Every summer I search high and low for a couple of choice tracks that I always know will easily slip me into the perfect summer mood. Just when I was about to throw in the towel, NPR came rushing to the rescue.
I’d start with the Higga Boom track here and relax into a nice cocktail.
I don’t normally say this, but—Keep the Party Going!
Whoever staged this photo should win some type of award, perhaps become Poet Laureate. The best.
Every day feeling like a race lately? Make your arrival at home the feeling of Victory you deserve!
Check out this and only silly door mats at Uncommon Goods.
As Summer turns to Autumn, Tasty Tuesdays are back in full swing. Fearing divorce, I concocted a late Summer-early Autumn menu featuring a tried and true Panzanella salad that I usually do many times a Summer. For some reason I just didn’t get around to this Summer, so I figured I should get on it before tomatoes disappeared until next year! The rest of my menu was my attempt to connect with my inner Mario Batali, 
and while adventurous, was not like my recent trip to Babbo.
Let’s focus on the Panzanella.
1 baguette
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1 lb fresh mozzarella
1 red onion
2 cloves minced garlic
Olive Oil for basting
Salt and Pepper to taste
½ cup pesto vinaigrette
This recipe takes the whole bread, tomato and mozzarella salad to new heights by not only combining it with a fresh pesto- balsamic vinaigrette, but get this, you actually grill the bread, mozzarella, onion and tomato first! Basically, the original recipe calls for several tomato, red onion, mozzarella and bread skewers, lightly dressed with olive and garlic, that are grilled, removed from their skewers, and then tossed with the Pesto-balsamic vinaigrette- and let me tell you, it’s really delicious. That said; having suffered through cleaning quite a few grills of molten mozzarella, I’ve come up with a better method to ensure that everything is cooked properly when combined. Moreover, I’ve abandoned the recipe for the vinaigrette and just make it how I like it now – I encourage you to do the same.
Firstly, if you have stale bread, use that. Stale bread toasts better and won’t get soggy like fresh bread does. If you don’t have any “day old” around, try to cube (about 1 ½ inch square) the fresh bread up few hours ahead of when you plan on making the Panzanella- this will let it dry out a bit. Next, key step here, when you are about 5 minutes out from getting started, put your mozzarella in the freezer. I can’t tell you how much it easier it is to cut cold mozzarella. Not only that, but it helps the cheese hold it shape a bit better during the grilling process. Without doing this you could wind up with melted cheese all over the grill!
As far as assembly of the kabobs goes, there is the main point of difference with the original recipe. Rather than combining the ingredients on the skewers, I do a few solely cherry or grape tomatoes, a few red onion kabobs and then combine the bread and mozzarella (cut into 1 inch cubes) on the last few kabobs before lightly dressing them with a bit of minced garlic, salt and pepper and olive oil. By doing this, you can control how much heat each of the ingredients get. Personally, I like the onion and tomatoes to get a bit more charred, so I get those on the grill first while I am putting the bread and mozzarella skewers together.
When making your pesto, use your favorite recipe. Some people use pine nuts, some walnuts, I like crushed red pepper; all that matters is that at the end you add a bit of balsamic vinegar to it and a touch more oil than you normally would to give it a slightly looser consistency. I usually make my pesto in a food processor, but I have done it by hand as well. If you have the time, give it a try- it’s quite sexy.
Once everything is grilled to your liking, remove from the skewers into a large bowl 
and toss to combine with the 2/3 of the pesto vinaigrette. I plate, and then top each with a bit more vinaigrette, salt and fresh pepper. Yummers!!
In an effort to usher in Autumn, I followed the Panzanella salad with Monkfish and Pancetta kabobs served with roasted butternut squash with fennel and lemon.
They were tasty but lacking some oommf. Next time I might make lemon oil or herb-anise vinaigrette or something to add a bit more acidity to the dish.
I followed that with black figs, with fresh ricotta, lemon sugar and balsamic reduction- sort of a dessert and cheese course in one. While I liked it for being light and fresh, I think next time I’ll combine the lemon sugar with the ricotta in advance with a touch of lemon juice tie those flavors together.
