So Jeremy texted from Zurich recently1 that he's enjoyed a "rosti" for breakfast. A rosti is a hash brown pancake, shredded potatoes cooked in a skillet so that they're golden brown and crispy on the outside, warm and creamy2 on the inside, and full of delicious potato flavor. My research (4 minutes on Google while standing in the kitchen waiting on water to boil) gave me no reason to believe I couldn't make one, and so I decided on a "traditional" recipe and gave it a try.
If you want to be extremely traditional you peel and grate your potatoes by hand. I found the box grater3, a couple of Yukon gold potatoes and made my first rosti. I burned it of course, and soggy. Burned and soggy is a difficult combination to achieve, but I have exceptional culinary talents. I've made rostis nearly every day since, working to improve my result. The traditional recipe called for russet potatoes. I made several but was disappointed with the texture and taste, so I've switched back. I ditched the box grater for the grating attachment on the food processor, and it was a dramatic and immediate improvement. The result was much thicker bits of potato with much less residual moisture. My rostis immediately stopped being soggy. Switching from butter to olive oil (mixed in with the raw grated potatoes before they even go into the pan) improved the color and quality of golden-brownness. I still add a bit of butter during the last 5 minutes. And I now cook them on the lowest setting and cover them for the first 15 minutes or so. I've have really satisfying results.
1. Jeremy was in Zurich for two weeks on business. His new job requires that he travel there and work from the Zurich office for two weeks each year. Awesome.
2. "Creamy" isn't my preferred word for the target texture of the rosti interior, but I can't come up with a better one at the moment.
3. Remember back in the day (before cell phones) when you had to grate cheese at home...by hand? The world is a better place with grated cheese.
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Monday, October 8, 2018
A Week in DC
I got to spend a week in DC. A week of Bidges
After work I rented bike from Capital Bikeshare
Day 1: Over the Memorial Bridge
Day 2: Over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and Back
Day 3: Over the Key Bridge.
The Mount Vernon Trail
https://www.capitalbikeshare.com/
http://bikewashington.org/trails/vernon/index.php
After work I rented bike from Capital Bikeshare
Day 1: Over the Memorial Bridge
Day 2: Over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and Back
Day 3: Over the Key Bridge.
The Mount Vernon Trail
https://www.capitalbikeshare.com/
http://bikewashington.org/trails/vernon/index.php
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Checking In
The owners of the building where I work remodeled the restrooms to provide better accommodations, a process which required the removal of the shower. Around the same time, they started rebuilding the intersection of Interstate 5 and Genesee Avenue, erecting Jersey barriers along the intersection and turning it from a very scary ride into something i deemed to unsafe for me to try and negotiate. So I stopped the occasional ride to work, and the occasional attempt to drive my bike into work on top of my car and go for a ride at lunchtime.
I've always been a workaholic. I worked (and still occasionally work) countless extra hours during the week, and entire weekends to work on projects that were impossible to complete during work hours, and on trying to stay current in the technology. I started going to the gym several hours a week. I try to walk the dog an hour or so a day. And for the past year I've been enrolled in a local community college studying graphic design. In combination, the demands compete heavily with ride time. But I've been pushing back a little over the past couple of weekends. I've been riding to the bike to the gym on the weekends. Construction at I-5 and Genesse has come far enough along to put a partial commute to work back on the table, and there's a chance of getting away with a sneaky shower in one of the neighboring office buildings. We'll see.
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| Riding up Highway 101 in Encinitas. Loads of surfers parked on the right, walking across the street to the beach on the left |
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| A fairly impressive flat. The screw was all the way in before I unscrewed it to this point for the picture, and it punctured both sides of the tube. |
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| Selfie at the gym. |
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| Back home afterwards. |
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Long Beach to San Clemente
Long Beach to San Clemente
44 Miles
What a great day of riding!
I got up and almost immediately noticed something very unusual...the sun was out! Hit the snooze button a few times and then mustered and walked a couple blocks down to Chucks, a local favorite featuring "The Weasel" which according to the menu is chili over scrambled eggs. I thought the better of it and had a short stack with eggs instead. I broke out the laptop and worked for a while until Chuck himself wandered over, refilled my coffee and talked for a bit.
Chucks is a nice place stuck somewhere in the 1960's, and I'd recommend it even though you can get better coffee elsewhere (you won't be so lucky with "The Weasel"). I walked back to the motel, checked out and hit the road.
