Albany, Georgia is home to the Pretoria Fields Brewery. The Pretoria Fields Collective partners with farmers and suppliers all over the state of Georgia, keeping it local and making a great product.

Over the past few years I have developed a taste for Sours and Goses, and Pretoria Fields did not disappoint.



They have large indoor and outdoor seating areas and the building is in a nice historic brick building by the river.





Dog Friendly and delicious beers. Everything we tried was delicious.

If you are passing near Albany, GA, it is worth the visit.

Pretoria Fields makes some of their beers available for take-home in bottles or cans.

After Christmas I spent some time in Alabama with my two best buddies, Cathy and Kip. We did hiking on Pinhoti Trail in Talladega National Forest and in Cheaha State Park, the highest point in Alabama.





We also did some gravel cycling.

Birthday present from my wife... artwork by Cheryl Russell. Now hanging above my reading chair in the living room.

Dan Stoner's Smoothie Milkshake recipe.

I'm not an exact measurement kind of guy... this recipe makes enough smoothie for 2 - 4 people.

Part 1

• 2 or 3 handfulls of Spinach, Kale, or other salad greens
• Veggies such as carrots or zucchini
• 1 or 2 ripe bananas
• Tablespoon of Protein powder (I use Great Lakes Gelatin)
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• Other fresh fruit such as pears, apple
• 1/3 stick of creme cheese (Philadelphia original)
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Whole milk
• Greek Yogurt (not low fat)
• Agave nectar (light colored)
• splash of vanilla extract

Part 2

• Frozen fruits such as blueberries, seedless grapes, apple slices, pear slices, strawberries
• handfull of Ice

Tips / Notes

This smoothie is full of delicious, healthy, fat and lots of nutrients! None of these ingredients are "Light" or "Low Fat" or "Nonfat". Some vegetable flavors hide better than others... baby spinach, baby kale, carrots, zucchini all work reasonably well.

I usually add the ingredients in two parts so I only have to remove the lid once during the whole process.  I add the "warmer" ingredients first and the frozen fruit / ice last.

The secret ingredients that really make the creamy smoothie texture are the cream cheese and frozen apple slices. The smoothie needs less than 1 cup of liquids which can be a mixture of milk, cream, or fruit juice.

Using an entire avocado seems to affect the flavor a little too much. Cover the extra avocado half with plastic rap and stick it in the fridge, it will stay fresh for up to a week (if the surface turns brown, just scrape that off with a butter knife).

Many fruits can be frozen.  Strawberries taste great but the seeds tend to make the smoothie gritty. Sliced apples, pears, and seedless grapes that are a little beyond their prime (or come home from school uneaten in the kid's lunchbox) can be frozen. The more frozen fruit added to the smoothie the less ice is needed.

I have a Ninja blender. I have never used a Vitamix or Blendtec. The Ninja gets the job done and actually does a good job of handling these particular ingredients. My technique with the Ninja is to hit the Pulse button a few times until the big chunks are taken care of, then run the blender long enought to make sure there aren't any chunks.

This is a video of "the pour" of the completed product:

 

Over the summer I started doing Stand-Up Paddleboard (SUP) for fun. I even renewed my fishing license. SUP is a great core muscle workout! I ended up buying two SUPs on craigslist so I have the option to take buddies along.

Before deciding to get a SUP I looked at fishing kayaks. But I hate to sit. Sitting kills me. I think I made a good decision to go with the SUPs because I really enjoy being on the water and standing up. Besides the exercise I have so much better visibility. I have seen some interesting things under the water including sea turtles, dolphins (in salt water) and alligators (in fresh water) that I might have missed if I were sitting down.

The Jackson SuperFISHal is a big, stable, slow barge. Great for fishing but catches a lot of wind.

The California Board Company Angler 11 is sleeker and faster but a lot more tippy. Good for calm waters and when I want to travel a longer distance.

Here is my SuperFISHal at Lake Lou on a beautiful morning in the Ocala National Forest:



This picture was taken before an exciting day fighting wind and currents at Matanzas Inlet:



My first (and only so far) SUP fish! A tiny bass at Salt Springs in Ocala National Forest:




Here is my Angler 11 in Salt Run near St. Augustine:





They both ride nicely stacked on top of my Subaru Crosstrek. After looking at a lot of rooftop carrying options, I opted for generic kayak foam pads and this has worked well so far. A secret I learned from one of the sellers is to twist the tie-down straps that go over the top in order to reduce terrible vibration wind noise.