Till next year, goodbye tomatoes. Bring on the squash, figs, apples, pears, and Brussels sprouts!
Received this transmission and just had to share. Submitted by a roving wild-man adventurer who we’ll call Hazard. Shit is so ill – makes me long for the mountains:
I have been back from Yosemite for almost a week and trying to re-adjust to “normal” life. Just wanted to share a few photos. I went to Yosemite on September 7th to meet my friend JW and climb for two weeks. C joined us on the 12th for five days as well and we gave JW some time to prepare for his El Capitan (ed: !!!) climb. JW was planning to do the ascent the week of September 22nd with a German climber, Felix. Unfortunately Felix got sick the second day and they had to rappel down from the climb.
JW and I did mostly cragging, which consists of short multipitch climbs. The valley was very dry but the temperatures were perfect and there were not too many tourists. After September 15th there was a large influx of climbers including three very famous climbers. JW could tell you their names; I don’t pay that much attention.
The most noteworthy climb we did was Royal Arches. It’s a famous climb set up in 1931 by a climber staying at the Awanie Hotel. He was convinced that he could find a route up the cliff face to the top. After several failed attempts, and one bout of heat stress, he finally did. The climb is 16 pitches (rope lenths) long and about 2,400 feet high. In 1931, when the climb was first established, it was rated a 5.7. Most climbers today would agree that it is significantly harder. In 1931 the hardest rating was a 5.9, today the hardest routes are rated 5.16d.
JW
Hazard being sweet
JW and I started climbing at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. We climbed non-stop and finished the last pitch of the climb at 9:00 p.m. at night. We bivied on a small but comfortable ledge and the next morning hiked 8 miles up over the ridge by North Dome and then back to Camp 4. We finally arrived back in Camp 4 around 3:00 a.m. and promptly went to the Awanie to celebrate.
Gotta say, that’s a totally serious effort. Arches may not be the most technical, retarded-spiderman climb, but 16 pitches and a night spent on the rock in Yosemite should qualify as righteous in anyone’s book. Rock on with your bad-ass self Hazard & thanks for sharing.
The fiasco on Wall Street gets worse and worse. As I write, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down around 7%. SmartMoney.com has a great tool called ‘Map of the Market‘ that gives you a top down view by sector. Red indicates a loss, green indicates a gain. Most every stock is bright red indicating a loss of more than 6%. The only company doing well today is one involved in gold mining. You know, something with real value. Ugh.
With body and mind still recovering from the Reach the Beach juggernaut, I can assure you that there has been no shortage of wine consumed in our house this week. Ran into a delicious little gem acquired from the NH State liquor store on the way back down and thought I’d share. I normally shy away from any vineyard that aligns itself with the “new school”, or relies on cheeky names and such. Generally I find their wines sub-par and the approach ill conceived. Yeah, I’ve suffered through more than my fair share of sharp tannins and unbalanced ho-ha garbage at the hands of Bonny Dune Vineyards.
But every now and then I take a gamble, and the purchase of a bottle of Ro Sham Bo Winery’s Reverend Zin paid off. Granted it’s primarily Dry Creek, which is known for some excellent Zins, but this is a damn tasty bottle of wine. Nice fruit, tanins and and full bodied without going overboard. It puts me in mind of another favorite Zin – Renwood’s Jack Rabbit Flats. Anyway, if you dig Zins, check it out. And I must say, the Ro Sham Bo folks seems to have a delightfully zaney approach to their craft to boot. The Dukes may just have to make a trip to the left coast to take in the annual Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament next year…
16 Sep
Posted by mfpreyer as Misc, Reach The Beach, Run, Sports, Training
All this running is great and all, but, without getting too personal, it’s not without its maladies- muscle soreness, joint swelling, tendinitis, you name it. I went into this weekend’s Reach The Beach Relay with some pretty serious battle wounds, namely 4 blisters on my feet in all the wrong places– the back of both heals and underneath each of my big toes. I will be honest and admit these are not from training; they were all my reward for the awful transition from flips flops and Birk’s to the dreaded dress shoe. Ugh.
