First Time Skiing

It is the day after Christmas and ViviAnne and I took Kayleen, Katie, Darcy and Liam skiing at Schweitzer Mountain. It was Kayleen, Katie and Darcy's first time skiing. Ever. They had a blast. Each of them mastered the bunny hill and wanted to continue skiing even after the sun had long sense set and the slopes where dark and cold.

I love skiing with new skiers. They do some of the funniest stuff. For instance: Liam forgot to get off the ski lift and ended up jumping off. Katie and Kayleen both dropped a ski pole (which I had to go get). For the first run of the day, Kayleen just starts skiing and ends up going all the way down the hill without crashing (until the end) and going as fast as she can because she doesn't know how to stop.

Liam is fearless, he has only been skiing a couple of times, but has already started trying to go off jumps in the terrain park along side the bunny hill run. He is doing fantastic, by the way, and can ride the ski lift by himself too. Plus he likes to ski through the little trails that weave in and out of the trees on the sides of the ski run.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. Sun, sun sun and crystal clear blue skies with beautiful views of the lake. I love it up here. Currently, I am sitting in the cabin while ViviAnne and Asa play checkers. I love it up here. What a great day!

Fish Anyone?

When ViviAnne and I got married, our friend Emily gave us a wedding present. It was a card, that said she would catch us a delicious bass and cook it for us. Right from the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Well, nine and a half years later, she is going to come good on her gift. Emily and her fiancee Berkley are coming over to dinner tonight with a halibut that she got in Alaska. I am going to cook up a Mixed Seafood Risotto and a Tang of Red Onion and Lime to go with it. Should be good, and I will post the recipes soon.

I am going to cook for their weeding rehearsal dinner as well. I am cooking up a pork roast marinated in Thai spices, Chile spiced Edemame, Chicken Curry and Rice. I will post any recipes from the event that I haven't posted already.

I think I may start calling my chicken curry, bandicoot curry, I like the sound of that!

Pick me up

I had been feeling really bad this last weekend because I had screwed up at work and accidentally deleted some web stuff. I wasn't able to recover it this weekend, and was feeling pretty down. But I got into work today and got some great news via email, which totally brightened up my day. I can't say much more about it now though.

Oh, ya, I am back to blogging!

Sausage in Cream Sauce with Pasta

Inspired by the new movie Julie and Julia I made a little cream sauce to put over ravioli. It was great and I am posting the recipe here now for your cooking and eating pleasure!

2/3 lb of good sausage (I used a slightly spicy creole sausage)
1 med onion (chopped up)
2 big portobello mushrooms (chopped up)
3/4 cup white wine
1 cup cream
6 cloves of garlic (I left them hole and ate them, but I love garlic, you may want to chop them)
1/4 cup of fresh grated Parmesan
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp white pepper
salt and black pepper to taste
Italian parsley to garnish

In a large skillet cook sausage. Remove and cut into pieces. Melt butter and olive oil together in skillet and saute mushrooms, garlic and onions. Add sausage back to skillet and season with peppers and salt. Add white wine and reduce to 1/2 volume. Add cream and cheese and simmer for an additional 2 minutes until sauce has thickened. Server over pasta, I used a cheese ravioli. I will add a pic soon.

Changes I am gong to try: I am going to sub out the Parmesan cheese for a local cheese, Cougar Gold, from the WSU creamery. I am also going to remove the garlic after it has sauteed and crush it and then add it back in.

Garden Failure

As you may or may not know, I tried to do the "Three Sisters" planting method this summer for corn, squash/pumpkins/gourds, and bean/peas. It didn't go so well. But I wanted to document some of my thoughts so that I can be more successful next year.

First, I should have started earlier. I started in late May and should start the corn the beginning of May. You can soak the corn seeds in warm water over night to start the germination process. The extra two weeks should really help get my corn going. I can cover the plants with a small plastic box at night to keep the temp up. Once the corn gets going I should plant the squash, pumpkins and gourds.

I need to keep on top of weeding. That seems to be the biggest detriment to the whole three sisters getting started. I plan on putting newspaper down between the mounds which should block out most of the weeds. With the newspaper in place I think I will have enough time to weed the mounds themselves by hand. Once all the plants are going, I will need to add compost to the top of the mound. The corn are heavy feeders and I don't think I gave them enough in the soil this year.

Next year will be better!

A couple of Sushi fillings

One of the biggest reasons I have this blog is to write down all the stuff I come up with when it comes to food. That way I won't forget it, and when people (like Morgan) ask me how I made something, I don't have to make it up on the fly, I can point them here:) So here are two sushi fillings. See my Sushi link to the right, for the low down on how to make and roll some great sushi.

Crab-Wasabi filling:
1/2 cup of crab meat
wasabi to taste
2 Tbsp of mayo

Mix together in a bowl and use directly for your sushi filling, or store in fridge for later. I think that I mixed in a little furikake seasoning with this as well, but I can't remember for sure.

