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Since Minh and I weren’t going anywhere near the malls or shopping centers on Black Friday, we headed out to the Santa Ana Mountains for a nice long-ish mountain bike ride. Since we were going for a longer, more difficult ride, Minh said we could take our geared bikes. This meant no work for me since I have two mountain bikes, but loads of work for Minh since he had to convert his singlespeed back to a geared bike by adding a cassette to the back (and all the other stuff that is needed, i.e. shifter.. and then the tuning and adjusting). What was supposed to be a 15 minute job ended up taking about an hour, and Minh ended up giving up. For some reason, he couldn’t get the chainstay adjusted properly, and he was getting very frustrated. Instead, he took his cross bike.. it seemed like an OK idea at the time.. but ended up being a very very very bad idea…
Our planned route was Black Star Canyon – Motorway. This was a good training ride and eye-opener for what to expect for Traverse in May. I’d never ridden this before, so it was definitely a humbling experience.
The first part of the ride was pretty straightforward… head up Black Star Canyon to Beek’s Place. I’ve done this before… easy peezy. The rest of the ride was not so straightforward. After we pass the big white ball, each foot of riding is a foot further that I’ve gone into the Santa Anas, each foot of extra elevation gained is a foot higher I’ve been in Orange County. It was fun and exciting being on my bike and seeing new places, but it was also a little terrifying since I had no idea what to expect and no idea where I was going. It was also a lot of stopping and waiting because Minh’s bike (and legs) stopped working for him and started working against him. The brakes weren’t working so great, so he had to walk most of the downhills. And the easiest gear ratio on his cross bike was still harder than the one on his singlespeed, so he had to walk a lot of the uphills (after his legs died from powering up Black Star Canyon).
No brakes means having to walk the descents...
... or carry the bike down the descents..
... or figure out that it's too heavy to carry that far and just walk..
Eventually, he told me to just go on ahead. So I did. What I didn’t hear him say was to wait for him at the white gate. My plan was to go ahead until I saw the turnoff to head down the mountain and wait for him there. I completely misse the turn and kept going, went past it about 3 miles before a truck came by and told me that Minh was waiting for me eating a sandwich. Lucky for us the truck was on the trail, or else I could have gone on forever (well.. not forever, but a long time). My phone had also died while one the trail, so Minh had NO WAY of contacting me.
here's the trail sign that I COMPLETELY missed...
Here’s what I ended up doing actually riding…
The little "tail" on the right is the "extra bonus" that I biked...
Actually, I ended up having to walk a lot. My quads stopped wanting to climb and my morale was deteriorating fast since there seemed no end to the trail. I went through some emotional ups and downs since I had no idea where I was, no idea where Minh was, no idea where I was supposed to stop, and no one around crossing my path at all. That and I was a little afraid of mountain lions after I saw some tracks. We were EXTREMELY lucky that a truck was out doing trail maintenance work… if not for the truck, I would probably have gone on for 10 miles, stuck in the mountains with no communication and only half a ham and cheese croissant sandwich and some gels. Minh was actually worst off, since he also had no idea where I was and couldn’t ride much (he had also cramped up pretty bad). He waited for me for a while at the white gate, but eventually started walking towards my direction looking for me, stopping every five minutes to yell out my name just in case I had fallen off the trail or gotten hurt. It really freaked him out…
Lesson Learned: Don’t go on ahead… and if I do… make sure I stop at regular intervals to regroup.
Minh and I making gravy... last thing to finish off the meal..
Thanksgiving – as I’ve said before – kicks off one of my favorite times of the year… THE HOLIDAYS!!! But before those precious days of baking and gift-giving and no work can come around, we must first get through Thanksgiving… which I don’t mind so much since I LOVE to cook!!
