Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

Cobble Destroyed Tour de France Day & Crepes Made Easy – All in Pictures

 

Stage 5 win & crepes made easy

What an incredibly tough and destructive day on the cobblestones in the dreaded stage 5 of the Tour de France yesterday between Ypres and Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, still in Northern France. Congratulations to Dutchman Lars Boom (great name!) for destroying a field of tough, tough men and winning today’s stage!

Just one word about the whole event today – and I’m 3000 miles away: “OUCH!” Another few words: cobblestones are part of classic road pavement history – and should be permanent history as far as pro cycle racing is concerned. Too many of the world’s best athletes got smoked today, including last year’s Tour winner Chris Froome, on history’s pavement relics.

Chris Froome out Read more »

Baguette Full-On – All French and All Fun!

Stage 4 finish & baguette full-on

Another stunning win by Marcel Kittel – hey, the guy’s won three of the first four stages of  the Tour – with incredible strength and speed. And this was the first stage (section) of this year’s Tour in France from Le Touquet-Paris-Plage to Lille Metropole. Terrific!

All right! The Tour’s now in France. So how ’bout something, well, simply French?

Baguette Full-On Read more »

Tour de France Yorkshire Pudding Ideas – In Pictures

Yorkshire Pudding Ideas MontageRight now, here in this post, we’re pausing – just briefly – with a refreshingly crisp Tom Collins toast to a terrific 3-day Tour de France start in England with a crunching win – again – by Marcel Kittel in London yesterday. And now, on to Le Touquet-Paris-Plage to Lille Metropole in France and Belgium

Marcel's Win & My Tom Collins

On the food side of life, it’s been a real thrill finding ways to use both the traditional savory version of Yorkshire pudding and an improvised breakfast version – that I’ve enjoyed everyday since this past Friday. Read more »

Tom Collins Toast to a Great British Tour de France Start – All in Pictures

Stage 2 Tour De France Winner and Tom Collins

Inspirationally strong, gutsy rip-from-the-break-a mile-from-the-finish-line win by freshly crowned Italian National Cycling Champ Vincenzo Nibali in yesterday’s grueling climb and descent 2nd stage of the Tour de France from York to Sheffield.

Today, the men ride from Cambridge to London in the 3rd and final stage of this year’s Tour on British roads.  So, how ’bout a refreshingly appropriate  toast to  a blaze-fast Tour start  and incredibly enthusiastic fan support with an unmistakably British cocktail favorite, the Tom Collins, which is just as quick and easy to make as fresh lemon or limeade.

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Scrambled Eggs with Sausage, Bell Pepper and Cheese – All in Pictures

Scrambled Eggs with Sausage, Bell Pepper & CheeseThis full-on flavor recipe combines the protein power of eggs and sausage, fresh zest of red bell pepper and shallots and richness of Parmesan cheese – all in one pan.

As mentioned in other scrambled egg recipes here, adding just a small amount of salt to the eggs before cooking them not only enhances scrambled egg flavor, it also ensures the eggs will turn out soft and tender. Eggs cooked without salt tend to be tough and rubbery as shown in the comparison pictures below.

Salted vs. Unsalted Eggs

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Blue Sky Pre-Ride Breakfast of Champions – All in Pictures

Bowl Pancake, Fresh Coffee & Freshly Made Whipped Cream Pre-Ride BreakfastFirst, Happy Father’s Day!

Second, this breakfast works great any day, but especially on a day like we’re having today in the Northeast with clear blue skies, cool temps, dry air and a pretty good breeze. Just great to get out and rip it up on the bike, which I’m gonna’ do right now with a good friend who hasn’t been out on a bike for quite some time. Gonna’ be fun! Read more »

Waking Up to Freshly Brewed Coffee: Made Easy and All in Pictures

Freshly Brewed CoffeeYou know those days when things just don’t go right, and the harder you try, the louder the voice in your head screams, “C’mon, man. Wake up and smell the coffee!” Yesterday was one of those days for me – OW! –  but instead of raging about it, I took that voice’s advice and laid down a new much more colorful version of Freshly Brewed Coffee Made Easy.

