Travel Bound

Heading to Seattle this weekend and will be there for the week to await the birth of grandchild #4 - First boy!  I am so excited and hope he decides to join us while I am still there.

Leaving the kitchen remodel behind which makes me a little nervous.  Here is the most recent pictures. With drywall up I can really start to visualize the end product.  Fortunately the husband will be home working and keeping up on the remodel.

Paley's Salmon

I am really starting to miss my kitchen.  The drywall is up but waiting for the taping and painting and then cabinets.  We have been enjoying all the local fare but ready to start cooking in our new space.  We had an amazing dinner at the Italia Trattoria last night and this morning breakfast will be served to us by Kate and Shane.  I find cooking to be such a creative process and I miss that connection. 

Here is my favorite way to prepare salmon.  I made this pre kitchen demo and I suppose we could prepare it again in our pseudo kitchen (aka spare bedroom) but the clean up is a big hassle.  Anyways, make sure and start with a good piece of fish.  On a recent fishing trip, my husband caught this beautiful mackinaw at Priest Lake so I made the recipe with mackinaw and was also delicious. The mackinaw worked well but salmon is still the bomb!

This recipe is from the Paley's Restaurant, in Portland OR, cookbook.  We dined there with our good friends and traveling buddies and they were kind enough to buy me a copy of the cookbook.  If you are a cookbook fan and love good food, this one is for you.  We bought cedar planks especially for cooking but according to the official recipe, you can use cedar shakes.  Here is a few pictures of the process along the way and here is a link to a copy of the original recipe.  Click Here

Sweet Walla Walla onions , basil and a whole head of chopped garlic

Cedar planks brushed with olive oil then topped with chopped garlic

Mackinaw marinated in orange rind, brown sugar and kosher salt placed on top of garlic

Fish is covered with onions and basil and topped with a little olive oil and put on a hot barbecue.  I'm a big fan of the charcoal Weber but the gas grill works great.  The planks catch fire but the onions protect the fish and the garlic permeates!!!

The finished product

Served with grilled asparagus and lemon vermicelli

Here's the lemon pasta recipe again.  Enjoy!  I think any type of fish could be good.  Thinking about a vegan version and may try it some night with tempeh or seitan  for the vegan kids! 

Lemon Pasta

In a large bowl add the zest and juice of 3-4 lemons, about 1/2 cup of good olive oil, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 3-4 scallions thinly sliced, 1/2 cup of chopped fresh Italian parsley (the only kind to use) and a pinch of sugar to mellow some of the tartness and a few shakes of salt.  (You can add more salt later after you add cheese).  Let set on the counter for 3-4 hours.  Cook your desired pasta, I like vermicelli or linguine, but any pasta that isn't too hearty will do.  Drain with al dente and toss in lemon mixture.  Add about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan Reggianio.  Add additional oil and salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Just sailing along

Not much cooking going on in our house.  I have tried to cook a few times but sans kitchen, it's just too difficult.  We have had some amazing vegan food at Kate's and otherwise restaurants and take out (Thai food tonight) has been the plan.

The kitchen does not look much different at this point but the plumbing, electrical, structural work and insulation is done.  Now being inspected and should have some sheet rock up in a couple of days.

In the mean time we have been spending a little time on the lake.  

Robb, Kate and our friend Steve bringing the boat in after a windless race!

Sunset view from our boat

Water reflection view of the clouds with our boat sneaking in!

Remodel - Phase 1

Holy Smoke!  The remodel has begun.  The old kitchen is no more and the rest of the house is at a standstill.  The living room has a refrigerator in it and the furniture is piled together.  Our spare bedroom has become a pseudo kitchen, which we now realize we will hardly use.   There is definitely no work triangle with the only sink in the bathroom, the refrigerator in the living room, the barbecue outdoors.......So take out, dining out and bumming off our kids and friends will be the meal plan for the next 6 weeks.
Here are a few before and after the demo pictures.  I was very anxious the day before they started but now realize I'm going to love it.

Before

After

Before

After

The Pizza Oven

So I've been out of commission for a while due to a nasty stomach flu bug but I am almost back to 100%.  We have several projects going on as well that are keeping me busy.  Robb and Ben made some great progress on our wood fired pizza oven.  Only a few more cement blocks and we're ready to start building the forms for the oven hearth.  We can't wait to taste our first pizza!

Ready for concrete

Oven stand almost completed - beer makes stronger concrete!

 We were hoping to have this done by now because on July 5th we start our kitchen remodel.  We'll keep you updated on the progress.

The appliances are bought.  The cabinets, hardware, and eating bar are all decided on, just can't decide about the back splash.  I am soooo excited to get going but have never been without a kitchen for 6 weeks.  I'll have to be creative with the barbecue and microwave.  Our daughter Kate is going to help by cooking for us and packing our work lunches a few times a week which should make life easier.  Without a kitchen I will be lost!  

AK's Party

Yesterday we had a retirement celebration for my sister-in-law.  I have known Kathe for 33 years and now I consider her simply my sister.  Kathe, also known as A.K. (aunt Kathe) is one of the most special people I have ever met and I am not alone in that sentiment.  I volunteered to cook the food for her party.  A large undertaking but a true labor of love.  One of AKs request was ribs, so Robb and I started a few weeks ago cooking ribs in our new smoker and freezing them.  We cooked about 45 pounds of ribs!  

First batch in the new smoker

Just out of the smoker.  Hard to resist at this point

Along with a few of her amazing friends, Ellie, Pam and Lorraine, and my daughter Kate, we worked Friday morning preparing for the feast.  We had had received about 66 RSVPs at that time so I was planning food for 75.   I had such a wonderful time preparing for the party with her friends that I hope we can hang out together again sometime soon.

The sous chefs hard at work

The sous chefs kind of hard at work!

For appetizers we had antipasto skewers,  veggie dip and goat cheese with thyme and red onion.

Antipasto Skewers

I have to thank my oldest daughter Mona for the goat cheese recipe.  Thanks Mo!  It's now in my favorites list and also one of Kathe's favorite.  Easy to prepare and exceptionally good to eat.  

Goat Cheese - Couldn't snap the picture before the people starting digging in!

Goat Cheese with Red Onion and Thyme

1 log of goat cheese
1 red onion finely diced
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (add more to taste but don't skimp here)
I use my Tuscan Seasoning Salt (hope to sell soon) but you can use salt and pepper and Italian  
   Seasoning of your choice
2-3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/4 cup good quality olive oil

Lay the goat cheese on a serving platter, cover with onions.  Sprinkle with thyme and seasoning.  Sprinkle with red wine vinegar and olive oil.  Set out at room temperature about an hour before serving.  If there is a collection of oil and vinegar, use it to baste the goat cheese until serving.  Serve with crackers or baguette.


For the main course: BBQ ribs with homemade BBQ sauce, chicken teriyaki skewers, tofu teriyaki skewers, pasta salad, caesar salad with feta and sun-dried tomatoes, and asian coleslaw.

Well the party was a big hit.  Thanks to every one who helped with the preparation of the food and most of all, kisses to AK and Happy Retirement!

Congratulations for Graduation

What a great weekend!  Our youngest daughter "Kate" (but to us still Katie) graduated from EWU this past weekend with her Master of Fine Arts - Creative Writing/Fiction.  Wonderful ceremony along with pre and post parties.  What an amazing group of classmates which was an extra added bonus.  Way to go Katie and the rest of the MFAers!