Being a huge fan of latin explorers, I took a personal day on Monday to reflect on the world that Columbus stumbled upon (and to think, we could be living in the West Indies right now!). The best way to celebrate, natch, was to take a left-coast transplant up to Piermont NY to soak in some non-urban sights and peep the sharp colors waking up the leaves and branches.
So I picked up Sugarb!tch (which beats “pastry chef” hands down) and we rolled North, West, more North to Piermont — in the truck. The day was amazing, real Indian Summer territory, warm and calm and skies so clear you’d think birds would fly into them. We unpacked the bikes and adjusted my spare to fit her, and off we rolled. The leaves were really popping — though there’s much more to come. We took an easy route South on 501, and found a bit of history when she suggested we turn on Blanch Ave. There was a sprawling family farm there last century, for centuries before … now it’s a historical preserve, and made for a good walk and a muse. SB took us off-road for a bit, then we turned around to head back to (and past) Piermont.
I took us down Piermont Ave and into Nyack, and found out how much fun the “which house?” game could be. These are the best homes in the Hudson Valley, with views of the river, on a quiet lane, worth gazillions. I found one or two I could bear living in, I think she found 10. 
We headed back to the truck when SB realized what a boon padded shorts could really be … I was very impressed as we had done 21 miles, much farther than I had gone on my first shortless ride. Well done you!
From there we said goodbye to the daylight and meandered back to NYC by way of the byways, enjoying the different NJ neighborhoods along the way.
We stopped at the Whole Foods for supplies and snacks, and then it was back to my hovel for a home-cooked meal. First one since I moved in, I believe. Well, first one that fancy … there were as pan-seared pork chops served with garlic-onion sweet potatoes and asparagus sauteed with lemon and red pepper, followed by a cheese plate with real roasted almonds and some honeysnap (?) apples. All accompanied by a stout red Zin which took about an hour to wake up, but stood up to the menu very well once it had.
And yes, I ate the sweet potatoes. I enjoyed the sweet potatoes. Who knew? I still don’t like pears, don’t go getting all excited.
So we were out all day welcoming in the Fall, and we were cookin’ all night, making with the healthy dishes. I could get used to this whole eating-real-food thing that been going on the past few weeks. Heck, I even made my own lunch today, some fresh broccoli sauteed with leftover red peppers and a little lemon and soy. Mmm. Anyway. Major kudos to Sugarb!tch who really knows how to shake up a long-dormant kitchen. She’s definitely good for more than desserts!
Columbus Day is my new favorite holiday.
So great to see the Forte clan (with new Stroiney appendage!), Ralph and Bill and Saskbob and newcomers Meg and Hugh and Dean and Flannan and Annabell and, of course, Hello Kitty.
