Midsummer Sale!

Waterfall Bagging in Oregon

It has been said that the road trip is a right of American passage.  For some it is the thrill of endless possibility, the rush of the open road and a pervasive sense of freedom.  For others it is literally Hell on wheels.  Visions of being cramped in a car, with endless miles of road, each more or less indistinguishable from one another, took me back to the days of driving across the country with my family.  We would drive for hours on end without stopping.  Bathroom breaks and were frowned upon and McDonalds was mandatory.  With this in mind, I hoped that this trip might just heal my childhood cross-country trauma.

As we traveled a definite theme emerged without any planning at all.  We knew that Oregon was home to several fantastic waterfalls, after all we HAD done our research well.  What we didn't realize was how addictive "waterfall bagging" can be.  After a few days or driving around central Oregon we'd already bagged 7 beautifully photogenic falls and all we could think of was finding just one more.  Just when we'd thought that we'd seen the most beautiful one, another would surpass it and we would have to amend our rating scale once again.  By the end of the month (aided by a drive to "Waterfall Alley" near the Columbia Gorge) we'd bagged our 17th one.

Here are a few of our favorite ones.  By the way, hiking to them made them that much more spectacular so some of our choices are most definitely influenced by the effort exerted to reach them.

Bridal Veil Falls on the Historic Columbia River Scenic Highway.  An easy 1 mile round trip hike to this small but lush rainforest falls that empties into the Columbia River

Tokatee Falls is one of the most famous in Oregon and we agree that it is spectacular. 1 mile roundtrip.  It was at the end of a very long day for us that started in Crater Lake, so we didn't take as long as we would have liked here.

The two-tired falls are fantastic but we were more excited by the two bowl shaped pools at the top of the basalt falls.

Elowah Falls was a hidden gem.  We hiked a bit further to get to it but who cares when you are hiking through rainforest, lush with green and wildflowers booming all around you.  The falls had a distinctly Hawaiian feel to them and were very peaceful.

Our Chow thought so too.

The last falls that I will share with you are Salt Creek falls in the Willamette National Forest.  It is the second highest waterfall in Oregon and a great starting point from which to explore more falls.

Drawn in by the name Too Much Bear Lake, we went on to Diamond Creek Falls from here and hiked through thickets of rhododendron loaded with blooms and buds.  We were the only people on the trail and enjoyed the many bridges and streams along the way.

Without question the best road trip yet...and not a McDonalds in sight.

#Oregonorbust, Let the adventure begin

After the initial excitement of picking our spring family road trip destination cooled, we realized that Oregon, although much smaller than our own California was still an ENTIRE state and without family to stay with or knowing the area very well,  we still needed to pick a town as our home base from which to explore.

After an attempt to do research on the internet and being inundated with information and destination reviews that held no context for me, I needed to get my bearings. I decided to take a less tech savvy approach.  I went to the bookstore for a huge road atlas, an old school folding map (that I can finally fold properly)  and some good guidebooks, the kind you can highlight, dog ear and stick general within reach items into to mark a must see attraction.

Books in hand, we read everything. Anything that even remotely interested us, we highlighted on our map.  Lonely Planet Pacific Northwest's Best Trips gave us day trip ideas for the whole state and our  Moon handbook for Oregon helped to fill in the planning details. 

We decided early on that renting a house made the most sense for us. We would be there a month and a dog friendly home would gladly accommodate our furry traveling companions, but where to go?   What if we chose somewhere  far from the places we wanted to visit?  We wanted to be remote but what if that meant we were 20 miles from a grocery store?  We were about to be rewarded for our efforts though, our abundantly highlighted map would tell us tell us clearly where we needed to be. There at the epicenter of the neon pink ink, would be our answer.  There was only one problem.  We had two answers.  It was very clear that we had a number of attractions on our wish list to see along the coast and an even great number in central Oregon.  

So we did both, allocating three weeks to Central Oregon where we found a great house on the river in La Pine (near Bend) and a week in Florence on Mercer Lake.  Our drive to our first destination in La Pine was a long one, so we found a third house in Jenner just north of San Francisco, to help break up the drive.

Houses booked, bags packed, bikes, paddle boards and animals loaded, with our now well work guidebooks and maps and Oregon playlist set to go, our adventure was ready to begin...

Oregon or bust

It all began about five months ago.  My husband had mentioned, yet again, how much he'd like to explore the city of Bend in Oregon.  Why? I'd asked him. "I'd like to check it out" he'd answered.  That was it, his attempt to persuade me to join him on his Bend Bandwagon.  Compelling as his sales pitch was, I began to consider the many reasons why visiting Oregon would be fun for us after all.  Great food, lots of hiking trails, lakes and streams for fishing, and getting out of the city, all sounded great and Bend was nowhere on my list.  So I said let's do it.  Let's pack up our two dogs, the cat and our daughter and really experience somewhere new, while she is still small.  Let's go on a month long road trip and get to know the locals.  So we did.

If you have been following me on Twitter and Instagram #oregonorbust, for the past month then you know the rest of the story and how it all worked out for us.  You've seen the photos of the beautiful waterfalls, mossy forest floors and the endless trails we explored.  I plan to share more details with you in upcoming posts, our planning process, the guidebooks that you really need to buy and the ones you don't, which towns we fell in love with (yes, Bend is in there), delicious places to eat and a few to skip.  It is my hope that you will enjoy the photos, stories and perhaps be inspired to plan your own adventure with your family this summer.

I also found some inspiration for Amuse Me and hope to have new items in the store for the summer.

To be continued...

