Sign Up For Winter 2011 Meandering Hikes

College of Marin registration opens Monday, January 3, 2011 for the Winter Meandering hiking series.You can register on-line or (per Wendy's e-mail) by phone (415 485-9305) or in person. (Note:  Although the Winter 2011 Term schedule was on-line as of New Years Eve, you cannot actually register for classes until Monday).

Course information for the Tuesday class:

7 Tuesdays, 9:45am-1:45pm, Feb. 1-Mar. 15, CRN# 15019 EC (also listed as MADV 9395A - 020).

Here is the information for the Monday class:

7 Mondays, 9:45am-1:45p, Jan. 31-Mar. 21 (except Feb. 21), CRN# 15018 EC (MADV 9395A - 010)

 

The Twelve Days Of An Alaskan Christmas

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My Alaska tour guide gave to me,
Twelve seals a-pupping,
Eleven humpbacks spouting,
Ten puffins flying,
Nine mosquitoes a-buzzing,
Eight lupines blooming,
Seven glaciers calving,
Six brown bears fishing,
Five boat rides,
Four totem poles,
Three small plane flights,
Two banana slugs,
And a moose under a Sitka spruce tree!
(Dick Jordan spent two weeks traveling throughout Southeast Alaska in June of 2008.  This version of the traditional “The Twelve Days of Christmas” carol was adapted from one of his trip blog posts).

Just In Time For Christmas (or New Year’s)

Dick Jordan wanted to share a friend’s holiday cake recipe with you.  (He thinks this is a variation on a “Wine Cake” that Julia Child made during an episode of  his inaugural PBS cooking show).
 
Here’s the recipe, as laid out by Dick’s friend:

I've had requests for my Tequila Christmas Cake recipe so here goes:

Please keep in your files.


1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
Lemon juice
4 large eggs
Nuts
1 bottle tequila
2 cups dried fruit

Sample the tequila to check quality.

Take a large bowl; check the tequila
again to be sure it is of the highest quality.

Repeat.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.


Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.


At this point, it is best to make sure the tequila is still OK. Try
another cup just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy.


Break 2 eegs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the fruit up off the floor.


Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit getas stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with
a drewscriver.

Sample the tequila to test for tonsisticity.

Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something.

Check the tequila.

Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.  Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can
find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window.

Finish the tequila and wipe the counter with the cat.

Cherry Mristmas

Recipe: Zucchini-Pear Soup

Here’s the soup that Dick Jordan served at our last “Final Exam” luncheon.

You can serve this as a light, first course, either chilled (like we had it after our hike) or warmed up.  It took Dick about an hour to do the prep and cooking.

• 3 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil, or a combination
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 1 medium potato, preferably high-starch (“russet”/“baking”), peeled and diced
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or a pinch of dried thyme
• Salt and black pepper
• 4 medium zucchini, trimmed and diced
• 2 medium ripe (but still firm) pears, peeled, cored and diced
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock, or use water
• Mint leaves (or edible flowers) for garnish (optional).
• A handful of cooked chestnuts (optional; available in a jar at supermarkets)

1. Put butter, oil or combination in a large skillet over medium heat; when butter melts or oil is hot, cook carrot, onion, potato and thyme with a healthy sprinkling of salt and pepper. Stir occasionally, adjusting heat so vegetables do not brown. When onion is softened, about 5 minutes, add zucchini and continue to cook until everything is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Add pear (and the optional chopped chestnuts, if used) and cook until softened, about 5 minutes more. Add liquid and bring to a boil; taste and adjust seasoning (and add more chestnuts if desired). Cool mixture, then purée. Serve cold or reheat and serve hot, garnished with mint (or edible flowers), if desired.
Yield: 4 servings.


(Originally published October 3, 2007 in The New York Times; adding the chestnuts is Dick Jordan’s variation)

Holiday Gift Book Suggestions From Dick Jordan

If you're still holiday shopping 'til you're dropping and don't want to go out in the rainy weather to finish up, here are gift book recommendations that I've posted (as a guest blogger) on the Book Passage Bookstore blog.

You can order all of the books on-line (except one --- but the computer glitch causing that will be fixed in a couple of days).

These all are books that I own and I've met or know all of the authors.

There is, of course, a rather Shameless Self-Promotional Blurb for Me at the end of the blog post, and I've even mentioned in one of the books.

NEW! Mobile (Phone) Meandering Now Even Easier!

A few months ago Dick Jordan set up a separate copy of the Meandering in Marin on Tuesdays blog (hosted by WordPress.org; the original Meandering blog is hosted by Blogger) that was “optimized” for reading on mobile devices (like Dick’s iPhone).  This meant that Dick had to upload each blog post twice, and edit two blogs instead of one.

Blogger now has made its hosted blogs much easier to read on smartphones: Type in the URL (Website address) for the Meandering blog (http://www.meanderingtuesdays.blogspot.com) into the Web browser on your phone or do a Google search for “Meandering in Marin on Tuesdays”, and then bookmark it (or, on an iPhone, add it to your Home Screen) so you can easily find it in the future.

The “mobile version” of the blog has larger type so it’s easier to read on a little cell phone browser screen, and (unlike the WordPress.org mobile site) you’ll find the tabs for the different pages (e.g., “Upcoming Hikes”) right at the top of the screen. )If you want to view the blog as it appears on a regular computer screen, just scroll to the bottom of the screen on your phone and tap of “View web version.”  To switch back, tap “View mobile version”).

