Thursday, December 16, 2010

Fancy Bacon Quesadillas!!!

I swear they are good. I have tested them out on real live unsuspecting people. Friends even. They agree.
- Whole wheat tortillas
- Sharp cheddar cheese (graded)
- 1 large Granny-Smith apple (thinly sliced)
- Prosciutto (chopped into bit size pieces)

Preheat frying pan and heat both sides of tortilla. Cover one half of tortilla with a thick layer of cheese. Cover cheese layer with apple slices and prosciutto. Fold over and heat on both sides until slightly crispy. Let cool, slice and enjoy as an appetizer or on its own.
PS: I am not a very good vegetarian...

Friday, December 3, 2010

Pumpkin French Toast



- 2 slices whole grain bread
- 1 tablespoon vanilla soy milk (regular milk would work fine too)
- 1 egg and 1 egg white
- 1/4 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
- pinch of cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg

Mix all ingredients together. Butter frying pan and pre heat. Soak both sides of bread in mixture and fry until golden brown on both sides. Great with 100% maple syrup!

Makes one serving of 2 slices. Increase recipe as needed.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Gone with the Wind Granola


Trust me, you will never go back to store bought granola...


6 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup of each of 3 different types of nuts (roasted but not salted: walnut pieces, sunflower seeds, cashew pieces, almonds etc.)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1/3 hot water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4-1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raisins (or other fruit, cranberries, etc.) 

Preheat oven to 325
Mix oats and nuts together
Mix oil, honey water and vanilla together in a separate bowl.
Mix liquid mixture with oat mixture. 

Pour granola into rimmed ungreased baking sheet or glass baking dish. 
Bake for 15-20 min, stirring every 5 min. Stir in coconut and cook (continue stirring every 5 min) for an additional 10-15 min until granola has reached desired golden brown color.
Add dried fruit when done. Let cool and store in airtight container. 



Friday, November 19, 2010

Round 2 - Forest City Mountain Biking

After our only somewhat successful trip to the trails near Forest City, CA the previous weekend we decided to have another go at it. The weather was supposed to be windy and 75 in Sac town, perfect weather to escape the flats and skinny tires.

The drive up was beautiful, that is until about 15 min from the trail head... when we noticed SNOW. Only a few patches at first, but by the time we reached Ridge Road, the road on which the trails begin, there was a lot of SNOW....  Although this time around we were more prepared: maps, check; matches, check; chain tool and backup tools, check and check; we did not plan for SNOW.

Sad faces :(

We attempted to ride the snow covered trails with little success. Okay, maybe I was just unsuccessful...

The snow was much deeper and wetter that it looks!

After a short jaunt to determine that the trails were unrideable, we decided that we would go for a spin on the road to enjoy the scenery. But first Pete needed to tighten his loose cleat.... this resulted in a inch wide portion of the sole of his shoes, including his cleat, coming completely detached from the shoe! At least it happened at the car during already botched day. 

Pete is a trooper and decided to ride with one foot clipped in. Our spin on the road lead us down the valley into Forest City... which lead us to some muddy fire roads... which lead us to the single track we attempted to ride the weekend prior! Yippie!


Super cool little bike specific stone bridge.

We rode the single track up to where the snow got too deep and then back down the way we came. Super fun trail. Unfortunately it looks like we will have to wait till next season to get to the rest of them...


Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Offseason Adventure Mountain Biking

This story really begins about three years ago when Pete meet a hippie mountain biker who told him about some new trails that he and some of his buddies were building north of Grass Valley. Mesmerized by the stories the tie-dyed shirt wearing, hippie passed along, Pete has been begging me to get out to these trials ever since. I managed to avoid the trip to this theoretical trail system mostly because I didn't believe that it actually existed. I fully expected our 2 hours of driving to be rewarded with a few miles of unmarked overgrown trails.

