Melissa's Super Garlic Hummus

For years I tried to make hummus and could never get it right. I finally mastered it and then I went to Nicaragua for a year and didn’t cook. After coming back, its taken me a while to get the hang of it again. A lot of people have asked me for the recipe and I hesitate not because it is a secret, but because there isn’t really a recipe; I never measure anything and its always a mystery as to whether its going to turn out alright. But I thought it was time for me to at least try to describe the hummus-making process.

Melissa’s Super Garlic Hummus

• Chickpeas (aka, garbanzo beans). Though most things are better when made from scratch, I find that this my hummus is actually better when I use canned chickpeas. Still, I sometimes do buy dry beans, soak them, boil them, cool them, etc. It just requires a lot more planning ahead. If I use canned chickpeas, I opt for the Full Circle Organics brand. They are reasonably priced and low in sodium. If I’m making a big batch of hummus, I’ll use 2 cans (or around ½ bag of dried beans). For a small batch, 1 can is fine.
• Tahini. Its sesame paste. I use maybe 2 tablespoons per can of chickpeas. For a big batch, I’ll use more. But keep in mind, I don’t actually measure this stuff. You may prefer more or less.
• Garlic. At minimum, 4 cloves. This hummus isn’t called “Melissa’s Super Garlic Hummus” for nothing. Okay, you can use less than 4 cloves if you really want (especially if your cloves are particularly large). But keep in mind the astounding health benefits of raw garlic (a more powerful antibiotic than penicillin… it will cure what ails you!)
• Green onions. I use about 2 (both white and green parts) for a small batch. 3 or 4 for a large batch.
• Red onion. Maybe about ¼ of a small onion. Somewhat more for a large batch.
• Lemon juice. One small lemon. For a larger batch, that will also suffice, but it will turn out better if you can use a bit more. I just have trouble keeping lemons on hand. Oh, lime juice will also work too.
• Cumin, ground. I never measure this, so I have no clue how much I put in. Kind of a lot. Probably 2 or 3 teaspoons? You can start with a little and adjust to taste.
• Cayenne pepper. A generous “pinch.” Okay maybe about ½ tsp. More if you can handle it.
• Sea salt. It should be the kind that comes in large grains. I think Kosher salt would also work. If you are using canned chickpeas, be very careful with the salt. In fact, you might not even need it. With the low sodium organic canned chick peas, I do add salt. But regular canned chickpeas tend to be loaded with sodium, so just check the label.
• Cilantro, fresh. This is optional. Actually, it used to be a key ingredient in my hummus. I would put as much as a cup of it in. But it tends to give the hummus a green tinge, which is kind of weird. If I have some on hand I will use it. Lately I’ve just put in a few sprigs and I’ve really liked how it turned out.

Place all of these ingredients into a food processor. Add some cold water. I don’t know how much. Start small… maybe a few tablespoons? Blend up all the ingredients in the food processor. If it seems too thick, add a little bit more water. Continue blending for a minute or two until everything is nice and pasty. Taste it to see if it is okay. If it seems too bland, this generally means it needs more lemon juice or salt. Or cumin.

Mmmm, hummus. It is great on raw carrots and broccoli. It is sublime on pita bread, especially if you heat up the pita just a tiny bit. This is the one food I missed while I was in Nicaragua. Especially during the summer, it is a staple at our house. It makes for a great dinner and lunch when you don’t want to heat the house up by cooking something in the oven. Its a great snack too, and its usually a hit at parties. As long as you have some well-sealing Tupperware, it is highly transportable by bike.

I’m not sure how long it keeps; I usually eat it long before it would go bad. One thing I have noticed though is that I manage to not eat it all at once and it sits in the refrigerator overnight or for a day or two, it actually gets better. Maybe there’s more mixing of the flavors or something, I don’t know.

