Monday, August 17, 2020

Dust In the Wind (Making the Corner)

 It looked to be a relatively short drive to Mark & LeeAnn’s home and the rest areas in Iowa are the best in the nation. I stopped at the Grant Wood rest area on the I-80 and was entranced by the art and beauty displayed there. I am putting a link to an article on the Interstate Art rest areas of Iowa...do yourself a favor and put them on your midWest bucket list.

Iowa Interstate Art






Most of the covered outdoor tables at the Grant Wood rest area had a quote tastefully done in cutout metal sheets, hanging at one end of the partial picnic table enclosure...I found this one from Tennessee Williams particularly appropriate for my trip.







So, I’m pretty sure some AI embedded within either Google Maps or my phone noted that I was about as far away from home as possible on this trip and it was time to have a little fun with the human. Since traveling time is the most effective time to “have some fun” with the Traveling Loafer, I’m pretty sure that I was directed on a multitude of County roads & bypasses (and I sure a couple driveways) taking me through whatever wilderness still existed in Southern Wisconsin as I blazed the trail (literally in some cases) to Burlington. (I do hope that farmer’s wife wasn’t really attached to that huge petunia plant spreading out into the road.) In all fairness, it was a beautiful day, I had no real time schedule other than reaching Burlington before dark, and it was quite a scenic drive...so, no worries...๐Ÿ˜Ž


I arrived at Mark & LeeAnn’s with plenty of daylight left to spare. LeeAnn had fixed a great dinner for us and Mark had Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark beer in the refrigerator...yes, it was a fabulous day! We had a lot of fun catching up with each other and talked pretty far into the night. The next morning we had a good walk around Honey Lake and then went into Waukesha for some pottery clay (LeeAnn is quite an artistic potter of unique and wonderfully quirky pieces!). My old classic iPod had finally bitten the dust on this trip, so we also hit Best Buy so I could pick up an MP3 player of some sort. I’m not really sure the young salesperson knew what I was talking about (Oh My God! I am a Dinosaur!). Finally did find an older sales rep that showed me to their little museum section of music “devices”. I’m pretty happy with my SanDisk Clip Sport Plus, 16 GB MP3 player except it’s so damn small, I’m afraid I’ll lose it in my shirt pocket.

After drinking nearly all their beer and enjoying lots of tasty foods, I needed to head up to Madison to spend a couple days reliving my memories there with Susan. After a couple of good hugs from Mark & LeeAnn, I fired up DOC* and turned the tires Northwest to Madison, Wisconsin.
*(Prius Hybrid Drive...PhD...DOC  - pretty easy to see the naming logic here and we’d had a lot of hours riding in the car with nothing else to do...)

Pretty short driving day and there was a very nice walkway system from my motel into the capital city. It was early afternoon when checked in and since it was a very pleasant day, I walked into town. Immediately went to the Capitol building and was only able to walk around it. Madison had been having quite a few active marches (Black Lives Matter) and as usual (unfortunately), some people had decided breaking windows and damaging store fronts was part of the protest march concept. The result was that when I arrived in town, most of the shops had been boarded up and the Capitol building was closed to visitors. On a good note, most of the sheets of plywood had been painted with wonderful murals and dedications. Although saddened by the visible damage and obvious recent strife in the city, while walking around the area, I wandered by the Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company...and it was open and I was thirsty. Masks were required to enter and you were allowed to remove them once you had been seated. It has a really wonderful classic pub “feel” and I chose to sit at the bar. I was able to taste a few beers and finally selected their Black Earth Porter to quench my thirst. The bartender and another employee were very friendly and since I was the only person at the bar...very attentive. They asked what brought me into town and I told them about meeting Susan here, our travels, the Capitol Pee, and that I was bringing one of Susan’s glass memorial disks to place on the campus grounds. As I was getting ready to leave, Sean, the bartender, told me he’d comped my beer and was touched by my story. I was really impressed by the people and the Great Dane Pub. It was a no brainer to choose to stop by again tomorrow and have lunch (and another beer).