Following a week of unseasonably amazing weather (and some internet research that indicated that the trails really did exist - http://foresttrailsalliance.org/), we decided Sunday the 6th of November was the day. We woke up early (for us...) and picked up our friend, Peter, and drove 2 hours to the trail head..... which was surprisingly well marked! I took this as a good sign.


We were on our bikes at 11 am.  The trails were amazing, burmed switchbacks, lots of fun rollers, jump options and numerically marked technical sections!


Did I forget to mention that the forest was gorgeous in all of its Autumn glory!!



Unfortunately we didn't print a map. Pete hand drew one.... our printer was out of ink. And there was no cell phone coverage in the valley. And, big surprise, we kinda sorta got lost... 

After a bunch of super fun single track, a flat, and 2.5 hrs of riding, we were supposed to ride a bit of fire road to more fun single track that would take us around the the town of Forest City and up the valley we just spend a few hours riding down. The fire roads were not well marked on our hand drawn map (surprise, surprise) and soon we became tired of riding down similarly looking (and named!) fire roads that all turned out to be dead ends. 


Also, for obvious reasons, we were at least moderately worried about gun sling'in back country folk.
(In case you missed it, please note the spelling of the spray painted sign....)

Still unsure of our location and a bit frustrated, at about 2:45 we had just enough daylight to ride back to the car the way we came. The boys decided that the best option was to continue riding further from the direction of the car on the largest fire road we could find, hoping it would either lead us to the thriving metropolis of Forest City (population ~2) or to the only paved highway in 50 square miles. 


Fortunately they were right...

Feeling relieved that we would not be spending the night freezing in woods, we took the opportunity to explore the old mining/ghost town for a bit. What a cool place!


In case you were wondering, yes, you can rent this old Dance Hall: $100 for 24 hrs



After looking at the map posted in town, the boys decided that the best way back to the car was a fire road that would lead us to the single track we had been searching for all day. 

The fire road ended up being a hike a bike all the way to the top of the ridge.



However we did eventually end up on single track.... 
only to realize that we had already ridden it... 
the same direction.... 
that morning! 
Awesome.



We made it back to the car by 4:30 pm, well within my "as long as I am back at the car by dark" request.  We even managed to eventually find the trail we were looking for... at the trial head :) 


We concluded our great day with some killer burritos and dinner time trivia at the infamous Maria's Taco Shop in Auburn. 

We may be heading back sometime soon to ride the trails we missed, anyone want in!?

Monday, October 4, 2010

BEERMOSA, enough said.

Pete and I took a vacation to my family's cabin in Big Bear, CA and attempted to leave the cabin for only the most important of reasons...

... kick ass mountain biking from the door step

and talking the dogs on walks.

Otherwise, this was our plan...



While this made for an incredibly relaxing trip, the food and beverage consumption required some... creativity.

Personally I am not a big fan of Corona. So when you find yourself on vacation, it is 10:30 am and life hands you a few Coronas (or your mom leaves them in the fridge) the only natural thing to do is... make BEERMOSAs!!!


Easy steps to making your own Beermosa:
~1/2 Carona
~1/2 OJ
Stir with juice from a lime wedge
(the bamboo martini glass are a bonus, but not completely necessary...)

Another of our favorites was modeled after the German Radler, a mix of beer and lemonade.
I think ours is much better!!!


~2/5's Firestone Double Barrel Ale (or similar, Sierra Nevada works well too)
~2/5's Trader Joe's Pomegranate Limeade
~1/5 Trader Joe's Sparkling Lime Mineral Water

Having a difficult time telling our drinks apart, Pete came up with a clever glass identification system that, I must admit, is pretty kick ass - Lime wedge carvings!!!

Here we see an alligator and the letter "E" 

... a pine tree. 

All you need is a lime, a knife, some creativity and a bit of patience. The possibilities are endless!!! We are thinking that this is going to be the next "big thing." We might be going big with this one...

Hey,... it is the off season right?

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Gateway Cup - St. Louis

Vanderkitten invited me to guest ride for the Gateway Cup, four crits in St. Louis, MO over Labor Day weekend. Pete said the races were fun, the prize money was good and I had a super fun team to ride and travel with so I was stoked.