At any rate, I suppose I’ve got lunch on the brain. Too bad I didn’t make any hummus this morning before I left the house. I did manage to run for the first time after Sunday’s 20-miler. The blister on my foot isn’t quite so bad anymore, but I have another blister on my toe—that I didn’t even notice while I was running—that is much, much worse. I managed about 2 miles today, but it wasn’t so great. I may have mentioned that the other runners in the group were going really fast; my legs are reminding me today that I ran the 20-miler more as a “race” than a training run. Seriously, my muscles should not be so fatigued. Hopefully this does not spell disaster for the marathon. It does take an insanely long amount of time to recover from an effort like that. Well, at least for me.

Anyway, I’ve to go and possibly make some hummus for lunch. Thanks for reading!

Blister in the sun

Yesterday, I went for a short run (I can’t say that it was easy, given that the winds out of the west were 30mph), and the whole time I had pain in my calf and shin. It wasn’t excruciating; just the kind of thing you don’t want lingering as you start a 20 mile run (as I was scheduled to do with the running club the next day). I took 3 ibuprofin and strapped a makeshift icepack to my leg. I recalled having had this type of pain before and tried to remember what I’d done for it. Then it came to me: new shoes.

A pair of running shoes is good for about 400-500 miles; I have no idea how many miles are on the shoes I’d been wearing (probably not that many), but suddenly and without any warning, it was time for a new pair. Rob and I headed over to Body N Sole with the gift certificate my sister gave us for Christmas that we’d never gotten around to using. Without too much hesitation, I chose the Mizuno Wave Nirvanas. I’ve run in Mizunos for a couple of marathons, and I really like the brand, so I thought it was time to go back to them. I realized it was probably not wise to buy a brand new pair of shoes for a 20-mile run, but desperate times call for desperate measures. My calf/shin still hurt at night, so I took 3 more ibuprofin and went to bed with ice strapped on my leg.

In the morning, my leg felt fine, but the temperature was hovering around 40 degrees. I dressed in layers and took off to meet up with the running club. Everything was fine for the first couple of miles. Most of the people there were only doing about 13 or 14 miles, and everybody was going kind of fast. I forced myself not to chase the lead group and stayed with a couple of people who were going more my pace. By mile 4, the temperature seemed to have raised about 20 degrees and I was boiling in my layers. I stashed my long sleeves behind a tree near the “aid station” and rolled up my Capri pants. Most of the run was out in the country—empty stretches of country roads, with cornfields on one or both sides and sometimes lots of trees. In fact, it reminded me a lot of Nicaragua. I didn’t really care that I was mainly alone out there. I just tried to keep the lead group in sight and kept scanning the trees for monkeys (there weren’t any).

Long about mile 8, the bottom of my right foot started hurting, in the tell-tale way that a blister does. Eventually I pulled off into a corn field and readjusted my sock, but that didn’t seem to help any. A couple miles later, I pulled off again to try to make further adjustments. I’d worn my Bitch Socks, as I often do for long runs, and they’d never bothered me before. But then again, it hasn’t been this hot for a while. The sun-warmed asphalt, combined with an unfortunately placed seam on the Bitch Socks was wreaking havoc on my foot. I ended up cutting back to the starting point with the 14-milers, but I wasn’t sure what to do from there. I was thinking that I would have to get in my car and go home, apply aloe and massive quantities of bandaids, and then try to do the remaining 6. It turned out that one of the other guys who had been running had a spare pair of socks that he loaned me. I turned my Bitch Socks inside out (so that the seam was no longer rubbing my foot) and put the spare socks on over these (double layers can stave off blistering). I ended up finishing off the last 6 miles; it didn’t feel great, but at least it was bearable.

After making it back home, showering, eating, and re-grouping, it was time to head over to the Bike Fest. We met Aimee and Co. over there; we all rode bikes around for a while and then went to the Custard Cup to refuel. So much for getting down to my ideal marathon weight. Maybe next time.

Rob and Meli on the tandem

Little Miss C. leading the bike parade


The view from the back of the tandem bike is always the same...

