"You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess"

All things in moderation, including moderation.


For scale, that is a magnum of wine next to the glass.

"I swear, all I had was one glass of wine!"

There is nothing quite like being able to pour one glass of wine and read a book all afternoon. I received a pair of these glasses from my friend for Christmas. Your friends know you best!

Roasting Veggies Without Fire

I have the world's crappiest kitchen. Okay, it's not as crappy as some that I have had in the past. But it is bad. At least the worst kitchen in my past didn't have carpet in the kitchen. Who the hell thought putting carpet in a kitchen was a good idea?!

Why do kitchens in studio apartments always categorically suck? If you find this post and have a studio apartment with a great kitchen, please let me know. And let me know when your lease is up.


Crappy Kitchen

Given my limited kitchen resources, I have to juggle and improvise. I have approximately three square feet of usable counter space I have one of those crappy apartment-sized ranges. Whoever thought this up needs death by bunga-bunga. The oven temperature varies wildly; sometimes a setting of 350° results in 275° or 425° in the oven without any consistency. It does not fit two pans side-by-side. As much as I love cooking, this stove drives me batshit most of the time. I suppose it is just one of the costs of engaging in one's joys.


Nothing fits

So I don't have a gas stove. I have a small electric stove. And a small oven. So small it does not even fit normal baking pans. I think having a small oven must be worse than having no oven. It's a culinary cock-tease, a gastronomic siren. But yet I persist with this silly delusion that I should be able to cook decent meals.

One of the key reagents in many good meals is Roasted Vegetables (cue *heavenly choirs*). Baba ghanouj and squash soup are just two recipes that realize massive increases in flavor complexity by putting a little char on the veggies before proceeding with the Creation. When carbonization is involved, there are even greater gains in simple, yet delicious combinations such as vegetable wraps, fajitas (which truly require fire), and just about anything non-dessert that comes from the kitchen. Every savory meal benefits from caramelized onions.

Corollary to a proper range is an exhaust fan that vents outside, rather than projectile-vomiting the smoke back into one's domocile. Guess which one I have. Seldom is the entree that fails to set off my smoke alarm. Why do so few residences have externally vented exahust fans?! The bathrooms vent outside (toilet lines require vents). How hard is it to also vent the kitchen, too?

Putting a char on vegetables with this stove is tantamount to using a Yugo in an F1 race. But somehow I still manage to place in that race.

I go through a rigamarole to roast vegetables. Depending on the vegetable and the dish, I roast either in cast iron, directly on the burner, or under the broiler. Sometimes, the greatest works are accomplished within te confines of the greatest limitations. Okay, I am not enough arrogant to think that anything that comes out of this kitchen as the greatest works. Or even my greatest works. But it is still better than anything from most restaurants.

In general, most vegetables get a two-stage roasting. Sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions, for example, get a sear on top under the broiler in a cast iron pan. Then I put them on top of the stove (still in the pan) on the highest heat until the fire department is kicking in my door. By this time, the veggies should be properly caramelized and done.

For bell peppers and eggplant, I turn the largest burner on high, putting the item directly on the burner. As the skin burns, I keep turning the piece with tongs until it is burned all around. Then I wrap it up in aluminum foil and pop it in the oven at 350° for an hour. Peel off the burned skin, save the juices, and you have a great roasted veggie.

If you have any other tips for dealing with lesser kitchens, leave it in the comments.

Garlic and Apples Don't Store Well Together

Note to self: don't put garlic bulbs and apples in the same fruit bowl. I think this is akin to putting garlic bagels in the same bag as any other bagel; they all turn into garlic bagels. The same thing happens with apples and garlic bulbs, too.

Montpelier and Back

I'm still getting around to parsing the XML to present a Google Map of my rides.


At the Winooski River, near the intersections of I-89, 2, and 117.


I dropped my mirror when a bug flew into my glasses. I thought it was a good moment to catch a shot in this area with neat rock formations. Not that you can see those formations.


I tan quickly.

Bag Fetish (Carradice SQR Slim)

On the heels of my last Carradice adventure, I figure I would write about the other Carradice bag that I have and use.

