Drove out to Riverside to meet with Rob Fortier today. I was fortunate to meet up with him before the car left for Colorado on Saturday. I plan to edit photos and do a write up from today. Look for more pics and the story soon.
The Excitment Of A Fresh Real Chicken
My most recent lesson as a locavore has been about poultry. If you want chicken year round, go to the grocery store. If you want real chicken that has been allowed to live as chickens have for centuries, then find a local farmer that raises them the natural way. We have not had chicken since December. The farmers I asked about chicken all told me it wasn't in season. Who would have thought that chickens, just like asparagus, have a season. Chicken would be available again in April. So it's the end of April but where are they?
Yesterday I found out.
I stopped by Blue Goose Market in Loomis. sometimes they have some locally raised meat. What did I spy in the freezer but two chickens from Sinclair Farms. I get eggs and lamb from them too. The cashier in the store was a bit surprised by my delight in finding two chickens. But that's the beauty of being a locavore, you get excited by the simplest things. It's hard to take chicken for granted when you know it's not always there.
So tonight we are having roasted chicken. I have two choices for recipes. One is your basic herb and butter coated bird. You stuff it with lemons to keep it moist. The other is oven roasted with a pomegranate glaze. The glaze is pomegranate molasses, red wine vinegar and honey plus some pepper. You baste the chicken with this after about 30 minutes in the oven. You can also sprinkle pomegranate seeds on the finished bird. They are not in season right now so I'll settle for the glaze. I have to talk to Kerry about which one he prefers.
Two other courses: mashed potatoes with lots of garlic and butter and a red lettuce salad with fresh strawberries and feta cheese topped with a vinaigrette dressing.
This is an expensive bird. It weighs 4.25 pounds and cost $19. We will probably get four meals out of it and then I'll make chicken stock. Pretty good price for something this good.
TGIF!!!!
I will start posting pics of each girl next week. Going out to Riverside today to shoot with Rob Fortier and his 53 Bel Air. Look for pics and a interview in the weeks to come.
The "Other" Mike D
A few months back I drove out to Murietta Ca to shoot with Mike D. I was put in contact with him from Guy at Greasy Kulture magazine. It was a early Saturday morning so it was a easy drive up the 91 to the 15 fwy. Coming down Mike's street there were a few really cool places to shoot and we ended up at this half torn down building. So we set up there and I got my shots. He rode the bike up and down the street a couple times and I was done. Super easy. Thank you Mike for that day. It was a pleasure to meet you. If you haven't already checked it out go get your copy of Greasy Kulture Magazine Issue 14. The article on Mike is in the back and was even written by him. Here are some more shots that were not in the mag.
Joyrides Art Company Bad Betty's
I have a lot of good shots of the JAC Bad Betty's. So stay tuned as I post more. I was going to post pics of the bikes I shot at Hippy Killer Hoedown, but I figured everyone saw them on the other blogs. Personally after this photoshoot I had more interest in going through these photos and posting them.
New Garage Series Story
I have been working on a story and pictorial of my friend, Jason McCann. It's up on the Joyrides Art Company website now. Check it out. Thanks Jason for taking time out to do this for me. It's been very cool working with you. Enjoy.
Leather and Lace
Going through photos from Friday nights shoot at Chopper Dave's and Mark Nelson's shop. Very happy with what I ended up with. The girls were great and everything went well. Here's an outtake of the girls getting ready for the next set up. I will post pics up during the week.
Joyrides Art Company Bad Betty Photoshoot
This is Liz, I wanted to give a big thanks to the ladies for coming out and taking part in one kick ass Joyrides photoshoot. Ashley, Denise, Lorraine and Melissa, you girls rocked it and for all you boys, there's much more to come....
Thanks also to Mark Nelson, Chopper Dave, Barry LaCour & Denver Dan for their help and support. It could not have been possible without you.
A Perspective On Earth Day
I've never been a big fan of Earth Day. Probably because the corporations I worked for always made a big deal out of it and then went right back to doing business as usual.Today I look at Earth Day differently; we have become a locavore household doing what's right for the planet and us. The cookbook pictured here is my gift to myself for Earth Day. Placer County where I live in Northern California, is a wonderful place to have access to farmers markets year round.
One of the authors of this cookbook, Joanne Neft, is the inventor of PlacerGrown (http://www.placergrown.org/). She started eating locally long before locavorism was popular. This cookbook is one more step on her road to preach the benefits of buying and eating local. She's also from Minnesota (my home state) so that's another reason to like her.
At the end of 2008 she sent out an e-mail to everyone she knew to invite them for dinner at her house each Monday night of the year. She could only seat 4-6 people so you had to get your reservations in early. Places at the table filled up fast.
On the Saturday before the Monday dinner, Joanne and Laura Kenny (the chef) went to the farmers market in Auburn, CA to choose the food for Monday night's dinner. If it wasn't available there, it wasn't served.
The cookbook is organized by month and date so you know what to expect at the farmers market at what time of year. If it's January, there will not be asparagus.
At the end of 52 weeks they had recipes that had been tested on local eaters. Then they began to put it together in a cookbook, which just arrived at local stores.
Here's an example of a dinner; this one is for April 20th, which is about as close as I could come to today.
