Category Archives: Lifestyle

Ken Steinhoff; Photographer, Story-teller, Road-warrior

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Ken Steinhoff and I worked as photojournalists at the Athens Messenger in the late 1960’s. He stayed in the newspaper business, but got bumped up to a desk jockey job, I went on to other things. In retirement Ken went back to what he loves most, telling stories about people, places and history. He posts most of these at http://www.capecentralhigh.com/ We recently got together in Athens and spent a day driving around Southeast Ohio, trying to remember sites of some of our old stories, and catching up. Ken’s new van interior resembles the Volkswagen Squareback he wore out on those same roads. The only difference is it’s fitted with the latest in digital equipment instead of short wave and scanners and the best digital cameras. Oh, and there is more of the driver, and he has less hair than I remember. I’ve aged my share too. Ken has projects planned to keep him busy for the next forty-five years. I hope the road warrior has as many years as he needs. He does really good work. Check out that site.DSCF0527

Diabetes Shoppe; Commercializing Slow Death

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But there are two things, two very simple things the diabetes patient can do to slow and reverse diabetes. But I’m sure these are not sold in the Diabetes Shoppe. That is because they cost nothing, and therefore there is no profit in these two things:

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Jon Webb; Glint of Humor and Joy

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At a distance I would not have recognized Jon had I passed him on the street, nor he I; forty plus years changes a body! But as I got closer, and the small talk proceeded, I began to notice bits of body language that hadn’t changed. As the memories of that time begat one story and another and another, suddenly there was a thing that touched me: an unmistakable Santa Klaus glint in his eye, a window into the humor and joy that is at the heart of the man; always has been, always will.

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Tibetan Vampire: fun is universal across time and culture

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Talk about a mystery. Where does a Tibetan kid in remote Litang get a set of wax vampire fangs? I mean, I had these things 60 years ago in West Virginia. Watching him play vampire to a couple of rarely seen Westerners brought back my childhood. I can remember what the teeth tasted like after I chewed them into a ball of wax. Fun is universal, it crosses culture and time.

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Happy Valentines Day: A Love Story

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“You don’t fu….. care about me!” It came from a young woman sitting in a car beside Turtle. “You don’t treat me like you did before. You don’t treat me the same fu….. way you did before we got married.” A young man, stood tall beside her window, hands at his sides, outer calm mirrored in his desert camouflage uniform, defending himself in an even tone. “It’s not me. It’s you,” he said.

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The Finger Rock Trail, Tucson, Arizona, January 2011

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Leftover snow with underlying ice made the going a tad slow in places. Seven miles and 3,000 vertical feet to Linda Vista, a good hike for my feet. Nice to be breathing in the fresh scents of the desert plants and stimulating conversation with friends. A new trail for me. Maybe next time,after the ice melts, The Finger, a thousand or so feet higher.

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Making a New Year’s Resolution? Don’t!

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It’s good to have traditions for the New Year, but not all traditions are positive. One I have done without for many years is to make a New Year’s resolution. Here’s why:

You will break it. Sad to say, nearly all New Year’s resolutions are broken, probably within a few weeks to a couple of months of their making. Oh, the motivation is pure. Say, you really, really resolve to lose that ten pounds you gained over the holidays, not to mention the three to five pounds that crept up on you over the year, like they have each year since you passed twenty-five. Don’t be too hard on yourself, it happens to the purest among us. It’s just the natural aging process, our wealthy society, our holiday binging philosophy, and just plain human nature.

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Dr. Andrew Weil’s Integrated Wellness Program at Miraval

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Claire snared a press invitations to the official opening of Dr. Andrew Weil’s Integrative Wellness Program at the posh spa Miraval in Tucson. We met Dr. Weil and had a tour of the facility with resident physician, Dr. Jim Nicolai and his nurse Sheryl Brooks. The idea is to combine the integrative medicine concepts of Dr. Weil with the exercise, stress and relaxation activities of Miraval to plot an optimal lifestyle and wellness path for clients.