I have a bag fixation. I'm going to descend into a stereotype here: I should have been born a woman. I love bags and shoes. I need the right bag for the occasion and the right shoe for the activity. I have bags galore. No Chrome bag yet, but give me some time and I will remedy that. And I love to shop for bags and activity-specific shoes. The right bag and the right shoe for the job!



A friend gave me the Carradice SQR Slim saddlebag as a gift last November. Wow. I have lots of issues with different saddlebags, and most small saddlebags have severe delusions of adequacy. I have cycled (NPI) through legions of such bags. Broken zippers, not enough capacity, not even vaguely weather resistant, floppy mounting, incompatible mounting systems for my saddle (Selle Anatomica)... you get the idea.

I have tried different racks with different panniers, seatpost racks, backpacks, and trailers. I despise seatpost racks because they produce a very odd moment effect in bicycles, especially when the load is past the rear axle. I'm short, so I ride smaller frames, and I get heel strike on the panniers. Plus racks and panniers are a whole lot of mass to carry when all I usually need are my laptop, lunch, and a change of clothes. I have bought and/or tried almost all of the cargo options out there. About the only ones that I do not yet own are a Bikes@Work trailer, BOB, and Xtracycle. But I am getting there! I'll quickly mention that I do like my Burley Nomad; while not perfect, it is very useful.

But now I have an SQR Slim in my cargo-carrying arsenal. The SQR Slim fits under my seat and does not hit the rear fender of my 18" Trek SU200 (I am ~171cm/5'7" tall). It yields 16L/976cu. in. of very usable cargo capacity with a maximum advised load of ~10kg/22lbs).



The SQR Slim fit my laptop well (14" widescreen Tablet PC) in a rigid laptop case. All told, that was about 5kg/11lb of mass. There was no noticeable slop in the SQR bag while cornering and going over bumps. Because almost all of the mass was ahead of the rear axle, I was still able to corner as hard as I am accustomed without any oddness in the handling of the bike. Other seatpost/tail rack configurations have pulled the tail of my bike out under hard cornering, especially in wet conditions.

If I set myself far back on my seat, my thighs would slightly touch the pack, but nothing that caused any issues and not enough to be problematic even after the longest rides. Another potential drawback for some: the pack also makes its presence known when I get out of the saddle. There is an obvious mass back there and the bike really cannot be flicked. But you don't flick a loaded bicycle anyway.

The bag is made in England, so I suspect they might have some experience with keeping out the rain. It does certainly hold up to the elements well, having been through salt, winter and spring mud, and all manner of weather. The top and bottom of the inside of the bag is a hard plastic shell. This comes in handy for cleaning up lunch container leaks.

There is also a hard plastic "stripe" on the bottom of the bag to help make cleaning the bag easier if you rode in the rain. The shape and size of the SQR slim helps protect your back from the skunk stripe if you are too lazy or too prissy to install fenders. Yeah, that's right; I called you prissy. In case you're feeling some indignation, I have two bicycles without fenders. So there.

I think that the only drawback of this pack is that mount has five exposed bolts on the inside of the bag. The very slight protruding ends of the bolts have worn holes in items that I put in the saddlebag. If I was terribly concerned, I supposed I would put epoxy or something over those bolts. Maybe eventually, or if I have a long ride planned.


It is not a drawback for me, but it could be for others: there is a requirement of a minimum amount of exposed seatpost. On my Bike Friday New World Tourist, there is approximately 7.3cm/2.875in of exposed seatpost. The SQR block fits in there snugly. The block is rather nicely designed to take into account the seatpost binder bolt.


I could not find a torque spec for the bolts that tension the stainless steel binder rings. But hand-tight with a basic allen wrench holds the saddlebag in place when leaning the bike against walls.

Overall, I am very impressed and this bag is well worth the money. I mean, if I actually paid for it. And I would totally buy a couple more of these, but fortunately they are quick-release so I only need an SQR block to attach the same bag to multiple bikes. If you need a little more capacity than a normal saddlebag, don't want to wear a backpack or messenger bag, or don't need the capacity of panniers/trailers, this bag is for you.