Summer 2014 Peninsula and Astoria Trip

Summers here are heavenly and all too short. Already nearing the end of another summer.

This summer started out with some great gardening and continues as I write this post. So far, I have harvested about $200 worth of organic produce and I am using only half of my potential gardening space this season.

We "remodeled" the main bathroom. That is another post later.


Earlier this year, hubby purchased a weekend in Astoria package at a charity auction. We decided to make our summer vacation out of it and drove the 101 around the peninsula on the way to Astoria.

We stopped in  Sequim Bay State Park for picnic lunch. The park is really nice with short, well maintained trails, nice picnic areas overlooking the bay.

Before checking in to the cabin, we toured the Makah Cultural Museum.
This is a really nice museum and cultural center and a must-see in the area. The area is territory of the Makah tribe and they are so gracious to open and share one of the most beautiful land in the USA to the public. In my opinion, visitors need to take an earnest effort to learn about and give the utmost respect to the culture and the land.

We stayed in a cabin at the Hobuck Beach Resort. The cabins are great and the beach is phenomenal. We wish we could have stayed at least one more night. We relaxed in the cabin and played in the sand. We walked (and ran) along the beach, searching the tidal pools for sea anemones, hermit crabs, barnacles, clams and crabs. We made sand sculptures and drawings.

The hike out to the point on Cape Flattery is moderately challenging and the trail is well-kept. The overlooks are awe-inspiring.

This is the most north-westerly tip of the continental 48 states.


Note that these Cape Flattery photos, I did not re-touch them. Only used a UV filter on the lens and did compositing for landscaping and cropped. It is really that beautiful.






















Ruby Beach was our late-lunch stop. We have been to Kalaloch and Beach 2 and 3? in the past. Most everyone that has an opinion of the beaches is of the opinion that Ruby Beach is the most beautiful. I did think it was beautiful but, not any more or less than the others. It is a small beach, rocky and a good elevation change to get down to it.







We took an unplanned stop at Fort Columbia. Hubby had visited years ago before we moved here, and I wanted to give it a go. Very informative, and  cool place to visit. The interpretive signs are kinda willy-nilly stuck in the ground at odd places and the park requires a lot of up and down and climbing up steep hills but the military base is pretty much like it was. I enjoyed walking about, and found myself imagining the feeling of wool socks in laced up leather boots as I marched up and down the misty hills and stairs a midst the crumbling concrete and steel. The salty sea-wind in my face and the barracks at my back.


The Astoria Commodore Hotel is a bare-bones, retro/modern place in the heart of downtown. The service is extraordinary. The beds are fairly comfortable. We booked the river-view suite. A corner room with a queen and full couch with a full bath in the room. Most rooms are MUCH smaller with community bath. Amenities in this room included a shower/bathtub, toilet, sink, toilet paper, shampoo / conditioner / body wash in a dispenser in the shower, tissues, towels, a throw-blanket, TV/dvd (we did not use), table fan (very quiet), clock/radio/sleep-center with ipod station. That's it.  It was very noisy the 1st nite due to the drunks hanging out in the street under the window (historic single pane windows here). The next night was typical road noise. They do offer ear plugs if you need them. The location is great and the building is cool. It is walking distance from just about everything to do in Astoria. I would surely recommend the place for a superior location, charm, service, price as long as you don't expect the modern amenities in-room and can tolerate a historic building downtown with all its sounds.

The Columbia Maritime museum is really good and a must-visit.

Eateries:
BlueOcean Thai is soooo yummy. The Bowpickers fish and chips boat is a must. Check the twitter feed for hours as they are subject to change and bring cash. I thought it was the best fish and chips style fish I have had and although their tartar sauce is great, I thought it was phenomenal with malt-vinegar. The chips are just steak fries from a bag and fried in the fish oil which does make them taste good.
42nd street cafe has good light breakfast. Pig n Pancake has good big breakfasts.
Fort George has 3 opportunities to dine and brew. The Pub is pretty much a pub. The tasting room is located in the brewery itself. It is intimate and urban-rustic with a light selection of nosh. It has a view of the operations. The restaurant is above the Pub and offers outstanding 3 sides of picture windows of the town and the river. It has pub tables, a few small seating arrangement but mostly heavy wood and metal family-style tables. A selection of games adds to the atmosphere. The beers - typical Oregonian IPA hopsy stuff. I am not a fan and should have expected as much. They did have one wheat and 2 stouts that I could enjoy. The food on the other hand was super fab! Smoked salmon spread with pita, apples and carrots - WOW especially on the apples. Elk burger cordon bleu style was tasty and the herbed mashed potato fried blobs were good but would have been fab with some tillamook cheddar in there ;-). The wood-fired pizza - super delish! Carrot cake - yum!