This year’s Thanksgiving was easy enough. I tried some new recipes, but kept it fairly simple without the complicated ingredients or processes. I knew that I wouldn’t have THAT much time to prep since I was spending most of my free time working out or being lazy… so I kept the recipes down to things that had few ingredients and very little prep or hands-on time. Oh.. and since Anni is diseased with the Celiac’s.. we made everything completely GLUTEN-FREE!!!
The Menu:
I got pretty much everything I needed in two trips to the grocery store (plus maybe one or two side trips that don’t REALLY count). Since the turkey was provided by my aunt (as it has been for the last few years), the total cost of the meal (for 12+) came out to under $150. CRAZINESS!!!
Turkey turned out PERFECT... except for the lack of skin color.. wanted to keep it in longer, but was afraid it would dry out...
For me.. it’s always the SIDES that make the meal. I usually take just a small piece of turkey (dark meat, of course), and LOAD UP on the sides. This year was no exception.. although I think I may have an allergy to brussel sprouts. Minh and I decided we would need to make another dish to be sure, but I got a slight rash on the backs of my hands in the middle of dinner.. and the same thing had happened last year at Thanksgiving. The only thing that we ONLY have at Thanksgiving that we don’t have any other time of year is brussel sprouts and pine nuts.. and I kind of REFUSE to believe that I’m allergic to pine nuts.
LEFT: cornbread sausage chestnut dressing; RIGHT: sauteed butternut squash and brussel sprouts
LEFT to RIGHT: gravy, buttermilk chive mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, sage butter turkey
Anni - Playing "Angry Birds" on the iPad while waiting for dinner...
For some reason, dinner always gets done a little bit earlier than expected, or just in time… but we’re never all ready to sit down and eat. There’s always last minute things that need to get done before everyone is ready to sit down to dinner.. Dad needs to pick out a bottle of wine and somehow get it open (the ever missing wine opener that is never there when you need it)… Mom NEVER sits down with the rest of us but has to finish doing something in the kitchen… Pictures need to be taken.. cups need to be (first put out, and then) filled with various beverages.. etc.. etc.. There’s always SOMETHING. Inevitably, we can all be starving – and at least half of us will be standing around the dinner table waiting to sit down, but dinner will always be thirty minutes AFTER you expect it to start..
And no family gathering is complete (at least not in the last couple years) without some inappropriate picture taken of my grandma holding alcohol that someone has thrust into her hand…. You can’t hear it from looking at the picture, but we’re ALL laughing hysterically in the background.
This picture cracks me up.. Oh Grandma!
Minh and Khiem - "shooting the breeze" while waiting for dinner...
And the last odd thing about our typical Thanksgiving dinner.. NO ONE ever wants to carve the turkey. As the chef for the night, I probably should be the one to do it, but I NEVER EVER EVER carve the turkey. Probably because I’ve never bothered to figure out the best way to do it. I’m always afraid that I’ll completely butcher it.. or worst.. that it’s actually UNDERCOOKED!!! I don’t want to be the one to reveal THAT! Usually Mom will carve the turkey, but since my uncle was in town this year, he did the honors. Although, truth be told, he only made the first cut, then my mom took it away to finish carving in the kitchen. You can also see in the picture how Dad is starting off on the sides before the turkey is even ready.. trust me.. we’re all hungry…
Uncle Viet had the honors of carving the turkey.. mostly because NO ONE ever wants those honors in my house...
And of course, we had to get a family picture for the night. Only ones missing that came later are my aunt Nhan, Anthony and Nina.
Family picture before we all stuff our faces...
Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving.. now we have THE HOLIDAYS (!!!) to look forward to…
I must admit, I’m not a huge fan of vanilla. In general, I find vanilla to be rather boring and unimpressive… but it’s just one of those things that you just can’t live without. Where would icecream be if it weren’t for vanilla? How would cookies taste if not for the added extract? What would perfumes and lotions smell like without that creamy scent?
