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Summer Garden Food Rules!
August 25, 2010 - I've been remiss in not reporting much about the best part of summer: the fresh garden food!
8/23: We've been rockin' it hard -- peaches, tomatoes, basil, sweet corn and beets.
...Let's hear it for the BLT!
Now our raspberries are hittin' it hard and heavy. The plants are taller than I am, by far, yet they're arching way... > Read
Article
Internet Dinner
August 24, 2010 - The rest of the family ran away for the evening so I had this humorous scenario going for dinner while doing backup and working on a few YouTube Hollerfest videos...
fresh salsa
fresh garden ratatouile
...and such > Read
Article
Maintenance! -- For Your Outdoor Body, That is
August 14, 2010 - If you do outdoor sports, you probably have well-developed big/core muscles.
But unless you do maintenance exercises, I think it's likely that you have weak support and stability muscles.
Heck, I do a fair bit of ski-skating and ice-skating and I even have weakish hip stabilizers, which you'd think would get worked a lot in ... > Read
Article
Who's the Fittest? -- A Silly Old Thing
August 14, 2010 - There's an old competition among young people that goes:
"What's the toughest sport?"
"Who's the fittest athlete?"
It's all just silly.
Bike racers suffer the most and the longest.
XC ski racers have the highest VO2 Max.
Lifters are the strongest.
Fighters take the most abuse.
All sports people get hurt mo... > Read
Article
Green Cuisine courtesy of Food for Thought
August 08, 2010 - The local food farm folks at "Food for Thought" hosted a big local food fest a few weeks ago. About a dozen local vendors gave out samples of their wares -- meaning: wine, beer, pork, veggies, apps -- the works! The event was at their farm. Hundreds showed up for the fun.
This whole summer up north we've seen local food and far... > Read
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Legs Inn: Always Rocks Hard
August 08, 2010 - Whenever you're up north near Cross Village you have to stop in at Legs Inn, right? Right!
It's an oldtime Polish place, that hires Polish summer workers and serves up tons of made from scratch Polish food. It also rocks hard at night.
Years ago our various friends had bands that played at Legs. It was always worth the pilg... > Read
Article
Neat Fitness Idea... The Turkish Getup
April 16, 2010 - Since the boom of the web, all kinds of amazing fitness ideas have been easy to stumble across online.
I recently went from the Primal Blueprint (low-carb, caveman fitness) blog -- which is radical enough, five-toe shoes and all -- to a link to the CrossFit blog -- which has all these online fitness challenges mostly using body... > Read
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Caveman Living: Primal Guru confirms OYB Way
April 12, 2010 - UPDATE: Martha and I are going to try the Primal approach. Well, I *am* going to be a bit serious about it and Martha *says* she will. We'll see how it plays out!
In short, we're going to eat fewer carb's and sugars and more meat, fat and non-starchy veggies. We're not going nuts about it, but we'll drop pasta, rice and beans m... > Read
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Chew Glee! ...Make Your Own Gum Kit
July 13, 2009 - Economy got you glum? Chew Glee gum!
Here's a link to an easy DIY gum kit! ...Made from natural chicle.
These folks also have the line FungusAmongUs.com. They're selling mushrooms of all kinds as green foodstuffs. Gotta love it! What a name!
(I want to learn about a couple good AUTUMN mushrooms. Here in Michigan we're orien... > Read
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Sous Vide: Slow, Lukewarm Cooking
July 01, 2009 - I've been hearing about this new kind of cooking lately.
Last week we finally had the pleasure of eating an egg cooked this way. Dang! It was the best egg I've ever had. (Courtesy of the miastros at Providence in LA.)
The egg was "over easy" and runny ... yet completely cooked. Total flavor.
So now I'm trying to suss out a... > Read
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Rare "Direct Access" Wine Tasting
March 27, 2009 - I’m sorry I wasn’t able to let you know ahead of time about the sweetest, swankiest event that went down last night. But at least I can give you a little report about it.
A very rare situation happened and I was able to understand a wee bit of the amazingness of it.
OK, nine French and Italian Estate Vintners got together in... > Read
Article
Remember Your Core! Don't Neglect the Power!
February 21, 2009 - I've turned into a weight weenie. The past couple years I've been doing everything I can to shed weight from my ski, bike, boat outings. I think it's because I've let my power/strength side go to seed.
