Cooking for the cure

I own a small, underwater, 70's era condo in the Bay Area. It was expertly remodeled by my friend, contractor, carpenter Hilary. We found and used many local products some of which I mentioned here. I'll go over more of those later.

Gentle readers, please remind me, I get distracted especially when I talk about food, cooking and their impact on our health.

One of the first projects of the remodel was that I decided to remove the stereotypical, 70's, dated, cottage cheese ceiling. You know the stuff in bad hotels? It makes the ceiling look low, like it's closing in on you. I'd try to be optimistic and say "look, it's shiny like stars!" but let's be honest.

That stuff is gray depressing, cluttered and nasty. It had to go.

But first I had to clean and scrape the grease off the ceiling spending days tottering, scared up on the ladder with TSP, gloves and a mask. The signs of the sellers poor  diet were visible all over the property but only if you looked up. The ceiling was just covered with a thin film of grease from the kitchen out to the dining room. It seems they fried everything they ate. I'm guessing from the aroma mostly meat and fish.

What wasn't on the ceiling was in the kitchen plumbing which also eventualy had to go.

One can only imagine their circulatory system and general health. I'm sure not all the grease went up to the ceiling or down the drain. Some must have gone into the 6 adults and 2 kids who lived cramped in what was then a cluttered 2 bedroom 1.5 bath condo.

I had already removed the dated, 70's, wooden beaded room dividers. Those were as greasy as they were dated, dark, dusty and tacky.

We put up tarps on all floors as I cleaned mostly so I would not slip later on the grease/TSP mixture. I was not worried about protecting the 30 year old linoleum in the kitchen, dining room and supremely ugly blue shag carpeting in the rest of the condo. I was more concerned with slipping on the clean up efforts.

At least their style of "staging a house for sale" had kept the price affordable for me.

Once we'd cleaned and prepped I stepped back to let the pro's attack the cottage cheese. During the ceiling project I removed myself from the fray for the weekend. I went up to Sonoma to my Mom's. My mutt, Mae (that's my dear, now departed and very much missed dog pictured above) went far, far away for the weekend.

Hilary and crew took every precaution because what is that dated cottage cheese anyway? Asbetos perhaps, asbestos probably. And contact with asbestos can be deadly with direct links to a cancer called mesothelioma.

It's not that I did not want to help them out. During the remodel I tried to do everything an unskilled, untrained, owner could. This is mostly clean or clean up afterwards, run errands some of which I theorize contractors invent to get their clients out of the way and write lots of checks.

But when it comes to asbestos lacking the skill, training, experience and equipment of a pro I did not want to risk being around and much less even breathing that stuff. Dealing with asbestos is something we want to stand back and let the trained, properly equipped and experienced pro's handle it because it's a carcinogen.  Best to come back later on and say "Ah! Beautiful!"

Cancer has cut a swath through my family. I've lost several loved ones to cancer, others are survivors. I hate cancer, all forms of cancer.

Other than avoiding contact with carcinogens is there prevention, cure or certain treatment of cancer? Can lifestyle factors particularly good diet and nutrition lead to a life free of cancer?

Maybe, perhaps and it can be as simple as eating your fresh, local fruits and vegies.

I recently read a study in the Journal of Cancer Research which was done by Mark H. Shiffman, Linda W. Pickle, Elizabeth  Fontham, Sheila Hoar Zahm, Roni Falk, Joy Mele, Pelayo Correa and Joseph Fraumeni Jr. called Case Control Study of Diet and Mesothelioma in Louisiana.

In this study 37 patients with mesothelioma were matched with case controlled subjects. Patients were matched to controls according to age, sex, race, region, occupational histories and many factors. In this study reductions in risk were seen with increasing consumption of vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables. These associations could not be explained by differences in exposure such as occupation.

The results indicated that eating your vegetables may reduce the risk of mesothelioma.

Eat your local vegetables.

Referenced study http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/48/10/2911.short

More information here www.mesotheliomahelp.net

One day in the LBS (Local Bike Shop)

One day I was moseying around a shop absorbing that "new bike smell" a new rider asked the LBS employee questions about getting a new bike. After answering them and lining up bikes in her size and price range to test ride she asked "Are any of these made in the USA?".

He paused, then said "There are bikes made here. They tend to be expensive". There's a long list of hand-made, mostly full custom bikes made in the USA. I'll get to some of them. I hope you'll see from this blog there are tons of options for parts, clothes, lights, racks and the stuff you either need to ride or would be nice to have to ride.

Much of that is very affordable.

Bikes made in the USA tend to be pricey. By "pricey" I mean starting at $2,000 to $3,000. When we talk about an "American made bicycle" we mean the frame. Many parts go into a bicycle and they are from all around. It's just about impossible to get an entirely US made bicycle.

What started this post is that our friend Donald Boothby has passed away. He was a truly wonderful man whom K had the honor and pleasure of meeting a few times. Don had a wonderful sense of humor, a great family, he loved to cook and of course ride bikes. He bought a touring bike made by a small local builder: Davidson Bicycles. 

He rode tens of thousands of miles on that bike often with family and friends. Sadly we never got to ride together. I'd hope to do so when I moved here.

We see Davidson bikes a lot while riding in Seattle. Not that there are a lot of them. They are few so they really stand out. They stand because not only are they rare and beautifully made but the obvious ease and comfort to the rider.

Davidson fits you right to the bike. You sense it's a Davidson approaching from afar away because bike and rider move as one.

Sadly as Don lay at home, just days from dying of cancer a thief broke into their home and stole his bike.

This is a friendly blog with a kind purpose. I'm a peaceful person. There's few if any people and even things I dislike. I like cats, liver and lima beans. I'm pretty zen.

But I hate bike thieves.

Perhaps the only thing worse than bike thieves is cancer. Cancer just took our friend and not before thieves took his bike. So I'm a little upset.

So I'm just saying; rare, unique, custom built, custom painted bike which the entire cycling community recognizes is out there. If you have the bike and ride it skilled riders can tell from a mile away "That's not yours. It is not fit for you, is not your bike."

If you're looking for a fine custom bike to buy new or legitimately and reliably used from the owner or a good bike shop you can do no better than a Davidson:

http://davidsonbicycles.com/

But to the ditwad who stole or the unsuspecting or unscrupulous buyer riding Don's bike, karma will find you. For your sake let's hope karma finds you before the Seattle cycling community does.

We are looking for a: 56 cm Davidson frame, black with red trim and a lot of chrome. Steel front forks with chrome tips, chrome on the rear triangle and on the head tube. If you see the bike or know about it contact Davidson Bicycles and they will contact Don's family and/or police.

I believe I can safely say all the family wants is Don's bike back. So if you read this and know about the stolen bike please just get it back no questions asked. They'd just like it back as a memento of a beloved husband and father. It's of no use to you.

If you've seen or know anything you can contact Davidson Bicycles at the website above and/or Seattle Randonneur Cycling club. Contact information and pictures of the bike on:

http://www.seattlerandonneur.org/

Love the name, love the clothes.

Bike clothing while uniquely suited for cycling looks great in direct inverse proportion to proximity to your bike. In other words lets say I get all kitted up in lycra spandex to ride to the store. I park my bike. As I walk away the further I go the sillier I look. By the time I reach the dairy aisle where I slip on the floor in my cycling shoes I'm pictured on YouTube comedy section. 


You don't have to dress in neon and lycra to ride. Here are bike shorts and clothes for the rest of us.

No lycra, bulky pads, pink butterflies, logos, no neon anything. Just comfort, fit and style.  All made in USA. 


http://www.harlotwear.com/