Winter Wonderland

Rolling into the parking lot of what has become my “go to” place to ride and run, my mind was filled with a sense of wild expectations. The last two weeks were filled with obligatory 5:00 am wake up calls and very little personal time. While I absolutely loved what I was learning and doing for the past few weeks, my riding had to take a back seat, that’s just the way the hand was dealt.

So the fact that I was going for a ride at all was awesome, the fact that the ride was going to be in the snow was even wilder.

I don’t run snow tires; in fact I don’t change a thing. (Sometimes when you sweat the details you miss the point entirely).

The trail was a mix of crunchy fallen leaves, frozen loam, and icy turns where the sun had yet to reach, the well trodden paths were clear, but a quick flick of the bars took me to a few spots where the knobs of tires had yet to leave their mark.

After an hour of “hike a bikes” up the steeper sections and slip and slides back down I was ready to call it a day.

What type of dinner is fit for a post winter ride?

 It’s never too cold for grilling out, (as long as you have a good down jacket) and our decision for a Sunday night seafood extravaganza let me run wild with my faithful Weber.

I roasted freshly chopped garlic in olive oil then mixed it with sriracha, which was drizzled over the gulf shrimp with pepper and basil.

Add a pound of scallops with sea salt and pepper to the mix, and it was a perfect grilled compliment to Ash’s Coconut Curry Mussels.

                                                         A great way to start the week.

"Rooster's Beak"

So I arrived home Monday evening with far too much energy to burn and an overwhelming urge for fresh Pico de Gallo (translated from Spanish to mean “Rooster’s beak”), in addition to my Hispanic culinary cravings I was also armed with the knowledge that my wife and I had previously decided to defrost some chicken breast this morning after our 5am “wakeup call” run.

As you read along it may not occur to you that in our house it is almost impossible for me to wrestle control of the kitchen from the “dinner Nazi”. Granted she delivers some of the most extraordinary morsels that a man could desire, but with that being said, I have been chased out of the kitchen by a spoon wielding maniac on more occasions than I care to remember.

OK it’s not actually that bad, but the “lady doth rein supreme in the land of cookery”, and that I mean with the greatest of sincerity.

Anyway, back to those Mexicans and their culinary creations.

When Ash and I lived in the posh West End we would “do Mexican” maybe twice a month, and don’t get me wrong we enjoyed it, but at some point we decided that we could probably create our own dishes with half the calories that you would find in the average Mexican eatery. (Was that an entire bar of Land O’ Lakes butter in my fajitas?)

This was certainly an evolution, and as such is still a work in progress to make food that taste great but with significantly less fat and using fresher ingredients.

So here is what I came up with, and yes I actually figured it out all by my lonesome.


Mojo marinated grilled chicken breast with a sweet & spicy black bean sauce that was comprised of black beans, caramelized onions, fresh garlic, jalapeno peppers (from our raised garden), and freshly diced tomatoes from Ash’s good friend’s garden near Charlottesville. The sweetness of the sauce was achieved with brown sugar and honey.

I paired the Pico De Gallo (all fresh local veggies) with whole wheat tortillas pan fried in olive oil.

A cold Legend’s Pale Ale and dinner was good to go.

Weekends past...

Last weekend started with a great deal of anticipation and excitement because a three day break was just what I needed to get re-centered.

The theme was to be festive, grilling out and enjoying the company.

The first order of business was to decide what ales would best suit a warm sun kissed holiday.



The selection was a combination of Pale Ales from American Pales to India Pales & I was not left disappointed.

Pictured from left to right;
Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA (Delaware)
Left Hand "JuJu" (Colorado)
Legend's Pale Ale (Virginia)
New Holland India Pale Ale (Michigan)
Check out their reviews and descritpions at ratebeer.com (link to the side)-->

Ash always has ideas for recipes swirling around in her head, and what she creates rivals restaurants that have three $$$ hanging out behind their name.



Saturday night we did calamari three different ways; grilled, pan seared,and lightly breaded and fried.(the typical order at your local eatery is usually battered fried with a heavy dipping sauce) my suggestion, buy some..take it home...cook it up for a healthy alternative.The squid was complimented by grilled jumbo shrimp,making a phenomenal dinner.

Sunday morning I took the helm and knocked out some mushroom, red pepper, and onion omelets topped with jalapeno salsa and goat feta cheese. The eggs were accompanied by a side of thick cut pepper bacon.



Sunday evening Ash whipped up grilled chicken with a homemade cranberry barbecue sauce, homemade bourbon baked beans, with a side of grilled squash and zucchini.



Ridiculous...

We ended the weekend with a quick jaunt out at Poor Farm Park.
The temps were toasty, but the flora and fauna gave us a reprieve from the heat and we had a good time taking in the single track.



Reflective Ash pondering the yin & yang of the universe...or just looking for snakes.





Good weekends fuel good weeks...