First Training Day - Boston Bike Tour

 Today was DAY ONE of my bike training LOL.  I rode a bike from one end of Boston to the other for about 2.5 – 3.0 hours.  It was great fun, and I had no problems with the flats, hills, streets – it was awesome!!

I stopped at Starbucks for a pre-ride breakfast of oatmeal filled with nuts, dried fruit and brown sugar washed down with a Vivanno strawberry, banana and whey protein smoothie.  It fueled me through the 3 hours perfectly.

I found Urban Adventours (http://www.urbanadventours.com/guides.php) online and signed up for their “City View Bicycle Tour” which took us through Boston from the Italian North End and historic Beacon Hill, up to Fenway Park, heart of Red Sox Nation, and through modern and dynamic Back Bay.   

Here is the map of the actual route:  http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=114069446903694170823.00046aea1326b671108f6&ll=42.35569,-71.079912&spn=0.038183,0.082569&z=14

Our great tour guide was none other than the Adventours’ Chief Wheel Officer, Andrew Prescott.

A great guide, informative, irreverent and funny and loaded with the sorts of Boston facts that only a native Bostonian might know – except that he is from Morristown, NJ.    Also, lest you think a bike tour guide is most likely a some kind of bikerhead slacker, Andrew was football captain in high school, then he went on to Wesleyan University earning a Psychology/Sociology degree, and then was a recruiter, bartender, world traveler, accountant, marketing manager for Anheuser-Busch, to BioBus (http://biobus.org/) driving fool, and he claims to have tried it all.; so I could relate very well LOL!

A few of the unknown (to me) facts about Boston on the tour were:

1.       Christopher Columbus Park:  Like Philly, they have a major Christopher Columbus statue and park even though the closest he got to Boston was Cuba (why, people why?! STOP the Columbus madness!!)

2.      The Battle of Bunker Hill:  The actual battle took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill – not Bunker Hill at all - during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill, which was peripherally involved in the battle and was the original objective of both colonial and British troops, and is occasionally referred to as the "Battle of Breed's Hill."

3.      Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919:  We stopped at Copps Hill and looked over the area of the Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster) which killed a number of people and caused the equivalent of about $100 million in damages.  At 35 miles per hour, molasses isn’t so slow…

4.      Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride:  Paul Revere’s portion was only 15 minutes before he was captured and he had the shortest ride of all the riders involved; but he is the only one mentioned and immortalized in Longfellow’s famous poem. Another case of right place and time LOL. Longfellow took many liberties with the events of the evening, most especially giving sole credit to Revere for the collective achievements of the three riders (as well as the other riders whose names do not survive to history). Longfellow depicts the lantern signal in the Old North Church as meant for Revere and not from him, as was actually the case. Other inaccuracies include claiming that Revere rode triumphantly into Concord instead of Lexington, and a general lengthening of the time frame of the night's events. For a long time, though, historians of the American Revolution as well as textbook writers relied almost entirely on Longfellow's poem as historical evidence, creating substantial misconceptions in the minds of the American people that persist to today.

5.      The Green Dragon Tavern:  The majority of the Revolution was planned in a bar – as opposed to the famed Old South Meeting House. The Green Dragon Tavern was a public house used as a tavern and meeting place located on Union Street in Boston's North End.  Purchased in 1764 by the St. Andrews Lodge of Freemasons for its 1st floor meeting rooms, the basement tavern was used by several secret groups and became known by historians as the "Headquarters of the Revolution". The Sons of Liberty, Boston Committee of Correspondence and the North End Caucus each met there. The Boston Tea Party was planned there and Paul Revere was sent from there to Lexington on his famous ride. In January 1788, a meeting of the mechanics and artisans of Boston passed a series of resolutions urging the importance of adopting the Federal Constitution pending at the time before a convention of delegates from around Massachusetts. The building was demolished in 1854. (The current Green Dragon Tavern is located on 11 Marshall Street in Boston's North End. Its publicity states that it is the "headquarters of the revolution", though its relationship to the demolished original pub is not immediately apparent.)

