Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#316)

A light but bulky load (the opposite of #315):

An 8L plastic bucket, in which I carried raw bread dough to work this morning.

A foil container containing a small amount of sauteed prime rib trimmings.

A canvas bag containing books; actual and electronic.

Large, medium, and small cardboard boxes–one inside the other–which I used to camouflage my son’s birthday present (a new digital camera).

Two loaves of freshly baked whole wheat bread.

Five Quotes from Leo Tolstoy

“Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.”


“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”


“I sit on a man’s back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means – except by getting off his back.”


“In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.”

“War is so unjust and ugly that all who wage it must try to stifle the voice of conscience within themselves.”

OK…so I said five quotes, but here’s a couple more.


“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.”


“True life is lived when tiny changes occur.”

Five Quotes from Leo Tolstoy

“Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.”


“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”


“I sit on a man’s back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means – except by getting off his back.”


“In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.”

“War is so unjust and ugly that all who wage it must try to stifle the voice of conscience within themselves.”

OK…so I said five quotes, but here’s a couple more.


“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.”


“True life is lived when tiny changes occur.”

Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#315)…and a couple of comments.

The book, Wild Fermentation, a u-lock, a 6ft cable lock, and 19 bricks.

Firstly, no I did not think that those measly bungee cords would hold the bricks if I banked too far or hit a large bump…they mostly just kept them in place (and I surely did not want a repeat of what happened when I was carrying lumber in my truck the other day). I happened to come upon them as I was pedaling home this evening. Someone had put them out at the curb with their trash. I’m not sure what I plan to do with them but if you are like me and have an urban garden you know that you can never have enough bricks. Anyhow I took it very slowly and kept my eyes on the road directly in front of me looking for bumps or other disturbances…it is much easier to watch for these things when on a bike. Anyhow, because the bricks were varying sizes, the best I can figure (using a simple Google search) is that a brick weighs between 5lbs and 9lbs (2.2kgs to 4kgs), so if I took an average of 7lbs (3.1kgs) and multiplied it by 19 bricks we’re looking at around 133lbs (60.4kgs) on the back of a bike. There are only a few bikes that can possibly handle this payload and I was glad to have been on my Mundo. Bikes are good for transporting us from place to place, bikes are good for leisure activity, and without doubt, bikes can also haul stuff. This is just one simple example.

Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#315)…and a couple of comments.

The book, Wild Fermentation, a u-lock, a 6ft cable lock, and 19 bricks.

Firstly, no I did not think that those measly bungee cords would hold the bricks if I banked too far or hit a large bump…they mostly just kept them in place (and I surely did not want a repeat of what happened when I was carrying lumber in my truck the other day). I happened to come upon them as I was pedaling home this evening. Someone had put them out at the curb with their trash. I’m not sure what I plan to do with them but if you are like me and have an urban garden you know that you can never have enough bricks. Anyhow I took it very slowly and kept my eyes on the road directly in front of me looking for bumps or other disturbances…it is much easier to watch for these things when on a bike. Anyhow, because the bricks were varying sizes, the best I can figure (using a simple Google search) is that a brick weighs between 5lbs and 9lbs (2.2kgs to 4kgs), so if I took an average of 7lbs (3.1kgs) and multiplied it by 19 bricks we’re looking at around 133lbs (60.4kgs) on the back of a bike. There are only a few bikes that can possibly handle this payload and I was glad to have been on my Mundo. Bikes are good for transporting us from place to place, bikes are good for leisure activity, and without doubt, bikes can also haul stuff. This is just one simple example.

Pot Cuisine (for those who claim they can’t cook)

OK…first of all, what I meant by “pot cuisine” was this type of pot, not this type, but I got your attention didn’t I?  And why I also say this is for people who claim they can’t cook is because I believe anyone can cook…and this is a perfect example of how easy good cooking can be (but this of course can be made by people who do cook…I, after all, cook for a living and I made this).

Anyhow, this is about as easy as it can get…boiled dinner. Nearly every culture has some sort of boiled dinner in their culinary repertoire, and this method of cooking–boiling–is in fact the second oldest method there is (besides cooking directly over a fire, caveman style).