After we came back home, Rob spent some time in the bike hole (aka, garage) working on Ida May, my super petite, ultra light (18 pounds!) road bike that I have been too afraid to ride ever since I crashed last fall. He made a bunch of adjustments to the handlebars, pedals, etc, to make me feel more stable on the bike. It took some coaxing, but he eventually convinced me to ride around the block a couple of times. It went okay, but its going to be a long time before I voluntarily take Ida May out onto the open roads.

I’ve spent the rest of the day eating (no wonder I keep gaining weight instead of losing it) and am pretty worn out. I’d best get to sleep soon and try to stave off taper madness. Thanks for reading!

May Day

We’ve made it to May Day. Surely, surely this means that the long winter is over.

Leaves are budding everywhere, and even though we’ve come out of a long, dark, cold winter, it feels exactly like the beginning of “spring” in Nicaragua last year—after months of being dry, parched, and feverishly hot, the world seemed like a gentle place once again as the bare trees flushed with the first tender leaves. I look up at all the trees in Urbana, and sometimes I expect Wrinkle Belly to be there.

Springtime in Urbana
Trees at the arboretum


These "irises" sure look a lot like daffodils...


Red bud tree in our side yard


Bunny rabbit waiting for someone to borrow a tiller, till our garden plot, and then plant some seedlings.

One night earlier this week I kept waking up from dreams about Nicaragua. Sometimes I was looking for Eduardo but he wasn’t there; other times, he was just as smiling and golden as when we left. Every time when I woke up, my first thought was a sort of panicked remembrance that I had not yet received my passport back from the US government (I had submitted it for renewal earlier in the month). The whole process just seems a bit sketchy: you send off your passport, your application form, and a check for $75, not knowing when or if they’ll ever get it back to you (estimated processing time: 4-6 weeks). Well, it had been less than 2 weeks since I sent all this stuff in, but the very next day after those Nicaragua dreams, my passport arrived in the mail. Now, all I need to do is figure out a good week (or weeks?), and Eduardo, here I come.

At any rate, the semester is winding down. I’ve all but survived teaching my first class ever. All that’s left is the final exam, so I feel like I am coasting. That’s probably why I’m so eager to get back to Nicaragua again. And on the plus side, now that I’m not spending every minute preparing lectures, I’ve actually done a tiny bit of work on my dissertation.

This morning I had a dentist appointment. I actually really like my dentist. Probably because at my dentist's office, they all seem amazed at how beautiful my teeth are. Seriously, I get complimented on my teeth all the time. Once a tourist in Nicaragua remarked on how perfect my teeth were and asked me if my father was a dentist. More recently, at the meetings earlier this month, I met a girl from London who as so amazed at my teeth she asked me what brand of toothpaste I used and then resolved to purchase a case of it before returning back to England. I’m actually kind of paranoid about my teeth, since they are pretty much my one redeeming physical feature. I used to have all these nightmares about my teeth falling out or turning black (which my psychologist sister assured me was actually pretty common dream). All winter long, my teeth were super sensitive; I practically had to drink warm water just to tolerate it. I was so sure that something was really wrong with my teeth. The past couple of weeks they haven’t hurt as bad, so I was a little relieved. Today at the dentist I found out that tooth sensitivity is actually really common during the wintertime, especially for people who are outdoors a lot (biking and running). They gave me some special toothpaste and told me my teeth were fine; lovely in fact. But I am irked by the trauma this winter has seemed to cause for every part of me: teeth included. I hope spring is here to stay.

I went to the department after my dentist appointment; something was going on, and they had a bunch of donuts and bagels in the main office. One of the professors, S.A. was in there and said something to the effect of “Help yourself” while gesturing to the donuts. I made some comment about out I had just come from the dentist, and I didn’t want to eat anything yet while my teeth were so nice and clean. S.A told me that I always had clean teeth, adding, “You’ve got the best teeth in the department.” It was a matter of fact sort of statement.

So there you go. I wish I had been voted “most likely to succeed,” but I guess I’ll settle for “best teeth.”

That’s all for now; I’ve got to hop on Iris 2 and get over to Aimee’s for dinner. Thanks for reading.

