FIGS

Oakland is full of fig trees. There are at least 3 neighbors on our little street that I know of who have fig trees, old fig trees, with big fat figs that the squirrels feast on for weeks and weeks. The red squirrels in Oakland are fat and happy.

There was a  recipe, which I will post tomorrow, for fig bars, that Geri made last night that are out of sight. When they came out of the oven I had two pieces.  Geri's sister Victoria kept saying let it cool, it'll taste better. Sorry, let is cool yes, 10 minutes, and then I'm digging in. Geri is a great baker, and Vicky has won awards when she worked in the bakery in Sabastapol. She was also a pastry cook at Firefly in S.F., not to mention  Folie Douce in Arcata. No small accolades by any means.

I've been riding my bike everyday now, and it feels great. I'm shifting less into lower gears, which means I'm using more of my muscles, and I'm climbing some hills that I didn't climb before. In fact, I'm looking at hills that before I would say, "No way will I make it up that." Now I look at them and say "I might be able to make it up that hill", or, I'll be able to make it up that hill before too long.

I'm never going to be  speed racer or  marathon man, but it sure is fun riding again.

Tomorrow fig bar recipe.

That's it for today.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food consumption:

Breakfast; 2 small fig bars, 1 handful of salted cashew, 2 cups black coffee, 1 sugar

Lunch; small bowl of pasta, chicken thigh meat, sauteed zucchini.

Dinner; quesadilla souza carne asada, whole beans, rice, salsa

Exercise; 6.5 miles walking/hiking, 1.5 hrs. cycling

MEATBALLS

I started out yesterday with 14 meat balls and 5 mild Italian sausages. I can account for Geri and our roommate Michael eating 5 meatballs but I reckon I ate the rest.

When I started this sauce I  braised the meat  in a large 12 quart, Dutch oven, and that is the foundation of the the entire marinara sauce. Then I add the garlic, and cook it for one minute, then the tomatoes, basil, dried herbs,  6 bay leaf, salt, a little sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes, and then I cook the meat in the sauce, over low heat for 4 hours.

The meat balls I bake for 12 minutes in the oven, and add those to the sauce as well. They're so friggin' good I can't stop eating them. It's a good thing I'm cycling everyday.

All that's left is the 6 chicken things, which just fall off the bone.

That's my world today.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food consumption;

Breakfast; Greek yogurt, banana, granola, black tea

Lunch; small bowl of pasta, 3 meatballs, sausage

Dinner; pasta again, 2 meatballs, salad w/carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper, romaine, frisee,
            olive oil, lemon, s & p

Exercise; 7.5 miles walking/hiking, 1.5 hrs. cycling

Monday 10-13-13, Weekend & Marinara Sauce

Nothing spectacular happening this weekend, and I'm glad I didn't do any stupid blogging. My diet was what it normally is, and I exercised pretty much like I would any other weekend.

Sunday we started out in San Bruno, and rode to Burlingame, had lunch at Il Fornaio, and then rode along the south Bay shoreline to the San Mateo bridge. We made the mistake of following the Bayshore road by SFO airport on the way back. Never again. The nose from the airport, the smell of jet fuel, and diesel fuel exhaust was enoughto gag the most ardent support of global warming.

Today I'm making a simple marinara sauce. A client of mine gave me a bunch of tomatoes.  I'll combine those with some Italian canned tomatoes that are on sale at our local grocery store. I'm also going to cook a half dozen pork sausages, and a half dozen chicken thighs in with the those to give the sauce  added flavor from the meat. To this end I will also make some turkey meatballs for Geri who won't eat red meat, and for good reasons.

When Geri and I first started living together we would go out for burgers all over San Francisco, trying to find the BEST burger in the city, but she gave up read me, again for good reasons, and so no more burgers with Geri. We went to the old Hamburger Mary's, Bill's out in the avenues, and the best one we ever found was West Lake Joe's, hands down, cooked to perfection.

The recipe for marinara sauce are already in previous blogs, and I believe for meatballs as well. The difference with turkey meatballs is that when I make my regular meatballs I use equal amounts of ground pork, veal, and beef.

Another great way to cook the turkey meatballs is to poach them in chicken stock, add a little soy sauce, ginger, and greens onions.

