Tag: postaday

Birthday Gravel Bicycle Ride – Castell Texas North Loop

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“Birthday Ride” Castell, 2020

So, my birthday happened. :) I took the day off and decided to go for a long ride on the north loop near Castell. I rode the south loop a few days ago, so I wanted to compare the two, and I think I prefer the north loop, but both are great.

This time I took my camp chair and a sandwich and took a nice break at the halfway point. It was definitely a good idea, and something I would do again. I actually thought about bringing my camp stove and some ramen but the Texas weather is still quite warm, so I nixed the idea. Maybe when the weather turns colder. 😀

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/13, 1/100 sec, ISO400
 “Birthday Ride” Castell, 2020

By the way, this was my longest ride (of my adult life), and I felt great afterwards. I also enjoyed riding with the new Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. The puncture-resistance gives me a bit of peace-of-mind which is welcomed. But even if they do get punctured, I have the tools to make repairs in the field. I’d rather not do that, of course. 😄

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/280 sec, ISO200
 “Birthday Ride” Castell, 2020
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/13, 1/100 sec, ISO200
 “Birthday Ride” Castell, 2020

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/13, 1/350 sec, ISO200

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/13, 1/280 sec, ISO200
 “Birthday Ride” Castell, 2020
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/13, 1/280 sec, ISO200
 “Birthday Ride” Castell, 2020

Parboiled Baby-Back Ribs

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/25 sec, ISO3200
 “Rib Dinner” Cedar Park, 2020

My brother sent me a recipe for parboiled baby-back ribs a few months ago, and we liked the results so much that I’ve made them three times already! The first time, I used a plain barbecue sauce for the marinade and dipping sauce, the second time I used a Jamaican jerk rub (Walkerswood), and then this time I used a mustard-based barbecue sauce. All were good!

I found out later that parboiling ribs is considered blasphemy to many people in the barbecue community, who say it robs the meat of all flavor. I’m sure parboiling must take a bit of the flavor away, but it’s probably something like bringing it down from 100 to 90 on the flavor scale, and the advantages far outweigh any flavor loss in my opinion.

The ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, with no gristly, chewy, or rubbery bits. I’ve tried many recipes before, including baking and grilling, but this parboil/baking has turned out perfect every time, and it is so easy – you just set it and forget it. Here’s the simple process:

  1. Divide a rack of baby-back ribs into two or three pieces so it can fit into a pot of water
  2. Boil for 45 minutes
  3. Put ribs into a casserole dish or baking pan and coat all over with your preferred sauce/marinade/rub
  4. Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight if possible
  5. Bake in a 250° F oven for 3 hours
  6. Remove foil and place under broiler to brown the ribs, then flip over to brown the other side; or you can throw them on your barbecue grill

That’s it! There’s plenty of room to make it your own (for instance, lessen the baking time if you like the meat less tender) so why not give it a try?

Pizza Toppings

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Assorted Pizzas” Cedar Park, 2020

Mariko taught four pizza dough classes this past week, which meant we ate a lot of pies. So, to mix it up a bit, we branched out a little bit with the toppings.

I made an onion, olive, and anchovy pizza because I love those salty little fishies! It’s a well-known topping, but rarely ordered (or even offered) so I thought it would be a nice change of pace. Of course with so many pizzas to top, we had a few other options, including chicken with barbecue sauce, and a Mediterranean-style pizza with Gyro meat, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. This was actually my and Koa’s favorite, beating out the classic Italian sausage pizza and pepperoni pizza.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Anchovy Pizza” Cedar Park, 2020

I also bought ingredients for a clam and roasted garlic pizza, but we didn’t have enough dough (or classes) to make that one. Next time for sure!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
 “Pepper Pizza” Cedar Park, 2020

Ride to the Little Library

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/10, 1/70 sec, ISO3200
 “Little Library Check” Cedar Park, 2020

Checking out one of our neighborhood Little Free Libraries. There are usually lots of religious books and bibles mixed in with the romance and thrillers. I guess that’s okay, as long as they allow ALL kinds of books. But who knows, maybe someone has been “permanently borrowing” the books they don’t agree with. As much as I’d like to give people the benefit of the doubt, there are a few bad apples in every neighborhood. At any rate, I didn’t find anything particularly interesting today, which is okay because I already have plenty to read.

Speaking of reading, if you are on GoodReads, let’s connect!

Best Kimchi?

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/30 sec, ISO3200
 “Recommended Kimchi” Cedar Park, 2020

We were recently given a bottle of this Kimchi by a Korean friend of ours, and she said it’s the best brand you can get here. Interestingly, another Korean friend recommended the same brand, so I’m really looking forward to trying it! We still have a lot of kimchi left in the jar we have opened, so it might be a while until we get to the new one, but it’s something to look forward to.

Pizza Days

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/45 sec, ISO3200
 “Pizza Class” Cedar Park, 2020

Mariko has a few pizza-making classes (online) this week, which means plenty of pizza for us! I love pizza, but in order to not get sick of it, we’re trying to vary the toppings. Beyond the common ones like pepperoni, sausage, onion, and olives, we’ve added Jalapeño and Serrano peppers, anchovies, and roasted garlic to the options. And for the next couple of classes, we’ll add gyro meat, feta cheese, fresh basil, Romano cheese, and pork belly to the mix.

It’s fun to try different combinations! After all, when you have a good crust, which is the critical part of the pizza, you can experiment with toppings and almost always have a good pie.

Bon Appetit! ❤🍕

Early Voting

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Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/180 sec, ISO100
 “Early Voting in 2020” Cedar Park, 2020

Today I went to the local library where I always vote to cast my ballot. In Texas, early voting began on the 13th, and the numbers of people casting early votes is setting records. Since we have plenty of time to early vote here, I was planning on voting a few days later, but when I drove past the library, the line wasn’t too long so I decided to just do it then.

It took about 20 minutes from getting out of my car to getting back into my car with my votes being cast. Not bad at all!

Oh, and as an added bonus, I got my flu shot today. Science and Democracy!!!