Category Archives: Travel

The World’s Biggest Library and Autumn Brussels Sprouts

26 Tuesday Nov 2019

Posted by in Photography, Side Dishes, Travel, Washington D.C.

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We recently took a trip to Maryland to visit our grandson…and his parents, too! Our son’s family lives about thirty miles east of Washington DC, so more often that not, we take one day of our stay to visit our nation’s capital. Our primary aim on this visit was the Library of Congress.

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The library was established on April 24, 1800, an integral part of the new nation’s move to its new capital city in Washington, DC.  At its opening, the library was housed within the Capitol building, and held a total of 740 books and three maps.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, the British burned the Capitol, and with it the Library of Congress, destroying most of its collected 3000 books. To refill the shelves, Congress appropriated the funds to purchase the library of Thomas Jefferson which contained 6,487 books, and represented a large number of  topics from many disciplines.

The library suffered another destructive fire in 1851, which destroyed all but 2,000 of the 35,000 books that had been collected following the first fire. Many of the books lost were from Jefferson’s original library.

The Library’s current building opened in 1897. Its architecture draws on the Beaux Arts style, known for its ornamentation and theatrical atmosphere. It was built to last, using marble, granite, iron, bronze and mahogany. It seems that Congress and the architects wanted to do whatever they could to avoid another disastrous fire.

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The dome of the new building is plated with 23 karat gold. The plated dome is inside the library’s Main Reading Room, open only to scheduled tours, members of Congress, and government officials.

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While we were not able to arrange a tour of the Main Reading Room, we were able to visit the library of Thomas Jefferson.

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Our grandson was so excited all day, and could hardly wait until he could see the library of his “favorite” President. As you can see by his picture, he was devastated to find that, for their own protection, all of the books in Jefferson’s library are kept behind glass.

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He perked up when he helped his dad find the books that were actually owned by Jefferson. Tabs within the books tell which are his original books, and which are replacements the library has found to replace the many that were lost in the fire. Those that have not been replaced are represented by empty white boxes bearing the name of the missing book.

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The Library of Congress is truly a national treasure, as can be seen by the pictures I could not stop taking. I have included but a few in this post…

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In 2018, the library reported holding 168,291,624 items, with its more than 90 million books held on a total of 540 miles of bookshelves, making it the largest library in the world. This number is always changing, and these are the latest figures I could find. The items in the library represent more than 450 languages.

Items in the library can be checked out only by Congress, government officials and employees of the library.

My favorite items in the library were the Gutenberg Bible, and the Waldseemüller map of 1507.

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This Bible is one of only four remaining original Bibles printed on vellum by Johann Gutenberg, and completed in 1455. The other three remaining copies are located in London, Paris, and in Gutenberg’s native country of Germany.

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In 1507, Martin Waldseemüller created this map of the world. It is the first map to depict the New World as a completely separate land mass. Waldseemüller named this new land mass “America”.

After leaving the library we walked to a nearby restaurant and had that all-American dish, pizza! I love eating in Washington, and strolling its streets just as comfortably as I walk the streets in my own hometown. But the best part is to feel how open and free we are, and can be, in this big, wide, wonderful country. We have our problems right now, but as I watched my son read to our grandson on the lawn of the Capitol, then watched as Luke did somersaults in the shadow of its governing bodies, I felt renewed hope that we will find the resolve to come back together and feel the shared pride of being Americans.

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On the Top of the Kennedy Center

For our Birthday and Christmas presents, our son and daughter-in-law sent us to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to hear the Washington DC Symphony following dinner at the Roof Terrace Restaurant atop the Center. What a magnificent evening! The acoustics in the hall were amazing,  and it was a truly special night.

Our son told us to bring some dressy clothes…I forgot how handsome Jim looks in a white shirt and tie!

The dish I had at the restaurant was salmon with Brussels sprouts in a brown butter sauce. It was amazing, so I tried to make a similar side dish at home. My recipe is slightly adapted from one I found on the Challenge Dairy site.

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Autumn Brussels Sprouts

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A delicious, easy side dish for all those holiday meals coming your way

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
  • 1/3 c. raw hazelnuts, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1/3 c. dried cranberries

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°
  2. Melt butter with the hazelnuts in a small pan over medium-high heat until the butter is browned and has a pleasant nutty smell, about 3-5 minutes. Watch this carefully, it can easily get too brown.
  3. Toss the Brussels sprouts, browned butter and hazelnuts, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
  4. Spread mixture on a foil lined baking sheet
  5. Roast in oven for 5 minutes.
  6. After 5 minutes, add the dried cranberries. Bake for 5 more minutes or until Brussels sprouts are tender. Don’t let them or the cranberries bake too long!
  7. Adjust the seasonings (I added more salt), sprinkle the top of the dish with about a tsp. of grated lemon rind and serve.

Enjoy!

Learning History While Studying Nature…and Simple Saturday Shrimp

21 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by in Florida, Food, Nature, Photography, Seafood Dishes, Travel

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I love being out in nature…climbing to the tops of hills, hiking through the woods, walking along a sandy ocean shore, or even just taking a tour in my own backyard. Recently, while visiting my sister in Florida, I had an opportunity to visit the Hernando de Soto National Memorial near Bradenton. I went planning to take a stroll through the mangroves, but was struck by its historical significance as well.

I just finished reading a book by Jack E. Davis, The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea. It reminded me of the many times I have walked the Gulf coast, and it reminded me of my trip to the mangroves at de Soto. There the history buff in me joined forces with the nature lover to learn what I could about de Soto and nature at the gulf shore.

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Hernando de Soto landed on the shore of Tampa Bay at what is now Bradenton, Florida in May of 1539. He came with between nine and eleven ships on which he had loaded somewhere around seven hundred men, two hundred twenty horses, four hundred pigs (yes, that is where all those nasty, nearly uncontrollable, wild boars came from), and about a hundred dogs of war. His purpose for coming to the American continent was for God, glory, and gold. 

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Scattered through the park are placards of the conquistadors that arrived in Florida with Hernando de Soto in 1539.

At the place where the expedition landed they found a Native American village called  Uzita. The men stayed with the natives for a while before moving on in search of riches which would, in turn, bring them power. From Uzita, de Soto and his men would go on to explore areas that are now parts of ten states in the United States, and he would meet many more Native American tribes.

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The de Soto site has a recreated Uzita village.

The legacy of Hernando de Soto in North America is not a good one. He had been tasked with making Christians out of the “heathen” natives. But instead, he mistreated the Native Americans he met. In addition to cruel treatment, he had many natives killed, and forced many others into slavery. His expedition also brought disease to a people who had no immunity to illnesses they had never encountered. Thousands died, and later settlers coming to America, such as the Pilgrims and the settlers of Jamestown found nearly empty villages which had once been occupied by proud native people. He never realized the glory he sought because he never found the gold that would bring him favor and influence.

