Rene's Bakery, including some of their most popular selections: chocolate dipped coconut macaroons, ginger molasses cookies and oatmeal walnut dried cherry cookies. 

You can imagine my delight when I was Google searching recipes for a family event and came across Rene's Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies on the Midwest Living website. Ever since, it's been my go-to cookie recipe. The trick, like most recipes, is to bulk up on the good stuff, and to not be too cautious when measuring out a cup of semisweet chocolate chips. I add a bit more chocolate chips and a whole lot more coconut than I'm supposed to. I also split up my three cups semisweet chocolate pieces between both chocolate chunks and chocolate chips.

Other tips for great (versus good) chocolate chip cookies:
-Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and scrape off the mound with a knife. I can't claim to know the exact science here, but I've learned from baker after baker that for accuracy purposes, the next best thing to weighing your flour is spooning your flour into the measuring cup.
-If you are using dough that was previously frozen, or chilled in the fridge for more than 30 minutes, leave the dough on your counter for 25-30 minutes or enough time for your dough to get to room temperature.
-Make sure the cookie sheets are completely cooled in between batches to prevent spreading and hence flat cookies.
-Remove the cookies from the oven when they are just starting to brown. Give yourself a safety net here. Underbake your cookies.
-Wait at least two minutes before transferring the cookie to a wire rack or plate. This recipe says to cool for one minute, but why risk it? Put. The. Spatula. Down.

Rene's Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Midwest Living

Ta da! My perfect batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Ingredients 
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon salt 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened 
1 cup granulated sugar 
3/4 cup packed brown sugar 
2 eggs 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
3 cups semisweet chocolate pieces (split between semisweet chunks and semisweet chips)
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

The Deal
In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. 
In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. 
Add granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed about 5 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. 
Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. 
Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can at one time with the mixer on low speed until all is incorporated.
Stir in chocolate pieces and coconut. 
Drop dough by 2 tablespoon portions 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Lightly press down on dough to flatten. 
Bake in a 350 degrees F oven 12 minutes or 14 minutes if dough is chilled or until edges are light brown. 
Cool on cookie sheets 2-3 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

Must Love Dogs

What's a Jewish girl in Indiana to do on Christmas? Well, yes, sleep of course (a much needed 12 hours to be exact). But also visit The Humane Society of Indianapolis because if you're a shelter dog, you don't know Christmas from any other day of the year.

If you know me and my family at all, you know the prerequisite to hanging out with us: must love dogs. Coincidentally, we started this sort of trend where all our dogs' names start with a "B." My current dog is Bubba. Before him we had Barkly. My aunt Debbie's former dog was Baxter. My sister's dog is Buster. On top of that, all our dogs have human-like qualities: Buster is "handsome" and "loves kids," Bubba is "a foodie" and "needs lots of one-on-one attention."

The most wonderful thing about a dog is their reaction when they see you walk in the back door: no matter if it's been an hour since you've been away or a minute, they are thrilled just by your presence. Bubba even gets excited when he sees a Jeep drive by because he thinks it's me inside the car. Melt my heart. When he saw me today, I swear I heard a few moaning sobs. Of joy.

My mom, an avid IndyHumane volunteer who puts in well above the required 8 hours/month, signed us up for the Christmas shift. When we arrived, we were happy to see that there were lots of other volunteers there, all working together to make sure each dog got out during those two hours (the volunteers have a very efficient system in place where each person writes in a special booklet noting the dog he or she walked and the time). I applaud the mother and daughter pair who had the floors in the puppy room almost sparkling by the time we got there (the puppy room, by the way, is worthy of a post in itself).

We started with Chiquita, a large boxer mix who was quite happy to get out of her kennel and into the great outdoors. We walked Barbie Kickstand, another boxer mix, who got her name because her front leg sort of bends out like a kickstand. This dog loves her tennis balls and is quite content fitting three in her mouth at the same time. The description on the website says she was found living outside near an alley for an extended period of time until some wonderful people finally gained her trust and brought her to safety at the shelter. Probably the most difficult part about volunteering at IndyHumane is overhearing stories about the animals' past lives, stories about the abuse and the abandonment before they became shelter dogs. And then with each uniquely sad story, realizing all over again that animal neglect and abuse is common.