Vanilla-Scented Candied Orange Peel

I hope that you had a nice Valentine's Day, celebrating with someone that you love, your husband, a friend or the cat.  

I have been meaning to make a version of these Candied Orange fruit peel slices from The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook, since the holidays! We were recently gifted a mound of the most delicious oranges and seeing how it was Valentine's Day weekend, it seemed like the perfect time to make them.  

There are a number of citrus fruits to choose from in the markets now and they are all at their peak.  I chose oranges but use what you have access to, Meyer Lemons, Limes, Buddha's Hand or Pomelo would also be delicious. 

These candied peels are truly a labor of love and require a little patience and planning to get them just right. I started mine the night before, allowing them to cool in their liquid overnight and left them to dry for two days before coating them in the final dusting of sugar.  

You will need:

4 oranges
2 vanilla bean pods
4 1/2 cups cane sugar
2 cups water

2 cups vanilla scented sugar for dredging

Cut each orange in half.  Carefully squeeze the juice out of each half while keeping the rind whole.  Save juice for another use.  Place the halves in a nonreactive saucepan (David Lebovitz has a great post on this) and cover with water.  Bring to boil then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain and discard the water.  The recipe recommends repeating this process once or twice more.  I opted to do it once and they were delicious, even with a little natural bitterness, which I like.

Cover the halves once more with cold water and bring to a boil again.  Cook at a simmer for about 60 minutes.  Drain and allow the rinds to cool or allow to sit overnight uncovered to cool.  When they are cool enough to handle, scoop out most of the white pith on the inside with a spoon, leaving a thin amount attached.  Then slice each half into thin strips.

In a sauce pan, add your sugar and water and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Split your vanilla bean pods and add the caviar inside them, to the sauce pan with your sliced fruit peel.  Add the emptied pods to your 2 cups of sugar for dredging.  Place the vanilla sugar in an airtight container and set aside. 

Turn the heat down to a simmer and allow the slices to cook without stirring for about 30 minutes.  You will know they are done when the pith turns translucent.  

Allow the slices to cool in the syrup then remove them with a slotted spoon to a wire rack or set on top of parchment paper to dry.  I set mine in the oven with the heat off and left them for two days to make sure all of the moisture had gone.

Now for the fun part.  Remember the vanilla pod scented sugar that you set aside?  Pout it into a bowl and, a handful at a time, add your slices gently sifting them through the sugar until all the peels are coated.

Store the slices in an airtight container and enjoy!  So far we have added ours to chocolate poundcake and granola but most have been enjoyed right out of the jar.  Save your left-over vanilla scented sugar, it is delicious in poundcake and your morning coffee.

An Arctic Winter Birthday

Let's hear it for December Birthdays! My husband and daughter both have them.  Making each of their days special while still in the throes of holiday planning can have it challenges but I like to think of it as more reasons to celebrate in an already festive season.  This year she turned 8 and asked to spend it with just our family, in an arctic wonderland.  The first part was easy, the second took some creativity since we live in Southern California and have been experiencing an unseasonable heatwave this past week.

We had fun filling the ceiling with hanging paper snowflakes and baking a chocolate icebox cake (cute huh?) complete with delicious marshmallow frosting.  I found some glittery white foam sticker paper and we created these sweet winter wonderland cake toppers.

In addition to party games like ring the reindeer's antlers and pitch the marshmallows into the cocoa, we built sugar castles and igloos out of sugar cubes and royal icing.

When I found these little metal, water resistant capsules though, I knew there had to be a frozen scavenger hunt to go along with the arctic theme.  We filled each one with tiny, and I mean tiny, paper scrolls with clues written on them, then placed each capsule in silicone dishes of water to freeze.  The idea was for her to find the clues frozen in their ice orbs and wait for it to melt before heading to the next frozen clue.  I mentioned the freak heatwave right?  To compensate I filled each at different levels, the smaller orbs would be the first clues, melting faster then the last and largest which would ideally stay frozen until we reached the end.  They worked beautifully and she has a great time.

We ended the evening with our traditional back yard movie night snuggled under blankets (the heat finally relented) with popcorn and Wallace and Grommit. A good day for all.

Japanese Eggplant

We are already halfway through November but you wouldn't know it from the weather.  Today was a sunny 80 degree day.There were butterflies in the air, Spring bulbs are popping out of the ground, and blackberries are still on the vines, all while we are knee deep in falling leaves from our resident sycamore tree.  I must be missing the change of seasons, that can be the only explanation for my recent fascination with this show.  Honeypot anyone?

Evidence of Fall is definitely here in the farmer's markets though.  Orange persimmons, butternut squash, sugar pie pumpkins, acorn squash, green and black figs, parsnips, celery root, chard, 

and eggplant.  Feelings about eggplant tend to lie squarely on love it or hate it.  Fortunately, it is a versatile vegetable so there is probably a method of preparation to please every appetite.  My daughter loves eggplant and potato croquettes and a college roommate liked it sliced thinly and fried with maple syrup on top. For me though simple is always best.  

If you can find them, japanese eggplants work well for this preparation, otherwise thinly sliced rounds of the large variety are just as delicious.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash and cut each eggplant in half lengthwise.  Place a sheet of parchment paper on a large sheet pan and lay each eggplant cut side up on the paper.  With a basting brush generously coat each half in your favorite olive oil.  I like to use one with a flavor like Meyer lemon or garlic.  Once each half is coated generously, sprinkle with fresh herbs.  I like to use a combination of lemon thyme and mint.  Season with salt and pepper and place in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Scoop out the center and enjoy, I think you will love it.