Alert! Alert! I'm going to start fixing that pronto. I'll start doing squats and other weights in the yard again soon. Even i... > Read
Article
The Egg Nog Time of Year
December 14, 2008 - It's the mulled wine and egg nog time of year. OK, hot toddies, too.
I have a story here elsewhere about Glug, the superstar of winter wine, but for now let's look at The Nog.
Here's a link to a bunch of egg nog recipes.
My fave is the Traditional.
You haven't had nog until you've had Real Nog.
You whip up your... > Read
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Growing Up & Learning to Cook
November 23, 2008 - I never cooked anything until college.
Then I got into hosting Renaissance dinners for awhile. A few friends would get together and we'd go find old recipes and make what we considered to be a feast, using what fish and game we had in the freezer. Shooting a goose or catching a big steelhead would tend to spark the whole sho... > Read
Article
Tasty Vittles---roadkill!
November 17, 2008 - [BUMP from 2/08]
[Update 11/08: We didn't do our group deer camp this year. So I was at home for Opening Day. The next day Martha was biking through the fresh (tracking) snow to the grocery store and spied a big 7-point dead in the ditch along the road, still warm. Ah-ha! So I jumped into gear, got the permit, and got my buc... > Read
Article
It's Time for Apple Pie and Strong Beer!
October 14, 2008 - All I have to say is that this time of year is perfect, according to my druthers, for a big slice of apple pie and a glass of rich, strong beer. Somehow they really go good together this year.
We've been buying local unprocessed cider. And there are a couple apple trees along our nearby dirt road that are full of red feral app... > Read
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MBC: *Really* Rocking Now!
September 12, 2008 - Michigan Brewing Company took a huge step up last year.
Bobby Mason, the owner, had long been mentioning his plan to buy the huge factory building behind his medium-size polebarn. And last year he finally did it.
I've posted about MBC here before. And MBC has been a longtime advertiser with OYB. They're what we're all ab... > Read
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Short's: I heard of 'em for years, finally visited!
September 12, 2008 - If you hang out an hour or so around roots-music buffs in Michigan, or around beer enthusiasts, or up north local-spirit type folks in general, I think the odds are good that the name SHORT'S will come up.
That's how it's been for me for a few years now.
Short's is a brew pub up north in downtown Bellaire, Michigan.
I'... > Read
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Raspberries & Peaches: Oh Yeah!
September 09, 2008 - Our raspberries are coming on strong right now. They're the seedless, red, everbearing kind.
They rank among my favorite top ten foods.
...Right up there with them is the Peach!
Peaches are interesting and they're like most of my favorite foods: I couldn't eat them all that often. There's a "too much" flavor factor in... > Read
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DIY Restauranting: picnics!
July 27, 2008 - In this day, when gastronomy has sunk into a desuetude, as Jack Saunders said, why go eat slop in a cavern served by sullen teens? Or, are primped-up displays of food actually relevant? Food really isn't fussy. Make it right and enjoy...fuel up. Is that so hard? ---Only when someone is trying to rip off someone else. Then we start o... > Read
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It's the BERRY best time of year!
July 03, 2008 - [Bumped up from '06 and '07]
The wild "blackcaps" (or blackberries or black raspberries) are presently hanging all over the edges of our whole yard in all their glorious lusciousness.
It's that time of year again!
Martha made jam today. We were all out in the yard picking a few quarts this morning and I've been having ber... > Read
Article
In Between Seasons --- Backyard Olympics!
April 10, 2008 - When you live where there are four seasons, there are usually a couple times of year when things are stuck between, hung up in the middle, not one thing but not yet another. What to do then outdoors?
I do the Backyard Olympics. And our kids love it. Even Martha gets in the swing (she's mostly a gung-ho Focusarian).
Personally... > Read
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Backpacker’s Food---one man’s version
January 12, 2008 - [by Michael Edelman, OYB Correspondent; Bureaus of Folding Kayaks, Folding Bikes, Airguns...and Folding Food!]
If you read the popular outdoors literature, most food for backpacking seems to fall into one of two categories. On one hand you’ve got the ready-made, freeze dried stuff that costs a fortune, and on the other,... > Read
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Chocolate: it's not what I thought it was
January 11, 2008 - I thought that chocolate came from cocoa beans which were a lot like coffee beans. Nope!