But there is more to Hernando de Soto National Memorial than the sad story of European exploration in the New World. There is the natural side of the memorial, and that was my favorite side…

Walking the trails through the park, you find yourself in a tropical mangrove forest.

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Red Mangroves are tropical trees which grow around the world from 25 degrees S to 25 degrees N, though that might change a bit as climate change deepens. They look more like thick impregnable bushes than trees, but can reach a height of 70 feet and a breadth of 20 feet. They have been around for thousands of years, long before any human set foot on the sandy soil of the Florida intertidal zone.

Mangrove forests are habitat for many coastal animals. They serve as nurseries for young fish, and nesting places for the birds of the Florida coast.

As we began to understand the climate change threats to our planet, we also began to understand how very important these wild, unmanageable trees are to the future of our warming world.

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The mangrove is an edge plant…it lives at the edge of two habitats. in the ecotone. In Florida, mangroves live at the edge where the land meets the salty sea.  They are, in fact, the only tree in the world that can tolerate salt. Mangroves build the coast line, keeping the sand from eternally washing out to sea. There are actually tiny islands out in the Gulf that are nothing more than large clumps of mangrove forest. They can hold back storm surge, and they can break large waves as they crash into shore. You might say they are a natural sea wall! 

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These thick and tangled mangrove roots hold the coastal soil in place. They are important in alleviating erosion on our rapidly changing coastlines.

But possibly the most important characteristic of a mangrove tree is its ability to capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They are ten times more effective in storing carbon dioxide than any other tropical forest plant anywhere in the world. They are important to the future of the planet,  yet they have been endangered by the draining of wetlands, and the clearing of land for man-made construction projects.

Efforts have begun in the state of Florida to replant some of the mangroves that have been lost. De Soto park has joined this effort.

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Young mangrove sprouts like the ones above are being planted along the shoreline to help reestablish a healthy forest. I saw many newly planted mangrove trees on my visit. The mangrove plant below is full of brown seeds that produce the root spikes that will fall and float in the water until they find a suitable place to settle and take root.

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The mangrove forest is full of wonderful sights and sounds, and it is important to future generations who will be working to combat a changing climate in a changing world.

Simple Saturday Shrimp

When I think of the Gulf Coast I think of shrimp, and …

Saturdays around our house are often very busy, but just as often they are lazy days of relaxing, watching sports, and reading. On Saturdays it is hard to get me excited about spending a lot of time in the kitchen! One of our favorite Saturday night dinners is Simple Saturday Shrimp. It is easy, and really requires very little in the way of a recipe.

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Place the number of shrimp you will be serving into a baking dish in which the shrimp can lay in a single layer. Make a butter sauce with a quarter cup of melted butter, some minced garlic, salt, pepper, a few red pepper flakes, and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Pour the sauce over the shrimp and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Serve with some fresh home-made bread for soaking up all that butter sauce…and enjoy!

Laura Ingalls Wilder at Home in Missouri, and Ma Ingalls Chicken Pie

08 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in Chicken, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Missouri, Photography, Travel

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Every American child has heard of, read from, or watched the television series based on, the Little House books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They chronicle the life of a young girl growing up in an America that was reaching ever outward, and ever westward. Laura’s family was part of that pioneer settling of a young and expanding nation, and in so doing experienced the joys and the inevitable hardships felt when seeking life and opportunity in lands previously unknown, often misunderstood, and always demanding.

Charles and Caroline Ingalls moved five times from homestead to homestead with Laura and her sisters, ever looking for that one spot to put down roots for good. Laura’s books tell of the challenges of those years, but they also tell of a young girl who loved the land and grew attached to it in many of the same ways her Pa had done. The books speak of the simple pleasures of living in the vast unknown as well as the hard times that came and went over the years. The books also speak to the love and closeness of family.

Pa and Ma finally found that place to put down permanent roots…Ma finally put her foot down…in the town of De Smet, Dakota Territory (South Dakota now). Laura and her husband, Almonzo, lived on their own homestead near her parents. But they eventually suffered many of the same hardships as had plagued Charles as he sought out his place to call home. In July of 1894, the young Wilders with their daughter, Rose, packed up their belongings and moved…south and east…to the Ozarks of Missouri.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home in Mansfield, Missouri, about an hour and forty-five minutes from where we live, has become a popular tourist destination for those who love Laura and her books. We have been there several times, but on this visit a few weeks ago, we went with newer questions, and a different purpose for what it was we wanted to see. After reading, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books, by Marta McDowell, this trip was to be about the land, the property, the Ozarks and its draw to a young couple seeking “home”.

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The house that Almonzo and Laura built in Mansfield, Missouri. Over the years Almonzo added rooms as they were needed, and as the couple was able. A close inspection of the chimney will uncover fossils that were deliberately included when it was built.

Mansfield is located in the Ozark Mountains, and sits on the Salem Plateau. While the Ozarks are not the highest or most grandiose of mountains, they are very hilly, and they are very rocky. Farming them was a challenge, and a lot of hard work. For Almonzo and Laura, it was a new start, in a new place, with what they believed to be endless opportunities. They named their new home, Rocky Ridge Farm.

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This ravine is just a short distance from the Wilder house. It is a perfect example of the rocky and wooded terrain the Wilders found when they reached Mansfield.

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This is the view out Laura’s kitchen window…I wish mine was the same!

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Laura kept a chicken house, which is still on the property and still houses chickens.

Almonzo found apple trees on the property when they arrived, added many more, and the Ben Davis apple became their primary crop. They also planted row crops such as corn. The land was rich in oak, hickory and black walnut trees. Black walnuts remain a major product out of the Ozark region, a taste so much deeper and stronger than the well-known English walnut.

Laura and Almonzo were very happy on their Ozark farm, and remained there for the remainder of their lives. They worked hard on the land, producing much of what they needed as a family. They were also active in their community.

Here in Missouri we celebrate Rocky Ridge Farm as the place where Laura wrote all of the Little House books. She also authored many articles for various newspapers and magazines about her life at Rocky Ridge, as well as practical articles about living life successfully on a farm.

When Rose grew up, and began her own successful career as a writer, she returned to Rocky Ridge to build her parents a “modern” house, with modern conveniences based on a floor plan from Sears Roebuck & Co. Yes, Sears once sold plans for, and kits for actual houses! The house was called the Rock House. Laura and Almonzo lived in the house for some years, but after Rose moved away permanently, they returned to the original house, where they felt most at “home”.

