APPC-V

A key member of the Annenberg 2020 election team studies the data.

I’m always behind the times. No one told me about the 4-minute workout, which apparently has been a thing for years. Here’s an article about a new study on the potential benefits of very short spurts of intense exercise. Especially now, when we’re sitting, like, way too many hours a day.

I’m not a huge chocolate person or a cake person, but lately I’ve been wanting nothing more than a slice of chocolate cake. Here are two recipes that I’ve tried. One just happens to be vegan (no milk, eggs or butter) and the other is gluten-free (almond or hazelnut flour). I didn’t take photos, but trust me, they looked JUST like the photos in the recipes.

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake: This is the vegan cake, which is incredibly moist and chocolate-y. You can even skip the icing, and it’s still delicious.

Crispy Chocolate Cake With Hazelnut & Sour Cream: This is the gluten-free cake. It’s a little drier and is better with the topping, which gives it a nice sweet, tart kick.

Have you been wondering or worrying about your plants at the office? So far, most are doing fine! They’re watered every couple of weeks by me or Lena. This Wall Street Journal article “What’s Become of Office Plants Abandoned in the Coronavirus Shutdown?” describes how other offices and workers handled the dilemma over taking care of their plants. 
(WSJ subscription free with Penn ID)

Classes will take place on both Zoom and Instagram Live (@penncampusrec).  Click on the link below to join the group exercise class you’d like to participate in!  NOTE: you must enter the password to enter meetings on Zoom.

For gardeners, spring is when we dream big: flower beds and window boxes filled with stunning flowers and pots and plots crammed with vegetable plants ready to harvest. (Yeah, talk to me in August, after bugs, heat, drought and weeds.) During this pandemic season, I’ve been gardening with a vengeance, or at least as much as the rain and lack of seeds and plants will allow. If you’re interested in gardening, check out this NPR article “This Is a Good Time to Start a Garden: Here’s How.” I’ve also been binge watching “Gardener’s World” on BritBox with Britain’s favorite gardener, Monty Don, with whom I’m slightly obsessed. 

For those that are looking to add a little more poetry to their life, I highly recommend subscribing to “I dreamed you were a poem,” which drops a lovely little piece of poetry off in your inbox every morning. 

As for my favorite poem, it comes from poet Nayyirah Waheed (her book “salt.” is a masterpiece.) This particular piece from her has always stuck with me. — Madison

Not long before quarantine became a reality, I bought myself a piece of oak as a birthday gift for myself. As soon as I typed the second half of that sentence I realized what a Wild Guy I am. Anyway, I’m glad I had something nice to work with for a few weekends. Since I wasn’t going anywhere, I took the time to practice with hand tools for everything except the initial cuts. It was a really nice way to forget about everything for a while.

I keep getting in trouble for building things and putting them in our already small row-home. I think once we can get some hinges this will be used for baby blanket storage and then a toy box.

Hope you’re all able to find things to take your mind off of other things!

I’ve always enjoyed baking and cooking, so I’ve been finding even more time to make all kinds of great food lately.

I made some delicious no-knead bread (recipe from King Arthur Flour here) to go with Italian vegetable soup (our second batch in 2 weeks, because we now have lots of time to sit around chopping cups and cups of veggies). We also made colcannon with potatoes, cabbage, and bacon, which I’d never had before but have decided it needs to be part of my go-to rotation of meals. I’ve also made applesauce, cookies, beans, cornmeal hotcakes, and more!

This past week was also my first time celebrating Passover! We had a virtual seder with my boyfriend’s family, eating brisket and potato kugel we had delivered and drinking grape juice from CVS. And we’ve been eating chocolate covered matzah, mandel bread, and matzah brei all week. (And some healthier things too, I swear!)

I also tried my hand at making the dalgona coffee I’ve been seeing everywhere on social media – it’s just instant coffee, sugar, and water that you whisk or whip together until stiff and foamy. Very strong and a little bitter, but definitely a fun experiment!

Next up: sourdough starter? We’ll see how that goes…