Hahaha I definitely spoke too soon about avoiding jet lag, I feel like I have a Teletubby suit on that is filled with sand, that’s how much effort it’s taken to roll out of bed and lift up any of my limbs these past few days. I am Laa Laa (the second A’s are silent?!). And it’s probably not helping that I’ve fallen into a routine of not only staying up past my bedtime and hyperventilating at the figure skating and then giving my undivided attention to the post-show with Charlie White and Kristi Yamaguchi and Ben Agosto, but also allowing time to come down off of all of the excitement and cleansing my palate before bed by watching something fictional on Netflix. It’s this whole routine and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better because tonight is the ladies’ short program obviously, tomorrow is the ladies’ hockey final, and on Thursday I’m going to be teaching a class at Plum’s in South Dakota during the ladies’ long program and then watching it on DVR afterward. If you @ me with any spoilers that night before I watch it, I am blocking you at once. 

Ok, a quick warm take on last night’s ice dance: HOLY GUACAMOLE, I am moved. I couldn’t even stay in my seat or breathe regularly for the last group, it was all so much. I love that Virtue and Moir won. They skated their butts off and deserved that ending to their career (and prelude to their marriage?!?1!!), and I’ll be binging their reality show once the Olympics are over. But. What I love just as much as their winning, is the fact that we are going to get to see Papadakis and Cizeron perform again and again for years to come. Like, we should have been in a dark theater watching that program unfold on a well-lit stage, and it sucks that they couldn’t have tied with the Canadians and also won gold but the fact that we even got to watch them perform how they did was a prize for us all. My pizza analogy is that Virtue/Moir are Chicago pizza: their extremely extra performance was amazing and delicious and something I can commit to being wowed by once a while, while Cizeron/Papadakis are New York pizza, I could watch them every single day. I LOVE THEM BOTH. 

Shib Sibs were obviously awesome/clean/powerful/great, but I find myself wanting them to go way further in the realm of sibling storytelling. Romantical storylines are obviously all over ice dancing, so it’s easy to feel like that might put the Shib Sibs at a disadvantage, but I feel like that should only open up the opportunity to surprise us with something different. I keep thinking about what Justin Peck did in “The Times Are Racing” with his gender neutral roles, and how that went against the norm in ballet and came out as powerfully as it did. Or like how Eleven and Hopper stole all of our hearts with zero romance. I’m Monday-morning-quarterbacking here since, seriously, I know nothing except for my emotions, but I just found myself wanting their insane athleticism to be matched by an equally compelling story.

In other news, while we were in Korea, my second book became available for pre-order! Short Stack Yogurt can be ordered here, and it will be out on March 13th! *Throws blue and red Tide Pod shaped confetti in the air* (We are having a party at Kittsona in Grand Forks to celebrate and I’ll share details for that in a bit.) I had the greatest time putting together this collection of recipes since the possibilities with yogurt are endless and very tasty. I stuffed yogurt into every type of dish I could think of, from beverages to bread to soup to cookies, and I didn’t even get sick of it. After about six months of testing, I narrowed my selection down to 27 recipes, but that was too many so we had to cut a good handful and that was like trying to pick a favorite Macaroni but I’ll be able to post the recipes that were cut here and on IG. I’m just so excited to share this little book with you and I hope it gets you all *jazz hands* about yogurt!! (And FYI, all of the recipes in the book are vegetarian except for two 🥦🥕🍳🍅)

Here is one of the outtakes! I hated cutting this one because it’s become one of our favorite go-to easy dinners. It’s a filling chickpea pancake topped with creamy Greek yogurt, a pile of the garlickiest lemoniest broccolini, and a shower of parmesan. It maxes out on flavor, simplicity, and unfussiness, so it’s just perfect for a Tuesday. Or a Monday or a Wednesday. (May be a little too healthy for Thursday-Sunday though. 😜) 

Worth mentioning: the broccolini scenario here (that is, everything except for the socca/yogurt/parm) is one of my favorite go-to vegetable sides. It comes together in 10 minutes and makes me love broccolini. 

socca with yogurt and garlic broccolini

serves 2-3

ingredients

for the socca

1 c (120g) chickpea flour

1 c water

2 tb olive oil, plus more for pan

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Black pepper

for the Broccolini

2 tb olive oil

4 cloves garlic, sliced

8 oz broccolini, chopped into 3/4” pieces

Juice of 1 lemon

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Black pepper

for the Topping

1 c (225g) whole milk greek yogurt

Crushed red pepper

Kosher salt

Black pepper

1/2 c shredded parmesan, or to taste

clues

To prep the socca, whisk together the chickpea flour, water, olive oil, salt, and a few turns of pepper. Let it sit for a bit while you cook the broccolini (no need to worry about covering it). To cook the broccolini, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the broccolini and cook, stirring, until crisp tender, about 7 minutes. Toss with the lemon juice and season with salt and a bunch of turns of black pepper. Set it aside, either on a plate or in a skillet over very low temp just to keep it warm.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add a layer of olive oil and then pour 1/4 of the socca batter into the skillet. Cook on both sides until set. Repeat with remaining batter to make 4 large pancakes. Spread each pancake with 1/4 cup yogurt and top with broccolini. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper, another pinch of salt, a turn of black pepper, and a heavy sprinkle of parmesan, 

Photos by chantell and brett! And this cool quilted garment I am wearing is made by carleen!!