Valley Bikery

A few weeks ago I ran into a couple of people from the San Fernando Valley based biking group Valley Bikery at the Studio City Farmers Market. The group isn't based out of a specific location yet, but their focus is biking in the San Fernando Valley. They seem particularly interest in reaching out to people that might be new to various aspects of biking as a transportation method. I was super excited to see someone was doing something like this and signed up for their mailing list. I haven't made it to any events, but I am looking forward to it. Some of the things they mentioned are holding beginner or intermediate level bike rides and workshops with basic bicycle maintenance.

On Sunday July 5th and Sunday July 19th from 12pm to 4pm at Lake Balboa (right at the Lake), they are holding clinics on basic bike maintenance. If you don't feel comfortable biking to Lake Balboa from your home or can't fit your bike in your car, Lake Balboa is easily accessible from the Orange Line.

It seems like this group is fairly new, but I am excited about the possibilities!

happy summer!

One thing I love about the summer in California are the fruits and veggies. It's hard to resist the beautiful and unique things that you can find at the farmers market and growing on trees available for public use. The foods come with delicious smells, unique textures and a rainbow colors. Some of the flavors are so intense and delicious there is no need to do anything else with the foods besides washing them. Biking to the Studio City farmers market early Sunday morning makes for an enjoyable beginning of the summer.




my take away this week: tomatoes, cucumber, lime, summer squash and a variety of pit fruit including apricots, pluots and a peach. most of it is organic, all of it is local. total spent: $4.

Farmers Market Recipe - Applesauce

I love going to the Farmers market. The ones near me don't necessarily have the best prices on food all of the time, but there are some great tasting items you can't find in the normal grocery stores. Recently I picked up a couple pound of "second-rate" organic apples without wax for $1 a pound. I honestly have no idea what variety they were -- they were a molted red/green color. They were fairly sweet when snacking on little slices. I was excited to use organic apples as according to the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen list apples have one of the highest pesticide loads of a large variety of produce.

I'd never made applesauce before, but I set out to turn my second-rate apples to first-rate applesauce! It is super sweet considering I didn't add any sugar.

8 medium apples
few tablespoons of lime/lemon juice (I pick whatever citrus I can find in my neighborhood that is in public areas)
water
spices, as desired: cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger

Fill a large saucepan or pot with an inch or so of water. Add a couple of tablespoons of citrus juice.
Wash and core all apples. Do no peel! Cut into cubes and add to pot of water. Continue until all apples have been cut.
Cover apples in pot and turn on medium. Allow to simmer until the apples have become soft and begin falling apart, stirring occasionally.
Turn off burner. Using immersion blender (or some other device for mashing/pureeing), puree applesauce until it is the desired consistency. Season to taste with spices and additional lemon or lime juice.