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Rock House, the house that Rose had built for her parents in their later years.

You are not allowed to take pictures inside either of the houses when you take the tour, so our main objective was to tour the houses, and then to walk the lands that Laura walked in Missouri. We wanted to imagine her life as she settled into her new home with new responsibilities and new challenges. We wanted to explore this Missouri homestead so loved by Laura and Almonzo, just as we love our own Missouri homeplace. But, on that day…

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if you know anything about the weather of the American Midwest, you know that big, complicated storms can arise at almost any time, especially in the heat and humidity of a typical Missouri summer.

We had wanted to walk the three-quarter mile path between the two houses. Seeing this storm quickly approaching, and feeling the heavy winds that began to develop, we knew it was no time for a walk, and definitely time to seek the safety of the car and our drive home. What we did not know was that we would be driving into a tremendous storm known as a derecho. A derecho is a storm that is the result of several severe thunder storms which gather together to create a storm that stays together long enough to cover many, many miles. It is characterized by strong straight line winds, many of which can reach hurricane force,  heavy rains, and  tremendous lightning  The rain poured, the thunder crashed, the lightning was the most impressive I had ever seen, and the winds and my steering wheel fought for many miles. My white knuckles should have informed us that being on the road, in the car, was not our best option! But we made it home…and it was actually kind of exciting…after the fact!

I was determined to walk that path between the houses, so the very next week, we went back. I was so glad we did! We left very early in the morning because Missouri is too hot in the summer for an afternoon walk. The air was rather still, and fog and haze was with us most of the morning, which only made the walk more beautiful. One can only imagine Laura and Rose walking the path back and forth to visit one another. Here is what we found on our walk in 2019…

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Mornings do not get much better than this one on which we found ourselves out and about early in the morning.

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For many people who traveled across the plains, the prairies, and the hill country of Missouri, one tree would often be the only tree they would see for miles and miles. I thought of that when I saw this tree in the middle of the fields by which we walked.

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I loved coming back down the path to see the break between the woods and the fields!

And then there was the flora and the fauna…

But what I like best was a walk along a path that was traveled so many years ago by people who loved this area of the country as much as Jim and I have come to love it…

If you visit Laura and Almonzo’s home in Mansfield, you will begin your visit at the Visitor Center which has a very nice museum about Laura’s life on the prairie, in the big woods, and in Missouri.

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After your visit, you are bound to be hungry. There is a little shop in Mansfield that sells the best fresh lemonade, a great hamburger that tastes like I made it at home, and ice cream cones that taste great even while driving through a thunderstorm.

If you find yourself in Missouri, I hope you have a chance to visit Mansfield, and that you take the time to take a walk back in time…a walk not so different from our Missouri walks today.

Midwestern Farm Food

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Ma Ingalls Chicken Pie

This is a hearty meal to come home to after a hard day of work on the farm…or any day of hard work. I found this recipe in a book I purchased many years ago, The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Classic Stories, by Barbara M. Walker. I adapted it a bit, primarily using my mom’s flaky crust for the topping. It reminded me of the big dinners she would make for us after we had gone out into the countryside to pick fresh fruits and vegetables to can in our city home. When I make this again, and I will, I will omit the hard-boiled eggs which did not really add to the dish.”

Ingredients

  • 1 large chicken, 4-5 pounds cut into serving pieces
  • 3 hard boiled eggs
  • 3 slices bacon
  • 2 Tbsp. flour
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1 pie crust large enough to cover your dish

Directions

  1. About 6 hours before serving, simmer the giblets and backbone in 2 cups of boiling water for about 30 minutes. Leave the saucepan uncovered as it simmers.
  2. Prepare the pie crust, cover and set aside.
  3. Fry the bacon in a skillet until crisp, remove it to drain on paper towel.
  4. Brown chicken in hot fat on all sides. Remove pieces to a 2 quart baking dish, putting the white meat on one side, and dark pieces on the other.
  5. Slice the eggs and crumble the bacon. Scatter them over top of the chicken pieces.
  6. Pour off most of the fat in the skillet, and stir in the flour.
  7. Mash and add the simmered liver.
  8. Pour the liquid from the saucepan into the skillet, stir well, and cook just until it begins to bubble.
  9. Salt and pepper the gravy to taste, and pour over the chicken, eggs and bacon in your baking dish.
  10. Place the rolled out pie crust over the top, crimping the edges around the rim.
  11. Vent the top with designs to distinguish the light meat side from the dark. Ma would use two different pine tree designs.
  12. Bake for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.

This is a really good chicken dish. The chicken simply falls off the bone. Add a salad from the garden, and you will have a great meal, certain to satisfy any hungry person at your dinner table.

Enjoy!

Oahu Splendor–Part III, Culture and Luau Beef

18 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by in Beef Dishes, Hawaii, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized

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One of my favorite activities when I travel is to discover the culture and traditions of that special spot on the globe on which I find myself, a corner of the world that belongs to those people calling that special spot “home”. Hawaii has a unique culture and an abundance of unique traditions. For me, coming from the U.S. mainland, it was a very exciting and interesting corner of the world, and in many ways so different from my own.

Hawaii is part of a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean called Polynesia. Polynesia is an area bounded in a triangle with the points of the triangle being Hawaii,  Easter Island, and New Zealand (Aotearoa). Within that triangle are many islands including Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, the Marquesas Islands, and Fiji whose people share a common language, customs and traditions.

To get a better understanding of traditional life in Polynesia, we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center. The center highlights historic traditions and customs of the islands with shows, village recreations, and interactive activities for visitors. It was informative and a lot of fun as these two old people tried to master some of the old-time games.

As you enter the Center you are greeted by Haman Kalili, said to have invented the “shaka” greeting. For the Hawaiian people the shaka, with only the pinkie and index fingers raised in a wave, is meant to relay the “Aloha spirit” of friendship and understanding. It is said that Kalili lost three fingers working in the sugar cane fields. He took a new position within the industry, giving a signal with a wave to the engineers of the trains moving out of the field area to tell them that all was clear. He also waved to passing children with his hand with the missing fingers. For the people who knew Kalili, his wave always meant, “It’s all right, everything is okay!”, or “Hang loose!”

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Once inside the venue you will travel from island to island, learning about individual islands and activities common in Polynesia. I have put together a gallery of pictures showing some of what we saw and learned.

