Chinese Food, Popcorn and Paradise

Christmas is over and I, for one, am glad of it. Not that I had any expectations. As a Jewish girl, I don't celebrate it anyway, but I just get tired of the "air" around this holiday. The rampant consumerism wears me out.
But this year, with no family to contend with, Jerry and I had a peaceful Christmas Day. We went out to lunch for Chinese food and had popcorn for dinner. I had given a friend a television, and in return he gave us a huge can of three flavors of popcorn. Since Jerry and I love popcorn anyway, it was a real treat. We climbed into bed with the popcorn and Cabernet, and we watched "Man on Wire."

"Man on Wire" is about Philip Pettit, who wire-walked between the two World Trade Center buildings in New York. It was a very interesting and in some ways, sad, movie. After the ordeal, Pettit really took to fame and his best friend and his longtime girlfriend were left behind.

The day after Christmas, today, was cold and clear. Jerry and I put on lots of layers and headed to Mike's Bikes to join an ALC Training ride that went around the Paradise Loop. It felt good to ride today. I recently got a fleece neck warmer and it was perfect. I pulled it over my chin and nose when I needed it.

We did our usual stop at Shark's Deli. I stop about a block or two pre-Shark's for a cappucino. Jerry had tea and we hit the road again. The next stop was Peets in Corte Madera.

I had a good chat with one of the other riders there. She is, like me, looking for work, so we are going to share out networks.

With all the time I have on my hand you would think I would be writing more than this blog. I am thinking about starting another blog on another topic, yet to be determined. Once I figure out what else I want to write about. I'll start.

More Intake than Outgo

I suppose I shouldn't expect any different, especially at this time of year, but my caloric intake is most definitely exceeding the calories I'm burning cycling.

Yesterday, we rode about 50 miles. In the morning, we joined up with the Cat 1 Crawl ride at Mike's Bikes and rode to Lagunitas. We were not feeling particularly strong, and it was cold.

I think one reason for our bit of lethargy was our popcorn dinner the night before. Jerry and I have a tradition of having popcorn and a diet soda when we go to the movies. Friday night we saw Slumdog Millionaire. It was an amazing, beautiful film. I recommend it highly.

In any case, we had our popcorn dinner and went cycling in the morning. It was a chilly morning, and we were layered up appropriately, though layering does take its toll on a ride with lots of ascending and descending. Hot, cold, hot cold. But we survived.

Jerry and I split a sandwich in Lagunitas. I find I can't eat a whole lot while riding. It just doesn't sit well with me. That meant when we got home I was really hungry and I ate a big bowl of pasta with homemade sauce. It was delicious. I put lots of mushrooms, onion, garlic and chicken sausage in it. We have switched to whole wheat pasta and at this point, enjoy it more than so-called regular.

After some food and a rest, we headed out to Newark to go with a small group, led by Russ Mendevil, to look at Christmas decorations through his neighborhood. We once again bundled up, and rode through Newark and Fremont to do our Christmas sightseeing. That was, of course, accompanied by, what else, eating.

We had little french bread pizzas, dip, cookies and cheesecake.

This afternoon we went to Johnny and Theresa's Comfort Food Cafe, and this evening we are having dinner with neighbors. I just baked some butterscotch bars to take along, along with peppermint bark and some pecan shortbread.

I've made the pecan shortbread before, but something didn't work right this time. The end result was fine, but the dough was very very short. I couldn't roll it out. I had to kind of knead it with my hands and then flatten it out. With no small round cookie cutter, I used the top to a squeeze bottle to cut out the small rounds.

The butterscotch bars are my invention, though I'm sure others make similar cookies, if not exactly the same thing. They are loaded with walnuts, butterscotch chips and butter (of course). They are very dangerous for me to have around the house. I will try to give lots away and hide the rest in the freezer.