Lovely island, lovely teeth

Reunion

This weekend we had a big reunion in Indianapolis with the Dunlap clan. Of course, not everybody could make it, but for those of us who were able to go, it was really great to see each other.

All the childless people were staying at Derek’s, which on Friday night, ended up just being Rob and me. Derek had gone all out. You should have seen how many boxes of pancake mix and cartons of eggs he had gotten. We stayed up way too late on Friday night reminiscing and playing with Ravage—an 8 pound Chihuahua and mini-pincher (spelling?) mix. Of all the dogs in the world, Ravage is probably the only one I truly love. Since the last time I saw Ravage, Derek taught him a few more tricks: one was called “Type my Dissertation” and the other was “Scratch my Back”—both of which are really great tricks. All weekend long, Ravage stayed close to Rob and whenever Rob was sitting, Ravage would curl up in his lap. I was a little bit jealous, but Derek explained that Ravage seeks warmth, and since Rob tends to radiate heat, we figured that explained Ravage’s obsession.



On Saturday everyone met at Chuck E. Cheese’s for lunch. Yes, Chuck E. Cheese’s. I’m not sure if this was the idea of the kids or of the parents. Since I don’t like pizza or screaming children, it certainly wasn’t my idea. But I do love ski-ball (and they had a fairly decent salad bar), so it was a win-win situation.

Ski-ball fiends

Then we all went to hang out at Amy’s afterwards. This was probably my favorite part of the whole weekend. These are the people I have known so long that they are family rather than friends. It was a little overwhelming to me to see us all grown up and many with kids of their own. I still see us as we were decades ago. The first day of 4th grade, when Amy and I became friends out on the playground at recess. In Chuck’s pool at a New Year’s or Halloween party, singing “On Moonlight Bay” with David. Sitting around the lunch table, building towers with Snapple cans. School dances, football games, Detweiller Park, the Maid-Rite, the Dollar Theatre. All the stuff of Dunlap Love.

Group photo (hope its okay with you guys that I put this in)

Rob and I left on Saturday night to come home. Since I’ve committed to the marathon, I had to do a 20-mile run this weekend, so I did it today. It certainly wasn’t the best 20 miles I’ve ever run, but at least I put in the miles. And what is it they say? A bad dress rehearsal means a great performance? Well, I’ve still got 1 more 20-miler to go before I’ll consider myself ready for this marathon, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed that that one goes better. I think I may be a bit overtrained; I did run over 45 miles this week, which is probably the most I’ve ever run in any week of my life. All the concrete in this city is certainly taking its toll on my knees and other joints. Long before the end of today’s run, I was wincing with every step. I guess I’d better go put some ice on; one good thing is the weather has finally gotten warm, so it feels like heaven to be outside.

Thanks to all for your hospitality and friendliness in Indianapolis this weekend. We ought to do it again soon; it was just so good to see everybody. I wish I could offer my place, but unfortunately, there wouldn’t be a whole lot of room for everybody to stay. I’m wondering if we could plan some kind of camping trip for this summer? Maybe there’s some of centralized location where we could camp out? Think about it: that would be hella fun.

Alright, I’ve got to go put ice on my knees. Thanks for reading.

Earthquake

I woke up at 4am and the house was shaking. I could hear a vibrating noise, and everything was rattling. It seemed to go on forever as I struggled to rouse myself from that deep sleep stupor and figure out what was happening. Rob was still sound asleep. As the shaking continued, I realized we must be having an earthquake. It could have been seconds, minutes or hours later that the shaking stopped, and then I lay there awake, in sort of a panic—thinking about my dissertation, the class I’m teaching, the new microbe opportunity SL just told me about (more on that some other day), etc. Waking up in a panic at 4am is nothing new for me; waking up with the house rattling isn’t something that happens too often.

A few hours later the alarm went off, and I mumbled incoherently to Rob that I thought we’d had an earthquake in the night. “Maybe it was an elephant going by our house,” he quipped, in reference to the circus which is apparently in town. But a few minutes later he got online and saw the emails and news stories, and sure enough, there had been an earthquake.