Buildings in Polynesia were made of grasses and used no nails…they were beautiful!
This Islander is using plant fibers to create hats, head bands, baskets and many other items
We were amazed as this Islander shimmied up a 40 coconut palm in his bare feet!
This six story temple was unique, and we were welcomed inside to view what the living space for the residents would look like.
Music in Polynesia is that typical sound you think of when you think of Hawaiian music. The islanders have many ways of producing the sounds, blowing into conch shells, beating drums, even making music with a nose flute.
The highlight of the center is the canoe pageant portraying the history of the Polynesian islands according to custom and their belief system.

One of my favorite tours was at Iolani Palace. Before becoming a state within the United States, Hawaii, for a short time, lived in a democratic monarchy. King Kamehameha V was the last descendant of  the Kamehameha monarchy to reign as king of the Hawaiian Islands. Then in 1874 the Hawaiian legislature elected David Kalakaua to the throne. He built this beautiful palace which was completed in 1882. Upon the king’s death in 1891, his sister, Lili’uokalani, became the queen and took up residence in the palace.

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Queen Lili’uokalani’s reign was a troubled time for Hawaii. Businessmen from the United States had complete control of both the sugar and pineapple industries on the islands. They also exerted much influence in the everyday lives of the people, and they favored annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States. The Hawaiian people, however, were quite happy being Hawaiian and independent. What happened next was not America’s best hour, or at least I do not believe it was.

Lili’uokalani attempted to have a new constitution written, fully restoring all power to the monarchy, which would in turn diminish the power of the outside interests. This led the business leaders to push for quick annexation. When the government of the United States refused to annex the islands, the American businessmen staged a takeover, and in January of 1893, the queen abdicated her throne. For the next nine months she lived in the palace under house arrest. Eventually the Hawaiian Islands became a territory of the United States, and in 1958, Hawaii was granted statehood.

The grand hall of Iolani Palace
The elegant dining hall
Tableware for dining at the palace.
Queen Lili’uokalani loved music and wrote many musical pieces. She wrote the famous Hawaiian song,”Aloha Oe” in this music room in the palace.
The Library
The Chamberlain’s Quarters
Several of the Queen’s gowns are on display in various rooms of the palace.

Hawaiian Luau

If you visit Hawaii, you have got to attend a luau. They are so much fun, and the food is absolutely incredible. We attended two luaus. Our favorite was the Chief’s Luau. It was a bit smaller, more intimate and more comfortable than the almost as good luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Hawaiian culture is centered on the importance of family, and everyone is part of the family. This family attitude was displayed by the Chief at his luau, inviting us all to have a good time, make new friends and eat all we want. Everyone sits at long tables, and you cannot help but to meet your neighbors. Our neighbors were from Australia, which made for a great sharing of experiences during dinner.

The star of the show is, of course, the luau pork. I would try, but know I would never be able to duplicate that flavor here in mid-Missouri. There is so much food, it is hard to choose which ones to take…so I took a little of a lot of different things!

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Following the meal is the time for entertainment. We were treated to Hawaiian music, singing, dancing, and Jim’s favorite, flame throwing and twirling. But the best part was when they called to the stage all those celebrating anniversaries. Well, that was us…50 years! I received a gorgeous bouquet of Hawaiian flowers and we both were given authentic leis made of traditional Hawaiian flowers Our new Australian friends tried to take a couple pictures for us from a distance…that picture of us dancing, though mighty grainy?…well, I love it!

While in Hawaii I purchased a cookbook…of course. The luau dish I made is really very delicious, though not as amazing looking as some others. My test is: Does Jim like? If the answer is yes, it must be good, because he is a very picky eater!

The dish calls for luau leaves…they are not even sold at Whole Foods on the mainland…so substitute with spinach. When you try this dish, and you should, make sure to use the most mature spinach you can find. More mature spinach gives the dish a better consistency and a better flavor. Enjoy!

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Luau Beef Stew

  • Servings: 6
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This recipe was adapted from “Sam Choy’s Aloha Cuisine: Island Cooking at it Best”

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds mature spinach leaves
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 Tbsp. sea salt (You can use Hawaiian salt, if you can find it)
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 Tbsp. oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 2 pounds stew meat
  • 3 cups beef stock
  • 2 cups water

Directions

  1. Heat oil and saute onions in a large sauce pan until they are translucent.
  2. Brown stew meat.
  3. Add beef stock, water, and 1 Tbsp. salt.
  4. Cook until meat is fork tender.
  5. While the meat is cooking, wash the spinach leaves and remove the toughest stems and veins.
  6. Bring the water, the remaining Tbsp. of salt, and the baking soda to a boil in a large stock pot.
  7. Add the spinach leaves, reduce heat and cook, partially covered for 1 hour.
  8. Drain and squeeze the excess water from the spinach.
  9. When the meat is tender, add the spinach leaves and simmer for 30 minutes.

Oahu Splendor-Part II…Pearl Harbor and a Spam fried rice?

13 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by in Egg Dish, Food, Hawaii, Photography, Travel

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One of our must see sites when we visited Hawaii was Pearl Harbor and its National Historic Sites. We happened to be at Pearl Harbor on Veteran’s Day, November 11. Since my Dad was a Navy Seabee, this made our visit all the more meaningful for me.

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Within the memorial area is a statue of a Navy sailor. He reminded me of all the pictures I have seen of my Dad dressed in his “Navy Blues”, which he was so proud to wear on the day he married my Mom.

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Near the statue is a plaque which brought a tear to my eye as it reminded me of all the stories Dad used to tell about his service in World War II. It truly does remind me of the “sailor” I called Dad.

The Lone Sailor represents the men and women who have served, are serving, or will serve in the Navy. He’s called the Lone sailor, yet he is hardly ever alone. He is about 25 years old, a senior second class petty officer who is fast becoming a seagoing veteran. He has done it all–fired weapons in war, provided humanitarian assistance in far-away lands, been attacked by the enemy and defended our freedom. He has made liberty calls in great cities and tiny villages where he was a tourist, ambassador, adventurer, friend, missionary to those less fortunate, and representative of our way of life. His shipmates remember him with pride and look up to him with respect.

Pearl Harbor is a well protected lagoon harbor on the southern side of the island of Oahu.

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On December 7, 1941 its name and the significance of what happened there became forever recognizable to all Americans. On that day the Japanese Navy Air Service carried out a surprise attack on the United States Naval Station at Pearl Harbor. At the time, President Roosevelt called it, “the date that will live in infamy”, and the United States joined its allies in the Second World War.

The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument is that place where Americans honor the men and women who were killed on that horrific day. 2,335 servicemen were killed, 1,177 of them from the USS Arizona. 1,143 people were wounded, and 68 civilians were killed.