I walked by the Zoe Bayliss CO-OP where I met Susan in the fall of 1969. It hadn’t changed a bit while the main U of Wisconsin campus was much, much different than I remembered. Lots of newer & bigger buildings and halls...memories were all I had of a lot of the campus from the two years I spent here. Susan was on a scholarship to the U of W and was living at the all girls scholarship dorm Zoe Bayliss.
A bit of trivial, yet important history...The girls of Zoe Bayliss had decided that the beginning of the semester needed a party and in order to have a party, they needed to get a keg of beer and drum up some college boys. Drinking age for beer in Wisconsin was 18, so getting the keg was no problem...the boys however needed to be lured in. They chose several girls in the house for the task that were quite attractive and not shy. Out into the neighborhood they went, asking any unattached boys they met to join them for a beer at Zoe Bayliss. I was staying a block away in the YMCA and followed a cute little blond back to ZB. She immediately disappeared (off to gather more males I later found out) and I was left sitting alone in the main room. As I was sitting there, yes, still alone and thirsty, Susan appeared and asked if I’d like a beer...instead I got a bolt of lightning through my heart...and the start of nearly 50 years of being constantly with the love of my life.

Walking home my first afternoon back in the Capital city since 2009, I passed the Madison Ice Arena...a huge building enclosing an immense public ice skating arena and ice hockey rink. At the time, the line of cars wasn’t related to a sporting event, it was a lineup for Covid-19 testing...the stark sign of change in our daily 2020 lives.


Back into town the next day, I stopped in at the Great Dane Pub for lunch (Brat & Bacon Pretzel Burger with fabulous fries to die for!). Having another awesome, hand pulled, Black Earth Porter to sip & enjoy really capped off a memorable lunch in a memorable pub, in a memorable town.  Yummmm!
Note, that even though air conditioned at the Great Dane
Pub, my beer was rapidly evaporating...Thank goodness for taps!

















Also found out how to store wood for a WFO pizza place in a large city.

After lunch, I walked up State Street from the Capitol building and found an appropriate place to put one of Susan’s memorial glass disks.
One of Susan's glass disks was placed below the shrubbery
(by my umbrella at the little circle marked SHS).



I buried the disk and then sat there for a while looking down a grassy slope towards the Capitol...the Perfect spot...placed on the campus where our journey began, looking at one of our most meaningful stops on the almost incomprehensible Capitol Pee quest. I'm sure there will be a future post on that particular adventure that was begun/dreamed up in August of 2000, then coordinated, and completed by Susan in March of 2011...with me as the official photographer documenting each visit...of course outside the ladies restroom. ๐Ÿ˜‰


On my way back to the motel, the clouds opened up and I found shelter under a building overhang (along Lake Monona's North side) for almost an hour watching an awesome thunderstorm light up (and drench) Madison. I sat & thought about my wonderful days here in 1969-1971 as well as the new memories I'd gathered in these few short days. As the rains came down, I remembered an old Hawaiian saying that noted Rain was Mother Earth's mixed tears of sorrow seeing you leave the islands and tears of joy for knowing you.
I know I was experiencing tears of joy & sorrow from the heavens to have a part of Susan returned to Wisconsin. I also shed a few tears of joy reflecting on the nearly 50 years we shared and how we truly lived our lives fully entwined in our love & deep friendship for each other.

Lake Monona, looking across to the Capitol building, colorful murals on plywood window
covers, Zoe Bayliss where we met, and fabulous fare at The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co.

I am one lucky man to have had Susan Helen Stansbury in my life for all those wonderful years.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Dust in the Wind (East bound)

Even with the COVID-19 issues this summer, I felt I needed to take some of Susan’s ashes to her parent’s graves in Shell Lake, Wisconsin. I also had some of her personal items to distribute to family members. (Besides, road trips are always better than staying at home to contemplate which chores are best ignored.) I planned to connect to I-80 Eastbound and come back on I-90 to give myself a little driving venue variety, expecting 3-4 weeks on the road. My only regret for the timing of this trip was that the six Forever Susan lilies I’d gotten were apparently going to start blooming after I left home (and would probably be just stems by the time I returned).

