Potato Pancakes with Broccoli, Bell Pepper, and Cheddar

I had a hankering for potato pancakes today so I made some for my son and I for dinner. I had planned on having them with eggs, but after investigating my refrigerator and adding more ingredients to the mix they became so substantial that I forwent the eggs for a little fruit and a side of kimchi. These crispy little nuggets were so delicious I was eating them straight from the pan…they are so simple to make, here’s how I made them.

Shred the potato and cheese; mince the broccoli, onion, and pepper. Add an egg or two, along with enough flour to bind it. Season it with sea salt, garlic, and lots of black pepper.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and drop the batter in a spoonful at a time.

Cook until browned and crispy on both sides and the potatoes are cooked throughout. Enjoy


>Potato Pancakes with Broccoli, Bell Pepper, and Cheddar

>I had a hankering for potato pancakes today so I made some for my son and I for dinner. I had planned on having them with eggs, but after investigating my refrigerator and adding more ingredients to the mix they became so substantial that I forwent the eggs for a little fruit and a side of kimchi. These crispy little nuggets were so delicious I was eating them straight from the pan…they are so simple to make, here’s how I made them.

Shred the potato and cheese; mince the broccoli, onion, and pepper. Add an egg or two, along with enough flour to bind it. Season it with sea salt, garlic, and lots of black pepper.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and drop the batter in a spoonful at a time.

Cook until browned and crispy on both sides and the potatoes are cooked throughout. Enjoy


Sloppy Commute

The snow has been so late this year I was surprised to wake this morning to find a covering of it. The temperature hovered just above freezing so this was more sloppy than anything…not the pretty and fluffy pure white flakes that usually accompany the first snow of the year. None-the-less it was exciting to ride in for the first time this season…and there will be plenty more to come. If you want to see someone much farther north and who rides year round, check out Jill’s blog, Up in Alaska.

>Sloppy Commute

>The snow has been so late this year I was surprised to wake this morning to find a covering of it. The temperature hovered just above freezing so this was more sloppy than anything…not the pretty and fluffy pure white flakes that usually accompany the first snow of the year. None-the-less it was exciting to ride in for the first time this season…and there will be plenty more to come. If you want to see someone much farther north and who rides year round, check out Jill’s blog, Up in Alaska.

Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#115)…and a few other comments

A canvas bag containing, among other things, 4 books, 2 DVDs, a datebook, a notebook, and a scarf.
A bottle of red wine.
A small loaf of whole wheat bread.
An extra long cable lock.

Tonight while I was pedaling home with the chilly winter-like air on my face I was admiring the full moon and thinking about my day and how I accomplished so much without starting my motorized vehicle. It’s so easy, I thought, to get by most days without a car if you live in an urban environment (though I still rarely ride in the rain). And the benefits I receive are far greater than just saving gas money or burning it into the ozone…it is as much a benefit to my mental and emotional health as it is my physical health and the environment in which I currently occupy. For me, riding is as much about enjoyment as it is functionality…getting from point A to Point B.

Here’s an example of my day:

Ride to-and-from work: about a mile each way.
To the bookstore after work and then home: about 2.25 miles each way.
To-and-from the health club: about a mile each way.
To-and-from a meditation meeting this evening:about 2 miles each way.

All-in-all it only tallies up to be a little over 10 miles throughout the day…but in those ten miles I was outside in the elements and using my own energy to propel myself. I haven’t moved my gas-powered vehicle in about 4 or 5 days, it sits with snow on it as I type these words, but I’ve pedaled myself through the city everyday. In short, I ride my bike(s) because I enjoy riding my bikes…all the other benefits (health, economic, and environmental) are simply bi-products.

A few months ago I posted the below video but thought I’d post it again…It could be me narrating it (it’s not). It’s less than a minute long…you’ll probably watch it more than once.

>Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#115)…and a few other comments

>A canvas bag containing, among other things, 4 books, 2 DVDs, a datebook, a notebook, and a scarf.
A bottle of red wine.
A small loaf of whole wheat bread.
An extra long cable lock.

Tonight while I was pedaling home with the chilly winter-like air on my face I was admiring the full moon and thinking about my day and how I accomplished so much without starting my motorized vehicle. It’s so easy, I thought, to get by most days without a car if you live in an urban environment (though I still rarely ride in the rain). And the benefits I receive are far greater than just saving gas money or burning it into the ozone…it is as much a benefit to my mental and emotional health as it is my physical health and the environment in which I currently occupy. For me, riding is as much about enjoyment as it is functionality…getting from point A to Point B.

Here’s an example of my day:

Ride to-and-from work: about a mile each way.
To the bookstore after work and then home: about 2.25 miles each way.
To-and-from the health club: about a mile each way.
To-and-from a meditation meeting this evening:about 2 miles each way.

All-in-all it only tallies up to be a little over 10 miles throughout the day…but in those ten miles I was outside in the elements and using my own energy to propel myself. I haven’t moved my gas-powered vehicle in about 4 or 5 days, it sits with snow on it as I type these words, but I’ve pedaled myself through the city everyday. In short, I ride my bike(s) because I enjoy riding my bikes…all the other benefits (health, economic, and environmental) are simply bi-products.

A few months ago I posted the below video but thought I’d post it again…It could be me narrating it (it’s not). It’s less than a minute long…you’ll probably watch it more than once.

