july 13, 2013 dinner

grilled chicken & veggies on my dad's deck after a fun, sunny day at blake island.

june 9, 2013 dinner

belated dinner celebration for my dad's 60th: lamb/beef meatballs over cauliflower rice (dusted with chopped pistachios), alongside a crisp spring salad of lettuce, radishes, and avocado. no complaints here!

may 25, 2013 newt!

my friend alex picked up this fellow on the trail. good thing he's wearing gloves, as rough-skinned newts (taricha granulosa) harbor a neurotoxin (tetrododoxin), which is the same bad stuff found in fugu!

may 19, 2013 breakfast prep

eggs from three sisters, artichoke hearts, basil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted asparagus, bacon - these are a few of my favorite things, and they're going into this week's frittata!

prior to going into the frittata, bacon needs to be fried, and asparagus needs to be tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted in the oven. sunday nights are busy but fragrant around here!

may 18, 2013 dinner

we picked up a few cuts of meat from three sisters farm on whidbey island last weekend, and decided to try the tri-tips with mel's insanely delicious moroccan dipping sauce, as well as brussels wrapped in foil in the campfire. the perfect meal!

may 10, 2013 dinner

the first camping trip of the season calls for grilled salmon! we live in a tiny apartment with no room for a grill, so camping brings out a whole new side of food for us. accompanied by brussel sprouts seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, wrapped in foil, and allowed to ponder life's deeper meaning in the campfire coals for a good half hour or so.

april 15, 2013 breakfast

after an extended hiatus, i am back for another season of crow-eatin’! i feel a bit like a disoriented bear emerging from hibernation, so bear with me (wow, so not intentional) as I claw my way back into regular bear form (ok, that one was totally intentional). i’ll start the ball rolling with a simple monday morning breakfast of eggs and bacon. i’ve got a fresh egg hookup from a coworker who lives on a farm (love those bright yolks!), and the bacon is a new type i’ve been digging on lately: beeler’s. it’s thick and chewy and has a good salty/smoky balance. and even though it didn’t make it into the shot, rest assured I am still keeping cholula in business. 

september 22, 2012 swift-watching

my favorite thing to do in portland in september is to pack a picnic dinner and some wine, and head to chapman elementary to watch the bedtime ritual of migrating vaux's swifts. hundreds of people line every available piece of lawn on the school grounds, and thousands of swifts don't disappoint, putting on an unbelievable aerial display as they prepare to dive into the chimney for the night. the crowd boos the occasional peregrine falcon or cooper's hawk, and cheers as the swirling vortex of tiny cigar-shaped birds starts its dramatic plunge, funneling into the chimney. from late august until mid-september, the swifts make this their resting place before continuing their migration south. (the school kindly does not turn on the furnace during this time.) i lived within walking distance for a few years, and would head over every late summer evening. the swifts don't seem to mind the audience - it is a very convivial scene as groups of friends chat on picnic blankets, kids slide down the hill on cardboard boxes, and soccer games go on below.

september 15, 2012 fort flagler

camping late in the season is so pleasant. mid-september is still tank top weather (at least for me), and the campground was less than half full. did some geocaching, hit up the port townsend farmer's market, and hiked all over.

sep 1, 2012 sunset

camping with craig, brent and matt at san juan county park on the west side of san juan island. the campground looks out over haro strait, where earlier in the day, the four of us and my dad and darcy went kayaking. just like last year, orcas passed by within an hour after we returned to shore. such an idyllic place..