Here are some new videos of my very talented nephew, Dave.

 

I found another fun cooking show: Recipe TV. The show has chefs prepare a dish for which they are noted. Most of them seem to be out of LA. The website shows the videos, but doesn't have the printed recipes (bummer).

 

I will admit I am not a big fan. My husband likes them, so I am learning to cook them and eat them.

 

My mother would make them for Rich sauteing them with carmelized onions and pecans.

 

I then saw a show on Caprial and John's Kitchen with some differnt ideas:

 

 

I am roasting brussel sprouts tonight with carmelized onions, garlic, pine nuts. I sprinkled them with olive oil, black pepper and parmesean.

 

We tried growing them last year. They were a lot of work, and were bitter, so I bought them this year.

 

So far so good..

We recently donated our old encyclopedia set to a school in New Guinea. The book drive was being held at the Elephants Deli here in Portland in conjunction with Portland Roasting Company’s “Ready To Read” program. Channel 12 here in Portland was covering it, which is how I heard about it. During one of the segments, it was mentioned that they really would love encyclopedias – as these were for schools that had no books in their libraries.

 

The encyclopedias have been sitting on a shelf here for years. With the internet access and many computers in our home, we just were not using them. Rich had wanted to donate them to a rummage sale, but I didn’t think that was the right place for them. Even though Rich bought them many years ago, they were much more special to me than to him. He isn’t that sentimental about things.

 

Rich bought the set, used, when he was twenty and stationed in Korea. He had grown up very poor – moving often and changing schools a few times a year. Sometimes they had to live in shelters. He also didn’t have support to further his education after high school even though he loved math and science. His father had said that college was a rip-off. College was just a dream and he didn’t even know there were advanced degrees.

 

After he was out of the military for a few years, Rich did go to college. He earned a bachelors, then a masters in Physics. He now is working on his PhD.

 

To me the encyclopedia set represented Rich’s love of learning – I am glad it went to a new home where it will be appreciated.

 

So Carl and I checked with Rich, packed up the books and drove down to the Elephants Deli for breakfast (it was a scheduled day off from school). We got there at the perfect time, the live segment had just finished, but the crew was still there (I have put much of my weight back on and hadn’t showered – no, that sight did not need to be seen). Carl got to meet Andy Carson and Uncle Ricoh from KPTV (who were very nice and took time to talk to us even though their work day was over.) Carl and I stayed and bought a delicious breakfast and had a great morning.

 

 

Here is a great video on Portland - Show Powells and Oregon Wine Country.

 

We recently went to a Tomato Tasting at Farmington Gardens (2009). Here are my favorites:

 

Amana Orange
Anna Russian
Black from Tula
Black Krim
Champion
Cherokee Purple
Chocolate Cherry
Goliath
Green Grape
Isis Candy
Pik Red
Purple Russian
Rose
Stupice
Sungold
Sweet Cluster
Sweet Olive
White Cherry

 

Of these my top three were all cherries: Green Grape, Sungold and Chocolate Cherry.

I recently discovered a new cooking show. It is called "NW Cooks." It is on our local CW channel.

 

The recipes look tasty. Here is the website:

 

Carl has been enjoying the Sprout channel. We have made various videos with his face. Here are some links:

 

 

 

 

 

They are a lot of fun!

Here is our list of Tomatoes planted in 2009:

 

From Columbia County Master Gardener's Plant Sale
Roma - 3
Tumbler - 2
Viva Italia
Peron
Giant Valentine
Supersun Cherry Hybrid
Black from Tula
Itailian Giant Beefsteak
Chocolate Cherry
Cherry Roma
Healthkick

 

From Portland Farmers Market by PSU
Carbon
Sungold
Bloody Butcher

 

From Tualatin Valley Garden Club plant sale
Riesentraube
Stupice
Brandywine - 4" pot
Sweet Pea Current
Giant Belgium
Brandywine - gallon
Beefsteak - gallon

 

Other places:
Lemon Boy
Yellow Brandywine - 2

 

So far we have gotten tomatoes from: Tumbler, Sungold, Sweet Pea Current and Lemon Boy

 

-------

 

Here is the 2008 list:

 

sungold
black from tula
yellow brandywine
brandywine
lemon boy
early girl
oregon spring
juliet
roma
black krimm
cherise orange
beefsteak
tiny tiger
Willamette

 

I found that I had no records from 2007, but spring 2007 was a really rough time. I forgive myself.