I decided the first night would be spent in Bend, since it was a relatively short drive (and I knew I’d be late starting). I also wanted to do a bit of walking around Diamond Lake on the way to appreciate the sheer majesty of the area. Amazingly, one of the lilies opened up the morning I was leaving...really made me happy and I took it as a sign that Susan was endorsing the trip. As I expected, I did get a late start but it was a beautiful sunny afternoon and with the “picture” of the Forever Susan lily happily stored both digitally and in my memory, I soaked in the sights walking the lake trail.





Cold, limited breakfast service the next day in Bend, which I had expected...so I had a loaf of my Apricot-Whole Wheat + a big jar of peanut butter ready in the travel cooler. Needless to say, my stomach was not growling as I headed for Jerome, Idaho. My Google Maps route indicated this would be my longest driving day at +8 hrs...but the scenery along Hwy 20 & I-84 through Eastern Oregon & Idaho was true eye candy at times.





Speed limits in Idaho were 75, so even with some construction zones, the drive went pretty well. The Comfort Inn where I stayed in Jerome was a very nice facility...it just had the feel of being dropped into a field with a couple other businesses. I especially found the intermittent sidewalks (or lack thereof) somewhat entertaining...reminded me a little of a Christo art project or a Stephen King novel...I walked briskly, looking behind me frequently...and didn’t stop too long in any one spot to take a picture.




The next morning I completed a good portion of my daily steps before heading for Rock Springs, Wyoming (via I-80 & the Wasatch Mountain range pass of Utah). Rock Springs was pretty nice, but I really enjoyed the painted/decorated plywood cows displayed throughout the city. Turned out, the Boy Scouts of Troop 4 distribute and install between 150-160 plywood cows to advertise/promote the National High School Finals Rodeo held in mid-July at Rock Springs. The scouts set up the cows in front of participating local businesses (for a donation) and then the businesses decorate them however they’d like.



Proceeds from the businesses are used to support camping, equipment, and summer camp for the scouts. Certainly spurred me on my walking “just a little bit farther” to see how the next wooden bovine had been gussied up.


Leaving Wyoming, I headed for Ogallala, Nebraska (as I have discovered, I just love writing/typing or just attempting to say Ogallala...come on, we all have our little quirks). The weather forecast for Ogallala that day was for no rain...however, that forecast DID NOT include the drive TO Ogallala. I went through a very intense Thunderstorm with an awesome lightning display that was mostly hidden by the incredibly heavy downpour...wow! I don’t miss those kind of storms at all. Amazing to me that some people apparently can see clearly in zero visibility...at least I'm pretty sure I was being passed occasionally by other vehicles (and trucks)...I couldn't see them well enough as they passed me by at 75 mph. ๐Ÿ˜ฒ  Weather cleared for the last half of the drive, but I spent the rest of the day looking over my shoulder for another storm front. Arriving in Ogallala, I realized that I’d stayed here before on a previous trip to Wisconsin with Susan. Somehow it’s always a little comforting to recognize the place where you’re spending the night. And, oh crap, looked like another thunder head headed toward town Ogallala...OK, six times for typing Ogallala in one paragraph is enough--wait, that's seven!

I added a couple of pictures along I-80 of the Nebraska landscape just so
you could appreciate how flat a lot of the middle part of the USA really is...


The next morning I missed the hot breakfast, cooked to order...(apparently, 9 am in Nebraska means 8:30...must be a local time thing). But I still had plenty of bread & peanut butter to go with my coffee and carton of milk (and the thunder head missed Ogallala) so I had plenty of energy to get in my morning walk. Lots of freight train traffic heading west that day (and I suspect, most days). As I was walking across the screened bridge over tracks, I noticed several big dragonflies that were pacing me a couple feet away. I know it was because of the screening, but while I walked with “my friends”, I thought of the little sign my niece Kari had given me after Susan passed away.



It’s been quite a while since I’ve cried while remembering Susan, but that moment brought the tears back, but along with lots of good memories...I have been a very lucky man.

