Maureen Feeds the Cats

Every morning this sweet little guy waits patiently until about 6:30 for me to wake up. Around 6:30, if I'm not moving yet, he begins marching around on me, meowing loudly. If I still don't move, he will flop down by my head, which usually means on my chest, and begins licking me - yes, I said licking me - with little, tiny, tickling licks. This definitely wakes me up, but I try to ignore him. He's persistent, though, when his stomach is growling. When I can't stand it anymore, I roll out of bed. He jumps off first. If I stop to put on my robe, he stands in the doorway and meows more loudly. Howls really. He's yelling, "Move faster, woman!" He races down the hallway.

Padme lazily follows. Even in this shot, doesn't she look half asleep? Anakin's meowing usually rouses her. She'll stand in her kitty bed at the end of my bed and wait for us to leave, then she saunters out. The two of them pace in front of their dishes while I make my coffee. All the while Anakin is still yelling at me. At the sound of my coffee perking, I finally feed them.

They get food twice a day. Sad, isn't it? Even at twice a day, Anakin remains over weight. The veterinarian always gives us tips about how to bring his weight down, but I think he eats all the food Padme leaves behind. I try to catch him, but often I get too busy, distracted, or just forget to watch.

They eat, then they sit in the window or by the back door and make crazy cat sounds at the birds and chipmunks in our back yard. If the sun is out, which usually it is not this summer, Padme will lay in the beams and roll around. We love these critters. They are a riot. Anakin even lets Katie put doll clothes on him. When silly stuff happens to Anakin, Padme will sit and stare from a far with a snotty look on her face. As though she scoffs at his silliness.

Later in the evening, when I finally sit down to rest, my kitties climb up and love on me. Padme always chooses legs to lay on. She also always lays with her head away from the person. That way, we can pet her, but we can't kiss her or get too close. Anakin, on the other hand, he'd be on my face if I let him. He rubs against us and licks us. There is something to having pets that makes moments like this so sweet.

Summer Time is for Breaking the Rules

The summer has been a little disorganized at our household, but well worth it. Look at my beautifully updated (updating) bathroom. Arnie has been working at work, and then working at home, replacing our very outdated and sometimes leaky bathroom. We took out all the powder blue fixtures, white laminate counter top, and blue flowery linoleum in favor of white upgraded fixtures, pretty marbled one-piece laminate counter top, and lovely sandy colored floor tiles. It's almost done, and it is beautiful. But Arnie is tired and Maureen is disorganized. Even the kitchen is affected by the bathroom remodel. So, we break the rules of good parenting. I only get the table cleared off for dinner every few nights. The other nights, we eat in front of a television show. Are we damaging our children? Here's how our worst nights go. Katie and I concocted a sort of Philly style pork wrap with leftover barbecued ribs.

Katie sliced green peppers as thin as she safely could while I sliced onion and garlic and chopped the pork into cubes. We sauteed the vegies in one pan and heated the pork in another with some barbecue sauce. We thought the sauce was too vinegar-y, so we added tomato paste and sugar. We were very pleased at the result. Yum. Thick, rich, and barbecue. Next, Katie heated the tortillas in the microwave for us. Everyone came to the stove to dish their own plates.

Here Robby dishes onions and peppers for himself. We all decided that the trick was to fill yourself but be able to close your tortilla. Everyone seemed to be able to close theirs. Only Arnie and I went back for seconds.

Arnie started with the pork. He never did try to close his. Open-face Philly Pork Tortilla.

Katie and I were very proud of our quick and easy dinner. It was great. The fresh picked peas from the garden were a great accompaniment.

Tempting Fair Food

What do deep-fried snickers, sausage and vegetables in a pita, and shaved ice have in common! Fair food! Our family loves fair food. Last weekend we went to the Sun and Surf Harley Davidson Festival in Ocean Shores. To look at the cool motorcycles and to eat. We looked at the bikes for a while. There were bikes of all kinds and years. My favorites are the space-age looking ones. Arnie's favorites are the old military style bikes. Robby loves the really big ones, and Katie found every single purple one. We stood in awe next to the enormous V8 engine bikes. They sound like a Mack Truck when they start up.

