BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Well, if it counts, then to pair with my "ride on my days off" goal for the year, I'm cooking for myself a lot more than usual - I'm trying to eliminate processed convenience foods from my diet.

I love going to right by nature and buying my food, and the best meal of the year so far was a salad of arugula, apple slices, red onion, feta cheese, orange segments, and toasted flax seeds. Dressing was a basic orange juice+honey+oil deal.

Served it with a seared tuna steak.

I have never been to that store- how does it compare to Whole (paycheck) Foods, Trader Joe's, or my choice for good foods, East End Food Coop? Our household's rule is you only go to one of the others if the coop does not have it.

I've never been to the co-op. but the other night at right by nature, I got a 9 oz tuna steak, 1.5# rolled oats, 2# golden flax seeds, a big ol' container of arugula, 3# organic gala apples, 2 oranges, and one red onion today. Total cost: $20.55

Their meat is expensive, but their bulk items are worth it, I think.

Making stuff:

Laced up my first pair of wheels, have one more planned for the immediate future.

(Kit build with my son) Tethered-remote controlled robotic arm. Pretty sweet for a kid's kit, as they had you putting together the gearboxes, not just snapping the joints together.

Experimental cooking o' beef: thin-sliced round roast, folded in layers and cooked in its own marinade of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, various peppers, and a dash of A-1. Plus throwing on some sauteed portabellas and white onions...came out quite tasty, and surprisingly tender for a low-grade cut of meat.

@rob: RE: lathe. I've been dithering over dropping the coin on one of these for a month now. Very well reviewed, as import mini-lathes go.

Robjdlc... I go crazy if I don't make/build something every few days so I'm with you.

I have not made anything really cool lately but have been working on alot of things. Over this weekend I made 3 small boxes, which I am not sure what details I am going to add to them yet. Today I started a hummingbird piece as a birthday gift for my Mom.

Sitting in my shop right now I have 3 base cabinets started for my Mom's kitchen, about 7 bare gift boxes ready for paint for my girlfriends candy shoppe(made those so I could keep ahead of her orders),many different scroll saw pieces ready to cut, sketch books full of ideas, tons and tons of scroll saw patterns in my "to do" folder, etc., etc... all of that on top of bike projects that I want to get to before spring.

Right now I am working on building inventory to get ready for the next imadeitmarket show which has not been announced yet and a 50th birthday gift piece for a friend. I also got a wood burner unit and 3 pens for Christmas so I have been playing with that too.

I've been trying to think outside of the box so hopfully some cool things will come soon.

Post some pics of your coffee table, I would love to see it. Oh and I understand about tools completely!!! Everytime I get a new tool I never seem to have the time to use it. I have a mini lathe, I make pens on it so far.

www.dshwoodworks.blogspot.com

Right by Nature: I love this place, but it can only be a part of where I do my shopping. If I bought all of my groceries there I'd be run out of money pretty quick. Their smoothies are fantastic though, and if you look around you can find a bunch of stuff really cheap.

Co-op: You have to spend a lot of freakin' money there to make a membership worth its money, and its on the other side of town, so basically every time I go to construction junction, I stop by the co-op for kombucha and baked goodness.

Trader Joes: Pro tip, a lot of the food sold at trader joes is the exact same product you buy at whole foods, just with a trader joes label and half the price.

Reddan: I've got a full size lathe at work but I might not be there much longer. I've looked at the micromark before and I'm leaning pretty heavily towards it, but I'd need to start making more useful things before I can toss the cash. I've got a magnesium rod I'm working on right now, but haven't quite figured out what to make except a sweet ring.

Racedoug: right on. Are you usually at the imadeit? I'll get some photos of the coffee table up later.

Related: If anyone needs anything laser cut or engraved, let me know.

I have only done one imadeit show, the imadeit for the holidays show. I had a blast.

Co-op: You have to spend a lot of freakin' money there to make a membership worth its money

The $100 household investment is fully refundable. It is a share you purchase and can sell back to the co-op when/if you stop shopping there, move out of town, etc.

Well I got a MR BEER kit and am currently trying that out as well as brewing homemade root beer (first time for that. and a few weeks before christmas someone turned me on to building paper sculptures.