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Sequim Marimba Band playing for the Free Clinic Walk

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This is a short clip of the Sequim Marimba Band playing Saturday September 18th for a benefit health fair and walk for a free clinic. This band has been around for years and keeps evolving and getting better and better. Wherever they play the sun shines, despite the fog and rain of a Northwest autumn.

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High Tibetan mountains: Thinking of food

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we’re eating pork now, or any kind of protein for that matter, and we eat whatever vegetables they bring us. At the grocery stores, we study and poke the packages and hope they’ll sustain us through a night of camping. Yogurt and cookies (a whole roll) is a before bed tradition of carbohydrate loading. …push a pedal stroke for us, we’ll need it; tomorrow; (tonight for you) we climb 7,000 feet to well over 15,000 feet and hope to get down in elevation to find a camping spot low enough to allow for sleep, before dark.

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Tiger Mountain, Washington, High Flyers

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Hiked a 5 mileRT/2000 ft. trail with Bob’s sister Anne Bowlds today. At the summit we watched locals float over forests and meadows and slowly guide their fascinating craft to a gentle landing far below. Looks like fun. Nice Claire photos! Tiger Mountain Washington state.

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Kettle Valley Rail and Wine Trail

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The Kettle Valley Rail Trail isn’t all remote mountain views and trestles; we rode beside grapevines and past winery doors on a section from Penticton to cute little Naramata. I liked Naramata, lovely by the lake, but also because it reminded me of Australian names, many of which end with …ata, sometimes …atta. Homesick for Australian wine country again.

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Character(s) at The End of the Road, Homer, Alaska

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After a good hard bike ride up East End Road out of Homer, we decided to celebrate the rare sunshine with ice cream for a late lunch. We bought a carton at Fred Meyer’s and took it outside to their …

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Alaska Fish Craziness in Kenai, Kenai River

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Just a quick touch of the salmon crazed Alaskans (legal residents) fishing with nets at the mouth of the Kenai River. It’s how they fill their freezers for the year and have a lot of fun it seems. The gulls are happy too!

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Enjoying big and beautiful British Columbia, on the cheap and slow.

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t becomes almost difficult to sleep as we near the Yukon, the days are so long, the nights so short. We close all the blinds in Turtle, and it still is late before we can sleep. Light usually wakes me at 3:30am, but I’m a good sleeper, and Claire’s warmth makes it easy to wait for full sun to warm us through the windshield sometime around 6:30. At that 3:30 awakening, I open the blinds and curtain between our living area and the cab to welcome the sun. A warm house makes it easier to get out of bed at a reasonable hour.

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Just Another Spring Day In Tucson

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Just another spring day in Tucson. We rode our usual mid day 24 mile bike ride to Saguaro National Park, around the one way loop road, and back. After two days of unusual cool rain, the day was in the mid 80’s and the usual bright sun.

After a wet El Nino winter, the annual brittlebush and ocotillo are blooming strong, with other cactus just beginning a two month bloom.

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Ghost Town and San Rafael Valley Bike Loop

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A group of Tucson cycling friends rode a loop from Patagonia to the U.S. Mexico border and back to Patagonia recently. The loop is 50 miles, about 40 of it on dirt roads. It takes in mining ghost towns nestled in oak covered hills, and a broad expanse of high grassland ranches.

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Seven Falls Spring Hike: Cold Rushing Water In The Desert

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This is one of my favorite times of the year in the desert, flowing water, many colored blossoms, green foliage, cactus looking fat and happy, beginning to bud, and the Arizona sycamores and cottonwoods Shadow and boots, seven fallsbursting with green.

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Rainy Day Soup

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Preparation: put a cup of water in the crock pot and turn on high, chop vegetables, throw in crock pot with contents of tomato can and cover. Cook on high for three hours; then add mushrooms, can of red beans, squirt of fish sauce, add chicken broth, chili flakes, and turn to low. Cook on low until time to eat. Adjust liquid if necessary. Grate sheep cheese on top of each bowl of soup (not in photo, forgot) and grind some pepper on top of that. Serve with whole grain bread and wine.

