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August 30, 2006
winter
When Ben's alarm clock went off on Monday, the sky was dark for the first time since spring. This morning it was dark and raining. It's August, but I can already feel the approach of winter. The days get shorter, the nights get colder, the rain engulfs us all. Winter comes fast here, stays forever, then hurries off in fits and starts.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 06:59 AM | Comments (1)
August 29, 2006
Mississippi Street Pizza Jazz Jam Band Stand
Soon after we got there, a kickball team arrived at the bar and insinuated itself between us and the music. Very annoying. Ben and I moved closer, just in time to hear the call for players on the "Mississippi Street Pizza Jazz Jam Band Stand." Awesome.
We tried to go to Mississippi Street Pizza a long time ago, after one of Sue's Sweet Adelines performances, and we couldn't find it. But since then we've tracked it down. The signatures of the place: beer, wine, spinach salads, greasy thin-crust pizzas and live music. Apparently there's a cocktail menu, too, but I didn't pay much attention.
The music was great, and apparently this is a regular gig. Right in our neck of the woods, even.
Ben's been playing his saxophone lately, including "Take The 'A' Train," a song we played at our wedding reception. I especially enjoyed hearing that one tonight.
I suspect I'll hear it again one of these Tuesday nights. We just need to get Ben a nice bike, and we won't even have to deal with driving.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)
August 27, 2006
cooking and cleaning
Summer's not ready to give up on us yet. It was another hot day -- 96 degrees -- despite last night's chilly breeze.
This weekend, Ben and I worked hard. We both spent hours cleaning and doing laundry. He also practiced his saxophone. I emptied my closet and purged it of ill-fitting, ugly, stained and less-worn clothes. We chased the cats around.
I made risotto with tomatoes, basil and corn:
* Cook three ears corn, slice the kernels off the cobs into a bowl.
* Make tomato-basil mixture:
1 cup chopped plum or cherry tomatoes
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons torn fresh basil leaves, divided
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of the basil. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.
* make risotto:
3 1/2 cups to 4 cups vegetarian vegetable broth
3 tablespoons butter
1 shallot or small onion, minced
1 cup Arborio Rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring broth to a slow, steady simmer.
In a large heavy 4-quart pan over medium heat, heat butter; add shallot or onion and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes or until soft (be careful not to brown the onions).
Add the arborio rice. Using a wooden spoon, stir for 1 minute, making sure all the grains are well coated (toasting the rice in melted butter keeps it from getting mushy). Add the white wine and stir until completely absorbed. Add the hot broth (1/2 cup at a time), stirring frequently. Wait until each addition is almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup, reserving about 1/4 cup to add at the end. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
After approximately 18 minutes, when the rice is tender but still firm, add the reserved broth. The rice is done when it is tender, but firm to the bite. Turn off the heat and immediately add corn kernels, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and remaining 1 tablespoon butter, stirring vigorously to combine with the rice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
Fold in the tomato-basil mixture. Transfer risotto to warmed serving plates garnished with the remaining basil leaves, and serve immediately
It was amazing. Amazingly amazing, even. And it put our corn, cherry tomatoes and basil to good use.
Sunday's almost over. It's 7 p.m. Time to relax.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 06:40 PM | Comments (1)
August 23, 2006
rafting pictures
Here's a picture of the raft that Ben and I were on last Saturday. We're partially submerged as we go through a class IV rapid. A tourist-oriented company in Maupin takes pictures of everyone who goes through this site and sells them for $10. I wonder if they got a picture of the folks who died on this rapid the day before we went through?
And this is a picture where you can see our faces. I look like a major idiot. Or someone about to go on a human-flesh-devouring rampage. Watch out!
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2006
rolling down the river
When under a great deal of duress, sometimes I make funny faces -- holding on to the side of a flooded drenched raft, getting pummeled by icy waves, for example. In a few days, we should have photographic evidence.
Ben and I went rafting today on the Deschutes River, in central Oregon. We signed up for a full-day guided tour, which included one class-four rapid and 15 miles of lower-level stuff. The package also came with a hosted lunch, a hike to "nature's water slide" and an opportunity to drift foot-first down a relatively safe patch of rapids.
It was awesome.
I was pretty nervous at first. As our guide elaborated every possible risk and disaster scenario, I got more nervous. But ours was the raft that took all the difficult runs without a spill. We had a great time. No injuries. Another guide dumped her boat over the class-four rapid, dunking one tourist for nearly a minute and filling several people's lungs with water. Everyone was unharmed, but we weren't sure at first that they'd be OK.