Astoria column - The artwork on the outside is wonderful but, the climb is not worth it not to mention that they just let people go up and down without any kind of traffic limitation - hazard waiting to happen.

Flavel House - nice house, not huge but not tiny either. It is nice but really not a must-see.

We spent 2 nights and felt like we don't ever need to go back. We did everything in one day. It is nice though if you want to get away to a small town that has great walking downtown, a decent river walk and great maritime museum, good food. I do suggest staying downtown as you can walk anywhere. The shops are cool (if they are open). There was an arcade a few blocks down. Yeah, a real one with Donkey-Kong and everything - old school kind - that was totally awesome.


On the way back we visited Cape Disappointment State Park. Also, a must see but give yourself at least a half day. Don't miss the North Lighthouse area. Renting one of the keepers homes in January I expect would be an adrenaline inducing experience.

We had to jot up into Long Beach for a late lunch before heading out. Bobs Chowder is a tiny tiny 9-seater tucked away in a "museum" just off the main drag. Menu is simple. Chowder is pretty much it besides fish and chips and crab rolls. I found the clam chowder good but a too thick and plain for my gold star stamp ( I like mine less potato-y and with more fresh herbs). The smoked salmon chowder on the other-hand was just knock your socks off good. Fish and chips also good as well as the tarter and the slaw had a surprisingly good twist with the addition of cranberries. Super friendly folks.

Then back on to home.

Ah-guest 2013: Part 2 - A Whale of a tale.

mom n pop

The 2nd part of August hails in my folks from Texas. It is always good to see my parents and the older we all get, the more I soak in the moments (the good and the frustrating).  After a busy week with my brother-in-law, we still had a busy week but it was slightly more laid back.

This visit was flipped from the last guest, with my hubby going to work and me hanging out with my folks for the most part.

We started the week off with a visit to the Space Needle. (Sorry all my future guests... Your visits to downtown Seattle will be on-your-own. Rent a car, take a cab, or transit there 'cause this train is done with the typical Seattle tourist hits).

playing with forced perspective - how fun!

Seattle Space Needle  - my untested tip: Plan ahead...well ahead and make reservations for dining to visit the needle. No lines, no waiting and although there is a minimum per-guest charge, the view is free, the visit to the deck is included and you get chow. Plan a few weeks in advance because reservations are a few days to weeks out in the tourist season. Our family has been a total of 3 times (one regular admission, 2 VIP) and still wish we would have done dinner or lunch.

singing flowers

The next few days were filled with quality time with the parents and they with the grand-daughter.

Yum! goulash!

We had a campfire, visited the lake and gardens, completed school-shopping etc...

Then we took a 3-day weekend to "Beautiful British Columbia". We packed up like clowns into the VW Golf and took the Coho over to Victoria. Stayed in a nice little apartment near the Fishermans'Warf. Visited the Butchart, Craigdarroch, Parliament, and with all the walking we did... you would think I should have lost weight instead of gained.

Here is our experience...

Papaw and kiddo

Coho ferry   my rate = 4/5 stars
departs Port Angeles on the upper OP, across the Strait of San Juan de Fuca into Victoria Harbour. Wear appropriate clothing to stand out on the bow of the ship and look out for sea life. We sighted Humpback whales on the way and back. If you have kids or are a kid at heart... get up to the bow right away and watch them cast off.

Craigdarroch Castle   my rate = 5/5 stars
More of a mansion with a tower but, very cool anyways. The history of the building makes it interesting and how it is still in process of being restored after all the many faces it has worn. The docents are extremely knowledgeable and my hubby couldn't even stump them with his inquiries.

Parliament Building  my rate = 4/5 stars
How fun is this. A bit of politics, a lot of detail and astounding beauty in this building. Makes ya wanna run for office just so you can work here. The great thing - free! The guides were lacking and we were on the weekend so, the group was huge and wish we could have taken more time as we could have during the week. The guides seemed like they were scripted and did not know much beyond the speech with the exception of the surprise period speaker (not sure if there is a different one each time).

Waterfront  my rate = 5/5 stars
There is no lack of water-front on Vancouver Island. Walk the harbours, visit the parks. Fantastic! You can go at your own pace. Relax. Exercise. Eat. Watch the wildlife (people too).

