Ding DONG!

Okay, so I stole that line from Tracy. (Its in reference to Christmas Vacation, when all the family guests arrive....this is what happened to Adam and I for Thanksgiving...).

Yes, we had a full house of parents last week and it went fabulously. I think I can speak for everyone to say we all had a great time. Adam and I cooked our first Thanksgiving meal (which was a success), Tracy, Carol and Ruth (or the "Rooster" as we have cleverly deemed as my mother's nickname. It started out as the "Ruth-ster", but since she wakes up so early in the morning, and it sounds so much like rooster, we only felt it was appropriate. She likes it. You all should start using it too).

I unfortunately did not take many pictures of the feast, or other outings, for that matter. We did have a lovely trip down the National Scenic Columbia River Highway along the Gorge. We got to show them the wonders of the waterfalls along the way (yes David, we took you there too but it was not raining quite so hard this time).

The next day, we decided to head downtown to the Portland Saturday Market, as well as the PSU Farmer's Market. It was quite enjoyable (except for the relentless walking we made everyone do. Sorry again for that). After our markets, we went to the Portland Art Museum to view the "Wild Beauty" exhibit. This featured old 19th century photos of the Columbia River before it was damned, I mean dammed. No, it was not sent to hell somewhere in the mid 1900s. Quite awe-inspiring. It was a full day for sure.

Walking to the market....

Mother and son looking for some good jam.

Adam checking out the delicious produce.

Here is the beautiful bouquet the Rooster got for me at the market.

We will be home in a week and a half! I can't wait to see everyone for the holidays!!!

Butter Me Up.

Sorry folks. The Life and Times of Liz and Adam in the NW is not as exciting as in past months. We go into hibernation for the winter. Which also means that to prepare for this so-called hibernation, we must feed incessantly. I guess you're supposed to do that before hibernation, but we do it throughout.

Our feeding tonight consisted of homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli. And when I say homemade, I mean homemade noodles and everything! Yes, sometimes we go overboard. But we will go to great measures in the name of food. Plus, I had to try out the pasta dough setting on my new BREAD MACHINE! Check it out:

I'm not going to write down the recipe, because I doubt most people will be willing to take the time out for pasta dough, but I'll go through the steps.

1. First, we made the dough in the machine.

2. Next, we roasted the B-squash in the oven with onions and blended the mixture in a food processor

3. Then, we rolled the dough out.

4. Next, drop little spoonfuls of mixture onto dough.

5. Place first dough sheet on top of second dough sheet (remember to brush water around the mixture on the dough to make the top layer stick).

6. Cut raviolis out.

7. Boil in water for 2-3 minutes.

8. In a saucepan, make a delicious sauce of your choice. We went with a favorite balsamic butter sauce with toasted pine nuts.

9. Toss pasta with sauce, garnish with parmesean cheese and arugula.

10. FEAST!

I know it sounds rich, but we need our carbohydrates, as we are now in our "Pre-training Training" for the marathon we have almost officially decided to do.

Stay posted for updates on how the marathon training will go. It is at the end of May in Newport, OR (on the coast).

I'm reading "Marathon" by Jeff Galloway to help myself stay motivated and focused. So far, pre-training training is going well. We make sure we go on a scenic long trail run one day of the weekend. This weekend, this is what we got to look at while we took a leisurely 6 mile jog:

Mount St. Helen's

The Unpopular Vegetable

Okay, so the rains have come and we aren't galavanting about the mountains as much. Instead, we are doing a lot of cooking and reading. Going along with both of those is the new publication we discovered called Edible Portland. I've given you the link to the national Edible Communities, as there is one for most states or major cities. You can search out your own state on this site and check out the online version or subscribe if you're so inclined. It is an amazing publication with interesting articles, recipes and ideas regarding fresh, local produce. We have picked up several issues at the Laughing Planet restaurant down the street from us and fell in love. What we wanted to share about this one was one of the recipes we tried. Its called Potato-Leek Soup with Celeriac. What in the world is celeriac, you ask? Well, here's what it looks like:

The article in Edible Portland referred to it as the awkward, dorky high schooler, who nobody appreciated, but really had a lot to offer once you got to know it. I think that's the perfect description. It looks like a cross between a brain and what I would visualize a mandrake to look like. It has the texture of a potato or parsnip, smells like celery and tastes somewhat like celery, only milder.


Here's the link to the recipe: Potato-Leek Soup with Celeriac


It's very yummy. You can also slice up potatoes and celeriac into disks, mix with cream, parmesean, breadcrumbs and various herbs to make a kind of gratin. That is quite decadent.

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. We had a few trick-or-treaters (Like 20), which seems like a million compared to our two from the old Jacksonville apartment. I'll post our jack-o-lantern pics once I bring my camera cord home. He turned out great. Much Love!

**so I just realized my links aren't working. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll email it to you!**

All the Pretty Pun-kins!

I can't think what might make me happier right now. The sun is shining bright, the leaves are all beautiful contrasting colors, the air is crisp but comfortable.....Life is good.