Rolling out of Long Beach the route turns inland slightly and follows Route 1 over an inlet to Seal Beach where the military has a big presence. I only saw one ship (I have no idea what kind...medium sized, gray, giant radar golfball on top). A few miles further at Sunset Beach, the route jumps off Route 1 and onto a bike path that goes from Sunset Beach for miles, and miles, and miles down Huntington Beach. I rode this route once before, so I can't exactly say that I've never seen so much beach in my life, but with that one exception I've never seen so much beach in my life. It goes on for miles, and it must be a quarter mile of beach before you get to the ocean! There are lifeguard stations set up every couple hundred yards FOR MILES...all seemingly regularly spaced and in a straight line. Every mile or so there was a large building with a concession or two (bike rentals, food), and once or twice there were fire pits, all lined up...two rows of them, all identical and neatly and evenly spaced. It's like someone sat down at a drafting board and designed the whole thing. Amazing.
After miles and miles of riding through the beach I finally hit the end at the Santa Ana River and rode on into Newport Beach, and I was back in high fashion and luxury. This is where the money goes. I've never seen so many luxury cars in my life. I rode past Ferrari dealers, Yacht and Ship Brokers (I don't even know what that is) and miles of designer boutiques, fabulous looking restaurants and opulent looking boutiques. Just amazing.
I rode out of Newport Beach and into Laguna Beach and decided that it was the "other side of the tracks" from the super rich to the merely rich. Everything here is clean, beautiful, new or well maintained, and groomed to within an inch of its life. There are security cameras, gated communities, and more Lexus and BMW's than Porsche's and Ferrari's. Didn't get to see the ocean much through these two areas as the ocean front property seems to have long since been parceled off, developed and fenced and gated.
Fortunately Laguna Beach gives way to Dana Point (more domestic than foreign cars) and then back to the beach. A lovely afternoon ride along the ocean again along Capistrano Beach and on into San Clemente where I managed to secure a motel room right on the beach with a beautiful view of the San Clemente pier for less than a pretty dumpy hotel room up in Ventura. Go figure! I'm right at the base of a giant hill that I think I'm going to have to climb tomorrow morning, but I'm leaving that until tomorrow. For now, I've secured a cheap bottle of wine and plan to hit the "Publish" button on this blog, walk out to my front porch and watch the sun go down.
44 Miles
What a great day of riding!
I got up and almost immediately noticed something very unusual...the sun was out! Hit the snooze button a few times and then mustered and walked a couple blocks down to Chucks, a local favorite featuring "The Weasel" which according to the menu is chili over scrambled eggs. I thought the better of it and had a short stack with eggs instead. I broke out the laptop and worked for a while until Chuck himself wandered over, refilled my coffee and talked for a bit.
Chucks is a nice place stuck somewhere in the 1960's, and I'd recommend it even though you can get better coffee elsewhere (you won't be so lucky with "The Weasel"). I walked back to the motel, checked out and hit the road.
Rolling out of Long Beach the route turns inland slightly and follows Route 1 over an inlet to Seal Beach where the military has a big presence. I only saw one ship (I have no idea what kind...medium sized, gray, giant radar golfball on top). A few miles further at Sunset Beach, the route jumps off Route 1 and onto a bike path that goes from Sunset Beach for miles, and miles, and miles down Huntington Beach. I rode this route once before, so I can't exactly say that I've never seen so much beach in my life, but with that one exception I've never seen so much beach in my life. It goes on for miles, and it must be a quarter mile of beach before you get to the ocean! There are lifeguard stations set up every couple hundred yards FOR MILES...all seemingly regularly spaced and in a straight line. Every mile or so there was a large building with a concession or two (bike rentals, food), and once or twice there were fire pits, all lined up...two rows of them, all identical and neatly and evenly spaced. It's like someone sat down at a drafting board and designed the whole thing. Amazing.
After miles and miles of riding through the beach I finally hit the end at the Santa Ana River and rode on into Newport Beach, and I was back in high fashion and luxury. This is where the money goes. I've never seen so many luxury cars in my life. I rode past Ferrari dealers, Yacht and Ship Brokers (I don't even know what that is) and miles of designer boutiques, fabulous looking restaurants and opulent looking boutiques. Just amazing.
I rode out of Newport Beach and into Laguna Beach and decided that it was the "other side of the tracks" from the super rich to the merely rich. Everything here is clean, beautiful, new or well maintained, and groomed to within an inch of its life. There are security cameras, gated communities, and more Lexus and BMW's than Porsche's and Ferrari's. Didn't get to see the ocean much through these two areas as the ocean front property seems to have long since been parceled off, developed and fenced and gated.
Fortunately Laguna Beach gives way to Dana Point (more domestic than foreign cars) and then back to the beach. A lovely afternoon ride along the ocean again along Capistrano Beach and on into San Clemente where I managed to secure a motel room right on the beach with a beautiful view of the San Clemente pier for less than a pretty dumpy hotel room up in Ventura. Go figure! I'm right at the base of a giant hill that I think I'm going to have to climb tomorrow morning, but I'm leaving that until tomorrow. For now, I've secured a cheap bottle of wine and plan to hit the "Publish" button on this blog, walk out to my front porch and watch the sun go down.
