july 15, 2012 breakfast

breakfast at the blue moose cafe in port townsend is the special of the day, a 'summer is here' scramble of eggs, chicken sausage, zucchini, yellow and red bell pepper, tomato and onion, with a side of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, purple grapes and bananas. 

july 7, 2012 breakfast

to call this breakfast is a bit of an overstatement. we ate this while rushing off to our volunteer post at mt. st. helens, after driving three hours from seattle and setting up camp. a nice parking lot backdrop for our breakfast of leftover egg cup and a smoothie of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, coconut milk, egg white protein and chia seeds. we were ready to take on some trail maintenance!

july 2, 2012 breakfast

mmm.. doesn't this look delicious?

how about now?

 green smoothies are one of the ugly ducklings of the breakfast world, i'll admit that right now. but this version, of spinach, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, coconut milk and a bit of egg white protein, was a nice change of pace from the standard eggs. although next time, i think i'll add a bit more fat to make it more satiating. maybe half an avocado or a spoonful of almond butter?

june 27, 2012 dinner

sitting on the grass in the sun, taking in jake shimabukuro and leo kottke at the zoo. say, this calls for a picnic! there was a big group of us, and we all contributed to the spread. i grazed on salami, olives, pickled hot peppers, strawberries, rainier cherries, almonds and baba ghanouj, with bell pepper and carrot for dipping. i also broke out the leftover kohlrabi, beet and walnut salad.

watching the swallows overhead darting after insects, to a ukulele soundtrack - a perfect summer evening!

june 21, 2012 dinner

my sis and i made a belated father's day dinner for my dad and stepmom tonight. (on actual father's day, ungrateful daughter number one was camping and ungrateful daughter number two was hiking.) i decided to go with tried-and-true well-tested favorites.

here is a wilted arugula salad, topped with bacon, chopped walnuts, and shallots cooked in the bacon grease, a little olive oil, and a drizzle of blood orange basalmic. drizzled a bit on the tablecloth too. oops. a small cat toy was on the table for some reason, and also made it into the shot.

i repeated the shrimp recipe i did a couple of nights ago (baked in a sauce of pureed olive oil, shallot, garlic and red pepper flakes, with a few splashes of chicken broth). i suppose it would have been nice to have mixed it with some veggies or put it atop a nice bed of something or other, but we had four dishes going at once in the kitchen, and were trying to time them. it kind of felt like we were on an episode of top chef.

the spanish tortilla with rutabaga i've done a couple of times now turned out great. on top are some chives and the purple blossoms of the chives, which lend it a nice peppery, floral flavor.

and this was sheer awesomeness. my sister made these raw, vegan, gluten-free, grain-free brownies, using only ground nuts (walnuts and pecans), raisins and dates. the frosting is coconut oil brought to liquid state, then whisked with cocoa powder. it's then chilled to give it that shellacked frosting crust. top that with some fresh peaches, raspberries and strawberries tossed in lemon juice, lemon zest and mint, and i have a new favorite dessert.

we then sat out on the deck and watched anna's hummingbirds at the feeder. a pretty perfect evening all around!

june 16, 2012 dinner

good company warrants a good spread. alex and rachael came up from portland, and we met them halfway at potlatch state park on the hood canal. most of the campground is nothing to write home about, but we secured a sweet, secluded spot (93, if you're interested), way up in the trees and ferns. nobody around but jays and chestnut-backed chickadees.

this is alex's dinner, chicken grilled in foil, with tomatoes, zucchini, onions, and lemon-thyme from their garden, plus some fresh baby heirloom tomatoes and a few sheets of toasted sesame nori for good measure. looks delish!

rachael follows suit a bit later with the addition of roasted potatoes and a chicken sausage from otto's sausage kitchen in portland. quite good! (i ate the other half of that sausage, btw.)

we roasted some radishes in the campfire coals, a technique that my sister taught me when we were camping over memorial day weekend. radishes become quite mellow and slightly sweet when tossed with a little olive oil and folded up in some foil, then left to their own devices in the fire..

in the meantime, rachael broke out the strawberries, dipped them generously in marshmallow creme, and grilled them over the fire, s'mores-style..

we grilled up some asparagus, managing not to char them too badly..

..and set some lamb skewers on the grill shortly thereafter. they'd been marinating in olive oil, lemon juice, chopped fresh parsley and thyme, and so on. note the bay leaf still clinging to the lamb.

the super-yummy finished product. served up slightly rare, and still a bit mouth-scalding, but tender and juicy and all that grilled lamb eaten while camping should be!