I’ve Called The Kettle Black Long Enough

Firstly, I have to mention that is not me in the photo…I am not nearly that young nor as handsome (though there was a point in my life when I probably felt as cool). Secondly, I have to reiterate what I stated in this posting’s heading: I’ve called the kettle black long enough…I really have. And I can’t help but wonder…though the bicycle predates the automobile, and that the very roads that cars drive on were first designed for bikes…are we in the very earliest years of co-equality?

I can remember when I was a little kid I did a book report in grade school on the history of the automobile. I asked my late grandmother some questions because she was born very near the turn of the 20th century…both she and the auto were in their infancy you might say. I don’t remember the entire conversation but I do remember a few things she said. One was that there were no street lights and very few stop signs etc…that when you approached an intersection you honked your horn. A driver’s license, too, was not that widespread (and optional)…you simply bought a car and drove it.

Sound familiar…sort of like a bike, right? Buy one and hop on it…everything, yes everything is optional (helmets, lights, coasting through stop signs and red lights). Well, almost.

The reason I bring all this up is that I got to thinking about it after reading a story at treehugger about Christopher-Felix Hahn, pictured above. It turns out he was pulled over on his bike in Germany (where he lives) and was given a breathalyzer test, which he failed. He subsequently received not only very stiff fines but is also barred from riding his bike (or any bike) for 15 years!

I, and many others in the blogesphere, are constantly ranting about how drivers of cars act, but many of us still hold vehicular laws as an option…I know that I am truly guilty of this and I see others coasting through red lights, stop signs, and going the wrong way down a one-way street on a daily basis. And not so much these days, but in my younger years I can’t tell you how many times I pedaled home from a bar inebriated…feeling it was OK because I was only on a bike.

So the two part question, I suppose, is this (and I mostly pose this to myself but I’d love to hear what others think about it): If we, as bicyclists, take our mode of transport seriously, as seriously as a gas guzzling SUV, and want to be treated as an equal, then shouldn’t we also follow the very same rules that the driver of the SUV has to? And to digress a bit, with the popularity of bikes today, and with the awareness of their many benefits, are we in the earliest days of of co-equality with the auto?

This post, of course, is written by someone who has spent their entire life in the USA….I’m fully aware that in other parts of the world bikes are more accepted as a serious mode of travel (and not just a kid’s toy or spandex-clad power racer). But I just can’t help but wonder that if bicycles were held as accountable on the road as the automobile (in the States) would car drivers consider us more of an equal.

To read the full story of Christopher-Felix Hahn on Treehugger, click here; to see the original story in a German paper online, click here.

>I’ve Called The Kettle Black Long Enough

>

Firstly, I have to mention that is not me in the photo…I am not nearly that young nor as handsome (though there was a point in my life when I probably felt as cool). Secondly, I have to reiterate what I stated in this posting’s heading: I’ve called the kettle black long enough…I really have. And I can’t help but wonder…though the bicycle predates the automobile, and that the very roads that cars drive on were first designed for bikes…are we in the very earliest years of co-equality?

I can remember when I was a little kid I did a book report in grade school on the history of the automobile. I asked my late grandmother some questions because she was born very near the turn of the 20th century…both she and the auto were in their infancy you might say. I don’t remember the entire conversation but I do remember a few things she said. One was that there were no street lights and very few stop signs etc…that when you approached an intersection you honked your horn. A driver’s license, too, was not that widespread (and optional)…you simply bought a car and drove it.

Sound familiar…sort of like a bike, right? Buy one and hop on it…everything, yes everything is optional (helmets, lights, coasting through stop signs and red lights). Well, almost.

The reason I bring all this up is that I got to thinking about it after reading a story at treehugger about Christopher-Felix Hahn, pictured above. It turns out he was pulled over on his bike in Germany (where he lives) and was given a breathalyzer test, which he failed. He subsequently received not only very stiff fines but is also barred from riding his bike (or any bike) for 15 years!

I, and many others in the blogesphere, are constantly ranting about how drivers of cars act, but many of us still hold vehicular laws as an option…I know that I am truly guilty of this and I see others coasting through red lights, stop signs, and going the wrong way down a one-way street on a daily basis. And not so much these days, but in my younger years I can’t tell you how many times I pedaled home from a bar inebriated…feeling it was OK because I was only on a bike.

So the two part question, I suppose, is this (and I mostly pose this to myself but I’d love to hear what others think about it): If we, as bicyclists, take our mode of transport seriously, as seriously as a gas guzzling SUV, and want to be treated as an equal, then shouldn’t we also follow the very same rules that the driver of the SUV has to? And to digress a bit, with the popularity of bikes today, and with the awareness of their many benefits, are we in the earliest days of of co-equality with the auto?

This post, of course, is written by someone who has spent their entire life in the USA….I’m fully aware that in other parts of the world bikes are more accepted as a serious mode of travel (and not just a kid’s toy or spandex-clad power racer). But I just can’t help but wonder that if bicycles were held as accountable on the road as the automobile (in the States) would car drivers consider us more of an equal.

To read the full story of Christopher-Felix Hahn on Treehugger, click here; to see the original story in a German paper online, click here.

Making Eye Contact

I think this short video is hilarious…it’s only 18 seconds and while it is funny it carries a strong message for all bikers, especially urban bikers: make eye contact with automobile drivers (and especially SUV drivers that happen to be on their cell phones or texting). This short clip really captures what I’ve said in many previous posts. I found the video at Bike Zou.