Welcome to Melia Tropical!

I hope your bellies are full and your hearts are happy and grateful. My Thanksgiving was wonderful, and I very much so hope yours was too!!

But there are more pressing matters than explaining the menu past and who all celebrated with who - what is important this morning is the passing of more awesome pictures and experiences from our trip to the Dominican Republic!

So, I should tell you a bit about where we stayed and how we found this paradise. We stayed at a resort called Melia Caribe Tropical in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It was on the eastern shore of the island, surrounded by about a million other resorts, but you couldn't see them, unless you were on the beach. Mom and I found the resort together - she got an email from Costco Travel - and I poked around the site for many hours comparing days, locations and cost. The D.R. was the most appealing choice - outside the US, but not toooo far away, it was on the beach, all inclusive - including alcohol - AND the trip would be cheap if we went at the tail end of hurricane season!

 This is the reception area while we were waiting for dinner.

 

I couldn't believe how beautiful the grounds were! We even had the chance to compare our resort to 5 others one day, and Melia was by far the prettiest, with the least amount of construction going on. They had peacocks all over, and flamingos and even this entire area of untouched mangrove swamps!

The pool bar was our favorite spot to hang out. We had some of the coolest bartenders - the same 4 guys rotating shifts the whole time we were there. After just one time going, they knew us, our drinks and that we liked to ask questions about them. Carmelo was my favorite - he was sweet and totally shy - a good bartender who took damn good care of our party. One day, one of the guys started taking pictures of us, then had us go around to the back of the bar! Even had Chad open the beer tap and drink straight out of it! Freaking hilarious! Ohhh and the Mama Juana.... JUST ONE MORE!! A LITTLE ONE! my mom's favorite exclamation! Hahahha

 

Ok, more to come later!

Welcome to Paradise!

Imagine this: You've been sardine stuffed in an airplane for three hours. Your back is cramped, your neck is stiff. Finally, they've opened that damned cabin door - the line is moving, slowly, ouch! damn arm rest, damn knee. Great, now cranky....  Why don't they hurry up, damn old lady. Don't pack so much next time. Goodness gracious this is freaking horrib................ Is that the sun? It's so warm! Its so clear! Are those palm fronds on the airport roof! No wait they ARE the roof! Coconut trees?! Awwww.... paradise.

That was exactly how it started - the week of awesome. I was literally rendered - well, if it were actually possible, I would've been rendered speechless. This! was the Dominican Republic? This picture of perfection, this paradise was the D.R.?! SWEET!

This vacation had been a long time in the making - and it all started with my mom and Jack not being able to go to Scotland. A short time after she broke this news to me, I suggested "Why don't all of us just take a vacation somewhere closer to home? Make it a family thing. Me, You, Chad, Jack, Lisa and Sharron! It'll be great!" She then found Costco Travel. We both picked the Dominican Republic. And waa-laa! We were all going to Punta Cana in November!

So, here we are again, you get to listen to me babble on about another wonderful vacation I've been on. Here are a couple teaser pictures:

paradise huh? Told ya!

MISO Pretty!

We inturrupt this regularly schedule program to...

Go on, and on, and on, and on about my new found love, Miso.

Oh. My. Goodness. I never knew the void that was in my life, until the day I bought that unsuspecting bag of light yellow miso.... who knew it was not only a wonder food! but delicious and CRAZY versatile!

Poor Chad, the man occasionally gets weekly inundations of the same "new and miraculous" food I've just found - you know like last month when I bought rainbow chard for the first time, and we had it in some form or another 4 times that week.... Well this week it was this delicious stiff goo, that I now know and love.

Let me just start by telling you that we should have figured out that there was something to miso being as though the Japanese have been eating it for thousands of years - and the Japanese people, well they seem to be pretty smart (I mean hello they were also the ones who brought us sushi, ninjas and Tennenkoubo - a crazy delicious flavored bread that comes in a cellophane package). Anyways - its almost a super food (in my opinion) its high in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, and not to mention full of living pro-biotics - due of course to the fermentation process it undergoes! Oh, which brings me to what it is exactly - its a paste made of just four ingredients (in the case of the kind I bought): soybeans, water rice and salt - which are mixed together with a special mold and allowed to ferment.