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| The O.C. |
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| Seal Beach |
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| Route through Seal Beach |
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| Back to the beach at Sunset Beach |
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| The bike trail goes for miles. |
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| Lifeguard stations as far as the eye can see. |
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| Newport Beach |
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| A modest little house on a rock |
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| Up and down the hills of Laguna Beach |
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| Bike trail leading to San Clemente Pier |
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| The room, can you believe this? |
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| Standing in the front door |
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| and looking the other way. Amazing. |
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Santa Monica to Long Beach
Santa Monica to Long Beach
42 Miles
Another fabulous day on the road.
Got up this morning and went down to Santa Monica Pier to check it out and find some breakfast. The pier has several restaurants and amusement rides, but not much for breakfast really except for a Good Bean and Tea Leaf coffee shop. Good coffee!
From here it was down to the beach and a couple hours riding the bike trails which wind back and forth through the beautiful white sands of the LA beaches. As has been the weather here, it was cold and overcast all morning long, and it's Tuesday, so beach traffic was light (which is good...I imagine those bike paths get rather congested!).
The beach tour ends at Redondo beach and I was sorry to see it go. From here the route takes you east starting at Torrance Boulevard and winding it's way over to 223rd Street where it enters Long Beach and crosses the Los Angeles river, which is well contained in a large concrete aqueduct. From here there is a great bike trail that extends along the top of the aqueduct all the way to a beautiful park on the waterfront in Long Beach. Just before hitting Long Beach, the sun came out.
Trying to follow the Adventure Cycling route through all the bike trails was difficult. It's a confusing situation, but getting lost and wandering around isn't so bad! I rode out to take a picture of the Queen Mary and then rode past the Aquarium of the Pacific and remembered back to a great day Pattye and I had visiting her. It would be so nice for her to be here sharing this with me. We'll get here again soon!
After getting off track again on Shoreline Drive (where the barriers and bleachers are still up from the Long Beach Grand Prix, which is run on the actual streets of Long Beach) I picked up the correct bike trail and headed back into the beautiful white sands of the beach. When I hit the south side of Long Beach I sought out a cheap motel for the evening and called it a day. Tomorrow, San Clemente!
42 Miles
Another fabulous day on the road.
Got up this morning and went down to Santa Monica Pier to check it out and find some breakfast. The pier has several restaurants and amusement rides, but not much for breakfast really except for a Good Bean and Tea Leaf coffee shop. Good coffee!
From here it was down to the beach and a couple hours riding the bike trails which wind back and forth through the beautiful white sands of the LA beaches. As has been the weather here, it was cold and overcast all morning long, and it's Tuesday, so beach traffic was light (which is good...I imagine those bike paths get rather congested!).
The beach tour ends at Redondo beach and I was sorry to see it go. From here the route takes you east starting at Torrance Boulevard and winding it's way over to 223rd Street where it enters Long Beach and crosses the Los Angeles river, which is well contained in a large concrete aqueduct. From here there is a great bike trail that extends along the top of the aqueduct all the way to a beautiful park on the waterfront in Long Beach. Just before hitting Long Beach, the sun came out.
Trying to follow the Adventure Cycling route through all the bike trails was difficult. It's a confusing situation, but getting lost and wandering around isn't so bad! I rode out to take a picture of the Queen Mary and then rode past the Aquarium of the Pacific and remembered back to a great day Pattye and I had visiting her. It would be so nice for her to be here sharing this with me. We'll get here again soon!
After getting off track again on Shoreline Drive (where the barriers and bleachers are still up from the Long Beach Grand Prix, which is run on the actual streets of Long Beach) I picked up the correct bike trail and headed back into the beautiful white sands of the beach. When I hit the south side of Long Beach I sought out a cheap motel for the evening and called it a day. Tomorrow, San Clemente!
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| The pier at Santa Monica |
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| Looking back at Malibu |
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| Santa Monica Beach |
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| My Ride |
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| Venice Beach Art |
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| Bike lanes in the sand |
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| A lot of boats at Marina Del Rey |
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| End of the beach at Redondo Beach |
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| Onward to Torrence Boulevard |
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| A curious little jog in the route "Sonoma Street" was a very beautiful diversion from the otherwise ordinary homes in the area. These beautiful trees shade the entire block and the homes and yards are all quite beautiful as well. This was like an unexpected Easter Egg in the middle of the route. |
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| A lot of congestion and heavy traffic along this stretch to Long Beach |
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| Onto the LA River bike trail |
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| The Queen Mary |
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| Looking back at Long Beach |
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| Dolphin fountain near the Aquarium of the Pacific |
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| Shoreline Drive with all the racing barriers and fencing still in place from the Long Beach Grand Prix |
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| Biking the Long Beach beach |
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