New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #13

wendy weiss wrote:

Hey, Kevin, your recipe sounds fine, but there's no need to dis someone else's. Or to make a broad generalization based on your opinion when I'm sure you haven't tasted every sauce that comes in a jar. 

He MIGHT have. Maybe it's a hobby of his? 

Down here people get very negative about 'jar sauce'...

https://youtu.be/9KthvXIFhcc

Kevinmurray wrote:

I have tasted many jarred sauces and that is why the should stay in a jar. Read the ingredients and how many can you pronounce. 

To each his own. Some things I make from scratch, others (to me) don't seem worth the effort. And I can pronounce every ingredient in Newman's Own marinara sauce. But don't worry, I won't serve it to you.     

This sounds too simple to be true but gets raves.  Its for salmon steaks, not fillets (which are thinner).  Shake lot of garlic powder onto one side of the steak, put in broiler within a few inches of the flame, cook for 7 minutes.  Turn over, dose the other side with garlic powder, and broil for another 7 minutes.  That's it.  The garlic powder browns and gets a little crunchy but does not assualt the senses with garlic flavor.

The 7 minutes is for my oven so might have to be adjusted... One salmon steak is good for two people.

Carl Schneider wrote:

He MIGHT have. Maybe it's a hobby of his? 

Down here people get very negative about 'jar sauce'...

https://youtu.be/9KthvXIFhcc

Lol! Ummmm....what about marmite? Just sayin. That dude looked yummy. Food, meant food. Food dude food. 

Wowie. Guess I need to thaw out some salmon while the garden is still going.

My recipes tend to strip down to not much, if I have really good food to cook with.

My salmon? Skin side down on foil, sprinkle a bunch of dill on, fold up the foil, throw it in the oven to sorta poach. 

Carbonara?

Take a fork to a couple eggs (depending on how much your doing) and beat them up. Get some pasta going. I have a local lady who makes really great stuff, fresh, so that's what I use. Finely grate a kinda whopping big pile of a strong flavored romano type cheese. Again, got a local cheese guy. Sometimes I use the local manchego. Anyway, enough cheese that you have a thick paste once it's added to the eggs. 

When the pasta is cooked, quickly drain it in a colander (mine is older than I am, shit, and I'm OLD), and put it back in the cooking pot, off the heat. Dump the egg stuff on the hot pasta and stir like mad. The heat melts the cheese and cooks the eggs. Generous grinding of pepper, and that's it. Once in awhile, I sneak in some crumbled Roquefort, but that's me. You can sneak in all sorts of stuff, but i usually just scarf it up as is.

I actually used a can of mushroom soup the other day, making a pot roast. Haven't done that in lots of years, lol!

Tonight I had popcorn for dinner. Again. Butter. Salt. Some of that local dude's parmaromano. It's strange when you live alone and no one but you knows how feral you may be on any given day. Well, not entirely alone, there's the cats. But they're cats. I'm irrelevant except for that opposable thumb thing. 

I had a brownie, coffee, and some turkey bacon for breakfast today, about noonish. Maybe one? That weird faux bacon stuff that is shelf stable (no refrigeration needed) that you nuke for mere seconds in the microwave. Or, wave over the jet boil on a hot dog fork at COR while the coffee steeps in the aeropress. Yeah, I know better, but hey, I was camping recently, right?

And the cat likes it. Bacon. Not the coffee.

Best, Helen

Old lady H wrote:

Lol! Ummmm....what about marmite? Just sayin. That dude looked yummy. Food, meant food. Food dude food. 

We all look yummy in Australia. Looking yummy is a national pastime.  

However, drooling over that dude has scattered your brain, lady. (a) Marmite is a lilly livered, weak as piss pommy concoction for namby pamby Aussie wanna-be types.  Vegemite is the real deal that'll put hairs on ya chest. Yes, I'm talkin' to you, lady, you want haitrs, dontcha?. (b) Vegemite is a spread, not a sauce. Ya spread it on ya bread. If yer poverty strucken ya can make a soup outta it and have it with ya bread. If ya NOTpoverty strucken ya can put some in a beef stew. But our national breakfast dish is Vegemite on toast with coffee. The only question is how much to spread. If yer a lilly livered namby pamby type ya smear it on ever so thinly. If yer a real man (like me) or a real woman who is very very similar in size, shape, deepness of voice and chesty hairs to a real man, ya put it on real thick like. Ya can also get bread, whack some peanut butter on it and then whack some Vegemite on top of that. 