We were all hungry. It was 5:30, Robby had finished a swim meet that afternoon - ending in the 500 yard freestyle. Just thinking about swimming 500 yards of freestyle makes me hungry. And tired. And cranky. Robby was only hungry and tired. I had timed all afternoon and Arnie and Katie had counted laps for Robby, so we were all ready to eat. We let our noses lead us to the food tents. These booths are just like the ones at any fair. You can really get anything you want. We took the time to walk the length of the row and see our choices. After walking to the last booth, reading the menu, and taking a deep breath, we let our impulses take over.

Arnie kept trying to be sane and rational. He said, "Let's just have everyone pick a little something to try, then we'll pick a real restaurant, and sit down to eat." Nice try, buddy.

Our impulses, egged on by Arnie's "pick a little something", started with dessert. Robby ordered a root beer shave ice from a booth decorated in, of course, a Hawaiian theme. Katie and Arnie bought a cinnamon sugar elephant ear from a standard looking white fair food trailer. Impressively, the elephant ear was made out of wheat dough. It was excellent. The cinnamon and sugar melted into the butter and made a delicious frosting. I purchased a deep fried snickers bar from the next white trailer with a small window and a young boy working it. He must have called me "m'am" three times. Jeez. Rub it in, child. But worth the humiliation, that snickers. Warm, doughy, melty, chocolate-y. Fortunately, Robby helped me eat it.

So, that was supposed to be it. Our "pick a little something" that we wanted to try. We started walking again. The wrong direction, which no one pointed out. We sauntered back down the row of food trailers, walking away from the parking lot in which our car waited. As we approached "Uncle Jim's Fry Shack", Arnie's strategy suddenly changed.

"Okay," he said. "Here's what we do. We'll order a couple more interesting things to try. Then, we'll drive home and you can make us a salad to help us digest all this greasy grub." Hmmm. No one objected.

Arnie ordered Uncle Jim's garlic fries. While we waited for those, I watched the next booth, "Road Kill Cafe", grill up vegetables on a flat grill. Mesmerizing and tantalizing. I heard someone, maybe Uncle Jim, call Arnie's name. He was back over by the V8s, so I walked over to get the fries. They were smothered in warm and fresh garlic. The fry oil was already seeping around the edges of the plastic plate they came on. The fries had the skins still on. Oh my. None of us could move. We stood in a ridiculous little circle in the pathway, snacking on the fries together. As we reached the bottom of the massive pile, Katie claimed fullness and went to find a seat. I pulled Arnie over to "Road Kill Cafe" where we ordered a "Rather Large Sausage on a Pita." It was rather large. It had two sausages, all those lovely vegetables, and some kind of outback barbecue sauce poured on it. Not the easiest thing to eat. Again we stood there; but this time just the three of us, dropping carrot and zucchini pieces as we ate this delicious pita.

"Enough," Arnie claimed and we began walking again, this time in the right direction. Katie started laughing and pointing at my feet, so we all stopped to look. I had a carrot piece stuck on my toe! Yuck. And funny. While I was wiping on my toe and my flip flop, I lost track of Arnie.

"Where's Dad?" I asked Katie. She pointed. He and Robby were at the Hawaiian Luau booth. Another very pretty lotus flower booth. They ordered a sweet and sour chicken skewer. It was giant. Yes, the man who kept telling us "just a little something". The skewer was delicious. Even stuffed Katie tried it and liked it enough to have a second bite. What a great evening! And, obviously, I didn't make salad when we got home. We can't wait for the county fair. This time, I'll take my camera.

Breakfast Still a Deficit in our Household

So what is it with breakfast? I get so frustrated with my two little athletes. They never want to eat in the morning. I thought that was a grown up thing. Usually I don't eat too much, but I didn't start that until I was a starving and disorganized college kid. My two get up about a half hour before time to leave for their practices on summer mornings, and their tummies are not ready to eat. We have cereal and bread for toast. We have granola bars and bagels. We have fruit and juice.

This morning they both got tired of me nagging them and both grabbed a banana. Katie started hers at home and twenty-five minutes later, she was finally taking the last bites as we drove into the YMCA parking lot! Robby ate all of his at home, slouched in the chair, grumpily. However, I worry. His soccer camp is three hours long. How can one banana be enough energy to sustain him for three hours. Really, he is tiny, but I think he needs more. You know what they want, don't you? Mom should wake up early and make pancakes or waffles or eggs every day! I guess if I really want them to eat, I would.

