My ipod was out of power this morning, as usual (I rarely remember to charge the thing). I couldn’t find any earphones to use the portable cd player, so I grabbed one of my bound issues of Cuisine at Home and headed off to the Y this morning, thinking "I’ll just have to read this morning", which makes me a little dizzy, but definitely makes the workout go faster.
Little did I know how happily subversive I'd feel reading about baking powder biscuits, crab cakes, and osso bucco while other readers pored over Shape and Self.
For a long time I resisted spending any time on those treadmills, bikes & elliptical trainers. I preferred brisk walking, not only because the neighborhood I live in is so full of interesting old houses—beautiful ones and decrepit ones (which are more interesting than the beautiful ones), but because I know that walking has a built-in workout guarantee: no matter how far I walk, I have to walk just as far to get back home.
Plus, it’s good for the border collie, Seneca.
But then winter hit full-blast, and I must not be as hardy as I used to, or else I don’t have the right gear; any more than a mile walk became a freezing, sweaty misery.
Fortunately, the Y did a big remodel last year and the cardio center now overlooks the Mississippi River and the railroad tracks, so one can at least see a few ducks, trains & barges go by.
It snowed last night so the town was a delight this morning, all shades of gray and white. I appreciated the view periodically, then turned my attention to the osso bucco & the crab cakes. I can get crab meat here in Red Wing, if I go down to the parking lot of Joe’s Mobil Station every other Saturday between 5-6pm and wait for the seafood truck to come to town. But veal shanks pose a problem. There is no veal truck that comes to town. I’ll have to go on the hunt again.
Today is the last day of January. I need to look back at this busy month in the kitchen, sum up what worked and what didn’t, what was well-received and what wasn’t, before I jump into February.
9:25:45 AM 
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