3 recent shots from the hubbs I’ve got to share. 2 are leftovers from our Seattle trip, and one he took while on a hike in Denver. All are kickass IMHO.
Coupeville, Whidbey Island, in the gathering storm.
Under the Coupeville pier. Love the barnacles marching off into infinity.
To view more of our shots from Seattle, click here (Part 1), here (Part 2), here (Part 3) or here (Part 4).
This was taken on a hike in Denver. Interesting that only that one perfect leg is left – the rest is all swirls and fossils-to-be.
And that’s it for now. Just had to share these 3 recently-processed shots. Pics from our recent trip to Hyde Park will be posted (somewhat) soon – it wasn’t the bevy of beauty trip that Seattle was, but it was still a nice PTO-killing weekend away.
This low-in-sugar jam has a slightly smoky, slightly tangy taste in the background (don’t worry – it’s not enough to overpower the berry taste) and makes a great add-in for freezer pops, ice creams, etc.
Strawberry Chipotle Jam
1 lb. strawberries, washed and de-stemmed
2 Tbsp. sugar
In a large skillet over medium heat, mash the strawberries and sugar with a potato masher until the berries are broken up and well on their way to being somewhat smooth. The sugar should disappear.
Add
1 Tbsp. adobo sauce from a can of chipotles
2 Tbsp. Jack Daniel’s Honey
Bring up to a low boil, drop the heat and simmer (slow tiny bubbles every once in awhile) about 20 minutes or until thickened and sludgy. When you drag a wooden spoon through the mixture, you should have clear tracks left.
Pour into sterilized glass canning jars (making sure to leave some head room) and screw on the lid.
Random shots taken walking around over the past few weeks in NYC. I’ve been struggling with photographic inspiration lately – some days carrying the camera around helps, some days it doesn’t. These days it did… a little.
Great staging for a simple noodle shop (Kelley & Peng, SoHo)Love the lighting in this restaurant (Kelley & Peng, SoHo)Pooh Bear arms ❤Flower litter at the Prospect Park ZooOctopus trellis at the Prospect Park Zoo – This little city zoo is worth the $8 admission and hour or so of your time.
These next shots were taken while showing my sister and mother-by-choice around the city. Both were interested in NYC-things (as opposed to tourist spots), which was just fine by me. We wandered Park Slope, got lost-ish in Prospect Park, slogged through Central Park in the bazillion-degree heat to see the somewhat disappointing Belvedere Castle, shopped in SoHo, wandered through Greenwich, strolled the boardwalk in Coney, experienced the madness of Midtown, immersed ourselves in Chinatown and had an overall lovely (albeit sweaty) time. Lots of good food, lots of poking around in shops, and of course, lots of chatting.
NY Public Library, 42nd St. branch – mental note: return with more & different lenses (and the hubbs)Koi door – somewhere in Midtown?What trip to Coney is complete without a Nathan’s Dog?
— Love the dusk with lights on feel of this one
Coney at duskMmmmm…. Papaya King….Quick stab at cinema styling – the edges need to be softened, but the overall effect works, I thinkShepard Fairey in SoHo
I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but in mine, we’ve been having a heat wave. And I thought it got hot in South Florida — It does, but this heat is something different. In Miami, you have a nice-to-annoying breeze continually wiping the land clean – dragging humid air in its wake. In NYC, you have humidity as well, but asphalt everywhere and tall buildings that alternately create wind tunnels and block all air from moving. It’s taking some getting used to, especially when the mercury tops out at 103, a temperature I haven’t seen since living in northern Florida.
So, what do you cook for dinner when going outside means flirting with immolation? Watermelon salad. This salad is cool, sweet, hot, savory, and delicious. I’ve been eating big bowlfuls by itself for lunch and dinner, but you could serve alongside some form of quick-cooking meat in tube or patty form to round out a meal for more than one if you can stand the heat.
A note on buying watermelon: This recipe is easiest when made with a seedless varietal, but I wasn’t thinking about that when selecting my melon – I was more excited by seeing something new – the deep green Sugar Baby Red variety – than I was concerned with practicality. If you don’t happen to remember seedless watermelon, no biggie, just more prep work will be involved to pick the seeds out.
‘It’s Too Hot To Cook’ Watermelon Salad
4 c. watermelon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (bite sized)
3 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped fine
Most of a pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, diced
5 scallions, sliced thin
2 jalapenos, de-seeded and diced
1/2 – 3/4 c. feta, crumbled if in a block (optional)
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. the best (thickest) balsamic vinegar you can find
Combine everything in a large bowl, stir to combine, and set back in the fridge for 20 minutes or so to marry.