Here's my sweet Katie, not really concentrating on eating her banana, but more on the cat who is chasing some of the stringy peel that came off her banana.

Robby swears the banana gets him through. He also told me that he ate the granola bar, too. But still, is it enough? Where are my child experts? Do I push more breakfast?

Tuna Dip, Anyone?

With all the tuna we can, we definitely make a lot of tuna sandwiches with tuna and mayonnaise. Sometimes we add pickles or celery or cheese. Sometimes we grill them toasty. This, though, is a great dip or spread recipe that rocks! Or so the kids say. Here's what you need from your cupboards and refrigerator:

1 can of tuna

2 tbsp chopped onion (scallions are great, too)

8 ounce pkg of cream cheese, softened (I prefer neufchatel)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp horseradish
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder

Start by draining and flaking the tuna. Next, chop the onion. Next, beat the onion, cream cheese, sour cream, horseradish, salt and garlic until smooth. Finally, mix in the tuna until well-combined.

And the results! We like to serve it with crackers - notice the pretty paprika sprinkled on the top. Such a great appetizer. Also, we make sandwiches. This fancy one that Katie had for lunch was on a bagel with garden lettuce, served with fresh fruit.

My next tuna post will hopefully be Dorrie's Mac 'n Cheese with tuna. Yum.

Fresh Caught Albacore Tuna

Last week we got together for a bit of tuna canning. I've mentioned before that Washington has an amazing range of natural resources! We live about a half hour from Westport, a fishing town on the Pacific. This time of year, I put a call in to The Hustler, and wait. They call us when they are on their way back to port and bring us pounds of filleted tuna to can. This year I over-ordered, so Dorrie called our friend, Jennifer, and said, "Hey! Wanna learn how to can tuna?" Jennifer is a free-spirit and good-natured, so she agreed.

Here it is, fresh albacore in all its glory.

This is Dorrie modeling how we trim and cut the tuna into jar size chunks. Dorrie brings her own fancy knife with a sharpener built into its case. That is some serious canning strategy, right? She and I have canned tuna together for a while now, so we have this down to a precise routine. Jennifer fit right in to our routine and our jovial atmosphere. A lot of silliness and jokes ensue during tuna time. By about batch number five, our brains are mushy!

We fill the jars to 1 inch from the top with tuna. I'm modelling this fun and slimy step. Cutting and filling - the messy parts of the job. We put a 1/4 teaspoon of salt in each jar, burp them, wipe the rims with a damp, clean cloth, and move to the stove area for the next step - lids.

The lids have to be heated in order to soften the sealant, then we pick them out of the hot water with our fancy picker-upper tool, as Jen is modeling here. We place the lids on the jars, screw a band on each, and load them in the pressure canners. We run two canners - mine and Dorrie's, so that we can get more tuna done quicker. I've left out some critical warnings here. Please make sure you know what you are doing with your canner - Dorrie and I always joke about explosions, but we are always checking our direction booklets, too.

While the tuna is cooking, we wait. This involves snacking as Jen and Dorrie are modeling here, crossword puzzles, web searching (see the notebook?), laughing, and making new plans. Jen's latest idea is a video blog of cooking at other people's houses. I'm excited. Hopefully she'll come to our house first. I'd watch that. Pretty funny. Each batch of tuna has to be pressure cooked at 10 pounds of pressure for 1 hour and 40 minutes. That doesn't include the heat up and cool down times, so we had lots of time for camaraderie.

And here is our final product! Wonderful healthy jars of tuna. Canning tuna is a lot of work, but having friends to do it with makes it fun. The kids ran ragged together all day, which made our evenings easier since they were exhausted. Hopefully we'll have many more years of canning to come!

She's My Girl!