Butchart Gardens   my rate = 3/5 stars
My 1st visit was (clears throat) about 20 years ago.Yikes. Seems about the same except the time of year.
It took us about 2 -2.5 hours to go through. We took our time and read signs and such. It is nice and the sunken garden is really nice. I was quite disappointed in the rose garden (they were labeled) because they planted carpet phlox along the pathway and it really really masked the scent of the roses. Carpet phlox is kinda stinky! If you are a garden person then I would suggest it otherwise... you can get your garden fill just walking around the city. It is a private garden not a botanical so, the plants are not labeled.

B.C's licence plates slogan is well-fitting and is not just a slogan - it is truly Beautiful! I would love to visit again and hopefully see some of the upper-lands.

Hummus with Naan and Spiced Meat

Spiced meat is awesome with hummus and the Naan provides a delightful utensil for scooping it up.
MMMMM Delish.

There are sooooo many recipe variations but here is the one my family likes best.

This dish is highly adjustable to taste preference and availability of ingredients.
You can substitute beef for lamb or any flat-bread for the Naan.

Spiced Meat

 Ingredients:

2 lbs of finely diced lamb, beef, or other meat although lamb or beef are the best for flavor.
1 large onion finely diced
1 bulb garlic finely chopped
1 tbsp flour

2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1-2 tbsp Baharat Spice mix (recipe below)

My Baharat Mix
2 part each: Allspice, paprika
1 part each: tumeric, clove, nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Star anise to taste (optional but nice)
Cardamon (I used whole cardamon, 2 pods)


Method:

Preheat skillet or pot to medium high heat with oil.
In separate large bowl mix together the meat, spices and onion, garlic and flour.
Brown meat mixture in pan. When cooked through, add lemon juice and cover and simmer on low for about an hour. Mixing occasionally. You can serve it if the meat has cooked all the way but the extra cover and simmer time gets the meat nice and soft and lets all the awesome flavors blend and soak in.

Naan

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (plus some extra for rolling)
2 1/2 tsp or 1 package of instant yeast
1 tbsp sugar or honey
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 egg
1/2 cup warm water

Method

In large mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, sugar (or honey), and salt
In separate bowl combine egg, oil, yogurt and water.
Slowly add the wet to the dry ingredients, blend well.
Divide dough into about 24 equal pieces and let each piece rise till double.
Roll each piece into a thin disk about 1/8 inch thick.

Cook on a greased skillet over medium high heat till done on each side (about 60 seconds total).

Hummus

Ingredients

3 cans chickpeas (about 5-6 cups)
2-3 tbsp roasted sesame seeds (or about 1 tsp sesame oil)
6 large cloves garlic (about 2 tbsp crushed)
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice

Optional ingredients:
roasted red pepper, cayenne pepper, cilantro, pepper, yogurt


Method

In food processor, add chickpeas, sesame, garlic, salt, and process on pulse to chop the peas.
Add the lemon juice and process continually, adding oil slowly until smooth.

toasting seeds

Tips

Add or subtract the following according to your taste.

Garlic - more makes it spicy

Lemon juice - gives it tang and acidity

Sesame - a toasty aromatic flavor

Greek plain yogurt will give it more moisture, tang and smoothness




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Lazy Lady Eclairs

I don't' know where I found it. Pinterest, one of the many blog hops I follow. I don't know.

The point is, someone posted a recipe for "Easy Eclairs". 
Hold the phone. I LOVE eclairs and I can make them at home easy? - Yes!.

I gave the recipe a try & half way into the darn thing I stopped.

Easy my @&%fillintheblank!
She wanted you to make the dough from scratch, make the chocolate icing from scratch, and whip the cream. The ONLY thing "easy" about it was she used boxed instant pudding in the recipe. WHAT?
Grrr.... 
I milled it over for a little bit and thought - I can make this easy! WATCH ME!


I tried 3 different styles of doing the pastry.

Fail # 1 - letting it puff and doing the traditional fill and top with icing - I did not like biting into it and the filling going everywhere but in my mouth.

# 2 - placing the dough on inverted muffin tin to make little cups - although this was a cool idea, it still was somewhat messy eating and it was more time consuming.

#3 - flat squares - WIN - makes it FAST to prepare and EASY to eat.

These are not traditional eclairs for you "food snobs" out there. BUT, they are yummy, easy, quick and will give you an eclair "fix".

