1. Do you cook regularly or does someone else cook for you? I am definitely the cook in my house. My son sometimes cooks when he comes to visit, which is a nice treat.

2. Which are you better at making: sweet or savory foods? I definitely prefer savory foods so that’s what I cook most often. I can bake sweet, but don’t enjoy it as much. The notable exception is pie fillings, because my dad loves pie (I use commercial crusts because I’m lazy, even though they aren’t as nice as mine).

3. If you had to work as a chef in a restaurant of your choice, which restaurant would best complement your current culinary skills? It would be a small local place with a menu that relies on whatever is available from local farmers that day. The actual dishes would be an eclectic mix of cultures, with some fusion flavours.

4. What is a cooking tip that you know, but other people generally aren’t aware of? Have no idea. Maybe that if you remove the skins off chickpeas you’ll have fewer problems with gas? Not that I actually do it because I’m lazy. Also, people who eat a lot of chickpeas know this, so it’s not a deep dark secret.

5. Do you have a recipe you would like to share? I share my recipes all the time. I try to cook at least one new dish every week and I post my lists on my page (with sources and adaptations) reasonably regularly.

At least it’s something written down!

1. What is your current main mode of transportation? e.g. car, bike, subway, walking, etc. I ride a bicycle.

2. Are you satisfied with your current main mode of transportation (answer to question 1)? Why? Yes! I love riding everywhere. Just yesterday I went to the doctor’s and came home on a route that took me over a pedestrian bridge with a spot to stop and look at the water. It was a beautiful day and there were both common and hooded mergansers in the water below. I have only seen common mergansers once before (technically the same two pairs over several days), and never seen hooded mergansers. There were lots of common mergansers and the hooded mergansers came really close.

3. Do you think you'll change your means of transit soon? e.g. buy a car, get rid of your car, walk more etc.? If so, why? I just bought a second-hand electric Brompton (folding bike), so that should make some trips easier in summer. Eventually I will get rid of my car and buy an e-cargo bike, but probably not for a couple of years yet.

4. If time, distance and money were not factors, how do you prefer to get from point A to point B? It would be nice to have decent public transit in the city again. I love cycling, but when it is faster to travel 25 km on my old hybrid bike than it is to take the bus/LRT, we have a big problem. I would still prefer to bike, but I’m not getting any younger and it would be nice to have options.

5. What was your worst transit experience? There was that time my school bus got t-boned by a car, and the time I fell off my bike on the way to work (no real damage except to my dignity and panty hose), and the time I got winged by a passing bus, and the time I was squeezed into the curb by a moving van that went mostly past me and then decided to park (I slammed on the brakes and was okay). I mostly shrug off the close passes and guys (always guys, usually driving tucks as they cosplay being farmers in the city) screaming at me or giving me the finger for daring to be on the road. It has been a very long time since I have taken public transit, so all the times I waited for buses that never came have blurred into an amorphous memory and determination to avoid public transit whenever possible.

1. Which website do you go to more often than any other? Sadly, that is probably Twitter. I got addicted just before Musk bought it and discovered a great local biking community plus some good COVID resources. And my city councillors are all there. I’m trying to step away, but it’s hard.

2. Which website have you stopped going to, that you used to go to a lot? Facebook. It’s where all my friends and relatives are, so it’s useful, but lately I find it pretty boring.

3. What is the weirdest or most unusual website you have bookmarked? Define weird.

4. If you shop online, which online store do you buy from most often? Amazon.

5. Which online store do you browse but almost never buy from? Also Amazon. I use it a lot to comparison shop and get an idea of prices. Then, whenever possible, I buy from my local shop instead.

Cycling:

Critical mass ride - this is a fairly spontaneous thing that happens in the bicycle community, where large groups of cyclists get together and go for a ride. They take their tim and take the whole lane. It’s a way of demonstrating that we are out there in larger numbers than people realize. I wrote about it here: https://fitisafeministissue.com/2023/05/24/critical-mass-ride/.

I have been trying to do more cycling as June is bicycle month, plus as a member of the board on a local cycling organization it seems right. To launch the month, I went for a breakfast meet up downtown before work, then did an Ottawa bike Social ride that conveniently started in my neighbourhood. It was very pleasant weather and I met a few new people.