The kind I bought is considered a "white" miso, but because of its higher concentration of soybeans, it has a nice yellow hue to it. As for taste, it has an obvious salty front to it, but once you let it coat your tounge you start to get these amazing pinapple-y, tropical flavors from it. The result is a mildly sweet, yet salty, hugely favorful and totally satisfying, well-rounded taste.

So, how have we had it so far? Well, my favorite is a simple miso soup - yup, think of that delicious stuff they sell at sushi restaurants. And its so simple, a mug full of almost boiling water, a tablespoon or so of miso, and to make it extra special, a drop or five of fish sauce - stir vigorously. I seriously have it at night, before bed, instead of tea. Other than that I've also made a squash miso soup and salad dressing so far - both so amazing I just had to share the recipes. But who knows how far I'll go, I still have a lot left and a little goes a long way!

Now for the recipes:

Asian Broccoli Slaw

    3 tablespoons rice vinegar
    2 tablespoons white miso (light yellow)
    1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
    3 tablespoons vegetable oil
    1 16-ounce bag broccoli slaw (or 4 broccoli
            stalks & 3 carrots, julienned)
    3 large green onions, thinly sliced
    1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Using the magic bullet with flat blade - blend vinegar, miso, ginger, and oil, really quick (like 2 seconds) until a creamy dressing forms (kinda like a thin mayo). Combine slaw, green onions, and cilantro in large bowl. Toss with dressing.


And then the soup:

Creamy Squash Soup with Coconut Milk

  2 medium leeks - white part cut into 1/4-inch slices
  2 teaspoons oil
  3 cups cubed squash - butternut, acorn, delicata or
         even a pumpkin
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  2 1/2 cups water
  14-ounce can coconut milk (light works perfectly)
  1/8 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
  1 cinnamon stick
  1/2 tablespoon grated ginger
  3 tablespoons sweet light miso
  Minced parsley for garnish

    Heat the oil in a 4-quart pot over medium heat. Add the leeks, squash, and salt, stirring briefly to coat with oil, and sauté for 1 minute. Add the water and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the pepper and cinnamon. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes, or until the squash is tender. REMOVE THE cinnamon stick.
    Add the ginger juice and miso, and blend everything until puréed (enter the immersion blender). Simmer the mostly smooth soup over medium-low heat until heated through. Garnish with parsley before serving.

There you go - consider yourself addicted!!

SUP-ing!

It has been a while... I know, I know.... but life has been just an amazing whirl wind of awesome! So, finally, now that I have a bit of time to myself (Chad is out taking Milli for a walk) - I thought I would start the series of updates. The following couple of posts will be in some order.... probably not chronological, no... probably more in the order of what I though was most awesome, to what I thought was just cool. But, this comes with a promise - a promise to write more often (I have a bunch of new recipes to share too!).

As I wrote in a previous post, Chad and I went to a benefit auction a while back - and since, come to find out, my husband is an auction fiend! we actually won a couple of items! A "Paddle Package" was one of them.

I realize "Paddle Package" is a somewhat ambiguous name, it was to us too, but that's what it was called - and WOW! it ended up being a bunch of different gift certificates to local rental places - and a lesson (with boards) for 3 people to learn how to Stand-Up Paddle Board! Which, is also reffed to as SUP (stand-up paddling). It ended up being the coolest thing ever.

Chad and I and my friend Ashley - who had always dreamed of SUP - went out to Dyes Inlet one happy, sunny, Sunday morning. Its just our local bay which happens to have a small beach. Anyways - once we got out there, we met up with one of the coolest couples I've ever met - a husband/wife team who just love the water - and even better, love to donate their time and skills to benefit auctions. They brought the boards and the know-how - and were so helpful and patient with us! The husband even took pictures of us the whole time with his water-proof camera!