Time to make: 15-30 minutes.
Makes 24 3inch squares

 

 

ingredients (imagine the milk there too)

Ingredients:

1 package of vanilla instant pudding mix (the big 5 oz box)
2 cups cold milk
1 container frozen creamy whipped topping (8oz)
1 container chocolate icing (1lb.)
1 box puff pastry (2 sheets)- thawed

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
While Oven is heating, mix the pudding mix with milk and put in fridge. Take out the frozen topping and place it on the counter to get it warmed up.
Cut each sheet into 3rds along the fold and then cut each 3rd into 4ths (see photo) to make12 sections.

cut into 12 squares

Place the sections evenly spaced onto a cookie sheet (stretch the sections if you want to make even looking squares but that would just be more work).
Bake the pastry till puffed and almost lightly golden (this took my oven about 8 minutes).

puffed & starting to get golden

Immediately use a spatula and flatten the puffs. You don't have to go all ninja on them - just a light firm squish to flatten the tops (see the pic of the finished product to get and idea). Here is where if you want them a little more crispy - you can put them back in the oven for about 1-3 minutes after you smoosh them to give them a bit more toasty crispiness.


While those are cooling off a bit, mix the pudding and about 2/3-3/4 of the container of whipped cream topping.

Smear about a tablespoon full of frosting on the top of each pastry.
Top with about a tablespoon of pudding mixture.

Yum!

You can adjust the level of chocolate to cream ratio according to your taste.

If you want the cream thicker, reduce the milk. 

Yeah... you may have leftover cream and frosting but you will find something to use it for ;-)

There you have it!
5 ingredients
EASY!

Cut those squares in half for a quick easy party nom!

Chicken Ceasar Wraps

This quick, healthy meal in a wrap is a standby at our house. 

You can make it a little easier and quicker than the recipe here.
I will note the options in the recipe for you.

This will make about 4-6 wraps. Takes about 30 minutes.

You can jazz it up by using mixed greens or marinate your chicken over-nite in Italian dressing. The options are up to you.

Ingredients:

1 boneless skinless chicken breast (or breaded frozen strips, breasts or patties)
1 cup fine crouton crumbs (I used a food processor) (not needed if using already breaded chicken) But you might want some whole for the inside fixuns's
2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1 cup fresh diced tomato
1 cup slice onion
1 egg (scrambled for breading the chicken)
6 large flour tortilla wraps
Parmesan Romano cheese
Caesar Salad dressing

 

Method:

Pound chicken to 1/2 thick even thickness. Dip in scrambled egg and coat with crumbs. 
(This can be skipped if you have pre-breaded and cooked meat - just follow the cooking directions on the package).
Heat oil in skillet if you do not have a non-stick skillet.
Cook over medium heat till done (165 degrees in center) about 6 minutes on each side.
Set aside to rest about 5-10 minutes.

Cook the onions in the skillet till soft.
Cut the chicken into strips or cubes.
Assemble the wrap according to your taste.
Lettuce, tomato, cheese, onion and chicken with a drizzle of dressing on top.

Super Simple Apple Pie!

"Easy as pie!" I think this expression comes from apple pie. No pie is more easy and fool-proof to make!

Ingredients:

4 -6 medium sized Apples - any kind will work.
        But, if you want to know... I used 2 Fuji and 2 honey-crisp because it's what I had!
        How much?  - Enough to mound the slices up in your pie pan. Mine were 2-4 inches diameter.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1-2 tbsp ground cinnamon
        Optional - nutmeg and other spices to taste - I did not use them because I wanted  SIMPLE pie.
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) cold and cut into slices. OR you can melt it. Whatever.

2 - Pie crust - you can make your own or purchase
1 egg scrambled - optional for a pretty glaze top
1 tbsp sugar optional for sparkly glazed top.

Crust - I wing it and make by feel. For this one I used about 2-3 cups flour cut into about 1/2 cup soft butter and 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt. Added enough water to make it into dough and rolled it out.

Method:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Peel and slice them apples and remove cores. (save the peel and cores for your chickens or making apple cider vinegar :-) Or at least compost them.

Put them in a BIG mixing bowl with the sugar, flour, spices and coat them all nice and even.

Prepare your crust and place one in the pie pan.
Pour all them apples in the crust - they will be nice and high!
Butter goes on top of that nice and even.
Cover the mound with the other crust in your style of choice.

Optional - "paint" with the scrambled egg and sprinkle the sugar on top.

Bake till crust is nice and golden - about 20-30 minutes.
Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream!