It’s Almost Here and Bulgur Wheat Honey Browns

Philadelphia Marathon is almost here.   I have moments of confidence then moments of panic.  Because I train alone, it’s very hard to maintain a race pace so the question still remains, what IS my marathon pace?  I know what I want it to be but, don’t we all.

Ted and I went to Barnes and Noble last night and of course I perused the running books.  While sitting reading through one of the books (I love that – you can actually go through an entire magazine  then not buy it ), I came across a reference to a book by Matt Fitzgerald regarding Running with the Mind.  Immediately, I scanned the shelves for this book and found ”RUN: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel” by Matt Fitzgerald.  A brief summary of the book’s focus:

Fitzgerald’s mind-body method will revolutionize your training, redefine your limits, and extend your running potential.  With “RUN” you can find optimal balance of intensity and enjoyment, volume and recovery, repetition and variation.  As the miles add up, you will become increasingly confident that you are doing the right training on the right day, from one season to the next.

Since I rarely check my Garmin when training or running, I figured this was the book for me.  I’ll try to absorb as much as I can in the next few days.

The weather looks pretty good in Philadelphia for Sunday.  Hope it stays that way.

Let ‘Er Roll – A Recipe

With the holidays coming, it’s always fun to have some homemade rolls on hand.

Sure, you can get some pretty darn good bakery/grocery rolls, but nothing really beats homemade does it?

This recipe uses bulgur wheat, a little honey and brown sugar to make an irresistible wholesome roll.  They freeze really well so don’t worry about making too many. It’s early and we have a few more holidays to celebrate.

Makes about 36 rolls

First Dough:

• 2 2/3 Bulgur Wheat #1
• 4 cups of water to soak the wheat
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 TBS active dry yeast
• 3 TBS packed brown sugar
• 3 TBS honey
• 1 cup white whole wheat bread flour

Place the bulgur in a bowl and pour the 4 cups of water on top.  Allow the wheat to soak up all the water. Give it 30 minutes or so.

Add the oil and stir it into the bulgur.  Add the yeast, brown sugar, honey, and flour to the bulgur and mix well. Cover with clean towel and put in a warm, draft free place to rest for 45 minutes.

Second Dough:

• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 to 4 cups bread flour
• 2 TBS olive oil

Uncover the first dough.  Add the eggs and salt and mix well.  Add 3 cups of flour to the dough and either knead on a lightly floured surface or turn into a heavy duty mixer with dough hook and knead for 10 minutes.  The dough will be a little sticky and wet. It’s DEFINITELY easier to let the mixer do the work.

Oil the bowl and put the kneaded dough into it, turning to coat all sides with oil.  Cover with cloth and put in warm, draft free place for 1 hour.

Oil a large baking pan.

Punch down the dough then divide it into 36 pieces.  Roll each into a ball and place into the pan about 2 inches apart.  Allow to rest, covered with towel for 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Remove towel from rolls and bake for 25 minutes.

If you’ve ever made Tabouli and don’t know what to do with the left over bulgur wheat?  Now you know.