Today, my bike is a Surly Slush-Check. We rode about 13.5 miles and it was fun! Nice having the weather above zero - I think there's about a 40° difference between yesterday and today. I was still pretty cold when I got home, but in a good way. And my thighs HURT. In a good way.

Edited to fix funny-looking picture.

Tonight's dinner, from The Co-op Advantage (the co-op's monthly specials flyer). So. Good. We had it with brown rice and veggies with dip. Both kids loved the chicken - Arlo inhaled his and Grace declared it "Sweet!".

Tandoori Chicken Skewers

Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minutes + 2 hours marinating
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

6 4oz boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2 strips or cubes

Marinade
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. plain yogurt
1 TB canola oil
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
3/4 tsp. peeled chopped fresh ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preparation

Place all marinade ingredients in food processor and puree until smooth. Combine marinade and chicken pieces in ziploc bag, making sure all pieces are coated. Squeeze out all air and refrigerate for 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Remove chicken from bag and thread onto skewers. Broil for 6 minutes/side or bake at 375° for 15 minutes.

Dipping Sauce
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/2 c. chopped peeled & seeded cucumber
2.5 TB chopped cilantro
3 tsp chopped green onion
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin

Combine all ingredients and season to taste with salt. Cover and chill until needed.

Happy New Year!

W.T.F.

Please tell me that Chris and I weren't the only ones who found this headline hysterically funny:



It may just be that I'm perpetually 12 years old and "taint" is one of those words that's always going to make me laugh, but I really think there are plenty of other acceptable synonyms that they could have used.

Thanks to bertine for inviting me to her birthday brunch! I had a great time, met a bunch of new people (some of whose names I remember...).

I biked over there but ended up riding the bus home since the cold wind + my lack of insulating headgear under my helmet added up to a brainfreeze the likes of which I've never experienced. I also neglected to put my scarf back on, so I also chilled my lungs and started wheezing - always fun. Ah well, it made it easier to stop at the liquor store on the way home, since the 21 stops right by Big Top. I do hate biking through Midway Center's parking lot, though. Too many people, too many bad drivers. I don't like driving there either, come to think of it.

Watching the Spongebob Squarepants movie with the kids. I don't think this is the one with David Hasselhoff, thank god. I almost died when we watched that one.

ETA: Crap. Chris says this *is* the one with The Hoff. Help.

I'm not sure why I had a pound of rye berries in the pantry, but I now have two quart jars full of rye flour. Guess I'll be making rye bread today and trying to suppress the memory of the nasty migraine I had after eating pumpernickel rye bread in cooking school (only 10.5 years ago or so...). I've got my trusty copy of King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking here, hopefully I'll find something that sounds good and for which I have the ingredients.

Meanwhile, I'm simply thrilled with the feeling that there's an elephant sitting on my chest. Luckily(?) it only seems to be noticeable when I'm sitting or lying down, so if I stay on my feet all day I should be fine. Ha.

There's also a butternut squash in the oven. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I needed to make a little room on the pantry counter. I still have another butternut, a buttercup, several delicata, and two sugar pumpkins as well, so it's not like this freed up a ton of space, but every inch in my kitchen makes a difference.

I really want a new kitchen.

Time for sudafed and cookbook perusal.

TC folks - please take this and repost if you feel so inclined. Also, here is a link to a poster for the event if you would like to post it in your neighborhood coffee shop.

Ghost Bike Memorial Ride to Honor Fallen Bicyclists

Minneapolis / St.Paul-October 2008 - This Saturday, the bicycle community will come together to honor the memory of cyclists who have been killed in recent accidents on Twin Cities streets. A memorial ride will visit the sites of three of the most recent crashes, where "Ghost Bikes" have been placed as a memorial to the victims. For more info on Ghost Bikes please visit http://www.ghostbikempls.org

Family, friends and cyclists are invited to participate in this group ride. Organizers are asking that participating cyclists please wear a black shirt with orange ribbon around their arm or handlebars. Ribbon will be provided for those who need it.

What: Memorial Ride to Honor Fallen Bicyclists
13.6 miles for Twin Cities route
14.3 miles extra for Blaine route
Where: Meet on the traffic island at Summit and Snelling Avenues in St.Paul
When: This Saturday, October 4th, 2008. The ride will meet at 10:30 am; depart 11:00 am
Contact: ghostbikempls@gmail.com or 612-276-1008

The ride will begin at Summit and Snelling Avenues near the ghost bike memorial for Virginia Heuer Bower. It will then head west down Lake Street to Excelsior and West 32nd Street, the ghost bike memorial for Jimmy Nisser. The ride will then head back up Excelsior/Lake, then northeast on Hennepin to the ghost bike memorial for Nik Morton.

There is an unrelated group photo event at 3pm at Gold Medal Park (the red square on the bikemap) and participants are welcome to continue on to be part of the "Unite Bike" group photograph: http://www.unitebike.com/

In the afternoon, another ride will head to Blaine in order to place a Ghost Bike at Central and Cloverleaf, where cyclist Dale Aanenson was killed.

Riders are expected to be orderly and respectful of traffic. If you are riding recklessly, you will be asked to leave.

More discussion on the memorial ride can be found on the community message board Minneapolis Bike Love.

Information about the victims of these tragedies can be found here:

Dale Phillip Aanenson

Virginia M. Heuer

Nik Morton

Jimmy Nisser

I just cracked into the first jar of this year's tomato jam. It is heavenly - I literally felt a little weak in the knees when I took my first bite.

