Happy Halloween!

If you can believe it, it is Halloween today, which means October is almost over! This year seems to be flying by. I guess every year seems like the too, but I really can't believe that the holiday season is now so close.

Today's post is just dedicated to celebrating a happy Halloween. Nabil loves this holiday, which means that we celebrate every year. This year, we did the standard; carving pumpkins (and making seeds), costume party, and handing out candy.

We had the whole set. I was a bucket of honey and Nabil was a bee. It seemed only fitting for Zizou to be Winnie the Pooh.



Nabil chose to get the warty pumpkin this year in an attempt to try to make his jack-o-lantern more scary and gross. More "Halloweeny" as he puts it. It turns out however, that the flesh of these pumpkins is about three inches thick. This made carving very difficult, but he powered through and his pumpkin turned out great.

The warty pumpkin up close.

Nabil's finished product. The whole thing was free hand.  He is very creative when he wants to be. Yes, that is a fake, bulging eye.

My finished product.

My favorite part of Halloween is not the costumes or the pumpkin carving. It comes after the carving. Over the last eight years, I have perfected the roasted pumpkin seed. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture for you this year (we ate them too fast), but I can give you a quick play by play. To start, I think the finished products tastes better with a little pumpkin goo left on them. I rinse them off a bit an get all the big chunks out, but I leave a good amount of it on. I spread them out on a cookie sheet, making sure they are only one layer thick, and sprinkle them with Johnny's seasoning. I have tried everything from salt and pepper to cinnamon and sugar, but Johnny's is definitely the best seasoning for pumpkin seeds. The real trick to making the perfect pumpkin seed though is to roast on low heat. It takes longer, but it is well worth it. I usually roast them on about 250 until they are fully dry and golden brown.

Now all that is left is handing out the candy. The boys are exhasted which means it was a very successful and productive weekend.

Until next time...

Fall in Wine Country

Another reason why fall is my favorite time of year in Oregon: crush! This is when the vineyards in the area start to  pick and crush all the grapes before the fermentation process. Usually this is the height of tasting season for the true winos. For me, it is the best time to tag along and taste and enjoy the fall weather in the valley. This weekend, Nabil's uncle Greg was in town. He is a true wino, and thus I am the tag along.

Probably the most popular place to go wine tasting in the area is the Willamette Valley, and for good reason. No place makes better Pinot Noir, other than France (maybe). Usually we hit up the Dundee hills area, but since we have been to these vineyards many times before, we decided to venture into new territory. We stayed in the Willamette Valley, but went a little farther south, into the Dayton/Salem area.

Even though we went a little farther south, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop by Argyle Winery. Nabil and I picked this place to be wine club members because it has the best sparkling wine. EVER!

The next place that we hit up was Methven vineyard. Our friends Aaron and Emily actually got married at this vineyard this summer. I sort of forgot about it until we got there, but you definitely can't forget that view. It is a spectacularly gorgeous vineyard with great wine. Even Greg thought so! I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Some of the grapes had not been harvested yet.

The bunghole. (giggle)

They also sold locally farmed honey. We tried the samples more than a few times and I would highly recommend it.

Gorgeous fall colors in the valley.

The empty barrels ready to be filled again.

We found out these are pinot noir grapes. So dark in color, they are almost black.

Our next stop on the tour was a place I had never visited before, but will definitely go back. I knew that a local dairy farm was located close to Salem and have even passed it a couple times, but they recently opened a tasting room. That's correct, you read it right, wine and cheese tasting. These samplees were not stingy either. We were able to try all the cheese samples we wanted. I have to say, places like this are the sole reason that I could never be a vegan. Pure, unprocessed cheese is probably one of the best foods!

Willamette Valley Cheese Co.





Cristom Vineyard was the next stop. At this point, all the wine starts to taste the same for me. You can blame it on the tipsiness, but somehow I stop being able to taste the “distinctness” of each glass. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t turn down the tasting, but it transforms to social drinking rather than sophisticated drinking. As I mentioned before, Uncle Greg is the closest person I will know to a professional wine taster, so if I get asked any questions I just agree with him. “…yes, there is a characteristic earthiness to this pinot…” Sure that sounds good. Nora (Nabil’s sister) is another “wino” in the fam. They talk and discuss the wine, and I occasionally chime in with tidbits that I make up as I go (mostly).

This is the view from the Cristom Vineyard porch.