Knowing that 2 days of running would put those blisters through the paces, I invested in a box of Dr. Scholl’s Blister Treatment Pads in hopes of protecting the now open blisters from getting rubbed raw and terrorizing my every step. While the box promises they will stay in place for up to a week and goes on and on about how you are going to have to soak with water water to remove, I can assure you these suckers can barely hang on for three miles, let alone a few hours!
In all fairness, while they were in place, they definitely provided a much needed cushion between the open wound and my sock, making it much easier to run than if there was nothing there at all. Further, I know it’s not totally fair to put these things up to such a challenge as a 208 mile over night relay race as a product review, but seriously. At almost $1 per pad, they should stay on for at least a few miles. Unfortunately, for all they promise-
* Helps heal and prevent blisters
* Stays comfortably in place
* Thin and flexible to conform to the heel and other areas of the foot
* Sterilized for safe use on open blisters
* Nearly invisible
* Water-resistant
I think they only thing they succeed at is being sterile, which while in an overnight endurance race (read: no shower) is very useful in treating wounds.
So, the search continues for a comfortable blister treatment. Until then, I guess it’s back to a sterile pad and moleskin for me.
Go Dukes!
Although I have lived in the Northeast for 20 years, I was born in the South and consider myself a Southerner. Growing up, I always got a kick out of what I’d call southern expressions. My father is chock full of them so I asked him to write down anything he could think of. He sat around with some friends the other night and came up with a doozy of a list. Priceless.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to relay this tale for a couple of days now. Still not sure I have it nailed, but the story must get out….bare with me as it’s a long and sordid tale.
A small cadre of your friendly neighborhood Dukes lit out this past Saturday for a tranquil day to be spent plying the waters of Peconic Bay on the Sea Senorita. It was a perfect stage….hot, sunny and with ample wind. We had our chippery laid up, plenty of water, a bandoleer of sailing juice and cruised on over to the protected slip where the sloop laid awaiting. It was an auspicious start, the sort of day that gives you a tingle in your stomach, an innate comfort. Like suckling at the teet of life; a knowledge that, yes son, good will ultimately triumph over evil, pie does trounce cake and god-damn-it the natural order of the universe works.
So you can imagine our surprise when we got to the slip and found no sign of the noble craft. No boat. No mast. No nothing.
It was like loosing your breaks at the top of the hill…pump pump pump, but nothing left save shrieking and ruin. Or the sinking doom of a refrigerator burglary most grievous; you’ve just gotten home after working 18 hours straight and, no matter where you look in the fridge, that last damn beer you had so skillfully camouflaged as a condiment is gone. And the flurkin store is long closed.
It’s a sinkhole of despair that wrenches open one day just close enough to your split-level SoCal trackhouse to gobble up your garage and menace, day by day closer. Bringing with it the slow, tumbling, hungry certitude that this spring’s vinyl siding, and the new putting green you fought for and which now sits directly between you and the yawning maw, were not, after all, the wisest investments.
Well, maybe it wasn’t quite that horrible, but you get the picture – it sucked.
Now, when it comes to a general perpetration of laid-back grooviness, the Dukes always try to excel. But we can also spring into action like a scalded ferret when the situation requires. And spring we did. We scoured the cove, interviewed neighbors, interrogated gulls and very aggressively scratched our heads. “Would be an odd thing to steal”, we mused, “not worth a whole lot, no sails aboard and such”. And there’s no reason it could have run afoul of the local authorities; twas safely resting in our good chap WB’s slip, which is deeded to his house. And he sits on neighborhood home owner’s association, which can’t hurt.
Nope, we concluded, only one thing is possible: the Sea Senorita fell victim to a dastardly sabotage sortie by rival running club Los Compadres.
We’ve long known the feral deeds they’re capable of, with their speedy ways and their unflagging spirit. I’ve always suspected that news of a DOFB naval acquisition would be met with clear understanding. The Compadres are students of the game and would have to innately grasp the precipitous shift in the NYRR balance of power that only naval superiority could evince.
