Stinging Nettles................

My friend, Gina, purchased a large amount of fresh stinging nettles at the Farmer's Market and she called because she wanted to share them with me.  I have never cooked with them so my first move was to check the Internet.  I learned that the leaves should be removed from the stems - then steam them for about 2 to 3 minutes.  The suggestion was to use them as an addition to other dishes like soups, stews, etc.

I'm amazed at my ignorance - they are called STINGING Nettles for a reason.  The stems have razor sharp tiny barbs and when I stemmed them, I did it with bare hands.  It's about four hours later and YES.............. my fingers are still "stinging".



Tonight it was an opportunity to use them so our dinner is a "one pot" dish with sauteed red potatoes, onions, bell peppers, tomato, garbanzo beans, chicken sausage with spinach and feta and, of course, nettles. 

I continue to learn new lessons the hard way.................................

Macleay Park in Downtown Portland

Today Roger and I discovered a treasure right inside the city.  It's a large wild park on the edge of a residential area called Macleay Park.  You can find interesting information by viewing:

theintertwine.org/trails/macleay-park-trails

He's required to take one science class so he chose to study insects and water ecology.  One assignment is to find insects that live in water and catalog them by their species.  SO............. today Roger was creating a little bit of drama after climbing down an embankment into Balch Creek to find insects under the rocks.  I stayed on the trail to make sure he didn't fall into the water or have any problems.  Now we're home with a bucket of teeny/tiny bugs........... What will he do next???

If he doesn't get his quota for his assignment, we'll have to return - but - next time we'll take a picnic lunch and enjoy walking some of the trails.

INTRODUCING ROGER'S LATEST PAINTING

This term at PSU, Roger has chosen wild life and wild flowers as his theme for a series of paintings.  This is the first that he completed.  It's 30 by 40 inches, painted with acrylics on canvas. 

He is still developing his technique and his teachers have been a great influence.  He has chosen realistic abstraction as his style but, as time goes by, that may change.  His brain is full of ideas and he can talk to me for hours with his ideas.

Goodbye Seattle..................

We finished at the glass garden about 2 p.m. so we had time to eat one last meal.  You may be surprised at our choice because it was a "dive bar" that is about three blocks from the Space Needle.  It's called "The 5 Point Cafe" and it is a little irreverent.  One sign reads "We cheat tourists-n-drunks since 1929".  Another says "Cock on duty" (they taped a small area over the word "cook").  One of our cab drivers recommended it and then he sounded a little worried that we might be offended by the place.  Us?  No way.............

As much as we loved our other meals, this one was just as good......... in a different way, of course............  We chowed down on a shared burger with whiskey sauteed onions, bacon and blue cheese with fries (of course) and a plate of nachos.

the5pointcafe.com

THEN............ time to return to Amtrak and go back to Portland.  It was a great short adventure and one that we may want to do again, soon.....................

Tuesday in Seattle - POMPEI and CHIHULY GARDEN and GLASS

We loved Tulio so much we returned Tuesday for breakfast.  We ordered an amazing dish called "Rustic Grilled Bread".  The ingredients are cage free poached eggs, whipped goat cheese, prosciutto, grape tomatoes, basil hollandaise served with tiny red potatoes and fresh strawberries.  Good?  Oh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, yeah!

Our reason for the trip to Seattle was to see the  Pompeii exhibit at the Pacific Science Center.  Even though I'm been to Pompeii, Italy, twice, I never tire of seeing and learning more of its history.  For Allison it was a new experience and we both were impressed with the elegant and professional way the museum was set up.  We saw beautiful jewelry, marble statues, Gladiator's helmets and shin guards and colorful mosaic and frescos.  At the end we watched a movie reenactment of the day the volcano erupted and lastly, a room filled with cement body casts of some who died that day.

Our next stop was to see the "Chihuly Garden and Glass" permanent exhibit right next to the Space Needle.  IT IS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE which you'll see in the pictures.

One room has a ceiling that is constructed of three dimensional glass.  Shown here is only a very small portion of the images and the photos don't give you the depth of the glass.  Allison said that it was "a sensory overload" and I agree.

The small photo on the upper left is actually a large room that is filled with a "glass garden".

The boat is glass and it's filled with huge different sized balls of glass.  The glass is mounted on shiny black bases so the reflection adds even more to the beauty.

Here, Allison and I are standing in front of a glass "live garden" outdoors.  The glass is enhanced with flowers that echo the colors of the glass so some areas featured purple, some black, some pink and yellow and orange.  We believe that we saw the garden at its finest because there were flowers blooming everywhere in the garden.  We saw azaleas, tulips, dogwood, rhododendron and many flowers that we're unfamiliar with.

It was a great day but............... there's still more!

Seattle RESTAURANT ZOE

Lori and Pam raved about this restaurant when they were in Seattle a few weeks ago so we knew it would be a great experience.  We got lucky because they are running a "three course special" for $30.   The appetizer shown at the left is house made ricotta and bleu cheese dumplings with sugared walnuts and basil pesto with micro-greens.    My entree was leg of lamb and Allison had Sturgeon. 