I would be lying if I said that this bowl had as many corks in it when I left as when I found it...

Not pinot noir, and not pinot gris. I can't remember what these were. They tasted good though.

Nabil with the pinot gris grapes. That's a framer.

One of the really cool things about this vineyard was that since they are at a little higher elevation than most of the other, they haven’t picked too many of their grapes. There were still quite a bit on the vine. I’m pretty sure you are not supposed to pick the grapes for yourself, but after tasting number three, it only made sense that I should in fact try all the varieties of grapes. Thank goodness I have such a good husband who just laughs along with me while I take a picture and take a grape, take a picture and take a grape…

The last stop was a very quaint, small family vineyard right next to Cristom called Witness Tree Vineyard. Nabil and I had to split this tasting...

The tree on the glass is actually based from a tree on the property. This is where the vineyard originated, and is located in the lower area, I think I remember her saying it was next to the riesling grapes.

Nabil and Nora with Uncle Greg. I love this one. Miss Nora is so freakin' gorgeous! Right?!

A pic with the whole crew.

This is Witness Tree's pinot gris grapes. They were located right in front when you drive in. It's pretty cool to think that their juice could wind up anywhere in the country.

  

All in all it was another great fall day in the Pacific Northwest. You can’t go wrong with great fall weather, family, cheese and wine.

Until next time…

Fall has begun

Fall in Oregon is probably my favorite time of year. The weather is still crisp and usually dry. It tends to stay above 50 degrees but below 70 so fall scarves and boots are a must. The clothes, the leaves, the activities are all a plus, but the real reason that I love fall is the food! This weekend the hubs and I had a weekend full of fall adventures. On Sunday we took a trip to Sauvie Island to go get some pumpkins. After all, no one can  do Halloween without pumpkins, right? That would be ridiculous!

 I've been to a few pumpkin patches before, but this was the first one I have been to where you actually got to go in the real field and pick your own. Above is what a field looks like after all the leaves are falling away (both naturally and from being trampled by the jack-o-lantern thirsty families) and the  pumpkins are left.

A few sunflowers were left, but there wasn't too much sun, so they were a little sad and droopy.

Of course we brought little Z. Once we put that gentle leader on him, he is transformed into the most well-mannered puppy you have ever seen. I would highly recommend it. Plus, isn't he so freakin' cute when he's sitting so politely!?

I got a whole bunch of decorative gourds as well. I had no idea that they hung on the vine like this. I don't know what I thought, but this wasn't it. We got to pick these too.

This year, the patch that we went to started a new type of pumpkin. It looks kinda like a big heirloom pumpkin but it has wart-like bumps all over it. Of course this is the one Nabil picked for carving. He has been very against making Halloween fancy and decorative with the pretty pumpkins, but once he saw these, he was all over it. I guess the warts add a scary flare.

He was very proud of his selection.

Since we were on the island anyway, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to wear out the pup. The water was still surprisingly warm, not that I would go in there, but Zizou couldn't resist. He loves to fetch!

Here is a little preview of what we brought home. We were also able to get some other fall veggies and other goods. Coming up I see some delicious fall recipes to make for the fam! ...if it all turns out that is. : )

Until next time...

Artichokes; making the best even better

One of the things that my mom made that I absolutely loved when I was growing up was artichokes. I LOVE artichokes, and right now they are at the height of their season. Zupan's (which is my fave grocery store) has amazing artichokes. I found this recipe last spring for bar-b-qued artichokes, and after that, I will never go back. This recipe is amazing, and it is very simple. It takes a day of pre-planning, but it is well worth it.

All you need is the artichokes, garlic, olive oil, and fresh herbs for seasoning.

Here is what I do. First I steam the the artichoke about two-thirds from being fully done. Then I cut the artichoke in half. I never knew this before, but if you cut the artichoke in half and it had been mostly cooked, the little thorns are really easy to just scoop out.

  

After cutting out all the thorns, place the halves in a marinade over night.

The marinade is a mixture of the following ingredients:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

3 cloves chopped garlic ( I also substitute crushed garlic sometimes)

1/2 lemon squeezed

1 sprig of fresh rosemary chopped

The next day, all there is left to do is Bar B Que. Start cooking artichoke middle face down. Then flip. It only takes about ten minutes. I pour the marinade in the bowl when cooking the leaf side down.

