Birds, Cows and Spanakopita

A couple times a year, our friend John Hershey sponsors a ride that leaves from his and Ted's house in Bodega Bay, with a mandatory stop at Wildflour Bakery. After the ride, there is a potluck at his house.

And it seems that no matter when he schedules this ride, it rains, and this past Sunday was no exception. Jerry and I cut the ride short, so didn't get caught in the downpour that some of the other riders experienced. We skipped the big climb that even without rain, I wasn't up for doing.

The ride was short but nice. Jerry and I continue to pick up speed on the tandem. The ride had lots of rolling hills, some steeper than others, with a very steep climb right before returning to John's. It really took our average speed down, but we still did pretty well for a couple of old geezers on a tandem.

Ted was glad to see us return a little early because he wasn't sure if it was time to take the spanakopita I had made out of the oven. I looked at it, and indeed it was at the perfect golden brown it should be, and out it came. I had put the dish together the day before and froze it. It was part of a spanakopita triangle frenzy I was working on. I am catering the out of town guest dinner for friends who are getting married on Sept. 26 and I made about 100 spanakopita triangles to serve at that Friday night dinner. I plan to have cold poached salmon with dill sauce, marinated green beans, pasta and pesto and I'm not quite sure what else at this point. But knowing how long the spanakopita can take, I wanted to get it out of the way and frozen. With that done, the rest won't take long.

The potluck at John's was lovely. Lots of good food and great people. John had put his photos from this past year's ALC ride on a disk with music, and we watched that while we ate. He and Ted had two house guests and they made two lovely gallettes-- one with pears and one with plums. The crust was a pate sucre that was delicious-- almost like a butter cookie. I need to make one soon. I want to try one without peeling pears. I figure if I slice than thinly, leaving the peel on should work. We'll see. I really hate to peel fruit. I love the texture the peel gives, and I feel it's such a waste to not leave it on.

After the potluck we headed to Jerry's sister's house. His mom and her husband were there and we had a light dinner. That was fine, because we had certainly eaten enough at John's.

Jerry came home and we went out to lunch today, to a new place in the little shopping center near our home that houses Trader Joe's. The place, Cafe Trio, occupies a spot that has seen a succession of failed restaurants. I think part of it is location, though there is a Pasta Pomodoro at one end that seems to do fine. This nice little place is run by a Palestinian and Yemini, and their influence is seen on the menu. I had a wonderful asparagus lemon soup and felafel. The felafel is worth commenting on: it was cooked really nicely, not too long, which can sometimes result in the little garbanzo balls turning into hockey pucks. Also, the sauce was a light mint yogurt, with a dollop of hummus on the plate itself. So often, the sauce on a felafel can soak through the pita, making it difficult and messy to eat. That was definitely not the case. It was delicious and reasonably priced, and to top it all off, the coffee was very good. I think Jerry and I will be returning.

I just started working a few hours a week at Sur La Table, a cooking supply store. I have to wait to see if I am scheduled for Sunday. If I'm not, Jerry and I will be riding once again to Pt. Reyes. If I'm scheduled to work, he'll make the trip out there on his single, and he'll get to ride with the Big Boys.