Lately Katie has been coming up with lots of ideas for Mom's blog. She is such a sweet kid. Ask anyone who knows her - they'll agree. She is funny and attentive and sensitive. Silly to say how much you love your own kids, right? But I love her. My Katie. I have lots of pictures that she has taken over time for my blog, but not all of them have been saved. This is the most recent one - here is my ambitious and thoughtful daughter with her salmon nuggets. She found this recipe in one of her cookbooks for kids and we made them together for dinner one night - just for the blog. The sauce on the side was the best light tartar sauce with lemon and dill. Everyone ate these up. The recipe included canned salmon, shredded baked potato, salt, pepper, and an egg to hold the mixture together. We rolled them in cracker crumbs and pan fried them. Really tasty. We made 25 of them and ate them all. Aren't they appetizing looking?

When Arnie and I were on our anniversary jaunt in Oregon, Katie and Grandma Mary made peanut butter cookie bars with real strawberries on the top. Grandma Mary said they were very pretty. Unfortunately, it is one of the pictures that was lost, but if Grandma said they were pretty, well...Okay, Grandma would say it was pretty if it was gray and lumpy, so she might not be the best judge. Robby, however, being the more truthful, don't-worry-about-anyone's-feelings kind of person, said they were "cool looking". They were also very rich and even the Lewis kids couldn't eat all of the cookie bars before they turned to mush. By the time Arnie and I got home, they were not pretty. I still tasted them, though. Very yummy.

Here's Katie's fishing story! This was pre-blog, so I thought I'd add it in during my Katie story. She caught this mountain whitefish at a nearby lake with Arnie summer of 2009. She and Robby were fishing down a hill from Arnie at the lake and were so excited that she had a fish on the line, they were dancing around and reeling it in together. Mountain whitefish are very delicate, delicious meat, but are very bony. They are a lot of work to eat, but are worth it when your daughter glows during the whole dinner. Her fish.

I'm sure there will be more Katie blogs to come as she is my idea girl. She is also a great cook these days!

A Weekend With Cousins

A weekend with the cousins at Wenatchee River is now Robby's caught-the-big-one story. Early one morning, Arnie and Robby traveled down the river to find a good fishing spot. The river has trout and hatchery steelhead among other species, so during his first venture out, Arnie had caught several small trout. He was hoping that Robby would have good luck that morning, too. They had to climb down a pretty steep bank and clamor across rocks to get to a great spot, but what a worthwhile trip! After only 30 minutes, Robby landed a 10 pound steelhead. The fish was about half Robby's size. When he hooked it, he couldn't get out a full sentence in his excitement, "Dad! Fish...big...line..." Arnie laughed at the Murphy's Law moment. He had not brought his net or club, thinking they would be reeling in small trout and then releasing them. It took another 30 minutes to bring in the fish. Robby did it all by himself, then brought it home for us to cook up for lunch. I was surprised that they were back so early, until I saw that beautiful steelhead!

We had a dissection lesson with the six cousins while I gutted the fish, learning the names of the fins, the names of the internal organs, and learning how to open a fish to best meet the needs of filleting it. Hank, the youngest cousin, had the most fun with the gutting of the fish. He is five - a brave five. He was willing to hold the different organs - even the heart which was still "beating" when we took it out. He was so excited when Katie pulled the lens out of the eye to examine. His questions were great. "What does that do?" when we took out the swim bladder. And "is he still alive?" when the heart came out still pumping. When we took the eye out, he noted, "Daddy, fish have eyes on both sides of their heads so they can see both sides when they swim." Heather and Dan are raising a little scientist!

We were excited to barbecue the salmon for lunch. I went through the refrigerator for ideas and came up with tomato-onion-cantaloupe salsa for one fillet. Arnie requested onion, Worcestershire sauce reduction for the other. Dan and his daughter, Della, made Indian Fry Bread to go with the fish. How delicious. Lunch was a big group effort and so worth it.

Family Fun - Camping in the Great Outdoors

We started camping when the kids were little - 4 and 6, maybe. We travel Washington, staying at state campgrounds. We hike, fish, swim, beach comb, and mostly enjoy being outside. Arnie tries to talk me into real camping without the benefits of campfire pits and real flushing toilets. I'm mustering up my nerve...I love being outside, but I also love the idea that a ranger is near or that running water is available. Recently we tried a campground in the foothills of Mount Rainier on Alder Lake. The kids love to swim so much and the website advertised fishing at the lake, so we tried it. The campsites provided shade and sun throughout the day which was nice, but they weren't very private. Arnie deemed the campground population as "watercraft" people. Nearly everyone had boats, sea-doos, floatation fun, and children. There were several very large groups camping around us. Very loud and rowdy, but respectful of the quiet time hours, so we were okay.

