love letters

Dear Kosher Salt,

We met so long ago, you were set next to me in culinary school and I think it was in our Mother Sauce class where we officially started working together as a team. You effortlessly brought balance to my dishes and assisted me in transforming my palate. You were a new experience for a girl from a small town with simple taste and you showed me that I was capable of exposing layers of flavor.

You were there for me from the beginning and today you generously season and tenderize my cuts of meat, you assist me in finely chopping garlic, you pretty much define brining and curing, and you bring to the surface elements of flavor that might have otherwise been lost. You are always by my side when I need you and for this, I love you.

I love Kosher salt

The blackberries are coming!

When I was born and up to the age of 8 years old I grew up in Olympia Washington. Back then it was much different then now. Yard Birds and Kmart were the only super stores I remember and now it's jammed with Targets and Walmarts on every corner. We lived on 5 acres with lots of room to play, a large garden tended by my mother and her friend who shared the bounty it produced, a few chickens, hazelnuts, strawberries, raspberries, and lots and lots of blackberries. Unlike the raspberries and strawberries the blackberries grew wild and I remember picking and filling 5 gallon buckets. My dad said I was the best blackberry picker in the world and silly me, I bought it and man did I pick a lot of berries. My mom canned almost everything out of our backyard and we had a cool dark pantry in the garage filled with everything you could imagine in large mason jars. Canning was just a part of my life growing up so it was only natural that it rubbed off on me a little.

The past few years I have been picking blackberries and canning jam. The first year I made a batch I was surprisingly successful, thank God or I would have been to discourage to attempt another batch the following year. I now get the jam jitters towards the end of July.
Steve and I will sometimes climb a logging road just outside of Cannon Beach Oregon around August. He of course is bear hunting and I'm busy picking blackberries. Steve basically hikes with a gun and honestly we have never seen a bear. We do however see a few signs of bear, especially around the blackberry bushes.

I was just gazing at our backyard this evening and to my surprise I noticed our blackberry bushes are starting to lose their blossoms and that tiny form of a green berry is popping through. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Another summer night at the Honan's

Summer has arrived and man is it amazing this year. The coast in Oregon always has unpredictable weather and each summer that goes by is different then the last. Some summers are sunny and warm, some are sunny and chilly, or some are cloudy and rainy. This summer just happens to be nice and warm and sunny with a slight breeze to cool off the heat of the day. Keep in mind warm by Oregon coast standards are much cooler then what people might expect.

With all the sun and warmth and looooong nights Steve and I have been mountain bike riding on some of the logging roads close to our home. I enjoy climbing a hill and admiring the foxgloves and Steve is busy scouting for animals. We have gone twice in about a week and have had spotted two bucks and one bull with a bunch of cows. I love that Steve and I can share time doing something we love (mountain biking) and each gaining our own personal experience.

Our rides are so beautiful and at the top of the hills we climb Steve and I get to enjoy a panoramic view of the ocean and town below.

Aaahhhhhh Oregon.

Fathers day and a minus tide

Living on the Oregon Coast sure does lend itself to give me a bounty of foods to cook with. Just this morning there was a clam tide and my husband jumped out of bed at 5am to pick up his mom and dig a limit of razor clams. I of course slept very nicely in the middle of the bed while Steve was on the beach digging his heart out. I wake up to him cleaning razors in the sink and my mind starts to race on what recipe I want to try to create with this limit. The usual breaded and deep fried is our favorite but we are both trying to eat just a little better this summer and as we get older have to really watch how much fried food goes in our diet and exercise just a little more.

Steve has a great idea to bread them with ritz crackers and then bake them instead of frying em'. I think I may try egg whites, maybe rice flour, and panko, then baking.

Ooooh, I can't wait to see which one comes out the tastiest (probably mine).

That.....is just another look into a normal day at the Honans. Next weekend it might be sturgeon (I hope!).

Spring Alert

Yesterday being the first day of Spring has set my mind into a different thought pattern. I stopped thinking about stew and chili and now seem to be focusing more on salmon and quiche.
I'm working on the April features for the website and have some great ideas to start making recipes for.
Today, Steve (my husband of almost 2 years) and my brother are fishing for Spring Chinook and I'm so jealous. It's so nice today, perfect conditions for fishing and theres something about Spring Chinook that my tastebuds tingle for. Seriously, it's the best salmon ever. It doesn't taste like the salmon we get in the ocean in the late spring and early summer months. Steve thinks it's because they have more fat but I don't know for sure and personally don't care. All I know is they taste good and I like. I'm crossing my fingers for that fish today. I guess that Spring Chinook is going for $24 a pound at the fish markets here, can you believe it? How lucky am I to get to have fish brought home (crossing fingers still) that anyone else would pay an arm and a leg for! I feel the same way about razor clams. It's really hard to get the at restaurants because I make them perfectly the way I like them at home and they didn't coast $14 for 3 on a plate.
God, I love living in Oregon!
Being married to Steve has also given me this new found respect for my environment. He loves spending his days on a boat in the river or ocean, in the woods scouting for something, or on the beach digging for clams. I've had the opportunity to see parts of Oregon I would never have seen on my own. His passion for what he does inspires me. He's on the quiet side and almost prefers to be by himself and he doesn't like a lot of attention brought to him. We are opposite in almost every way. I think that's why it works.