We went to the pumpkin patch today on Sauvie Island. The same place we rode our bikes a few weeks ago. It was like the Washington Town and Country Fair out there! There were cow tractor rides, corn mazes like none I've ever seen and the "Field of Screams" so cleverly named. We walked around the hundreds of acres for a couple of hours today and just dreamed about our own farm someday. Since we don't have cute kids to take pictures of with the pumpkins, you'll have to look at us acting like kids.




Oh yeah, we also rooted for Mizzou in spirit, as we did not get the game on any TV stations out here. But I heard it was a blowout. Mizzou-RAH!

Piece of Cake.

I made a great discovery last week. The powers of cake mix recipes. I don't know about you, but when the cold weather comes in, the leaves change color and the days get shorter I crave baked goods. No more icecream. Fresh berries aren't at their peak anymore. What is another easy sweet treat for after dinner? Last tuesday, we were needing something to satisfy the sweet tooth. One thing we did have was a box of yellow cake mix. Hmm....not very exciting. Wonder how I could fancy it up? There are dozens of recipes online that spice up cake mixes. Here are two (yes, that's right. we like our sweets) that we've tried so far:


Apple Cream Cake

1 box spiced cake mix
3 cups peeled, sliced apples (tart preferrably)
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup whipping cream

Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Pour into a 9X13 inch greased baking dish.

Combine apples, sugar, walnuts and cinnamon. Spoon over batter. Pour cream over top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

*Can serve with whipped cream or scoop of icecream


Amaretto Almond Cake

1.5 cups chopped almonds (preferrably toasted)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box vanilla instant pudding mix
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 amaretto liqueur
1 tsp. almond extract (I used vanilla)

**glaze***
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 amaretto
1/2 tsp. almond extract (again, I used vanilla)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10" tube or bundt pan and sprinkle 1 cup of almonds inside. (I used 1 regular cake pan and saved all almonds for batter)

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, water, amaretto and extract. Beat on low with electric mixer or stir by hand for a couple of minutes. Stir in the rest of the almonds. Pour batter into cake pan and bake for an hour. Cool for 10-15 minutes on a plate.

For glaze, in a small saucepan, combine sugar, water and butter and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes. Stir in amaretto and extract. Punch holes in cake with wooden pick or knife. Slowly spoon glaze over the cake until absorbed.

See...Adam likes cake.

By the way, we wandered south this past weekend and stayed with some dear friends at their amazing ranch on the Rogue River. The Doubletree Ranch is absolutely wonderful, and if anyone comes to visit Southern Oregon, they should stay here for a few days! Enjoy the cakes.

"Oh Give Me a Home..."

The words that come to mind when I think about this past vacation are the lyrics to "Home on the Range". Our experience was much like stepping back in time.....a simpler time. No, we did not have electricity, nor running water. Here, take a gander at our swanky place:

The Wenatchee Guard StationBut we have these views right outside the door....

What you're looking at are called the Blue Mountains. On our first day there we hiked all the way down that canyon. During our hike, we saw a herd of elk. The first night we stayed in the cabin, we saw another herd of elk grazing by the gravel road. We're thinking it was the same herd that kept us up that same night yelping their weird elk calls. I know you can barely see them by the road, but if you squint just enough and tilt your head to the right....

There are so many beautiful pictures and so much to share, I'm not sure I can fit it all in this post. I think I should mention that the nearest "town" was approximately 20 miles away on a gravel road. Here's the sign as you enter "town". The nearest real town was about 45 miles away.

The second part of our trip was to Hell's Canyon National Recreation Area. This place is what I would imagine the Grand Canyon looks like. Since I haven't been there, that's what I'm going to compare it to, even though I know (and Adam tells me) that its not quite close in grandeur. It is, however, just as spectacular. The Snake River, which has carved the canyon, is the border between Oregon and Idaho. You can see it way below.

We obviously had a gorgeous sunshiney day. That doesn't quite mean warm though. No, actually it was the opposite. The night we camped up on the ridge of Hell's Canyon, temperatures dipped into the low 20's. Don't believe us? Reference the picture below of the frozen towel...

Here's a tally of the wildlife we saw on our trip: two different herds of elk, pronghorns, a coyote, grouse, quail, turkey and mule deer. We unfortunately did not get to see the wild mountain goats and big horn sheep that roam the area. We have yet to spot a black bear or cougar. One of these days though. In the end, we did not get to see the "buffalo roam", but we did watch the elk roam and the deer and the pronghorns play.

"Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word. And the skies are not cloudy all
day"

On the Road Again.

Hey Folks!

I have a week off of work, so Adam and I are going on a road trip. We will be renting an old fire ranger cabin in the Umatilla National Forest, which is also near the Blue Mountains. The location of this magical place is just about as far east as you can get, right on the border of Washington and Oregon (almost to Idaho).

Hence, there won't be any cool posts until we get back. But, rest assured that you will be blown away by the tales of our adventures.

M-I-Z...............Z-O-U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gotta run and watch the Tigers :)