That's it for today.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food consumption;

Breakfast; cup of yogurt, granola, black tea w/agave

Lunch; 2 hot dogs on whole wheat buns, dijon mustard, sauerkraut, 2 turkey meatballs

Dinner; nothing

Exercise; 5.5 miles walking, 1.5 hrs. hiking



 

Why The A's Lost Again

Starting a rookie pitcher in a playoff game. It's that fucking simple. I said to Geri when the game started I got a bad feeling about this game. I hate it when I'm right. It's a Gray day in Oakland because another bad coaching decision. He didn't have his stuff last night, and you could tell by the placement of his pitches. Sunny has a hard time throwing to left handed hitters. Why can't these coaches see the problem when it's happening right in front of them. You don't leave a pitcher in when you got a whole bull pen full of guys.

Verlander pitched a good game. Of course the offense sucked as well. You have to get hits, get on base, and you have to score runs. If I was the batting coach I'd have my players swinging at first pitch, which percentage wise are almost always fastball strikes, but everyone lays back on first pitches to see what the pitcher is going to do. But, you already know what he's going to do i.e., throw a a fast ball right over the plate on the first pitch. So, what the fuck are are you waiting for?  It's your turn at bat, so plant your feet and swing. Verlander's got great stuff, but he's predictable. Everyone can be beat.

It's just a baseball game. Life goes on. The city of Detroit could use a little pick me up after having gone into bankruptcy.

The end of baseball marks the end of summer for me.

No blogging this weekend, not even stats. Well, maybe stats.

That's it for today.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food consumption;

Breakfast; 2 eggs over easy, 1 piece of brown toast, 1 potato pancake w/Irish cheddar

Lunch; 2 peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat

Dinner; beans, rice, quesadilla souza carne asada

Exercise; 6.5 miles walking/hiking, 1.5 hrs. cycling

Thursday 10-10-13

We went out to Rumbo Al Sur, a tapas restaurant on Park Blvd. in Oakland, and the food, once again was rocking. The service was exceptional as well. It was a slow night so we got a lot of attention from the wait staff.

The big game is tonight w/the Detroit Tiger. Go A's. That's all I have to write  today.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food consumption;

Breakfast; 2 eggs over easy, 1 potato pancake, black tea 1 sugar

Lunch; nuts, chocolate covered raisins

Dinner; peanut butter sandwich

Exercise; 1 hr. biking, 5.5 miles walking

Wednesday 10-9-13

There is not much to blog about today in my world. It's all work and no time for anything else. Even as I am writing this I'm thinking about what else has to be done, what I didn't accomplish today that I have to reschedule for tomorrow, and the rest of the week.

Work is good. Maybe I'll have something tomorrow.

That's it for today.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food consumption;

Breakfast; 2 eggs over easy, 2 pieces of sour dough w/butter

Lunch; chocolate chip cookie, large salad w/leftover baked chicken, radish, cucumber, shredded carrot, fresh lemon, olive oil, s & p

Dinner; going out, who knows

Exercise; 4 miles walking, 1.5 hrs cycling

Back on the horse + A's Baseball

I got back on the horse today, and I was much more conservative in my riding. I think I've learned my lesson about cowboy bike riding. It's time for old man bike riding.

The Oakland Athletics are still one game away from advancing in the playoffs. The difference is Detroit is also.  Tuesday's euphoria wore off fast today in Michigan.

So, we shall know Thursday night, here in Oakland. The city of Oakland is the little town that doesn't. It's not that it couldn't, or shouldn't it just doesn't. I think we'll go to a sport bar up the hill, and root for the home team. I can envision an A"s v.s. Red Socks series, with the A's kicking the shit out of Boston, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I have mixed feelings about weather or not home field advantage is an advantage. I'm not a betting man, that was my dear old dad Rocco. He was the odds maker actually, a better job.

I'm tired.

That's it for today.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

Food consumption;

Breakfast; 2 pieces of toasted sour dough bread w/butter, black tea with honey

Lunch; big salad w/2 oz. smoked salmon, 1/2 oz. shredder Irish cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, cucumber, 1 radish, frisee' and romaine, salt, black pepper, fresh lemon, olive oil

Dinner; 6 ounces of Italian chicken sausage, steamed white rice and parsley.

Exercise; 7 miles walking, 1 hour biking