Here’s what a picture-perfect start to stage 10 of the Tour de France on Bastille Day – complete even with some kinda’ “smoke’s on!” fireworks on the side of the road – and a very fresh and flavorful breakfast looked like this morning.
Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category
July 14th, 2014 
Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Pancakes 
Comments Off on Bastille Day Mis-Fire-Works – And Living to Tell About It Bastille Day Mis-Fire-Works – And Living to Tell About It
July 12th, 2014 Bar Drinks, Blog, Special Recipes Comments Off on Tour de France Stage 6 & Wine and Gin Citrus Chill Tour de France Stage 6 & Wine and Gin Citrus Chill
The tour ripped on from Epernay to Nancy in Northern France yesterday during the second longest stage of the Tour this year. Here’s a drink that – ok, it’s a stretch – commemorates the unified England and France flavor of the Tour: wine and gin citrus chill.
July 11th, 2014 Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, French Toast Comments Off on Wake Up to the Tour with Pan Cooked French Toast and a Choice of Toppings – All in Pictures Wake Up to the Tour with Pan Cooked French Toast and a Choice of Toppings – All in Pictures
The Tour on TV and the smell of butter, eggs, bread, and a good shot of ground cinnamon cooking in the frying pan! Click either the picture above or directly below for a complete, easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipe.
As for toppings, sure, you can use traditional maple syrup.
But just click any of the pictures below for picture book recipes that show how to put together very easy and terrifically flavorful alternative toppings. As always, what you see in those recipes works fine but is just intended to fire up your imagination. Try something different and make it all yours!
July 10th, 2014 Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Special Recipes Comments Off on Cobble Destroyed Tour de France Day & Crepes Made Easy – All in Pictures Cobble Destroyed Tour de France Day & Crepes Made Easy – All in Pictures
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.
July 9th, 2014 Blog, Cycling Food, Special Recipes Comments Off on Baguette Full-On – All French and All Fun! Baguette Full-On – All French and All Fun!
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?
July 8th, 2014 Bar Drinks, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Drinks, Special Recipes Comments Off on Tour de France Yorkshire Pudding Ideas – In Pictures Tour de France Yorkshire Pudding Ideas – In Pictures
Right 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
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 »
July 7th, 2014 Bar Drinks, Blog Comments Off on Tom Collins Toast to a Great British Tour de France Start – All in Pictures Tom Collins Toast to a Great British Tour de France Start – All in Pictures
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.
June 30th, 2014 Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Eggs Comments Off on Scrambled Eggs with Sausage, Bell Pepper and Cheese – All in Pictures Scrambled Eggs with Sausage, Bell Pepper and Cheese – All in Pictures
This 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.
June 15th, 2014 Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Drinks, One Bowl Meals, Pancakes, Special Recipes Comments Off on Blue Sky Pre-Ride Breakfast of Champions – All in Pictures Blue Sky Pre-Ride Breakfast of Champions – All in Pictures
First, 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 »
June 14th, 2014 Blog, Breakfast, Drinks (no alcohol) Comments Off on Waking Up to Freshly Brewed Coffee: Made Easy and All in Pictures Waking Up to Freshly Brewed Coffee: Made Easy and All in Pictures
You 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.
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.
Here’s what you need to make coffee using a coffee maker.
Again, just click any picture on this page for a complete, newly revised, and very easy to use step-by-step picture book recipe.
