A Ride, A Wedding and Beets

I know a lot of people don't like beets, and I really think that's a shame. They are beautiful, they are good for you and I think they are delicious.

They played a part in a wedding buffet I worked on this weekend. I got called last minute by a caterer I met recently who asked if I could help out with a wedding on Saturday. The wedding was at Dunsmuir Estate in Oakland, in the carriage house. It had been pushed up a year because the bride's mother was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and had gone down quickly. They weren't even sure she'd make the wedding, but she was there, albeit in a wheelchair.

The buffet was all cold foods, most of it prepped ahead of time. Three of us were there to basically, assemble. Not the most creative job in the world, but still fun. I diced tomatoes and onions and arranged trays.

The beets were part of a green bean vinaigrette. I think I detected sesame oil in the dressing. Besides the beets, the beans were dressed with goat cheese. A pretty successful dish, I'd say.

The main dishes were beef, chicken and salmon. The salmon had a corn relish, which was not really to my liking, but the chicken had a nice dressing with capers. The beef had an onion and mushroom sauce, but I can't really comment on that because I don't eat beef.

Earlier Saturday, Jerry took our first ride since his crash on our Co-Motion tandem. It was a little-bitty ride-- just around 10 miles from Sausalito to Mill Valley. But it felt great. Jerry's arm and shoulder ached a bit, so I was glad we did a short ride. He has yet to make a physical therapy appointment, and I have been nagging him a bit about that. But I think in weeks to come he will get stronger and our rides will get longer. I can't wait.