The USS Arizona Memorial was constructed over the ruins of the ship, which lies 40 feet below the water’s surface. Of the 1,177 servicemen who died on the Arizona, 900 were never recovered and are buried forever with the ship.

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A tour boat takes visitors out to the memorial where the ruined hulk of the ship can be seen below the surface. No one is allowed on the memorial at this time due to structural problems still being addressed.

As your tour boat moves through the lagoon, you notice concrete memorials to other ships that were lost on that day…

There is a hangar on the grounds that houses an airplane exhibit. For me, the most impressive thing I saw in that building was the bank of windows with blown out panes of glass that still remain missing since the day of the attack…

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While at Pearl Harbor we also visited the USS Missouri Memorial. It was on the Missouri that the Japanese signed a declaration of surrender on September 2, 1945. As a side note, this memorial truly captured my husband’s attention since that day just so happens to also be the very day on which he was born.

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A photo taken on board the USS Arizona as Japan prepared to sign the declaration of surrender documents.

Our last major stop was to tour the USS Bowfin, a submarine nicknamed the “Pearl Harbor Avenger”.  Her “silent service” in the Pacific was responsible for the destruction of thirty-four large enemy ships and ten smaller ones.Her efforts truly helped win the war in the Pacific, as well as helping to bring World War II to an end.

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Here are some of the pictures I took inside the USS Bowfin. You never know what “close quarters” feel like until you walk around inside those quarters. Nor do I believe walking around the sub for half an hour gave me any realistic feeling of what that space would feel like after the normal “patrol”, which lasted six months out to sea.

The widest space on the sub!
I was most impressed to see what “spit and shine” really looks like …
Torpedo launching tubes.
Cramped quarters for eating…
sleeping…
and climbing to another area.

Pearl Harbor is a testament to the tragedy of suffering and death caused by war. But it is also an amazing testament to the valor that comes from fighting those battles that can help make the world right again. It is a place forever seared into our American story, and the importance of this nation on the world stage. No one can come away from this place without a determination to look to leaders who believe in peace, who stress the dignity of all people in all nations, and who insist on promoting the idea of a world that seeks a tomorrow without war.

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Oahu Fried Rice

Oahu is one of the islands that make up the state of Hawaii. As we toured the island we learned many things about the special advantages of living on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We also learned of some of the challenges.

Everything that Hawaii cannot produce for itself must be shipped or flown in from a very far distance. For that reason the state has a set schedule of resupply. In this way the government can assure its citizens of about a three week supply of necessary items for survival in the event a catastrophe were to occur that would make it difficult for the outside world to reach the island population. One of the items they always have in stock is Spam, and Hawaiians love Spam. There is even a Spam menu item at McDonald’s!

I was raised in a lower middle class family with my sister and two brothers, and we ate a lot of Spam. Mom fried it for supper, packed it in our lunches, and cut it into small bits to add to our scrambled eggs in the morning. The idea that anyone would love Spam was a great shock to me! But I have to say, the people in Hawaii do some exciting things with this lowly meat, and Spam is a commodity that can be held in storage for a very long time.

When we returned home, I toyed around with several different recipes to prepare a proper Spam dish reminiscent of the foods I had on the island. I found several recipes, and put a couple of them together to make one we enjoyed. I must say that while the Sriracha is optional, it really adds to the dish, helping take away some of the very salty flavor of the Spam.

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Oahu Fried Rice

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • 1 can Spam, cut into bite-size pieces (you may prefer to use a bit less than a whole can)
  • 3/4 c. diced fresh carrots
  • 3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
  • 3 c. cooked rice
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce
  • Pepper to taste
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • Sriracha (optional)
  • extra green onion for garnish

Directions

  1. Scramble the eggs in the butter and set aside
  2. Brown the Spam in the vegetable oil.
  3. Add the onions and the carrots and continue browning for 2 minutes.
  4. Add the peas, and cook another 5 minutes.
  5. Stir in the rice, then the soy sauce, fish sauce, and the pepper
  6. Stir in the scrambled eggs
  7. Serve in bowls with a garnish of green onions and sriracha.

Enjoy!

Oahu Splendor-Part I, and Luau Teriyaki Chicken

08 Saturday Dec 2018

Posted by in Food, Hawaii, Nature, Oahu, Photography, Poultry Dishes, Travel

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The number one item on our Bucket List has always been to visit each and every one of the fifty American states. And now, after fifty years, we can officially check that one as done. We visited Hawaii in November, having a great time and learning, once again, so very much about the world in which we live.

I say we visited Hawaii, yet we actually visited only one of the five islands that make up the state of Hawaii. The island of Oahu afforded us some fantastic and breathtaking sites, along with incredible new food experiences.

Our first view of Oahu came as we circled around to land at the airport in Honolulu. That is Diamond Head at the top of the picture.

Diamond Head, called Le’ahi in early Hawaii, is a tuff cone from a volcano that erupted some 100,000 years ago. The volcano that formed Diamond Head is no longer active. Its tuff cone was formed as cinder and ash accumulated following the volcanic eruption. No matter what formed it, I found it a spectacular site. Also amazing was having the ability to “look” beneath the surface, into the shallow edge of the Pacific Ocean. But if you look out to that very deep blue color…that color is what informs you that the ocean is not shallow very far out, as it drops off very quickly to enormous depths.

While on Oahu, we took several tours to see nature on the island. We did not spend the greatest amount of time in the city of Honolulu…I am a creature of nature, and nature is where we went. The island is beautiful once you make it out into the countryside…

One of the places we visited was the Waimea Falls Park. It is on the north side of the island and has a trail through a tropical forest to Waimea Waterfall.

We were treated to so many new sights…things people from the Midwest will never see at home…

Beautiful tropical spots to stop and rest.
Epiphytes growing in so many of the trees…
This huge banyan tree.
A banana tree…
and whatever in the world this is!
I loved this spot!

Along the trail you can stop at a reconstruction of a historical Hawaiian village including signage which helps explain the lives of the people who lived on the islands many, many years ago.

What I liked best about my trip to Hawaii was the clouds. The clouds on the island were, for me, mesmerizing. I could not take my eyes off of them, and I will never forget them. As they form and move across the island, they run into the two ranges of mountains on Oahu. They are unable to climb over the mountains, and so they lay on them, slowly dropping their moisture as gentle rains. I tried all the time we were there, and was never able to get a picture to convey what I actually saw as I looked at the magnificent clouds every morning, every evening, and throughout most of the day.