Here's a wiki link that tells you what cocoa really is. But I'll give you a head-start.
Cocoa beans are big things, like coconuts. They have a few pods inside, which are gooey. Seeds are in the pods. To make cocoa you cut the beans dow... > Read
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Shovelglove! --A New Indoor Workout
January 03, 2008 - You know that OYB is about outdoor activity, by and large. Well, sometimes we're stuck indoors. What then for exercise? Here's a guy who's created a way to imitate outdoor activity.
Presenting Shovelglove! Our guy wraps a sledgehammer in a sweater and swings it around in various ways for 14 minutes. What a funny thing and a cu... > Read
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Time for Glogg! (Glug, gloegg, whatever)
December 04, 2007 - [BUMP from 12/06, which was bumped from 12/05]
Hot spiced wine!
It's getting cold up north here. We have our fireplace stoking. I've been shoveling a lot of snow.
When you come in out of the cold and sit a bit by the fire the thing to drink that really hits the spot is some hot spiced wine done the traditional Swedish... > Read
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Andy's Olive Oil & "The Day the Strong Men Cried"
November 05, 2007 - This is a good OYB story. Because it's just a big blend of everything, a good half dozen factors, all OYB. [I've also posted it in the Bikes section, but I've re-ordered the story parts. This one is oil > bike. The other is bike > oil.]
Do you know Andy Hampsten? He was a bike race hero of mine when I was a young racer in the... > Read
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The Wonders of Roadkill
September 27, 2007 - I'm starting to think that roadkill is really the way to go.
It's sad that the drivers are put at risk and their cars mangled but roadkill happens. And maybe it even works to control some species of game in a similar way that hunters do. (We have a ton of deer here in semi-burbia, where there isn't space to hunt---but if no... > Read
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The Founding Fathers Knew How to Party
August 22, 2007 - I don't know how I found this info, but one day I did.
The Founding Fathers knew how to party.
The City Tavern in Philly was open back then and still is today.
There is a famous bar tab that surfaced from those days at that bar.
Several websites tell close versions of the same tale. Here's one:
"As an example of ... > Read
Article
The Perfect PBJ! ---the evolution of an ideal outdoor cuisine
May 15, 2007 - by Steve Frederick
It comes. I approach perfection--it is so close I can taste it! And, lord, I have come to know the taste of imperfection well enough.
The breakthrough came suddenly, as they so often do--I cannot put a finger to the moment or source. I know only that, though the puzzle has completely possessed my mind... > Read
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It's Potluck Season!
May 14, 2007 - The weather is getting nice and yards are being tamed...so it's potluck time of year!
For this month we're hosting a potluck every week at our house (yard). People of all ages have been coming over with a dish to pass. Every week has a different theme. This past week was the Talent Show. We had a wide range of entries. We wrapped ... > Read
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Morels! Wild Asparagus!
May 10, 2007 - That's all I can say right now. My journalistic chops are slipping. But whose wouldn't? I'm too close. But that's where I want to be. That's the challenge. ---To remember the camera when I'm finding morels and wild asparagus. I mean, there's no evidence left. Maybe I'll get another chance. That's all I can usually hope for with this ... > Read
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Great Steak On Your Drive Thru Omaha (if you're local you already know about it)
March 12, 2007 - Well, it's weird that I can't find any online pics of this place since it's both world famous and amazing in appearance. Maybe I can scan a pic of ours soon. I felt obliged to list this link anyway. I've always considered OYB to be a proponent of "local spirit" good eats. But we haven't traveled much lately and I've neglected this ... > Read
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Perch & Froglegs on the Edge of Chicago GONE
March 12, 2007 - [The latest news is that these folks seem to be closed now.] My focus at OYB, especially for restaurants, is to call out highlights out of town. Hinterlands hotspots. Because my idea is that the cities can take care of themselves. People still know how to be civilized downtown. But when folks are on the road the bottom drops... > Read
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A Great Exerciser: The Rubber Band!
September 10, 2006 - I like to do a few backyard exercises to keep myself ready for a wide variety of physical challenges (mowing, raking, shoveling, hoeing).
I have a couple ancient sets of dumbbells and weights hiding in the deep grass---I do sets with them a couple times a week.