Barbie Kickstand at IndyHumane

Next up was a beautiful clumber spaniel mix with a fluffy apricot coat appropriately named Christmas. She was an adorable dog who, like all the others, deserves a warm, cozy home with lots of toys and lots of love. We ended the evening with sweet little Foxy, a short coat Chihuahah who was so small, she could fit in one of my palms. Her miniature-sized sweater kept her from getting chilled in the brisk 33-degree weather (we joked that what Foxy really needs is a hot pink sweater and a pink diamond studded collar so she could hit the town Paris Hilton style).

Paris Hilton and her Chihuahua Tinkerbell, aptly dressed in a pink sweater

I love what IndyHumane does for our city and my family and I are happy to support their mission in any way we can. In 2011, they helped over 2000 cats and dogs find homes through adoption, reuniting pets with their owners and rescue transfers. The animals there don't have an expiration date - there is no predetermined time limit for how long an animal can remain on the adoption floor. Animals are not put down for time or space.

Their vision that "all Central Indiana animals are treated with dignity and respect and live free from cruelty, harm and neglect" mirrors my own belief that all animals deserve a loving, happy life.

Me and Foxy both dressed in layers

Love me, love my dog. -Latin proverb

Vanilla Raisin Granola

Vanilla Raisin Granola all packaged up and ready to be gifted

I'll admit it. I'm a granola addict. And I learned today that homemade granola tastes so much better than my typical Kashi Go Lean Crunch (not 100% granola by definition, but it does the job, sans guilt). My favorite granola is Bruce's Granola at Cafe Patachou. I made the mistake one morning of buying a 16 ounce bag of it at the counter when I was in major craving mode. When the woman went to ring me up, she said, "$14 please." At that point, as the line was building behind me with business men waiting to purchase their morning coffee, I was too ashamed (or better put, my craving was too intense), so I went ahead and shelled out the cash anyway. I went home and enjoyed a healthy scoop of that chunky, fruity, wonderful goodness of granola over plain Greek yogurt. Simple, filling and satisfying.

If I am not speaking your language, you clearly are no #granolachild. If this helps, here is how Patachou describes their fruity mixture of toasted oats, sundried cherries, raisins and almonds:

Worthy of its own blog, healthy and decadent at the same time, fruity but not too sweet, inspiring bad poetry and exorbitant shipping charges, packed in backpacks and on private planes, buttery, addictive, hangover-free, crunchy but not too political, strong, handsome, the Brad Pitt of daily goodness, making you feel like a great 70′s singer-songwriters song, top-down, like a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac, good on rainy days (especially the ones that turn snowy without notice), always the same, like your best friend of twenty years, the Mother to all others, granola at Cafe Patachou.

As the gift giving season is in full swing, I decided to make my own granola. I did a little research to figure out the basic elements, skipping over any recipes that did not include vanilla, honey and raisins. This granola is the perfect gift when placed in clear cellophane bags and tied with ribbon. Yesterday I dropped six bags off at a local pilates studio so some of my favorite instructors could enjoy a filling, sweet-but-not-too-sweet snack after class. Today the bags will be going to some of my co-workers. Everyone likes granola and everyone likes something homemade.

Vanilla Raisin Granola
Adapted from Eise's Homemade Granola

Granola on baking tray ready to be toasted

Ingredients
8 cups oats
2 cups sliced almonds
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
raisins (as much or little as you like)
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup honey
3 tablespoon vanilla

The Deal
Preheat oven to 300-degrees.
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
In a saucepan combine oil, honey and vanilla and bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute then pour over oat mixture.
Mix until all ingredients are moistened.
Divide and spread mixture over 2 large cookie sheets and bake at 300-degrees for 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven and leave on pans until the granola hardens (allow to dry completely if you prefer really crunchy granola). Break up the chunks, but leave a few for that extra crunch.