The BBC Web site has a sports page with a cycling section, which has links to a cyber-area that they call the BBC Academy, which has more pages about cycling (and pages about other sports).
The lead news today is that the French judicial system has started to look at a doping allegations against Lance Armstrong. This should keep the sporting world’s eye on cycling and it may ensure that the 2005 Tour gets televised in North America. It’s a great event and TV has learned how to cover it well, but without a strong American presence like Armstrong (or Lemond before him) in the race, it doesn’t seem to be a marketable event in America.
Meanwhile Steve has come to the attention of Mike Magnuson, professor of literature, cyclist, author and redneck as he writes in the Glort blog. Magnuson, like other people we know, began to cycle a lot, almost obsessively, with positive results for his physical health and mental health. He lost weight and invested his energy in cycling and writing about it. Steve liked the book about cycling, but none of us have read any of his other books.
Benjamin
My niece Carly, Frank and Jan’s daughter, has delivered her son, Benjamin David, born January 17, 2005. Carly was my parents’ first grandchild and Benjamin is my parents’s first great-grandchild. Congratulations to Carly and her partner Dave. Congratulations to Frank and Jan, the first grandparents in our generations of our respective families, and to mom and dad – great-grandparents. Photo courtesy of great-aunt Teresa, my sister. The proud grandfather is hoping to take grandson on his first deer hunt at about age 4. Or perhaps just skiing in Beaudry Park, hoping to see a deer.
Reuben
Reuben Warner was my roommate in the St. Boniface Hospital during my first hospital stay in January 2001. He had arrived a day and half before me. He had been blocked for a few weeks, he was bloated, he was diagnosed with a circumferential tumour high on his descending colon. If memory serves, he had his colostomy earlier than I did. I don’t think his surgeon resected his tumour when she did his colostomy, but I believe he had his major surgery much sooner than I did. He had some complications and was still in the hospital when I came back in February 2001.
Krakatau Crockpot Chili v1.0
This was an experiment. I called it Krakatau because I had been reading Simon Winchester’s book about the eruption and explosion of Krakatoa a few days before I made this. I used the Dutch spelling. In spite of volcanic connotations, it is mildly spiced. I used red kidney beans, corn, beef chuck. I used dried beans which calls for extra preparation. I did not use a prepared chili powder. This recipe filled the pot, and will make enough for 8-10 people.
The first step is the beans. You can use one 28 oz (796 ml.) can of red kidney beans and one smaller can, rinsed and drained (two large cans would be too much).
The right amount of dried beans would be about one and half cups of dried beans.I have found that recipes that call for using dried beans in chilies in a crockpot don’t generally work. Even if you soak the beans first, the recipe will not work. Recipes that call for long cooking times may work, but with garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and some larger beans, especially kidney beans, even a long soaking isn’t enough. The beans should be partially cooked before the other ingredients go in. That why most crockpot chili recipes use canned beans.
I soaked the beans for about 12 hours. I changed the water a couple of times. I cooked the beans, covered in water, in the slow cooker for about 2 hours on high, which wasn’t enough. Next time I will try about 4-6 hours. Cooking dried beans isn’t hard, and the process is less convenient that using canned beans. I thought this would work if I got up early and cooked the beans while I had coffee and read for a few hours. I think it would have worked if I had cooked the beans longer before I moved on to next steps.
I removed the beans with a slotted spoon and emptied the fluid from the bottom of the crockpot. I rinsed the beans and put them back into the pot, still hot. I did not rinse the crockpot because it was hot and I did not want to risk cracking it – which is what will happen if you rinse a hot clay dish or pour a cool or lukewarm liquid into a hot crock. I let the liner cool off for a while before putting the beans back.
There is a meat and vegetable preparation stage. You can do this while the beans are cooking. I used a chuck steak, about 600 grams (one and a half pounds) but into fine pieces, trimming fat and sinew as I went. I used a red bell pepper and half a green bell pepper, seeded, rinsed, cut into small pieces. I used one onion, chopped fine, and one celery rib cut and chopped. I would add another onion. I used two jalapeno peppers, seeded, rinsed and diced fine – almost minced. I used about 5 cloves of garlic, minced.