I usually try to cook something unusual one night of camping and then do the traditional hot dogs on a stick over the fire one night. This trip I tried a recipe for meatloaf in onions. What an interesting recipe. We hollowed out onions, made a basic meatloaf mix with hamburger, seasonings, egg, and cracker crumbs, then stuffed the mixture inside the onions. These I wrapped in heavy duty foil and laid in the coals along side corn on the cob in the husk, also wrapped in foil. I made fry bread in the skillet with Bisquick mix and onions.

The meatloaf was delicious, although pretty ugly. I wondered if it would help the look of the food if we had browned the meatloaf balls before stuffing them in the onion. They were really good, though, regardless of the grayness of the meat. Arnie and Katie loved the onions, too. Robby smothered his in - you guessed it! - ketchup, but liked the meat a lot. The fry bread was my favorite. Arnie is not a fan of biscuit style bread, so he didn't have much fry bread. The rest of us ate it up! No fry bread left over.

The next night we roasted hot dogs over the fire and ate chips and salad (from the garden, of course.) We had fun, although I think we will let the watercraft enthusiasts enjoy Alder Lake without us. Arnie and the kids never found a great bank to fish from and the swimming area was pretty crowded. Maybe we'll try a remote river for our next camping trip.

Not a Foodie, a Concocter

I don't even know how to spell foodie, foody...but I've had very respectable people lately tell me they are foodies. Truly, let's not give in to media, shall we? Calling yourself a "foodie" is to the 2000s what yuppie was to the 1990s. A media driven marketing ploy! Wow. Do I sound bitter about media? I think I'd rather not define myself by terms that the media invented. My son plays soccer and I even have been the team mom, but I will never call myself a soccer mom. If I'm a soccer mom, then I'm a swim mom and a gymnastics mom. And what about the months the kids are in drama? Drama Queen - I mean, mom. I only want to be "Mom". Foodies. If you mean you like food, then say, "I like food." Because I like food and I'm starting to like creating in the kitchen. I'm going to coin a phrase for it - I want to be a concocter.

I've written before about how much I like recipes, but lately I've been trying to make things up in the kitchen like Arnie does. I've decided that will be the most effective way for me to figure out the science part of cooking. For example, at what different temperatures are meats ready to eat? What thickens gravy best? What is the best way to start a stew or a soup? I haven't really a plan. Concocting is really pretty spontaneous for me.

If you know me, you know how unusual this is for my type-A (is that a media term?) personality. I like order and plans and neatness. Which is why living with my husband has been a bit of a challenge in our small house, especially since he is updating our bathroom for us. I do treat him with snacks, not criticism, but I think that is a whole different blog subject.

A couple days ago, I was organizing my canning pantry. I pulled several jars from 2008 and stared them down. One was a cranberry-strawberry sauce that I had made at Thanksgiving in 2008. It was delicious. Why hadn't I used it? Home-canners are cautioned by the greater canning authorities not to keep canned items for more than a year past their canning date, but I know lots of people who do. I felt that I either needed to use these jars all in one shot, or toss their contents. So, I decided to make barbecue sauce and barbecue some chicken. I love fruity barbecue sauces. I researched recipes on the Internet and made a base of sauteed onions, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar. Then I added the 8 ounce jar of cranberry-strawberry sauce and simmered. Over time, I added salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. The sauce was great, but my barbecue chicken was not. It was blackened on the outside and not done on the inside. My dad would have been proud, though. This is how he thought chicken should be done. I grew up not really understanding why people liked barbecued chicken so much. That night, I gave up. I threw sauce on the chicken and put it in the oven to get it to the right temperature.

The kids and Arnie liked that chicken. They peeled the skin off and spread the sauce all over it. Arnie said it was very tender and delicious. Tonight I tried again. My sauce came from a bottle which wasn't as popular at the table, but the chicken was not blackened. My concoction tonight was a pasta salad with vegetables from my garden, pepperoni (always a huge hit with the kids) and mozzarella cheese. I covered it with a cucumber vinaigrette dressing that I had on hand. Dinner was good. I felt good about my concocting, but think I will consider that roasting time in the oven after the chicken has gotten some time on the que. It seemed to create a more popular chicken.

