Fresh Corn with Parmesan Cheese

Since Corn is in season right now I thought you may want to try this recipe. Enjoy, but really nothing beats fresh corn with nothing on it.

1/2 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ears yellow corn, husked, halved crosswise
Heat the oil in a heavy small skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until tender and fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove the skillet from the heat and cool. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese and stir the rest into the garlic mixture, along with the parsley and salt.

Cook the corn in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the corn to a platter. Brush the cheese mixture over the hot corn and serve. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of cheese on top of the corn.

Flight Of The Conchords - The Humans Are Dead

Vino

Vino crashed today, but it does not keep him down. He's still going to win.

Pirates Plunder and Pillage the Roads of California

This August the Salt Sea Pirates from all over the nation will gather in San Jose to begin their epic journey through space and time to find the true meaning of the pirate code - ayarrg. Yup the pirates are gathering to form a pace line in their awesome baby-blue Lycra cycling kits. If you are living in Northern California keep an eye out for us. We have a week long biking trip planned out for August we are going to be riding about 400 miles in 5 days. The best part and absolute worse part about this week will be that the rides are mostly vertical. Oh yeah we are climbing California. We are going to be Climbing Sierra Road in San Jose, Mt. Diablo in Walnut Creek, The Wall in Peoria, Panther's Gap in Weott...oh my goodness just writing all this down is making my body reach lactic threshold....it's going to be an amazing grueling adventure. I can't wait!

I want to be like Vino

I haven't written much on my blog since the crash. That crashed did something to my biking psyche. I am having a hard time getting back on my bike. I have tried a few times but since the crash I think I have put in maybe 80 miles. Yeah that was a month ago. My goal is that this week I will get over any hang up I have about the bike. I don't really know what's going on with me...I am just maybe a little burnt out. Well that was June and June is over. We are going to be all about biking in July...come on it's the tour month! Vive Le Tour!!! This is the best month out of the year. Each morning is filled with cycling. We watch cycling, then we talk to our friends about the cycling we just watched. Then we all go riding together, but this talk is a little different everyone ponies up their own predictions about the next day of racing. July is great. I am so going to tear it up on my bike. I will start tearing it up like Levi, George, but when I get serious and crazy I will tear the roads up like Vino! If you don't follow cycling like most people let me tell you about Alexandre Vinokourov who everyone calls Vino. He is possessed - he attacks when he's tired, when his hungry, when he's full, while he's eating, he attacks on the uphill, on the flats, he attacks his own team mates. He is out of control and we love him for it. It because of riders like him that make the tour what it is.

I want to be like Vino.

The picture above is of Vino courtesy of Graham Watson.

Swim Bike Crash Run Quit

This past weekend I competed in my first Half Iron Man in Burley Idaho. This race was specifically chosen for me because the swim was in a river...yes a nice moving on it's own river. Since the swim is my weakest link I need all the help I can get. On the morning of the race they bus you a mile plus up river, then you jump in and swim to the first transition area where you hop on your bike and ride into the sunset...or to transition 2 where you drop the bike grab your running shoes and you are now running your way to the finish. That is how most triathlons work...well mine was a little different than ideal. I did the whole swim portion, then I hopped on that bike just like I was told...I rode as hard as I could for 55.94 miles...unfortunately the course was 56 miles long. I crashed like .06 miles from the transition area. Let me back track this crash about 15 yards before I crashed I hit a ditch/gutter something that was crossing an intersection...I didn't see it coming - so I hit it hard, I think I hit it so hard I pinch flatted my front tire. Since this all happened so quickly I didn't even noticed I flatted. To get to transition 2 you make a small right turn...when I went in for this turn I was slowing down and turning just then my tire rolled off my front wheel rim. Yeah talk about Joseba Beloki 2003 tour injury...I slammed down on the ground pretty hard...I cracked my helmet and hit my face on the ground then I left a lot of skin on the road. If you know me you know how stubborn I can be so I grabbed my running shoes and tried to go for the run...well I made it about .5 miles before I turned back...my body was hurting...and mentally I'm not sure I was all there. So that pretty much sucked in a big way. I'm still shocked I went there to finish and I left as a 2/3rd winner. I'm pretty anti triathlons right now...so in a week or so I am thinking if I want to try again later in the summer.

Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries

This is a very tasty treat. With berry season coming up I thought it may be a good recipe to have around.

1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup honey 1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
2 cups assorted fresh berries

Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Pour milk mixture into a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves but the milk does not boil, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, honey, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pour into 6 wine glasses so that they are 1/2 full. Cool slightly. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours.
Spoon the berries atop the panna cotta and serve.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo and Lemon Spaghetti

This dish is a fabulous summer time dish. I mix the Shrimp Fra Diavolo and Lemon Spaghetti together for a get combination.

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional as needed
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons
1 medium onion, sliced
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
3 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
3 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leavesToss the shrimp in a medium bowl with 1 teaspoon of salt and red pepper flakes. Heat the 3 tablespoons oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and saute for about a minute, toss, and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a large plate; set aside. Add the onion to the same skillet, adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the pan, if necessary, and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices, wine, garlic, and oregano. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. Return the shrimp and any accumulated juices to the tomato mixture; toss to coat, and cook for about a minute so the flavors meld together. Stir in the parsley and basil. Season with more salt, to taste, and serve.

Lemon Spaghetti 1 pound spaghetti 2/3 cup olive oil 2/3 cup grated Parmesan 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons) Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon lemon zest 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leavesCook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.

Swimming in a River

As many of you know I am training for a Half Iron Man. On Saturday I had a great day full of Biking and Running, we even went kayaking. While we were kayaking I decided to hop out and swim a bit in the open water. Yikes! I hated it. When I swim in the open water I don't know where I am or how far I've gone...it is a miserable experience. Swimming is my weakness in all triathlons - it's a huge weakness. So with 19 days left until my race I am going to go swim in the lake everyother day. It's a good thing I found a triathlon that will let me do the swim portion in a slow moving river.

This Last Year Will be Pretty Hard to Top

I would have named you KingsleyMe Warming up for the Louisville Marathon

Me - BritBrit - Niknik at the Finish Line

Potato Gun

Snow Biking

Duathalon Pre-race

Moab, Utah

Ok Go Dance Party

Seth Eating His Words

The Women in My Family

Seth and His Friend Riding in Missouri The Boys and Their Bikes

Me with 2 extraordinary women

Pictures of My Life

Botanical Garden in Oregon
Riding

Me - Sister

My Cute Mom

MS 150 Ride Logan, Utah

Charlotte and I taking a Break from Riding in Oregon

Himalyas

The Lost Coast Century Ride

Seth doing Yoga

Backpacking in Utah with Friends and Puppies
Prayer Flags

Biking in Nor-Cal

4th of July with my Younger Bigger BrotherSister - Mom - Me

Seth on the Tibeto-Indian Border

Pictures from this Past Year

Kiowa waiting patiently for Seth to come home.Seth giving a child a health exam.
My Sister and I on a ride in Northern California.

Duner again

So you may be checking to find out which mile at completely bonked at...I applaud your interest. At mile 6 I decided to do the entire marathon, I was feeling really good all my joints and muscles felt great...I was pretty excited. So I passed the half marathon turn off without a doubt that the full marathon was for me...don't get me wrong it was the right choice. I would have felt cheated if I only did the half. I HAD to do the full. I felt great until mile 13...uhhh...yeah I still had 13 more miles to run. Every mile was torture and I don't think it was my lack of training or my injuries that made this race hard...the hills made this bad boy a beast of a thing. They kept taking us to parks with hills...we were going out of our way to run hills. It was a cruel and mean race. I don't think I have ever inflicted that much pain on myself since my teenage years and that was just emotional pain. This was some serious physical pain. My quads were tore up...I was tore up...my mind was fried, and then I finally crossed the finish line to my relief...my time was 4:25:25...So I give a shout out to my Mom who knew I would be too proud to quit.