6.      Benjamin Franklin’s Birthplace:  Finally, 17 Milk Street, the location of Ben Franklin’s birthplace has not one little historical placard or sign marking its location.  The ground floor of the building that stands in the place of the old Franklin home is a Sir Speedy Print shop with “Ben Franklin was born here” t-shirts in the window.  Interestingly, the "Sir Speedy" store named is apparently taken from one of Benjamin Franklin's nicknames.

There were lots more bits of Boston lore, architecture and famous spots in the tour and I thought it was a great way to get an overview of the city’s geography and history.  Amazingly enough, Bicycling Magazine has rated Boston as the WORST biking city three times – I found it to be a great city with plenty of bike lanes throughout the city, so go figure…

After my bike tour, I walked the 1.6 miles back to the Seaport Hotel and stopped off at an Irish Pub called The Whiskey Priest http://www.thewhiskeypriestpub.com/. 

I had a glass of cold creamy Guinness with:

·        Black and Tan Fried Calamari with Black Olive Aioli and Tangy Cocktail Sauce

·        The Irish Fries, crispy fries topped with bacon, sausage, green onions, Boursin and white cheddar cheeses

·        Murphy’s Chili, a beef and lamb chili with chipotle and Irish cheddar

A great way to spend the morning and a great lunch as well!

First Training Day - Boston Bike Tour

 Today was DAY ONE of my bike training LOL.  I rode a bike from one end of Boston to the other for about 2.5 – 3.0 hours.  It was great fun, and I had no problems with the flats, hills, streets – it was awesome!!

I stopped at Starbucks for a pre-ride breakfast of oatmeal filled with nuts, dried fruit and brown sugar washed down with a Vivanno strawberry, banana and whey protein smoothie.  It fueled me through the 3 hours perfectly.

I found Urban Adventours (http://www.urbanadventours.com/guides.php) online and signed up for their “City View Bicycle Tour” which took us through Boston from the Italian North End and historic Beacon Hill, up to Fenway Park, heart of Red Sox Nation, and through modern and dynamic Back Bay.   

Here is the map of the actual route:  http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=114069446903694170823.00046aea1326b671108f6&ll=42.35569,-71.079912&spn=0.038183,0.082569&z=14

Our great tour guide was none other than the Adventours’ Chief Wheel Officer, Andrew Prescott.

A great guide, informative, irreverent and funny and loaded with the sorts of Boston facts that only a native Bostonian might know – except that he is from Morristown, NJ.    Also, lest you think a bike tour guide is most likely a some kind of bikerhead slacker, Andrew was football captain in high school, then he went on to Wesleyan University earning a Psychology/Sociology degree, and then was a recruiter, bartender, world traveler, accountant, marketing manager for Anheuser-Busch, to BioBus (http://biobus.org/) driving fool, and he claims to have tried it all.; so I could relate very well LOL!

A few of the unknown (to me) facts about Boston on the tour were:

1.       Christopher Columbus Park:  Like Philly, they have a major Christopher Columbus statue and park even though the closest he got to Boston was Cuba (why, people why?! STOP the Columbus madness!!)

2.      The Battle of Bunker Hill:  The actual battle took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill – not Bunker Hill at all - during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill, which was peripherally involved in the battle and was the original objective of both colonial and British troops, and is occasionally referred to as the "Battle of Breed's Hill."

