I love everything about my dog except for his ability to kill the plants in our yard. Despite our best efforts of trying to retrain him to go potty elsewhere; Remy insisted on going one place only: the boxwood hedges lining the front walk.

This past weekend, we ripped out the hedges (a LOT of hard work!) and replanted new.

The old hedges: waiting for our friend to come by & haul them away for us.

Thursday Smile

This photo makes me smile!

Matty - dancin' it up in Lewiston, Idaho

April 2004

Buy This!!

 

 I am so happy I found a cleaning product that actually does what it says it's going to! 

After using The Kitchen Stone, my kitchen sink (though I clean it with bleach or Comet every day) looks brand new! There was an entire layer of soap scum build up that was removed. The sink took me one hour to get clean. These products require lots of elbow grease BUT the results are worth it. I used an entire stone just on the kitchen sink.
My toilets - (again: clean!) - had orange rings around them. NOTHING could remove the rings. I tried CLR, bleach, denture tablets & even Coca Cola. A few minutes with The Bathroom Stone and the rings came right off!! The toilets also looked brand new. I bought one Bathroom Stone for the toilets & a separate one for the bathroom sinks. The sinks look great too!

Buy these! The price is right & the results will make you smile. I found these stones at Fred Meyer & paid $3.39 for each.

How to Clean a Razor Clam

Music: Animal by Neon Trees

You've got your razor clam limit. Now what? You can either stop by a roadside stand in Long Beach & pay $6 a limit or you can clean them yourself!

If you do it yourself, first you must sanitize the sink with Clorox Clean Up, bleach or Comet before you place the clams in your sink. You want your kitchen sink as clean as possible. Rinse the sink several times before you place the clams inside. The same goes for when you are finished! Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!

A Day at the Coast!

It's no secret we love razor clams (& we try to go to every open dig we can). The last dig of the season closes on Tuesday and we felt the need to fill our freezer with these delicious clams. Saturday's low tide was perfect so we left our home at 5:00 a.m. & headed for Long Beach. Nas decided to sit this one out. It's too bad. Not only did we need her for our limit (she is good for 15 clams!), but she is usually the photographer too. I was only able to shoot a few pics as I had to hunt & dig for clams.

 Hittin' the road. Remy wasn't so happy that he had to sit in the back. Poor doggy.

We got our limits and when we were packing up to go, we spotted this bald eagle.

He was magnificent! On our way home, we saw 4 more in a tree. What a treat!

Leaving Long Beach, Omid drove by the Nahcotta Tidelands. We stopped to harvest some oysters. This was a first for us. Something new to cross of our list.

Here are the rules. Shellfish license - a must. DF&W is right next to the entrance. The DF&W officers were there and they were checking licenses. We saw three people get their oysters confiscated & were receiving hefty tickets. The license is only $7.  You can take 18 oysters per person, oysters must be shucked on the beach, shells stay there. 

The rules.

 I made sure Omid checked each oyster he shucked for pearls, but he didn't fine any. Too bad.

 Oyster beds

 See how far we had to walk? Our car was all the way over there. Poor Remy had to stay in the car. The oyster shells would have sliced his foot pads open. He was not happy.

 The biggest oyster we found. Can't wait to eat it!

 Matty helped harvest & shuck the oysters. He kept saying he wouldn't eat them. He changed his mind last night and ate his first oyster shooter. What did he think? Not so bad!

Capitol City Half Marathon

On Sunday, I 'wogged' (walked/jogged) my 3rd half marathon. The weather was absolutely awful. It poured the entire time & the temperature hovered at 49*. I have never been that wet/cold in my life. After the first mile, I was able to wring a bunch of water out my hair and clothes (& I still had 12.1 more miles to go). BUT, I powered through and tried to beat my last time. Unfortunately, I missed it by one minute 30 seconds. So close! I finished in 2:54:14. I blame the rain!!

So glad to be done!

Waiting at the finish line: my family (poor Nas was sick & came anyway), a dry towel & a cream cheese Danish from Wagners. YUM! Thanks B!  My sister Cynthia & her husband Mike RAN the entire half marathon and finished at 2:12 & 2:22. Good job guys!
Next year I will bring my camera (if it's dry!). I'm already looking forward to it!