Here is a link to the album for the lastest one I finished. (American McGee's Alice)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096915&id=1101471819

robjdlc, any chance you could save me a couple of 1/4" thk slices from that magnesium rod? I'm still percolating the idea of some kind of "shoe sparkler".

I don't really like Right by Nature, except for their baked goods, which are delicious and well-priced. Otherwise, nearly everything is more expensive than its exact equivalent at Whole Foods. I love the co-op, but getting out there is a rare treat.

I made vegan spanikopita last night! I had never worked with phyllo before, and the whole project turned out well.

I had knit bike helmet earwarmers (pretty popular pattern on Ravelry, I think I first found out about it here). After losing one, though, I caved and bought 180s, which are awesome and super helmet-compatible.

Anyone can shop at the co-op with or without a membership. If you want the membership to pay for itself, probably the fastest way is to make use of the extra discount for ordering cases of things. Also, they have a credit union for members. This is helpful for savings and for low-cost loans for some things.

Making stuff:

lately, animations & drawings. and cooking.

I've been scraping a whole hell of a lot of paint off of some old woodwork in my house if that counts.

RE: the Co-op: membership isn't about getting a discount--it's about owning a share in the business.

As pointed out above, bulk order discounts are one the best perks of membership.

Personally, I've honing my pizza making skillz, as well as experimenting with new dough recipes. One of these is likely on the horizon, too.

i make pizza and bread about twice a week each. i would do it more if i could find enough people to eat it. i'm interested to hear more about the "recipes" yinz are trying.

yesterday, i made waffles. for dinner. they are the most delicious waffles i've ever had, but are quite different from most. for example, they have way more kalamata olives and sun-dried tomatoes than you usually find, and the cayenne and miso really bring it all together in ways that sugar, salt, and flour alone simply can't. the recipe is from the global vegan waffle cookbook (umami mama, it's called), written by a local pittsburgher. i'd definitely recommend it if you like vegan waffles.

My usual pizza dough recipe is this:

* 3 cups flour

* 1.25 cups warm water

* some yeast

* some oil

* some salt

Let the water and yeast sit for a bit, then mix everything with the dough hook of my KitchenAid mixer. Lately, I've picked up the habit of making the dough in the morning and letting it rise in the 'fridge all day.

I also like the dough recipe in the Greens Cookbook (has milk and cornmeal), but I haven't made that in awhile. I'm also going to experiment with some recipes I've found on Slice.

Also, over the summer, I got to bake some pies in this thing, and it was totally awesome. And David, the folks who own that big oven used to have a little bread baking business here in the 'burgh, run out of the kitchen of their apartment. Make a few loaves, distribute, and you may find some regulars who may even pay money for your baked goods.

Bread baking is also good fun. These days, I tend toward no-knead bread, baked in a dutch oven. I'll likely bake some pita with the kids tonight.

that oven is awesome. i have my own fantasies of having something similar at some point in my life, though i can't imagine how or when.

my usual pizza dough goes something like this:

3 cups all purpose flour

1.5 cups cold water

1.5 tsp bread machine/quick rise yeast*

1.25 tsp salt

i will often add a bit more water when initially mixing the dough (with a spoon), if it doesn't feel right, though my 1c scoops are pretty consistent. my main bread recipe runs about the same way, incidentally, but with a little less water (usually 1 1/3 c, if i'm making french bread), and usually with a higher gluten flour (most often i use gold medal better for bread). i mix everything by hand, once the ingredients are sufficiently combined with a spoon, because i like to pretend it makes me seem more skillful, but mostly because it's more fun that way.

i tend to be obsessive about mastering one particular thing. my pizza, right now, is mostly inhibited by the ovens i've got at my disposal. a hotter oven would go a long way toward making it just the way i want it. but i've made probably a hundred or more baguettes, and i am still trying to improve my shaping/proofing/baking techniques.

also, +1 on fridge "rising". that (in general) lets the starch break down more before the yeast does its thing, resulting in a more flavorful bread. it is also, incidentally, why i use cold water (if i have time) when forming my dough. sometimes i go as far as to refrigerate and ice the water before adding it.

* - i hate that commercial yeast suppliers call the same yeast all kinds of different things depending on the manufacturer and the packaging. for example, red star has bread machine yeast in jars, and quick rise yeast in paper pouches. i think fleischmann's calls the same stuff rapid rise or something.