Here ends the lesson.

"Here is the wattle,
The emblem of our land,
You can stick it in a bottle,
you can hold it in yer hand, Amen."

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
Oi! Oi! Oi!

(OK, I'll go away now...)

Good morning All!

We just had the most fecking amazing weekend bouldering in Avalonia.  We were supposed to go to Bleau but with the COVID #'s in Paris, we decided about a month ago to stay in Germany and try to find some local bouldering areas.  I found Avalonia on a search which is about 3 hours from our house and we set up to go there.  Then the movie "Stone Locals" came out and lo and behold, Avalonia was in it!  Stoke was raised even higher!

We went up on Saturday in the morning and were trying to find the area when this awesome Dude came walking down and helped us find our way around, etc.  Had a great time chatting with him and come to find out he is a Ph D. in maths and finished his doctorate about 1.5 years ago from UC Berkeley.  He solved some famous problem for his dissertation (we found all of this out later from another guy, not the maths guy.  The maths guy was super mellow and humble) and was immediately awarded a professeurship and then he decided to move to Germany.  He now lives in a cave at Avalonia 3-4 days a week and works as a visitor professeur at a German university the other days.  Just the coolest guy.

But after hanging out with this guy for an hour we started doing some real bouldering and then Daniel Pohl comes walking down the path.  He walks over and strikes up a conversation.  Then, for the next 4 hours straight we hiked, climbed and just sat and talked with him.  He is the most intelligent, amazingly ALIVE person I have come across in years.  So overflowing with life and vibrancy.  So personal and close.  It was unbelievable.  My wife, Daniel, and I just talked non-stop for hours while he gave us a guided tour to every area that he has developed within Avalonia.  He showed us all of his carvings and his memorial to Peter and so many things.  He brought us into the caves that you would not know were even there as you had to squeeze through this little opening and then it opened up and was only lit by candles.  So magical.  We all decided to go out to eat together that night but then, at 6 pm, some musician friends of his showed up in tuxes at the bouldering area and said that they had decided to give a concert that night at Avalonia so no dinner but a concert instead.    

Daniel is one of the most ALIVE people i have ever met and Avalonia is pure magic.  It felt like my wife, kiddos and I had stumbled into Eden and God happened to walk over and show us around for a few hours.  Just an unbelievable experience.

We're headed back in 3 weeks for a 3 day trip to hike and boulder and we're sleeping in the caves.  Cannot wait!

Buck, WOW! Amazing. That's the guy in the movie right? 

Carl Schneider wrote:

Buck, WOW! Amazing. That's the guy in the movie right? 

Yes.  And in real life he comes across as definitely hypo-manic but so very sane and intelligent and well-spoken and amazing.  

I thought that the movie made him out to be a bit "crazier" than he was when we spent time with him but they probably saw him over many weeks and we only spent around 5 or 6 hours with him.

First, thanks Helen for instigating the COR event.  While I didn't meet everyone, it was fun climbing with Bud, Frank and Jay as well as meeting others that I hope to climb with in the future.  

When I returned to McCall after the City, smoke was so bad we immediately left.  Went to the Bear Lake area on the Idaho/Utah border for biking.  An interesting part of the west.  Hopefully the smoke/fire situation will permit a trip to Smith Rocks next week.

I usually head south of the border in November, but that is not happening this year.  Thinking about a road trip to Red Rock, J. Tree and Cochise Stronghold.  Will any of you J. Tree regulars be interested in climbing then?

Thank you, everyone for the salmon recipes.  They all look great.  Thanks for taking the time to share.  

