Vegan enchiladas!

With tofu, poblanos, ONIONS, and Daiya.

Car packed for adventure!

If the adventure is driving to Sacramento...

On being a ski bum

Yep, the season is basically over. I'm headed back down the hill today, and Sunday is closing day for skiing at Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood. I did some late season skiing on Monday (Kirkwood), Tuesday (Heavenly), and Wednesday (Heavenly). While I'm glad I did, it wasn't great skiing: a lot of heavy, wet, sticky snow at Heavenly, and relatively few options (although a few good ones) at Kirkwood. 

Total stats for the season (not counting four days & nights at non-Vail Management resorts) are:
32 days at Vail resorts (Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood, Canyons, Breckenridge)
(36 days grand total: including Mt. Rose, Brighton, and Snowbird) 
376,593 vertical feet

I definitely progressed from being a high green (beginner) skier who could negotiate basic blue (intermediate) runs, to a solid advanced intermediate skier who can confidently go fast on most blue runs. By the end of the season I was choosing some black diamond (advanced) runs.

Several friends gave me basic pointers (square to the slope, hands up, lean forward, carry a tray) which definitely improved my skiing. I still never got around to taking any formal lessons, and perhaps the biggest impediment in my becoming a true advanced level skier is my lack of formal instruction. (I've had one "lesson" ever, an hour or so with J's father about eight or nine years ago.)

I have to admit: I have kind of fucking loved being a ski bum for the season. Not that I haven't continued working, and the fantastic snow of March was essentially lost to me due to a ton of travel. But it was a pretty damn lucky, privileged life to lead for a season.

Now I'm starting to pack up the apartment in South Lake Tahoe, moving stuff back to Sacramento, and waiting to hear on a couple balls that remain up in the air. The future remains wide open.

View from the Heavenly Gondola

What the hell am i doing on my device?!?

Shades of Blue

Lake Tahoe. About five different shades of blue, even if they don't turn up in the picture.

Forgot my phone

When i went skiing today at Heavenly. It was a lovely four hours offline.

Reclamation

Under the pavement, the forest.

Getting older

Isn't all bad. Sometimes you're awfully cute.

HERB GARDEN!!!

Just planted.

From left: basil, sage, lemon balm, rosemary. (Japanese maple providing the fork in the road background.)

Another singlespeed as cargo vehicle!

I love loading up bikes with random shit and riding it around.

The Great Brussels Sprouts Massacre of 2014

Longtime readers of this blog know that brussels sprouts are one of my favorite foods.

So I was really excited to grow some.

And they bloomed, from seed, with impressive vigor, and lasted through Sacramento's cold snap, and dry winter.

 But then, didn't do a damn thing except look pretty. No fruit whatsoever.

So today I finally tore them out.

Going to plant some stuff today: random extra seeds I had in the garage, and an herb garden out front.

Grill and fry extravaganza!

Singlespeed as cargo vehicle!

Res ipsa loquitor, no? (Well, res ipsa loquitor if you click on the picture to see the whole image.)

After

See "Before", posted last week. Pulled out the pretty but non-producing Cavolfiore cabbage, and the prodigious but dry and fibery radish.

 

Not sure if I'll plant a summer garden to speak of or not: too many balls in the air.

Fresh OJ

c'mon: who doesn't like a nice glass of fresh squeezed orange juice?
The Valencia tree in the yard is just now sweet enough to juice and eat (the navel tree was good around Christmas.)

Hot salad!

This is the dinnertime food spread that J and I refer to as "hot salad" since most of the ingredients get cooked first. J has a Burner camp buddy in town, and we're feeding shit up!

Clockwise from bottom left:

• pan fried cauliflower with fresh lemon juice from the back yard
• caramelized onions
• pan fried zucchini coins
• flash fried red bell peppers (with almost a full head of garlic) 
• fried salt and pepper tofu (with almost another full head of garlic)
• lettuce from the front yard garden, three different kinds (baby oakleaf, red sail, and one I don't remember) 
• dressing
• fresh roma tomatoes, with fresh basil from my mom's herb garden
• leftover shishito peppers from Mother restaurant, a delicious new vegetarian restaurant in downtown Sacramento

A damn fine meal, if I do so say myself.

Construction debris flying about in the garage, family detritus in the neighborhood, and a future full of possibility. Big times!