One of my big gripes with vanilla when I need it for any sort of cooking or baking is the price. Vanilla beans at the market (pretty much any market) go for about $3 to $4 for just one or two beans. That’s practically HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!! Vanilla extract isn’t too expensive, but I always HATED the smell.. seriously smells like vanilla vodka.. GROSS!! I found out recently why it smells like vodka.. because vanilla extract is essentially vanilla beans steeped in vodka.
Ingredients for HOMEMADE vanilla extract!
I don’t really know what got into me, but I was inspired by some internet posts and random searching to make my own vanilla extract. Instructions are all over the internet, but the basic recipe is 3 vanilla beans to 1 cup of liquor (vodka, rum, brandy, etc). The bean should be split and caviar (why do they call it that?) scraped into a glass jar, then covered with liquor. Make sure the beans are completely submerged in liquid. Seal and keep in a cool, dry place. Let steep for at least a month, but the longer the better.
Put the vodka in an old milk bottle first, but didn't fill.. so put it back into the Smirnoff bottle later..
I knew for sure that I wouldn’t be able to justify this project with beans from the market (that would be one EXPENSIVE bottle of vanilla extract), but I found some good resources online for bulk vanilla beans. I got 1/4 lb of Grade A Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans for $15, and got a 10 Grade B Tahitian Vanilla Beans for free (SWEET!!).
These vanilla beans were SUPER plump and FRAGRANT!!
I decided to try three different kinds of liquor to see how each would turn out compared to each other.
Smaller batches with rum and brandy... for a comparison...
Stored away.. see you in six months!
We’ll check in again in about a month to see how it’s going.
Thanksgiving kicks off one of my FAVORITE times of the year… the HOLIDAYS! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!! Not only because of the beautiful decorations all over the place and the 24/7 Christmas music, but because it’s the time for homemade baked goods and large, elaborate family-dinners and work potlucks. I love trying out new recipes, baking cookies as gifts, wrapping presents, etc. etc… I’ve already put in the works long projects that will be ready for NEXT YEAR.. but before I get carried away.. let’s reflect on Thanksgiving and all the things I’m grateful for this year….
I’m grateful for….
Those are in no particular order, but pretty much sum up all the great things in my life. Then there are the things that I’m not so grateful for that I wish I could change… for instance..
Hey.. we can’t all be perfect, right?
I’ll be posting up pictures of my Thanksgiving FEAST (!!!) later this week. Have a HAPPY 4-DAY SHOPPING WEEKEND!!!
Minh made me sit down last week and plan out my 2011 race schedule.. as best as I could. It seriously took me about a week to figure out what events I really wanted to do and what events I could skip so that I got good training in rather than racing all the time… And also make sure that I didn’t get burned out on racing or signed up for races spontaneously all year…
Current List of Events for 2011:
OC Chili Winter Trail Run Series – O’Neill Regional Park, Mission Viejo, CA
Kenda Cup West Series – throughout SoCal
Traverse – BlackStar Canyon to Trabuco Canyon, Silverado, CA
Huntington Beach Pier Swim (maybe) – Main Street Pier, Huntington Beach, CA
Harding Hustle 30/50K – Harding Truck Trail, Silverado, CA
Xterra Off-Road Triathlons and SoCal Trail Runs (not all, but some)
Xterra USA Championships – Snowbasin Resort, Ogden, UT
Disneyland Half Marathon - Disneyland, Anaheim, CA
Pacific Coast Triathlon – Crystal Cove, Newport Beach, CA
OC International Triathlon – Mission Viejo, CA
Triple Crown Series – throughout SoCal
Santiago Canyon Time Trials (maybe) – Santiago Canyon, CA
SoCal Cross (maybe) – throughout SoCal
I tried to mix things up a bit in terms of events, but generally it’s a lot of off-road events and A LOT of mountain biking. I would LOVE to qualify for Xterra Worlds in Maui, but we’ll see. Should be a good year, though.. better than 2010 maybe?