For health reasons, it was decided that I should try to work in two foods each week: a serving of sockeye, and a serving of organic beef liver.  I love food.  I'll eat almost anything.  But I don't love salmon, and beef liver is a lost cause.  Tony keeps assuring me that it's the type of cow, or the way it's cooked... we need bacon, or it needs to be dredged, or more onions.  I don't think liver can be helped or snuck into other foods, either.  I've even diced it up tiny and added it to my pasta sauce--all that did was ruin the sauce.  In the end, it's best for me to just man-up, face it squarely, fry up a big slice of liver in a pan and make a sandwich of it.  

So, at least the salmon issue is fixed now.  Thank you all!  

It does piss me off that while Carl is out drinking, I am eating liver.  

Dallas, what a joy to know that you and Barb are enjoying climbing again!  I felt like we all went through her fall with her.  Now to see your pictures and hear of your adventures.... this is wonderful! 

This string of posts makes me think maybe the Universe is ready to coax us all back to life again!  Buck, what a great post... and all those pictures!  

That word 'alive'.  Back in the '60's, I think that's what we all were looking for. And often, we found it.  Some of us (most of us?) stored that precious gold and held it for the day when we could break free and live more of it.  

I took my grandchildren for a hike up the Sentinel yesterday before they all left.  And then we walked over to see the Sail Away rock... I just wanted them to sit there for a moment and feel that majesty.  It happened that a lone climber was working on that route, so they could watch how it's done.  Really interesting that my grandkids, who had been way too loud, feisty, romping and screaming... fell into total silence and awe as they watched the climber scale Sail Away.  We all just sat there for a good 10 minutes.

There is a little brochure for kids that my daughter grabbed on the way in.  As the kids were sitting, she read the questions to them... what do you feel?  what do you see?  and when it came to what do you hear... they got so silent.  There was no sound.  Finally, one of them said "the wind".  

Hey Bob, Hope you make it to JT this November. I'd be happy to meet you and get out climbing together.

Kevinmurray wrote:

I have tasted many jarred sauces and that is why the should stay in a jar. Read the ingredients and how many can you pronounce. 

Here's Lemon Butter Dill from McCormick (sorry Dallas):

Water, Soybean Oil, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Distilled Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Salt, Spice, Onion, Propylene Glycol, Alginate (Thickener), Xanthan Gum, Dill Weed, Lemon Peel, Natural Flavor, 0.1% Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Lemon Oil, Red Pepper, Beta Carotene (Color), Calcium Disodium EDTA (to Protect Freshness), and Butter (Milk).

I'm not against jarred foods. Like Wendy, I don't make marinara from scratch; I open a jar of tomato sauce, and add it to simmered onions, garlic, mushrooms. But if I look at a jar, and the third ingredient is HFCS, that's a hard stop for me. Pretty generally, we don't buy jars with a form of sugar as an ingredient. But, each to his own.

Thanks for the YouTube video, Carl, I needed some humor this morning.

Dallas, glad to hear Barb is getting her mojo back! Mine appears infrequently lol.

Idaho Bob wrote:

Thinking about a road trip to Red Rock, J. Tree and Cochise Stronghold.  Will any of you J. Tree regulars be interested in climbing then?

Email me or post when you have decided your approximate dates and itinerary. I usually plan my climbing schedule a week or two in advance, so I haven’t a clue about where I’ll be in November yet. But I’d love to connect somewhere in CA. Be aware, Red Rock is starting the new pass system Nov 1. Reservations go online sometime next week. For right now it doesn’t affect entry before 8 am...

dragons wrote:

 Pretty generally, we don't buy jars with a form of sugar as an ingredient. But, each to his own.

Then you don't have Hellmann's Mayo, Heinz Ketchup, or Grey Poupon Mustard in your fridge. (I guess there are purer, more organic versions of all available.) My only point is (and I'm not accusing you of this, Dragons) that I hate when people get all superior and preachy about food choices.

BTW, Lori, while I never make beef liver, I have eaten some that's pretty good. Onions definitely and bacon would be welcome too. But I think the real secret is not overcooking it (same as with fish), which turns it into shoe leather.

wendy weiss wrote:

Then you don't have Hellmann's Mayo, Heinz Ketchup, or Grey Poupon Mustard in your fridge. (I guess there are purer, more organic versions of all available.) My only point is (and I'm not accusing you of this, Dragons) that I hate when people get all superior and preachy about food choices.