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Variation on a Theme

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Preparation: cook yam covered with some water in microwave 2/3 done, let sit to finish. Fry salmon in lots of extra virgin olive oil with garlic powder and tarragon, remove and cover to stay warm. Add broccoli to salmon juices and olive oil on medium high and brown, add 21 Salute, chicken broth and finish covered. Serve on 8″ plate and a glass of wine.

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Crossing 8 flooded bridges in the desert, twice!

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The link above will take you to Mark Doumas’ Facebook page where he has posted a video of a few of us crossing one of eight bridges over Sabino Creek near Tucson. It’s usually a great short steep ride of about three miles, but with this winter’s snow, and recent spring rains, the bridges become a fun, and cold challenge.

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Second of a Two Meal Set; This one takes .25 X Time of the Last

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Ingredients: leftover vegetables and chicken saute (two days old, max) extra virgin olive oil, 1/3 cup coconut milk, 1/2 orange, 1 tbsp fish oil, 1 tbsp red curry paste, 1/4 cup dry whole grain basmati rice, cashews.

Pour the cook a glass of wine.

Preparation: cook rice 35 minutes in salted water, drain and cover to finish; stir fry rice in olive oil, curry paste and fish oil; add leftovers to mix with coconut milk and heat; squeeze 1/4 orange into wok and stir.

Serve on 8″ plates with 1/4 orange and chopsticks.

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First of a Two Meal Set

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Preparation: fry chicken breasts coated with Trader Joe’s21 Salute and garlic powder in lots of olive oil, chop vegetables large pieces, cook penne al dente while you fry the vegetables in lots of olive oil with tarragon and marjoram; add cubed fried chicken. Drain pasta and cover 1/2 of an 8″ plate, add vegetable/chicken breast mix, top with sheep cheese, pepitas and ground black pepper.

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Dinner built around Claire’s many-grained bread

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Preparation: Claire bakes her no kneed many grained bread; I can’t be more specific because she makes it differently each time, which is part of the adventure! Steam the asparagus while frying the salmon in olive oil, sprinkled with tarragon and fresh pressed garlic. Make dipping oil/vinegar mix adding Trader Joe’s 21 Salute and pepper. Arrange on an 8″ plate, sprinkle asparagus with sea salt and serve with wine.

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Leftover Chicken Breast, Mixed Vegetables, Pasta and Sauce

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Dice vegetables in large pieces, cube cooked chicken breasts; fry vegetables in lots of olive oil, adding pressed garlic, spices and cubed chicken near the end.Cook pasta al dente, drain but reserve 1 cup, add 3 tbsp of pasta water to bowl, one egg, 1/4 cup grated cheese and stir until a sauce. Reduce over heat if necessary. (Claire’s sauce) Mix pasta back into sauce. Place vegetable chicken mixture and pasta on 8″ plate, cover with sauce, sprinkle nuts and add pepper or salt if you like. Have with wine and your sweetie.

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Yam Patties and Asparagus

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Fry patties in lots of olive oil, in a medium hot iron skillet, uncovered. Sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning, or other spice that goes with something a little sweet. TAKE CARE, the natural sugar in the yam tends to make the patties go from brown to burnt very quickly!

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Okay, Sometimes it’s a Food Site

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Preparation: Cut squash in half, remove seeds, bake covered in oven, or in microwave. Clean spinach, chop onion, caramelize onion in olive oil, add spinach, dice or press garlic on spinach. Add leftover fried chicken breast or fish to pan and cover to warm through. Place squash halves on 8″ plates, drizzle with honey. Place spinach onion mixture on 8″ plate with meat. Sprinkle pepitas over spinach and onions.

