DAYTRIP TO CARNATION

Woke up yesterday morning, glanced out the front windows, and noticed that the little daffodils I planted in the Fall are beginning to blossom! Perhaps sunny days are ahead after all – under the continual heavy and overhanging gray clouds of the PNW … especially on the riverfront, one begins to wonder if we will ever see the sun or feel the warm sunrays again. The early-blooming daffodils add a much needed and appreciated dash of bright and cherry color to a dark and gloomy landscape:

Then after looking at the daffodils for a while, while drinking my coffee and watching the gray clouds hover and promising more rain, I thought “I gotta get away from these 4 walls and into some fresh air”. Where could we go that we haven’t already been a thousand times or better? Then the name ‘CARNATION’ popped into my head – I saw the name of that town on the map a few years ago but we never got around to getting there, so I turned to Hubs and said, “How about a little road trip to Carnation?” He asked, “What the heck is Carnation, and where is it?” I said, “A Winter bouquet flower, and a town someplace in Washington State. Up the road a little bit.” Well, he gets on google and comes back with, “It’s not ‘up the road a little bit’; it’s a long way up the road. And there would be a lot of freeway and city driving unless we went up through Morton – and that would add an extra hour or so to the drive. So I start calculating the distance in my head: 2 or 3 hours each way, to and from; we could be back home by Suppertime. And I really want to go.

So, off we go.

We drive for at least 4 hours in spotty rain showers getting there. Google was an hour off in their calculations. But that’s okay. We can still get there and back before it’s time to set the table for chow at home. 15 minutes from Carnation, we see this:

So we follow the detour route. How bad can it be? Turns out it was pretty bad; the entire town was under water … fields afloat. Huge, lapping puddles both sides of the roadway, squeezing the road down to one lane dead-center in some places. But we made it to Carnation.

I had NO IDEA the town was THE ‘Carnation’ of world renowned fame! I was thinking flower, not milk. A bit into the town I saw the Cow statue, and the Diary Farm; but it wasn’t until I saw the sign in the foliage that things began to click away in my head ;-)

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/carnation-farms-namesake-of-a-town-and-a-worldwide-milk-brand-welcomes-visitors-again/

After viewing the farm, we headed back home, but found every route out of town blocked by ‘Road Closed’ signs. We were in effect landlocked in farm country. So we backtracked and ended up in rush hour traffic in Seattle. NOT FUN. We were engaged in an hour and a half freeway crawl which canceled Supper at home because now we’d be lucky to make home before 10 p.m. bedtime. As soon as possible, we jumped the freeway and found something to eat. Then we beat feet for home. And touched down at 9:15 p.m. SCORE!

All in all it wasn’t a bad drive (even though my 6 or 7 hour estimation based on Google’s predictions ended up being an 11 hour ordeal); and we got a History Lesson too. If not for the road closures and freeway snafu, we’d have been home around 6 p.m. easy-peasy. That’s my story and I’, sticking to it …

ROSEMARY-MARINATED PORK CHOPS

ROSEMARY-MARINATED PORK CHOPS ~ 6 Servings

The Pork Chops marinate for 2 days. This is a delicious meal! These chops can also be grilled or broiled with side dishes to suit.

Marinated Pork Chops

2 ¼ cups Water * ¼ cup fresh Rosemary Leaves, chopped * 2 TBSP Sugar * 1 TBSP Salt * 1 teaspoon dried Thyme, crumbled * ½ teaspoon whole White Peppercorns * 6 whole Juniper Berries * 6 whole Coriander seeds * 2 whole Allspice Berries * 2 small Bay Leaves * 6 count 1 ¼” thick loin Pork Chops, trimmed * Small Gourmet Potatoes (fingerlings), a peeled band across each middle * Salt and Pepper

ROSEMARY needs replanting and replenishing ... I freeze my Rosemary and it tastes like it is fresh off the bush. My Thyme needs replanting too. I didn't realize I was running so low on homegrown supplies; at least one of Hub's planting boxes he built for me will be used for an Herb Bed this Spring :-)

Combine first 10 ingredients in large non-aluminum pan and stir until sugar and salt dissolve. Add pork chops, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate 2 days, turning occasionally.