BTW, Lori, while I never make beef liver, I have eaten some that's pretty good. Onions definitely and bacon would be welcome too. But I think the real secret is not overcooking it (same as with fish), which turns it into shoe leather.

Thank you Wendy and also for the thought on “food purism”.  Over the years I have changed and refined my diet, hopefully so that 90% is pretty clean and healthy.  But I hope to never turn down a meal or some real food enjoyment because it’s not pure enough for me.  

If slathering a piece of salmon with a bottled sauce turns it into great cuisine I’m all in.

My focus these last few years has been on whatever we can do to minimize the effects of aging, especially as it relates to exercise. I want to climb. I’d like to not have obvious muscle and skin atrophy because of lack of certain proteins and nutrients. Diabetes can almost be seen as an asset because I experience the effects of dietary errors sooner than most.  

But joy is also important. The little health food store down the road sells Vanilla ice cream bars dipped in dark chocolate.  On a hot day there’s nothing finer.    

@Buck Rogers, Great post! I've reframed the way I think about travel now, and I'm basically thinking about stuff within a day's drive. Your story about Avalonia and Ticino previously got me thinking about bigger travel again. Sounds like a magical trip you're having. Thanks for the inspiration!

Carl Schneider wrote:

We all look yummy in Australia. Looking yummy is a national pastime.  

However, drooling over that dude has scattered your brain, lady. (a) Marmite is a lilly livered, weak as piss pommy concoction for namby pamby Aussie wanna-be types.  Vegemite is the real deal that'll put hairs on ya chest. Yes, I'm talkin' to you, lady, you want haitrs, dontcha?. (b) Vegemite is a spread, not a sauce. Ya spread it on ya bread. If yer poverty strucken ya can make a soup outta it and have it with ya bread. If ya NOTpoverty strucken ya can put some in a beef stew. But our national breakfast dish is Vegemite on toast with coffee. The only question is how much to spread. If yer a lilly livered namby pamby type ya smear it on ever so thinly. If yer a real man (like me) or a real woman who is very very similar in size, shape, deepness of voice and chesty hairs to a real man, ya put it on real thick like. Ya can also get bread, whack some peanut butter on it and then whack some Vegemite on top of that. 

Here ends the lesson.

"Here is the wattle,
The emblem of our land,
You can stick it in a bottle,
you can hold it in yer hand, Amen."

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
Oi! Oi! Oi!

(OK, I'll go away now...)

Oh dear. I forgot which is which. I have had both, but, a long time ago. For a long time, you couldn't buy either. Associated with terrorists or anarchists or liberals or something. Please forgive the unforgivable. 

Buck, what a wonderful, magical, visit you had! I think that's a big part of travel, just opening the door to  serendipity. This last COR trip was really great, and unusual. I still think Gabe is the one who had an unbelievable first visit. That was so fun to be part of!

Food? Just pick and choose. If you choose really bad crap, all the time, there will be consequences. Once in awhile? To quote my best friend, just after our best friend Kevin's death? "Helen, sometimes you should just eat the damn cookies".  So yes. I have cheesecake for dinner now and then.

Tony can have my lifetime allotment of liver. Fuck that crap.

:-) 

Lori

I will be having venison steaks when I get back home this weekend. My 7 year old grandson shot his first deer today. It was a 7 pointer

John

John - good for your Grand Son.

I love BBQ venison. Rare- with mushroom gravy.

Food is a funny thing you know. Something that is drop dead gross for us is a wonderful treat for others. I think it starts when we are about 3 years old.
Carl’s Grandma is eating Vegamite, for example, 3 year old Carl is standing their begging for some. Grand says “no you won’t like it”. Carl, who is quite charming keeps it up. Grandma says “OK what the heck” and let’s young Carl take a bite. He wants to gag, spit it out, it’s horrible! But he swallowed it anyway and just to show Grandma how grown up he is he asks for more. Pretty soon he wants some everyday, on crackers with a beer to wash it down.

Lori- good calf’s liver is hard to get, even harder to cook properly. I suggest you go to a NYC deli if you want some. The same places also do tongue- another tasty dish.

Climb on