Bike Trip!

Because I'm lazy and because Dani did such a good summary on her blog, I am recycling her blog post of our wonderful jaunt down the Oregon coast. Click here to see our ride!

As for our reactions to the trip: Allison is planning a ride down to Utah in the near future with a trip down the entire Pacific coast (she says Alaska to Mexican border...I think canadian border to Mexican border will be more likely) next year, and I am looking at buying a new bike (cannondale six carbon 5) with the hopes of entering a few bike races next year. So to say the least, this trip has invigorated our love for cycling!

Why I love cycling...

Ever since Alli and I got married, we have noticed that we are not like other couples. We like to spend all of our time together. We don't have any friends. I do the cooking and cleaning while Alli brings in the big bucks. Basically, people have a hard time understanding us and why we couldn't go play racquetball without the other or run a quick errand without the other. I am proud to say that I have spent as much time as possible with my wife in the past 16 months.

Although other couples have thought us strange for our inseparability, the thing that makes us the strangest, apparently, is our bicycling obsession. When Allison excitedly tells her co-workers about our new Vittoria Rubino Pros with blue sidewalls and a kevlar belt, her co-workers stare at her like she just tried to explain how electricity works. When I tell people in my class that I would like to take 3 months off and ride my bike across America with my wife, they act like I just told them my plans for suicide, asking why, how, and are you crazy?

It's not that we're crazy, it's that we're freaks. We enjoy pushing ourselves to new speeds. We enjoy struggling up hills. We enjoy the exhilaration of feeling slightly out of control when our speedometer reaches 45 MPH. We enjoy the smells that can only be smelt from a bike. We enjoy lusting after Cannondale SuperSixs and Cervelo R3s. We enjoy comparing our new tan lines. We enjoy dreaming of our next trip. We just enjoy the time alone together that cycling provides.

It's true that I can gain 4.8 miles on Allison on a 5 mile climb, but it's also true that she can go 5 MPH faster than me when we're facing just a 10 MPH headwind. Maybe we enjoy cycling together because it helps us to understand each other.

While the rest of the world cries about carbon emissions and obesity, Allison and I will be quietly riding our bikes, eating homemade granola, and leaving our stresses behind.

Maybe we're not that crazy after all...

HELP US, PLEASE, EVERYONE HELP

We NEED your help RIGHT NOW. Ok, so Clif bars are giving away a year supply of free clif bars to whoever can come up with the most creative thing they would do with the clif bars and I'm hungry for Clif Bars right now so I really want them bad. So we must come up with the most creative thing to do with the Clif Bars. PLEASE, send us your ideas to help us, we get two chances to enter. ALong with your ideas, tell me what you think about my initial idea.

"If I won a year supply of Clif Bars, I PROMISE I will commit myself to the following. I PROMISE that I will go on a three month bike ride across America wearing a series of three customized Clif Bar jerseys and shorts each displaying one of my favorite flavors Cool Mint, Blueberry Crisp, and Black Cherry Almond. I PROMISE to keep a photo blog of my daily experiences on my ride of the people I've met, the places I've seen, and the Clif Bars I've consumed. I lastly PROMISE that after my first shipment of Clif Bars I will (try my best to) not eat them all in one day."

Also, tell Jacob what you think of his initial idea, and just know that we are open to any criticism and additions. You kind of have to imagine Jacobs,

In video format. Setting: Dream Montage. Jacob is in a bathtub filled with clif bars as he washes himself (no nudity shown) after he gets out, he brushes his teeth with clif bars, uses a clif bar for deodarant, combs his hair and then puts on a giant clif bar t-shirt. Then he wakes up to me eating the last clif bar and screams in terror, pushing me over, and stealing the last bite. But I am not settling and I tackle Jacob.

OK, tell us what you think and give us more ideas, we have until the last day of july to come up with our final entries. Thank you one and all and happy Clif bars to you.

p.s. If we win this, I really will go on a 3 month bike ride.

Read This Now!

First, I must apologize for two things: 1) I haven't posted on this blog for a looong time, 2) this posting isn't going to be very interesting to most of you.

Now, my concessions. 1) I've been in school for the past month and a half, 2) I'm an English major, which means that for the past month and a half I have been reading, studying, analyzing, and discussing books.