I have half a dozen red-clay (new, never used) floor tiles that I use to line my oven when making bread. It doesn't get you any hotter, but it helps to keep the oven at a more consistent temperature.

Michael Ruhlman had an interesting post on yeast recently.

The Slice website also had a post on getting good crust without a super-hot oven via the broiler and some stove top cooking.

Aside from no-knead bread, I really like Julie Child's french bread recipe, and the Frugal Gourmet's peasant bread recipe (from his Italian cookbook).

Anyone here tried solar ovens? Most years, my brother's band plays at this thing.

Savory waffles an excellent idea -- I want to try that!

I've tried making a sourdough-type bread with homemade kefir before, but definitely have not perfected the technique. Rather brick-like in the first attempts.

made some awesome cabbage-beet-carrot sauerkraut. also made my first batch of garlic knots last night.

going to be making some speaker mounts soon if all works out.

after I get my living expenses back in order, I'm going to return to always having frozen veg, chicken, and beef stock in the house. If only for the smell of broth that will permeate the building when I cook it.

I don't know if this counts as "makes" but:

There was a weird hollow thread thing where the fender was supposed to thread into, but it got stripped so I ripped it out. I then considered drilling a larger hole and putting a toggle bolt in there, but gave up because drilling a large enough hole was annoying.

While changing out a shifter cable, I had this brilliant idea of a solution. Helmet pad cuts down on my formerly famous fender rattle, that could be heard blocks away.

I also fixed my cracked watch casing with superglue.

I got Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day for my birthday. Basically recipes for unkneaded, wet bread dough that keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks. Other than a pack of sandwich wraps we're finishing up, it's been homemade bread in this house for the last week. We'll see how long I can keep it up.

I made killer rice-almond milk and oat milks with our new soymilk maker. Still working on the plain soy and rice milk recipes, they're not to taste yet.

The kitchen cabinet re-finish is in the final stages of sanding the doors, to apply clear coat then re-mount. The end of a three year kitchen re-do project.

February 22 I start what I hope to be an awesome 10 week woodworking course to be directly followed by making a coffee table from recycled wood (not fiberboard!).

ejwme...where are you taking the woodworking course?

woodworking through... dilegno woodworking supply http://www.dilegnosupply.com/

Hubby found it for me - happy birthday to me

Wow, right in the Rocks, I had no idea they were there, very cool.

I didn't know they were there either! Thats awesome!

I have a bunch of projects in my head, but none of them are past the, "I bought this because I'm going to use it for ****"-phase.

The adjustable height tall bike is all fitted and just needs welded. Though, I think the next project I complete is going to be an engine block wine rack.

Kind of related: I finally got the samples of reflective vinyl for the line of reflective bike graphics I'm working on.

Nick - I had an entire basement, garage, and three spare rooms in my house full of "I bought/found/scrounged/kept this because I'm going to use it for ****". Then I got married. I'm clinging to half the garage and one spare room, but I swear I'm not a pack rat. I'm just overly ambitious

It's realizing the ambitions that's the hard part

speaker mounts done! old chainrings, some weird bracket, chainring bolt, and those concave/convex V-Brake washers so i can direct the speakers a bit.

ejwme: Speaking of woodworking, I'm thinking of starting on making a manual wood lathe and building some bowls, a la George Lailey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIgElQwMJpY

Nice work, erok!

This is the least cool thing ever, esp compared to the speaker mounts, but I made a twitter account! It's uh_what_pgh

I'll work on making something tangible in the meantime

Rob....that is awesome work. If you do it you will have legs of steel!!! I am so glad for electric power tools...hahahaha

Rob, that video is fantastic! If you ever get around to doing it, I would be glad to lend a hand. I have quite a bit of choke cherry out back too, some about 22 inches.

going back to bread and pizza for a moment: does anyone know anything about community ovens in pittsburgh, other than the one in braddock? has anyone ever used any, including the one in braddock?

I might be wrong but I thought they had an outdoor community oven they fire up in the summer on Polish Hill.

Edit- I hate being right all the time

"A vacant lot on Dobson — the site of a March 2008 fire that destroyed two apartment buildings — is being considered as a location for a community bread oven, Doloughty said. The bread oven would be outdoors and look similar to a brick stove with a pit for building a fire and a shelf for placing bread pans."

yeah, i'd heard about that one, but i never actually heard of it being finished and used. just stories like yours, where it was planned.

