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!!!!

Saturday July 4, 2009

I have so many childhood memories linked to the July 4th. It was yet another excuse to get together as a family cook, eat, and celebrate. Our small little town would celebrate with a walking parade, a pancake feed at the Legion, and lots of lots of bonfires on the beach.

Due to some changing in the family dynamics, a few economic setbacks, and my brother and I both starting our own family we have slowly started to change up the 4th of July traditions.

The traditions are changing but the food and family is still there. Yesterday morning my husband woke up way early to go fishing for salmon in the ocean and I woke up much later to have an open house on one of my listing (selling real estate is just one of my many jobs). The conditions were perfect. Blue sky, lots of hustle and bustle, and almost no wind. Steve rolled home with a truck full of happy fisherman and each got their limit.

I managed to work a little and then finished icing some cupcakes I made for the 4th of July.

The recipe I used was a red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting and fresh blueberries.

Now, I had never made a red velvet cake before and honestly never looked at a recipe. All I remember was the movie Steel Magnolias with that red armadillo grooms cake. To my surprise it was so flavorful and rich. I made a simple cream cheese frosting and finished with a cluster of big plump blueberries.

Around dinner time I headed to my brothers where we made alder smoked, cedar planked salmon he caught earlier that morning. All in all it was a great day filled with family and food, just a little different but I guess it's part of life, creating new traditions.

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!).

Unnatural in my natural state

With direction from the gals at Outside Media I was pulled in front of a camera on Wednesday to shoot a few cooking demos for the website. Honestly, it wasn't the direction I ever thought I would go but the opportunity arose and everything came together smoothly, I guess it was just meant to be. I was able to use an amazing kitchen in what is my future dream home. The Seasprite Hotel in Cannon Beach, Oregon owns and operates it as a vacation rental and they were so kind to let me use it. Hilary and Kirsten from Outside Media came early on Wednesday and set up shop while I got busy getting my ingredients together.

We started with Biscuits and Gravy and ended with Salmon. I wasn't nervous before but once I was suppose to be "on" I found that I stumbled for words and it felt really unnatural. Normally, cooking and talking and being loud comes easy for me but when I need to be for a shot it was more difficult then I could ever imagine. By the end of the day it started to feel smooth and if I ever get to do this again I will be more prepared.

Stay tuned to the website for them and check out the Seasprite in Cannon Beach Oregon if you ever want to host a huge family weekend, http://www.seasprite.com/.

Bruce's Candy Kitchen

As Easter draws near I find myself spending more time in the "holiday" isle at Fred Meyer then a 29 year old woman with no children needs to. I'm not letting that stop me because I LOVE EASTER and I'm putting together and Easter basket for my husband Steve and Little does he know, he's going to wake up on Easter morning with a little something from the Easter bunny.
I have such great memories of the baskets my mother would put together for my brother and I. My mother never glorified the Easter bunny because Easter Sunday was about going to church in a new dress and hat and having a meal with the family. My mother wasn't big on giving us candy but she always made those baskets so special with silly putty, or sparkly hair clips, maybe a stuffed bunny, and something like a box of raisins.
I'm taking a little of my mother's creativity today and I'm working on filling a basket of sorts for my husband Steve. Steve has been spending most of his free time salmon fishing this Spring and I'm working on incorporating a few items he could take with him on the boat for his basket.
Just the other day I went to Bruce's Candy Kitchen in Cannon Beach to pick up a few Easter themed pieces of candy. Now, when I moved to Cannon Beach at the age of 8 Bruce's was a staple. I was in the same class as the owners granddaughter and we even got to walk there on a field trip in the second grade. Oh, I was so envious of that girl. She got to hang out at a candy store all the time and eat all the candy she wanted. Heck, my mother would can our jams with honey instead of sugar let alone let me eat a piece of candy! I mean now looking back I couldn't have eaten any better but at the time I would see other friends gnawing at large solid chocolate Easter bunnies while I sat back and ate my box of raisins, poor me.
Bruce's Candy Kitchen has just recently been renovated and it looks better then ever. Growing up and walking into that pink and white striped building was pretty cool. The sound of their wooden screen doors creaking and clanging shut, the salt water taffy machine humming in the background, the sweet smell of whatever flavor was being pulled, and the rustling of candy bags being filled will always bring a youthful smile to my face. They have everything from taffy, jelly beans, chocolates, hard candies, sour candies, suckers, gummy candies, and lots of fun non-candy items.

I walked away the other day with small dark chocolate, and a milk chocolate baby chick, some gummy worms, a few chocolate covered candied pecans, and some chocolate eggs. I had a hard time choosing but I think I have a few good items to pull together a very clever and tasty basket for Steve.

Those on the Oregon Coast looking for great candy visit http://www.brucescandy.com/.

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.