 

 

Both my dad and my father in law need prayers. Dad has bone cancer (third bought of cancer.) FIL has to have a kidney transplant as a result of Goodpastures Syndrome.

 

 

I've also been saying prayers for the soldier from Idaho. It was hard to see him in the video, my nephews are the same age.

Good Bye to Frank McCourt. I really enjoyed the two books I have read. Ironically I bought two of his books this morning at Powells.

 

 

 

At the end of June we made a trip out to Dundee for some more wine tasting. We discovered that this is a great time to taste wines, plus we discovered a new place to eat, two new (to us) wineries and a nice place to stay.

 

We stayed at Wine County Cottage. It is located walking distance (ok it is a good walk) from Stoller Vineyards. It was a nice quiet house with really nice features. I do recommend them. Here is their link:
http://www.winecountrycottage.net

 

First we went to Stoller. We were just there over Memorial Day. We love their Pinot Noirs. They have a JV (Junior Vines) and SV (Senior Vines). Both are very good.
http://www.stollervineyards.com/

 

Then we went to White Rose, which is only a short drive away. We had our wine club shipment to pick up. They have great pinot noirs. Their cellar club is a great deal too.
http://www.whiterosewines.com/

 

There is also a new winery called Dreamcatcher that they were sampling at White Rose. It is a woody spicy Pinot, they will do well in the future.

 

The next day we had lunch at a new restaurant in Dundee called Farm to Fork. It is part of the new Inn at Red Hills. They had soups and sandwiches that were very tasty.
http://www.innatredhills.com/

 

We then went to Four Graces. I will be honest. We found tasting passes at the cottage, so we thought that we would give the winery a try. They had a beautiful tasting room and some very good pinot noirs. They also have a tasty pinot blanc and pinot gris. They are on the north end of Dundee.
http://www.thefourgraces.com/

 

Our last stop was at DePonte Cellars. We have been driving by this winery for over five years now and keep saying we should try them. We shouldn’t have waited so long! It was so good! I can hardly wait to go back. Their Clay Hill was really a wonderful wine. The others are good too.
http://www.depontecellars.com

 

Our cherry tree is very productive this year, and the birds seem to have missed it. We got a good harvest, and I started my annual jam and jelly making.

 

I am finding that certain pectins work better with certain fruit. I like MCP for dry pectin and Certo for liquid. I tried Ball dry pectin but I didn't have luck with it.

 

This is my little cheat sheet for preserving:

 

Blackberry Jelly     6 pints     MCP

Cherry Jam           3 lbs        MCP

Raspberry Jelly     5 pints     Certo (2 packs)

Salsa Jam            16 oz Jar  Certo (2 packs)

Grape Jelly          3 lbs         Certo

Pepper Jelly         1 lb          MCP

 

Major hint - don't mess with your recipe, don't half or double. Dont mess with the sugar or subsitute a different pectin in a recipe (follow the recipe in the box.)

 

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads, Grandpas, Uncles etc out there!

 

Our preparations for Father's day were a bit of an adventure. I asked my husband for gift ideas, of which he said he had many and gave me none. So I had to think and figure something out for myself.

 

My Dad's shopping is what took us on the adventure. My Dad like the driving cap style hats. It started when I brought him back one from Edinburgh Scotland (from the woolen mills of course). That one wore out and I found one in a really nice shop in Vail Village in Colorado. That one too is wearing out (It has been over 20 years since I went to Scotland and 10-15 since I bought the Vail hat.) Two or three years ago, I remember stopping at an old store near the Saturday Market and seeing these driving caps. I couldn't remember the name or EXACTLY where it was, but I knew sort of where it was. So Carl and I set off to downtown Portland on Friday afternoon (nothing like cutting it close!)

 

I parked in a garage that I thought was close, and we set out walking. There was a new Barnes and Noble that looked like it was in the building I was thinking of, which had me dissapointed. I then realized (after walking a few more blocks) that we were too far south, so I had to walk north. After some more walking and hearing "I'm tired, can we rest?" many times, we found the store. It's name is Portland Outdoor Store. It is a very old store that specializes in western wear and tack, but they also carry menswear. I loved the store! It was very warm and the people were helpful without being pushy. It has a bygone era's elegance. I really enjoyed shopping there.

 

They don't have a website, but google had information:

 

They are located at:

(503) 222-1051‎

 

There is a store in Portland called US Outdoor.  While I am sure it is really cool too, it is more of a outdoor sports store, not this old western store.