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Thanksgiving Dinner Pilaf, Vegetables and Chicken Breast

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Cook and drain rice, set aside. Chop nuts (suggestion: walnuts and almonds), chop and caramelize onions and mushrooms in extra virgin olive oil and several cloves of pressed garlic. Remove from pan, add to rice and cover in bowl. Brown chicken breasts in olive oil on hot, both sides: sprinkle with spices of your choice. Remove from pan and put on top of covered pilaf to finish (microwave off is a good place). Saute vegetables in olive oil, add a small amount of chicken or vegetable broth and rice wine to finish.

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Day After Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving Leftovers (not either holiday, everyday)

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Ingredients: leftover onion, collard greens, red pepper dinner, one egg, one chicken breast, Madras curry powder, garlic powder, Trader Joe’s 21 Season Salute,1/3 cup Bulgar.

Preparation:

Pour the cook a glass of wine, whatever, this is leftovers!

Cook Bulgar in salted boiling water about 30 minutes, drain, stir and set aside. Fry chicken breast in extra virgin olive oil seasoned with garlic powder and 21 Season Salute. Remove from wok and cube. Add Bulgar, leftover vegetables to wok with olive oil and heat on hot, add egg, break and stir to fry then mix with other ingredients, add Madras curry powder to taste. Add cubed chicken breast to wok to warm.

Serve on 8″ plate with chopsticks and wine. Sprinkle top with favorite, or available, nuts or seeds. Claire adds chutney and I am not offended.

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A Heart Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner – this one for Valentine’s Day

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Preparation: Pour the cook a glass of wine.

Chop onion and stems of greens, saute in LOTS of extra virgin olive oil, add chopped leafy collards, red peppers, curry paste and chicken broth, summer until done to taste.

Microwave yam, turning often until done. Let sit in microwave covered. Remove collard mixture to bowl, cover and add to microwave to stay warm and finish.

Cook and main squeeze have a glass of wine together. This is, after all Valentine’s Day. You should have done two other healthy activities with your main squeeze this day: exercise and sex. Dinner is the fianalle.

Coat fish with seasoning and fry in LOTS of extra virgin olive oil. Put on plate with greens, yam and serve with another glass of wine.

Leave the dishes for tomorrow and go to bed early.

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Thanksgiving Dinner 4 for two.

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Caramelize cubed onion, fry chicken breast, both in LOTS of olive oil, and put both aside. Cook pasta al dente while you saute the zucchini with 5-10 cloves pressed garlic, in LOTS of olive oil. When pasta is al dente, drain and cover. Add onions, cubed chicken and sun dried tomatoes to pan and finish with LOTS of olive oil.

Put pasta on 8″ plate, add pan contents, grate sheep’s cheese on top, add pepitas.

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Why I Lost Weight in Tibet

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European study explains why I lost 20 pounds riding to nearly 16,000 feet in Tibet, was unable to regain after descending to sea level. I was worried about the loss of weight, probably a combination of poor quality and quantity of protein, and why it took so long for me to begin regaining it when better food was available in SE Asia.

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Thanksgiving Dinner 3: Leftover salmon medley

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A thanksgiving celebration for two, of a 70degree sunny day of bike riding in the lovely Sonoran desert with good friends, and the apparent rapid healing of my buggered ribs and shoulder.

Ingredients: 1/3 cup dry Whole grain rice and wild rice mixture, leftover wild salmon, 2 medium zucchini, 1 onion, 1/2 red pepper, 1/3 cup mushrooms, LOTS of extra virgin olive oil, 6 cloves garlic, 1tsp tarragon, 1/3 cup coconut milk, white wine of your choice.

Pour the cook a glass of wine.

Cook the rice 35 min. in extra water and a little sea salt, drain, cover and put aside.

Stir fry onions, zucchini, red peppers and mushrooms in LOTS of olive oil. Add garlic, tarragon, leftover salmon and coconut milk near the end, mostly.

Serve with wine and love.

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Thanksgiving Dinner 2: Salmon, yam and broccoli.

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Ingredients: 1/2 pound frozen wild salmon, one large yam, two cups broccoli, one tomato, Trader Joe’s Coastal Syrah.