Makes a ton – I’ve gotten at least 3 big bowls out of the batch I made.
Banana pudding. ‘Nanner puddin’. Whatever you call it, it brings back childhood memories of deep bowls of sweet goodness, quick gobbling up of leftover Nilla Wafers, of licking the spoon clean. Nostalgia in a bowl.
If you’re not familiar with banana pudding, it’s a (mostly Southern) layered trifle-style dessert made from pudding (vanilla or banana), fresh banana slices, Nilla Wafers or ladyfingers, and some sort of meringue or Cool Whip topper if you’re fancy. There are a thousand recipes and philosophies surrounding the dish, and it seems like every little old Southern lady has her own tried-and-true recipe – some even come out a radioactive shade of yellow and are still fabulous.
My version takes the essential ingredients for a successful ‘nanner puddin’ – pudding, bananas & Nilla Wafers – and transforms them into a cold summer lactose-free dessert. It works. It’s not quite the same as tucking into a huge bowl of silky goodness, but it is a good treat nonetheless.
A note about using dairy-free milk in making pudding: Your box (if you buy Jello brand at least) will say that instant pudding cannot be made with soy milk. It lies. The box also calls for 2 cups of cow milk. Forget that too. If you halve the milk, soy sets up just fine. If you were to use the full 2 cups, the result would be a watery mess; but if you use 1 cup, the pudding sets up nice and stiff. You won’t get as much yield, but if lactose isn’t your friend, this is a small price to pay.
Banana Pudding Pops
1 package fat free instant Vanilla pudding
1 cup Silk soy milk (I would imagine almond milk would work too)
1 large handful Nilla Wafers
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
1 banana, sliced thin
In a medium bowl, whisk the pudding mix and milk. Stick in the fridge and let set up at least an hour.
When your pudding is set and ready to go, crush the wafers and put into a small bowl. Melt the butter, add to the wafers, and mix well. We’re essentially making pie crust crumbles. I suppose you could omit the butter, but I wanted something that would help bind the crumbs and hopefully make them freeze in a pop without crumbling and dumping half in my lap. Success!
Slice your banana and set close by.
Fill your popsicle receptacle in layers, starting with a little pudding and adding layers of crust and banana as you go until you reach the top. Make sure each layer of crust is anchored in a layer of pudding and take care to not make these layers too thick or you risk creating an un-structurally sound pop. I made sure to end with pudding as well for the same reason. Also, make sure to bang your molds in between layers so you don’t get a bunch of empty bubbles. This isn’t the most easy thing to do with something like a rocket mold, but we work with what we have.
Freeze a few hours to overnight.
Makes 2 full and 4 almost full rocket pops. Next time I might add a drop of extra vanilla to the pudding and maybe experiment with an additional 1/4 cup of milk – I think the pudding mix can support it (it was on the thick side), but I have not tested that theory yet. If things are looking a little slack, add more banana to fill the space.
This potato salad makes the perfect foil for grilled meats on a hot summer’s night and only improves in the fridge. It has enough heat to make things interesting, but not so much that the fire department needs to be called.
Spicy Potato Salad
1 lb. baby red potatoes
2 Tbsp. mayo (we use olive oil-based)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. capers
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 onion
2 eggs
2 ribs celery
1 Tbsp. canned chipotle
Wash your potatoes, halve (you want potato chunks that are roughly uniform in size and around the 1/2 inch) and place into a large pot. Add enough water to cover by a few inches and a palm full of salt. Bring to a boil and let boil 8 minutes or until soft but not disintegrating.
While the potatoes are cooking, place your eggs into a small sauce pot and cover with water. Bring up to a boil and let boil 4 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Peel and slice thin.
Dice the chipotle and add to a large bowl. Add the mayo, vinegar and lemon juice and whisk, streaming in the olive oil as you go, until a dressing is formed. Salt & pepper to taste.
Dice the celery and add to the bowl.
Slice the onion wafer thin and add to the bowl.
Add the capers.
When the potatoes are done, drain and add to the bowl. Stir to combine.
This all started with a chance encounter at a friend’s graduation party. Jack is said friend’s best drinking buddy, and it was inevitable that “he” would make an appearance. I, on the other hand, am not generally a fan, generally thinking that Jack Daniels tastes like yicky and disappointing paint thinner. Enter Jack’s sexy, swingy new cousin: Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey (or Honey Jack).