It was about 4pm yesterday and I had been working hard most of the day in my garden and other things in the sun. I was getting hungry and didn’t want to stop working but also didn’t want to order takeout…I wanted real food. So I checked my pantry and fridge and found some vegetables and chicken legs. I put them in a pot with a few cloves of crushed garlic, a tablespoon each of curry and tandoori spice, a pinch of kosher salt, and enough chicken broth to cover everything. Not wanting to heat up my kitchen I took the pot outside and brought it to a boil on my outdoor stove. This way I could keep an eye on it as I continued to work. I lowered the pot to a simmer and after about an hour the meat was falling from the bone and the potatoes began to thicken the broth. I could have sauteed the vegetable or sweated them first, but that wold have complicated things…I still had dirt on my hands and sawdust in my hair (what remains of it) and wanted to spend a mere 5 minutes in prep time; just enough time to gather the ingredients and put them in a pot. Just before I removed the pot from the heat I stirred in a little lemon juice to brighten it a bit.

I ate dinner on my newly built patio very close to the soil I just tilled. All of these things–cooking, gardening, carpentry–are things that I like to do; they are all productive and give me a sense of accomplishment. I drank wine as I ate (surprise, right?) and sprinkled a bit of Sriracha on the chicken.  My two pugs sat at attention as I ate waiting for scraps to fall ( a few pieces “accidentally” did fall). I was filled in more ways than just physical; it felt good and satisfying.

Anyone can cook, I’m convinced of this. Not everything will be great, but some will…and you will have some flops, too (I certainly do). But with practice comes perfection, or closer to perfection at the very least.  And if you are not sure where to start…just put some stuff in a pot and boil it.

Pot Cuisine (for those who claim they can’t cook)

OK…first of all, what I meant by “pot cuisine” was this type of pot, not this type, but I got your attention didn’t I?  And why I also say this is for people who claim they can’t cook is because I believe anyone can cook…and this is a perfect example of how easy good cooking can be (but this of course can be made by people who do cook…I, after all, cook for a living and I made this).

Anyhow, this is about as easy as it can get…boiled dinner. Nearly every culture has some sort of boiled dinner in their culinary repertoire, and this method of cooking–boiling–is in fact the second oldest method there is (besides cooking directly over a fire, caveman style).

It was about 4pm yesterday and I had been working hard most of the day in my garden and other things in the sun. I was getting hungry and didn’t want to stop working but also didn’t want to order takeout…I wanted real food. So I checked my pantry and fridge and found some vegetables and chicken legs. I put them in a pot with a few cloves of crushed garlic, a tablespoon each of curry and tandoori spice, a pinch of kosher salt, and enough chicken broth to cover everything. Not wanting to heat up my kitchen I took the pot outside and brought it to a boil on my outdoor stove. This way I could keep an eye on it as I continued to work. I lowered the pot to a simmer and after about an hour the meat was falling from the bone and the potatoes began to thicken the broth. I could have sauteed the vegetable or sweated them first, but that wold have complicated things…I still had dirt on my hands and sawdust in my hair (what remains of it) and wanted to spend a mere 5 minutes in prep time; just enough time to gather the ingredients and put them in a pot. Just before I removed the pot from the heat I stirred in a little lemon juice to brighten it a bit.

I ate dinner on my newly built patio very close to the soil I just tilled. All of these things–cooking, gardening, carpentry–are things that I like to do; they are all productive and give me a sense of accomplishment. I drank wine as I ate (surprise, right?) and sprinkled a bit of Sriracha on the chicken.  My two pugs sat at attention as I ate waiting for scraps to fall ( a few pieces “accidentally” did fall). I was filled in more ways than just physical; it felt good and satisfying.

Anyone can cook, I’m convinced of this. Not everything will be great, but some will…and you will have some flops, too (I certainly do). But with practice comes perfection, or closer to perfection at the very least.  And if you are not sure where to start…just put some stuff in a pot and boil it.

Piles of Bikes

I was in the lovely city of Toronto yesterday and as usual was impressed with the sheer number of people I saw on bikes. There are ample bicycle parking spots, and most had a large number of bikes locked to them. There are also a large number of Bixi bicycle share hubs conveniently located throughout the city, encouraging even more people to get on bikes. Nice. The above photo is at the entrance to Kensington Market.

Piles of Bikes

I was in the lovely city of Toronto yesterday and as usual was impressed with the sheer number of people I saw on bikes. There are ample bicycle parking spots, and most had a large number of bikes locked to them. There are also a large number of Bixi bicycle share hubs conveniently located throughout the city, encouraging even more people to get on bikes. Nice. The above photo is at the entrance to Kensington Market.