No need for anything to dip the leaves in either. You are welcome, cause this the best thing since sliced bread!

Yum!

Football Season Dip

It is officially fall and in our house, on the weekends, that means football, football, football. Not just American football, but European as well. This may be a little premature, but this weekend I tried your traditional 7 layer dip. I will definitely alter this recipe a bit when I make it for a group, but this is what I would recommend.

The base layers consist of refried beans,sour cream/cream cheese blend, and gauc. Normally, I would make the beans and guacamole from scratch, but this time, I just made the guac and bought canned refried beans.

Homemade refried beans:
As some of you know, I hate to follow a recipe, so a lot of what I do comes from trial and error. For homemade refried beans, I use black beans. Soak the beans overnight or as instructed on the bag. Once they are soft, throw a batch on a skillet (low-med heat) until they start to break apart. I use a wooden spoon to squish the beans and add water and vegetable broth to thin the mixture.The beans easily soak up all the liquid, so you may have to add more and you go. Once the consistency is as you want it (usually takes about 20 min), add salt and pepper to taste. Next time I make these, I am going to try to blend the beans in a food processor after they have broken apart in the skillet with the water and veggie broth. This may help the consistency to not be so thick.

Add the meat:
The second layer is where I usually do some ground meat. I prefer ground turkey, but you can do anything; beef, chicken, tofu... I also add some taco seasoning to flavor the meat. Adding meat is not very common in a seven layer dip, but I think it adds a better texture. This time I skipped the meat because I didn't buy or defrost anything in time.

Cream cheese/sour cream blend:
This layer is very simple. Mix cream cheese and sour cream (1:1). I hate the taste of straight sour cream, so I like to thicken it up, and tone it down with the cream cheese. I also like to add some taco seasoning to the batch just a bit so you are able to taste it, but not enough to over-power all the other layers.

Guacamole:
I LOVE guacamole. In the summer I have been known to have chips and homemade gauc for dinner. ...and lunch ...and even breakfast. I hate store bought guac because it tastes too processed and there is no taste of the avocado. In my opinion, the more it tastes like avocado, the better. When making guac, I scoop out the avocado, squish it up with a fork (the chunkier the better), add a little bit of salsa and lime juice. That's it! It's super easy and delicious!

The three base layers of seven-layer dip.

For the next next layers, I add all the veggies and cheese. This is really where you can really do whatever you want. I like to add tomatoes, olives and cheese, but my husband like jalapeno peppers, salsa, shredded lettuce and cheese. The great thing about the seven layer dip, is that it is almost impossible to mess up and it is always delicious, even if most of the ingredients are canned.

All the layers. A perfect dish to share for a football party, tailgating, movie night, etc.

Yum!

...until next time.

Sandy River Delta

Last weekend, Nabil and I were in McMinnville, OR for Linfield's homecoming game. A few of our friend's were nice enough to take Zizou to Sandy River Delta (aka Disneyland for Dogs) with their dog, Olive. Luckily, this weekend was nice enough that we were able to go with the group. Oh man did Zizou have fun! I swear that dogs never runs out of energy! ...until we get home that is.

Swimming and running, and running and swimming!

He is such a good listener when you are holding the ball. "I'll do anything mom, just throw the ball!!"

The Adventures of Olive and Zizou.

He's so fast and LOVES the water. While Zizou was swimming (again and again)...

...Olive took a few breaks.

        

BFFs 

And when everyone is ready to go, Zizou is still running about.

the pups cuddling in the car on the way home

Once we got home, Zizou was passed out tired for the rest of the day and night. It was a great success of a day!

Green and White Army

Alright, so I'm not the biggest Portland Timber's fan in the city. No, I give that award to my husband. He is a die hard. The guy who gets to each game two hours early, Timber's Armian, season ticket holder, 107ist, etc. etc. etc. Don't get me wrong, I can throw down with the boys, but I prefer to show my pretty face at select games. Since yesterday was the last home game of the season, I took to the pitch.

"There's no pity in the rose city!"

The house was packed, and the army was roaring. Unfortunately, it was not enough to capture the victory, but Houston fought harder and quite frankly deserved the win. This did not stop the cheers and jeers from the general admission seats.

Green and yellow for the Timber's, purple for PTFC (my husband's soccer team) 

Miss Nora and Nabil.

The team thanking the Timber's Army (TA).

See you next year (unless by some small chance we make the playoffs)!