Feb 26 - a process, not an event

So what do I eat when I'm by myself ? Well, for one thing, a meal is a process, not an event.

Around 5pm I'll pour a glass of wine, or if there isn't a bottle open, more likely a beer. With that I'll get some crackers & cheese & whatever spreads I have going. More on that later ... After my starting snack, which when Sandy is home, generally lasts me until a 7:30 pm-or-so dinner, I then tend to cook some veggies -- usually something boiled like peas, okra, lima beans -- frozen, not canned. Next I'll have my "main course" as it were, usually a sandwich of whatever is lying around like cold meat or leftover fish, smoked salmon or the like, thus getting my starch and protein. Last night I put some Tuna on the barbie -- a 1 pound piece that served as my dinner last night, my lunch today and probably my dinner tonight too. It was 1.11 pounds at the store, so that's about perfect. Lastly I'll have an ice cream bar or two. All this takes place over the span of a couple of hours.

As for "spreads", I've been doing more experimenting with my own "cream cheese" which is really thickened yogurt. Remember from an earlier blog that I suspend the yogurt in cheesecloth in a strainer in the fridge and the whey drips out. It's actually more like cheese than cream cheese since it has a "set" texture to it, not a spread texture. I've mixed it a variety of ways, once with dill and chive, once with some of my tapenade, the latest is with some cocktail sauce -- that's interesting -- and with Patek's curried lime. The yogurt adds flavor as well as giving a spread-like consistency to the final product, rather than a crumbly texture like the tapenade.

Clearly the options for spreadable things are almost limitless. I prefer tart flavors (ok, hot flavors) rather than sweet. In the grocery store you can get Philadelphia Cream Cheese with strawberry flavor ... not for me.

At this point I'm almost through the "process" of having my lunch. I've had my tuna steak sandwich and my peas/olives/spicy sauce. I know, I weird. Next I'll have an ice-cream bar and then don my biking clothes which I've already laid out.

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Motorcycle traffic is picking up. I rode north today into an ENE wind that I knew would seem more like a south wind -- don't know why that is but if the wind is mostly from the east it is in my face coming south, almost always. Anyway, I knew that it would be more interesting riding north. Vendor tents are up everywhere and motorcycles are gathering. There were no slowdowns on the road yet, unless you count the 1,000 or so motorcycles that were heading south on US 1 in Holly Hill led by at least 100 motorcycle cops who were also directing traffic at the traffic lights. The motorcycle cops had their sirens on ... made for an interesting show. I was heading north at the time so it didn't really affect me. Starting Saturday, the motorcycle traffic is just endless like one continuous parade with the only difference being that they have to stop for the traffic lights. Once the roads are that crowded with bikes I make much better time than they do. I travel on the shoulder ... you get the idea.

With my windy assist it made for a quick trip north and a slower trip south. Still, rolling time for 70 miles was only 4:10, which is not too bad, considering. Of course I am still enjoying the fact that I've dumped the weight. I'll go for one more ride unencumbered and then load up again for a ride on Sunday, weather permitting, and Tuesday, heading down to Bev's.

No more from Sandy, but I expect that they're having a blast. She and Marda will be heading this way late tomorrow but I don't expect them for dinner. Saturday, weather permitting, we'll go boating. At this point the forecast is good. Hopefully that will hold because the temperature is supposed to plummet for Sunday with a chance of showers.

I ordered another bike frame. I finally broke down and ordered another frame and it will be delivered tomorrow. At the same time I ordered new components (shifters, brakes, dérailleurs, crankset etc.) and returned the new fork with the 1" steerer to be swapped for the 1 1/8" version. In the final analysis I had a hard time putting all the new components on the old frame -- the Hummer, as I call it due to its weight. Of course it's not that heavy once I take all the stuff off, but I'm still riding with a lot of brackets attached that don't need to be there. Once I build up the new bike then I can alternate back and forth, reducing the miles that I put on the Litespeed and hopefully thus preserving it for the long term. At some point I may still want to replace the fork but not this year.

So, hopefully, at some point in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to build up the new bike. The fork will likely be the last to arrive because it is on back-order at Performance Bicycle. They are expecting them in early March -- i.e. next week. The new frame is from Lynskey who is a titanium frame builder, the same people who built my Litespeed frame many years ago. They left and setup their own company. The new frame is slightly different from the old -- smaller and stiffer with a top tube that slants from front to back which is more the current standard, rather than a level top tube like my Litespeed Classic. This frame weighs in at 2.5 pounds vs the old at 3.3 ... but that's just the frame of course. I haven't sat down and calculated the total weight -- there's no point. I will likely, however, weigh it fully built on the bathroom scale.

I think that's it ... I'll finish up in the a.m.

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Not much to add -- I finished up the tuna for dinner with some okra and peas. There are a number of foods that I generally have to eat on my own, since Sandy will not eat them, okra being one of those. Liver is another, although I have not had liver and onions (chicken liver that is) since a dinner at Zak's in Vermont, probably 20 years ago. I should really remedy that ! Ham is another of Sandy's not-so-favorites although if it's a whole ham done in the oven she'll put up with it about once per year. I like to do ham on the barbecue, on low, wrapped in foil, for about 5 hours. That cooks most of the fat out of it and it just falls off the bone.

Another thing that we never have at home is lamb. Lamb, with mint sauce, used to be a staple at our house when I was a kid. Of course that's because once a year my Mom and Dad would fill the freezer with a side of beef, half a pig and a lamb. I'll occasionally order rack of lamb if we're in a restaurant, just for a change. Even though she's not a lamb fan, Sandy has been known to order it too -- go figure.

Ok ... enough about food ... enough on this blog.