The Good Neighbor

This post is a first for me in that I am showing something being carried in my truck. In the more than 3 years I’ve had this blog I have never showed a picture of my vehicle and prefer to post about pro-bicycle/human transport instead. As regular readers of this blog know, I also prefer posting about things that can be carried on a bike, which is is one of my favorite and most popular postings.

I purchased the above lumber today to build a small patio off the side entrance of my house and I have been trying to figure out how to carry it on my bike…I thought about carrying it in a series of trips, but alas I do know the limitations of my bicycles (yes even the Mundo). These 29 boards are 8 and 10 feet in length (2.4 and 3m), and they are pressure treated lumber making them extremely heavy. I figure the only way I would have gotten this lumber home by bike would be on a Bikes at Work Trailer (which I do not own, though I have considered it). Anyhow, the reason I preface the following and brief story with this information is because I don’t want you to think that this post is about the truck…it’s more about what happened while I was hauling this lumber. But I’m starting to jump ahead as usual.

So there I was driving very slowly home…the wood was neatly stacked and I had my hazard lights blinking to alert other drivers of my slowness. The truck bed is 6ft long (1.8m) and with the tailgate down it’s nearly 8ft, this means that only a few of the boards hung over a little (only five of the boards were 10ft, the rest were 8ft); I’ve carried longer boards (12ft/3.6m) and have made it home successfully. But not this time.

As I slowly crossed this busy intersection the truck bounced slightly against an unseen and unexpected bump in the road (was it a manhole cover?). And like in a dream I looked in my rear-view mirror to see the lumber rise up in unison and slide off the rear of the truck…depositing itself literally in the middle of the intersection. Traffic came to a halt. Oddly, I didn’t freak out and slowly put the truck in reverse. But before I even backed up the 20 feet to the lumber a man had pulled his car over and was in the street with another (who I think was at the bus stop) and they were gathering the wood. As soon as I got out of the truck I thanked them profusely. It took us about 5 minutes to reload the truck and as the one guy got into his vehicle I thanked him again and said that “I owed him one.” “You don’t owe me anything,” he replied, “hopefully someone will help me when I’m in need some day.” All I could do was smile.

One of the nicknames for Buffalo (the city in which I live) is The City of Good Neighbors, and I really believe this is true. As any Buffalonian will tell you it’s the people that really make this city…but I also can’t help thinking that if this happened in any city in the world someone wouldn’t have gotten out to help me. It’s in our nature as human beings to help one another…it’s our Original Goodness (to quote Eknath Easwaran).

And as I drove the rest of the way home–even more slowly than earlier–I thought of how even in the midst of the chaos and carnage that happens in the world today people are still good. I also thought of this scripture passage and the following quote by Anne Frank.

“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.”

I made it home safely and had enough time to build the tiny patio (most of it) before the evening rains came; if it’s clear tomorrow that’s where I’ll have my morning coffee…and I’ll remember the spontaneous generosity of the two anonymous men who helped me today.

The Good Neighbor

This post is a first for me in that I am showing something being carried in my truck. In the more than 3 years I’ve had this blog I have never showed a picture of my vehicle and prefer to post about pro-bicycle/human transport instead. As regular readers of this blog know, I also prefer posting about things that can be carried on a bike, which is is one of my favorite and most popular postings.

I purchased the above lumber today to build a small patio off the side entrance of my house and I have been trying to figure out how to carry it on my bike…I thought about carrying it in a series of trips, but alas I do know the limitations of my bicycles (yes even the Mundo). These 29 boards are 8 and 10 feet in length (2.4 and 3m), and they are pressure treated lumber making them extremely heavy. I figure the only way I would have gotten this lumber home by bike would be on a Bikes at Work Trailer (which I do not own, though I have considered it). Anyhow, the reason I preface the following and brief story with this information is because I don’t want you to think that this post is about the truck…it’s more about what happened while I was hauling this lumber. But I’m starting to jump ahead as usual.

So there I was driving very slowly home…the wood was neatly stacked and I had my hazard lights blinking to alert other drivers of my slowness. The truck bed is 6ft long (1.8m) and with the tailgate down it’s nearly 8ft, this means that only a few of the boards hung over a little (only five of the boards were 10ft, the rest were 8ft); I’ve carried longer boards (12ft/3.6m) and have made it home successfully. But not this time.