Already I feel better. And I’ve chugged enough freshly made brew along with a coconut bowl pancake to fuel me for an excellent rip on the bike as soon as I get this off.

Freshly brewed coffee and coconut bowl pancake

Like I mentioned in the picture book recipe you can get by clicking any picture on this page, the key to a good cup of coffee is nailing the right ratio  of cold water to ground coffee. Sounds easy enough. The only problem is that coffee makers are not calibrated to a standard “cup” size, and those cups are not the standard “1 cup = 8 ounces”. The way to deal with that is to use a measuring cup to to measure 12 ounces of water. Then pour that water either into the coffee maker reservoir or carafe with “cup” markings on it to see exactly how many cups your coffee machine makes with those 12 ounces of water. As shown in the pictures here, my coffee machine makes 3 cups of water with 12 ounces of water.

Calibrating Coffee CupsHere’s what you need to make coffee using a coffee maker.

Needed to make freshly brewed coffeeAgain, just click any picture on this page for a complete, newly revised, and very easy to use step-by-step picture book recipe.

Freshly Brewed Coffee Step-By-Step Picture Book Recipe pages

Microwave Cooked Coconut Bowl Pancake – All in Pictures


Microwave Cooked Coconut Bowl Pancake

Yeah, there really is a microwave cooked coconut bowl pancake under all that terrifically fresh and flavorful topping. The segmented picture below outlines how it goes together.

Microwave Cooked Coconut Bowl Pancake title

Here’s what you need to make this pancake, which is a very easy to make variation on the microwave cooked bowl pancake that substitutes packaged pancake flour and cereal with high-protein coconut flour, shredded coconut and ground flaxseed for outstanding flavor and long-lasting energy.

Needed to Make a Microwave Coconut Bowl Pancake

Click any picture on this page for a complete, colorful and easy to use step-by-step picture book recipe. Next post: I’ll show an easy and, you bet, flavorful variation on this pancake.

Microwave Cooked Coconut Bowl Pancake Recipe Pages

 

Microwave Cooked Bowl Pancake – All in Pictures

Microwave Bowl Pancake

Gorgeous weather here in the Northeast! Legs are screamin’ at me to get out on the bike – I’ll obey ‘soon as I fire this off!

Here’s what I had yesterday morning to power me through putting together the step-by-step picture book recipe you can get here and a 35+ mile bike ride later in the afternoon (admittedly, after a nut butter and toast snack shortly before hitting the road).

Microwave Cooked Bowl PancakeThe great things about a bowl pancake:

  1. Fantastic flavor that can be altered easily to suit your individual taste.
  2. Speed.
  3. Ease – you use the same bowl to mix, cook and eat the pancake, which makes both prep and cleanup as fast and easy as possible.

Here’s what you need to make a microwave cooked bowl pancake.

Needed to Make a Microwave Bowl PancakeClick any picture on this page for a complete, easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipe.

Microwave Cooked Bowl Pancake Picture Book Recipe pages

Microwave Cooked Pasta with Instant Tuna Parmesan – All in Pictures


Microwave Cooked Pasta with Instant Tuna ParmesanI mentioned in the last post I had another microwave cooked pasta one-bowl meal recipe ready to go. Here it is: Microwave Cooked Pasta with Instant Tuna Parmesan, which is just an easy variation on the Microwave Cooked Pasta with Instant Chicken Parmesan I posted about a week ago.

Briefly, all you need to do is add the ingredients you see below in a microwave oven safe bowl, heat for about 2 minutes in the microwave oven, and you’re done. Easy – and darn flavorful!

Needed to make microwave cooked pasta with instant tuna ParmesanAs always, click any picture on this page for a complete, easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipe.

Microwave Cooked Pasta with Instant Tuna Parmesan recipe pages

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