Off for Des Moines, I enjoyed the relatively few cars & trucks on the road for about the first five minutes...trucker coffee break? From then on, I experienced impressive streams of loaded trucks headed West on I-80. At one point (traffic confined to a single lane each way by construction), I counted 24 semi-trucks with a couple of cars literally squeezed in between them...no social distancing being practiced there at all! (Reminded me of the Jerry Reed song East Bound and Down (although it seemed mostly West Bound). I have been impressed with the Nebraska and Iowa rest areas on this trip. Fairly big, with nice walking paths around well maintained grassy areas. Certainly has helped to break up my driving day. I have also figured out how to use Google Maps on my cell phone (remember, I’m old...so to me, this was an impressive feat). Haven't really needed it yet, but I suspect going into Minnesota, it's going to be extremely handy without a navigator. I arrived in West Des Moines in the late afternoon to experience a somewhat unusual Sleep Inn location. It's really a nice motel, but the access is just awful. There is a tight, tree lined, 90 degree sharp turn coming into the parking lot that must be a challenge for even the most experienced truck drivers. Just to make it even more challenging, two trucks decided to park in the opposite approaches to the turn AND someone left their little white POS sedan (sans back wheel) at the corner...even in the Prius it seemed a formidable test of maneuverability. I wondered later if I’d accidentally wandered into some sort of competition that included a trucker’s obstacle course.

Now, imagine a semi-truck parked at the curb on each approach to this corner
...a Smart Car or Mini Cooper would've been useful here.

Tomorrow, I’ll place my navigational trust totally on my phone & Google Maps as I turn a bit North into Wisconsin to visit Susan’s brother Mark and his wife Lee Ann.

p.s. It would be nice if you've assumed I haven't posted for a while because I was traveling...but mostly I was just honing my procrastination skills (and quite well I might add!) ๐Ÿ˜Ž

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Just Desserts or All's Well That Ends With Dessert

Craisin & Apple Crumble in a Paella pan?

When you have plenty of wood and a WFO, there are times when you want to avoid doing house or yard chores, and go straight to cooking (actually, straight to eating...but raw has its drawbacks). Towards the end of the day, I decided that if I fired up the oven, I could idle away at least a couple of hours and end up with some good eats (by the way, my favorite cooking show).

Nice thing about doing this the day after a bread bake, the oven was pretty hot already, so it didn’t take much wood or time to get up to 475°F (I probably didn’t need to build another fire, but again...when you have plenty of wood...)

Below is Susan's Rhubarb Crunch recipe that she made for an FFA cooking contest at Shell Lake High School in the mid to late 1960's. I like more of the crunchy topping than she did, so I bumped up the quantities a bit when I make it. The call for sugar certainly can vary with season’s rhubarb, as with most fruits, so you'll have to be the judge on the amount of sugar(s) you want to add. As always, add less sugar than called for and mix it into the prepared fruit to taste…don't add more sugar to the dry topping mix. What I like about this recipe is that even though it originally called for rhubarb, almost any fruit or combination works well.

Pre-heat oven to 375°F (It's a strong possibility that the dessert will boil over a bit during the bake, so place a foil-lined cookie sheet on the shelf below the main baking rack.)

Susan’s Rhubarb Crunch

   2.0   C Prepared rhubarb, (rough chopped)
   1.0   C Flour -dry
   1.0   C Old fashioned oats -dry
   3/4   C Sugar -dry
   1/4   C  Brown Sugar -dry
   3/4  tsp Cinnamon -dry
   3/4  tsp Nutmeg -dry
   1/2  tsp Kosher salt -dry
   1/2   C Butter, softened (+ extra for the baking dish)

Butter an 8 x 10 baking dish well on the inside (especially the corners).
Mix the dry ingredients together. Pour the prepared rhubarb (fruit) into the baking dish and level it out. Spread the mixed dry ingredients over the top of the fruit and dot it with softened butter.

Bake for 45 minutes, lowering the oven temp to 350°F after adding the prepared dessert. You should see liquid bubbling up the sides as it nears being done.