Alas, the little slideshow window in the blog won’t show up on Apple devices (iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone) which don’t support the Adobe “Flash” technology that operates the slideshow.  (If you have any Android phone, go the mobile version of the blog, and then let Dick know if the slideshow plays on your phone). But it you click on the “Photo Albums” tab at the top of the screen, you can select any of the Picasa Web albums (e.g., “Latest Hike Photos”) and view the photos taken during our hikes.

Until everyone gets familiar with the new mobile version of the Blogger blog, Dick will continue to post updates to the WordPress.org version. 

Holiday Hiking Hiatus

Just a quick reminder from the Meandering in Marin on Tuesdays blog that we’ve got a long holiday break in our hiking schedule.

The next Winterim hike is the 1/11/11 - Alpine Dam to Bon Tempe Dam Shuttle Hike, followed by two more outings on 1/18 and 1/25.

Registration for the College of Marin Winter hiking series opens on January 3rd.

Dick Jordan and Rick Steves On The Radio

Being interviewed by Rick Steves is a fun way to share your travel experiences with a wider audience than just the friends and family who read your “Tweets” or Facebook posts from the road.  Dick Jordan was “interviewed” twice by Rick during the January 2010 radio show recording sessions.  Over the next few months, fame and fortune, and maybe a career in movies (“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille) awaited Dick’s “Rick On The Radio” debut.

Dick became a “radio star” when “More Roadfood USA; Brittany and Normandy” was broadcast on May 29, 2010.  While his interview with Rick was not included in the broadcast itself, it is part of a “Web extra” streaming audio file that you can play by clicking here.  (His comments about touring Normandy by rental car run from 4:48 to 7:15).

Dick got another nearly three minutes of radio fame on July 10, 2010, when the show “Affordable London; Ancient Britain” aired.  Once again his interview with Rick was not part of the program that actually aired, but runs at the beginning of the “Web extra” streaming audio file. This is Rick’s description of what he and Dick discussed:  “Caller Dick in San Anselmo, California describes one of his favorites finds from a London city walk that Rick recommends in his guidebook, and suggests cathedral concerts as a worthwhile free activity in London.”

Let’s Eat! (12/7/10 “Final Exam” Hike)

The weekend’s storm blew through and left the Bay Area on Monday setting the stage for a perfect day for finishing up “Fall 2” of the College of Marin term.  But the wet weather brought during the preceding days brought forth a bounty of mushrooms including sulfur tufts, Jack-o-lanterns, garlic mushrooms and apricot jelly.

We saw a common merganser and pied billed grebes paddling around Lake Lagunitas while a Great Egret swooped across the water from the south shore to the north.  We found both California and rough-skinned newts enjoying the damp habit above the lake.

By the time we turned east and headed up the Lakeview Fire Road the sun was shining brightly and we doffed our outer layers.  We had great views out to San Francisco  Bay over San Anselmo and past Terra Linda as we descended the Filter Plant Road.  A lone Coulter Pine stood as a reminder a a failed tree farming project started by the water district many years back.

After nearly five miles of up (1,588’ per the “Every Trail” app on Dick’s iPhone) and down (1,345’) hiking we looped our way back to the parking lot in just under three hours and set up our “Final Exam” feast in the nearby picnic area.  Wendy recited a special poem to honor Stan for filing in for her while she recovered from breaking her leg, and she and Ted presented Stan with bottles of Scotch to mark his “retirement” as hike leader.

Here’s a bird’s-eye-view of the route we took:


and the changes in elevation:

“Final Exam” Hike Photos Now On-Line!

Photos taken by Theresa Fisher during this week’s “Final Exam” Hike at Lake Lagunitas are now on-line.

View them on the blog or click here for the on-line album.

Sky Trail To Bear Valley Hike (12/14) Preview

We return to Point Reyes National Seashore this week for our last outing of 2010.

The trail is about 7.3 miles long, but a lot of it is fairly level, so it's a bit easier than the distance implies. This is a shuttle hike, so CALL WENDY AT 457-3949 or send her an e-mail her at bdreskin@comcast.net if you are coming! Note the earlier than usual meeting time at Bear Valley.

Directions to trailhead: We’ll meet at Bear Valley at 9:20 a.m. and carpool to Sky Trail.  When we get to Mt. Wittenberg we’ll go down Old Pine to the Bear Valley Trail. We’ll need some people who are not in a rush to drive people back to Sky Trail.

Restrooms at Bear Valley, none at Sky Trail trailhead, but some as we pass Coast Camp.

Carpool leaves St. Rita Church in Fairfax at 8:45 a.m.

Weather forecast: As of Wednesday evening, December 8, the National Weather Service forecast for the hike was mostly sunny with a high near 56 and a chance of rain.  (Click here for an updated forecast).

More on this hike:  "G3 Sky Trailhead to Bear Valley" in the Martins' book, Hiking Marin, is a version of this hike although we usually go straight at Junction #1 shown on their map and continue on to Sky Camp rather than take the detour up to Mt. Wittenberg (which we do on a separate loop hike from the Sky Trail trailhead) and then back down to the Sky Trail before continuing on to the Old Pine Trail, Divide Meadow and on to Bear Valley.  (Click here for the Seashore's South District Hiking Map which shows these trails).

The following Google Earth image gives a bird's eye view of where we'll be hiking:

Bahia Hike Photos Now On-Line!

Photos taken by Theresa Fisher during last week’s Bahia Hike are now on-line.

View them on the blog or click here for the on-line album.