Today’s workout: chest and arms then onto a 7.53 mile run with Shane. Great morning for a run.  It was 62 degrees.

The view on Saturday morning:   My favorite part of the switchbacks, located in Valley View gold course

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It was dark and foggy Saturday morning, but when the sun is shining, this above picture offers the light at the end of the tunnel.  The switchbacks are shaded by trees.  It’s a trail run.  To get to the point pictured above, you have to run up hill.  It’s not super steep but enough to get you looking forward to seeing flat ground again.  On a sunny morning, you exit the trees and the above 6th hole at Valley View offers a burst of sunshine and a nice downhill run.   My light at the end of the tunnel.  That was Saturday, Sunday brought on its own challenges.

Ted and I rode 31.6 miles Sunday before the inevitable:  A Flat Tire. This is how it all started…

After our three Florida guests left, at 9:30 am, my parents, Ted, and myself had breakfast at Creekside.  Wonderful breakfast, as always.  We had the bikes on the back of the car so Mum and Dad would drive  the car home and we would go on our cycling merry way. 

We left Washington Mills to Sauquoit. Up, up, up, UP Sulphur Springs Road. That was a 6% assent. Oh YAY!  We made it.  From Route 12 we took Fountain St. into Clinton.  Back to New Hartford and down Genesee St. at which point Ted said lets keep going. “What ever” was my enthusiastic response.

We took old Herkimer Road to Dyke Road and at about 2 miles from home I said, “Ted you can go on ahead because I’m really tired and having a tough time”.  He said “no rush, we’ll ride slower”.  And we kept peddling.  At about 3/4 mile from home, I looked at my feet and something caught my eye. I took another look and thought my back tire looked flat to the ground.  Hmmm…?????   “TED!  I Might have a flat tire”.    Ted starts trying to look at his tires …..TED!!!! MINE!!!!”   “Oh!…WOW! You do!”.  We stopped but being so close to home decided he would ride home, get the car and pick me up.  I walked the bike about 1/4 mile before the car came.

It was our first flat experience.  The thing that caused the flat was stuck in the tire. It was a very small sharp sliver of metal and we had to use a tool to extract it. We then got the new tube in and were all set but discovered we had put the tire on backwards.  Off it came again.  

The end result: I didn’t hit the proverbial “WALL”.  I was tired because I was trying to cycle with a tire that was getting progressively flat. 

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These are not just ANY banana muffins. These are Mini Chip Banana Muffins.  I was practicing my Bed and Breakfast “hostess with the mostest” routine for our company this past weekend. We had a house full.  It was family, friends, and lovely people all around.

Saturday, after returning home from my run, I had the kitchen to myself. Ted left for coffee with the guys, Dad left to try to play golf in the rain, and no one else was awake yet.  I looked at the half eaten banana I had left on the counter before my run.  I looked at the other extra large banana that was well on it’s way to being over – OVER ripe.  Then the idea hit.  I would make the house smell of wonderful banana muffins for our rising guests.   Makes 6 large muffins

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  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat WHITE flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 large over ripe bananas, mashed
  • 5  TBS 2% milk
  • 1 TBS butter – or healthy heart alternative, melted
  • 1 TBS canola oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Use a large muffin, muffin tin with large paper cupcake liners. 

In a bowl, mix well, the flours, baking powder, salt, sugar.   Stir in the chocolate chips.

In another bowl, combine the bananas, milk, butter, oil, egg, and vanilla. Add the this mixture to the flour mixture. Combine all ingredients by hand and only mixing until it is JUST incorporated. Do not over mix.

Pour the batter into the six large muffin papers and bake 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of one comes out clean.

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The unfortunate thing happened when Ted came home, no one was up yet and I had cooked my favorite morning omelet.  Ted declares “It smells like bacon”.  Why is this unfortunate?  One: I don’t eat bacon.  and Two:  The wonderful fresh baked smell of banana muffins had been out done by a vegetable omelet. And Three:  I think bacon smells greasy.

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Do you have a favorite dish you like to prepare when guests come to visit? 

Joanne

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