***  After a bread bake this winter, I got hungry for dessert. I always loved Susan’s rhubarb crisp, so I thought I’d throw something together based on her original recipe. I reasoned that how else do you know if  you’re on a diet if you don’t experience indulgence? So, armed with that logic and no rhubarb, I started rummaging around the pantry. I came up with some Fuji & HoneyCrisp apples as well as a package of frozen cranberries. Sounded like I could use them in place of the rhubarb and since the oven was already hot.





I rough chopped the apples, gave ‘em a good squeeze of lemon juice and tossed them in the Paella pan. (“Why a Paella pan?” you ask, well simply because it was hanging in the pantry in plain view...and I’d probably have to dig for the “proper baking dish” called for in the recipe.) 






I’d read apples take a bit longer to cook, so I also added the butter, brown sugar, cranberries, nutmeg, & cinnamon. I mixed it briefly and then put it in the oven to give it a little pre-cook. I put the oats & flour...oops...I didn’t have nearly enough rolled oats (I mean really, how could anybody not have a large carton of rolled oats somewhere in a cupboard?) 


Since I’d already deviated quite a bit from the original recipe (and it’s not like any of the ingredients weren’t good by themselves), so with that thought process in my beady little brain, I decided to use my Quaker Simply Granola (AKA: Oats, Honey, Raisins, & Almonds) to make up for the lacking rolled oats (and slyly slipped the original recipe under the cutting board where I wouldn’t be reminded how far I’d strayed). 

After the apples started to soften, I went back in the house and gathered up my rogue, unconventional topping from the kitchen counter and grabbed the butter dish...back out to the WFO. 


While sprinkling the topping over the cooking apples, I was surrounded by a pretty sensuous cloud of dessert calorie vapors...heavenly (and to be sure, decadent). I slopped slabs of butter on top of the dry topping mix and put the whole shooting match back in the oven.


Without any concept of how long this bigger pan of dessert was going to take to cook, I bit the bullet and surrendered myself to the fact that I needed to stand there and salivate until the damn thing was done. (Oh, the sacrifices I make for my stomach!)

Well, it didn’t take that long...and it’s not like I needed food immediately or that my belt would need tightening in the near future. Upon reflection, those were 20 minutes very well spent. Certainly sped up the cooking time having an oven temp closer to 500°F than the original 350°F and pre-cooked apples. The only thing that would have made this better would have been ice cream.




Today is my day to celebrate Susan’s May 7th birthday. She would’ve been 70 this year and I’m positive, still able to kick my ass (in a loving way of course). I was advised by my friends to do many different things on this day of celebration, but my favorite suggestion was to make a dessert we both loved...surprise, here comes another variation of her rhubarb crunch. I did have rhubarb in the garden, so I used 3 cups of chopped rhubarb and 1 Fuji apple chopped. I had just picked up some blueberries, so I added about a half cup of them as well. As I mentioned, I like the crunch on top, so I chose to mix all the dry ingredients together with the butter, to then apply the whole kit & caboodle on top of the layer of chopped fruit (I’m sure she’d have kicked my ass over that move as well.)





I am firing the WFO tonight for a bread bake tomorrow, so I did this dessert in the electric oven. The butter dish was getting low, so I greased the pan (yes, I actually had dug out the correct glass baking dish for this) with vegetable Shortening. I simply spread out the chopped fruit & berries and then put the crumbly topping mix over it and put it in the preheated oven...well, I guess I did at least one thing according to the recipe.


I baked it for almost an hour at a lower temp (325°F)...so, as you’ll note from the previous paragraph, I was referring only to preheating the oven in regards to following the recipe.

Into the preheated oven (with drip pan beneath).

It took an extra 15 minutes because I'd loaded it up...

...but it really turned out nicely...a fitting tribute to Susan (and just desserts!)
At any rate, it tasted damn good with Umpqua Vanilla Bean ice cream and brought back many fine memories of our almost 50 years together...and almost 48 years as married folks! It truly was a great way to celebrate the love of my life’s birthday (and satisfy my sweet tooth).



Nuts! Do you eat this masterpiece with a spoon or a fork?

What would Emily Post say?

(Who really cares?)

