Ohhh.... poor, poor MTC

This is why the MTC (Midnight The Cat) is so great: She puts up with so much while I'm away...  I owe you big Midnight!

You can tell she doesn't like beer either.  I'm telling you - it's all the bubbles!

I know, MTC!  We'll never speak of this again!

Just a warning for those of you who pet sit, or ask people to pet sit for you!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

How I Love My Food....

All Cincinatians should come to know and love the gals from Cooking with Catlin!  I started my obsesion with CwC on a Tuesday lunch break from CCHMC when I ventured down to Fountain Square's "Market on the Square" (#2) event.  The taste and uniqueness of CwC's burgers and recipes kept me coming back almost every week that summer:


One time, out on the Square.


How many times I you find Dr. Alex eating a burger on a Tuesday in the summer?

Then I found the wonders of Cooking with Catlin's Third Thursday events!  

My first Third Thursday event!  (Yes, the blond is famous - Valerie is a weather woman!)


Third Thursday is also great for first date nights! Those Waffle Sandwiches rocked!


It's OK to get dressed up and come out and eat with Dr. Seuss and Co.


If you're luck you can also get your picture taken with Katie - Catlin's mom!


You can even go by yourself and have a great time!

After such fond memories over these past two years, I realized I was missing CwC's flavor and style of food. So, last night Maria and I tried out three of CwC's recipes:

Fresh Tomato Pizza 

Starting off, Maria did a great job and made her own pizza dough from scratch!

After rolling out the pizza dough, a light glaze of olive oil was added.  Then two oblong tomatoes were cut into thin slices and placed around the middle of the pizza.  

Toppings of Italian seasoning, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, and balsamic vinegar were added.

Careful with that balsamic vinegar, Dr. Alex, it flows very quickly! 

The sides were delicately folded into a ring/bowl pattern and the pizza was baked for ~15 min.

Cut and sever.  Makes 8 servings.

Next course:

Seared Scallops with Tarragon Dijon Mustard

Apparently scallops are in season this time of year.  Who knew?

You can never use "too much" butter when pan frying scallops.  Next time, I'll choose to follow CwC's advise and cut the scallops in half.  I think they'll cook more evenly that way.

Two to three minutes on each side is all it takes to whiten the edges and leaving the middle slightly undercooked.

Just add the Tarragon Dijon mustard mix on top each scallop and they are ready to serve!

Dinner!

Dessert:

Almond Butter and Berries

Almond Butter is hard to find!  Listen to CwC!

Be careful not to burn the toast.  Longer then 3 minutes in the broiler and you'll asking for trouble.  Always make sure you have an egg timer handy.

She likes it!

The two great cooks!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Pittsburgh > Seattle > Cincinnati

Readers of the Medicine Man's Blog already know that Pittsburgh is much, much better then Boston from a previous post.

Now, Transportation for America ask "How dangerous is your city?"  A study was conducted to find and measure the Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) of 52 US metro areas with populations of greater then 1 million people.  "The PDI was developed to allow a fair comparison of metro areas according to their risk to pedestrians, relative to how much an ordinary person walks in that metro area."

Over all Pittsburgh was found to be the 4th safest city (based on PDI), Seattle the 5th, and Cincinnati the 7th.  Philadelphia is an abysmal #15 in overall pedestrian safely.  The worst city: Orlando (#52).

If you're over 65, the study finds that states such as Hawaii, California, and Florida are all the more dangerous for you!  TfA reports that the "the higher fatality rate for older pedestrians can probably be attributed to several factors: 1) older pedestrians have a higher risk of death than young people given the same severity of injury; 2) older pedestrians are more likely to have perceptual, sensory and cognitive impairments that decrease their ability to avoid oncoming traffic; and, 3) existing pedestrian infrastructure, such as the duration of crosswalk signals, ignores the needs of older walkers." 

I really think from point #2 that TfA is trying to say that older walkers are slower to cross the street, slower to react if they feel they are in danger, may not see the cars or trucks coming at time, may not hear the roar of the traffic coming at them, and may not know what to do if they feel they are in danger. 

Even if you are young and quick, you still have to be lucky.  This video just goes to show you that brightly warn crossing guard reflectors don't always avoid close contacts with cars either. 

Urban Cincy did a great recap of the findings and expanding upon how pedestrian traffic relates to safety in our fair city.

At least Cincinnati > Cleveland.  :-)

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

  

Run Like the Devil is Chasing

Cincinnati Bell sure knows how put on a great party for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!  The Run Like Hell is half 5K run through Walnut Hills Cemetery and half celebration for Halloween -  filled with costume contests, live music, and a Cincinnati favorite: Goetta.   I've ranked the RLH #1 for fun runs for years!  a close second is the Reggae Run.

All that running, eating, and sweating paid off!  This year, marked my 3rd year running.  While not having lived in the area for the past 3 months, I packed up my Bam Bam costume, complete with bone club and running shoes and flew back home to Cincinnati.  It was also a special year, in that Binkle and her husband few out from Washington, DC to meet me for the run and celebration.

Costumes very from the fashionable "sexy nurse" to completely homemade to last minute throw togethers.      While the RLH will never compare in scale to the New York City Marathon, and their best 25 costumes, it still holds a very special place in my heart.

So what were our results?

My over all place in the male category: 200th!

With a time of: 32:16.00

For a pace of: 10:34/mile

Binkle's overall in the female category: Better them mine! at 166th
Time: 33:30:00.
Pace of: 10.58/mile.

Cincinnati isn't the only city that schedules fun runs around Halloween.  Seattle held it's 14th Annual Pumpkin Push, a "one-of-a-kind run" for the support of healthcare for Seattle's homeless.  Sadly, I didn't pick up my complimentary pumpkin post race. :-(

Even the city of Salem, MA has it's own 6.66 mile race to embrace the holiday spirit!

The crowd at the RLH!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

P.S. Binkle was the first to inform me about her MovNat experience which lead to my MovNat training.  

500 Days of Summer

After seeing "500 Days of Summer" on my flight back to Seattle from Cincinnati, I got to thinking.

Just one day, I'd like this to happen to me.  Well... I can forgo the animated birds.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Princess Zombies

From long know Snow White to much awaited Princess Tiana, it's clear to see that the Disney Princesses can be idolized in a variety of manners (#1, #2, #3, #4). 

Along slightly different lines then from an earlier post, the Fallen Princesses take a turn for the worst.  In Jeffrey Thomas's Twisted Princess, he invokes the Halloween spirit through his frightful compilation.  

All in all these aspiring queens are a far cry, yet a far more interesting rendition, of the traditional view of these beauties.  

Then again... they could all just have issues with each other.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

This is why I <3 Google!

 


Thanks for reading,  


Dr. Alex