Portobello filling:
2 portobello mushrooms (diced into small pieces)
1 can water chestnuts (diced into small pieces)
red chili pepper sauce (to taste)
2 cloves garlic (diced)
salt to taste

Saute in wok over high heat with a little olive oil until the chestnuts are soft, remove from heat and use directly for your sushi filling, or store in fridge for later.

Cobbler, mmmm cobbler

So, I haven't posted anything in forever, but it is time to get back with the program. This will also show up on face book, so if you get the chance to make this let me know how it turns out.

The crew went camping a couple of weeks ago and I made a Blackberry cobbler over briquettes. I made it again with peaches in the oven a couple of days ago and both time it turned out fantastic. So for your cobbler eating enjoyment:

1 stick butter

2 C flour

2 C sugar

1 + 1/2 C milk

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp rum extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 C fruit (black berries or peaches work well)

1/2 C sugar

1/4 water

Prep briquettes (about 30, 8-10 on bottom and 18-20 on top of dutch oven) or preheat oven to 375. Mix flour, 2 cups sugar, milk, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, rum and vanilla extracts together. Melt butter in 12 inch dutch oven. Mix fruit, 1/2 cup sugar and water together. Pour batter into the melted butter in the dutch over, then ladle the fruit mixture into the batter (don't stir it up or anything, just ladle it in). Cook it:

using briquettes: 45 minutes to 1 hour, every 10 minutes turn the bottom on the dutch 1/4 circle while turning the lid 1/4 circle the opposite direction. Check it after 45 minutes, I would start with 8 briquettes on the bottom and 18 on the top.

using oven: cook it for about an hour, check after 45 minutes or so. I cooked it for about an hour at 350 and the inside batter was still a little bit undercooked, so I put it back in for another 1/2 hour.

Enjoy the picture.

Vivi's Almost 30

Just a quick update on the home front.

ViviAnne turns 30 tomorrow. She is excited and we are having a party at our house. two parties in fact. One with family and the kids in the early evening and then another in the later evening without kids and with friends. I got 24 cupcakes from the CoOp for the party, so she is going to love those.

Finally got the planting started over the weekend. I was able to use rototiller and prepped two garden beds. I got broccoli and carrots into the ground. It is about two weeks early for carrots, but I thought I might give it a try a little early. I am going to swing by the store on my way home and get potatoes and hopefully get those into the ground this weekend with a couple of other things. I will also continue to prep the remaining garden beds and get the kids gardens ready for planting sunflowers this weekend.

ViviAnne is heading to Seattle on Friday with Morgan, Shynne and Brooke for a girls weekend. They will have fun, I will be taking care of our kids plus Shynne's off and on during the weekend. I will have the older girls to help out though.

Going to the Cabin

Last day of the ski season at Schwietzer. We are heading up tonight after I get off work. Shynne and Kevin and family might join us but maybe not. It would be cook if they did, it would keep the boys occupied. I am thinking about going on a hike with Liam and Asa. I had hoped that my mom and dad would get them snow shoes, but that didn't materialize, so I might be pulling them around on a sled.

ViviAnne and our friend Morgan's birthday is coming up soon. I need to start planning Vivi's party, she turns 30 by the way. Wish her a happy birthday if you are on facebook and read this. Morgan was talking about having a dinner on Easter (her birthday) so that sounds like fun to me. She said no sushi though, ah well, we could have a bagel dog cook off. She could be the judge, I have a couple of good ideas.

Is it Spring Yet?

If the snow and wind would ever stop, I would be able to go out and get some gardening done. It is not in the cards for this weekend though. We are heading up onto the mountain for the last weekend of the Ski season at Schweitzer. Should be pretty good, we have gotten about 6 inches of snow over the last 3 days, most of it is melting by mid day but that is quite a bit for late March. I have to take my snow tires off tomorrow too.

Spring Planting List

I was all geared up these last two weekends to make some headway in my garden, but no, mother nature rained me out both weekends. It is nice today though. For the spring I have the following I would like to get done before summer.

Setup garden area which includes:
Building Planting Boxes
Setting up Potato Tires
Plant fruit trees and blue berry bushes.
Build potting shed
Plant our deciduous trees that we have had in pots for the last two years.
Build trusses for grapes

We have two apple, two plum and a cherry tree to plant as well as two blue berry bushes. I am thinking I will incorporate them into our wind break, but I am not married to this yet, I may put them nearer to the garden so that the garden beds are a little more protected from the wind.

Thai Shrimp Stir-Fry

I posted two recipes today, lucky you:)

This is a good dish to pair with any rice or noodle dish. It is quick, easy and delicious.

1/2 lb of raw 21 count shrimp
1/4 lb of scallops
1 Tbsp of double black soy sauce
1 Tbsp of fish sauce
1 Tbsp of dark brown sugar
1 tsp of crush red pepper
4 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 tsp sesame seed oil
2 Tbsp canola or olive oil
1 tsp rice vinegar

In a wok heat up oils and saute garlic and red pepper. Add shrimp and scallops and cook for about a minute, add soy sauce, fish sauce and brown sugar and stir-fry for a couple more minutes. Add rice vinegar just before serving. Easy huh?

