Coriandrum Sativum : An Herb and a Spice

We experienced the cycle of the Cilantro plant in our backyard.

During the summer, I bought a small Cilantro plant for our herb garden. And it grew beautifully! We enjoyed the herb in many salsas and burritos.

As the summer aged, so did our Cilantro. It flowered and all the tasty leaves changed from their roundish, broad, fringed shape into a thin, stringy form, with thick stalks.

And then the entire plant expired and dried, leaving twigs with seed pods where the flowers used to be.

Then, while perusing our beautiful Herbs and Spices book by Jill Norman, I discovered that Coriander is Cilantro seed! Those pods were Coriander!

This may be old news to many, but it was a fun new fact for us!
So I harvested the Coriander and put some in the soil and some in a jar for the kitchen.
And the seeds have sprouted into new Cilantro plants! Yay!

I absolutely LOVE Cilantro and was saddened by it's short life before it went to seed.
But now I can keep the cycle going and have fresh young Cilantro all the time!!

What I'm doing this Saturday!

Metro Dash is the ultimate test of athleticism. Competitors run city streets in search of scattered physical challenge points, power through intense interval workouts, and conquer "The Gauntlet," our extreme urban obstacle course.

Runners have marathons, triathletes have triathlons, and cyclists have cycling races. If you aren't one of these athletes what event do you have that tests your overall strength, determination, teamwork, and mental tenacity? Even if you are, it doesn't hurt to spice things up every now and again. CrossFitters, Triathletes, Bootcampers, Runners, Kettlebellers, Desk Jockeys, and anyone who enjoys a kick-in-the-ass workout – Metro Dash is for you!

What competitors are saying.....

"Amazing Event! Loved every second of it and I will for sure compete again! I love that the course is challenging and lives up to the hype!"

"It was an awesome test of endurance!"

"I loved the Gauntlet!"

Our philosophy is simple: We create hardcore, bare bones events that push competitors beyond their limits both mentally and physically. You won’t find a 50-tent expo at the finish line, nor will you find an after party. Metro Dash is about you and your ability to conquer an extremely grueling course. Metro Dash is not a race; it is a challenge. There are no places, no times, and no awards. It’s just you and your ability to push yourself as hard and as fast as possible. You only have yourself to cheat. If you are concerned with times and places, this challenge isn’t for you.

A Metro Dasher is a person who laughs in the face of adversity, who is ready and willing when most others would run away, and who knows that the only way to success lies in hard work, sweat, and pain. A Dasher isn’t concerned with place, time, or status. A Dasher would rather help a competitor complete a challenge than finish first. A Dasher will do the right thing even when nobody is watching, won’t complain, and above all else will never quit.

Prior to the Metro Dash Challenge competitors will receive a list of 5-7 challenge points. While competitors are required to go to these points in the order listed, it is up to them to determine the fastest route between points. Competitors will navigate from point to point completing the challenges listed below. The Challenge is not timed, and the reward is finishing the day knowing that you pushed yourself as hard as you possibly could.

• Tabata Challenge – Tabata is an interval training cycle of 20 seconds of maximum effort followed by 10 seconds of rest. You repeat this 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. You will do as many reps possible of the stated exercise during the 20 seconds, anything less and you've failed yourself.
• Stair Climb – You'll run up and down the equivalent of a 15-story office building.
• The Gauntlet - This is our extreme urban obstacle course where you'll flip tractor tires, low crawl, and launch yourself over an 8 foot wall.

The course is designed by Navy SEALs - let's just say these guys know how to dish out one hell of an ass kicking! If you don't feel like you've been hit by a Mack truck after completing the challenge, then you've only cheated yourself!

• Metro Dash is a Challenge
• Metro Dash is physically grueling
• Metro Dash is a test of your ability to push yourself
• Metro Dash is about helping others along the course

• Metro Dash isn’t a race
• Metro Dash isn’t timed
• Metro Dash isn’t for the weak
• Metro Dash isn’t for everyone

1. You must be 18 years of age on event day to compete.
2. All competitors must complete all of the challenges.
3. You cannot use bikes, personal vehicles, taxis, skateboards, rollerblades, or any other form of propulsion other than your own two legs!
4. Competitors must be physically capable of completing all challenges.
5. Every competitor must wear the Metro Dash bib.

Crossfit Fun

This is a short video of a recent crossfit competition at our gym.

The person with the shortest time wins 3 months of membership.

I didn't compete because I did the challenge the weekend before.

So I filmed parts of it.

It's called "The Filthy Fifty"

and it's painful.

The object is to complete all exercises as fast as you can.

The completed times were between 25 and 45 minutes.

(i did it in just under 40 minutes last week)

50 - 24" tire jumps

50 - jumping pull-ups

50 - kettlebell swings (25lb women/ 45lb men)

50 - walking lunges

50 - knees to elbows

50 - push presses (45lb women/65lb men)

50 - stiff leg dead lifts (45lb women/65lb men)

50 - wall ball shots (12lb women/20lb men)

50 - burpees

*50 - double unders (double rope swings per jump)

*or 150 single unders (single rope swings per jump)

Pickles!!!

