I had the pleasure of participating in a cooking class/dinner party with vegan chef, Karim Gwaduri.

Karim hails from Florida, where he studied fine dining and French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu. He has shown his cooking prowess at many kinds of bars and restaurants, as to broaden his perspective and knowledge–from sports bars to a stylish, David Bowie-themed bar called Life On Mars here in Seattle, where he prepares delectable vegan appetizers.

While he has a slender build, Karim’s affectionate nickname growing up was “Fat Boy.”

“There’s a fat kid inside me that wants to eat everything,” gushes Karim. “I just always want to eat and cook all of this good food. I don’t think I’ll ever leave the food industry. And, while I’m a frugal shopper for ingredients, some of the tools I use for cooking are on the higher end. I want to invest in good equipment to make higher quality food.”

His passion for food matches his zest for life, and he wants to share that with people. So, he invited a select group of friends to join him on a cooking adventure. I was honored to be one of his guests.

Italian food was the cuisine of choice at this dinner party. Italian can be considered “soul food,” because it’s often made with love and is embodied with richness. The Italians traditionally don’t follow recipes. Instead, they follow aromas and flavor profiles. It’s an art, a following of an internal culinary compass. You’ll know it when you put it together.

Course 1: Bruschetta

Bruschetta is an appetizer consisting of bread grilled with olive oil and topped with garlic, salt, basil, and crushed tomatoes. The basil was smacked in the hands in order to intensify the flavor, then sliced into thin ribbons. We let the tomatoes sit for 15 minutes, as the salt draws the water out of the tomatoes. Tomatoes are acidic, and while balsamic vinegar is another acid, it still cuts the acidity of the tomatoes. The salad catches the toppings that fall off the bread.

Course 2: Stuffed lasagna

We made our own sauces and cashew ricotta for the stuffed lasagna.

Cashew ricotta

For the cashew ricotta, we added cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic, and salt. Cashews mimic the creamy texture of the fat content of dairy. We put all of the ingredients into a Ninja blender.

Sauce from scratch

With the sauce, we sautéd some veggies and tomatoes before blending them together. Then it was time to layer them onto the lasagna noodles and then roll them up. The dish was then topped with plant-based cheese.

Course 2.5: Palate cleanser

This drink is meant to clear the palate so that the flavors from the previous course aren’t lingering when dessert comes. This drink was made with lime juice, mint leaves, thinly sliced ginger, and seltzer water.

Karim’s techniques involved rolling the lime for a few minutes. This massages the pulp inside, which helps release more juices. The mint leaves are smacked in the hands some; this brings the flavor out more, just like the basil in the bruschetta.

Course 3: Banana Foster

This was a special treat.

Sometimes cooking is an experiment. The first time, Karim attempted to melt butter with the brown sugar to make a caramel sauce. It unfortunately heated too quickly and burned on the first attempt.

He had to start over, first using the rum for flavor. I don’t drink alcohol, but he assured me that it would be burnt off from the heat. He showed how to set the rum on fire. I have never handled flames while cooking before! We all got to handle the pan, and no one burned the house down.

The bananas were sliced on a bias. Doing so makes the biggest pieces, so that they take up more space. He added the sliced bananas, walnuts, and spices, and cooked until the bananas started to melt. It pairs very well with coconut-based vanilla ice cream.

Let’s do this again!

This dinner party/cooking class was highly informative and loads of fun! We learned new techniques that we’ve never tried before. There are talks about having another one. I cannot wait. It has been an honor being able to participate in something like this, while learning new things about food.

If you’re interested in getting to know Karim, follow him on Instagram: @plantpoweredfatboy

A half-marathon is a 13.1-mile race, which is a friendly distance. It doesn’t require as much time and commitment as a full marathon, and I think that most people in good health can finish one of these. With many perks such as race photos, treats, and a blingin’ finisher’s medal, a half-marathon can be quite enjoyable.

Orca Running knows what’s up

After taking a couple months off from running seriously, I ran My Better Half Marathon yesterday, hosted by Orca Running. This local running organization puts on super-fun races throughout the year, while using sustainable practices for these events. They often have treats that a participant wouldn’t normally encounter elsewhere, such as taco bars, homemade cookies, or an oatmeal bar (as in, you get a bowl of oatmeal and put on whatever toppings you like).

With this particular race, participants can run in 4 categories: Bromance (two male friends), Besties (two female friends), Lovers (romantically involved) and Lonely Hearts (awwww). I felt that the last category could have been worded better. “Lonely Hearts?!” I am my own best friend, thank you very much. 😉

Yesterday I woke up before the sun and went over to the starting line in Seward Park. It has rained in Seattle nearly every day for over a month, and we haven’t seen the sun for so long that we all forgot that it exists. That morning, the sky was a vibrant orange fading into a pastel blue.

The course

The half-marathon course was very scenic; it went a few loops around Seward Park along Lake Washington. This race had no mile posts, so no one knew how far along we were. I thought that was unusual. If someone wants to know their split time, they wouldn’t know unless they had a smart watch.

But who needs to know what mile they’re on, when they can indulge on candy washed down with electrolyte drinks in the Tunnel of Love? There were more Red Vines and hard candy than you could shake a stick at! At that point, I’m beginning to think that maybe having fun is the whole point instead of worrying about mile splits.

There were even designated selfie spots! It really is a beautiful place–how could you not want a photo in this setting? After snapping this photo, I kept running. My mind zoned out, similar to what happens when driving. It was quite a peaceful race. And sometimes that’s all you need.

The finish line

After crossing the finish line, everyone got a bowl of hot oatmeal. After running 13.1 miles, this was a very welcome treat. There was a full oatmeal bar, complete with fresh fruit, nuts, and other toppings for a delicious porridge. I love oatmeal.

Usually I breeze through half-marathons, but this one felt slower. I wasn’t training much, and it’s been weeks since I had run this far. I don’t mind that yesterday’s finishing time was 2:13:05, my slowest time yet. We all have slow races sometimes; there will be other faster races.

This is a race that I might like to try again. If you want a casual, fun race, this one is right for you. It was a beautiful course, and the race amenities and finisher’s medal could make anyone happy.