The actual stand-up part of paddle boarding ended up being pretty easy - you strap onto a big, foam surf board, get onto your knees, then just stand up. The hard part was negotiating the long paddle, and moving forward. There was a technique.. which I never quite mastered... though Chad and Ashley had no problems... I think I crashed into everyone at least once... but despite this, I never fell in the water. Which I can't say for Chad and Ash! Hhhaha! They decided they needed to switch boards and one point - to see how the length and floaty-ness differed - and mid switch SPLASH!! It may have been Chad's fault - but he'd never admit it!

My fun really started when the lady guide wanted to switch my paddle board for her canoe thing! Oh my goodness! It was the MOST AMAZING THING EVER! I just glided though the water, faster than everyone, more maneuverable. Luckily for me, no one else wanted to try it.

So as it stands - I want a canoe/kayak and Chad wants a paddle board... we'll see what happens. In any case, I suggest that everyone try this sport! Its a great way to be outside - on the water - without much of an investment required. Its really popular in Hawaii - but its becoming available everywhere (we even saw a rental place up at Lake Tahoe). To rent a board and paddle for a couple hours is only $20 or so - and beaches aren't restricted yet!

NCO of the Quarter!!

Congratulations Chad!

This past July, Chad was awarded with Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) of the Quarter!

NCO of the Quarter is a big deal - and pretty darn competitive. Basically, a superior needs to write a letter of recommendation to the Sgt. Major of the battalion. Once there, candidates are scrutinized and compared based on their physical fitness scores, rifle scores, success in their job, etc. Then someone is picked - and this Summer - it was Chad!

As a Marine - this is a big deal - his picture goes up on the wall in the headquarters building and a letter commendation goes into his permanent record.

As far as the community goes - it is a HUGE deal! Chad has had to dress up twice now to go to community events in his honor.

In August, the Silverdale Rotary Club hosted a luncheon for him and other Marines and Sailors of the Quarter. At this event everyone was given a plaque and a gift certificate, "in recognition of their outstanding military performance and service to their country."

Then later that month, the Silverdale Chamber of Commerce hosted an event to honor them again. This time, businesses from around the city donated their time and gifts to these amazing people. Here he was awarded a certificate and numerous "thank you" gifts - including a Marine Corps. watch and a few gift cards. At his table sat, James Donaldson, an N.B.A. All-Star in 1988. Pretty amazing!

Being the NCO of the Quarter puts Chad up for Marine of the year! We'll know if this is the case by November.

Chad is an amazing Marine. Its just icing that the Marine Corps. has recognized this. Congrats my love!!!

Figs! Blackberries! Rhubarb! Apples! Zucchinis!

I would've never believed that Washington had a better crop yield than California! Ok, this might just be my experience - but holy goodness! I have never seen, nor gathered, so many food items in my life!

Chad and I planted our first, real, garden this year. Its a container garden, planted at the proper time, with seeds started indoors and allowed to acclimate to the outside weather. Its been a success - to some extent... Everything is definitely growing - and we've had something produced from each and every plant... but the growing season was so late, and the days so cool... I think the growth was stunted.... Because, take for example the bell peppers, we got one.... per plant... and they were shrimpy.... But, meh, its ok - there's always next year. We'll have to refine our techniques! The plants that are going the craziest are the tomato plants! I've never had such success with tomatoes! Now if only it would get warm for a few days, so they could turn RED!

The extent of the tomato harvest...

 

Regardless of our own gardens bounty - I happen to have a bunch of friends with green thumbs! Possibly even green hands, maybe so far as arms. The amount of zucchini I've seen this year would blow your mind! And the figs..... ooooooh the lovely, delicious, perfect figs!! MMMMMmmm. I've had to get a little creative - using up this harvest, in a two person household, gets... tricky....

This was one of three hauls!

 

I've made a Rhubarb-Blackberry Pie, Mulitple loaves of Chocolate Zucchini bread, Blackberry/Zucchini/Fig Oatmeal Muffins and more jam than I know what to do with (including a delicious Fig/Blackberry Jellam!!). Oh! And I'm currently dehydrating a bunch of figs! And thinking about it - it is the season... and maybe all of you are having the same over harvest "problem" so here are a couple of recipes for you!