Honey Jack is a smooth talker. So smooth in fact, that this alcohol taste hating girl did shots without attempting to hide under the table and/or talk her way out of subsequent rounds. I took mini shots to be fair, but shots nonetheless. Shots with no chaser or fear of immediate impending death from the taste. This is (?)progress(?).
While sitting in my little chair, enjoying the crazy good potluck buffet and company of my graduate girl and the other people in her life, I hatched a diabolical idea. Honey Jack ice cream. Had to be fabulous. Must be 1st ice cream on menu for summer eating.
This singular obsession took up much of my Jack-addled attention span for the remainder of the party – egg base or yogurt? Lactose light or go for the gusto? Gelato? To Caramel Or Not To Caramel… that is the question.
The Internets came up with a fabulous template for my idea. Over at Ezra Poundcake, a Mad Men-inspired ice creamy dream, Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream with Salted Bourbon-Caramel Sauce and Buttercrunch Toffee looked beyond drool-worthy. I’m too uncoordinated (read: lazy) to accomplish ice cream, caramel sauce and toffee at the same time for a simple summer (non fete) treat, so I just stuck with a lighter in lactose version of the ice cream. And then, because well enough should never be left alone, served it in a deliciously adult root beer float.
A note about the ice cream: The way I made it creates a boozy dessert with a nice texture (not quite as creamy as knockout rich full-lactose cream but not as ice shard-y as some “alternative milk” varieties). This ice cream was light enough that I didn’t almost die from lactose-induced bloat. I cut back on the sugar content because I always cut back on the sugar content, and this dessert was perfectly sweet to me. My DH wanted a bit more sugar (and in all fairness, the root beer float was his idea). In the float, he said it was perfect. Out of the float, he would have liked the aforementioned caramel sauce. If one of your party isn’t a freak about sugar and in love with savory desserts, go for the float. Or the caramel. I’m dying to have the graduate over so I have to make the caramel (I’m thinking dulce de leche-style creamed caramel with pecan brittle – ‘cuz what’s more Southern than bourbon & pecans?).
Not much to look at, but damn it’s good
Honey Jack Ice Cream
1 cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey
1/4 cup sugar (I used white sugar, but a brown sugar would probably be killer here. Maybe even honey)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 generous cap-and-a-half vanilla extract (the best quality you can get – I prefer using extract here rather than whole beans)
2 cups heavy cream (I used the “real” stuff here)
1 cup Silk soy milk (unflavored)
4 large egg yolks
Bring the bourbon to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once your bourbon hits the boil, add the sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves (about 2 minutes). Kick the heat back to medium and let go another 2 minutes while you get your next steps ready. The original recipes calls for reducing the mixture by a fourth, but I wanted a more sharp boozy taste, so I kept the boiling to a minimum.
Add the vanilla and cream and heat until a candy thermometer reads 150 degrees F (about 2-3 minutes).
While that is coming together, add your egg yolks to a large bowl and grab your whisk. Start beating the yolks. When your bourbon cream is at the proper temperature, pour into the egg mixture in a thin stream, whisking like a madwoman (or man) to incorporate enough cool air into the mix so the eggs don’t cook. Continue until the liquids are fully combined.
Add the soy milk and transfer to a bowl with a lid (or the bowl you already dirtied with a plastic wrap cover) and refrigerate at least 4 hours until thoroughly chilled. I let mine go for a full 24 hours because I made the base instead of concentrating on making dinner one night.
After everything is good and chilled, make your ice cream like usual. I use a Kitchenaid stand mixer with ice cream attachment (don’t forget to freeze your bowl overnight!).
If your ice cream comes out like mine did, it will be a little on the soft side at first. Mine took a good overnight freezing to set and never got rock-hard. My DH thinks I might not have whipped it long enough, but I think it tasted just fine, and that is all that matters.
Makes enough for 2 nice-sized summer night ice cream bowls and 3 generous root beer floats.
This was our last day in Seattle (boo). We drove from Whidbey through Deception Pass, Anacortes, and then on to the Ballard Locks to view the fish ladder because I’m a dork and the prospect of watching dinner run upstream was wildly exciting to me.
Deception Pass
According to Wiki, Deception Pass is a straight that separates Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island and connects Skagit Bay and the Puget Sound with the Straight of Juan de Fuca. The bridge spanning the pass is surrounded by Washington’s most popular state park; the 4,134-acre Deception Pass State Park, with 77,000 feet of saltwater shoreline, 33,900 feet of freshwater shoreline, rugged cliffs, old growth forests and plenty of wildlife that sees over 2 million visitors per year.