One of the most amazing things you will see on Oahu are the flowers. They are abundant, and they are beautiful. Here is a collection of some of the flowers we saw on the island. I have tried to identify as many of them as possible…

Plumeria, my favorite, and used to make leis
Hawaiian ginger
Wild orchid
Shampoo ginger…its slimy juice was once used by Hawaiians as shampoo and to quench their thirst.
Wild orchid
Plumeria
Coral plant, a variety of Hibiscus
WIld orchid
Anthurium
Yellow ginger
Shrimp plant
Pink powderpuff
Beach naupaka which appear as half flowers.
White lily
Bird of Paradise

One flower is very important to the people of the Hawaiian Islands…the Hibiscus. Hibiscus “breeders” have hybridized the plant to many different varieties.  You will find them everywhere, and they are beautiful. The Yellow hibiscus is the state flower.

We stopped at an overlook on the way back to town one night.

While the view was gorgeous, I most enjoyed the tree we saw climbing up to the overlook. I have no idea what kind of tree it is, but the trunk was amazing. I also like the way the flower has found a home in the crook of the trunk.

And two more pictures…just because I cannot resist sharing them!

Hawaii is an amazing place. If you find yourself on Oahu, make sure you get out of Honolulu, off the beach at Waikiki, and into the countryside, into the real Hawaii. We want to go back someday to see the big island of Hawaii, to visit the big volcanoes, some of which are still active.

In my next post I will share the historical and cultural places we visited while on the island of Oahu.

On these really cold days of December, here in the middle of America, I can’t help but remember how warm it was on the island of Oahu, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in the middle of November.

Luau Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

While we were on Oahu we attended two luaus. They are so much fun and the food is simply fantastic. The teriyaki chicken was our favorite dish at the first luau The natural setting for the luau was smaller and more intimate. It was our favorite of the two luaus we enjoyed. We were brought to the stage with other couples celebrating anniversaries, and as this was our fiftieth anniversary, we both received authentic flower leis, and I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers. A gentleman sitting with us took our picture…kind of grainy, but I love it anyway. What a special evening!

Before I give you the recipe, here are some shots from our first luau

Those Hawaiian clouds
50 States in 50 years
Moonlight over Oahu

Luau Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

  • Servings: 4
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A taste of Oahu at home in the contiguous 48.

I adapted this recipe only very slightly from Creme de la Crumb

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless chicken thighs (I have the butcher debone the them for me)
  • 1 1/3 c. soy sauce
  • 1/2 c. water
  • 1/2 c. rice vinegar
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic
  • 3 Tbsp. corn starch
  • 1/2 tsp. sesame seeds

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, Place chicken thighs in a greased baking dish in a single layer.
  2. Combine 1 cup of soy sauce, the water, rice vinegar, ginger, sugar, crushed red pepper flakes, and garlic in a saucepan. Bring this mixture to a boil.
  3. When the sauce begins to boil, mix the remaining 1/3 cup of soy sauce with the corn starch until it is dissolved and add this mixture to the boiling sauce. Cook and stir to thicken for 1-2 minutes.
  4. Pour half the sauce over the chicken, turning to make sure the thighs are covered with sauce.
  5. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Check to make sue the chicken is 165 degrees at it thickest point.
  6. Carefully remove thighs to a cutting board and cut if you would like. Serve on a plate with the remaining sauce and extra sesame seeds for garnish.

Enjoy!

Wanderings and Music on the Tallgrass Prairie…Oh, and Bierocks, Too

13 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by in Food, Kansas, Nature, Photography, Travel

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I live in the American Midwest. Many Americans call this “fly-over country”, and within that unseen part of the country is what is known as “drive right through it country.” If you are the type of traveler that sticks to the interstate highway, zooming through state after state, as quickly as you can in order to get to those famous mountains and ski resorts in the western United States…well yes, Kansas and Missouri, Illinois and Nebraska become “drive all night to get through them” states. And you would be missing so much of what is beautiful about this vast nation.

The best example of a traveler’s missed opportunity I can think of is the state of Kansas. If road trippers would get off of I-70 and drive along Kansas state and county roads, they would find a land that is beautiful and mesmerizing, a place that makes you understand how big this country really is, and how vast its opportunities. We have driven along Kansas highways and byways many times, and I never tire of its beauty and its openness. As my granddaughter would say, “It’s so grand, Grandma!”

This is America’s heartland, and the world’s breadbasket. Once, this heartland was covered in acre upon acre of tallgrass prairie. Today the National Park Service estimates there is less than 4% of the original prairie remaining. Other sources estimate a mere 1%, while some optimistic souls believe there may be as much as 18% remaining due to unknown patches here and there. Original  prairie refers to tallgrass landscape that has never been plowed for other uses.

The largest swath of original tallgrass prairie remaining is in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. It extends from the northern border of Kansas on the Nebraska border, 200 miles south to just inside the state of Oklahoma. It is 80 miles wide at its widest point.

Its rocky terrain made it an undesirable area for farming. If you walk through the tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills you will find pieces of chert, big and small, scattered across the landscape. The underlying bedrock of the area is limestone and shale. Over time this bedrock weathers, erodes and dissolves. Chert is a very hard rock found within the layers of the bedrock. When the limestone and shale erode away, the chert is left behind. Another name for chert is flint, and flint is what Native Americans used to make their spear and arrow heads.

Chert, or flint, is left behind when softer rocks around it erode. You will find flint scattered throughout the tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills.

We have been to the Flint Hills before, but one of my bucket list items has always been to attend the “Symphony in the Flint Hills”. This year was the year, and we gave each other the trip to the symphony as Christmas gifts. We spent three days exploring Kansas in addition to attending the concert.  We were also excited to visit a place about which I have read a lot…Konza Prairie in Manhattan, Kansas. It was a major goal…to walk that prairie!

I have visited several prairies in Missouri, where our Conservation Department has saved many remnants of original prairie. But, honestly, there is simply nothing I have ever experienced on the prairie quite like the thrill of hiking Konza Prairie…even if it was 100 degrees when we finished (that is why you start out early in the day)! Please understand, trees are not a common feature in the tallgrass prairie, and that sun is hot as you approach noon. We were happy we had taken a lot of water with us…and our hats. The following pictures are but a few of the many I took as we hiked the shortest trail, about 2 1/2 miles.

Starting out on the trail.

This creek, dry this time of year, these trees, were a welcome sight after a couple hours in the bright sunshine of the Kansas prairie!

When you hike the prairie, landscape is not all there is to take in. I have never seen so many butterflies on so many flowers in all my life…and I have been around a very long time. Butterfies, wildflowes, birds on plant tops…I call it eye candy!

