My first quake

I've been here for 10 years and have never really felt any earthquakes until about 8pm last night. The house was shaking, lights were swaying, & Tracey says get under the door jam. No damage, but I haven't checked the wine room yet.

Caffe Siena address

Caffe Siena
26 East Main Street
Los Gatos, CA 95030

Los Gatos ride...every Sat at 8:30am Cafe Siena

To all,
After living here in the South bay for a couple of years, I wanted to
start a low key, winter ride for Los Gatos every Saturday from Café Sienna
downtown Los Gatos every Saturday for 3-4 hrs.

I have a few rules, obey all traffic laws, no flipping off cars, no slug
fests on the ride.

Sat 8:30 am sharp starting this Sat, weather permitting.

See you then!

Spread the word.

Michael

Booo!!!

Had plans of getting scary and partying like a devil. Tracey is just happy that she didn't have to get a costume and we decided to stay in last night. We did make it to the 10's.

I'm not sure this is what Spain was thinking, but I can think of just about any reason to drink some vino.

Happy almost Halloween!!!!

zero on the motivation scale

Today I've been putting off my list of things to do...not to motivated to mow the lawn, empty the fridge in the garage, bring in the garbage cans, prime the outside of the house where the paint is chipping, get a rental car and hotel for san diego trip...tomorrow; instead, I play with the blog, think of what type of pizza I'll make tonight, count how many races I did this year (who cares?) hope that the roof don't leak too much on our new floors...blah, blah,

Hope Mick gets a world champ jersey at Track worlds..

Bring on the rain...I'll play with our new Wolf

We are so close to being done with the re-do..there have been alot of re-don'ts along the way too. But its looking better then I expected, we went for I'm a cork dork for the floors and they are really cool, not sure if they are reto or modern. Funny after doing all this stuff, I'm wondering what I'm going to do with all my free time. Maybe I'll start cooking this up and try to figure it out along the way.

For wine I like the Ribera del Duero from Vizcarra. Its made with Tempranillo (means early to ripen) the winemaker Juan Carlos Vizcarra has a gift for making soft & elegant wines with a touch of oak and vanilla. The spice should be just enough.

Juan Mari's Basque Red Bean Stew by Penelope Casas from La Cocina de Mama

Juan Mari Arzak is indeed a Michelin legend & his restaurant outside of San Sebastian is in the same tavern that his grandparents built in 1897. This dish is from Juan Mari's mother, an exceptional cook in her own right, & it is a Basque classic. Pre-cooking the sausage greatly reduces the fat content which makes this a hearty healthy dish for fall evenings. I suggest using Spanish Tolosana beans, & picking up some guindillas which are like a skinny version of peperoncini.



1 lb dried deep red beans

Kosher or sea salt

4 Tbs olive oil

1 medium onion, cut in half

1/4 lb sweet semicured cooking chorizo

1/4 lb black sausage with onion (morcilla)

1/4 lb salt pork

2 medium green bell peppers, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

Guindillas vascas (Basque hot peppers)



Soak the beans overnight in cold water to cover. Drain, then combine in a stew pot with 6 cups water, salt to taste, 2 Tbs of the oil, & half of the onion. Bring to a boil, cover, & simmer until the beans are tender, about 2 hours.



Meanwhile, prick the chorizo & black sausage with a fork & place in a skillet with the salt pork. Cover with water & simmer for 20 minutes. Cut the sausages into 1-inch chunks & reserve.



Finely chop the remaining onion half. In a skillet, heat the remaining 2 Tbs oil & slowly saute the green peppers, onion, & garlic for 10 minutes. Cover & continue cooking slowly for another 15 minutes.



Add the sausages, salt pork, & the onion mixture to the beans, taste for salt, & serve accompanied by Basque hot peppers, if possible.

Calistoga and back

Ok I've been riding in Napa for years. Every time I ride I see this guy, he looks the same with the exception of a few more doohickys and flags hanging from his bike. I wonder if I'll see him in the wind tunnel in Dec....

Fall on Hwy 1

After a two week blitz of selling mucho vino, I decided to take a mental health break and ride until I didn't want to ride anymore.
This weekend was one of riding, just riding, taking pictures and having no bad ideas, stress or worries. Just ride, around each corner there was another reason to take a picture, stop, or eat a cookie.
I did a ride with a really nice group of folks, some familiar, some new to me. We rode from Carmel to King city and back again along the coast on the way down for 85 miles then 20 inland. Topped off for 110 miles for the Saturday and 75 on Sunday..bliss. The ocean was a turquoise blue, seals were swimming and sea lions barking.
Man I thought about east vs. west. I used to really like this time of year back east with the leaves and all, but there is no way to compare this to New England.

King kong attacks canadian in half moon bay

Good thing that canadian brings his frame pump. It was good enough to hold off the angry beast for a minute while the women rode to the bakery leaving the little man to fend for himself.

Ah well, great mental health day.