Guess I’ll use both, since my dishwasher works pretty well and I’ve got plenty of dish washing soap (not to mention a dozen spoons and a dozen forks in the drawer).





Well, I guess it doesn't really matter after all...both utensils worked extremely effectively (as expected...I mean, that is sorta their purpose...) transferring goodness to my eager mouth. A note here for those who prefer food in their mouths, not on their shirt/blouse: I'd suggest eating ice cream first and quickly on a warm fruit crunch if you chose to use the fork...fork tines can be leaky, just sayin'.





By the way, in addition to my culinary celebration of Susan's birthday, I noticed that tonight is the Strawberry Moon (May 7, 2020) deemed by NASA as the last Supermoon of 2020. Apparently there is some debate on whether it qualifies as a true Supermoon, but I'll side with NASA since there is a big, beautiful, full moon shining down on my memories with Susan (and an empty dessert plate).

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Roasted Shrimp & Potatoes (with green stuff)

After my normal Friday bread bake for the neighborhood, the oven was still plenty hot for me to cook some dinner. Easy to say, but you do need to have some idea of what you’d like to cook and actually have the ingredients to follow the idea through...who said cooking was easy? In addition, I wanted something simple after baking 24 loaves of bread...some might say I was being lazy, but I was just hungry & pooped (well, and a bit lazy ๐Ÿค”).

I started looking around for something to cook and miraculously I came across some frozen pork belly all sliced up and vacuum packed--Jackpot. OK, now with bacon (basically) at the ready, I’m pretty convinced that you could make something tasty out of darn near anything that would be safe to consume and couldn't walk away fast enough. Next to the pork belly was a bag of frozen, peeled, tail-on shrimp...Jackpot! (As Susan once said loudly in Costco when she found 1.75 L bottles of Hendricks Gin..."Look, what the good Lord has provided!") Now to flesh the dinner menu out (boy, that sounds a bit morbid in this context), I needed some carbos for bulk (fiber for those self-appointed culinary elitists). Looking into some of the baskets in the pantry, lo & behold...I spied a bag of small red & Yukon gold potatoes peeking back at me with all those cute little potato eyes--Jackpot #3 (maybe I should be headed for Las Vegas instead of fixing dinner).

At this point I knew that the “proper & balanced diet” police were going to step in and take away my dinner plans if I didn’t add some green stuff of some kind pretty soon ๐Ÿ‘ฎ. Now, I really like most salads (without tomatoes or cucumbers thank you!), but I was holding in my lazy/pooped pattern for dinner and Lordy! Lordy!, I’d already been working really hard foraging for this dinner and just wanted something easy & simple to make it at least look healthy. Voila! I discovered a small bag of "organic" baby spinach leaves in the crisper (triple washed already–yahoo!)

Cut potatoes, face down & ready
The evening meal was now coming into focus. One pan, one meal...no Julia Child’s kitchen mess here tonight. I sliced about six of the little potatoes and put them in an oiled steel pan, cut side down. I let the frozen shrimp thaw in a small bowl with some lime salt (and wandered a bit in the garden looking for some evidence of spring...no luck). It didn’t take long for the shrimp to get mostly thawed, so I took the pan of spuds out to the den and placed them in the oven (at about 475°F now). I didn’think it would take more than 15-20 minutes for the spuds to cook and get some of that brown & tasty crust on the cut side.





As soon as the potatoes were cooked and browned, I moved them onto a plate.











Adding a little more oil in the pan, I tossed the shrimp in and stuck ‘em into the oven. Didn’t take more than a minute or two to cook them on each side. I was able to watch them and flip ‘em over pretty quickly so they didn’t toughen up.

When I thought they were almost done, I pulled the pan out and tossed the baby spinach on top and...you guessed it...back in the oven. I just wanted the leaves to steam a bit and absorb some of the shrimp flavors.






It only took a couple of minutes more to wilt the spinach...I will say that if anybody had stopped in at that moment they would have thought I’d absolutely lost my mind frying up a batch of wilted, green leaves (certainly didn't look like spinach anymore).