Preparation:

Open wine to breathe. Cook should have a glass to test.

Fry salmon, skin down in a hot covered iron skillet with lots of extra virgin olive oil, top with garlic powder and tarragon, drizzle with olive oil.

Microwave large yam, turning several times until easily pierced with a fork, cover and put aside.

Remove salmon from skillet before opaque in center, cover and let stand.

Begin frying broccoli in salmon juices with garlic powder and Trader Joe’s 21 Salute mixture, brown then finish off with chicken broth and water to steam.

Remove skin from salmon and place on plate with yam, broccoli and sliced tomatoes.

Optionally, grind sea salt and/or black pepper on yam, tomatoes and broccoli to taste.

Be thankful you have the health and means to enjoy such a meal. The Thai eat a bite of rice before each mean as thanksgiving for their staff of life.

Desert: A bowl of red grapes, or whatever fruit you have available.

A thanksgiving dinner for a wonderful day that included sunshine, fluffy clouds against a deep blue sky, and a couple of hours on a bicycle among the saguaros of Saguaro National Park, East Unit.

Ingredients: 1/2 pound frozen wild salmon, one large yam, two cups broccoli, one tomato, Trader Joe’s Coastal Syrah.

Preparation:

Open wine to breathe. Cook should have a glass to test.

Fry salmon, skin down in a hot covered iron skillet with lots of extra virgin olive oil, top with garlic powder and tarragon, drizzle with olive oil.

Microwave large yam, turning several times until easily pierced with a fork, cover and put aside.

Remove salmon from skillet before opaque in center, cover and let stand.

Begin frying broccoli in salmon juices with garlic powder and Trader Joe’s 21 Salute mixture, brown then finish off with chicken broth and water to steam.

Remove skin from salmon and place on plate with yam, broccoli and sliced tomatoes.

Optionally, grind sea salt and/or black pepper on yam, tomatoes and broccoli to taste.

Be thankful you have the health and means to enjoy such a meal. The Thai eat a bite of rice before each mean as thanksgiving for their staff of life.

Desert: A bowl of red grapes, or whatever fruit you have available.

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Thanksgiving Dinner 1: Fuel for Adventurous Living

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Recipe for two:

Ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, garlic, ginger, three or four colorful vegetables and 1/2 cup mixed dried mushrooms re-hydrated. For vegetables I chose broccoli, onions, carrots and red peppers; what’s on sale. You can’t have too much of any of these!

Whole grain rice, 1/3 cup dry

Skinless boneless chicken breast, one

White wine, your choice, one or two glasses per person.

1/4 cup nuts, optional, your choice

Two 8 inch desert plates. Chopsticks. When you taste this you will think these two ingredient are cruel, but trust me the plates will hold enough to satisfy, and the chopsticks will assure that you eatmindfully, slowly.

Preparation:

Cook rice per directions.

Pour the cook a glass of wine to keep his creativity sharp.

Fry chicken breast in LOTS of extra virgin olive oil, with spice of your choice (I used Trader Joe’s 21 Salute seasoning) don’t overcook, put aside.

Chop veggies, not too small and stir fry in LOTS of olive oil, as soon as the rice is done. Do not over cook; should be bright in color and a little crunchy. You should use at least 1/4 cup of olive oil. Keep adding it, it is the secret to keeping your weight in check and your heart healthy.

Dice chicken and add with several cloves of pressed or diced garlic, and a couple of tablespoons, or more of grated fresh ginger (don’t bother to peel, it’s good for you too). Fry for a couple more minutes, but don’t overdo the veggies!

Divide rice on two plates, add stir fried veggies and chicken and nuts.

Serve with more wine. Clink your glasses, look into your partner’s eyes and appreciate your good fortune.

Later a plate of fruit, sliced pears is a favorite of ours. Later still, have two or three squares of dark chocolate.

All this is to be enjoyed with your favorite music, candles if you like. Concentrate on your company and your food. Absolutely NO TV. TV can ruin the best meal.

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