As a freakish lover of the fermented cucumber, I can't believe I didn't do this a long time ago.
It was so easy!
It actually took longer to get the giant canning pot of water to boil than it did to put it all together!
And they are YUMMY!!!

Michael Pollan

Food Rules

#43

Have A Glass Of Wine With Dinner

Wine may not be the magic bullet in the French or Mediterranean diet, but it does seem to be an integral part of these dietary patterns. There is now considerable scientific evidence for the health benefits of alcohol to go with a few centuries of traditional belief and anecdotal evidence.

Mindful of the social and health effects of alcoholism, public health authorities are loath to recommend drinking, but the fact is that people who drink moderately and regularly live longer and suffer considerably less heart disease than teetotalers. Alcohol of any kind appears to reduce the risk of heart disease, but the polyphenols in red wine (resveratrol in particular) may have unique protective qualities.

Most experts recommend no more than two drinks a day for men, one for women. Also, the health benefits of alcohol may depend as much on the pattern of drinking as on the amount: Drinking a little every day is better than drinking a lot on the weekends, and drinking with food is better than drinking without it.

Someday science may figure out the complex synergies at work in a traditional diet that includes wine, but until then we can marvel at its accumulated wisdom - and raise a glass to paradox.

Our First Time

Before

After

Another Big Harvest!!!

Puppies!!

This is what has been keeping us so busy these days!

This is the "G" Litter.

But we nicknamed them....

Fuzz, Fuzzette, Blue, Spot, and Tink.

Finally! Some Interior Decorating at the School!

This summer, our nephews came to spend 6 weeks with us

to whelp a litter from their dog LaReina.

They also helped us out a lot with some jobs at the school.

So we took the opportunity to do some decorating .

We installed some mirrors and painted some walls.

Here are Alex and Vince creating the frames for the back of the mirrors.

The mirrors are not glass so they needed stable supports in order to mount them on the wall.

Here are two of the mirrors already glued to their frames

and weighted down for a secure fit.

Meanwhile, the rest of the mirrors rest against the unpainted wall.

Lindsey is cleaning the mirrors, preparing them for mounting,

and the boys are making another frame.

Here is Michael applying the super, duper, fastening glue.

And this is Lindsey with the very first roll of paint.

Mounting and painting!

Finito!!!

But now we need some good suggestions for what to do with the door in the right corner.

We want to do something crazy!

Any suggestions????

Burning Man 2010

This is a photo, taken with my iPhone, of our tickets to Burning Man this year.
I took it in order to post them for sale on Craig's List, since we couldn't go this year.
:(
We have a litter of puppies and a gimpy dog that could not be left.
But it's ok because Michael had taken the time off for the week of Burning Man, and now he gets to stay home and fidget and play and workout and watch movies!
It's been cool!
And we successfully sold the tix to a very nice young lady who just graduated from Cal Berkeley and was going with her boyfriend for the first time!

Happy Sunday!

Our Amazing Planet: Top To Bottom

Oh They're Comin' Baby!

Back in March I planted 10 varieties of Heirloom Tomatoe.
I've got Amazon Chocolate, Giant Black, Sunset's Red horizon, Brandywine, Isis Candy, Todd County Amish, Carmello, Cuostralee, Efemer Red Ukranian, and Ava's Amish Stripe.
They are absolutely beautiful!

And now they are ripening!!!

The First Lettuce Harvest!

Releasing The Ladybugs!

We ordered 1500 Ladybugs from The Gardening Zone online.
They arrived in this mesh pouch, all alive and eager to kick some aphid butt!

The Lady Bird Beetle should be released in the cool evening after watering. This ensures that they won't fly away, but will bed down in the garden and start munching in the morning.

But it has been really cold around here all summer, so the morning felt like autumn.
And if the temperature is below 55F they won't fly. Instead, they gather together on the sunny side of a leaf and try to stay warm.

Here's a few facts about Ladybugs that we learned ....
There are nearly 5,000 different kinds of Ladybugs worldwide and 400 live in North America.
A Ladybug beats its wings 85 times per second.
Ladybugs chew from side to side and not up and down like humans do.

The spots on a Ladybug will fade when it gets older.
The male Ladybug is usually smaller than the female Ladybug.
And Ladybug can swim! They paddle around.

Lark Camp 2010

I have been away for the past week and a half at Lark Camp in the Mendocino Redwood Forest.

This was my 4th year attending the world music camp, and Nancy came with me.

This is some music that we heard while we waited in line for our dinner.

It's craziness amongst the redwoods.

Zellie Meets Her New Family (and we get to visit with some great friends)

Zellie waiting for her new family to arrive.

Michael teaching the Cooley Clan about their new best friend.

A break from training...some cheese pizza and homemade orange soda.

Zellie seems to like her new mom.

Just chillin'

Time for dessert, so Shannon, Michael, John, and Delia head out to the front yard to gather berries for the ice cream.

John doesn't need a ladder. :)

Purple fingers are a sign of quality picking skills. Go Delia!