Holiday wrap up

 

As small business owners, we don't get time off for the holidays. Karel has been extremely busy with bike fits and I have had several nutrition consults. Alongside coaching, we have been rather busy lately. 

But we have been able to carve out a bit of playtime out in nature. 

On Friday, we drove to Dupont and parked at Fawn Lake access area. For my first official mountain bike ride, Karel took me on several trails and I had so much fun. With each trail, my skills improved. And if I struggled or found myself scared and unclipping, I would go back and practice again. Karel would stop and help me find the best line to take around/on limbs and rocks and he would also show me how to execute certain skills. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed myself out in nature, on my mountain bike (well, Karel's old mountain bike).

We rode for around 2:40, covered 19 miles and accumulated over 2400 feet elevation gain. I really loved being in the forest and having to navigate through water crossings, over/down limbs and rocks and tight turns. After the ride we went for a ~2 mile off-road run. I could not stop smiling as I had so much fun for almost 3 hours. 

After our morning adventure, Karel finished up the cooking for our traditional Czech Xmas dinner on the 24th. The staples include potato salad made w/ shredded celery root, parsnips and carrots, along with peas and topped with hard boiled eggs. Instead of carp (fish) soup, Karel uses Tilapia and fries it. He made tofu for me (fried). We also had Vánočka (Christmas bread) which is similar to Challah bread. Karel made the dough (with almonds and raisins) and I braided it. Karel also made gingerbread cookies and caraway and cheese "breadsticks." Everything turned out so delicious! 

On Saturday, Karel and I went for a late morning run at Furman (the weather was amazingly warm!) and then we drove to Saluda to meet up with our friends Don and Kathleen who were visiting. We hiked the Little Bradley Falls Trail.

The trail was a little less than 2 miles round trip and it included several water crossings. It was a beautiful day but with it being Christmas, the trail wasn't too busy. Although Campy is not as agile as he used to be, he did great on the hike. Karel carried him over the water crossings. We enjoyed a beautiful waterfall at the end of the trail. Campy is getting older so we try to make as many memories with him as we can. 

After the hike, we drove to Lake Lure and had a wonderful dinner prepared by Kathleen. She made spicy carrot soup, mushroom wellington and asparagus w/ couscous. It was all so good. It was great to enjoy some time together as they were vacationing and it had been a few months since we all hung out. 

On Sunday, the weather could not have been more perfect for a bike ride. 70-degrees meant short sleeves and shorts for a 3-hour, 50-mile ride. We rode with the GVL WBL (Greenville Winter Bike League) group for the unofficial Christmas ride. It was an absolutely beautiful route and I enjoyed riding on new roads that I had never seen before! It's crazy that after 7 years living here, we still discover new cycling routes! The ride was a very easy/chill pace which was nice to be able to socialize and just enjoy the scenery. After the ride, I couldn't resist a run off the bike as the sun was so warm and I wasn't ready to stop my workout. It's incredible how much the weather can boost the mood. These warm days make all the struggles during the cold days worth it! 

We hope that you enjoyed your holiday. Don't forget to make time for yourself. You deserve to "play" in nature. 

Holiday traditions - Czech style

The holidays are a special time of the year because every family has its own special traditional celebration. And when you only celebrate a tradition once a year, you look forward to it year after year. Because traditions are important, there's a good chance that you spend the necessary time and effort on the traditions that make the holiday extra special for you and your family/friends. 

Consider your favorite movie, song, meal, dessert or game that you always look forward to on your favorite holiday. When something occurs only once a year, on a very special occasion, it's much more enjoyed compared to taking part in that tradition week after week, month after month. Let's not forget about the meaning behind the rituals, traditions and celebrations that have been in your family for longer than you can remember. 

If you are someone who gets overwhelmed and annoyed with a holiday that is heavily commercialized, consider exploring (or better yet, celebrating), a holiday with someone who is from another culture or nation. While you don't need to stop your own traditions, embracing a new culture can be an educational, enriching and inspiring part of life. 

As you may know, Karel is from Czech Republic and all of his family lives in Czech Republic. It's been 17 years since Karel has celebrated Christmas with his family. For the past eleven years, Karel has shared his holiday traditions with me - which is very important to me as I love learning about the rich customs, traditions and celebrations that take place in other cultures.

Here are a few of the Czech Christmas traditions (from this link):

During the evening of the 5th December (St. Nicholas Eve), children are very excited and watch for St. Nicholas (Svatý Mikuláš) to arrive. He normally is accompanied by one or more angels and one or more devils. He asks the children if they've been good all year and also asks them to sing a song or recite a poem, and gives them a basket of presents, often containing chocolate and fruit. If you've been naughty, the devil might give you a lump of coal. St Nicholas' Day is a very separate holiday than Christmas.

In the Czech language Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Veselé Vánoce'

The main Christmas celebrations are on Christmas Eve. Some people fast during Christmas Eve in the hope that they will see a vision of 'the golden pig' appear on the wall before dinner! This is meant to be a sign of good luck! (Karel's family didn't do this).