FINALLY getting around to posting up my race report for Silverman. I had the text all typed up, but hadn’t sifted through the pictures yet. There were hundreds, and I somehow managed to whittle them down to the ones included here…
After an EXTRA LONG night’s sleep (went to bed early + end of daylight savings).. Minh and I woke up to the pleasant sounds of race announcements outside our window…
Part TWO – Race Day
I thought we should wake up early to make sure we had plenty of time to get ready. Full distance was off at 7AM, Half distance off at 8:30AM… and we woke up at 6AM… why? I don’t know.. but that’s the time I picked. I should have slept in longer, since I had more than an hour of down time before the race started, but it was nice to be up and eat and be completely ready.
T1 set-up.. perhaps not the most efficient way for this race...
The swim was a MASS START at 8:30AM. Over 1000 swimmers all starting at the same time… it was a little intimidating. I stayed off to the left and near the middle since I’m not a fast swimmer. I ended up making an EXTRA big loop around the buoys, which probably increased my swim distance and time, but kept me away from elbows, feet, black eyes, and punches in the gut. The swim felt like it lasted forever… I was definitely happy to be done with it.
I'm amazed the Minh was able to find me in that crowd of swimmers (Green cap in the middle)
A sea of swimmers... so that's what a mass start looks like...
Here’s a quick look at how to T1 like a World Champion… Macca-style…
Macca shows us how to T1 like a World Champion...
My T1 (in comparison) was much slower and not as graceful…
First time getting my wetsuit ripped off me... was... different...
Here I am putting on socks.. because I STILL cannot ride without them..
Somehow I managed to drop my bike (twice) on the way out of T1... ::what a clutz::
Heading out onto the bike course.. I had a rock stuck in my left cleat, so it tooke me FOREVER to clip in...
The bike course was killer… by far the toughest bike course I’ve ever had to ride. The first half of the course through Lake Mead National Recreational Area wasn’t so bad. There were some nice long hills, followed by some long descents for recovery. I was pushing hard up the hills and flying down the descents as fast as I was comfortable (sometimes faster than I was comfortable with). I got passed by a lot of athletes, but I also passed a lot of athletes, so I was feeling confident in my pace. That was until we left the Lake Mead NRA.
Beautiful winding/rolling hills through the dessert...
Athletes facing a mild (by this race's standards) hill about 20-miles into the bike course..
Here I am going up that same hill.. First time I saw Minh all day.. ::thumbs up::
Last climb out before leaving Lake Mead NRA
Riding through Lake Mead NRA was more difficult than riding through Santiago Canyon, and more difficult than the second half of the River Mountain Trail Loop and then through Henderson to T2. What made the second half of the course so difficult was a few things compounding on eachother:
The second half of the course seemed to last FOREVER… and I seemed to be going SOOOOOO S-L-O-W-L-Y that it was incredibly frustrating. It was a much harder bike course than I was prepared for, but I also had a great time riding it. It definitely makes you PUSH yourself, even if you weren’t in a race.
FINALLY got to T2 and handed my bike off to one of the lovely volunteers who disposed of it as necessary. By this time, I was ready to be rid of the thing and get my run on. Unfortunately, my body wasn’t exactly ready to get my run on. I didn’t eat much while on the bike (three gels, two bottles of HEED, one packet of Clif Bloks, some Gatorade), so I figured I’d start fueling at the beginning of the run. First stop I took half a banana and some water. Second stop I took a gel and some water and Gatorade. Third stop I took a handful of pretzels and water…. and then my stomach started to church and ache and running became nearly impossible.. so I had to slow to a walk. For the next few miles I only took in water and had to walk.. A LOT… which made my run a lot slower than I wanted. I would alternate between walking and jogging, but the jogging was very difficult. Overall.. my legs were fine… it was my stomach that didn’t want me running..
I think this is around Mile 6..