But I have another secret weapon. It keeps me somewhat happ... > Read
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Your Favorite 10 Foods?
August 22, 2006 - Have you ever made this list? I did recently. I hadn't before, that I recall. It was a fun list to make. It ended up being pretty simple, and not what I expected it to be. I enjoy all food. Yet I don't get worked up about it, that I can tell. As long as it's fresh, local, simple, I would never ask for more. And that's how we eat. ... > Read
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Tasty 'Different' Summer Drinks!
August 03, 2006 - [BUMP!]
*Great Summer Beer: the Shandy!
Lemonade and beer, 50/50. More refreshing than lemonade, more thirstquenching than beer. The best of both worlds, fully dialed in for hot weather needs. (Lemon soda also works great.) In Germany they call it the Radler, their word for 'cyclist,' because hot'n'sweaty bikers like it... > Read
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Want a great breakfast?
August 02, 2006 - [BUMP!] Scramble an egg with crumbled sausage and salsa. Get a tortilla frying to the side. Drop a slice'o'swiss on top of the eggs as they finish up then plop it all onto the tortilla. Ay caramba!
> Read
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It's the Time of Year for Persian Breakfast
June 15, 2006 - When I was college age I lived in a housing co-op. I met and hung out with an Iranian guy there named Mahmud one summer after most folks had gone home. The big house meals were over with for the year so a few of us would informally join up. One time after I made him breakfast he said he'd make breakfast the next day, a Persian break... > Read
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The quiet shrimp guru down the street
April 17, 2006 - A couple years ago we heard rumors about a guy who was raising shrimp just down the road from us. Out in the country. Just a guy. Not some MSU researcher.
Then a little while later. A sign showed up in Russ Allen's front yard saying "Shrimp For Sale." And we went to his pole barn out back and sure enough there was shrimp. He sa... > Read
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Villegas: Gung-ho Michigan Foods Restaurant GONE
April 17, 2006 - We have a really good restaurant just down the road from us. In a minimall.
The owner thinks it's funny, too. But what can ya do in a minimall world?
(Heck, I meet with a posse of local philosophers weekly in a rotating series of minimall cafes. Take back the parking lots!)
Eric Villegas has a tasty, lively, upscale rest... > Read
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Best Milk Ever!
March 28, 2006 - One time the in-laws drove a new way to come visit. They discovered a fairly new dairy along the way, in Nashville (Michigan, along M-66, maybe 20 mi's S. of I-96, I guess). A young family has built it up to a big operation offering everything in the way of milk on a retail basis. So now my in-laws buy that milk whenever they can, ... > Read
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Backyard Olympics
March 19, 2006 - A couple years ago I started a challenge with a fellow ski racer: he would use high-tech methods of training (a heart-rate monitor, desktop computer, an online coach and travel to clinics) and I'd work out in all kinds of fun ways in the back yard and we'd see who improved more when ski season rolled around. Well, the results were ... > Read
Article
A Society of Disease & Stupidity: Doom
January 21, 2006 - Our society seems doomed.
First, it seems like its first value is to "have fun" and "get ahead" in the crudest senses. These views inevitably lead to disease and disaster. Hence, a doomed society. Pretty obvious, isn't it? How could it end up otherwise?
Basically, the core of our population lives in very unhealthy ways th... > Read
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The Secret to a Trim Waistline
January 18, 2006 - A friend of ours grows a fine garden and loves to cook. He's my height and has a similar lean physique. He exercises moderately. Does everything moderately. He weighs in at my fighting weight---but without nearly as much sweat as I used to put out to be that lean.
His secret?
He says he loves food at least as much as anyo... > Read
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Time for Figgy Pudding! ---for real!
December 22, 2005 - We've been reading a dandy Xmas book for the kids. It's Ray Brigg's "Father Christmas." It has a lovely quiet flow and style---with a hardworking Santa who lives a simple life.
Figgy pudding makes several alluring appearances.
So I'm making it on Xmas Eve.
Irma's 1st edition said to steam for 4 hours. That's a bit sto... > Read
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It's hard cider and wine-making time---& a test of the easiest method
October 04, 2005 - The story I linked to here last week about the kid who rode his bike around Cali for 2 months and lived off of volunteer fruits and wine that he made in his pannier as he rode got me inspired...