I wish KEEN & Nike would get together & figure out a way to insert the Nike+ sensor into KEEN Whisper sandals. I LOVE my KEEN's and would have loved to have run the marathon in them. But...I needed to track my mileage and had to wear my Nike's. Maybe someday!

Make This!!

Rosemary Cream Cheese Biscuits! My friend Julie passed on this recipe to me at a track meet last week. Only 4 ingredients! These were really delicious. The biscuits are best right out of the oven, with a generous pat of butter. I used the only leftover biscuit as sandwich bread and it was excellent!

**Note: I used regular Bisquick, full fat cream cheese and whole milk instead of the slimmed down version in All Recipes. I also made them earlier in the day & kept the dough in the fridge for several hours before baking. They turned out just fine.

Make This (or not)!!

Remember that potato roast I was so excited to make? Well, I made it. It looked impressive but tasted just "okay." I added a bunch of bacon to give it that extra 'oomph' too.   If you really want a tasty potato dish, please make Lin's cheesy potato bake. THAT is delicious!

Before....

After....

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to our moms!!

We love you!!

 Grammy with her Vizsla grandbaby ☺

Farijoon

Mother's day menu: Omid plans to smoke a chicken and I want to make the potato roast Smitten Kitchen posted on her site recently. It looks delicious (like a Pringles casserole). I also want to make these Rosemary-Cream Cheese Biscuits my friend Julie told me about. Super easy (only 4 ingredients!) and who doesn't like biscuits?! I plan to use full fat cream cheese, whole milk & regular Bisquick (because that's what I have on hand!).

Happy Mother's Day!!

Make This!!

Oliver's - (my favorite restaurant) posted this recipe on their Facebook page today. I always order this for my appetizer. If you haven't eaten at Oliver's yet - DO!

Blue Cheese Soufflé

· 2 T butter
· 3 T flour
· 7 oz whole milk
· 5 oz Rogue Crater Lake Blue Cheese, lightly crumbled
· 3 eggs, separated
· 1 t Kosher salt
· 1/2 t pepper

Melt the butter then stir in the flour. Cook for five minutes over a very low heat stirring frequently. Gradually whisk in the cold milk to make a roux and cook for a further ten minutes over low heat.

While the roux is cooking, whip the egg whites to a soft peak. Carefully remove the whites to another bowl and wash the mixer bowl. Set the oven to 300° and generously butter and flour four 6 oz ramekins (or six 4 oz ramekins.)

Pour the roux into the mixing bowl and add the crumbled blue cheese. Whisk on low for around 30 seconds to lightly incorporate the cheese into the roux.

On low-medium speed, mix in one yolk at a time adding the salt and pepper after the final yolk has been incorporated. Fold the whites into the mixture in three or four batches as gently as possible using a slotted spoon.

Fill the molds to the top, keeping the mixture off the rims. Bake in a water bath for around 50 minutes for the 4oz size and 60 minutes for the 6oz size. They are done when the tops start to lightly brown.

These soufflés can be used immediately or chilled down in the fridge and used several days later, and they will soufflé a second time. To reheat, place on a sheet pan in a pre-heated 450° oven for 15 minutes until the top has risen right out of the mold.
**Note: I used the Rosenborg Danish blue cheese from Costco. While my souffles were tasty, the cheese was almost over-powering. Next time, I will look for the Rogue Crater Lake Blue Cheese.

Make This!!

Lin's Cheesy Potato Casserole
This is D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.!!!!! Lin brought it as a side dish for Easter dinner. Super nummy. You can make it as a main dish too. Just add bacon, ham or Lil' Smokies. I had it for breakfast today & it was STILL delicious!

1 bag shredded hash browns
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1/2 t salt
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c sliced green onions
1/4 t black pepper
2 cups Corn Flakes
1/4 c butter - melted

Preheat oven to 350*. Coat a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together soup, sour cream, salt & pepper. Stir in cheese, onion & hash brown. Spoon evenly into baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix cereal & buter. Sprinkle evenly on top of hash browns. Bake for 45 minutes or until hot & bubbly. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.  Garnish with additional sliced green onion if desired. Enjoy!
NOTE: Lin tweaked the recipe for the Easter crowd. She added 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 3 cups of sharp cheddar and 1/2 cup of melted butter instead of 1/4 cup. :)

Prom 2011

Naseem was lucky enough to be asked to two different proms this year. For the Camas prom she went with her friend Sam.