Watch out for the jalapenos. Mincing them gets juicy and you might want to wear disposable rubber gloves. Pepper oil can get into the grain of your skin and doesn’t wash off that well.
When the beans have been pre-cooked and the meat and veggies are ready, it all goes together with tomatoes, corn and spices. Because of my concern about adding cool things, I took a extra care at this step. I heated the contents of a large (28 oz) can of crushed tomatoes in the microwave and stirred it into the beans. I added 2 cups of kernel corn. I used canned corn, which tends to come in 11 or 12 oz cans. You can use both cans, or you can use one can, or open the second can to get two cups and use the extra for something else (I like to stir it into salsa). Frozen corn would work instead, but heat it before adding it if the pot is already hot. I added the meat and fresh veggies after the tomatoes and corn. I just put them on top, and added the spices.
Spices – you could use from a teaspoon to tablespoon of commercial chili powder and add oregano, cumin, sage and cayenne to taste. A commercial chili powder is based on paprika, some ground chilis, and a little cumin and oregano. Many recipes call for extra spice. I didn’t have any chili powder and I improvised: one teaspoon of paprika, half teaspoon ground sage, half teaspoon ground cumin, half teaspoon dried oregano, quarter teaspoon cayenne. I had some dried chili peppers and I ground up a couple in a mortar and threw that in too. The result is custom chili powder. This was a mild mix.
I like to put in a shot of tequilla. I stirred it a lot to distribute the spices. This starts as sticky, dry mixture but gains fluid as the beans and vegetables cook. It should cook for about 8 hours to cook the meat. I needed to cook it longer to deal with the beans, but the answer for that is canned beans or longer preparation of dried beans.
January Gumbo – Crockpot
Taking a break from my medical reminiscences, more recipes. Last Saturday, I made a gumbo with chicken, sausage and shrimp in my crockpot, which cooked while I skied. That’s one of the advantages of a crockpot for the way I live. I can spend some time on the food processing early in the day, turn on the pot, and have dinner ready after several hours away skiing or cycling.
Surviving
This is the second entry on the period in early 2001 when I had surgery for a bowel obstruction. I spent a few weeks at home after my colostomy. Before I went home, the teaching nurses from the Enterostomal Therapy Program made sure I knew how to empty and rinse the bag, and to how to manage the the process of changing the bag which was removing the adhesive seal, rinsing the stoma, measuring and cutting a new seal and applying a new bag and seal. I still have the prescription form for an Activelife Drainable pouch #28209. The seals are very good but taking one off a hairy belly is a delicate adventure. Sometimes the seals would peel away from skin cleanly but they tended to find any hair and take hair out by the roots – and hair kept growing in under the seal. I got some scissors to clip the hairs, if I could get at them, instead of ripping them out. It was also important to try to pick a quiet time for the procedure to avoid making a mess.
Surgery
This is autobiographical, referring to my life in the time starting a couple of weeks before Christmas 2000, until April or May 2001. I had three operations. For 7 or 8 weeks in January and February 2001, I believed that I had cancer.
Barr’s Religion
Nevada Barr’s book “Seeking Enlightenment, Hat by Hat” has a few interesting turns. I mentioned it in a review a few weeks ago.
Another Year
When I last wrote about n., (Dec. 15) he had gone from trying to show me that he could live at home, back to living on the street, and then back into a hotel placement with CFS. He was able to continue with the TRY program, but it wound up for Christmas. The successful students finished the classroom work December 22 and are moving into job assignments in January. N. is supposed to go back for a remedial week starting January 10, and hopefully into a job placement the week after that. But he is homeless again, choosing not to stay in a new placement that CFS gave him after serious misbehaviour towards the workers supervising him in the hotel placement.
Glide
Yesterday (Saturday January 8) was a good day for skiing, and I seized the day. I had a great ski at Bird’s Hill Park. It was almost impossible not to get a good long glide.