3.      Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919:  We stopped at Copps Hill and looked over the area of the Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster) which killed a number of people and caused the equivalent of about $100 million in damages.  At 35 miles per hour, molasses isn’t so slow…

4.      Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride:  Paul Revere’s portion was only 15 minutes before he was captured and he had the shortest ride of all the riders involved; but he is the only one mentioned and immortalized in Longfellow’s famous poem. Another case of right place and time LOL. Longfellow took many liberties with the events of the evening, most especially giving sole credit to Revere for the collective achievements of the three riders (as well as the other riders whose names do not survive to history). Longfellow depicts the lantern signal in the Old North Church as meant for Revere and not from him, as was actually the case. Other inaccuracies include claiming that Revere rode triumphantly into Concord instead of Lexington, and a general lengthening of the time frame of the night's events. For a long time, though, historians of the American Revolution as well as textbook writers relied almost entirely on Longfellow's poem as historical evidence, creating substantial misconceptions in the minds of the American people that persist to today.

5.      The Green Dragon Tavern:  The majority of the Revolution was planned in a bar – as opposed to the famed Old South Meeting House. The Green Dragon Tavern was a public house used as a tavern and meeting place located on Union Street in Boston's North End.  Purchased in 1764 by the St. Andrews Lodge of Freemasons for its 1st floor meeting rooms, the basement tavern was used by several secret groups and became known by historians as the "Headquarters of the Revolution". The Sons of Liberty, Boston Committee of Correspondence and the North End Caucus each met there. The Boston Tea Party was planned there and Paul Revere was sent from there to Lexington on his famous ride. In January 1788, a meeting of the mechanics and artisans of Boston passed a series of resolutions urging the importance of adopting the Federal Constitution pending at the time before a convention of delegates from around Massachusetts. The building was demolished in 1854. (The current Green Dragon Tavern is located on 11 Marshall Street in Boston's North End. Its publicity states that it is the "headquarters of the revolution", though its relationship to the demolished original pub is not immediately apparent.)

6.      Benjamin Franklin’s Birthplace:  Finally, 17 Milk Street, the location of Ben Franklin’s birthplace has not one little historical placard or sign marking its location.  The ground floor of the building that stands in the place of the old Franklin home is a Sir Speedy Print shop with “Ben Franklin was born here” t-shirts in the window.  Interestingly, the "Sir Speedy" store named is apparently taken from one of Benjamin Franklin's nicknames.

There were lots more bits of Boston lore, architecture and famous spots in the tour and I thought it was a great way to get an overview of the city’s geography and history.  Amazingly enough, Bicycling Magazine has rated Boston as the WORST biking city three times – I found it to be a great city with plenty of bike lanes throughout the city, so go figure…

After my bike tour, I walked the 1.6 miles back to the Seaport Hotel and stopped off at an Irish Pub called The Whiskey Priest http://www.thewhiskeypriestpub.com/. 

I had a glass of cold creamy Guinness with:

·        Black and Tan Fried Calamari with Black Olive Aioli and Tangy Cocktail Sauce

·        The Irish Fries, crispy fries topped with bacon, sausage, green onions, Boursin and white cheddar cheeses

·        Murphy’s Chili, a beef and lamb chili with chipotle and Irish cheddar

A great way to spend the morning and a great lunch as well!

4th of July Clambake

We decided to do a traditional New England Clambake - what says summer to most people more than a huge mound of fresh steamed shellfish, corn and potatoes pulled fresh from a seaweed lined fire-pit on the beach?

Of course, with our backyard being about an hour's drive from the beach and not wanting to dig a hole into the packed clay under our suburban sod, we decided to improvise a bit.

John brought over his turkey fryer burner, a propane tank and a bunch of clams.

We picked up 3 big bags of dried seaweed from H-mart and the seafood and just like that - we had a quick and easy turkey burner New England Clambake.  No digging, no sand grit seasoned seafood and it was steps away from our cool air-conditioned house.   For us, it's one of those idyllic scenarios without all the travel, digging and fuss.