My Fig Jam Knock Off Sandwich

One of the days that we were in Sisters, Oregon, we wandered the quaint streets of the town looking for lunch. We had a couple of requirements. I wanted intimate. Arnie wanted unique. We both wanted tasty but light cuisine. We walked past a packed BBQ restaurant. Must be good because it was crowded. We walked past a burger joint - also crowded and smelled like a steak house. Yummy, but not light. A couple blocks away, we could see a sign that said, "Cafe". I suggested we check it out. Doesn't "cafe" imply small and charming? On the way to the cafe, we walked past Cork Cellars Wine Bar and Bottle Shop. Wait a minute! I went back. They had a menu posted on the wall. Yum. Panini sandwiches, salads, cheese plates. Marinated spicy olives is the first item on their starter menu. I was sold. In we went.

We chatted with the friendly and well-informed woman who greeted us. She made a couple of suggestions on Oregon wines and then on the food. I focused on the fig jam bruschetta. It had jam, brie cheese, and apples, all broiled slightly. I'm not that familiar with figs but they seem interesting, so I decided to have the bruschetta. Arnie ordered a panini - Emily's Special - recommended by the friendly server. It had smoked turkey, salami, roasted red peppers and an artichoke sauce on rosemary bread. The food met our expectations. The bruschetta was sweet and gooey with melted brie and crunchy with lightly fried apples. I relished every bite. Arnie especially liked the artichoke sauce on the sandwich. We discussed ways to recreate it.

We loved the place so much. It was tiny. We were the only customers most of the time. We sat in easy chairs and enjoyed the atmosphere. I'm sure during their wine tasting hours the place is busy. I'd like to go back to taste wine some day. If you go, tell me what you eat!

Before leaving Cork Cellars, we bought a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir from Patchwork Cellars and 2 jars of that amazing fig jam. One for me and one for my mom since she stayed with Robby and Katie for us. She stayed an extra night after we got home, so I got to make a breakfast for her this morning. I thought about the bruschetta, then thought about what I had in the cupboards and fridge. So here's what I did! French toast with cream cheese, fig jam, and crispy fried Gala apple slices! Mom and Katie and I really liked it. I actually had neufchatel

cheese instead of cream cheese, which was a little goopy. Cream cheese or brie would have been a better texture. It worked, though! My little fig jam knock off. Thanks, Cork Cellars.

An Oregon Morning

I woke up early this morning - of course. Somehow the older I get the less my body understands about sleeping in. Inside the cabin it is dark, which is great for Arnie because he is still sleeping. The gas fire is still going as he sleeps in the enormous bed surrounding by big fluffy pillows. I made some coffee with the "Three Sisters Dark Roast" and went outside into the morning light on the patio. So serene. The landscape is left to the wild flowers and beautiful,tall pines. A couple of chipmunks scurried around too fast to get a picture. They were tiny. They looked like mice compared to the chipmunks that bury seeds all over my gardens.

Five Pines is great because of the small details. From the bars of chocolate left in basket on the coffee table, to the tree that the patio is made around, to the simple and warm woodwork in the cabin, this place is elegant and peaceful. What would the Beatles sing? "All my troubles seem so far away"...You know how sunlight is described as filtering through the trees. That is what I'm gazing at this morning.

I sit here wondering how Grandma and the kids are doing. Probably great. They said they ate outside on the patio last night. Very fun. Katie and Grandma made some peanut butter cookie bars which Katie lovingly took a picture of. There's definitely a blog there later.

We are off to continental breakfast. They have yogurt and hard-boiled eggs, cereal and bagels, and these delicious little scones and fruit. Even Arnie had two scones. He is not usually a pastry person, but these scones were crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and not too thick. Well, now I have to bravely put on my bathing suit as we are off to our spa appointment which includes time in the sauna and the hot tub.

One last visitor before we leave for our appointment. Wow. Practically on our patio.

Happy Anniversary, Arnie! I love you.