According to the News Gazette, it was a 5.2 earthquake centered near West Salem, IL and just 66 miles from Evansville, IN (where Grandpa and Grandma B live). That’s 140 miles away from us. The earthquake was strong enough to make the skyscrapers in Chicago sway (230 miles away) and was felt as far as Cincinnati, and Atlanta.

There was one time shortly after we moved in (during the fall of 2007) that I woke up to the same thing in the middle of the night, sure we were having an earthquake. But I never did find any news stories about it. Maybe that time, it really was an elephant going by. This time though, it looks like it was an earthquake for sure.

In memory of Scooby

In loving remembrance of Scooby, who was born on or near December 1, 2006 and died on Friday, April 13th, 2007. Rest in peace, Scooby.

The Meetings: April 9-12

The Meetings are kind of the high point of the physical anthropologist’s year. As one of my colleagues described it, “Its like a vacation, but with science!” There’s a lot of schmoozing, boozing, and staying up very late at night. All day long, from about 8am-6pm, you’re going to talks and looking at posters: alternately getting yourself all revved up about exciting new research or becoming disgusted with people who are jumping the shark. You see people that you may have once been really close to but you’ve both gone to different places and now see each other only once a year. You might stay up until 2am talking about the proportion of genetic variation to environmental variation in life history traits, while drinking obscenely overpriced Sam Adams from the hotel bar. Its a 4-day ultra-marathon adrenaline rush.

I presented a poster this year on infant and juvenile mortality in howler monkeys, and I’ve been extremely stressed about it since I submitted the abstract 7 months ago. My major source of stress was that the initial abstract I submitted ended not panning out and I had to change everything, including the title of my presentation. People often times make changes to what they have submitted, but in my case it was extreme. My paper was supposed be about how seasonality influenced the risk of dog attacks on howlers: specifically, risk of dog predation was elevated during the dry season. As I kept trying to put this together I realized that even though it was probably true, I didn’t really have the right kind of data to back up these claims. So I had to change the whole thing. At least twice a week for the last 7 months, I have woken up in the middle of the night hyperventilating about this. For some reason, I was paranoid that I was going to get into really big trouble from the scientific community (or maybe just from SL) for presenting something completely different than what I had submitted.

The super mini version of my poster.

But it ended up okay. The meetings are such a tour de force that no one really scrutinized my abstract and compared it to the poster I presented, so for the first time since September, I can breathe a sigh of relief. I did have a couple of really big name people come up to me and talk about my poster for a long time, which was kind of surprising. Also, everybody was really amazed at the high mortality rate of infants and juveniles at this site: about 50% of all infants and juveniles in my study groups died. In all honesty, I didn’t think that was too terribly out of line with what has been published for howlers. But when one of the biggest names in primatology (who has studied howlers since before I was born) told me that that was really high, I am led to believe that either something really weird is going on on Ometepe, or I have seriously miscalculated.

As for the rest of the meetings, there were parts that enthralled me to no end, and parts that seriously jumped the shark. The best session I attended was on primate fall-back foods (foods they have to fall back to during lean parts of the year) and was chaired by no other than B.W.—the master of toughness testing, without whom none of my dissertation fieldwork would have been possible. A lot of really great people gave talks at this session, including my all-time primatological hero, S. Altmann. He’s been doing primatology for over 50 years, and his massive longitudinal study on the ontogeny of baboon feeding behavior served as the basis of my own dissertation project. I got to speak with him briefly after his talk, but unfortunately I was so awestruck I came across like a babbling fool, so hopefully I’ll have a chance to meet him again someday when I am more coherent. Aside from seeing Altmann, getting 2 hugs from BW, as well as my yearly hug from BGR, the best part of the meetings was all the quality time I got to spend with the other grad students in the program: we’re a good bunch.

At any rate, the meetings were a success overall. Now that they are finished, I hope my HPA axis returns to baseline functioning and I can begin to focus my attention on all the other areas where it is needed. Thanks for reading!