As I slowly crossed this busy intersection the truck bounced slightly against an unseen and unexpected bump in the road (was it a manhole cover?). And like in a dream I looked in my rear-view mirror to see the lumber rise up in unison and slide off the rear of the truck…depositing itself literally in the middle of the intersection. Traffic came to a halt. Oddly, I didn’t freak out and slowly put the truck in reverse. But before I even backed up the 20 feet to the lumber a man had pulled his car over and was in the street with another (who I think was at the bus stop) and they were gathering the wood. As soon as I got out of the truck I thanked them profusely. It took us about 5 minutes to reload the truck and as the one guy got into his vehicle I thanked him again and said that “I owed him one.” “You don’t owe me anything,” he replied, “hopefully someone will help me when I’m in need some day.” All I could do was smile.

One of the nicknames for Buffalo (the city in which I live) is The City of Good Neighbors, and I really believe this is true. As any Buffalonian will tell you it’s the people that really make this city…but I also can’t help thinking that if this happened in any city in the world someone wouldn’t have gotten out to help me. It’s in our nature as human beings to help one another…it’s our Original Goodness (to quote Eknath Easwaran).

And as I drove the rest of the way home–even more slowly than earlier–I thought of how even in the midst of the chaos and carnage that happens in the world today people are still good. I also thought of this scripture passage and the following quote by Anne Frank.

“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.”

I made it home safely and had enough time to build the tiny patio (most of it) before the evening rains came; if it’s clear tomorrow that’s where I’ll have my morning coffee…and I’ll remember the spontaneous generosity of the two anonymous men who helped me today.

The Past or the Future

Now is this cool or what? These photos were taken in 1930 (found them here and here). Living in a four-season region I am often concerned about the weather (especially rain)…this would solve that problem. As the price of petrol eventually becomes too costly for the average person maybe we’ll begin to see vehicles like this cruising the streets again.

The Past or the Future

Now is this cool or what? These photos were taken in 1930 (found them here and here). Living in a four-season region I am often concerned about the weather (especially rain)…this would solve that problem. As the price of petrol eventually becomes too costly for the average person maybe we’ll begin to see vehicles like this cruising the streets again.

Confit de Canard (sur une salade)

I haven’t made duck conft in quite a while but it was on the menu of a somewhat large luncheon I served a few days ago so I made it in a large scale (96 duck legs). The recipe’s title, confit de canard, translates from the French simply as preserved duck…and that’s what it originally was. It’s preparation is quite simple but may seem complicated at first because of the amount of time it takes…2-4 days, depending on how long you let the duck cure before you cook it. But the amount of actual time you spend preparing it is minimal…like most truly good foods, this one almost prepares itself, you simply guide it along.

Anyhow, the recipe goes like this: salt the duck, add herbs (usually fresh thyme, and layer it in a pan with onions and garlic between a few sheets of clean cloth (to absorb juices). After a couple (or a few) days, remove the duck and brush off the onions and herbs. Then (and this may sound odd to the uninitiated), poach it in rendered fat for hours…until the meat falls from the bone. And the best fat to use is it’s own, but in the event you don’t have rendered duck fat you can also use chicken fat (shmaltz), or in a pinch, vegetable oil. I used a combination of duck fat, chicken fat, and a small amount of bacon fat for extra flavor.

By this description you probably are picturing salty and greasy duck legs…au contraire. If prepared correctly this will be the most succulent, moist, and flavorful duck you’ve ever had…and–to use an appropriate comparison–it will be as soft as butter.

This is called preserved duck because this recipe (like many truly delicious ones that have stood the test of time) began out of necessity before the advent of the electric refrigerator. The duck, after it was poached in its own fat, was left to cool. The fat would solidify, sealing it from the elements. It was, I’ve read, kept in the cellar for months. Not only is this no longer necessary but with the way today’s animals are raised I don’t recommend it. But I definitely recommend you try this recipe if you enjoy duck…it’ll be delicious, and you’ll be able to impress your friend with your French cooking skills.

To lighten it up a bit I served the meat removed from the bone, warmed, and atop a salad (with potato, hard cooked egg, and a variety of shredded vegetables). Paired with an orange vinaigrette it is a contemporary play on the classic Canard à l’Orange.

I don’t have a typed recipe for this because this is the type of thing I just sort of do, but if you like to see a recipe this one and this one look pretty good (and both are for the home cook).