I liked his descriptions after a hot day of riding of chugging the "best tasting, most refreshing grog" that he'd made a couple days ... > Read
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Wine Bottle Sizes, FYI... I love a Jeroboam...
September 26, 2005 - In case you wondered, or knew and forgot, or whatever... I only want to drink Jeroboams or Methuselahs, myself. That's a real bottle. I've seen em with decent red wine as cheap as $75.
*Bottle -- 750ml -- Standard bottle size, some refer to it as a 'fifth'
*Magnum -- 1.5 Liters -- Two standard bottles in one
*Dou... > Read
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It's PEACHES time!
September 15, 2005 - Peaches can't be shipped or stored. So they're still a local crop, letting some local farmers survive. (Almost all the rest are gone.)
It's the fall peach harvest time. Summer ones were awhile ago.
Man, they're GREAT! Just the best. We're going nuts over em. Our local orchard is all emptied of them now.
If you only se... > Read
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Lance: "I'll never be in this good of shape again"--sad!
August 27, 2005 - I heard Lance say on Larry King the other night that he was a bit remorseful because "I'll never be in this good of shape again." Well, that's sad all right but not because he's quitting racing.
What kind of shape has he ever been in for garden-hoeing, kitchen-work, XC skiing, seakayaking, thai-kickboxing, javelin-throwing, lon... > Read
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Morgan & York Fine Foods: oldstyle wine'n'cheese courtesy of some youngbloods
May 22, 2005 - Ann Arbor, MI, has a lot of amenities. --And many of them seem to be getting bigger than their britches as a mushrooming hospital system booms this cute little liberal arts town into the $billianosphere.
A few years back Tommy and Matt decided to take a stand for oldtime neighborly style, so they quit their jet-set deli jobs and ... > Read
Article
A red wine to rock your pasta: Nebbiolo
May 19, 2005 - Here's a wine tip: a world class red,1997 Palazzo Rosso Nebbiolo d'Alba. $18...and worth every penny. I'd read about Barolos in Jim Harrison's food book and asked a local wine guy what they were, he said "The king of Italian reds. Pricey. $50 and up." I asked "What could I try that's in the neighborhood?" He said "Keep your eye out f... > Read
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Stop those Colds and Flu's
December 17, 2004 - Here's a few little tips about how to avoid colds and flu's this winter...
1. Don't touch your face.
2. Wash hands after being in public.
3. Drink lots of water.
4. Avoid snotty kids.
5. Drink/eat carbs, electrolytes after exercise.
6. Change out of sweaty/wet/damp after exercise.
7. Wear wool or polypro---prevents chil... > Read
Article
DIY Weight Loss Clinic: success stories!
December 01, 2004 - I have it on good word that an OYBer lost 50 pounds in the past year by following the simple and unique OYB Diet Plan...after several years of frustration trying other methods. I wanted to share her story for holiday inspiration (and any other time).
She reports that the first and most important factor is *not trying*. The ke... > Read
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RoadFood.com
November 12, 2004 - RoadFood.com is an inspiration and a very useful resource, especially for travellers. They've been publicizing and thus rescuing hinterlands restaurants for decades.
Jane and Michael Stern are a husband and wife team who've published books on a wide variety of grassroots Americana, but the focus of their website is food.
... > Read
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Great Steaks
November 12, 2004 - Here's an outfit that offers meat like we haven't seen in decades. (Well, it's becoming more popular these days.) Dry-aged beef. It has an intense, rich taste and is the way meat used to be made when anyone cared about meat. Order direct from old man rancher. (Modern shipping methods got rid of the high standard for meat and sta... > Read
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Make great wine...and now BOOZE...at home!
November 12, 2004 - *Great Homebrew Wine Kits... Check
out Wine Expert. I've made a buncha their kits. All super. If you want to make wine from your own grapes, it's actually darn easy. No voodoo! Easier than beer even. I made my first batch from a lame mix of yard grapes and it t... > Read
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I made my own caviar!
November 12, 2004 - While out skiing last winter, I found an open patch of water in a big swamp---and it was full of thousands of oxygen-starved fish. Among the various kinds of minnows, I noticed some bowfins and plump perch struggling. I soon had a fish fry and egg harvest. I found online info for using both perch and bowfin roe. You saute' the p... > Read
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