I think I need to make another batch of this stuff.

Recipe, for your edification:

Tomato Jam

8# tomatoes, peeled, cored, and chopped in food processor
2 tsp. salt
2 TB. sugar
4 TB. cider vinegar
4 TB. packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Combine tomatoes, salt, and sugar in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer about 30 minutes.

2. Skim foam with a metal spoon as it rises.

3. Add vinegar, brown sugar, and spices, and simmer until thick, about another 30 minutes or until mixture mounds up on a cold spoon. *

4. Ladle into sterile jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Cap and seal. Makes approximately 6 half-pints.

5. Process 5 minutes in a boiling-water-bath canner.

6. Store 2 weeks before using, allowing flavors to marry.

*This took much longer than 30 minutes

Recipe from The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest, a very worthwhile book to own.

Our Wiis need some friends, guys...

We're watching Roadside Prophets, which I recorded on IFC recently after being extremely amused by the cast list. I made a comment about Adam Horovitz's voice, how you can't mistake it, and he says "Adam Horovitz... what else has he been in, again?" Um... a little band called The Beastie Boys, maybe?

I love my husband. He makes me lauuuugh!

The movie, by the way, is awesome.

20.6 miles in 2:18:50 today (I finally remembered the bike computer). Not too bad, it was a group ride and I was towing the Burley, so we went pretty slow.

Shower time now.

Edit: This brings my year-to-date total up to 243.1 miles (though there are some trips that I didn't track and therefore have not added to my total). Not bad, but considering that one of my good friends has ridden 3569.6 miles this year, I'm feeling a little like a slug.

Okay, I've got some home improvement pictures up. Both the attic and garage pictures are located here.

( I'll give you a few good ones here, though )

Forwarding on from Fixie Chic:


MINNESOTA ROLLERGIRLS KIDS DERBY CLINIC
Kids love derby and we love kids. So why not combine the two into a fun day of derby for the little (and not so little) ones! We'll be holding a first-time-ever Kids Derby Clinic where kids ages 4-16 will have the opportunity to learn some basic skating skills, try out some derby drills, and hang out with their favorite rollergirls for the afternoon.

Saturday, March 29, 4-6:30pm at Skateville
Near Hwy 13 and I-35W in Burnsville
$15 includes special t-shirt, $10 without t-shirt

Includes two and a half hours of roller derby drills, games, and fun led by your favorite Minnesota RollerGirls!

No previous skating ability required. Drills will be done on and off skates. Guardian must be present. Full safety gear (helmet, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards) is required.

SPACE IS LIMITED! RSVP to events@mnrollergirls.com Include child(ren)'s name(s), age(s), gender, skating ability and t-shirt size(s). S (6-8), M (10-12), L (14-16), XL (18-20)

All proceeds benefit Family and Children's Service.

As we were pulling out of our backyard parking spot this morning, a red-tailed hawk came flying between our house and the neighbors', carrying a pigeon in its claws. It dropped the pigeon as it flew past our car, but I didn't see it when I got out to look. The hawk was sitting on a power line across the alley, either waiting for me to move or being ticked about losing its meal. I got back in the car and left, happy to have seen such a beautiful bird up close.

When I got home and parked, I noticed some white feathers stuck to my tire. I thought maybe I'd run over something on the road, until I remembered the pigeon. There's a pile of feathers, birdseed, poop, and a few bits of cartilage right in front of my car. Cool. I also found a tuft of rabbit fur floating in a puddle in the yard.

I feel really awful about the implications of having hawks in our neighborhood, but it's also awfully cool to be able to witness the food chain in action like this.

I also believe I saw a kestrel sitting on a light post over 94 today. It was a small bird, smaller than a pigeon or crow, and it had that distinctive hawk/falcon profile. Again, very cool.

I think we need to go to the raptor center sometime soon.

For how lovely the bread dough was, I ended up with a brick. Tasty, though. I have serious problems with ovenspring (or rather lack thereof). One theory I saw was that the first rise was too long and the yeast was running out of sugar to eat, I'll have to test that one out next time I bake.

The second loaf is in the oven now - we did that one as a freeform loaf and it stuck to the peel and deflated the first time, so we let it rise again while the first loaf was in the oven. With my luck, this one will be beautiful - Chris had his hands on it and he has much better luck with ovenspring than I do, for some reason.

Yup, staying up late and living the wild life here.

The grain mill is here! We've already ground 1# of wheat berries and a bit of oats, I have my bread started already - I had much success with pizza crust yesterday when I mixed flour, yeast, water, salt, and a pinch of sugar and let it sit for a while, then added the remaining flour, some more water, and olive oil. I've been doing all my mixing and kneading in the stand mixer lately, and it's lovely. The dough came out so soft and pliable and *I* was able to shape the pizza crust with no trouble - I usually end up with gaping holes or incredibly uneven thickness to the crust, this time it was just beautiful. It tasted better than usual too, and I'm not sure what to make of that - the dough wasn't as chewy as usual, but it had plenty of structure. I suppose I should ask the resident pizza-maker, since he might know what I did differently from his usual.

I might have to be up late making bread, but it'll be worth it! Yum.

EDIT: *Squee* This bread dough is fucking gorgeous. Gorgeous. I want to have its babies. I really wish you could all come over here and feel it, it's just incredible.

I need to go read up on autolysis. If this is the dough I get when I let the yeast/flour/water rest, I need to know more - I'm fascinated.

Holy fucking shit

35W bridge over Mississippi River collapses

I feel like I'm going to throw up.