I brought the pan & cooked potatoes back into the house for plating. I thought about being proper and transferring to my dinner plate with a spatula...but remember I was not channeling Julia Child for this meal to fill the dishwasher. The quickest and easiest transfer method was to just up-end the pan on my plate, so the shrimp were on top of the wilted spinach. The hot shrimp juices and remaining flavored oil gave the spinach even more flavor as they flowed down and over the greenery. A sprinkle of potatoes on top rounded out the volume factor with a toasted baguette slice added for atmosphere & crunch. To give the dish even a little more pizzaz, I added some Petits Poivrons (Sweety Drop Peppers) for color. Not quite as flavorful as Peppadews, but still give a nice pop & flavor to a dinner.




This simple dinner was exactly what I was hoping for...tasty, easy, & filling...now, what’s for dessert...(burp)?

Oh crap! I forgot all about the pork belly slices...I wish I had a great excuse here, but the fact is I just totally spaced it. This is probably where some smart-a** foodie would remind me that "mis en place would have prevented this grievous error"...but I didn’t even make it to the mis en place step. However, the oven was still hot and I had quite a few little potatoes left in the bag...hmmm...

OK, follow up plan is to wash up the little spuds, dry them and plunk them in a Dutch oven. Add EVOO, salt, pepper, and cut up pieces of the pork belly slices (AKA lardons at this point) and I’m Bon Appetit bound again. I tossed ‘em all together and planted the covered Dutch oven in the WFO. After about 25 minutes at 475°F, I pulled the pot out and stirred everything. I was hoping most of the pieces of meat would drop to the bottom of the pot and they did. Back into the oven for another 25 minutes and the lardons got some color to them and infused a whole lot of goodness into the little potatoes. I took the Dutch oven out of the WFO and brought it inside to cool. I planned that these tasty little treats would adorn my dinner entrees for several upcoming meals.  ๐Ÿ˜Ž

I am now a firm believer in having roasted red & gold small potatoes available at all (or most) times. I use them to make my favorite pesto potato salad, hearty breakfasts with eggs, as a whole wheat bread “additive” to help keep in moisture, and--of course--for just plain snackin’ -- Yumm!

Now where was I? Hmmm...oh yeah,  ...burp, dessert!

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

A New Decade Starts in California (Part 2 of 2)

As I mentioned in the previous post, my last full day in Carlsbad involved quite a journey up the coast. I wanted to get to that Oceanside pier and it didn’t look all that far. I mention this, because on the way walking back “home”, I got a text from Layne wondering what my schedule/arrival time would be for the Newport Coast Villas where they had just checked in. I sent back that I wasn’t really sure yet, and I was just now starting to walk back to my timeshare unit in Carlsbad.

Throughout the walk back down the coast, I would get updates from her, saying: “We’re waiting for the room to open up...”; “Headed down to the pool area for a wine & cheese social...”, “Good selection of beers at the social as well...”, etc. I thought at the time that she was keeping me updated on things that really didn’t matter to me since I was still walking south towards my condo unit and didn’t bother responding. When I finally got home after dark, I texted her back saying I figured I’d leave about 10 on Sunday morning and would arrive early afternoon (planning to get my steps pretty much under control before martini time). I know you may not believe that there can be stunned silence while texting, but I swear for this one it existed. Layne responded with relief, because they had expected me to arrive Saturday afternoon, not Sunday, and were getting very worried about me getting stranded on the beach or being rolled by a criminal ocean element. We laughed pretty good about it later...after Sunday martinis of course.




The weather started out cool & damp at the Marriott’s resort complex (red x marks the spot), but being reunited with my friends and being a short distance from the beaches...it was awesome. We were pretty lazy for the week and as the weather started improving we got out a little more each day. The resort provides a shuttle up to Fashion Island (a large open air mall complex in the Newport Center) and a little south to the very relaxing Crystal Cove area.



