Where the dream of the 90's is alive...

At the end of February, Justin and I took a little trip down to Portland to enjoy some urban festivities including:


- A trip to Burgerville: an Oregon and Washington fast food chain that sources local ingredients including Oregon Country Beef, Tilamook cheese and more. What I love most about this place is that it feels like an everyday fast food chain, so it may draw in a broader audience (eaters) than would a earthy, hippie joint that attracts people like me. We enjoyed burgers, rosemary-garlic fries, and a milkshake.

- Stumptown Coffee at the Ace Hotel: it was fun to soak up some extreme hipster vibes and buy coffee from one of the tastiest roasters I've tried. I skipped the $60/lb beans...maybe someday.

- Dancing our pants off at the Crystal Ballroom for the Poor Man's Whiskey/Railroad Earth Show: This old concert venue is on the third floor and the hardwood floor was built to be bouncy...when everyone is dancing, you feel like you're on a mini trampoline. The music was fantastic!

- Resting our tired feet at the Crystal Hotel: We got a european-style room (re: no bathroom in the room) at this recently renovated hotel a block from the venue. Each room is named after and decorated in the theme of a song; we were in the Silversun Pickups' lazy-eyed..something room. It was a cool place with soaking tubs and jazz den in the basement.

It was a great little mid-winter escape.

Home/Heart Tour

family tree.

Well, after a weekend where Justin and I got out of the house to play in the snow TWO days in row, we were talking about how good it is starting to feel to come home. In just a few weeks, we feel like we're make a lot of steps towards making this house a home. This weekend, we also hung artwork and set up our family photos on the shelf that Justin built us for valentines day. So, here's a little tour of the place thus far:

layin' floor.

chill room.

craft room/scott's tower.


living room.

dining.

dining.

making it happen.

room with a view.

So, we've been in our new home for a little over a week, but last night was our first night of sleep in our actual bedroom. Until then, we' d been camped out in our living room in order to finish painting and flooring our sleeping quarters. So, our schedule, as of late, has been go to work, come home, paint, get really hungry and grumpy, scramble together a "meal" around 9:30 or 10:00pm, watch an episode of Cheers, fall into a hard sleep on our bed in the living room.

Aside from the tired and hungry, its been pretty fun...especially last night when we got to move our bed and furniture into the finished room and fall asleep to a brilliant full moon. One of our late night dinners, while not a complete meal, is something that we'll definitely recreate again soon--at a more reasonable hour.

Almond Butter Parsnip Fries

3-4 parsnips, cut into fries
3 TBS. almond butter
1 TBS. tamari or soy sauce
1 TBS. olive oil
dash of cayenne

1. mix together butter, soy sauce, oil, and cayenne.
2. Toss parsnips in sauce.
3. Spread on a cookie sheet at bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until soft and a little crispy. Yum!

Can I also mention how impressive Justin has been throughout all of this? Well, he has been. When I get to near zombie mode, he's still trucking along and reminding me (us) to slow down and relax. He's also the one that's done most of the heavy lifting and the more frustrating tasks like trimming the flooring to fit oddly shaped nooks and crannies. Love. I try to show him how appreciative I am with things like this:


And some photos of our home, thus far:

An organized kitchen cabinet, sigh...

Our tea kettle in its new home.

Bedroom before: heritage linoleum and brilliant blue!


AFTER:

Walk-in closet!

Check out those floors!

The throne!

Home, sweet home (almost).

Roots. We're laying them. Justin and I bought at house in Port Angeles, WA. She was built in 1928 and sports royal purple trim. Soon, she will transition from a house to a home. For now, she's the place we go to paint and scrape and pace around and store our things in awkward places.

She has so much charm and even an old apple tree, but, for now, she consumes our waking life. I cannot wait to sleep beneath her roof, fill her yellow kitchen with tasty smells, release our cat to explore her nooks and crannies, and warm her space with friends and family.

Details and more regular blog posts to follow....

Stayin' fresh, winter fresh.

Although there are many a snowflake gathered on the ground outside, we've still been treated with brightly colored fresh food at the Port Angeles Farmer's Market each Saturday--rain, sleet, wind, snow, or shine.

As usual, winter has put us into a hearty state-of-belly. So, we've been coming home from the market with local steelhead, albacore tuna, beef, and BACON. Did I mention the smooth Gouda from Samish Bay Creamery?

With all of these hearty delights, one needs some fresh veggies. Lucky for us, brassicas abound, with: kale, brussel sprouts, romanesco, broccoli--oh my. We're still enjoying the mightiest shallots I've ever tasted from our friends, Jen and Bob, at Pacific Crest Farm. And of course, carrots, parsnips, taters, garlic and others from the under(ground) world in our own back yard. Usually one or a combination of the latter make it onto our plates.

Some of our favorite winter meals:

seared tuna with sake-sauteed veggies

Clark Farms(deconstructed)meatloaf, bacon-sauteed sprouts, and sweet tots

Cheesy toast with soup

Tempeh Reubens

Justin also makes killer -- as in delicious and woah-my-gosh spicy-- lentils and thai-style coconut curries.

What do you like to eat this time of year?

Do all cats like pumpkin?

...just wondering....

Greetings from 2012!

The Breadbasket

A new year. A fresh and clean point in time. A time to reflect and to grow. A time to eat more sauerkraut. What does this new year mean to you?

Justin and I have just arrived back from time with our families in our homelands. The journey back home was nourishing in many ways--time with family and old friends spent around tables filled with good food, hundreds of puzzle pieces, or a mountain of homemade cookies was time spent remembering our roots, dreaming our futures, or just basking the comfort of familiar faces.



Returning to Port Angeles has been bittersweet: we miss the feeling of having to find time to visit with grandparents and parents and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends and running into familiar faces on old stomping grounds; but driving back to Port Angeles to reunite with Scott, going for a New Years Eve hike in Olympic Park, walking through our farmer's market for groceries, and peering into the windows of our soon-to-be home made it feel like we were home. It's quieter and slower paced here, but returning reminded me that we now have three places to call home. How lucky we are!

So, on the last day of 2011, we had a quiet reintroduction to our home on the North Olympic Peninsula. We checked out the Aurora Creek Trail by Lake Crescent and enjoyed our first jaunt into some snow and the treat of a few hedgehog mushrooms that had survived the freeze. At home, Justin cooked up some Sauerkraut Soup --a specialty of his family-- and we rang in the new year by the fire with games and some local libations.







Friends and family, near and far, thanks for making this past year and this life so rich! Greetings from 2012!

New Years Sauerkraut Soup

4 c. sauerkraut
1.5 qt. water
1 onion, chopped
a handful of mushrooms, chopped
3 TBS. flour
1/2 c. Bulgar wheat
4 TBS. butter
salt and pepper to taste

1. combine kraut and water in a pot and simmer for 1 hour.
2. While kraut is simmering, saute onions and mushrooms in butter until translucent. Stir in flour to thicken.
3. Stir onion mix and Bulgar into kraut mix and continue to simmer for 25-30 min.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Enjoy with a grilled cheese sandwich.