As Ben and I watched other rafts all around us, it became clear that our guide was probably one of the most skilled and experienced navigators on the river. And he was very safety minded -- when the other raft capsized, he had us chase down the capsized boat, beach our own vessel, then he grabbed the first aid kit and ran a half mile back to see how he could help.
But early on -- before I figured out that I was safe, that our guide knew what he was doing, that I'd make it out unharmed and so would Ben -- an enterprising business person perched on a rock and shot a photo of our raft. I had an unfortunate expression on my face. Of course, that would be the one and only photo that clearly showed by my face and Ben's. So, of course, we ordered it.
I'll post it here as soon as it shows up in my inbox.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 06:59 PM | Comments (4)
August 18, 2006
the perils of excessive produce
On Wednesday, I picked up my latest produce bin from Sun Gold Farm. It contained:
A bunch of colorful fresh-cut flowers.
A big purple eggplant.
A big yellow melon.
Six ears of corn.
A lot of yellow squash.
Four red beets.
Three yellow lemon cucumbers.
A big bunch of cilantro.
A bagged "salsa kit" -- four big tomatoes, a medium sized onion, a green bell pepper and some smaller green peppers; directions to chop in a food processor, removing seeds from the small peppers first if you don't like spicey foods, and adding cilantro if you like it.
A recipe for eggplant parmesan.
I still had a bunch of food left over from the last produce delivery:
3 potatoes
2 jalapenos
half a huge head of cabbage
basil
1 incredibly yummy tomato
1/2 cantelope
And I had other perishables on hand: apples, pears, lots of cheeses (brie, cheddar, port salut, fresh parmesan, asiago, blue stilton*), garlic, ginger.
So I've been trying pretty hard to cook lunches and dinners every night that use up as many of these ingredients as possible. I had a huge hunk of melon and an ear of corn for lunch every day this week. I made a big old stir fry for dinner a couple of nights ago.
Tonight, I made my first ever batch of eggplant parmesan. I've always had a weird aversion to eggplant, but I actually had a pretty good eggplant dish a few weeks ago when a friend was visiting from out of town. So I approached the meal with hope and trepidation.
I went the simple route, battering the eggplant in flour and crackers, deep frying, then drenching in marinara sauce and sprinkling with parmesan. Some of the recipes call for lots of other ingredients, many call for mozzarella or pasta or both. I skipped all that.
I think it came out pretty well.
I still have a lot of food left, though:
Four ears of corn.
A lot of yellow squash.
Four red beets.
Three yellow lemon cucumbers.
A big bunch of cilantro.
A bagged "salsa kit."
3 potatoes (1 baked and ready to eat)
2 jalapenos
half a huge head of cabbage
basil
I think I'll have to make some kind of scrambled eggs and veggies for breakfast tomorrow, probably with the basil, which is starting to wilt. And maybe I'll make salsa to eat with chips as a light lunch. I doubt we'll need much more to eat than that, since Ben and I tend to take it pretty easy on the weekends.
Sunday we won't have time to consume any of this stuff. We're spending the whole day white water rafting.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 07:45 PM | Comments (2)
August 17, 2006
live music
Tonight, Ben and I went downtown to watch the Portland Youth Jazz Orchestra put on a free performance in the South Park Blocks. Ben knows the directors of the program, a husband and wife pair, from his high school days.
After the show, Ben introduced me as his wife. "Wife" is a word that feels a little odd when applied to me.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2006
Aug. 5, 2006, Saturday morning in Whitefish
Ben and I kept a journal on our honeymoon, and with this entry I'll have typed it all up and posted it online.
You can view a small selection of photos on each entry, or view the whole shebang here -- including quite a few that I don't link from these web journal posts.
I typed everything in and posted it without proofreading, so if you see grammatical or spelling errors feel free to leave a comment and I'll correct mistakes as I find out about them.
Aug. 5, 2006, Saturday morning in Whitefish
7:15 a.m. I had a dream last night about writing thank you cards. Ben and I got an unbelievable array of thoughtful and generous gifts for our wedding -- more than we asked for, mroe than we could have imagined. More than just the tangible gifts, however, I really want to thank people for being in our lives. We had a fairly small wedding, and there was not a person there that one of us doesn't feel a deep connection to.
Anyhow, I guess I'll start putting my thoughts into mroe individual terms later this morning. After breakfast, we've got plans to head to Montana Coffee Traders for a few hours with our books. Only, I finished my book last night.
I guess I'm ready to head back to the airport this afternoon. I'm kind of worried about what state we'll find our apartment in when we get home. Will it be as messy as it was when we left? Will it be worse? How will Mister be holding up? Will we have running water and electricty? Will anything else have failed in that decrepit old building with the beautiful wood floors and yellow walls? I guess we'll know soon enough.