What also made it difficult were the HILLS on the course. Some of those hills seemed never-ending.. just like on the bike. Who would have thought a desert city had so many hills??? I never would have guessed. I also am always so surprised at how long a half-marathon actually is. There were times during the run when I thought I was getting close to the finish and there’d still be 3 miles left.. and those three miles seemed to last FOREVER. I don’t know if my head could handle the crazy mind-games… luckily I survived.
Tried to muster up a "sprint" through the finish..
After getting through the finishline and getting my medal and t-shirt.. I went straight for the food tent. I was STARVING. I barely ate anything all day on the course, so I was happy to see all the food they had available for us. Two different pastas from Macaroni Grill, pizza (the local pizza store actual had to close down to support the race), chili, milk, sodas, water, cookies, pretzels, bananas, etc. etc. etc… I grabbed a plate-full of pasta, a Coke, and a bowl of chili. It was the most delicious post-race meal I’ve ever eaten. By-passed the massage tent and headed out to meet Minh.
Silverman "SURVIVOR"!!!
I was definitely a lot MORE SORE after the race than I was after Oceanside… but I survived.. and I had a GREAT time. Still debating whether to come back. It was a great race and an awesome, challenging course. It was also one of the most well-organized races I’d ever been to, with nearly as many volunteers as there were athletes. If I ever DO decide to compete in this race again.. I’ll definitely need to be better prepared.
RESULTS
SWIM – 0:50:24
T1 – 0:05:45
BIKE – 3:55:19
T2 – 0:03:07
RUN – 2:35:30
OVERALL – 7:30:03
Silverman… They don’t call it the “World’s Toughest Triathlon” for nothing…. trust me.
Nice shot of the Las Vegas skyline.. GOODNIGHT, Henderson!
Pretty sweet giveaway going on over at Curbly today. They’re giving away a NEW Silhouette SD Digital Cutting Machine.
Win a Silhouette SD Digital Cutting Machine from Curbly
This product would be awesome for all sorts of projects: papercrafts, scrapbooking, sticker cutting, fabric transfers… the possibilities really are endless. You can check out the Sillhouette Blog for inspirations, tutorials, and some free downloads. I especially like this glass etching tutorial:
Hurry over to Curbly and leave a comment to enter their giveaway. Entries due by Tuesday, November 23.
Question: If you had $500 dollars to spend at Chronical Books (one of my FAVORITE publishing houses), what would you get?
Now’s your chance to win my picks listed below during Chronical Book’s Happy Haulidays contest. One lucky blogger (hopefully me) will win their own “haul” of books up to $500 and one lucky commenter on that blog (hopefully one of you) will win the same “haul”. It’s a bit of a complicated contest, but the winning blog will be chosen at random, as will the winning commenter. You can check out a list of all bloggers participating here.
So.. what would I get? (in no particular order)
The Exquisite Book – $29.95
I Love Macaroons – $14.95
Farm Together Now – $27.50
Chicken and Egg – $24.95
From Seed to Skillet – $30
Flour – $35
Lobel’s Meat Bible – $40
Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free – $35
Tartine – $35
Whoopie Pies – $16.95
All Cakes Considered – $24.95
Field Guide to Candy – $15.95
Tartine Bread – $40
Paper + Craft – $19.95
Little Book of Letterpress – $24.95
The Sock Monkey and Friends Kit – $17.99
Paper Doll Parade Notecards – $14.95
Animal Greetings Mix & Match Stationery – $8.95
Animal Parade Notecards – $12.95
Masha & Friends Notecards – $12.95
Old School Letter Set - $15.95
Be sure to leave a comment if you’d like to try to win my list of books. If you’d like to enter your own list into the contest, just post a list on your own blog and submit it to the contest website. All entries due by December 10, and winners will be announced on December 13!
Knock-Knock!
Who’s there?
The cutest ring EVER!!!
Knock Knock! Ring by Pat Kim ($75)
How awesome is this Knock Knock! ring from Pat Kim?? And it comes packaged in this adorable mini shipping crate.. Just in time for Christmas?
