Another 2 in 1 post.

First up- Pitting a Cherry- the elegant (and gadget-free) way.

How do you get that pesky pit out of the cherry? I’ve seen paperclip methods, gadget methods, messy methods, but I think this method from Food 52 might be the cleanest and easiest.

Kitchen Confidence – Courtesy Food 52

Hacking a Cherry Pitter

June 26, 2012  by Kristy Mucci

Inspired by conversations on the FOOD52 Hotline, we’re sharing tips and tricks that make navigating all of our kitchens easier and more fun. Today, we’re showing you how to pit cherries without a cherry pitter.

It’s cherry season! Time for cherry pie, a clafoutis, or a few boozy sour cherries garnishing a cocktail. All of those things are great if you happen to have a cherry pitter but if you don’t, you’re in for a bit of work that results in stained hands.

Sure, a pitter is an easy accessory to pick up but not everyone likes to buy single-purpose kitchen tools. And why bother when you can easily hack one? Today we’re sharing an easy and gadget-free way to hack a cherry pitter. If you’ve got an empty beer bottle and a chop stick, you can pit a cherry.

All you need is an empty bottle with a small mouth. A beer bottle is perfect — we’re just using this little cutie because, well, it’s cute.

Gently hold the cherry and press the chop stick through it to push the pit out the other side.

Bullseye.

The bottle collects the pits, keeping the whole process nice and neat.

Isn’t this so easy and awesome?

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Part 2- Losing My Yoga Teacher Virginity- I taught my first class this weekend!

So officially, I taught class to other teachers in my teaching program- but it was a 45 minute class- and it was not easy! Having to remember left and right, all the sequences I had planned, I also had to throw in some audibles because I was moving a little too slowly- was a great learning experience. I was tasked with creating a sequence that would lead up to demonstrating and teaching handstand, Adho Mukha Vrksanana. If you’ve never mastered handstand, here are a few tips.

1) Make sure you have completed a full practice that includes warming up the core, hamstrings, shoulders/triceps and wrists.

2) There are several options/levels of achievement in handstand. This illustration from Omcircle Yoga I think describes it best:

You can also baby hop/kick to practice the feel of it. Once up against the wall, really focus on squeezing an imaginary block between the thighs, pulling in core, and flexing feet.

Since I taught to a very advanced group of women, I feel like I can definitely teach a couple of friends, or groups of people I don’t know. What a great confidence builder and experience putting my hours of practice into a real teaching opportunity!!