Tried and Liked 2007 (bike and not bike)
This is a normal internet-BOB (a bicyclemailing list)way of finishing out the year. I sort of missed it this year (spent too much time on the basement to read the list), so I’ll try doing it with the blog. There is bike and not bike stuff here to make all blog readers happy.
Not Bike
Le Creuset Omelette Pan — Le Creuset makes this item really difficult to buy, but it is amazing. I think that it is impossible to make a bad omelettewith it. The non-stick coating is not teflon and works really well. The cast iron retains heat really well, so the pan doesn’t cool down when you add food to it. We have one of their frying pans too, and it gets some use, but the omelette pan is used almost every day. We’ve owned other omelette pans, but none were as good as this. We have the smaller size (7 or 8″) and it is perfect for 2 egg omelettes.
I’ve tried to buy these as gifts and they are really hard to find. They are sometimes in Le Creuset “outlet” stores. Amazon and most kitchen stores don’t carry them.
One Car Family — Christine and I were a one car, one driver family from moving to Seattle in 1996 until 2002. Then we bought a new car, I got a driver’s license, and we bought a second new car. We sold our second car in April and don’t miss it at all. Cars are expensive. They can be handy tools, but we don’t need or benefit from two of them.
Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker — We rarely use it for rice, but it is amazing for steel cut oats. One of my favorite foods,butI never liked standing around for 45 minutes stiring it. The rice cooker makes it better than I do. The timer means wecan have oatmeal ready when we wake up. I’m not a big kitchen gadget/appliance guy,but this one is great.
Virtual Computers– I replaced 3 servers with one physical machine. The new machine has about 30% of the power consumption of the previous 3 machines, is quieter, and takes up less space. This blog is hosted on a virtual computer.
Smaller Plates — For years I’ve wonderedwhy normal dinner plates hold more than one should eat. I doubt they’ve always been thisbig. I spent a while trying to findsmaller ones and finally did. Denby salad plates are the right size (9″, instead of 10 or 11″) for a normal sized meal. Their stonewear is really durable too, we’ve hadtheir dishes for a year and have chipped anything despite a few drops. They do make full size plates which we use on special occasions.
Eating Fish — I’ve been lacto-ovo vegetarian since my junior year of high school. In 2006 I started eating fish to get more food in common with Christine. My first experiences with fish weren’t great, I didn’t get the subtle flavor and didn’t like the texture. This year I’ve come to really appreciate the flavor, enjoy cooking it, and the lean protein is probably good for me. I am careful with the sources of my fish and worry about sustainability.
Bike
New Clubs — I’ve been riding with point83 and playing Rollo (mini bike polo) this year. It’s fun riding with a younger and less serious crowd. I’d like to finda group that did some more weekend rides but with a similar mentality.
Metal Fabricating — It was only last January when I first lit a torch. In March I bought my own. Since then I’ve built about 5 racks and have learned a lot more. This year Ihope to do even more. Fabricating my own bike parts and modifications is really enjoyable and a nice way to grow the hobby. This week I got a lathe which will take me to the next step of fabrication.
Porteur Racks — Building racks has given me the chance to really get used to big front platform racks. I really like carrying gear up front and have plans to build racks for all of my bikes. The porteur rack does most of what I used a trailer for and most of what I used panniers for. It’s always there too. I wish that there were some good production models.
Bicycle Fixation’s Knickers — In 2006 I discovered the Ibex Breakaway Jacket. A great jacket, but I needed something great for my legs. The Bicycle Fixation knickers do the job. I have them in hemp and wool. I like both, but I like the hemp ones better (unless it is raining hard, then the wool ones are warmer). The knickers are comfortable on and off the bike, lightweight,look pretty good (for bike clothing…pants would be even better) and work well in a wide range of temps. Below around 40F I put very light tights underneath. 40F to 65F they are perfect by themselves.
Flat Pedals (no retention) – about 10 years I’ve ridden everywhere with clipless pedals. Since I ride pretty much every day and don’t like to change shoes I end up wearing my bike shoes all day. I didn’t even really think that there was another option. When I went to the Oregon BCA show I didn’t want to take two pairs of shoes and knew that I’d be on my feet almost all day. Flat pedals with good walking shoes made a lot of sense. So I picked up a pair of the MKS Sneaker pedals and put them on my commuter. A week later I didn’t really miss the clipless pedals much. Now I have one bike permanently setup with flat pedals and might do another.
