Bearing Fruit

Brandywine

Pimento Padron

Arugula

Our garden is actually hanging on pretty well. Above you'll see pictures of our Brandywine tomatoes, a Pimento Padron pepper and some arugula. I just started some fall vegetables today as well: Flashy Trout's Back romaine lettuce, more arugula, spinach, raddiccio and some broccoli. The Rudolph broccoli starts that I bought promised an "abundance of broccoli heads well into mid-december". We'll see! 

In other news, we've recently been up to Olympia, WA to attend a wedding of some dear friends, Meredith and Dan. It was a beautiful and intimate ceremony right on the Puget Sound. Here is a photo from that event. 

Cockadoodle-Doo!

The Ruth-ster  (or more affectionately, the "Rooster") was out here in the Gorge recently. Between Thursday evening and Monday morning, we had quite the fun-filled visit. Shopping (yes, maternity clothes were on the list), touring the farms of the Mt. Hood Valley, watching the kiteboarders and windsurfers on the Columbia River, and we even got to sneak over into Washington State to try and get an up-close glimpse of Mt. Adams. Too bad it was all clouded-in. Oh well. We saw a pretty waterfall anyway! Enjoy some of the photos we took (most are from our "Fruit Loop" tour). There were a couple of lavender festivals going on, so we took full advantage of the views. We even visited an alpaca farm!  It was truly wonderful to have her out here, if even for a short while. 

Mom in the vineyards with Mt. Adams in the background...

Lavender!

More lavender...

It just keeps coming....

Alpaca...

See, the pretty waterfall....

Appreciation for the "Land of the Free".....

What a weekend! I really do love summer. The possibilities for outdoor activities around here are endless. And we took full advantage. Behold our friday afternoon:

I really don't mean to brag, but can it get anymore beautiful than this? It was so nice to take our kayak out again. It had been a while. We paddled around this mountain lake for a few hours, looking at salamanders, fish jumping out of water and the occasional bald eagle. 

The next day (no photos, sorry) we took a short bike tour around part of the "Fruit Loop", or so its called here. We rode a little over 20 miles up into the high valley of Mt. Hood where all the fruit orchards and farms are. Spectacular. 

Sunday, we decided to pick a hike from a local guide book, called "Curious Gorge" (cute). We hiked in to "Elowah Falls". A lesser known hike in the Gorge with a 290 foot waterfall to view. Here are a few images from that trip: 

For those of you asking for a so-called "baby bump" picture (or lack thereof), here is one. Almost 15 weeks here, officially in the 2nd trimester. Belly poking out a little bit, but really more uncomfortable to me, than really visible to anyone else. Happy Independence Day to all!

Life's a Garden. Dig It.

Now, the garden I spoke of briefly in the last post.... I like how I casually slipped it in there, like it was an afterthought - no big deal. Well, this garden was sort of a big deal. By that I mean - a 10x10 foot square of rocky earth that we dug up and turned over all by our bare hands (more Adam's bare hands, than mine). Halfway through this process, we realized we may have gotten ourselves into something bigger than we had planned, but we persevered!  We were going to be damned if another move during another summer ruined our plans of fresh grown produce for at least part of the summer!

So, remember the part about "rocky earth"? Here's what I mean by that.....

Those are the first of the rocks that Adam used this heavy, metal pole-vaulting type of instrument to extract out of the ground. We used almost all of them to line the garden. 

After we got the garden all dug up, we broke up the clumps of dry, rocky soil with a shovel and a hoe (*this is hard work*). After that, we poured a mixture of compost on top: steer manure, organic compost and mushroom compost.  We turned it all in and began the fun part: planting our plants! We bought some tomato plants about a month ago in Portland and put them in pots, wanting to take them with us when we moved. They ended up growing into ginormous tomato trees, and we realized if we ever wanted tomatoes from them, we should transplant them into the ground so their roots can continue to grow. We were a little nervous about it, but the root systems were so packed in the pots, we could easily slip them out and stick them in a big hole we had ready for them. The trick (I think) was soaking the roots in the hole before we piled the dirt around them, and then soaking again after they were planted. So far, no shock from the plants has been witnessed.

In addition to 9 tomato plants (all different varieties), we put in 4 peppers (jalepeno, sweet banana, pimento padron and cayenee) 3 squash (1 delicata and 2 zucchini), 1 cantaloupe, onion bulbs and another round of lettuce and arugula seed. Tomatoes are already poking their heads out of each plant and the peppers also have some fruit showing. Both the onions and lettuces are already peeking out too. I know some of you are thinking we're crazy and its way too late in the season, but we should be fine, as its been a cool and late start to the summer here. 

I can't wait for the summer canning craziness to begin! Living in the Hood River Valley, I have apple, pear and cherry orchards surrounding me, so I'm hoping to make lots of yummy things with those. Stay tuned for adventures in gardening and canning.....

Sheesh.

Who thought I could be so lazy so as not to post in over a month? Well, I guess that's me. I do have some excuses though: being pregnant, running a marathon, camping in Central-Eastern Oregon, moving, finishing up my previous job, going to Mexico for Adam's 30th birthday (life is tough), moving some more, unpacking the house and putting in a last minute garden in our new place. Did all of that really happen in the last month? Wow. So much for taking it easy when you're with child. 