Deception Pass – even in the fog and the drizzle, this place is beautifulIf you look closely about halfway up the slope in the middle of the picture is this tree I was just enamored withI love seeing the coastline from this distanceNice calm-ish waterRainy gloom: nature’s desaturation tool
Anacortes
Anacortes is a small (15,960) town historically known as a fishing and lumber center, but more recently as an oil refinery, technology, retirement and tourism community. We visited on the suggestion of the barista at our morning coffee stop. She said it had great views and a cute little downtown – she was not wrong. We found great vistas and a good little brewery/grill – the Rockfish Grill/Anacortes Brewery in downtown. Apparently this place is bumping at night with live music – too bad we couldn’t stay later.
These pictures were taken from Cap Sante Park – the best place to get an overview of the marina, City of Anacortes, March Point, Fidalgo Bay and the Cascade Mountains.
AnacortesAnacortes shipping lanes
Ballard Locks
The Ballard Locks (aka the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks) link the Puget Sound to Lakes Union and Washington and feature a fish ladder and botanical garden. Boats as large as 760 feet long travel this lock, which takes 10-15 minutes to switch over and can fill with 26 feet of water to bring boats even on both sides. The fish ladder is a critical link for salmon and steelhead heading upstream to spawn and for young fish (aka smolts) to return to the sound.
Bridge at the Ballard LocksNo pics of fish swimming – just of a wave sculpture
Can’t get enough Pacific Northwest? View the rest of the trip here, here, here and here.
This dish makes the perfect accompaniment to any summer grilled entree, from veggie burgers to sausage or steaks. Yum.
Roasted Corn Salad with Avocado Mousse
4 ears corn, shucked
1 red bell pepper
1 avocado, halved and separated from its skin
2 limes, halved
1/4 red onions, diced
1 Tbsp. basil, diced
1 Tbsp. cilantro, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 c. creme fraiche
1 squirt sriracha
Salt & pepper to taste
On a medium-high flame, grill the corn until blistered all over and burned in spots. Don’t worry – slightly burned corn tastes great.
Grill the pepper until the skin has blackened on all sides and is starting to split.
Grill the avocado until well marked.
Grill the limes until well marked and juicy. This is the perfect preparation for limes that have gotten a little hard, as the heat brings the juices right back out.
Remove everything from the grill as it is done and set aside to cool.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the avocado, creme fraiche, juice of 1 lime, 1 squirt sriracha and half the garlic. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. If this mixture is thicker than you would like, thin with a little water. I wanted a mousse-like consistency.
When the veggies have cooled enough to handle, peel the pepper and chop. Stand the corn up on its cut-from-the-stalk end and run your knife slowly down the cob to separate the kernels, making sure to get down to the hard cob core. You may want to do this in a big bowl or on a big chopping board – things can get a little messy.
Combine the corn kernels, pepper, the juice of the second lime, basil, cilantro, second half of the garlic, cumin and chili powder in a bowl. Taste. Season accordingly and serve topped with avocado mousse.
Day 3 found us in Whidbey Island. Whidbey Island is stunningly beautiful, even swathed in layers of Pacific Northwest water-laden air. On this day, we took the Mukilteo – Clinton Ferry onto the island and made our way leisurely up to Coupeville (taking whichever direction looked prettiest on the way), where we were staying the night.
This was our favorite part of the trip – everyone was relaxed, and had time to dream the ‘what ifs’.
I would highly recommend at least driving through the island if you’re visiting the area. Whidbey is a blend of breathtaking coastal scenery, shockingly vibrant farmland, little artsy enclaves, rich maritime history, and supremely friendly locals (actually the whole area is chock full of supremely friendly locals – the type of locals that apologize for being in the way on the sidewalk – bizarre behavior to an East Coaster).
Why Whidbey and not one of the 99999999 other islands peeking its head above Puget Sound? Whidbey is home to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, where the hubbs spent some time early in his Navy career. He had fond memories of the beauty. He wasn’t wrong.
Mussels clinging to a pier. This deserted little park (and its scenic views) was home to a metric ton of bunnies, a bald eagle, and lots of fish spinesDriftwoodYeah, yeah, I know. I flew across country to take pictures of flowers.More flowersThese guys again!The colors, the colors!Desolation when the fog comes creeping inShoreline wrapped in gauzy water-laden airShockingly vibrant farmlandA little bit of sun on Whidbey – taken by the DHBeauty in cloudiness – taken by the DHMore Whidbey scenery – taken by the DHOne last shot of this beach – Ebey Point
Can’t get enough Pacific Northwest? See more here, here and here.
Gastography 