Yup, they must have paddled her out and scuttled her to protect themselves. Almost can’t blame them really.
So off we trundled to the Shelter Island Police Department to file a report and express our grievances. After some sleuthing we were even more astounded, appalled even, to learn that no, the Sea Senorita had not met with a fiery/wet end. In fact, she currently resided at a town mooring for floating scofflaws. Yup, the sweet ‘rita had been impounded!
It turns out that there was far less, ahem, clarity regarding the ‘rita’s accommodations than we understood to be the case. In point of fact, some nice lady is quite sure that the slip in question belongs to her. The floating constables had spent some days trying to ascertain to whom the boat belonged, but were unable to track us down on account of the visible registration being long expired and in another’s name (the Sea Senorita is sub 17′ and, having no external propulsion, is exempt from registration requirements under NY boating regulations).
To further complicate matters, the kind maritime officer Pete told us that he was unable to release the boat without solid proof of ownership. Title was far out of hand and we were momentarily stymied. “Hmmmm, well, Pete, do you have a computer at the station we can use for a second?” we asked. He said sure and we were admitted to the inner sanctum of the SIPD whereby we pulled up this very blog and drew his attention to the initial Stable Report post on the ‘rita.
There was no doubting the authenticity, heck, Fayth was there and Graham was even wearing the same jaunty hat. Pete chuckled and said that, while unorthodox, it might just do. We printed out a copy of the entry, stapled it to the complaint report and, after some further paperwork, an explanation of our creed & general dedication to good times, the pivotal naval role the Sea Senorita plays in said, not to mention a topical overview of the Dukes of Flatbush campaign for world domination, Pete was convinced that she did indeed belong to us and should be returned forthrightly. Or maybe it was the “FREE THE ‘RITA” chants that seemed to spontaneously ring out across hill and dale.
Whatever the cause of our emancipation, it was with thudding hearts that we watched the Sea Senorita freed from her solemn purgatory. Pete was a hell of a guy and expertly towed us out of the Deep Impound Cove (ed: so deep) and into the harbor. He also lent us an anchor on account of his concern for our maritime safety. All in all, he helped us make the best of a shiza situation so we could salvage our day with the only tonic that mattered: the windy, curative balm of a delightful sail.
The saga continues. Ownership determination of the slip will likely involve some wrangling on the part of our dear friend. I’ll be appearing in early August to relay the tale and plead for the leniency and good humor of the court. And, for now, the ‘rita is once again trailer-bound.
But the important part is that we have the ‘rita back. Our naval stratagem is preserved, we’ll live to sail another day and the very presence of this blog made it all possible. Res Firma Nitescere Descit
Imagine seeing a unicorn running through Times Square shooting $100 bills out of it’s magical money shooting horn. Pure bliss. That’s what watching this video is like…
I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of taxidermy. I lived in Paris for a while and would regularly visit a legendary store named Deyrolle. Not only did they have every butterfly and bug imaginable, but also every bird and animal. And I’m talking about the full gamut – think Noah’s Ark – they even had a Golden Retriever if memory serves correct. If you are ever in Paris, this is an absolute must.
Deyrolle is right next to Saint Chappelle, known as the most beautiful room in the world. Just take a look – this is one of the most special places I’ve ever been.
I was also sent a link yesterday to Custom Creature Taxidermy, a shop that does “fantasy mounts”. I’m not sure what to say abut this so I’ll just show a few pictures. Wait, just one gag, “that squirrel is nuts!”
19 Jun
Posted by Birch as Food, Gadgets, Misc, Motorcycle, Training, Travel
Well, the DOFB more than survived it’s trip to Laconia for Bike Week ’08. In fact, a damn fine time was had by all on a ride that was, as any proper bike adventure should be, filled with hilarity, calamities averted and plenty of cold suds. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking, but first I’d just like to say a word or 100 about one particularly memorable event.
On the ride up I experienced one of those moments that every rider dreads, the kind of thing that puts a not in your gut just thinking about. I blew a front tire on the Merritt traveling at highway speed in failing light. Blowing a front shoe is one of those things you hear about happening but is by no means a regular occurrence. In fact, most of the folks I know who’ve been riding for a lifetime have never had their number come up. Let me tell you something – it is not a good time.
The tire went flat in about 10-15 seconds. Not with a bang or a pop…just all of the sudden the handling characteristics changed. At first subtly enough to wonder if it was odd pavement. And then, very quickly, the front forks started traveling about a foot in either direction, yanking the steering back, serpentining the bike and generally making it impossible to control. Mind you 75% of the braking on most bikes, and prob 90% on mine, is done with the front brake. So it was a pretty impossible situation to get the bike to rapidly slow while keeping it upright.
With mountains of luck, and a formation of Dukes behind me making sure I wasn’t struck by an oncoming car, I managed to keep the shiny side up and get to the shoulder. Where I no doubt would have remained if it weren’t for the formidable aid and patience of Sergeant Raymond LaPlante of the Orange PD. Ray pulled up on his police Harley to see what was doing and, over the course of the next 12 hours, not only helped us sort out local accommodations, sustenance/beverages and a great mechanic, but actually borrowed a trailer and, (on his morning off with his young son in tow!), pulled the wounded SuperBad from where I’d stashed her in the woods overnight to the shop for an early am fix that got us back on the road.
Ray’s effort not only saved our trip from ruin, it reminded all of us a bit about what’s so special about riding. That it’s appreciably different than traveling the roads in a steel cage. There’s a different connectedness to the experience of moving from place to place. You don’t always know what might happen (especially on an old bike), but that the journey in and of itself is adventure. And, more than anything else, the camaraderie of two wheels and that bikers look after one another.
So a hearty DOFB thanks and toast to Ray LaPlante. We sent many a cold beer to it’s maker this past weekend and damn it all if most of mine weren’t dedicated to his awesomeocity. Keep the rubber side down and looking forward to when we get to ride together!
The SuperBad being seen to by Art Handleman @ Valley Motorsports in Ansonia, CT. If you’re ever in a pinch with your machine in CT – Art’s the man to get you back on the road.
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Turns out – I had a “rust-based failure”. On older bikes that have seen weather at one point or another, the insides of the rims can get to rusting. Small metal filings eventually peel off and will, inevitably, roughly have their way with your tube. Here’s the shop tech de-rustifying the inside of my front rim.
To recap = small metal filings + rubber innertube + highway speed = bad. Put it on your list of shit to think about if you have a late model ride.
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Sergeant Ray and his awesome little boy Nathan flying the DOFB flag after dropping our side-show off at the shop. Nathan’s already bewitched by bikes and shows great promise. Rumor has it Ray may be heading up to NH this weekend as well. Boundless thanks to both of them for spending their morning sorting us out – couldn’t have done it without you fellahs. Have an awesome ride to the granite state Ray!
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Th big man…..Emperor of the Rage Hut, host for this Bike Week jaunt and head of the New Hampshire DOFB Chapter. Not a finer NH specimen to be found.
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Ride on Winni to the Wiers for a peek around, some grub and one (read:10) Margarita.
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Graham lends a helping hand to a parched Hombre
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2300 CC Triumph Rocket Sled….daaaaamn.
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Sweet trike art – Rowwwrrrrrr.
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The next day the Big Man took us on an epic ride up over the Sandwich Notch road, around through Waterville Valley and back over the Kank. Being dirt, recently graded and pretty steep in many places, The Notch road was especially challenging for some of the bikes. Fritz on the Yammie FJR1300 gets the hero’s salute for muscling that beast all the way through safely. That bike was built for smooth speed and she was more than a little ornery about the conditions. He rodeoed it though and, in exchange, was treated to a singular adventure through pristine NH back country. Nice work man.
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Big and mean never goes out of style in NH.
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DOFB, now with more Back Road Action!
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Juanito going native. The arm stripes perhaps suggest some sort of vestment. A man of the cloth? A country bishop perhaps?
Subsequently gathered evidence would seem to contravene this hypothesis.
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Graham loves it.
