Winter's Beauty (in my backyard)

Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#132)

 

 $73.27 of groceries from two stores in four plastic crates.

Thoreau on Simplicity

As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.  
~Henry David Thoreau

 

I love the above quote. Sometimes--like now for example--I feel as if my life is becoming overly complicated; out of balance. Mostly, I feel I have too much stuff and I try to do too many things in one day; I've become cluttered on many levels. Every so often I need to step back and take a look, to assess things. I came across the above quote this morning and felt as if it was written specifically for me. Anyhow, I thought it was too good not to share. I hope you find it as aspiring as I do.

Oh the Irony

Photo Found Here

Surf el Mundo

Now this is something you can be guaranteed I will not be doing anytime soon on my Mundo...but it's fun to be a spectator. Bikes can move a person from point A to point B; bikes can carry many different and odd shaped items; but most importantly, bikes can be fun (though to me, these days, a bike is more fun with my ass firmly planted on the seat). But it sure looks like this guy is having fun.

Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#131)

 

A box of kindling.

Life In Transition

I first came across this video over at People Powered; it's also available at the Vimeo site. It is a rather long video to sit in front of your computer and watch, but I highly recommend it...it's inspiring, at least it is to me. To learn more about the transition movement see the Wikipedia listing here. To go to a UK transition page click here, or here for a US version. Chances are that if you are a regular reader of this blog, or others like it, you already are part of the transition movement but on a personal level. Enjoy.


In Transition 1.0 from Transition Towns on Vimeo.

And I'll say it again...brrr

Some nights it doesn't bother me...most nights, in fact. The cold. But tonight it did. I've ridden in much colder temperatures, but man that cold went down deep into me tonight. I was glad to get home. I'm still enjoying the winter, but by this time in the season I wouldn't complain if it warmed up a little.

Yuba Mundo For Sale

 

Yes the beloved Mundo is for sale...it has been for about a week or so. I love this bike, the only reason I am selling it is to offset costs of the new v3 model I recently ordered. The new one should ship out in about a month...so I feel I should get more proactive with selling this one (it is going to be difficult to part with). I rode it in the snow today...in the summer, on dry pavement, it feels like your driving a big cushy Cadillac, sort of like a boat, but in the winter, on snowy streets, it feels more like a tank (though I've never been in a tanks, and am really not sure if I've ever been in a Cadillac). Today I also zip-tied a "for sale" sign on each side of it with my email address (the same that is listed on this blog, if you are interested in test riding it); it's rather eye catching. I received two comments so far. One was when I was unlocking it in front of a store: A man who was from Africa (not sure which country) told me he's seen these before and was impressed I had one (I am the one who should be impressed, I told him...see worldbike.org), and another comment was from a guy while I was at a stop light. He yell's over to me, "Hey buddy, how much?" I tell him $700 or best offer. He yells back, "Is that for the bike or for you?" Umm...gotta go...catch you later freakshow.

Anyhow, click here for the current craigslist posting for it.

29 Hour Whole Wheat Bread

 This is a method I use for making bread when I want to control the bread process and not let it dictate my life for the day...using a refrigerator to retard the dough can stretch the bread making process up to 3 days. This is a method of baking professional bakers use...controlling the temperature of the dough. If you control the temperature you control how quickly or slowly the dough ferments. Generally speaking, longer fermented dough has a much superior flavor and texture, but that's just a bi-product for the home cook. Because when making bread at home and you control the dough (or more accurately, control the temperature of the dough), you allow yourself to go about whatever it is you have to do that day (or 2 or 3 days), all the while the dough is either rising or staying dormant. I'm making it sound more difficult than it is; it's not difficult at all...you'll see in the pictures. Anyhow, this is how I did it. (For bread recipes in previous posts, click here, here, and here.)

About two 1pm yesterday I made a simple preferment and let it rise for a few hours. Here it is about 7pm, after fermenting for about 6 hours (click for larger images).

About 8pm I made a basic bread dough (see previous posts for recipes), using 33% whole wheat flour. I then placed the dough in an oiled container and immediately placed it in the refrigerator. Under normal (room temp) conditions this would rice in an hour or so, and over-proof within a couple hours. The first image, on the left is the dough around 8pm, just when it went in the refrigerator. The next picture is the dough, 14 hours later, at about 10am.

I took it out of the refrigerator, deflated it, and let it rise again. Around 1pm I shaped it into loaves and put them in pans. I left the dough to rise at room temp (my kitchen is pretty cold this time of year when to oven is off). If the dough was warm it would have only taken the dough about 45-60 minutes to rise. The first image is at 1pm and the next is the dough at about 5pm, four hours later.

After preheating the oven I baked the dough for about 1/2 hour. It was ready to eat at a little after 6pm. Delicious. I had a few slices with dinner, and gave the other uncut loaf away.

Captcha, Spam Bombs, and the Return of Anonymity

 

In response to my chagrin of the previous post regarding removing the ability to comment anonymously, a fellow blogger and reader of this blog, John in NH, left me this link on how to install captcha, or word verification (thanks John!). I posting this in the event that you are a fellow blogger with the same comment spam problem that I had. I recommend this quick fix. So now as long as you are not a robot, or your comment is not computer generated, you are again able to leave comments on this blog anonymously.

And in response to the other type of Spam, the kind you eat instead of delete, Aaron at 2whls3spds left me the following interesting, albeit somewhat unusual recipe for "spam bombs" (thanks Aaron!). 

"I have used cherry pie filling with decent results too. This was one of my kids favorite camping meals," writes Aaron.

It's interesting how Spam (the food) has a sort of a cult status with cooks, especially campers (here's a site devoted to nothing but recipes highlighting the salty pressed meat in question). I haven't tried the Spam bomb recipe and probably will not...I've given up eating pressed meat in a can many years ago. But I thought it was interesting and thought I'd share it. If anyone tries it please let me know the outcome.

Spam Bombs
1 can SPAM, cut into 4 equal portions
1 can apple pie filling
1 can saurkraut
Cut eight squares of tin foil. On each, place one piece Spam.
Spoon apple pie filling over Spam, dividing equally.
Top the apples with the saurkraut. Oh, yes.
Cover with remaining squares of tin foil. Fold foil on all sides to create sealed packages, or "bombs".
Throw the bombs on a preheated grill, spam side down, and cook until heated through. Do not allow Spam to burn. That would be bad. Or good...
Serves 4 

I've also heard that that there is even such a thing as Spam sushi (or more specifically, Musubi), which is popular in Hawaii..well, here you go. Mmm..mmm!

  Photo Credit: LTHForum.com