Yea I remember reading about it 3 years ago but I don't know if it was ever built. I can't find anything but the articles about planning to build one on that abandoned lot.

They had a fund-rasing event for the oven:

http://blogski.phcapgh.org/2010/11/benefit-for-the-community-bread-oven-was-fantastic/

They should have held a bake sale.

robjdlc - I finally got a look at that video, and WOW is that cool. Thank you so much for posting. If you ever get it set up, let me know!

I get warm fuzzies just knowing that out there, somewhere, people are still doing things like that. Warmer and fuzzier the closer I am to it.

another part of my attempt to be a little healthier:

Salad of mixed greens (mostly arugula), flax seeds, and apple slices with a dressing I made out of dijon mustard, honey, orange juice, olive oil. With sweet sausage. Plain yogurt that I flavored with honey and topped with more toasted flax seeds and some blueberries. Also, a bottle of sparkling apple cider.

My coworker keeps talking about skillshare, where each time they meet, a different person hosts and teaches something that they know how to do. Sewing, cooking, instruments, etc. I really want to do something like that.

Yum!

(edited so the picture actually shows)

Noah: I took a run at cutting some of that magnesium today but it looks like whoever used the lathe last murdered my only cutting bit. I'll try again sometime this week if I get a replacement.

My coworker keeps talking about skillshare, where each time they meet, a different person hosts and teaches something that they know how to do. Sewing, cooking, instruments, etc. I really want to do something like that.

I'd teach an oldtime fiddle or clawhammer banjo workshop to anyone on the board who wants to learn.

I don't know how cool everyone will think this is but this is what I made this weekend.

I made this Humming bird as a birthday gift for my Mom(she loved it). The wood is red oak, I cut everything out with a scroll saw and made the inlays with clay and baked it in the oven.

Enjoy

www.dshwoodworks.blogspot.com

that is pretty awesome.

re: the lot on dobson. born to run was living right there when the house was set on fire. we explored it a bit afterwards. turned around after we got to the top floor and saw the linoleum floor melted and sagging in the middle. good times.

since people are talking skillshare, I figured I'd plug for www.communiteach.org

I found out about it I think the week before I got married (and it got lost in my Marital Mental Haze until RF mentioned skillsharing - thank you!). Super exciting, super cool, and local (well, the pgh ones are, the chicago ones are... in chicago).

that is so awesome. I just signed up. Hopefully I can learn some cool stuff.

ps. I am making bbq pulled pork right now.

Work in progress...I am making this box as a birthday gift for a friend of ours who is turning 50. She is having a Hawaii 5-0 themed birthday party.

The box is red oak, I used the scroll saw to make the cutouts and I am going to make the inlays with clay which will make for a colorful contrast against the red oak.

www.dshwoodworks.blogspot.com

that is awesome.

Made some branding irons:

framed a sweet photo

I would hang that in my kitchen> That is great.

Here is the Hawaii Five-O box finished

www.dshwoodworks.blogspot.com

I made a snowboard jump today. A step-down with ~20ft gap. I had to make good use of all the snow.

Not sure this exactly qualifies, but I've been writing a lot lately. For school, of course, but also rhyming verse, mainly about stuff we're discussing in classes. It's mostly limericks (fast and super easy), but also a sonnet. Here are two examples.

--

Though thought to be good, ‘twas defective

The warrant used by the detective.

But Leon stays jailed

Elsewise would have failed

Our criminal justice objective.

United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (1984)

--

To midnight Marshall worked the evening through

With Adams, his commissions’ notes to seal

But came the morn--’twas undelivered to

One Marbury, who filed this appeal.

The legislature’s acts can’t overrun

The powers granted unto them to use

Without authority, their writ won’t run

Absurdity! We’ll stand no such abuse.

The article that our pow’r has giv’n

Is fixed and we conform ourselves to it.

Our fundamental structure would be riv’n

If Congress could so simply alter it.

Our jurisdiction no unlim’ted tool,

Unconstitutional we find this rule.

Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803)

I constructed a place to hang 5 bikes and a trailer on the wall by the wheels, with a 2 by 4 and some bike hooks

Ian, really good!