9:15 a.m. Today's breakfast -- fresh fruit, including mango balls, which I ate and survived unharmed; berry muffins; scrambled eggs with veggies and mushrooms, piled artistically atop a croissant. The others in our party had shrimp with their eggs.
This was the best breakfast group yet. Virginia was there, again. So was Karen from Florida, a design big wig for Publix with awesome hair, ready for a little luxury after a week of tough hiking. And a couple from Chicago -- the husband a patent attorney -- also joined us. They were nice and did a good job at buttering up my ego by comlementing my college, my major and my career success. I like that.
Now Ben's showering. We'll be packing up and heading out soon. Our flight's not until 4 p.m., but checkout's at 11 a.m.
The plan is to sip coffee, read and write thank yous for a few hours at a downtown Whitefish coffee shop. I may also do a final round of meandering through Whitefish's touristy stores. I'd like to buy a T-shirt.
The End.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 03:16 PM | Comments (1)
Aug. 4, 2006 - Last full day in Whitefish
Stories from the honeymoon, with photos.
Aug. 4, 2006 - Last full day in Whitefish
In addition to the morning coffee and orange juice, today's breakfast consisted of: fresh fruit served from a hollowed-out pineapple in a fruity syrup; raisin scones with butter; little-bitty gingerbread pancakes with calved cherries and whole huckleberries and a fruity sytrup on top. Ben and the other meat eaters also got cuts of locally-raised organic bacon.
We were joined by Virginia and her two-year-old grandson Henry, a very well-behaved little boy and a lovely lady with a beautiful accent. The Northern Virginians were there as well. They were less obnoxious than yesterday, but still rudely dominated conversation.
Today we're returning to Glacier for a hike to Apgar Lookout -- 2.8 miles each way, with an elevation gain of 1,835 feet. We'd planned originally on hiking Avalanche Lake, but the park was incredibly crowded yesterday and that's one of the most popular trails. Here's hoping this option affords us a bit more privacy.
Later - 4:15 p.m
It was a good hike, but exhausting.
Montana is incredibly dry right now, and Ben and I are coated in the dust we churned up along the trail.
Coming back from Glacier, we stopped at a side-of-the-road shack for a huckleberry mildshake. It was amazing -- really hit the spot.
Now we're back in our room for showers before we head out for dinner. Our first night here we tried to walk to this Pollo-something place before realizing it was a bit too far to make it on foot. This time, we'll drive and hope it's still open.
We've been taking many showers per day here -- sometimes two or three. Just having water pressure is a luxury, considering what we'll be returning to back home.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
Aug. 3, 2006 - Thursday
More stories from the honeymoon, with photos.
Aug. 3, 2006 - Thursday
Breakfast: Tropical fruits in a hollowed-out mango (I tried the mango, and it doesn't seem to have done me any harm); fresh-baked berry muffins with butter; baked egg in a ramekin with veggies and mushrooms; freshly-toasted French bread to dip in the moist egg yolks; coffee; orange juice.
Our companions at breakfast: Canadians Darren and Sharon, a denturist and hygenist from north of Edmonton; and two Loudon County, Va., government contractors who work at MITRE and SAIF and whose names I forget.
The Canadians were nice, outdoorsy folks. They clearly have money, and they're relaxed about it. They use it to take long vacations, maintain a vacation home, explore the world, and fund Latin American charity work.
The Northern Virginians reminded me very much of why I'm glad notto live in that region any more. The two karat ring, the band of diamonds, the polished silver Rolex said all we needed to know. But flashy displays of affluence were not enough for this couple, determined as they were to one-up any and all.
"We live in a very affluent area."
"Oh, I know the president of that company?"
"You traveled to Peru during a tmie of political instability. We were there during the civil war, weren't we dear?"
"You think it's cold and dark in northern Canada during the winter? Let me tell you about Wisconsin."
I'm not sure I can actually capture how annoying they were. But, ugh. Eventually the conversation lapsed, and Ben and I were able to make our escape.
We spent a good eight hours taking a car tour of Glacier National Park and its surroundings. We drove down Going-to-the-Sun Road, which pisects the park, and filled the camera's memory card with shots of mountains, lakes and glaciers.
A large forest fire blocked the most efficient route back, so we took a detour that probably added 80 or 100 miles to our travels, but which gave us rolling hills and gentle mountains to view.
Early dinner at the edge of the park: buffalo burger for Ben, veggie burger for me, strange spicy fries made from corn for us both.
It's nearing 8 p.m., and we're both showering now before an evening of calm book time.
On our first day here, Ben finished the last book in a Star Wars-related trilogy and I finished the first. Now I'm roughly halfway through that last Star Wars book and Ben's reading a book I recommended -- "Under the Banner of Heaven."