+ Watercress salad with strawberries and sweet and sour vinaigrette
+ Baked halibut cheeks
+ Black quinoa with mushrooms and snow peas
+ Sauteed kale
+ Fresh strawberries with pistachio biscotti and sabayon Grand Marnier sauce.
A note about the halibut cheeks. We are lucky to have a local fishing company (http://www.wildlittlefish.com/) that has wonderful fresh, non-farmed fish every week at the Auburn farmers market and several others in the area. We even get wild salmon, which they bring down from Alaska. Farm-raised fish are not healthy for the environment or you.
So that's how I'm celebrating. What about you?
Hippy Killer Hoedown-Vendor
The Born "Fuckin'" Free Panhead.
It's like playin for the Stanley Cup, you can't touch it unless you win it!!
Beer Break
Taking my daughter tonight to the LA Kings playoff game tonight. I will post some of the bikes I shot from the Hoedown either Friday or early next week.
Hippy Killer Hoedown-Faces In The Crowd
Here's just a small sample of the people who were at the show.
Dean of Dice Magazine just got back from Japan and was out at the show promoting their magazine with his partner in crime, Matt.
Grant Peterson and Harpoon had their FMA booth up and slinging posters that came with a free ticket.
the next minute they got a pair of awards! Steve and Brandon.
For more photos of people in the crowd go to Chopper Dave's blog. He was shooting nothing but people at the show.
Hippy Killer Hoedown
Went to the Hippy Killer Hoedown last Saturday. Will post some of the pics throughout the week.
NHL Playoffs Start Today!!!
Av's beat the Sharks, Phoenix beat the Wings, Senators beat the Pengiuns. Looks to be a pretty good first round.
Joyrides Art Company Lid
So when my friend Jeff came down from Vegas this past Saturday he was telling me about my booth at the Viva Show. My booth lacked front signage so it was hard to find it. I meant to print out a banner for the front but I ran out of time so I had nothing. As Jeff was leaving my house he said he had something for me. He went to his Econoline van and pulled this out. He had an old helmet laying around his house and had a buddy of his, Mando Velazquez letter it up. Now I can place this on the front table of my booth as signage. Thanks Jeff for the gift. It is way cool.
Some Thoughts On Retirement
It's been three years since I stopped working. Hard to believe it's been that long. Those three years have been some of the best years of my life.My life is quiet; I love it that way. I don't need much money; I don't have that many material needs. Fabric and good, healthy, organic food are the two things on which I spend the most money. We rarely eat out because the restaurant food is not very healthy. The exceptions are Paul Martin's American Bistro in Roseville and Chipotle. Love their burrito bowl.
I gave away all of my expensive suits, blouses and shoes. Someone else can wear that armor now; not me. Jeans, shirts and fleece plus comfortable shoes are my outer expression. My panty hose are used to collect lint at the end of our dryer line under the house. That's a good place for them.
I'm healthier because I'm not always on airplanes.
I can't think of one negative thing about retirement.
We rarely get up earlier than 8:30; no alarms in our life unless we made the unfortunate decision to be somewhere early.
Our travels are mostly by car to spend time with family and friends. We haven't been to the Bay Area in several years and have no plans to go. That place is filled with noise, pollution and tension. Don't need any of those things. If someone wants to see us, they come here and enjoy the beauty and solitude of our five acres.
I've made new friends; discovered that I really want to express my creativity with fabric; learned that being in a large group is not for me anymore; discovered Michael Pollan and became a locavore; shopped at the farmer's markets and cooked what I found there; and learned a lot about organic farming from the farmers I follow on Twitter.
I also learned that I love to nap each day; luckily Kerry does too.
The days fly by; most of the time I can tell you what day of the week it is but not always the date.
One of the best parts of retirement was Mark finding Julia and getting married at the Grand Canyon.
My quilting went from buying and learning to use all the tools needed to create perfect quilts that would win prizes to tearing strips of fabric for my latest art quilt. This summer Kerry, Harleen and I are going to Sisters, Oregon so I can take a class in fabric painting from a teacher I really like. All of this started from a series of fiction books I read about Elm Creek Quilt Camp. Author is Jennifer Chiaverini.
And Harleen came into our lives as a tiny 11 pound golden lab puppy. Due to bad hips, she washed out of the Canine Companions for Independence program. So in a way she retired too and is now part of our life.
I've learned that you never know where life will lead you; just listen to your soul and follow your heart. It worked for me.
73 FLH Shovelhead
These pics were sent in from Jeffery Goo down in Vegas. Here's a quick story on the 73 FLH Shovelhead his friend owns.
"We shot these photos north of the I15 fwy in Nevada. My friend Chopper Jay (Jason Martin) called me up and told me to meet him out there. His bike is a 73 FLH Shovelhead, 10" over on the springer, mid mount shift suicide cluth. The shifting lever is a Saber that actually pulls out, S&S stroker kit. His grandfather bought it in 74 and was featured in a biker mag back in 2000. After his grandfather had passed, Jay got the bike,rebuilt it and named it "Old Fucker."
Jeff drove out this past Saturday from Vegas to check out a Econoline show down at the Rose Bowl and stopped by Long Beach afterwards and we had lunch. Jeff rides a pretty cool Panhead that I want to shoot the next time I'm up in Vegas. It's a 51FL with a 47 Springer. His buddy Nate tells me that "Jeff is always working on it and changing something, but it's never down for long because Jeff loves to ride."
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