Monday, April 27, 2009

Ken Lockwood Gorge

Yesterday, the klutz was out in full form. I stuck my finger in the door jamb and withdrew it, bleeding. The blood flow was staunched, but the result is a swollen middle finger with an enormous blood clot. This morning, I am reduced to typing with one hand, so my eventful weekend has to be condensed into predominantly-picture form.

On the bright side, this has given me the unique opportunity to flip people the bird with my bandaged finger; you can imagine how much I am looking forward to that.
Saturday's "long run" was 8 miles. I overslept and did not join the group (missed breakfast with the group too, unfortunately), but DH accompanied me on 2 of the 8 miles.

We picnicked at Ken Lockwood Gorge in Hunterdon County, east of the Voorhees State Park. There are hiking and bike trails along the Raritan River.


The water was clear and inviting.


You will see several similar-looking, but scenic pics of the gorge.



The water was very shallow in
several places, so I took my
"ice bath", sitting on a rock...







Wherever you go in New Jersey, there are plenty of people about.






Can you spot the guy fishing in this pic?



There was also some cooking involved...this is the only pic I took...
Idli (steamed rice cakes) and peanut chutney (peanut dipping sauce).
This anemic-looking pic does not properly represent the dish. When cooked to perfection, idlis make the ideal breakfast dish...light, soft and healthy. I seriously believe that if you have mastered the art of idli making, you can consider yourself a worthy member of the South Indian culinary Hall of Fame. I have been struggling with this dish for ages. Thanks to Lakshmi's recipe, meticulous instructions and "grinding formula", this week, I made my first successful batch. I owe you one, girl!
We also watched Seven Pounds and Cake Eaters. Both really good movies, in my opinion.
The rest of the weekend was spent running around like crazy with our neighbors' son, Ryan, who like other 4-year olds, believes that every minute not spent playing is a minute wasted.
Hope you enjoyed your weekend.

19 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Yikes, the finger sounds painful, but great excuse to flip the bird for sure! :D Great job on the 8 miles and lovely pics! Btw, love the new blog look :)

Lindsay said...

lol, hope you are taking full advantage of the bandaged-finger-flipping. hope it heals quickly too of course! nice job on the 8 miler!

Pearl said...

beautiful photos! sorry to hear about your finger :(

Aileen said...

Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuch...so painful. I hope it's starting to feel better! Great pictures...I'm jealous of your scenery. And the picnic, of course ;)

Cindy said...

your poor finger!
those steamed rice cakes sounds so good. sounds kinda like mochi? or am i way off? i want to try those sometime!

Anonymous said...

Oh no! That must really hurt!! Hope it'll get better soon!
Oriental Pearl

J said...

I have been wanting to see Seven Pounds! Great job on the run! Love the pictures!

Abby said...

We'll have to keep an eye on each other at the expo - I have the klutz gene, too, and can never tell when it's going to make an appearance!

Anonymous said...

gorgeous pics! LOOVE Seven Pounds, that is such a good movie!

X-Country2 said...

Beautiful pics! That blows my crappy suburban route out of the water.

I Run for Fun said...

Ooo, mochi...idli is actually a combination of rice and urad dhal (a kind of gram).

Scheri said...

Gorgeous pictures!

I love idli! Yours looks perfect too!!

Mica said...

Yikes, sorry about the finger injury!

That's a sweet place to run, and I'm totally jealous of your ice bath in nature!

...I'm even more jealous of homemade idli. LOVE IT!

Bee At Work.. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bee At Work.. said...

Sorry about the finger injury,,must be really painful..your idlis look perfect and if time permits send me the recipe for peanut chutney. Take Care and nice to know you had a great weekend...ur pictures speak a thousand words!!!

zzz said...

Sorry about your finger. I am glad the idli came out well. I want to try your peanut chutney. will email you for recipe.

joyRuN said...

Hope you're showing up this weekend with pre-race idli & peanut chutney!

Your pics were beautiful - thanks for sharing :)

Vickie said...

I've been to New Jersey many times (my daughter lives there--Toms River now, Manchester, Easton? Anyway, nice to see pictures there of something besides beach pictures or like you said, people everywhere.

Felice Devine said...

Sorry about your finger but I do love that your post contained the word staunched!