After 2 days, remove chops from marinade (discard marinade), and sear. Place in an ovenproof cooking dish and surround with potatoes. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about an hour. Super simple; and super delish!

Pork Chop Rosemary Marinade - looks tasty, smells good, and tastes delish!

Pork Chops marinating ...

Searing the marinated Pork Chops for baking.

Marinated Pork Chop ready for oven. GREAT meal!

LIVER BAKED w-ONIONS & HERBS

Being iron deficient and very anemic, I need the iron liver supplies. My husband, bless him, has little choice but it eat it occasionally as I am the chief cook and what I cook is what we eat that day ;- ) I don’t make it as often as I should because no one else in the family really likes it. However, this recipe has changed Hub’s opinion of cooked liver – the chili sauce does wonders to improve the flavor and mask the heavy musky liver odor. Hubs has even said I could repeat this recipe as often as I like, LOL, but I’m thinking more than quarterly would not be wise ;-)

I used my electric skillet to bake this liver and it turned out fine. Nice and tender.

LIVER BAKED w-ONIONS & HERBS ~ Serves 6

Fried Liver finished - the onions got a little too done because I was sidelined and sidetracked, but it tasted fine.

1 large Onion, sliced into rings * 2 TBSP melted Butter * ¼ cup HOT Water * 6 slices Liver, cut ½” thick (calf, veal, or beef) * 2 TBSP Flour * Salt and pepper to taste * 1 TBSP chopped parsley * 2 teaspoon Thyme * 2 TBSP thick Chili Sauce * 1 TBSP Brown Sugar * 2 TBSP Butter

Running low on the herbs I grew and dried years ago ... time to replant and restock.

This is all I have left of the homegrown PARSLEY too.

I am lactose intolerant and this is an excellent butter substitute that can be used in any recipe – stir-fry, melted, basted, baked, ect.

Place onions in oven pan, pour over it butter and water. Cover Bake for 30 minutes and bake in moderate 350-degree oven. Dredge liver in flour; arrange over onions, sprinkle with parsley and thyme and dot with blended chili sauce, sugar, and butter. Bake covered for 30 minutes.

Fried Liver with Chili Sauce and Onions

CROCKPOT BEEF STEW

CROCKPOT BEEF STEW ~ Makes 5 to 6 Servings

Beef Stew in crockpot.

1 pound beef cubes * 1 TBSP Shortening * 3 cups HOT Water * ½ teaspoon salt * 1/8 teaspoon ground Black pepper * 3 or 4 medium potatoes, cut into 1 ½” cubed pieces * 1 medium Turnip, cut into 1” pieces * 1 medium Green Bell Pepper, cut into 1” pieces * 1 medium stalk Celery, cut into 1” pieces * 1 small Onion, chopped * 1 cup diced carrot/pea mixture * ½ teaspoon bottled brown Bouquet Sauce * 1 ½ teaspoon Salt * 1 Beef Bouillon cube * 1 Bay Leaf *  ½ cup COLD Water * 2 TBSP flour

Put ingredients into crockpot EXCEPT the cold water and flour – add those ingredients the last hour of cooking. Set the temperature to LOW and cook 5 hours; then combine the cold water and flour and mix well, stir gradually into the stew and cook 1 hour more … or until stew thickens to a medium gravy texture.

Beef Stew FINISHED.

SPANISH RICE w-HAMBURGER

SPANISH RICE w-HAMBURGER ~ Serves 6 (1 cup each)

Spanish Rice leftovers.

1 pound ground Beef * 1 medium Onion, chopped (about ½ cup) * 1 cup uncooked regular Rice * 2/3 cup chopped Green Bell Pepper * 1 can (16-ounces) stewed Tomatoes * 5 slices Bacon, crisply fried and crumbled * 2 cups Water * 1 teaspoon Chili Powder * ½ teaspoon Oregano Leaves * 1 ¼ teaspoons Salt * 1/8 teaspoon ground Black pepper

Cook and stir meat and onion in large skillet until meat is browned. Drain off fat. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Heat mixture to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender, about 30 minutes. (A small amount of water may be added if necessary).