Anyway, instead of posting on separate topics, I thought I'd just give you a sampling of the last month. Unfortunately, our camera had a minor mishap (Adam dropped it in the ocean) so no pictures from Mexico (Matt and Maggie we're counting on you guys). Here is one at dinner the first night. If any of you didn't hear, Adam was surprised that his brother, sister and brother in law all were in Mexico at the same time we were! Imagine that :) 

No real good pictures from the marathon either - only good news. We finished and did very well, if we do say so ourselves. Finished faster than anticipated! The weather was cool and breezy and we got free shot glasses of beer at Rogue Brewing afterwards. Yes, I sipped mine lightly - no, I did not have more than a few sips. Newport is where the Rogue Nation headquarters are. If you don't know about Rogue beers yet, then you must search and find them out. They are probably the best beers ever. Maybe. My favorite is Hazelnut Brown Ale. Adam likes Mocha Porter. 

Next, came our camping trip in the desert of Central Oregon. I've always wanted to check out the John Day Fossil Beds. It was amazing. The colors of the Painted Hills are out of this world. All of the different layers of color represent a different time period (I can't remember all of the geological stuff, but trust me its cool). The fossil museum showed us all the crazy ancient animals that used to roam the land before they became extinct (oreodonts, creodonts....those kinds of weird things).  We do have a few pictures of those: 

So, now all that's left is to show you some pics of our new pad. 

Hood River, Wider than a Mile, I'm Crossing you in Style....Someday

Okay, so maybe when you hear "Hood River" you don't automatically think of the lyrics to "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's, which is the reference in the post title, but I DO!  The lyrics say, 'crossing you in style someday'. Well, appears as though we will be crossing over to Hood River more like next month. 

Yep, we're on the move.... again. This is the place Adam and I wanted to move to originally when we decided to move north, but the timing with jobs just wasn't right. Well, now that we've got a metaphorical 'bun in the oven', I've decided to make a career change to work with a private pediatric therapy center in downtown Hood River. This job will provide much more flexibility than my current job. And Hood River is just so darn sporty and cool. We will be back up in the mountains again, exploring and soaking up the fresh air. Well, at least until the little one arrives. 

One of the things Hood River is known for is its the "Windsurfing Capital of the US" (well, that and Hawaii). We visited to look at a house today and here's what it looks like on the Columbia River around 2 or 3pm.....

Actually, kiteboarding has taken over as the most popular form of water sport here. Its truly amazing to watch all the bright colors out there on the river. I probably won't be trying my hand at THAT this summer....

We think we have made a decision about where to live. After a slight disappointment today, we feel pretty good about a newer town-home that we've been looking at. The whole -not getting a dog- thing might plague us once again, but there are worse things to happen to people I suppose.  Here are just a few snapshots of the place.

The front of the town-home:

The patio off the master bedroom (sorry its dark):

The kitchen/dining area: 

So, there is a lot more to this place, but I just didn't get many pictures. I also didn't get shots of the complete lack of yard around this place. Oh well, you can't have EVERYTHING :)

Momma's Little Baby Loves Rhubarb, Rhubarb

If any of you listen to Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion", you'll recognize the title of the post. It's a little jingle they sing every now and then. I thought it appropriate for today's post. 

First, let me apologize for not reporting anything for SOOO long! I'm ashamed. We've had a lot on our minds and agendas (and not all blog worthy either). The marathon training has really taken out every last ounce of energy we have too. 

Second, let me get to one of the meanings of the title: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. This is one of the first desserts of spring that we make that is so utterly fantastic, we make at least 3 or 4 before the season is up. We are beginning our first this week. I've got fresh rhubarb and the reddest, juiciest strawberries you've ever seen from the farmer's market.  Behold, the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie: 

Now, you may notice (or you may not since most of you haven't been to either residence) that this picture is from our old Jacksonville apartment. This was taken last year. We are planning on making the pie tomorrow because I can barely muster up enough energy to refill my water glass right now. We completed our 21.5 mile training run for the marathon today. It really took its toll on us tonight. So, we're saving it for tomorrow. But I wanted to share it with you tonight, because I'm so excited about it. Here is the recipe: (courtesy of the original Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook)

For the filling: 

-1 c. sugar

-6 tbsp. flour

-2 c. cleaned and cut rhubarb

-2 c. sliced strawberries

-1 tbsp. butter to dot the top

(we use the pilsbury doughs in the refrigerator section, so I won't bother going through a crust recipe. I know, I know - homemade crusts are superior, but I'd just rather do other things right now)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Mix together the sugar, flour, rhubarb, and strawberries. Place mixture into a pie shell (store bought or homemade). Cover with the top crust. We go for the lattice top, which involves cutting the second crust into strips and layering them on top in a lattice weave. You'll have to play with it, as it would be a nightmare to try and type out how to do that. Or you can just put the whole crust on top (but the lattice top looks prettier and is more fun). Dot the top with little knobs of butter. 

Place in oven for 40-50 minutes, until crust is nicely browned and the juice is bubbly. (note: you may need to cover the top crust for part of the bake time just so it doesn't burn. keep an eye on it!). It is AMAZING. 

Another hidden meaning to our post title is that these two bakers are going to have a little baby! (who will most likely love rhubarb pie). We are so excited and looking forward to this new adventure! 

"Bee-bop a ree-bop, a rhubarb pie"!