Peaches too

Peaches for cold winter breakfasts

I have to make a post to the canning blog the other day. Mom came over this week and we put up 17 quarts of peaches. These where fun to do. I had gotten a box of Elbertas from our local orchard down the street. They where a bit green for mom but I really didn't have much choice. If I wasn't off to Greece in a week we could have waited a bit. I've had a few peaches from Hays this summer and they where good, but these, where... wonderful!! The taste of a tree ripend peach is one of lifes great treats. I'll be going to this orchard for my peaches from now on.

Mom packs peaches in a water bath canner. We dipped the peaches in boiling water for a few minutes, slipped the skins then halved the peaches and put them in the clean jars. We put on the lids and rings and added a sugar solution of 1/3 of water (4 cups sugar/12 cups water). We put them in the canner of boiling water for 30 min.

It was a joy. We had fun together and I have rows of beautiful jars in my celler. I guess I'm going to have to put canning back on my list of home skills. I will remember mom whenever I can. Now I've got her recipes written down too, so I can pass them on to my children or grandchildren some day.

Mom with her peaches

Canning with mom

Learning from the expert

Mom has been canning for about 50 years. I haven't canned for several years. It just got to be such a hot complicated process. Canning just seemed to take too much time and energy while working and raising a family. Since the economy has soured and a return to home grown produce canning is getting more popular. I have several friends who are attempting canning.

I gathered all the jars I saved in the basement. Sterilized the jars in the dishwasher and looked up directions on the internet. I still had 2 dozen jars, my jar lifter and a water bath canner. Mom insisted we get a box of Wapato Tomatoes. The best tomatoes you could buy, she proclaimed. So about $17 for 22lbs. I also had to buy a jar funnel and lids. These items cost about $10. Canning isn't always cheap. I figure the tomatoes cost about $2.70 a jar. Oh, well. They'll taste great.

Mom has never been one to write down a recipe. Canning is something I think that you learn from your mom. She learned from her mom and so the tradition, the stories, the jars get passed on. I will always think of mom during late summer. There is a feeling of going back to school, the smell of cooking tomatoes or ripe peaches. I think the thing I remember most about canning is standing over a sink of peaches, pealing, cutting, reminising, telling stories about long ago times.

I'm sure mom enjoyed today much more then I will ever know. Her smile in the picture above tells her joy. I'm so glad I dug out the old jars and spent the day canning tomatoes with mom.

In case I forgert her recipe here it is:

1 box Wapato tomatoes, they should be ripe.
1 dozen wide mouth jars, lids and rings
salt, add 3/4 tsp to each jar

Sterilize the jars in the dishwasher
put them in a shallow pan boiling of water on the stove to keep them hot
blanch the tomatoes just to slip off the skins, put in ice water, slip skins
Chop tomatoes into small pieces and place in large kettle
When kettle is full place on the stove and cook the tomatoes (I always followed the directions on the canning recipe... involving hot water bath for 30 min... mom says she never needed to do this)
Cook the tomatoes until they're mushy.. pretty vague, but she said you don't have to worry much on this
Put funnel into hot jars and ladel tomatoes into jars with 3/4 tsp added salt, leave about 1 inch
lids should be in boiling water and hot to place on jars.
Quickly screw on rings as hard as able. Place on wooden cutting board and let them cool
The lids should "clink" when the seal is set!

So, there you go, spaghetti ala Eleanor soon!!!

Bonking is no fun, but sure is an education

Donna and Linda enjoying the ride

I went into work this morning and quickly realized that there really wasn't any need for my services. No babies today. If you didn't know, I am the lactation nurse at my hospital OB unit. It was a good thing I was going home because even with three cups of coffee this morning, I still felt like crap. At first I thought I might have a cold; achy, no voice, no energy, a slight headache. As I said goodby to my co-workers I mentioned, "good thing I don't need to be here, because I "bonked yesterday" and I need to just go home and chill. My friend looked up and said, "What do you mean bonked?". "Basically I just bottomed out on my ride Sunday", I said.

Later that morning, I told Corrie this would probably make a good blog entry. What does it mean to bonk? Anyone who has trained to run a marathon knows. Cyclists too find themselves entirely empty occasionally. Yesterday was just that kind of ride. I had a feeling early that I was not quite ready for the 80 mile ride our group had planned for Sunday. It was a beautiful route in the mountains of Idaho. It did have a climb, but I'd done it before and the day should be perfect for cycling.

I started out with a partner to ride with. This was Donna's first try at real distance. She was training to ride the Tour De Lacs in Sept. and had been riding 100 miles a week to for training. She wanted to know if this was a good plan. I told her that would be just about perfect, as I mentally noted, boy have I been slacking this summer. Corrie is always reminding me that I need to put more miles on the bike, but I've just been too busy. Our bike tour in Greece is quickly approaching and I've not been too worried about milage. Our longest day will be 50 miles with lots of stops for sight seeing and fun. Usually Corrie and I do a week long tour in the summer and I try to get my milage up for the rides, but not so much this year. So my milage has probably been more like 50-70 miles a week. Probably not enough for an 80 mile jaunt through Idaho back roads. On top of my lack of miles, we had no sag wagon. As I traveled Sunday I became very aware of why a sag is helpful. The sag not only gives you extra food, gatorade and water, but keeps communication going well and the most important duty- keeping a rider optimistic that they can keep going. We had no sag and no matter how much I wanted to quit Sunday, I couldn't even if I wanted to.

The ride started out great. I love this ride and Donna and I where able to keep a good pace of 15-18 miles per hour. We talked a lot about bicycling and how to ride longer distance. We where quite a bit behind the group of guys on this ride but we knew the route and Donna had a map and trip summary from the website. This proved to be a real help for me later. It's always a good idea to have mileage key for a long ride. A rider can tally how far they've gone, when the next stop will be and what to expect of the turain. As we where seperated most of the day from the front group the milage notes helped a lot.

Our first break for lunch was in Ferdinad ID. just 5 miles short of halfway. We had a convenience store lunch and a chance to regroup. A stop for food and rest is key to cycling long distance. After our break we where off again. I felt better, but could feel my quads complaining and an occasional cramp began. The miles ahead included a few real climbs and I was beginning to get more then a little concerned about the ride. Another mistake for me, was to neglect a refresh on gatorade. I thought I had full bottle but really it was mostly melted ice.

Donna promptly headed out and quickly got way ahead of me. I was beginning to really slow down on the rollers and getting more and more discouraged. At least there was no heat.
We managed to get to Harvard and our the last leg towards Deary, but a mega hill loomed ahead. It was here that the rest of our group had stopped for a much needed rest. By this time I was beginning to get foggy and my legs where starting to not only cramp but simply refused to keep going. Corrie said they where just waiting at the local store. Donna was cruising along way ahead and unfamiliar with the route and I could hardly see straight. I knew I would have take a rest soon.

Doug and Dave cruising on Deary to Deary

The last 15 miles of this ride starts with a long steep climb followed by a series of rollers. I stopped about half way up the first climb and realized that was it, no more climbing for me. I rested for awile and started to walk. The only option short of hitch hiking. The walk helped my legs quite a bit and one way or another I made it up that *$%#@ hill. At the top of the climb the road leveled out and I was able to get the legs moving. I managed to get through the rollers and finally caught up with Donna. I asked her to tell me when we had less then 10 miles to go. She said we had 9 miles left. She gave a cheer and said "We can do it!!" I was a bit less enthusiastic, but I felt like I might be able to gut it out. It was about here that I found myself day dreaming and getting more and more discouraged. I needed something, mostly I wanted a flat old fashioned Coke. This was what had worked the last time I bonked. But loh and behold I jumped about 10 feet when Doug casually hollared something behind me. The adrenalin that comes with a good scare seems to be almost as good as a caffiene/sugar jolt. So, thanks Doug, I never appreciated a good scare as much as I did that afternoon. He said we where way ahead of the others, as they had waited quite awhile for us at Harvard. We only had a few miles to go and we where in front of the guys.

Finally we made the last turn towards Deary. Only a half a mile or so to go. The park and the shady trees where so close. If it hadn't been for Donna and Doug's scare and companianship I'm not sure I would have finished the ride on Sunday... well on second thought I would have one way or another. Even if I bonked, there wasn't any option, I had to finish.

So, to answer the question what does it mean to bonk? I'd say I learned a lot this weekend. I also took a few minutes to research the science a bit behind a bonk. So, take a few minutes to read about bonking and a coke really would have helped.

Kherete Keereea (Hello sir)

Here is the tour I'll be on

I got this map from Helen and our tour guide in Greece. Be sure and scan out from the original spot from the map here.

We have one month to finish all the details. I have gotten everything set at work so that should go smoothly. Corrie is going to check in with mom once a week or so and hopefully I'll figure out how to access all this from the internet cafe's. Helen says they're all over in Greece. I've been listening to my Greek language tapes and packed and un packed several times. I haven't been on the bike a lot lately but it doesn't look like we'll be doing long rides. We had originally talked about taking our bike pedals and shoes but I think I'm just going to take my saddle... that might not even be a big deal. We're not going to have long miles. Helen and Tamara and I are hoping to have a chance to get together in the next few weeks to plan a bit. Time is sneaking up on us!! We where planning on having another lady join us but that hasn't worked out. So it looks like it's just the three of us. Andeeo (goodby!)

An Easy Does it approach to RAMROD

An Easy Does it ride to Mount Rainier

Corrie has encouraged me to come up with a statement that describes an Easy Does it Ride and I guess I could use this blog to do that. This week Corrie and I and Jim McKraken and his wife Claire went to Mt. Rainier. Corrie, Jim and Al Coons had signed up to do RAMROD (ride around Mt. Rainier in one day). This is a beautiful ride, but the distance (150 mi+) scares all sane people away. The three of them where ready for this ride, though. They had put the miles in. The record breaking heat was a critical added concern though.

We stayed at Crystal Mountain Lodge. This alpine ski lodge is set in the Cascades among towering tree lined slopes that are part of the pacific crest trail. The Lodge is a quaint 1960's vintage experience. This means no TV, limited cell service and nothing to do but sip a cool drink while conversing with friends, read or hike/bike the surrounding hills. It was a perfect place for me to spend the day while Corrie sweated it out on his 150 miles around Mt. Rainier.

Hiking around Crystal Mountain

An Easy Does it Weekend for me doesn't necessarily mean I'm planning on sleeping in. I've always been up early, especially when it turns hot. Corrie left about 3am for the ride, so I found myself ready for a hike or run about 6:30 am. I headed out to the parking lot and met an early morning hiker Rick and his dog Hoss. Rick was out for an early morning hike and he invited me to join him. We hiked for about an hour up the ridge. Rick pointed out the hillside of huckleberry bushes. They weren't quite ripe yet, but in a few weeks the hillside would be loaded with berries. Rick and Hoss insisted on following me back down the hillside. I was glad they did as it might have been easy to take a wrong turn on the trails.

Hiking with Hoss

After my trek I had a leisurely breakfast of coffee, fruit and muffins. It was going to be hot so I planned on setting off for a bike ride while it was still cool. It was about 6 miles to the main highway from the lodge, then an easy uphill ride to Cayeuse pass. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, so the mountain was glorious. I was glad the ride was only 30 miles. The temperature rose to 97F, the highest recorded at Crystal Mountain Lodge.

Corrie came through the lodge parking lot (it was one of the rest stops on Ramrod) about 2:30 pm he was hot, but felt good. He had about 40 more miles, which where mostly down hill left.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and chatting with Claire (wife to Jim McCraken, who rode with Corrie).

Ramrod is 150+ miles around Mt. Rainier. This Easy Does it girl did 30 miles in the cool morning followed by an afternoon of relaxing and conversing with a friend while enjoying a cool "Mile's Hard Lemonade". Now that's the way to enjoy Ramrod.

An Easy Does it Ride:

1. Ride to a beautiful destination
2. Ride as long or short as you want. My Easy Does it Rides are about 2 hours.
3. The pace depends on who you're with, your biking skills, your time. I try and go easy so my rides are usually about 10-12 miles per hour. This is a very comfortable pace.
4. Always enjoy the ride, so take any tools for a surprise flat tire, a cell phone, a few dollars for a surprise shopping trip or treat and of course water.
5. Commuting to work or to the grocery store is a great way to get a few daily miles in.
6. Invite friends to join you. I will have a few Easy Does it Rides every month posted on the Twin Rivers Cyclists web site, be sure to email me if you're interested in joining me.
7. I would encourage any new rider to take a class from a LCI (American League of Cyclists Certified Instructor). Corrie is certified and and another TRC rider Jen offer a class through the Lewiston Parks and Rec. each spring.
8. Longer rides are very doable. It's a great way to see the countryside and there are rides offered all over the Northwest. Each major town has a bike club website and a calender of local rides. There are also detailed maps from Adventure Cycling and tour groups that offer week long catered tours. We have been on several tours with Oregon Bike Ride. So no excuses.

Anyone can enjoy bicycling if you have an Easy Does it approach. Visit TRCs Easy Does It Page for more information.