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Like Rodin’s thinker, this Duke too is made of granite. NH Chapter member (and lead carpenter) Whitney on his KLR. The KLR really is a perfect match for this guy and his natural surroundings.
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Top of the Kank….one of the best roads for riding on the East Coast and my personal favorite. The Dukes relay team will also be running the Kank this coming fall in the “Reach the Beach” 200+ mile relay. A painful reality not lost on those of us who’ll be on the squad as we climbed upward for 13 miles….
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Stop in Chocorua to visit the DOFB patron Saint – Ghee. Here’s she’s getting her annual ride around the block on the back of the Guzzer.
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Fritz on the Yammie. Can you believe he just took that 600lb beast over 20+ miles of mushy dirt logging roads?!?
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Heading back into the Wiers we start to get a taste of the action.
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Bike traffic for miles.
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Some local fauna met in traffic. The lady on the front claimed to have been arrested at last year’s bike week for mistakenly slugging a cop. Oops. Things can get a little dicey at Bike Week but come on ladies. These two sisters seemed a wee interested in a certain debonair Duke.
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This guy – can you believe it? No accounting for taste I suppose…
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Sunset at the rage Hut
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That pretty much concludes our trip. There were some other adventures had…a visit to the Franklin Girls’ natural lair, a few ‘old bike’ struggles with the Guzzi, electrical gremlins with the Triumph and many many coordinated high speed drifts to the curb of the highway for one dangling plate/about to be lost luggage/ atomic wedgie or another. But you’ll get that on these rolling thunder jobs.
Next year we’ll hope to have a bit more time and get a little more submersion into the epicenter of Bike Week. But I know I wouldn’t trade the ride we had on Saturday for much of anything – pure magic.
Thanks to everyone who was involved in making it happen this year…Ray and Chris especially!
10 Jun
Posted by Birch as Misc, Sailing, Sports, Uncategorized
It is with great pleasure that we can announce the successful launch and maiden voyage of the Dukes of Flatbush’s first naval vessel. Astute students of history, the DOFB understands that no entity, whether man, club or nation, can be truly complete without demonstrating superior naval power.
A bit like the Russians at Stalingrad, our rival running club Los Compadres continues to best us at area races with an attrition strategy based on overwhelming numbers and superior infantry training. However, all indications are that they have no “Unified Forces Plan”, and have left their BBQ, Motorcycle and Naval flanks completely undefended.
The Dukes already own the Grill and Motorcycle theaters; we’re confident that the addition of a stout sailing vessel will be the linchpin in our summer campaign of good-times domination.
Consider this fair notice Compadres, your speedy ways on the asphalt are no match for our comprehensive forces. We will express our dominance and steal your good times in a classic pincer movement that would do Hannibal proud.
In other boating news – the Dukes of Flatbush are pleased to announce partnership with the Hüskooler School of Sailing and Maritime Refreshment Research. With a staff of gifted instructors, the Hüskooler School offers a new paradigm in multidisciplinary seafaring education. Full certification is the goal for all students and a rigorous, Shelter Island based, 8 week class schedule will commence in early July. Please contact your administrator or neighborhood Moose Lodge for more information.
Proper technique from a lead instructor
CIT training session
Anti-pirate-stratagem role play
The Dukes of Flatbush tried their collective hand in agriculture last year, planting a veritable cornucopia of vegetables in our 16′x16′ Victory Garden.
Some vegetables fared better than others, but overall, the season was a great success. The picture below shows the last harvest taken at the end of September, just some of the “fruits” of our labor:
We decided to add a second bed to the Shambaugh Victory Garden in our continued quest for agri-domination. The new bed in the background is almost entirely dedicated to the art of the pepper. We have red bell, yellow bell, orange bell, cubanelle, jalapeno, poblano, cayenne, habanero and the list goes on and on. 24 plants in total. The only pepper we seem to be missing is the famed Harlan Pepper. Truly a ‘Best in Show’ varietal, we’ll see if we can’t turn one up.
This year is off to a great start – plenty of rain and bright sunshine. We’ll keep everyone updated on the Victory Garden progress…
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