We did a clambake for 10 people and 4 kids with the following:

Ingredients:

    * 10 1¼ to 1½ pound lobsters
    * 60 littleneck clams
    * 60 Prince Edward Island mussels
    * 60 steamers, i.e. soft-shelled clams
    * 5 pounds of large or extra large shrimp
    * 15 ears of corn, husks on
    * 35-40 baby yukon potatoes
    * 4 large onions, skin on, quartered
    * 4 lemons, halved
    * 5-10 eggs

    * water
    * kosher salt

Special Equipment:

    * Turkey Fryer Burner & Propane Tank
    * 1 large stockpot and 2 large steaming pots
    * Long grilling tongs
    * 3 bags of dried seaweed, reconstituted

Method:

1. Place water into bottom stockpot about 1/3 full.
2. Pour enough salt (2 tablespoons per quart) into the water so that it approximates seawater
3. Add one packaged of reconstituted seaweed and then place all the corn ears up along the inside perimeter of the pot.  Place all the potatoes into the center and then put the whole eggs, 2 of the onions and lemons on top of that.
4. Place the pot onto the turkey fryer burner on high and then top with the first steamer pot.
5. Place 5 lobsters, and half of all the shellfish on top with a couple of the lemons and onions.
6. Place the second steamer pot on top of that and repeat then cover with a thick layer of seaweed.
7. Put on the top tightly and if necessary, wrap the layers with heavy duty foil to keep the steam from escaping.
8. Steam for about 45 minutes to an hour or more until the shellfish is cooked through and all the clams and mussels are open.

We then covered a folding table outside with a plastic lined paper table cloth which we then covered decoratively with the third bunch of reconstituted seaweed.

Take the corn, potatoes and eggs and place on the seaweed then dump all of the shellfish on top of that - provide claw crackers, drawn butter and watch your guests enjoy!!

Ed did cut the lobsters in half (separating body/head from tail) and then the tails in half for ease of eating and it seemed to work very well for all involved.

We provided appetizers, desserts and for drinks: Sangria, Mojitos, Margaritas Stawberry Daiquiris, fresh squeezed lemonade (recipe below) and most importantly, Gabriel (Alyse and Edison's son) gave it his approval.

Fresh Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients

    * 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
    * 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
    * 1 cup lemon juice (about 7-8 lemons)
    * 2 lemons, sliced
    * 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Method

1. Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.
2. While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 7-8 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.
3. Add the juice, sliced lemons and the sugar water to a pitcher.
4. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength.
5. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

Serve with ice, more sliced lemons, if desired.

Serves 6.

The sangria, mojitos and lemonade we made from scratch but the rest we bought ready-made with the liquor already in them - quick and easy!  The sangria recipe is available via this blog:  http://patrickchadd.blogspot.com/2009/09/summer-sangria.html

A special thank you to Edison and Alyse for bringing the delicious Muchines de Yuca (at least I think they were made from yuca, I will have to ask...) which are very, very tasty cassava balls with a crunchy outside protecting a soft, savory cheese filling. Truly amazing - delicious!!!

One other quick recipe of note that John and Edison really liked was the:

Fried Peppers with Sea Salt and Lemon, a la Bordeaux

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 lb of fresh hot and sweet long peppers,* left whole with stems and seeds intact, or other green chiles (such as the Japanese Shishito or Spanish Padrón)
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt plus additional for serving
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Juice of one lemon

Method

1.  Heat heavy large skillet over high heat.
2. Add vegetable oil and swirl skillet to coat.
3. Heat until oil is very hot and begins to shimmer, about 1 minute.
4. Have a cover ready for the pan because the fresh chilies will pop.
5. Add whole chiles and 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt; stir constantly until chiles are blistered over half their surface, occasionally shaking skillet, about 2-4 minutes.
6. Add thinly sliced garlic and continue to stir constantly until chiles are blistered all over, about 2-4 minutes longer (some chiles will be soft and some will be slightly firm, depending on size).
7. Transfer chiles to paper towels to drain briefly, then place chiles in medium serving bowl. Squeeze over juice of one lemon sprinkle generously with additional coarse sea salt and toss to coat.

Serve immediately or at room temperature.

All in all, a perfect Fourth of July Celebration with great family and friends.


For the adventurous - and that may be us next year - you can make a New England Clambake in a Barrel:  http://knol.google.com/k/new-england-clambake-in-a-barrel-queen-on-her-throne#

This could easily become a tradition!!

