Point Reyes

While home for the holidays, I had a chance to get out to Point Reyes. It turned out to be a sunny clear day. The Fallarons were visible, and there were a number of birds including a pair of peregrines and a brown booby. I took a number of pictures through the telescope simply by holding the camera up to the lens. They’re not great shots, but they have some documentary value. The picture below links to an album.

Spinach Roll

This was fun to make, and should have tasted great, but we made one critical flaw. The hand made pasta shell on the outside was way too thick. Fortunately, the spinach, butternut squash, and ricotta filling was very good.

Also for next time: a white cloth. The green one left a checkered pattern on the outside. Here is a look at the process…

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was fun. Practice paid off in the pie and roll department. We also had a wonderful turkey from Ifft’s farm (just outside Pittsburgh).

Seattle

I visited Seattle to give a talk at UW. We had a chance to walk around town and take a few pictures. Nice city.

Baking Frenzy

A one day baking frenzy yielded a big loaf of sourdough, an apple pie, and some delicious rolls from TIB. The rolls are supposed to be scroll shaped. Some worked out better than others, but they all tasted great. They were crunchy on the outside and very light on the inside.

Pre-food

It’s always fun to catch your own lunch. This is from one very productive morning in northern Wisconsin.

Leg of Lamb

After the cow worked out so well, we went in again with friends and bought a share of a lamb from a nearby farm. The first meal to come from it was this leg of lamb covered with a mustard sauce. It was a small piece, and I was worried about overcooking it, but we kept a close eye on the temperature and it turned out just right. It also provided us with a good opportunity to burn through some of the carrots and potatoes from the CSA.

Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

We returned to Algonquin Provincial Park this summer for another round of canoe camping. The theme this year was rain, and we had to head home a little early. However, this left time for a side trip to Niagara Falls and there were some exceptional highlights (check out the moose). I’m looking forward to another attempt in the future.

Back to Bread – Sourdough

A couple weeks ago we mailed off for some San Fransisco sourdough starter from Northwest Sourdough. After letting it bubble for a week I gave the recipe that came with it a whirl. The result was tasty, but I need some more practice with it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any rye flour at the time (I do now), and I also should have taken more care shaping the loaf. The dough is very sticky, and not very stiff, so it flattened into a wide wheel more than the traditional stout loaf. I will have to give the dutch oven approach a try. The recipe in the linked article is actually very similar to the sourdough recipe (except for the starter of course), so I have high hopes for the result.

Something’s Fishy

I thought sardines were gross until I started eating tasty ones like the three on top of this salad. It’s another Jamie Oliver recipe. This was our second shot at this salad. It’s basically greens, onions, eggs, sardines, and salmon (pictured here – the original calls for tuna, which we tried the first time, and it was better) dressed with oil, lemon juice, and capers. This is one of those dishes that can really benefit from good olive oil.