Bike Friday Tikit — It folds small, it rides well, it is reasonably priced for a USmade product.I converted it to a 7sp internal gearhub (which is how they should sell it stock) and it’s a great bike. It’s my city rider, my folder, and my travel bike. I’ve owned a Bike Friday New World Tourist for years and hardly used it, but the Tikit is getting a lot of miles.
Gifford Pinchot Tour — Bicycle Touring isn’t new for me, but this tour was incredible. 6 months later I still think about it often. This was the best 5 days that I’ve spent on a bicycle.
alex
I”m pretty sure I saw Le Creuset at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and at Sur la Table while I was madly doing last minute xmas shopping.
Fish: Try the fish market on 80th & 24th north of Ballard. It’’s got really fresh fish and they”ll give you all kinds of preparation info. My friend (who’’s really particular about fresh, high quality fish) swears by it. I”m not a big fan of seafood, but everything she’’s made with fish, crab, or shrimp from there has been excellent.
Hi Alex,
If you have time I”d like to hear which fish (species) you found most palatable and if you could recommend any particular cooking methods. I”ve been lacto-ovo as well for the past 18 years (since I was 19) and have been thinking about incorporating fish into my diet for health reasons. Unfortunately, even when I ate meat I was never a fish fan so I think reading about your experience might be helpful.
Thanks,
Greg
In the summer we grill quite a bit of salmon. It is easy to find fresh wild caught salmon in Seattle. In the winter we eat it too, just not as often, and it is usually fish that was flash frozen. Loki is my favorite local fish provider.
We also eat sole or cod cooked using this recipe:
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=1536&iSeason=6
We made this last night for some friends and they really liked it and asked for the recipe. It is fast to make, tasty, but probably not incredibly healthy. We use far less butter in the sauce than what is called for. Last nights dinner was that fish, steamed string beans, and mashed sweet potatoes. About 30-40 minutes from getting stuff out the fridge to dinner on the table and 4 happy diners.
I really like seared tuna or Mahi Mahi, but don”t eat it often because I have concerns about eating fish that was flown in from Fiji or other far away locations.
I”m not so into trout except for some wild caught steelhead that I”ve had. I try to avoid factory farmed fish and haven”t had Atlantic Salmon, just wild caught Pacific. If I have any concerns about the source of the fish (that means at many resturants) then I just eat something vegetarian.
In terms of laugh-per-mile pedaled, Rollo is surely the least serious thing I”ve done this year. The laugh-per-wreck ratio is really up there, too.
Hi Alex,
I”ve always made steel cut oats with a double boiler. One cup of oats to two cups of water. A little salt. I set the time for fifty minutes, turn the heat down to a simmer at 45. When the timer goes off, they”re ready. I eat them with kefir I make myself — one of my few concessions to dairy.
Thanks for your advice about GPS’’s on the touring list by the way. I”m still undecided. For me, it’’s lot of money.
I own what looks like an identical rice cooker. I never thought of cooking steel cut oats in it. Sounds like a great idea. What setting do you use? the same for rice, or do you use the porridge setting?
Thanks for the great idea.
For steel cut oats I use the porridge setting. I put in one cup of oats (real cup, not the rice cooker cup) and put the water at the 3+ on the sweet rice line.
Works great with or without the timer.
By far my favorite kitchen implement is a Le Creuset grill pan. Just put that on the gas range and you”re grilling for two, indoors all year round.
I fell in love with having a front basket this year, although not as extensively. Throwing stuff in and taking stuff out is so much faster than panniers but you don”t notice until you have a front basket all the time.
We also switched to salad plates for dinner. We found some made-in-Italy plates at World Market that are versatile although not much to look at. I agree its a simple thing to do to get you down to reasonable portions without thinking about it.
For a very quick and easy fish recipe, have you tried salt-baking? There are recipes on the web but basically you take a whole, gutted fish, on a baking sheet, covered in a layer of salt, and bake for 20 minutes. The salt comes away in solid pieces, with the skin. Always moist and flavorful. I”ve done red snapper a few times.
Great pictures of your bike tour. It’’s really inspiring.
I have the grill pan, but haven”t had great luck with it. I find that stuff doesn”t cook through as evenly as on my real grill unless I improvise some sort of cover. I”ve mostly tried using it for things like tuna.
I”ll try salt baking, that sounds interesting.