The Czech traditional Christmas dinner is eaten during the evening of Christmas Eve. The meal often consists of fish soup (made of carp), and fried carp with potato salad. (We modify this meal with tempeh for me and trout for Karel. Karel always makes his famous potato salad, where the only cooked vegetable is the potatoes. Everything else is raw. It tastes incredibly good!). 

Ježíšek 'Little Jesus' (the Czech version of Christkindl) brings presents during the Christmas Eve dinner and leaves them under the Christmas Tree. Czech children have their dinner in a different from where the tree is located. When they hear the bell ring (usually after the children have finished eating their main meal but when they are still at the table), that means that Ježíšek had been and has left their presents under the tree. The presents are normally opened right after dinner. (The Christmas tree was never purchased or decorated until Christmas eve and he never saw the tree until the bell rang, which told Karel that "Little Jesus" came. The tree stayed up until the New Year.).

During the holiday season apples are used a lot by Czech people to predict the future. After Christmas dinner, every person is given a apple which they cut in half from the stem down and they study the shape that the seeds inside show. If the seeds appear in a star shape, it means that health, happiness and unity is predicted for the new year. But if it’s shaped like a four-pointed cross that means bad luck will be brought to someone at the table and someone will get sick or even die. (We have never done this but Karel told me about this tradition).

We hope you enjoyed your holiday traditions! 

Holiday eats - Czech style

Another wonderful holiday with my Czech hubby.
Karel has not celebrated Xmas with his family (who all live in Znojmo, Czech Republic) in over 15 years. It means so much to me to make this holiday all about Karel and his family who are not able to be with us in the US. Every year, Karel shares his memories with me and I never get tired of hearing the same stories over and over. I just love being married to a European because his up bringing was very different than mine, as well as his traditions around the holidays. 

This year was extra special because Karel and I welcomed my mom to enjoy our traditional Czech dinner on Dec 24th with us...this was the first time in 8 years that we had someone at our table to enjoy our spread of food with us! 

The traditional Czech Xmas dinner is very simple although each family can certainly add modifications. It is customary to eat this dinner on Christmas eve and after the meal, the Christmas tree is "revealed" with all the lights and ornaments, for the first time for all the children to see. After dinner, presents are opened.
Karel remembers no shortage of cookies on December 24th and 25th so this is something we always look forward to...Karel's mom's homemade cookies!
But sadly, our cookies from Czech have yet to arrive. It's been three weeks since they were shipped from Europe to the USA so hopefully they will be cleared from customs soon. Our Czech xmas is not complete without cookies. 

The first to-do for our Czech xmas dinner was to prepare the Vánočka. I must say, this year was my best attempt yet but I know it is still not as light and fluffy as it should be. One of these years we will hopefully be able to celebrate Xmas with Karel's family so the real pro - Karel's mom - will show me how it's done.
I started making the dough at 6am so that it could rise while we worked out. I enjoy braiding the bread but the best part is smelling the bread as it is baking in the oven. 

We like to eat the bread with butter and jam although it is also fantastic with honey. 

The traditional protein for the Czech Xmas dinner is Carpe. Rybí polévka is the name for fish soup which is traditional as well. Karel uses Tuna and then breads the fish and then fries is on the stove top (pic below). For my protein, I used tempeh and just like Karel's protein, I breaded my tempeh and then cooked it in the oven (tossed in olive oil as well). It was delicious!

Another delicious addition to our Czech meal is Sýrové tyčinky. This would be similar to breadsticks but with caraway seeds. Karel uses croissant roll dough and then rolls it out, slices it into sticks and then sprinkles with caraway seeds before baking. He also adds a little Parmesan cheese. YUM!

And last but absolutely not least is the Czech potato salad. Now, I don't even want you thinking traditional potato salad which, in its simple form is potatoes, eggs and lots of mayo.

The Czech potato salad tastes amazing and makes your tummy feel amazing. It is loaded with root vegetables and it gets its creaminess from a wonderful mixture of ingredients. The only ingredients cooked in this salad are eggs and potatoes.

For this potato salad, Karel shreds celery root, parsnips and carrots and adds in canned peas, chopped onions, pickles and chopped hard boiled eggs. He mixes in chopped potatoes (cooked) and seasons with salt and pepper. He uses a little mayo but it isn't too overpowering.
He makes this on the 23rd because the flavors are much better the next day. 

The final product - my plant strong, traditional Czech dinner.

Campy got "wasted" on fun last night with 4 new "bears" (that's what we call all his toys). 

It didn't take long for the de-stuffing to happen...that's Campy's favorite part. 

After 3 full days of non stop, cold rain, we finally got outside for a workout today!!
Over the Greenville mountains and through the woods, what a beautiful day for a long ride!

We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. 

Wow, can you believe just one more week until 2015!!!