Toe Covers and Soup

Winter is finally here. This weekend promises a continued drop in temperature, and Sunday it calls for rain. I hate riding in the rain, particularly when it's coupled with a nasty wind chill, so we're planning on joining the Cyclists Reps (the artists formerly known as Cycle Buddies) for a ride in the East Bay on Saturday, and staying home to read the New York Times on Sunday.

I finally found a pair of toe covers that will go over my mountain bike shoes, so my hope is my toes won't turn into the blocks of ice they usually become when the temperature drops.

In addition to bringing out the toe covers and vests, the cold weather always inspires me to make soup. I made a really great one this week. I started with turkey stock and simmered it with canned tomatoes, garbanzos, black beans, onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes and some broccoli. I seasoned it with thyme and bay leaf. I threw in some white wine, but it added an oddly bitter taste. Somehow, I think the combo of the thyme and white wine was not a winner. But I rescued it with some aged balsamic vinegar. I'm not talking about the stuff you get in a big bottle for a couple of bucks at Trader Joe's. This comes in a small bottle and is pricier, but in my experience, worth every penny. Aged balsamic vinegar is a wonder. It is syrupy and I think I'd really have to call it sweet. A little goes a long way, and just a dash in the soup turned it from a near disaster to a resounding success. Jerry threw some cooked sausage into his, but I ate it just the way it was. It went quite well with a hearty red wine and some good aged gouda.

It Takes Two, Baby

Or, why I love riding a tandem.

Because you always have company on a ride.
Because you have to give it your all, not to let your partner down.
When your energy is flagging, you've got someone to pick up the slack.
When you are a stoker (like me), you get to sightsee.
You're the rearview mirror for the captain.
You catch up to the group on downhills.

I've realized all this many times before, but somehow, on today's ride it kind of crystallized. We were riding with a group for a birthday ride of a friends. Slogging up Camino Alto, the group passed us, but there we were, the two of us, working hard and getting rid of a bit of the chill that had been with us on the bike path.

Despite the cold, the ride was fun, and by and large, we did ride as a group. We headed out of Mike's in Sausalito and up to Fairfax, for a stop at the Fat Angel bakery for coffee and treats. Then we took a circuitous route to Mill Valley, where the plan was to have lunch at Taco Joe's, but, alas, it was closed. We headed to Grilly's instead, and that was just fine. I brought some peppermint bark for Annette for her birthday, and she shared it all around.

So, it was a fun day, and I was happy to be riding with my sweetie, never more than a few inches apart.

Cookies and Noodles

It was a brisk day for a ride, but the sky was clear so we bundled up and headed to Mike's Bikes in Sausalito, parked the car and joined an ALC ride as "renegades." We weren't at Sports Basement to listen to the safety speech, so we weren't official, but like good ALC'ers, we stopped at all the stop signs and signaled for turns.

Our first stop was at the Coffee Roastery in Fairfax, figuring we'd meet up with some of the official riders.After ordering coffee and hot chocolate I got Jerry and me a table, and three fellows in Trips for Kids kits sat down next to us. I made a comment about their outfits and we got to talking.

They are, indeed, Trips for Kids fans and volunteers. But one of the guys had an even more interesting back story. First, he works as a developer for Gilead, a large funder of ALC. What I didn't know is how Gilead has quite a different approach to drug production. They give quite a lot of medication away in developing countries.
The other thing this guy does is have a bakery that makes vegan, naturally sweetened delicious cookies. He gave us two different kinds-- one maple, and the other with tahini and coconut. Both delicious! When it gets closer to Jon Pon I'd like to see if I can strike up a deal with him.

We did meet up with most of the riders at the Roastery and then again at lunch in Woodacre. I had some good sesame noodles. I don't like to eat a whole lot when I ride because food doesn't always sit that well.

I also had a water bottle with Nuun in it. I really like these electrolyte tablets. Not overly sweet or heavily flavored. It's a pretty light electrolyte drink easy for me to get down.

We didn't ride that fast today, but we rode steadily and had a good time.