Lama Legs

Can you feel a change in the force?  Do you sense the presence of something special?  Your intuition that someone important has arrived is spot on.  Bridget has returned from the mountains of Bolivia, bringing with her stories of lamas, bowel movements, 17,000 ft alpine peaks, medicine men and a whopping 18 units of college credit for her struggles and research.  

After a good nights sleep in a warm house and her first warm shower in 6 weeks she and her altitude trained body joined me for a barefoot run on the beach.  I’ve spent the past month attempting to develop my abilities as a runner in hopes that the leg powered sport will distract me, if only a bit, from all the shoulder intensive sports that I love.  Oddly, for the first time ever, I’m enjoying myself during quick outings on the beach.  Years of barefoot walking/hiking/yoga seemed to have served me well, as my joints are accepting the mild punishment that running brings.  Of course running on the beach is not without peril.  During our workout I managed to step on a bee mid stride.  Of course my foot swelled almost immediately.  Sandbagged.  We were only half way done.  However, Bridget reminded me that adrenaline is the treatment for allergic reactions.  So we returned to a quick pace.  Interestingly enough, The symptoms of the sting were gone in under a minute and I forgot about the incident within the hour.  Science!

In another interesting turn of events I received a phone call from my would be clients on Padaro lane a few days ago.  Turns out they will be offering me a job afterall.  The chef originally hired for the position is so good at what he does that he’ll be taking over their main residence in New York.  He’ll need some time off when they return to Santa Barbara so I’ve been called in to support.  So of the 5 chefs auditioned I guess I came in second, not a bad place on the medal stand.  Feeling motivated by this mild success I invited some friends over for dinner, or I should say experiments.  We all were very happy with the results.

Surf and Turf

-Grilled Coffee and Black Pepper crusted New York Steak

-Shrimp in Paprika Butter, Thyme, and Garlic

Flame Kissed Broccoli and Oyster Mushrooms

Warm Radicchio Salad with Caramelized Onions