adventures in breakfast and cycling
today was our turn again to host the at-home breakfast for the breakfast club. marshall insisted on doing his own menu and preparing everything. i tend to dominate in the kitchen, i recognize that. he insisted on doing everything himself. i helped in whatever fashion he saw fit, so that meant helping come up with quiche flavors, side dishes and kitchen prep. we made the quiches last night. we didn't follow any recipe and they came out great. we had 3 different flavors: "denver omelet" (ham and green bell peppers w/ cheddar), broccoli and bacon w/ gruyere, and "lorraine" (spinach and sweet vidalia onions w/ emmenthaler). we also made the experimental coffee cake cupcakes, which were, i think, way too much trouble than they were worth. yes, they were cute, but they were a pain in the ass to put together. i pretty much figure coffee cake should be made in a cake pan. :) that was last night and this morning marshall cooked up some pepper bacon, chicken-apple sausage and homefries. the starter for our breakfast was marshall's creation: yogurt parfaits with fresh berries and granola. they were beautiful and delicious. everyone seemed to enjoy the food and it was fun just chilling and chatting afterwards. i would definitely say this was a success and marshall did a fantastic job. :)
as for the rest of the weekend, i want to make sure to do a few things:
1. gardening: i would love to get some hanging pots and some shade-loving plants to spruce up our dreary patio. it's mostly used as a storage area right now, but i would really like to clean it up. we still have our old 10 gallon fish tank out there, along with a few supplies. we either need to pass it on to someone else we know, or donate it. i don't want to keep it there indefinitely, and
2. oil change: with the commute i have with work, my car requires keeping to a strict oil change schedule. it's past its 3,000 miles and needs a change desperately (i can hear her chugging, which is not a good sound).
both of these things i would like to get done tomorrow. i also need to stop by my sister's to drop off her keys and see if she would be available to feed the kitties their dinner and breakfast while we're camping next weekend. we just need saturday night and sunday morning, nothing more.
for the holiday on monday, i came up with an idea for marshall and i to do together. highway 1, north of santa cruz, is really beautiful. since i'd like to try being a little more adventurous with our cycling, and therefore build up my confidence with road cycling, i suggested to marshall we drive out to santa cruz and bike north to davenport. i looked it up and found it's only 9 miles north of santa cruz, so something we can easily accomplish. heck, we did 24 miles the weekend before marshall's last triathlon, 18 miles round-trip should be cake. i recently joined cycling and asked if anyone knew if it was OK for people to ride bicycles on highway 1. one guy said he does it all the time and he sees plenty of cyclist ride up and down the 1. i also took a look at the santa cruz county bike map and it lists highway 1 as an "alternate route", meaning there isn't a separate or designated bike lane, but it is used regularly by cyclists. this ride makes me only slightly nervous. the one thing i'm worried about is the wind, since we'll be right on the coast. i'm hoping the weather keeps up on monday and it won't be too cold. otherwise, i'm totally looking forward to this ride. :D
as for the rest of the weekend, i want to make sure to do a few things:
1. gardening: i would love to get some hanging pots and some shade-loving plants to spruce up our dreary patio. it's mostly used as a storage area right now, but i would really like to clean it up. we still have our old 10 gallon fish tank out there, along with a few supplies. we either need to pass it on to someone else we know, or donate it. i don't want to keep it there indefinitely, and
2. oil change: with the commute i have with work, my car requires keeping to a strict oil change schedule. it's past its 3,000 miles and needs a change desperately (i can hear her chugging, which is not a good sound).
both of these things i would like to get done tomorrow. i also need to stop by my sister's to drop off her keys and see if she would be available to feed the kitties their dinner and breakfast while we're camping next weekend. we just need saturday night and sunday morning, nothing more.
for the holiday on monday, i came up with an idea for marshall and i to do together. highway 1, north of santa cruz, is really beautiful. since i'd like to try being a little more adventurous with our cycling, and therefore build up my confidence with road cycling, i suggested to marshall we drive out to santa cruz and bike north to davenport. i looked it up and found it's only 9 miles north of santa cruz, so something we can easily accomplish. heck, we did 24 miles the weekend before marshall's last triathlon, 18 miles round-trip should be cake. i recently joined cycling and asked if anyone knew if it was OK for people to ride bicycles on highway 1. one guy said he does it all the time and he sees plenty of cyclist ride up and down the 1. i also took a look at the santa cruz county bike map and it lists highway 1 as an "alternate route", meaning there isn't a separate or designated bike lane, but it is used regularly by cyclists. this ride makes me only slightly nervous. the one thing i'm worried about is the wind, since we'll be right on the coast. i'm hoping the weather keeps up on monday and it won't be too cold. otherwise, i'm totally looking forward to this ride. :D