Today I would like to share the top 5 books that I have read in the past six months. I do this because of the many people who ask me for book recommendations (people assume that, because I am an English major, I have read every book in the world...I have not).

So here's my list:
1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Road is the only book that I read and the next day re-read and a few months later, re-re-read. No book has affected me as much as this book. The images that McCarthy creates have never left my mind. If there is one book that I would recommend for everyone to read at least once, it would be The Road.

WHY? The Road is full of violence and disturbing images, yet throughout this horror, a young boy and his father find peace and love and goodness. If you want a good story, none is better than The Road. If you want to read the best prose author of the 20th century, none is better than McCarthy. This Pulitzer-Prize winner is not only the best book I've read in the past six months, it is the best book I have ever read, and it may be the best book I ever will read.

2. The Old Man and the Sea By Ernest Hemingway

I must tell you that six months ago I had a strong dislike for Ernest Hemingway. And although I still don't love much of his work, he does have one gem of a book, The Old Man and the Sea.
Although to the casual reader this may look like a story about a man and a fish and the sea, a deeper look at the text shows rich Christian symbolism and teachings on determination, faith, and devotion. As I read this book, I saw a parallel between the old man and my father-in-law, Dave. This was Hemingway's final work, and the only one he was truly proud of.

3. Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
Amy Tan is known for her stories of the relationship between Chinese mothers and daughters (boring), but in Saving Fish from Drowning, she takes a new approach: humor. From the very first chapter I was already laughing.

I have come to recognize that Tan is a remarkable story-teller with very tight control of the English language. This story is both funny and though-provoking and it is all done through the point-of-view of a dead narrator. I found this book very entertaining.

4. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Does anyone know how many author's have won a Pulitzer prize with their first book? I don't, b

ut I do know that Jhumpa Lahiri is one of the few. After reading one of her short stories in my Literary Analysis class, I had to read more.

This is a book of short stories, all of which deal with

immigrants from India and their arrival in America. Many of the stories are funny, and each one makes you want to read the next.

5. What is the What by Dave Eggers

After reading this book it will be hard for you to complain. This story about Valentino Achak Deng and the lost boys of Sudan teaches us how to find the good in every situation.

This is the second book of Eggers' that I have read, and I continue to be impressed with the maturity of his writing. Although written by Eggers, we never hear his voice; he allows Achak to tell his own story.

Well, that's my top 5. I had a difficult time narrowing this list down, but I feel that these are the 5 best books that I could currently recommend to anyone. Now I wonder what other books you can suggest that I read.

New Eyes for Alli.

Allison was so excited about her new glasses she even wanted to sleep with them.
About six months ago Allison's trusty glasses broke. I told her it was about time; most people don't wear the same pair of glasses for seven and a half years. She claims that she got them from Walmart for only $9 when she was in ninth grade. I think she got her money's worth.

We were on our way home from grocery shopping, playing our usual game of "who-can-carry- the-most-bags-up-three-flights-of-icy-stairs-in-one-trip-without-dropping-anything" when Allison dropped her glasses. It was unfortunate because she was on the third story and $9 Walmart frames can only handle dropping two stories. I found one half dangling from the stairs on the second floor, I would have to go to the bottom floor to find the next half.

Yes, that's right, they were broken right down the middle: two even pieces. At first we tried to tape them together; tape wouldn't hold. Next we tried super glue; still no hold. Allison wasn't discouraged. She knew that although the glasses were in two pieces, she had two hands: she could always hold the two pieces to her face if she became desperate. After sitting through the 2 hour Peking Acrobat show, watching my wife struggle to keep her glasses held up to her face, I decided that it was time to treat my wife to new glasses. She wasn't convinced. I explained to her that we would only need to pay a small co-pay due to her wonderful insurance, still she was convinced that it wasn't a "need." I decided that I would need to be smarter. I waited until her next day off and told her I wanted to take her on a special date. Although she was excited about the date, she was not happy that I seemed to be rushing her out the door at the same time that she wanted to nap. I told her that the bank was going to close soon and that we needed to go to the bank before it closed. She finally figured out my scheme when we parked at the eye doctor's office and I told her that I had scheduled her an appointment in 5 minutes. Although she refused for so long, she was very excited to hear that I had made a covert appointment!
She was allowed to pick any frames that she wanted, she really liked that the blue on the inside of this frame softened her face. I think they are perfect Allison glasses: mostly stylish and funky with a tinge of sophistication!