This weekend I went particularly nuts, with swim practice Saturday followed by a ride for World Bicycle Day (and some time answering questions at our volunteer tent), then to the dressmaker’s for a fitting and home before racing off to my friend Ashlee’s 40th birthday party (I did that part by car). Sunday was another swim practice, then to the grocery store for a case of cat food, to someone’s house for plants, then to my community garden. I needed a rest by the time I got home, but then I got stubborn and decided I had to ride to the other community garden where I have just gotten a plot, and get all those plants into the ground. I am tracking all this as part of a data project for the month of June and so far I am at over 84 km. It’s nothing for younger or serious cyclists, but I am not displeased.



Arts and crafts:

I made two scrolls. This was a week of bone-crushing anxiety (that included another crazy ride I. Which I rode my bicycle after work to pick up 10 lb of pickled turnips, followed by a ride to the mall to buy paints, but I missed the turn-off to the relatively safe pass so ended up on three of the busiest roads in the area). Anyway, the scrolls. They were for two very talented people, so it was terrifying to do art for them. The words for one were based on a 13th C Italian text and the other was 12th C Flemish, so I decided to use images and calligraphy that matched those times and places. The funny part was that Katrina wore the dress I had painted her in.




When that was done, I spent the day cooking a Viking-themed feast. I am also supposed to be doing a recipe for the Cook’s Calendar, but I am struggling with what to offer. I have tried two recipes so far and neither is exactly what I want to offer. I’ll try a couple more this week. There were leftover peas from the feast, so I have been making pea and barley flatbreads a couple of times since. They are nice because I don’t have to heat the oven.



Sadly, there hasn’t been much open water swimming or Fancy time. I did get out for one swim for May 24th weekend but that’s it. I haven’t been riding Fancy because she lost a of weight and I needed her to build back up before putting my weight on her. She is looking much better now, so maybe next week. She has a vet appointment today so I will talk to the vet about what she thinks about the weight loss.

The other data project I have on for this week is several hours of counting people for the annual Velo Canada cycling survey. I was supposed to have a shift yesterday but the air quality is really bad due to forest fires up north (very hazardous ranking, currently worse than big pollution cities like New York, Jakarta and New Delhi). Instead, it has been recommended that we switch to tomorrow or Thursday, in hopes that things will have cleared by then.

Since I had taken the day off for that and the vet appointment, I went to see the movie “Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret”. I don’t remember whether I actually read the book as a kid, but I certainly knew about it and at least some of the famous lines. The movie version was as excellent as promised. The acting was excellent, the story was true to the original (Judy Blume was directly involved) and the sets and costumes were a luscious trip down memory lane. Nancy’s bedroom was exactly what I dreamed of owning at that time.

The vet appointment went well, and I was glad I had booked the day off as big animal vets often run into complications on their visits and delays are common (yesterday it was over an hour delay). There is a new horse in Fancy’s field. Belle is bossy, but Karma just loves her. Karma has been the low mare in the field who annoys the others with her enthusiasm, so she is happy to have a friend. Fancy has taken to hiding behind Ash, and Ash protects her from Belle. In this picture, Karma and Belle are on the left while Ash and Fancy are on the right. Note the skies and foggy-looking trees.



I rounded out my day with a lunch of Afghan food, buying a new fridge, and making a huge batch of soup plus some coleslaw to use up veggies.

Today’s air quality on the US AQI index is 471, or hazardous. For reference, New Delhi is at 120, Mexico City is at 76, Beijing is 47, and Jakarta is 147. The Environment Canada ranking out of 10 is currently at 28(!), or very high risk.

Don't let this recipe scare you. There's a lot of stuff, but it makes up for it with the ease of prep.


( Mango Spiced chickenCollapse )

( coconut riceCollapse )


Ginger Pesto

½ cup vegetable oil
½ t. salt
¼ cup minced ginger root
¼ cup minced green onions
¼ cup lightly packed minced cilantro
¼ t pepper

Place all ingredients into a food processer and pulse until blended.

I started to do this yesterday, but got sidetracked (stupid early work meetings) and not much has changed, so here goes:

The Friday Five for 13 May 2022

1. Where are you right now? In bed.

2. Where would you like to be right now? In bed and asleep (it’s 5am).

3. Where have you always wanted to visit (but have not yet)? Machu Picchu. Samarkand is more recent on my wish list - only the last 6 years or so.

4. What is the most peaceful place you’ve ever visited? There was a beach in Malaysia that I had completely to myself for hours. It went on as far as I could see in either direction. The water was calm and it was just delightful.

5. Where do you want to visit in your dreams tonight? I’m not much for dreams. I would rather have a good night’s sleep.

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Quick update because occasionally I think I am pretty darned funny. I am proud of this post. https://fitisafeministissue.com/2021/11/24/donating-my-vagina-to-science-the-dubious-science-of-winter-vagina/