Quick Skillet Steak Mole

I love a good mole poblano sauce - the thick, rich, chocolate-tinged sauce reputedly made so famous in the 16th century by the nuns of the Convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla de los Angeles, in the city of Puebla, Mexico.  Well, there are other legends as to the origin of this yummy dish but this is my personal favorite.

The nuns needed a dish to serve the Archbishop who was coming to visit, and this recipe was given to them after much prayer by an angel who came to give them inspiration...how divine, right?

Anyway, these nuns, legend has it, made mole poblano by grinding different types of chiles together with spices, day-old bread, nuts, a little chocolate and approximately 20 other ingredients.  

This mixture was then cooked and simmered and bubbled for hours and was reduced to a thick, sweet, rich and fragrant sauce.

Once they had this divine and luscious sauce made, they killed the only animal they had on hand (which was an unfortunate old turkey), the strange sauce was ladled over it and voilà!  Mole Poblano was immaculately conceived for the Archbishop's dinner.

The Archbishop was thrilled with this wonderful dish at his dinner and the nuns saved face with a little prayer and a divinely inspired recipe. Little did they know they were creating the Mexican National dish for holidays and feasts, and that today, millions of people worldwide have at least heard of Mole Poblano - well, I don't know about millions but lots have...

 Anyway - I was hungry for something delicious to go with some sirloin steak and I adapted a quick mole sauce for dinner tonight.  Needless to say, I don't have a bunch of nuns handy, and I am not in the mood after work to gather various chiles, spices, day-old bread, nuts,chocolate and approximately 20 other ingredients out of my pantry to make a little drizzle for my steak.

I like a lot of sauce so this recipe makes enough to bathe four really big sirloin steaks in a generous amount of mole.  It can be halved and even quartered but I'd just make the whole amount and freeze it if you don't want to use it all...

I also used my electric skillet and a blender so the mess and clean up were kept at a minimum.

INGREDIENTS:

4 steaks (sirloin, hangar, strip - whatever you like is fine)

salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin to season

4 tablespoons oil 

**********

2 red onions coarsely chopped

2 packages of sliced mushrooms

4 cups (32 oz) of crushed tomatoes

1 cup of low-salt chicken broth

1 cup of low salt beef broth

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate (I used 60% cacao Ghiradelli chips)

1 generous tablespoon of canned adobo chipotle chilies and sauce (or to taste)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

4 teaspoons cumin

Sliced avocado (optional)

Fresh chopped cilantro to garnish

**********

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Season steaks with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin.

2. Cook steaks in a little oil in a hot electric skillet - 400 F - (or pan) to sear,  brown and cook meat to desired doneness.

3.  Remove steaks to platter and cover to rest.

4.  Add onions and mushrooms to pan and cook until onion and mushrooms are soft and lighty browned.

5.  Add remaining ingredients to pan - tomatoes, broth, chocolate, chilies and spices - and simmer for a few minutes until chocolate is melted and ingredients are combined.

6.  Transfer mixture in batches to a blender and blend until smooth (mixture is hot so do not fill blender more than half full to avoid splattering and a potentially bad mess).  You can also use an immersion blender if you like...

7.  Add sauce back to pan and then either serve over steaks - or like I do, simmer the steaks in the sauce for a bit before serving.

To serve, put steak on a plate (whole or cut into strips), garnish with sliced avocado and chopped cilantro.

While it is definitely worth it to make an authentic Mole Poblano if you have the time (Rick Bayless has a GREAT recipe), this one will ease your craving - or give you a taste - without logging all the hours required to do so!

Enjoy!

iPhone 4 - AWESOME!

So I woke up about 5:00 this am, rushed through my shower and was at the Apple store by 6:00 am.