Spanish Rice w-Hamburger

ROAST OF PORK

This is a good winter meal. The shakers thought ginger aided digestion, and it was added often to pork and other hearty meals.

ROAST OF PORK ~ Serves 8

Baked Pork Roast ... makes good cold sandwiches too.

5 or 6 pounds loin of pork * Juice of ½ lemon * 1 teaspoon ground Ginger * 1 teaspoon Salt * ½ teaspoon ground Black Pepper * 1 teaspoon Flour * Small peeled Potatoes * 3 TBSP Flour

Trim off some of the fat, for too much fat spoils the flavor of any meat and makes pork indigestible. Place roast in baking pan and pour the lemon juice over it. Dust with ginger; sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dredge with flour. Bake in a moderate (350-degree) oven for 3 to 3 ½ hours. For the last half hour, surround with small peeled potatoes. Those will absorb some of the fat. Make a brown gravy from pan drippings.

Remove enough pan gravy to make 2 cups (otherwise augment with hot beef bouillon). Mix 3 TBSP flour with ½ cup pan juice and beat to make smooth. Heat gravy in saucepan and gradually add flour, stirring to keep smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

WINTER BLUES BUSTER ROADTRIP

We actually took this roadtrip Sunday morning, but I haven’t been able to slow down long enough to get these pictures posted until now. I have deliberately been keeping my pace quick and staying busy to keep my mind from worrying about my daughter and my grandson. I know Elohim is more capable of safe-guarding them and looking to their best interests in this whole mess, but I also know that if my thoughts are given free rein I will drive myself crazy with worry and concern. So I just don’t slow down long enough to ‘go there’ …

Anyway, I had had enough of being cooped up with the rainy weather, so as soon as I noticed the lull in the showers I said, “Let’s go revisit that road in St. Helens!” Hubs asked me to be more specific, so I described the area and road in mind, and he told me where we’d come out at the drive’s end, and off we went ;-)

I packed a quick lunch, grabbed some bottles of tea, and snagged the camera on the way out the door: we always go off track while road-tripping and veer from our original plans and I wanted to be prepared to capture unexpected photo opportunities.

Sure enough, when we reached St. Helens and turned onto the road I wanted to revisit, we ended up taking the loooooooooooooooong way home through Jewell and backtracking from Astoria. It was a nice long drive that freed my spirit and cleared my thoughts, replacing them with signs of evidence of approaching Spring along the roadway, and the sight of the huge Elk herd in Jewell – with the albino elk cow in residence :-D

So we pulled over and I snapped a few pics. I hope you enjoy them too:

The Elk are out today!

This is a fairly large herd ... and very docile. I counted 111.

The albino Elk. I believe it is a cow, I've never seen antlers on it. I don’t know if she has calved or not, there is no evidence of light colored calves in the herd.

A bull ...

A second bull.

A third bull.

A fourth bull.

A fifth bull. If there are more, we couldn't spot them.

The albino and regular Roosevelt colored Elk.

I'm glad the Elk put in a show toady. Even though I’m pretty used to seeing Elk now, they always excite me when I see ‘em again.

Down the road a heartbeat, we saw the rest of the herd!

Hubs counted 63 in this field – that makes a total of 174 Elk between the 2 fields which actually run together behind the Reserve Office.

This field must be the Bachelor pasture because ALL the bulls in this herd had large racks of horns where the other antlers in the previous field are much smaller … meaning they are just coming into their “teen years” and not fully mature yet, and probably why they are free to mingle with the cows.

These Elk are not afraid of humans at all. Of course there is no hunting allowed on the Reserve. They look scruffy because they are getting ready to shed their winter coat; when the heavy fur drops off, they are very sleek and look very majestic and baeutiful.

The bulls didn't even rise to the challenging bugling Hubs did to arouse their ire ...

... just looked up then and went right back to munching grass.

These bulls didn't even blink an eye or twitch a muscle.