 

Ok, so after we found the hat, I asked Carl if he wanted to go to any other stores. First he said Toys R US (of which there are none downtown) and then Ross. So We went shopping at Ross. Carl found a discounted Mater Megablocks set and a few of Cars items that were needed in our house. We looked some more and Carl found a DVD of Pink Panther cartoons. He wanted to get that for Daddy. So we paid for our purchases and headed for the door, only to realize there was a major sudden downpour. This was not the normal soft Oregon rain, this is the hard stuff that really soaks you and hurts when it hits you.

 

We then discovered that Ross didn't have a good selection of umbrellas (they sold out in the first two minutes of the storm) or raingear. We were only three blocks from the car, so Carl and I headed out into the mess. The eaves didn't provide much protection, but they were better that walking uncovered. Carl was really pulling away from me, I looked to discover he was trying walk purposely in the water draining off the eaves. Crazy kid.

 

About halfway back was Nordtrom Rack. We stopped in and I bought an umbrella. Carl wanted me to buy the full size houndstooth umbrella, I wanted the compact brown with polka dots. I got my way on that one. We then set off to the car.

 

Thinking that traffic might be bad on the highway, we took Burnside home. Once out of the city center proper, there area has a lot more trees. A large branch dropped in front the of the car! Thank goodness for good brakes on my car and the cars behind me!

 

We then went to Home Depot. Rich had mentioned that he needed new batteries for his cordless tools. The rechargables weren't holding a charge anymore. I found them quickly and went home. I was so beat I needed a nap. Carl didn't cooperate....

______

 

Baby Sam's dad won father of the year at the Oregon Zoo!

http://www.oregonzoo.org/Newsroom/2009releases/2009June.htm#foy

 

Vote for Sam for cutest zoo baby:

http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/zoobabies2009/vote.html

He is the baby elephant that is swimming. (not the one that is nursing).

 

 

I uploaded a video of Carl from 2005, he is laughing and playing in the snow. What a great laugh!

 

We went winetasting in Yamhill County over Memorial Day this year.

 

The first day we focused on Wineries west of Newberg, down highway 240.

 

We went to Penner Ash, Patricia Green, Beaux Freres, Shea and JK Carriere. While at Penner Ash, someone told us of a party concept - a Shea party, everyone bring a bottle of wine with Shea grapes in it. It is possible as many wineries have bottlings of Shea. We bought some of their Shea futures.

 

We picked up futures at Beaux Freres and ordered futures from Penner Ash, Patricia Green, Beaux Freres and Shea. At JK Carriere we bought some of their wonderful white Pinot Noir - Glass.

 

For the next tasting day we focused on the Red Hills south of Dundee. We had been to a few of the wineries there before and wanted to go to some that we had not been to. We went to Stoller, Vista Hills, Winter's Hill, White Rose and Durant (Cottonwood was also tasting there). We really liked Stoller and White Rose - they are some of our favorites. Vista Hill had some tasty wines too, plus I love their tasting room. Winter's Hill specialty seems to be more in the sweet wines. The location was charming. Durant is at Red Ridge Farms, whick is a really cool nursery featuring herbs and their own Olive Oil.

 

We have in the past visited Wine Country Farms, Domaine Serene, Domaine Drouhin and Archery Summit. We still have never visited DePonte or Sokol Blosser.  Next time maybe...

Carl played t-ball this spring. It was fun. It took a while to hear what was happening, and I ended up being assistant coach.

 

It was a very fun season - most of the time I was saying "quit playing in the dirt" or "quit watching the ducks."

 

Some of the kids really started to get the skills - there was one little guy who got 4 people "out" at first, two unassisted. It was really hard moving him off the base, but I had to give everyone a turn.

 

 

 

 

Here is a link to photos from a wine tasting trip.

 

Carl and Rich are in Dancing with the dads. Here is the link:

 

 

Friday was the last day of school. I went to pick up Carl. Since I volunteered at the school this year, I wanted to say goodbye to the kids in Carl's class, especially one that was moving.

 

I made up photo packs for the teacher, teaching assistant and each kid for pictures I took over the year. I started printing them on the printer, but that did not go too smoothly. I then discovered Costco photo. That went really well. I picked them up two hours later and got them all seperated. I also burned a CD for everyone, since I took some videos too.

 

Here is the kids singing the goodbye song they sang everyday.

 

 

The last day was very special. Since the fifth graders would be moving on to middle school next year, the school has a "clap out" tradition. The other classes line the hallway as the fifth graders leave and cheer, clap and high five them. It was pretty cool to watch. I only had met a few of the fifth graders and I still teared up. What a mom I am...