Prairie Clover
Leadplant
Prickly Poppy
Sensitive Briar
Prairie Rose

Butterfly Milkweed and Leadplant

And so, so many butterflies…

We saw many birds, but this Dickcissel sat still for me the longest……

Finally it was time to experience the purpose of this trip…the “Symphony in the Flint Hills”. We arrived early in the day, and took in the many events that are part of this big day. We heard talks on issues important to those who live in, as well as those who visit the Flint Hills, took walks through the open land, and rode a covered wagon, until we got to the highlight of the day…the Kansas City Orchestra playing on the open prairie as the sun sets and the sky becomes a field of stars in every direction. It is simply stunning.

As we mulled around the ranch which was the site of this year’s concert, we took the opportunity to take a ride on a covered wagon.

Just as dusk fell, the concert began, and it was amazing!

And absolutely nothing beats music, out in the open air, watching the sun set on the immense American tallgrass prairie!

A trip to the middle of America, a trip to the tallgrass prairie is a truly inspiring experience. I hope you might consider stopping sometime in this fly-over country, country Midwesterners call Kansas! To learn more about the “Symphony in the Flint Hills”, you can visit their website. More information on Konza Prairie can be found on the Nature Conservancy website

Bierocks

While visiting a new place, I always like to find a food that is unique to the area. In Kansas, I found Bierocks (pronounced “brocks”). Bierocks are a traditional German food, brought over by immigrants who settled in Kansas and established the farming that has made Kansas part of the world’s greatest supplier of food.

Bierocks are traditionally made with ground beef. I use ground bison for our bierocks, it is lower in fat than beef, and is a traditional food source of the western United States. For many years you could not find bison to purchase for food, but there is a resurgence in its use…and it tastes really good.

These little pocket meals are tasty, and though they take a bit of work, we always have extras. I put the leftover Bierocks in the freezer, and we take them out from time to time for a quick and delicious lunch that takes only two minutes to heat in the microwave.

Bierocks

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: easy
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This recipe has been adapted from “Taste of Home”

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 5-5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1 1/8 tsp. active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup whole milk (it is the only kind I use)
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 1 large egg

For filling

  • 1 lb. ground bison (you may use ground beef instead)
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. pepper
  • 1 lb. shredded cabbage, cooked and drained

Directions

To make the dough:

  1. Combine 2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar and salt in your mixer bowl and mix well. Set aside.
  2. Heat water, milk, and butter in a small pan just until the butter has melted, no warmer than 130 degrees.
  3. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix.
  4. Add egg.
  5. At low speed, blend until moistened, then beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.
  6. Gradually add remaining flour by hand, until you have a stiff dough.
  7. Knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes.
  8. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.
  9. Cover and let rise in a warm place free of drafts until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down and let rise again until almost doubled.

To make the filling:

  1. Brown bison with the onion, salt and pepper, then drain.
  2. Mix in the cabbage and set aside.

Putting it all together:

  1. Divide the dough in half
  2. Roll each piece into an approximate rectangle that is 15×10 inches. (Mine never looks like a real rectangle!)
  3. Cut into 5 inch squares and spoon about 1/2 cup of meat mixture onto each of the squares.
  4. Bring up the sides of the dough to enclose the filling, pinching it closed to form a meat pocket that looks a lot like a hamburger bun.
  5. Place on a greased baking sheet, and bake at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Enjoy!

How To Do Las Vegas Our Way, and Indian Bread Tacos

11 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Beef Dishes, Food, Nature, Nevada, Photography, Travel

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We have always had a goal of visiting each of the fifty states. As this, our fiftieth year of marriage began, we set our sights on reaching that goal, visiting the two states we had not yet seen. In April we flew to Nevada to check off state #49. I was not particularly excited…my knowledge of Nevada was limited, and when thinking about Nevada, the mental connections I made were desert, Las Vegas, and gambling.

But then we took a tour of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and my mind’s eye view of Nevada will never be the same.

Millions of years ago, the land that is now Red Rock Canyon laid under a deep ocean. When this ocean receded it left behind deposits of shells and the skeletons of ocean life that lay up to 9,000 feet thick. These deposits, when compressed, formed into limestone and other carbonate rocks.

Over subsequent millions of years, the land changed again and again. At one point, movement deep within the Earth caused the sea bed to rise. Mud and sand entered from streams draining into the landscape and eventually became compressed into shale and sandstone.

By 180 million years ago, the area became the arid desert we know today. Red Rock Canyon is in the Mojave Desert, the driest desert in North America. The dunes that stretched across the area blew and blew, they shifted, then shifted again. The dunes grew and they receded, and over time, they formed lines, “crossbeds” which were cemented together by new sediments, fusing them forever. Iron present in the  sandstone is what gives the rock in the canyon its red color.

And then, finally, about 65 million years ago, there was a dramatic uplift, the Keystone Thrust Fault, from deep within the Earth’s crust. This caused the oldest rock in the crust, the gray limestone carbonate rocks to push up and above the younger sandstone.

To take a look at Red Rock Canyon, we took a jeep tour with a knowledgeable and passionate guide. He took us all around the canyon and answered any and every question we had. If you ever find your way to Las Vegas, look up Pink Jeep for some of the very best tours available anywhere.

One of my favorite places in the canyon is that place where you can see real evidence of Native American life and activity from centuries long past. We spent a bit of time in this area, enjoying the beauty of the place, as well as discussing the lives of the people who, at one time, called this place home. Hunter-gatherers were the first to inhabit the area, with the most recent occupations being of the Paiute and Anasazi people.

These petroglyphs on the red sandstone are evidence of a people who wished to leave evidence of their having been here, their having been part of the story of mankind…

The rock formations in this area are absolutely amazing…

There is evidence at several places of fire pits that were used by the Native Americans. Today those fire pits are home to many desert plants.

I love the flora of any landscape, and Red Rock Canyon was no exception. The canyon is filled with beautiful wildflowers, trees, and bushes. Here are my favorites…

The most impressive was this very old, lone Juniper Tree…

This Cliff Rose was my very favorite…

The Creosote is a very important plant in the arid desert landscape…

This squat little Barrel Cactus…

There are Joshua Trees everywhere throughout the park…

I loved looking “through” this Joshua Tree…

This beautiful Desert Marigold…

and the unique Desert Rhubarb…

So, if you ever find yourself thinking about a trip to the American southwest, and you are not a city person, or a gambler; you would describe yourself more a nature lover, an adventurer, don’t count Las Vegas out. Once outside town, and its hotels where you can spend your nights. there is so much more to the area than casinos and glitzy shows. I am so glad we found ourselves in Nevada!

Indian Bread Tacos

After returning home, I found this recipe, and tweaked it a bit, to help us remember the time we spent at Red Rock Canyon. Fry Bread was a typical bread made by Native American women…and these bread tacos are delicious, and we think much more filling than typical tacos.