There is about 6 pounds of blackberries here - and about a half cup of red huckleberries.

 

Berry Zuchinni Oatmeal Muffins  

I added figs to this recipe by replacing the oil with finely grated zucchini and fig then the tbls of oil - next time I want to add a bit more fig... but I didn't want to alter the recipe cause how often to people really have figs??

    1 1/4 cups uncooked quick oatmeal or 1 1/4 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
    1 1/4 cups flour (half oat or wheat flour ok)
    1/3 cup sugar (1/2 Splenda)
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1/4 tsp cinnamon
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 cup milk
    1 egg
    1/4 cup oil (or 1/4 apple sauce or grated zuchinni and 1 tbs oil)
    1/2 tsp vanilla
    3/4 cup fresh blueberries or 3/4 cup frozen blueberries (or blackberries)

Directions:

    1  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
    2  Combine oats, flour, 1/3 C sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
    3  In another bowl, combine milk, egg and (fruits) oil.
    4  Add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix until moist only.
    5  DO NOT BEAT!
    6  Fold in berries.
    7  Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full.
    8  Bake 20- 25 minutes.
    9  Serve warm. I accidentally under-baked them a bit - but a few minutes in a toaster oven before serving - DELICIOUS!

Blackberry Rhubarb Pie

    4 cups rhubarb, chopped small, 1/2-inch chunks
    3 cups blackberries or 2 cups strawberries, sliced
    1 cups granulated sugar
    1/4 cup cornstarch
    1 tbls flour
    1 tablespoon lemon juice
    1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
    pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie
    1 egg, beaten or melted butter for glaze

Directions:

    1) In a bowl, combine rhubarb, berries, sugar, cornstarch, flour, lemon juice and cinnamon.
    2) On lightly floured surface, roll out half of the pastry and line a nine-inch pie plate.
    3) Spoon in filling.
    4) Roll out pastry for top crust; using pastry wheel or knife, cut into 1-inch wide strips.
    5) Brush pastry rim with some of the beaten egg.
    6) Gently weave strips over the pie to form lattice; trim and flute the edge.
    7) Brush lattice with beaten egg.
    8) Bake on a baking sheet with sides in a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for 50-60 minutes. Tip: If you do not have a cookie sheet handy, make a drip catcher out of foil paper, larger than the bottom of the pie plate, and place it under the pie plate and up the sides loosely.
    9) Bake until rhubarb is tender, filling thickened, and the crust is golden. Might have to tent the whole pie after 30 minutes to keep from burning.
    10) Let stand for 15 to 20 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!!

And It Comes Around Full Circle

Its official - Chad and I have lived in Silverdale, Washington for over a year now.

I can't believe all the things that have happened in just this one year. I can honestly say, more than had happened in the last five of either my or Chad's lives. Its pretty insane.

What really brought this to my attention was the Kitsap County Fair and Stampede. Yup, acres and acres of 4H animals, cowboy hats and funnel cakes has returned to Silverdale (er... Bremerton, but who REALLY knows where that boarder is....). This year, Chad and I didn't make a day of it like we did last - we only stayed for a couple hours - but there was good reason for this. An odd reason, that really put this last year into perspective for me - we both got in for free (or were supposed to - but that's an irrelevant story).
 

See - mid-May, Chad and I both got invitations in the mail - they were for the County Commissioners annual Volunteer Appreciation Reception. Only people with X number of hours spent helping certain volunteer groups got them. At this reception - thanking me - I won a raffle for a free ticket to the county fair. Then Chad, who got invited for being a member of Search and Rescue, was able to get into the fair (and park) for free - just for the fact that S&R donate their time to help the lost children and do light security.

We never did anything....anything... in San Diego... I think we love it here.

Anyways - back to the fair. It was exactly the same as last year. We had fun walking around, looking at the millions of domestic animals and livestock. We laughed when we walked by the main stage and caught a few songs of "kids karaoke." And we pigged out on fair food - starting with chili cheese fries and philly cheese steaks and ending with a perfectly fried elephant ear (officially the only thing I've been able to call a truly northwestern thing). Here are the highlights:

 The token fluffy chicken!

