Well I rode my first crummy bike in this city, and let me tell you it was awful!

Good thing the weather was so damn nice, and the bike ride turned quickly

into a beach stroll. Here's the lovely Lucy Mendel modeling her new bike jersey

before the ride to the ocean, with my new floor pump (finally!).

Of course the hearty dinner from the night before helped us make it up the

hills (we swapped bikes a few times). Plantains with chili and cinnamon,

Julia Child's potato leek soup (there was a whole chapter on it, so I had to

try), coconut sticky rice with fresh mango, sesame and sunflower seed mochi

(from a package!), Chinese eggplant with stringbeans, and a whole lotta

margaritas with cayenne salt, courtesy of Jesse.

Julia Child soup:

4 c peeled diced potatoes

3 c finely chopped leeks

2 Q water

3 T butter or coconut oil

salt to taste, maybe a tablespoon

Boil the potatoes and leeks with salt for about 40 or 50 minutes, until the

potatoes are really soft. Mash with a potato masher, fork, or whatever other

implement you have at hand. Stir in butter or coconut oil, salt and pepper to

taste. It was a hit, thanks Julia.

I-don't-know-who, a.k.a. Jimmy requested some workspace photos, and I am

sorry to say that the above photo of food-on-trunk is my dining room table,

and this is my kitchen workspace after a trip to the grocery store.