It's located in a residential area, outside of the general tourist area so we think that most of the patrons were locals.

restaurantzoe.com

Enjoying Seattle

Monday afternoon we took a walk down to Pike's Market but we didn't spend much time there.  It's nothing like years ago when it was elegant and interesting.  Now it's more like a carnival atmosphere.  (Maybe we're spoiled after experiencing the markets in Portland and
Vancouver BC). 


We met a married couple who each pedal a bicycle cab so we asked them to give us a ride through the downtown.  It was great fun but since it was commute hour we held on tight since we went from sidewalks to street and back and forth.  Downtown Seattle is clean and the buildings are very modern with creative designs.  The one that fascinated us the most was one with a base that was about half the size of the actual building.  Definitely a great engineering feat!

Amtrak to Seattle

Monday morning Roger drove Allison and me to Union Station so we could take Amtrak to Seattle.  We left at 8:30 a.m. and arrived in downtown Seattle shortly after noon.  We stayed at La Quinta on 8th Avenue and it turned out to be a great choice.  The train is a perfect way to travel.  The scenery was beautiful with about half of the trip right on the coast.

We chose "TULIO", a restaurant inside the Vintage Hotel on 4th Street for lunch and we fell in love with the place.  We enjoyed a fresh asparagus soup for the first course and shared fresh caught halibut for the entree.  Because we shared, we convinced ourselves that we should also share a dessert so our choice was a pistachio semifreddo - absolutely fantastic!

If you plan a trip to Seattle, we highly recommend this restaurant.

www.tulio.com

Zoey at Two Weeks...............

Do you get the impression that Zoey is trying to say something here?  Like maybe she's come up with a new theory that she wants to discuss?

In this photo she's only two weeks old but Ashley says that she is already "off the chart" in regard to length so we're thinking that she'll be tall like her great-aunt Lori.

Mike is a proud grandpa so this is his first visit with his new little "grand girl".  We look forward to many years of love and joy watching this little one grow and thrive.

Lodi Zinfandel

When Lori and Pam recently visited, I gave them a shopping list for wine and liquor.  Here in Portland prices are close to double so the girls found some great buys to help me stock up.  I'm enjoying Zinfandels from Lodi and the foothills and tonight I want to mention "Shadow Ranch" from the Sequoia Hills (not sure where that is - maybe a fancy name for Plymouth or somewhere near there).  The first taste was like drinking bing cherries, plums, dark berries, etc.  It's drinkable alone and even better with food.  If you have a chance to buy some, give it a try.

I still prefer the old vine zin that is bottled in the Lodi area because it is dry and has a powerful flavor but it has been fun trying some labels that I've never had before.  Thanks to you - Lori and Pam !!

No words are necessary to describe today in Portland

Happy Easter ..................

Easter Sunday brings back many sweet memories of when Mike and Lori were children.  I even remember when I was a child and I was taught to pick lawn grass for the basket so the bunny would have a comfortable place to lay my eggs and treats.  The only problem was that the Easter bunny didn't know that when you put candy on damp grass, it gets all sticky.  Of course, I forgave him and it never happened again............

Living in Portland away from family makes it different - we miss the family gatherings but the message is still clear.  It's a renewal of faith and the beginning of a bright new year filled with possibilities.  Enjoy the day.  Hug someone you love..................

Ashley -- and -- Zoey ------ 3 days old

This is Zoey at age of three days and below is a picture of Ashley at the same age.

Both adorable and..................

Both loved very much................

What do girls do on their last day in Portland............? Well, EVERYTHING !

Lori and Pam decided to head back home tomorrow so on their last day's activities we started with a visit to the Portland Art Museum gift shop.  This place is fabulous with interesting and beautiful items from all over the world.

The girls wanted to check out "Imperial" where the head chef is known for his burgers and his fried chicken.  (He was the runner-up in this year's "Top Chef" competition).  Lori chose the chicken and the crust was really crunchy.  It was served with onions, sweet pickles, a house made hot sauce and honey.  Lori loved the idea of mixing the hot sauce (served from an eye dropper) and then a dab of honey.  Pam and I had our favorite - burgers and fries.

Our next stop was Powells Book Store where Pam and I bought a bag full of books - then it was time to hop on a streetcar and go to see the movie "Woman in Gold".  This movie is fantastic - see it if you can !!

Originally, our plan was to finish off at "Little Bird" for dinner,but instead, we ordered pizza from Hot Lips and we're making a salad.  Then, it's "goodbye to eating" at least for a little while so tomorrow night Roger will have to settle for homemade soup.

It's always a "party" when the girls are here so they will be greatly missed!

No April Fool..............................

Here, Zoey is "brand new", shortly after being born at 4:20 p.m. yesterday (April 1st).  She weighs 9 pounds 7 ounces so she's a big and healthy girl.

Ashley is doing well so today we're looking forward to hearing more details.

Congratulations - Jordan and Ashley !!