Beards and Faux mullet hawks

SO, I accidently added the picture above, but liked it so much that I decided it should probably stay.

I went three weeks without shaving last month and grew out this great beard. It lasted until it was too itchy on my face and too scratchy on Allison's.THEN, yesterday I surprised Allison with my new Faux mullet hawk. I've been wanting to do something special with my hair for a while; finally, yesterday I went ahead and did it. Allison thinks I look like a new man. What do you think?

Picky Eaters

Allison and I are a perfect couple. We have heard that the first year of marriage is supposed to be the most difficult--if that's the case, we have it easy. I can nearly count the number of disagreements that we've had on one hand and the disagreements that we've had have been miniscule. In fact, I can only think of one thing that has been difficult for me to deal with in our marriage: Allison is a picky eater.

I have always had a dream of owning my own restaurant. I remember waking up early one saturday morning when I was about eight years old, creating a banner that read "famous Jake's" with an accompanying menu, and offering breakfast in bed to my siblings and parents. For as long as I can remember I've been helping my mom cook. I figured that once I was married I would cook lavish meals for my wife and she would always be so grateful for my expertise. The one thing I overlooked in these preparations to be an at-home chef was that everyone has different tastes.

I remember making a weekly menu when we were first married with such excitement. I include things like Chicken Parmesan, Chinese Barbeque Pork, Chicken Teriyaki, and Sauteed Tilapia with Browned butter and sage. I just knew that my wife would be so proud of her talented husband. My excitement lasted all through my preparations and cooking, but as soon as it was on the table, I knew something was wrong. "I don't eat fish," she'd say, or "I don't like the texture." Rarely did I hear words like "delicious," or "amazing" or even "yum." I've learned that it isn't that I'm a bad cook (in fact, I still do dream of becoming a chef and owning a bed and breakfast) it's just that Allison is a picky eater who would rather eat cereal than just about any other food.

For a while I figured I would just need to train her as a parent might train a child to eat spinach, broccoli, or string beans. Now, several months later, I've given up--Allison is my wife whom I love dearly, and although she may occasionally act like a child, she is not a child.

So in order to deal with this, we came up with two rules. First, Allison and I now sit down and create a menu together. She tells me what kinds of foods she likes and dislikes and we come up with ideas that will satisfy both of us. Second, if I do create a meal that she doesn't want to eat, she is allowed to make her own meal (inevitably it will be cereal).

Last week Allison allowed me a little more freedom in my menu creations, which provided me an opportunity that I've dreamed of for years. I made homemade pasta! I've dreamed about rolling out my own pasta dough and making my own sauce, these are skills, I believe, that make a great chef. The best part of the whole experience, though, was when Allison asked me to make it again. I finally found something she likes! This is really delicious and surprisingly easy to make. Don't be scared about homemade pasta. And don't think you need a pasta roller--I roll it out by hand (with a rolling pin).

Below is my recipe for Ravioli Napoletana. Picky eater approved. (taken from The Silver Spoon).

For Pasta:

2 3/4 cups flour

3 eggs, slightly beaten

Pinch of Salt

Sift the flour and pinch of salt into a mound on the counter, Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Using your fingers, gradually incorporate the flour and eggs. Knead for about ten minutes. If dough is dry, add a sprinkling of water. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a bowl. Cover with damp cloth.

For Filling:

Scant 1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 TBS dried parsley (1 TBS fresh)

Generous 1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1/2 cup cooked ham

3 1/2 oz. mozzarella cheese, diced

Beat the ricotta in a bowl. Stir in egg, parsley, parmesan, ham, and mozzarella. Roll out the pasta dough into a fairly thick sheet and place mounds of filling at regular intervals on the half sheet. Fold over dough, cut out ravioli, pressing the edges firmly to seal. Cook in salted boling water for about 15 minutes.

Basic Tomato sauce:

1 can diced tomatoes

Pinch of sugar

2 garlic cloves

2 TBS olive oil

1 TBS basil

Put the tomatoes in a pan with their juices. Add sugar and garlic. Cover and let cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Crush the tomatoes. Add the Oil and Basil. Serve over Ravioli, with fresh parmesan.

Happy Cooking!