Asparagus and Portobello Stir-fry

I made this up last night. I had some yakisoba noodles and some baby portobello mushrooms, but was thinking I needed a little more in the stir-fry, so I swung by the store and got some little asparagus shoots and whipped up a fine dinner.

1/2 cup asparagus (thin shoots are best, chopped to about 2 inches)
1/2 cup mushrooms (chopped portobello or baby portobello)
1/4 cup green onions (chopped to about 1 inch)
5 garlic cloves (roughly chopped)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1-3 Tbsp fish sauce
1-2 Tbsp double black soy sauce
salt to taste (you may not need it)
1-2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
yakisoba noodles

In a wok, heat oil and saute mushrooms, garlic and red pepper for about 2 minutes, add asparagus, fish sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar and stir-fry for about 5 minutes. Remove veggies from wok and save in bowl. Add oil and noodles to wok, and cook for several minutes. You may need to add a little water to the noodles, I also add in a little bit more soy and fish sauce while the noodles are heating up. Add your veggies back to the wok and cook for 5 more minutes.
You done, eat up, what are you waiting for!

Otik's Famous Potatoes

My 100th post!

My buddy Mike came up with the following and it is pretty great. Even out in the snow during snow camping. If you get the reference in the title, you are officially a nerd, congrats:)

3 onions (just take the skin off, leave them whole)
6 med. Yukon gold or red new potatoes (peel and chop to bite size)
cup of baby carrots
three stalks celery (chopped into small pieces)
3 portobello mushrooms
hand full of celery leaves
small hand full of cilantro
soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
10 cloves of garlic (cut them in half)

Oven set to 400 degrees.
In a dutch oven, put about 1/4 cup olive oil to coat bottom and sides of oven. Put cut potatoes, whole onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms into dutch oven. Salt and pepper to taste. Don't put in the celery leaves, cilantro, soy sauce yet. Cover your dutch oven and put in oven for about 45 minutes. Take it out once or twice and stir. After 45 minutes, add soy sauce to taste, celery leaves and cilantro. Stir and put back into oven for about 20 more minutes. Serve with a good bread. If you want you can add a good cooked sausage to the dish.

Happy Birthday Asa

Today is Asa's 4th birthday. He had pancakes this morning for breakfast. We didn't have any syrup, so we used chocolate sauce instead! When I left for work this morning, he was sitting cross legged on our bed watching TV eating chocolate pancakes wearing only a shell necklace that ViviAnne and I brought back from Hawaii. It was funny. He requested tacos, a pinata and a puzzle cake for his birthday dinner. Should be fun tonight!

The pictures are from his birthday party. He wanted a puzzle cake so we baked a fish cake put together out of cupcake holders. Pretty awesome fish cake! ViviAnne made it. The pinata was great fun too, Liam ended up being the one who finally busted it open, go figure.

Import Your Blog to Facebook

Cool,
I found that through the notes section of Facebook, you can import your blog entries. Facebook will check every couple of hours for new entries and post them to your notes.

The Internets is neat.

Thinking about a tipi

I was looking at tipi's today, online. I was thinking that I should buy one. They are fun for kids, and fairly easy to set up with two people. That also travel pretty well if you have a large vehicle, which we do now, so I think I might try to convince ViviAnne to get one with our left over tax return...

We will see.

A Tasty Turkey Pita Sandwich

I threw together a turkey pita sandwich yesterday and thought I would quickly post it.

6-8 slices of turkey lunch meat
1 pita
1/4 onion sliced thin
handful of sliced mushrooms
handful of fresh spinach
feta cheese
pesto
mayonnaise
a good Greek seasoning

Put olive oil in a skillet and saute onions and mushrooms with Greek seasoning to taste. Heat pita up in toaster oven or on flat iron until it is hot and bendy. Mix about a tsp of mayo with a tsp of pesto and spread over warm pita, add turkey and feta. Put hand full of spinach in with mushrooms and onion and cook for about a minute. Put sauteed mushrooms, spinach and onions on top of turkey and fold pita together. Eat and enjoy!

Let it Snow

We have another crazy storm this morning. It is snowing and blowing all over the place. School is closed for the kids and we are a bit snowed in right now. I think that I will try to make it out and go to work a little later in the morning. Maybe shoot for 9:30 or so. I am jonesing to play basketball. I haven't played in three weeks.

I made it through the winter holidays without gaining any weight! Yes! My plan is to loose the last 15 pounds to my goal weight over the next 2 months.

I am also excited to start my garden this year. We are going to build planter boxes this spring to get an early start on the growing season.

Back from the Cabin Trip

We got home from the New Years Cabin Trip this afternoon, just wanted to post a quick update. I will be posting more picture on my facebook page soon and a couple on this one as well. It was a fun and eventful trip as usual. I will write it all down shortly. Have a fun weekend.