Friday's race was at 8:30 pm and was my first race ever under the lights! I raced aggressive and 3 of us finished in the money!

                                          
Elevators with 4 girls and 4 bikes are a bit tight!

The second stage was around a downtown park.



People were everywhere picnicking, BBQing and enjoying the long weekend. I was a bit frustrated after the race as I felt I was racing well but, despite my efforts attacking and bridging to some promising moves, the second race ended in another field sprit; not my forte.... We had a renegade photo shoot in front of the famous arch in the evening (photo above) which was super fun.

We did a spin to the arch and along the waterfront the next morning. What an amazing piece of architecture! Such a different feel up close.

                        

Sunday's stage was the highlighted race of the event: the biggest prize money as well as the race's 25th anniversary! The Giro Della Montagna ("The Hill") is the only stage with a hill and is held in the Italian District of the city; the race has a great atmosphere. I was a bit nervous before this stage because I thought that with battle for the leaders jersey and the course profile, it might be a good day for a break to stick and I wanted to be in it!

I was right... :)


The 3rd of 4 prime bells rung and I was in a good spot. Laura Van Guilder and another rider were already battling it out but I was able to come around in the downhill draft and take the $100 prime! I had a good gap along the bottom stretch and a few riders came around... but soon realized that the rest of the pack was a ways back and so 5 or 6 of us starting working together. After a few more laps we were down to a four person break. Laura Van Gilder and I worked hard together, increasing our lead to over a minute. Going for the win, I jumped first just before the last corner, hoping to get a gap on the sprinters in the break, but Colavita and Laura came around and I came across the finish line in 3rd. Not too shabby :)

                                                              


The race holds a dinner at the local Bocci Ball club in the evening and we celebrated our team's great ride and podium finish playing Bocci ball until way too late in the evening...


The forth stage was a fun, technical 1.8 mile course that ran so close to a brewery that I could smell the fermenting hops while racing... ummm beer. We raced great as a team, attacking and covering moves and Starla sprinted to a 4th place finish!

We enjoyed beers in the park with friends while watching the men's race and followed park beers up with a delicious lunch/dinner at a restaurant on the course.


The ride back to the hotel was bit... hummm, interesting ;-)


The race promoters did a fabulous job, St. Louis is awesome and I am planning on coming back next year!

Photos taken by the famous Jason Perry (www.JasonPerryPhoto.com) and Jake Drevs! Thanks guys :)

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Summer Phat Thai



This is my modified version of the Phat Thai recipe I learned in cooking class while traveling in Thailand.

- Rice Noodles (soak in hot water until soft)
- Shredded Carrot and Broccoli stalks (you can sometimes get this pre-shredded at Trader Joe's)
- 1/2 pack Extra Firm Tofu cubed (I use the high protein stuff from TJ's)
- ~5 Green Onion (chopped)
- 1/2 Red Bell Pepper (chopped)
- 3 Eggs
- Soy Sauce
- Fish Sauce (don't be scared..)
- Hot Pepper Flakes
- Peanuts (coarsely chopped)
- Lime
- Fresh Mint (chopped)
- Vegetable oil

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a wok with about 1/2 of the green onion, mostly the whites. Cook for about a minute and add in 3 eggs. Break yokes but allow to cook, stirring occasionally. When eggs are almost fully cooked add the tofu and the hot pepper flakes. Cook for about a minute and add in vegetables (pepper, broccoli and carrot). Stir and add a few tablespoons of soy sauce, about a tablespoon of fish sauce (yes, it will smell fishy, don't worry!) and squeeze in the juice from 1/2 a lime. Continue stirring and add in the desired amount of soft noodles. Continue to stir and when dish is fully cooked, stir in the remainder of the green onion.
Serve topped with crushed peanuts, fresh mint and a lime wedge or two. Add more hot pepper flakes and soy if desired. Enjoy :)