 The squish-faced sheep

 And last but certainly not least - the happy momma pig.

Its nice to have these annual events - lets you know you've survived another year. And heck, this one didn't just show us we survived - but thrived.

A Twist of Home

So this entry has been a long time coming... In fact I should have done it back in May, then updated in early June, and now!? holy goodness its already July! Where has the time gone!

But in the end, everything always works out, right? In this case, yes.

Date: May 7, 2011
Event: Big Brew
Important Because: Our first home brew was born!

As I've said before, Chad and I are (sort of) members of West Sound Brewers, which is a local group of people who dedicate an occasional weekend to the art of home brewing. These people are AMAZING! Everyone specializes in something, Meades, Cordials, beers, etc. and all they want to do is show off their efforts, teach others their techniques and hang out with their friends.

Big Brew was just such an occasion. Chad and I decided that that would be the day we start our first home brew. We borrowed most of the equipment from a good friend of ours (also in the group), we got the recipe from my dad (who used to brew) and we got the help from EVERYONE in attendance! I have to say though... it wasn't an easy start... It was a cold, crummy day, and we were brewing outside. Some of the equipment malfunctioned a bit, so our recipe was altered. We didn't realize we needed certain things, so we had to borrow and beg... but the outcome was something that looked remarkably like it should of! We had ourselves almost five gallons of pitched, cooled wort! Woot!

Date: May 11, 2011
Event: Watching our air blurps
Important Because: They were right on track

We kept our "beer" in our guest bedroom closet. The room was kept at around 70 degrees and the closet doors were kept closed. Everyday Chad or I would go up and count the number of air blurps escaping our airlock.  They were coming out exactly as people had perdicted they would... started off slow, around a minute, then 45 seconds... then every 2-3 seconds, and so on. And after a while, I came to the realization that "oh my goodness, this just might work!"

Date: May 18, 2011
Event: Racking off
Important Because: we had green beer and started the secondary fermentation process

Vic and Mary came over, had some pizza and helped us "rack off" our beer! Basically, we moved the beer from one carboy to another, trying our hardest not to add any air. The process went flawlessly, even Vic was impressed. Our green beer was clear, and tasted remarkably like honey!

Date: June 11, 2011
Event: Bottling
Important Because: Its actually Beer now!!

I wasn't here for this event (I was visiting San Diego) but Chad and Vic bottled all the beer! They added the necessary corn sugar for carbonation. They filled bottle after bottle of our beautiful golden elixir. Then they carried it all back upstairs to the closet... where the bottles would sit.... and age.... until we could finally drink it!

Date: June 18, 2011
Event: Our first (slightly premature) taste!
Important Because: A Twist of Home totally turned out!!

Finally!! After a full month of waiting and babying, our beer was finally a BEER!! We popped the cap, there was a slight hiss. Slowly poured it into glasses, there was a bit of head. It was clear, tasted distinctly like honey. It was AMAZING! And since then, its only been getting better!

So, a beer was born. This is one we are going to try to replicate in the future. Think of a sweet, pale ale, with distinct notes of honey but balanced with a bit of bitter hops. Literally, amazing!

My only piece of advice for those new homebrewers: find yourself a group of homebrewers! They WANT to show you everything, help you through every step and pass on their knowledge! I couldn't have imagined this experience to be any better!!

One thing after another... after another... after anot.....

Oh my goodness... This has been a downright horrible week. So far, nothing, and I mean nothing, has been fantastic about this week... One crappy thing after another...

And that's not what Washington is supposed to be all about for me. So, here are some pictures, that were taken PRIOR to this week. These pictures just make me happy. They remind me that there is WAY more good than crap in this world. I hope they do the same for you!

 My friend Jerry and I went out to our bosses beach-side yurt last week, and I found this shell! It was AS BIG AS MY HEAD!

A deer! I finally saw a deer on the peninsula! Chad sees them all the time - but this one was ALLLLL MINE!