Fun Fact: Nas & Sam have known each other since elementary school.

 Alisha, Makylee, Sam & Naseem

Unfortunately, Nas' beautiful orchid corsage fell apart before I could even get a photo of it. Sam's boutinniere didn't last that much longer. :(

CHS Prom Group

This past Saturday, Naseem attended the Union HS prom.

Union HS Prom Group

 Matt, Naseem, Ankit & Shivani

Fun fact: Both Matt & Nas are half Persian.

 Nas' corsage. I love the pearl bracelit. So unique!

 Nas, Matt, Stephanie & Nhat

 The kids chartered a Hummer limo!

Off to Portland!

Try These!

What an absolutely beautiful Good Friday we had here in Camas! Cerulean blue skies without a cloud - my absolute favorite kind of day.

This afternoon, Omid and I went wine shopping for our Easter party on Sunday. We decided to serve our favorite reds. Update: We only opened one bottle on Easter and that was the Columbia Crest Two Vines. Guests opted for cocktails instead. The other reds will have to wait for the next party.
If you are looking to stock up on some delicous wine, here are six different reds to satisfy your needs. Warning: If you are used to Yellow Tail (which is not a bad fall back wine - it's been mine for years) - it will taste 'off' after drinking these wines. Best to serve Yellow Tail another day!
Here are our current favorites:

D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

I tried this at Roots a few weeks ago. I was late meeting Omid for happy hour & asked him to order me a bold red. He thought this would be on the happy hour menu. It was not. It's a pricey wine (at Roots!) for $14 glass. You can get it on sale at QFC or Fred Meyer for around $22. It's worth every penny.

 This Columbia Crest is my new 'fall back' wine. It's inexpensive $7.99 & is frequently on sale. My sister Brenda told me about this wine. It's better than Yellow Tail and has a bold taste & a thrifty price.

 Wow! Oh wow! Oh wow! Nelm's Road is another Roots find. If you can find the Merlot or Cabernet, buy a bottle. I always grab one at the sale price of around $19 at Freddys. Fun fact: Roots has a GREAT wine list. Whatever is recommended, I try. They have always been 'right on' in the wine department and Nelm's Road is one of my absolute favorites.  Go Roots!

Sharecropper's is a gem! I just heard the winery was sold. I hope nothing changes. This is a great wine!

CMS stands for Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah. But being from Camas, Omid and I call this wine "Camas" wine. You can find it at Costco for $9.99 and it goes with EVERYTHING. That includes banana bread.

FFC's claret is superb with grilled lamb chops. Omid and I also like the FFC merlot. Trader Joe's sells this for $14.99.

If you try these wines, I sincerely hope you like them. If you have a favorite red - I'd love to hear about it!

Get Crafty!!

I found these adorable mini wooden clothespins at Walmart yesterday for $1.88. I thought they were so cute. I bought two packages and came straight home to make an Easter garland for over the fireplace mantel.

 I didn't have an Easter egg cookie cutter, so I made a template out of cardboard & traced shapes on scrapbook paper.

The other package of clothespins I got for Nas' room. I think it would be cute to make a garland with random photographs & some postcards. For a $1.88 - this was a deal I could not pass up.

Easter Crafts

**These sweet Easter images are from Vintage Holiday Crafts & are free!!

Easter seemed to sneak up on me this year. I wish Easter were a set holiday like Christmas. Am I the only one who finds it frustrating that it switches between March & April each year? That being said, I found some absolutely adorable Easter egg crafts this morning. I wish I had found these two links a few weeks ago. I would have loved to make them. Great ideas I will file away for (hopefully) next year! Both ideas are from Not Martha. If you haven't checked out her blog before, do. She always has interesting posts.

http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2010/04/01/easter-surprise-eggs-the-easy-version/

http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/papiermacheeastereggs/

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter! He is risen!!