The line was LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG but I found out that it was the 'unreserved iPhone buyers' line.  The reserved iPhone 4 line was much shorter and truly within about 45 minutes from the time the Apple store door opened; I had my iPhone 4 in my hot little hands - activated and ready to go!! 

I zipped home and synced up my apps and contacts and was at work by 9:30 AM.  (^_^)

So far, I am loving the phone - it is sleeker, smaller and feels more solid - and it is zippy, zippy!!

St. Joseph - Realtor's Helper!

We have decided to sell our house.  To make a long, boring description of the process short – we looked at a lot of houses and finally found our dream home, made and offer and it was accepted. Found, signed, sealed and ready for delivery.  Since I am a Realtor in NJ, this entire process was expedited quite a bit…shout out to my office:  Century 21 Alliance, Cherry Hill, NJ office woo-hoo!!!

The house we found and agreed upon unanimously is in a great location - is a great house and it is; as Ed likes to call it, our ‘not new, new house’.

It was the builder’s model in the development, professionally decorated (mostly to our tastes) but never lived in – so technically a ‘new’ house.  There are a few paint color changes I’d make, one room of wallpaper and a couple of wallpaper borders I’d remove – but that is nothing!

Additionally, it has the double garage already converted into a large office area – with powder room – so that we can pretty much just move in and set up house, home and office. 

Here is a slideshow of the house:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickchadd/sets/72157623989461641/show/

Anyway – we are looking to sell our house ASAP and then I remembered that if you bury a figurine of St. Joseph in your yard; that your house will sell quickly.  I did some research on the net and as it happens; my local (DiCocco’s) St. Jude Catholic Store sells a ready-made St. Joseph Realtor kit.

http://www.stjudeshop.com/

There is also a readymade kit available online:

http://www.stjosephstatue.com/

If you are interested, there is even a website dedicated to St. Joseph testimonials:

http://www.stjosephstatue.com/letters.mv

Here is how the St. Joseph kit works.

1.        Bury the figurine in the back yard on his head facing the house – or street that the house is on.  (There is some debate about these logistics but I used the most common and it makes sense to me.)

2.       You say a prayer to St. Joseph and then wait for the house to sell.

3.       Once the house is sold, you go back and remove the buried figurine and then take him with you to the new house where you put St. Joseph in a place of honor in the new home.

So – I went to the store, picked up a kit for me (and another for friends of ours) and headed home to bury St. Joseph on his head.

The kit is pretty simple – a figurine, a couple of prayers and a little bit of history.

Once home, I grabbed the kit and my potting shovel and went right by the big tree in our back yard.   I figured that since St. Joseph was a carpenter, he’d appreciate being by a big old tree – besides it is shady and protected from the rain.

I also wrapped St. Joseph in a sandwich bag – protection from the dirt – and that bit of plastic shouldn’t impede St. Joseph’s ability to make it work…right?

In any case, I dug a nice, neat hole and placed St. Joseph on his head facing the back of the house (and ostensibly the street the house is on, which is Prospect Avenue), and said BOTH included prayers.

We have a bit more cleaning to do tonight and some last minute polishing and staging tomorrow – then Sunday Open House from 1 – 4.  I don’t know what the traffic will be on a holiday weekend, but I have open houses scheduled for the next two Sundays and will have one EVERY Sunday until the house is SOLD!!

Our House on Realtor.com:  http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1-Prospect-Ave_Voorhees_NJ_08043_1119014514

Please say a prayer that our house sells quickly and – thank you St. Joseph!!

P

Shanklish - the book!!

Hello,

So it has been a bit since I have posted - between work, school and getting our house ready to sell - it has been busy!!

However, I did manage to get out a small 'how-to' book on making shanklish, a Lebanese cheese that can be made at home using a few ingredients that you can get from any market.  Here is a peek:

Shanklish by Patrick Owen Chadd | Make Your Own Book

The book was a lot of fun to put together.  (^_^)

 I have the book available via Blurb Bookstore and Amazon.com - if you have any questions, feel free to send me a note!!

Have a great day!!

P