We took the shuttle up to Fashion Island one day to get some “supplies” at Whole Foods and coffee at the Nespresso shop. Just walking around the shops was fun as there are lots of water sculptures and other places to sit and just enjoy the views. Fortunately we had to wait a bit for the shuttle back after shopping and (also very fortunately) The Back Bay Tavern inside the Whole Foods store was willing to serve us adult beverages...just in time I might add! Another day we drove (up a bit farther than the shuttles would take us) to the Balboa Peninsula and wandered the beaches of the area. After walking out the Newport Pier, we watched a pod of dolphins (porpoises?) play very close to the pier. They were having a great time jumping and making a real show of being there for us. As we headed back to the car, we decided a bit of nourishment would be in order...so, at Baja Sharkeez we took the opportunity to have some nibbles & drinks before heading home.

As the weather continued to improve, on our last day we took the shuttle down to Crystal Cove and walked the beach before settling in at a table with a view at the Beachcomber Cafรฉ. Jim had their special seafood laced Bloody Mary to go with his lunch, while Layne and I just watched in awe (as we dug into our lunch plates stacked with generous portions).
























The Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas is certainly one of my favorite places to stay. But on Saturday we packed our bags down to the cars and headed for Marriott’s Desert Springs Villas (in Palm Desert). Layne’s brother John and his wife Jan had introduced Jim & Layne to some extremely large and tasty strawberries out in the valley. The strawberries were sold in limited quantities to customers and with three of us in the car, we came home with plenty of “red gold”. Jim fixed Layne and I fruit and a lite breakfast every morning and frankly I got pretty spoiled! We tried to avoid making huge dinners and for the most part we succeeded...but with Layne being a fabulous cook, I must admit to overeating several nights...burp, yumm, burp!







I even got in the act and baked some bread and then used their new Insta-Pot to make a couple cans of Boston Baked Bread...Jim had never had that in his childhood, so now that pleasure void has been filled! They brought out a game called Oh Snap! at one point and it was really fun. Apparently it is an old game that has been rebranded and slightly redesigned. (I promptly ordered one when I got home.)



Of course, Layne’s favorite dish for company (nicoise salad) came out when John & Jan joined us for dinner one night. Not only tasty, but really a beautiful presentation when she does it for us.





I loved walking around the resort both inside and outside the “compound”...got in all my steps without problem every day! Lagoons were well maintained and there was a bunch of white pelicans that roamed the various waters. (“A group of pelicans has many collective nouns, including a “brief”, “pod”, “pouch”, “scoop”, and “squadron” of pelicans.” Note: I shamelessly copied that sentence from the Internet...first site I found...and whatever happened to flock?)



 
The resort has quite a few flamingos (a flamboyance, if you care...again, I think flock or bunch would work just fine.) out near the main entrance to the JW Marriot Desert Springs Resort & Spa building...but they’re old news...

After a fabulous goodbye dinner at Sherman’s Deli & Bakery with the Malicks, I packed up my large piece of carrot cake from the deli and half a corned beef sandwich (thanks Layne!) and headed back to Roseburg.

I basically took the same route home, the first day following Highway 10, then the 395 North to Kramer Junction, West on 58 to Bakersfield. Overnight there, then I-5 North and West 580 to Petaluma. Next morning I was off to Eureka on Highway 101. Had a wonderful walk along Humbolt bay...there’s an awesome trail that’s just uplifting to walk. (I had put in some pictures along that trail in part 1 of this long winded post set.) The next day I continued up the 101 and had terrific beef sliders & garlic/Parmesan fries for lunch (and a great porter) at SeaQuake Brewing.



Really enjoyed the walk around the coastal pathways in Crescent City (to wear off my beer and settle my fries) before making the jaunt back to I-5 via the curvy, narrow, and visually exciting Highway 199. I love the road, but primarily because it was basically deserted when I was driving it and road conditions were dry with sunny skies overhead...probably a nightmare at times with truck traffic and poor weather.

Exhausted and happy, I arrived home, turned on the water, water heater, brought the heat pump online to warm up the house, turned on the propane stove, unloaded the car, stacked the pile of mail on the kitchen table, and grabbed...you guessed it...a beer!

...and look, spring flowers awaited me the next morning in my yard (well, the bearded iris-top right- were in Bakersfield, but I was still amazed to see them blooming in February!)