Indian Fry Bread Tacos

  • Servings: 6
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Fun and filling way to make tacos.

Ingredients

For the Bread

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp.salt
  • 3 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 cup warm water

Directions

  1. Mix the dry ingredients and add warm water. Work with hands until dough forms and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Break dough off to a bit larger than the size of a golf ball.
  3. Roll dough into 6 inch circles.
  4. Fry each piece in 2 inches of hot oil in a medium saucepan. When the dough is golden and poofed up, turn the bread and fry on the other side. Drain on a paper towel.

Ingredients

For the Topping

  • 1 pound of ground beef or ground bison
  • 1 pkg. Taco seasoning
  • 1/2 of a 15 oz. can of refried beans
  • 2/3 cup water, you may add a bit more if you like.
  • shredded lettuce
  • diced tomatoes
  • sour cream

Directions

  1. Brown ground meat.
  2. Add package of taco seasoning and the water.
  3. Stir in the refried beans.
  4. To assemble the taco. place some of the meat mixture on top of a fry bread, then top with lettuce, tomatoes, and a dollop of sour cream.

Enjoy!

The Lines of Time

25 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Nature, Nevada, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge

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We have just returned from a trip to Las Vegas where the highlight of our trip was a tour of Red Rock Canyon. The lines of time can be seen everywhere in the park,

lines from the layering over time of sedimentary sandstone…

and lines caused by folding that occurred during dramatic uplifts…

as our Earth was forming and preparing itself to be our home.

In response to the Weekly Photo Challenge

The Oregon Coast, and Oregon Style Salmon Cakes

01 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by in Fish, Food, Oregon, Photography, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

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Here, in the great Midwest, here in Missouri, winter has not been a spectacular season. It has been, quite often, very cold…but without snow, and I believe that cold without snow is a waste of freezing temperatures. When we have had precipitation, it has been rain. The rain is much welcome, since we have been in drought conditions for some time now…but, snow melts into fresh water! I do not want anyone to believe I enjoy ice on the roads, but in a winter like we have had, a little ice on the bare branches of our trees has been a glittery, welcome sight on two occasions. As you can tell, winter fatigue has set in.

So, I remember the ocean, the Oregon sunshine, the walks on the beach with some of our family, the rocks I explored that I knew nothing about, and best of all…the sea creatures I got to see up close and personal.

The Pacific Ocean meets the beach in Lincoln City, Oregon.

I have written a couple posts about our trip to Oregon last summer, but now I want to share my favorite part…our week on the Pacific Ocean in Lincoln City. Each and every  morning, we awoke to the foggy layer that covers the ocean at sunrise, and watched it as it lifted and left a crystal day. Each night we went to sleep after watching the sun set off our patio…

The view from our beach house, where…

we watched the sun set each and every evening.

Each morning we got up, had breakfast, and went out to explore…up and down the coastline. The waters off the Oregon coast are pretty cold, too cold for most of us to swim in, but that did not mean we did not get wet, we did not tempt the waves, nor that we did not climb back in the car, many times, with really cold toes.

Our first big stop was Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area in Newport. We walked on the rocky beach to peer into the tide pools, and looked across the rocks and into the sky to find other wildlife. The two kids were awestruck…so were the big “kids”.

Peering into the tide pool

Sea anemones are amazing creatures

It did not matter that walking was challenging, because…

well…because getting to a new place to explore was the name of the game.

“Look at that, Luke!”

Look at all those birds…and what could this be!

And the birds…so many on the rocks of Yaquina Head. Many birds come here to nest.

Common Murres on a rock
So many Cormorants, and…
a nesting Cormorant.

And my personal favorite…the seals…

We also visited the light house at Yaquina Head, a most beautiful backdrop to the tide pools…

and we stopped to take pictures of the scenery on our way.

 

 

Another day we traveled to the Neskowin Ghost Forest…also known as the petrified beach. In the winter of 1997-1998, heavy storms uncovered the petrified remains of ancient sitka spruce trees that had been buried for centuries. At one time, possibly as many as 2000 years ago, these trees were part of a forest that was destroyed. Many believe the forest was destroyed by an earthquake or a tsunami. While we will never know for sure what destroyed the forest, what remains is a beautiful, almost haunting area of ocean fog, and over 100 petrified stumps.

Walking out to the petrified beach

Petrified stumps of ancient sitka spruce along the beach at Neskowin.

There is something mystical and magic about this place…

But I have saved the very best for last. Not far from our beach house was a place, known to locals as the Secret Beach…and several people I spoke with indicated they wanted to keep it that way. We were so happy the owner of our rental house shared its location with us. It was to the Secret Beach that we went to walk, to explore, to hide behind big rocks, to run until we were exhausted, where I went to draw, and to gaze out on the ocean, knowing we could stay only until the tide came rushing back in.

Enter our Secret Beach…

The scenery was incredible, but for me, the ocean life exposed at low tide was the most amazing. It would have been impossible to count the number of sea stars and the number of sea anemones we saw. Here is but a sampling…

And then there was this little guy…

What an extraordinary trip it was to the Pacific Coast of Oregon…and now I am ready for warmer weather, further travels, and new discoveries! I hope you can find a secret beach, a secret forest…a secret and special place to relax too! I just can’t tell you where our secret beach is!

Oregon Style Salmon Cakes

I remember when I was a little girl, and my mom used to make “salmon patties”. The prize for each of us four siblings was finding the little, chewy bones in the salmon. These salmon cakes remind me of those patties mom used to make, but maybe just a little bit better…and I still look for those little bones as a special treat.

Oregon Style Salmon Cakes

  • Servings: 6 patties
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

This is a delicious way to get dinner on the table in half an hour using a can of salmon.

Ingredients

  • 1 (14.75 oz.) can of high quality salmon
  • 2Tbsp. butter
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 cup cracker crumbs
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, or 1 Tbsp. dried
  • 1 tsp. dry mustard, plain mustard will work just fine
  • 3 Tbsp. shortening

Directions

  1. Drain the salmon, reserving 1/4-1/2 cup of the liquid. Flake the meat.
  2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook until translucent.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the onions with the reserved salmon liquid, 1/2 cup of the cracker crumbs, eggs, parsley, mustard and salmon. Start with 1/4 cup of the reserved liquid and add more if the mixture is too dry.
  4. Mix until blended, and form into six cakes.
  5. Coat each cake in the remaining cracker crumbs, and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on each salmon cake.
  6. Fry salmon cakes in shortening, turning once, to brown on both sides.

Enjoy!