Lernen und Musik

So afuna evilly opened the gateway to Duolingo.com, and ever since then I've been spending a few minutes a day learning German. I am surprised at how easy the lessons are - I'm usually a bit slow at learning languages (I have some French and Italian courses under my belt), but I really appreciate the verbal and written exercises. It's an addictive fun way to spend my time more constructively in the evenings. So much so, I had to add it to my List of Happy. The only downside is that I've been playing with Duolingo instead of practicing guitar. Maybe I'll pull the guitar out today to compensate.

In other news, because of the gov't shutdown, there's not a whole lot that I can do in the office (and get paid for), so I've been taking some leave. This means I've had a little time to relax and do things I never have time to do (I'm starting to get used to midday naps). And though it probably isn't the best time to do so, I went searching for a used iPod nano (3rd generation) and found one on Amazon that wasn't too expensive. I used to have the same iPod, but lost it on our honeymoon. However, I still have a couple of accessories for it, including a sleeve for workouts/running. So I decided to buy a used one so that I can have some tunes while running again.

Which gets to the fun part of this post. fenjer posted some of her top favorite songs right now, so I thought I'd do the same. ( this way thar be videos )

Speaking of, if you have good recs for songs that I can run to, I'd love to hear them. :D

Chocolate-Cherry-Coconut Bread Pudding (Vegan)

An easy way to glamour up a regular bread pudding.

Ingredients:

~10 slices of leftover bread, or bread ends
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2/3 cup sugar
3 cups plain unsweetened soy milk
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 block extra firm tofu, crumbled
1 tsp coconut extract

Directions:

Grease an 8 x 8 glass pan. Tear/shred the bread slices into small chunks (about 1/2-3/4 inch) and arrange in the bottom of the pan. Stir in the dried cherries and unsweetened coconut. In a medium saucepan, combine the soy milk and sugar, and heat until just simmering. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips until well-melted/incorporated.

In a food processor/blender, crumble the tofu and add the coconut extract and about 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture. Blend until creamy, then add the rest of the chocolate mixture and blend until smooth. Be careful and hold a dishcloth over the food processor/blend, as the mixture is hot and will need to vent.

Once the mixture is fully blended, pour it over the bread/cherry/coconut mixture. Make sure the bread is well-soaked, and let sit for 20-30 minutes so that the bread absorbs some of the milk. Bake for 1 hr at 350 F.

Serve with coconut whipped cream, and, if you fancy, flakes of dark vegan chocolate.