Urban Simplicity

Milk.
Juice.
Dog food.

My two pugs (brothers) relaxing in front of the wood stove...they love the heat. I know it's a hokey picture but it was too cute not to post.

A plastic crate with Chinese takeout food.
A paper bag containing two bottles of wine.
A rented DVD.
A u-lock.
An extra pair of gloves.

Photo found at RocBike

OK, so it does have a small motor-assist on the bike...but it is Che Guevara.

This dish is one of my favorites and is really a variation on a theme. It's basically a broccoli version (the one I cook most) of aglio e olio...or pasta with garlic (aglio) and oil (olio). To make this dish at home takes little time and will cost you pennies; to order this popular dish in a restaurant will take about the same time to prepare but cost you dollars.

The ingredients and variations are seemingly endless...so long as there is garlic and oil (I also incorporate hot peppers). Another ingredient I use is chicken broth...this can be omitted and use vegetable broth if you are a vegetarian, but by adding (and then reducing) the broth the flavors literally burst in your mouth...do not be deceived by the simplicity of the recipe...it is incredibly flavorful, and nutritious as well. Anyhow, this is how to do it.

Place minced onion, garlic, hot pepper, grey sea salt (kosher salt would be fine also), and a little extra virgin olive oil in a cold pan. Yes, this is one of the few ti…

Photo Credit: Amsterdamize (via Copenhagen Cycle Chic)

I love this photo! What a way to get the kids around...no quart-sized sodas or mini televisions to keep them occupied...just the scenery around them. Beautiful.

A gym bag full of wet clothes.
Four pounds of dog food.
Two Christmas cards.
A small book.
An extra long cable lock.

You may not be able to tell from this photo but man was it a cold ride tonight...the first ride this season where I had to put a scarf over my mouth as not to breath in the icy air too rapidly. The wind chill is in the single digits. It's been so temperate this season (mostly) that when it is cold it take me by surprise.

I came across this manifesto at Open Bicycle (click it to make it larger)...It really makes you think, at least it did to me. I always feel I'm "doing my part" when I recycle (and feel guilty if I don't). But just imagine if we didn't recycle (or replace things)...we repaired them. The simplest example that comes to mind are socks...yup socks, what you where on your feet. I remember when I was a kid my mom sitting in the evening and darning our socks rather than purchase new ones. She would put an old light bulb inside it to hold it in place as she sewed...does anyone still darn socks, I wonder. When mine were out or sprout a hole it goes in the garbage or rag bin. Time, I suppose...it all boils down to time. Who today has the time to repair everything? But what is time? I say I'm so busy today...but I can only wonder how much of my busyness is self imposed...like surfing the net, flipping channels, and even maintaining this blog. Repairing things is probably…

This is a rash generalization, but...what is the deal with drivers and bicyclists? Do they (or at least many) really think that they, because they are in a car and I am on a bike, automatically have the right of way and in any circumstance? Do they automatically think that because they are in a two-ton metal box on wheels and I am not that they can simply barrel through turns and intersections in front of me? Or see me and look me straight in the eye and pull out in front of me and think this is acceptable. Well, I am beginning to think this is true.

About a month ago I posted on an incident where a person pulled out in front of me causing me to nearly collide with her car (click here to read it). Tonight on my way home from work I was pedaling westward down Allen Street approaching the intersection of Delaware and I see a car coming in the opposite direction with their left turn signal on, which would mean they would turn in front of me.

Me, not turning and going straight through the …

I have a small confession to make. This is not really that big of a deal, I suppose, but it is well within the original post for this blog two years ago regarding the two mile challenge.

Today, after rushing around work all day I had planned on going to the health club as I hadn't been there in a few days (I really wanted to go for a good hot steam more than anything else). I was walking out the front door with my bike, the temperature was mild (for this time of year), and I had time...but I was just so tired. For people in the food service industry this can be an incredibly busy time of year, and with me it is no exception. As I stood in my doorway, with my hands literally on the handlebars of my bike, I saw my truck in front of me...and thought "what the hell." I drove the 1 1/2 mile to and fro and it felt good. So to my fellow bikers and carbon footprint-do gooders who read this blog...my apologies.

The truck got me there in a short amount of time, but it was not nearly…

For years people have told me I need to promote myself more (why? is always my response). Maybe it's the whole "celebrity chef" thing (does anyone besides me see the oxymoronicirony in that phrase...to read a more lengthy article on my view of this click here). OK, sorry, I'll get off my little soapbox. Anyhow, if you are a local Buffalonian you may have read some of my article in various papers and magazines, particularly Buffalo Spree, which happens to be my favorite. This is an incredibly cool magazine about our region...and I'm not just say this because I've written for it for the past 10 or so years, or that I've known the editor for more than twice that long...it's because I really think it's a top rate magazine. Anyhow, and to get more to the point (and now here's the shameless self promotion), Buffalo Spree has just recently started hosting some of Urban Simplicity's blog posts on food (not to mention a data base of more than 150 …

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know two things about me. One is that I like to ride bikes, and the other is that I like to bake and eat homemade bread...a lot. I eat some sort of bread product at almost every meal and have not purchased a loaf in quite some time (OK, recently I bought a loaf of squishy supermarket bread at my teenage son's request..."Dad, why can't we have sliced bread like normal people?").

I am living proof that making wholesome bread at home will not necessarily interrupt the rhythm of your daily life but become part of it...the most difficult thing about baking bread (I think) is time...good bread takes time, you simply guide it along.

And when I make bread I usually make a double batch (it's just as easy as one); this allows for two full sized loaves (one can be frozen)...but I often opt to make pizza out of half of the recipe. Thus, this post is really a variation on a theme. To other posts like this--with different types of bre…

Found it here.
It may be a cartoon...but it speaks the truth.

Found it here.

This is very funny...it's a rap song that pokes fun at both the spandex-clad speedster and the fixed-gear hipster...I laughed out loud (I also watched it twice). I found this short clip at The Practical Cyclist's Blog.