I’m Emily.
I blog, write, teach, and cook.

I felt great after the 25-mile ride yesterday, but can hardly move after riding 10 miles this evening! After work (around 5), David and I drove to the Minuteman Bikeway, a paved bike path that goes through Bedford, Lexington, Arlington, and Cambridge, and is used by a lot of commuters. I’d definitely like to go back when I’m not so exhausted from a long day at school (and sore from the day before…though I didn’t hurt until I got back on the bike!). I don’t like it as much as the Nashua River Rail Trail because there are a number of points where the trail crosses busy roads, so you have to come to a stop and wait for traffic. Still, it was a nice change of pace!

Today we did another ride on the Rail Trail, going 25 miles this time. I’m no where near as sore as last week, even though we went farther and I went a lot faster. We brought the camera along! I have a lot of photos, though we hardly stopped at all, and when we did it was very quick. I’ve found that if I spend more than a minute off of the bike I have time to realize how exhausted I am and it’s hard to keep going.

This swamp was a bit smelly, but beautiful!

It got a bit more overcast as the ride went on, which felt quite nice!

This is the Unquetynasset Brook. There is an Osprey nest in the upper right corner.

It is such a beautiful trail! I feel so good!

“Never again, or again and again?: Teaching students about genocide and creating a classroom of activists.”

The proposal I submitted to the National Coalition of Essential Schools’ annual conference, Fall Forum, was accepted! Shannon and I will be presenting our genocide unit in New Orleans!!

(More on this, but right now I’m too excited!)

Last night there was still nothing, but this afternoon when I came home from work, one of the pots was showing signs of green:

So exciting!

Uncle John sent me this NPR article yesterday, which explains the benefits of quinoa. At the bottom of the article are a few quinoa recipes. I made this one for dinner (I know, it says it’s a breakfast porridge) last night.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of dried apricots
• 1/4 cup of sliced almonds*
• Milk (to taste)
• Brown sugar, honey, or Agave Nectar (to taste)

*Instead of measuring this out, I sprinkled almonds on the top of each bowl

This wasn’t in the original recipe, but when I make it again I will add:

• One granny smith apple, chopped into small pieces (for a tart flavor, to contrast the sweetness)
• Dried cranberries

Directions:

1) Boil the two cups of water, and add the quinoa.

2) Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for five minutes.

3) Add the cinnamon, apricots, cranberries, etc. Continue simmering until the water is absorbed.

4) Add the almonds, milk, and sweetener of choice.

We at this with a green salad, since we were having it for dinner.