 

 Saturday Chad and I went out to Port Townsend to enjoy a few ciders under the mid day sun! Summer Cider Day, small, but awesome!

 Being at Mariners Stadium, wearing my Padre gear! Go Padres! (even though they lost that day...)

 Sunday was the Kitsap Atheist & Agnostic Adopt-A-Trail work day. One of my favorite days of each month. And some of my favorite people came out to help!

 Seeing this on the shelf at my local World Market, just made me smile.

How could you NOT smile at this guy! He's a pigmy owl! I got to hold him and take care of him at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter!

I'm feeling a bit better - and I hope you have a great day!

Woodinville - Washington's Own Napa...

Washington and wine. Not two things I would have ever thought went with one another. But oh, how wrong I was.

In fact, Washington state is up and coming in the world of wine. Grapes are grown everywhere from Bainbridge Island (found right here next to our little peninsula) to eastern Washington. These aren't just any old table wine grapes either, but grapes that are producing 90+ point wines. And apparently, that's saying something!

Chad and I don't consider ourselves all that up to speed in the wine world.... in fact -totally naive- would have perfectly described us... but luckily, that was about to change! Come to find out, our good friend Dale is a member of a bunch of wineries out in Woodinville - and better yet, he was looking for some friends to go out tasting with him! Chad and I just happened to know a couple of people. YAY!

So off to Woodinville we went. Its a small community outside of Edmonds, which is just a short ferry ride from Kitsap. After a little research I found out that Woodinville is home to over 50 wineries! Most of the grapes are not grown on the premises, but a lot of the wine is made there.

Dale had two well known wineries on our agenda - Novelty Hill/Januik and Chateau St. Michelle.

We started at Januik. Our first wine tasting experience. And oh my goodness, not our last! We walked up to this large, modern industrial building, rather plain, but once inside you were greeted by an almost warm, very modern and alive room. There were small tables littering the room, a large bar, viewing windows of the aging rooms and cellar, and a beautiful patio! Dale apparently is a VIP because the second we walked up to the bar, he was asking for someone by name and we had wine in our hands. Since I didn't know the type I wanted, I asked for something sweet and fruity and was given a Reisling. It. Was. Delicious. I have never said that about wine. It was so good, and I lit up so much, that Dale bought us a bottle (apparently it was one of his favorites too!) Chad started out with a Malbec. Ew.... But he liked it, in fact it ended up being his favorite.

During just the four tastes we had, Chad and I noticed something about each other: we have totally opposite taste in wine. He only ordered, room temperature, bitter, dry, red wines. I only ordered, cold, sweet, crisp, white/pink wines. Opposites attract. Obviously.

After getting sufficiently tipsy at Januik, we left for our RESERVATION at Chateau St. Michelle. Right from the start we could tell this was going to be a completely different experience. First off, we drove through a wrought iron gate, rows of grape vines, up to an old style mansion. There were groomed lawns, with huge shade trees and tables - it was beautiful. Again, we were treated as VIPs and were going to go into the "members only" tasting room, but instead were shuttled into a "special" tasting room, where we sat at a huge wood table with six wine glasses sitting in front of us.

Two private servers preceded to pour us (and the other 4 people in the room) 6 different types of wine - one white, four reds and a dessert. The tasting reconfirmed my aversion to reds...I in fact gave my Merlot to Dale... But the white was a wonderfully, oaky Chardonnay and the dessert wine was a Late Harvest Reisling. We all LOVED that one. Sweet raisin flavor. Amazing. Chad's favorite was the Syrah, while the one he deemed "most interesting" was the Mourvedre (it had notes of Herbes de Provence).

As though being pampered that these two, wonderful, wineries wasn't enough, Dale had one more visit up his sleeve - the Red Hook Brewery!!! We didn't do the tour or anything, but I did get a sampler plate of their beers - which I was totally taken aback by how good they were! - and we did eat some delicious food!

Wow, what a wonderful day. Who knew wine was so good and accessible! We can't wait to go back and explore the other wineries and distilleries in the area!

Thanks Dale!!!