Jul 30, 2012

THE SECRET IS OUT…OUR ANNIVERSARY TRIP PART 1

A SECRET KEPT SINCE MARCH IS NOW IN THE HISTORY BOOKS.

There are so many things to show you I hope you are not overloaded.
I planned a getaway for our 30th wedding anniversary last March. It was so very hard to keep the secret since the person I was keeping this secret from is the person I tell most everything to. He is the one person who knows me through and through. He is the one that I share my pain and sadness with along with my joys and smiles.
Most of all we share laughter. We have been together for  37 years and married for 30 as of today.
I didn’t tell him where we were going until we were about 10 minutes away from the Canada/US border.
We were going to Portland, Oregon about a 5 hour drive for us. I was hoping everything would turn out okay since it was all on my head.
First stop across the line was for breakfast. We randomly picked a place called Boondocker’s in Marysville, Washington. Click on the name to see more on this restaurant.
What a delight. The owner is so personable and friendly. I wish we had been there for something other than breakfast because they have some incredible sounding curry dishes on the menu along with their regular fare.
I started with a Red Grapefruit Mimosa. Oh what a treat. photo

They cook with real butter and the eggs tasted so good. Part way through breakfast the owner came walking through with glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice for everyone in the place. Even the fellow waiting for his takeout food.

We carried on to our hotel in downtown Portland. The River Place Hotel is a real top notch hotel.IMG_0007 This hotel is right on the river with a promenade all along the water. It is right next to a huge park. The area you see under the trees is a lovely porch where we spent some time enjoying cocktails. IMG_0002Their flowers were stunning as were those in and around the park and streets. IMG_0003

IMG_0004

I had no idea when I booked our trip that the Portland Brewer’s Festival was taking place in the park right next to our hotel. How cool was that! We went for a walk over to the beer tents for a sampling. IMG_0010There were hundreds of brewers to choose from but the line-ups were soooo long for every one of them we didn’t stay long. We tried a brew after our own hearts from the brewery below thinking of our darling Maxine. IMG_0011We didn’t enjoy the aftertaste that lingered for a very long time. I think it would have been better with some food. We wandered around choosing the hot sun over the deafening din under the tents. The cold beer lasted until we got back to the hotel.

The main restaurant in the complex is Three Degrees. IMG_0001We had dinner here the first night after we had gone for an appetizer and glass of wine down the street at an outdoor patio bar. We were too hungry to wait for our 7:00 dinner reservation since we never stopped for lunch anywhere. Once we got back to Three Degrees we sat outside on their patio  for our meal.
I had halibut with a creamy mustard sauce, roasted potatoes and carrots. My BB Guy had prawns and pasta. I am not allowed to photograph his food…lol. He says it makes me look like a whacko. The next day when out for breakfast another whacko was taking photos of her food too. I was going to ask her for the name of her blog because all of us bloggers photograph our food. IMG_0023After some more wandering around we ended the evening on that beautiful porch I showed you above. Here is something you may not know about the differences between drinks in the US and Canada. In Canada you can barely taste the alcohol in the drinks you buy. You don’t even know if you are getting what you pay for most times.
In the US you can taste every drop and they are likely twice as strong as the tightly measured cocktails we get. That being said we thoroughly enjoyed our coffee drinks on the porch and had a couple while people watching. IMG_0025IMG_0026We stayed there until after the sun had gone down. IMG_0028I will leave you with this for today! I will have more about our first day soon. 

Jul 18, 2012

SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVIN IS EASY…

Summer is finally in full swing in the Vancouver area. Our month of rain has ended and the sun has been shining brightly for a while now.

patios

The gardens are growing out of control and the restaurant patios are filled with patrons. That is something we do very well in Vancouver. We sit and enjoy a beverage on the outdoor patios soaking up the rays and watching the world go by. It is like we know our summer season is limited and we are going to take advantage of every minute of it.

My 3oth anniversary is coming up at the end of this month. I have planned something but it is a secret from my spouse so I won’t go into detail on here….yet.

I started planning this back in March. You can read that post here. People told me I wouldn’t be able to keep the secret until July but I still haven’t spilled the beans.

Now if only I remember to bring my camera along I will have lots of pictures to share.

Shhhhh don’t tell him anything!!!!

Jul 10, 2012

SATAY CHICKEN

a DELICIOUS QUICK COOK SUMMER DINNER

As with all my recipes they are more of a method than an exact science. If you like things mild use less spice.
Satay Chicken is an easy recipe with a cook time of 10 minutes either on the grill or under the broiler. Let’s begin. IMG_0097
  • 2 boneless chicken breasts
  • 2 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup lime juice (not the fake stuff…ever..)
  • 2 tablespoons of curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
  • 2 or more large cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 or 2 or more teaspoons of Siracha Rooster sauce or hot chilie paste
  • Peanut sauce of your choice for dipping

Slice your chicken breasts in half opening it up like a book. IMG_0095Slice the chicken into strips now and pop them into a Ziplock bag.
IMG_0096

In a bowl mix together the remaining ingredients.
IMG_0100
There is no substitute for real lime juice. None. IMG_0099
Get your son to pour this over your chicken and marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours or all day. IMG_0101If you are going to use wooden skewers for your Satay make sure you soak them in water for a couple hours so they don’t burn up.
I use metal skewers. Thread your drained strips of chicken onto the skewers. Don’t crowd them. IMG_0094b
Cook for 5 minutes per side for a total of 10 minutes on a hot grill or under your preheated broiler. Since the chicken has been sliced so thin it really doesn’t take any longer than this to cook. Don’t over cook them because they will dry out.
Serve with a peanut dipping sauce of your choice. I don’t make my own as I find it isn’t worth the work. Find one you like and stick with it. IMG_0095b
This is a very light dinner. Notice that there was no oil or fat added to the chicken. Salad recipe to follow. 
For a printable recipe click here

Jul 9, 2012

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THE MONEY?

I have read about a wealthy person in Britain who is giving away “good deed” money to strangers.
He gives an envelope with  £ 1000 cash to someone with the hope that they will do something of value with it. This is over $1500.00 Canadian.

He has given away around £ 100,000 already to various people. One has used the money to get his neighbours hot water turned back on, anther pledged to give the money to a hospice.
So here is my question to you. What would you do if a complete stranger handed you an envelope with $1500.00 in it and just says to spend it how you see fit.
Choose one of the following or tell us about your own choice in the comments.

Jul 5, 2012

I AM A TOTAL HEALTH NUT…WHO KNEW?

There are so many news reports about  things that are good for you and bad for you. I take them all with a grain of salt (not completely bad for you…iodine is in salt)

domaine de chaberton

The other day there were 2 stories in a row on our news extolling the virtues of two of my favorite things….red wine and coffee.

Red wine has always been considered good for us. Moderation….hmmm I might need a definition of that word.

Red wine has antioxidants, flavonoids, resveratrol all of which are good for your heart. They find that resveratrol might help protect us from obesity and diabetes but this has not been tested in humans. This miracle resveratrol  may also help to prevent damage to blood vessels, reducing bad cholesterol and preventing blood clots. (My hand is up to volunteer for testing, pick me, pick me)

To get the same dose used in testing a person would have to drink over 60 liters of red wine every day….okay even I can’t drink that much.

In the mean time I will continue self medicating with my favorite wines. They should start re-naming some varieties to better promote their health benefits. How about these:

Medicinal Malbec, Choleserol Cutting Chianti, Salubrious Shiraz, Positive Pinot Noir. Cheers, to your health.

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