This juice sure looks innocent, doesn’t it? Today was the first day I made juice for both Zak and myself with the Breville. Zak likes a lot of ginger and the new juicer handles ginger like a real champ. These two facts are a dangerous combination, as I was a little too eager and generous with the ginger this morning.

I’m fairly certain that this juice tunneled new pathways in my sinuses. I think I shook my head and bugged out my eyes after every sip. But I still drank it all! No worries. I think I’m fully protected from any sort of flu that might try to invade my immune system from now until 2011, Swine or otherwise.

The grapes sure look innocent, don’t they?

And they were. I ate them off the vine like Cleopatra waiting for my buddy Shawn to arrive so we could for a bike ride.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Who’s wearing a helmet and who’s not? Who’s wearing long sleeves and long pants on a 50 degree day and who’s not? Actually, never mind. Nothing is wrong with that picture, everything is as it should be. Sensible Women and the Men They Work Out With – I think that’s going to be title of my memoir.

Book titles aside, Shawn and I ran a lot together this summer but have never gone for a ride together. Boy I tell ya there is NOTHING like working out with a friend. The time just flies by, and if you work out with someone who is bigger and stronger than you it really helps up your intensity too. Shawn benefits because he feels like a big tough man so everyone wins.

We had an interesting conversation about being chased by dogs after passing a dog straining on it’s leash in our general direction about 6 miles in to our ride. My approach? I just yell and act like I’m the alpha dog and so far (knock on wood) it has never failed me. Shawn? He claims he a) can out run or ride any dog so he’s not concerned. He also says that b) if he got bit by a dog he would just bite back.

I’m going to get started on my memoir as soon as I hit publish.

We rode 16 miles and were gone about an hour and 15 minutes. It was chilly but still a beautiful day, especially from the comfort of a long sleeved shirt and long pants.

I’ve had potato pancakes on the brain for a few days now and decided they would make the perfect post ride lunch today.

I shredded two large sweet potatoes in the food processor and one medium onion too.

In a large bowl I scrambled 3 eggs and added 3 tablespoons of whole wheat flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, dashes of salt, pepper and dried parsley. I added the shredded potato and onion and stirred until well combined. I coated the pan with coconut oil and dropped in the potato batter and flattened with the spatula.

They sure look promising, don’t they? They smelled promising too!

I could NOT get these suckers to stick together for anything. Somewhere along the way I got the hiccups making me even more frustrated and ready to launch the whole thing straight through the kitchen window.

I added a little more flour. For the second round I coated the pan with olive oil instead of coconut oil. No dice. Third batch? Swapped out olive oil for canola oil. The canola oil worked best but I think that was most likely due to recklessly pouring oil into the pan like a drunk hostess serving wine at a party. About a half dozen dramatic sighs, 14 hiccups and a gallon of canola oil later I finally had something that resembled pancakes. They probably stuck together so well because they soaked up a lot of the oil, turning a relatively healthy meal into a grease bomb.

This was one non-grease bomb pancake that looked some what presentable. Served with applesauce.

I ate the failed mess pancakes plus the lone pretty one I got. They tasted great, no complaints there! But ascetically pleasing? Not so much. Zak the human compost ate the grease bombs, which also tasted great but then again even a fried piece of paper would taste great.

I’m not sure what exactly went wrong here, I normally have good luck with potato pancakes. But I also usually use white potatoes, so I’m blaming those deliciously devious sweet potatoes. White potatoes seem to release more water when they’re waiting their turn for the pan, and I think that might help them hold together better?

One thing’s for certain though: I no longer have potato pancakes on the brain.