Alien Alfredo

Posted on May 29, 2005

I bought some freakish broccoli at the Lake Oswego Farmers’ Market on Saturday. I made a home-made alfredo sauce (asiago, gouda, mozzarella and fontina), shrimp and the spaceship-looking broccoli. I called it Alien Alfredo. (The shrimp are gathering round their mothership…)

Gorgeous Sights at the Portland Rose Gardens

Posted on May 29, 2005

Codi and I went to the Portland Rose Gardens today. We were very happy with what we saw! Most of the roses were in full bloom (thanks to lots of rain and sun) and the whole area seemed alive.

White rose…

Yellow rose…

Another yellow rose… (I know I have to work on my captions, but I’m tired…)

Fuschia-colored rose with golden center…

Me taking pics… (and for some reason holding my breath)

Codi took a picture of me taking a picture of her.

A bee (which reminds me of the organic pumpkin honey and fireweed honey we bought at the farmers’ market this morning)…

Nice pink rose…

A very friendly and brave squirrel…

Inside of a steel drum…

Fern…

Closeup of a leaf…

Codi surrounded by roses…

Ha ha – a fat guy tired tourist fell asleep on a bench.

Shelter under the trees…

Codi with her, my, our zoom lens. Isn’t she so cute?!

I don’t know what it is, but Codi photographed it and I really, really like it!

Almost done… looking forward to a snow cone! =)

Polenta Oswego

Posted on May 26, 2005

I was hungry for a snack this evening, so I decided to make garlic bread. Hooray for carbs!

Well, the garlic bread idea didn’t last long. I was sauteeing some fresh organic garlic and an idea hit me… polenta. I have never liked polenta. It’s been served so often in such boring fashions – a true pain to eat.

Always ready to out-prove a food-related bias (ask my sister about my trying faux vegan ribs), I fought fire with fire – fear of polenta against potential of polenta… polential.

First, I sauteed 4 cloves of fresh home-grown garlic, sweet onions (Codi says “Please don’t eat them raw anymore!”), a whole zucchini sliced paper thin (use a potato peeler) and a healthy portion of Argyle’s “Minus 5″.

Sprinkle herbed olive oil on baking pan, slice polenta and arrange neatly. One slice of dry salami per slice of polenta. Scoop garlic/onion/zucchini mixture onto the salami/polenta base.

Cover everything with mozzarella cheese and back for 12-15 mins on 350 (or until hot, melted and smelling awesome).

The final product – Polenta Oswego with Argyle Winery’s secret, unreleased dessert wine (called “Minus 5″ due the the minus 5 degree temp that the grapes are frozen to prior to maceration) and fresh-baked baguette and Boursin cheese. Damn good!

You can see larger images here.

Bud Break & Mount Hood

Posted on May 24, 2005

It was another gorgeous day in the vineyards! The weather was perfect, the soil and vegetation smelled amazing and the new growth on the vines looks like perfection in the making.

Little grape buds have formed – millions of them. These little grain-of-sand sized grapes will soon become delicious grapes for tasty wine!

Mount Hood was glowing white over the Willamette Valley. What a view!

View Older Posts »