Tomorrow's our last full day in Montana. We plan to return to Glacier, this time for some out-of-the-car exertion.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 02:42 PM | Comments (0)
August 2, 2006 - Wednesday
More stories from the honeymoon, with photos hosted by flickr.
Aug. 2, 2006 - Wednesday
Slept in until the second breakfast seating at 9:15 a.m. -- fresh local fruit; apricot scones; just-squeezed orange juice; crepes with cerries, almonds, powdered sugar, cherry reduction sauce; and coffee, darker than it was yesterday.
Last night we drank some samples at the local microbrewery, ate crepes for dinner at the farmers market (mine, savory -- cornmeal crepe, brie, pesto, greens; Ben's, sweet -- cinnamon and sugar).
I enjoyed Camelot, though the sound quality was poor and the men's costumes (early '90s baby doll style dresses with big poufy sleeves sewn on) were a bit distracting. Ben found it cheesey. The acting was good.
Back at the inn, we tried the sherry that had been set out for guests. I don't think I'll be trying it again -- blech. Also had crackers, cheese, veggies and grapes laid out for guests. Tasty. More Godiva chocolates on our pillows when we turned in.
But that was yesterday. Today, after breakfast, we headed out to Big Mountain fora four-mile hike to the summit.
By the time we reached the peak we were famished. Bad news: The Big Mountain restaurant was closed. Boo.
So we returned to town on the gondola.
We got cleaned up, then chosed down on eggplant sandwich (me), buffalo burger (Ben) and wine at a Whitefish bar and grill. Tasty, but we over did it.
Back at the bed and breakfast, we both passed out above the sheets and fully clothed. When we woke up, my head was full of cobwebs and I badly needed coffee. Apparently, it's ough to find good coffee after 6 p.m. on a Wednesday night in this town. We searched, but eventually had to concede defeat. Sitting sleepily on the bed and breakfast sofa, we shared our woes with innkeeper Chris, a tall, outgoing, hard working and energetic man.
Not only did he brew us up a pot, he also turned down our bed, aired out our room, changed our towels and laid out a fresh dish of dark chocolate.
Tonight, Ben and I are reading, resting and enjoying the warmth of the heavy down comfortor as the crisp Montana night blows in.
Oh! Forgot this: Before hiking, Ben and I spent an hour at a day spa getting our first-ever professional massages. I went the full body route, while he asked his masseuse to do deep tissue work on his back and neck. It was very nice.
It took about two hours, and by the time we reached the peak we were famished. Bad news: the Big Mountain restaurant was closed. Boo.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)
Aug. 1, 2006 - Whitefish, Montana
The first full day of our honeymoon, from a journal Ben and I kept, with photos hosted by flickr.
Aug. 1, 2006 - Whitefish, Montana
Ben and I got up at 6 a.m. yesterday so we'd have time to head from the Lewis River Inn in Woodland, Wash., to our home in Portland before catching our 11:30 a.m. flight.
Moving at a leisurely pace, we made it to the airport with time to spare, after checking in online and cuddling with Mister at our house. We did leave an awful mess behind and a detailed list of requests for my dad to face when he gets there, however.
The trip to Whitefish was uneventful. Two short hops on crowded propellor planes and a lot of time waiting at airports or standing in line.
Montana is beaufitul. Sunny and warm, but not hot. The Flathead Valley runs long and level straight into the mountains -- Rockies, I think -- which jut upwards shockingly without any foothills or other warnings.
The sky is blue, dotted with occasional big white clouds and a haze that can probably be blamed on forest fires to the distant east.
At the Garden Wall Inn at 4 p.m., we pushed the bell and innkeeper Chris opened the door.
"You must be Courtney," he said, and introdcused himself. Ben said hi.
Downstairs, a place of cheese, crackers, veggies, grapes and picked asparagus was laid out to welcome us. An open bottle of sherry beckoned from another table.
In our room: a fresh wildflower bouquet; champagne on ice with crystal glasses and "congratulations" on a card; a red rose in a narrow vase; an antique queen sized bed with well-tuned springs and heavy down comfortor.
We dropped our bags, ate some cheese, walked around town, grabbed a light dinner of salad, and when we got back we found Godiva chocolates. They went down well with the champage.
I was asleep by 7:30, but Ben stayed up to finish his book.
This morning, I woke around 6:30 a.m. and read and talked with Ben for an hour.
At 7:30 promptly a a knock came at our door. French pressed coffee on a silver platter with heavy cream, blocks of sugar, white and blue porcelain cups.
Breakfast at 8: A California couple and Virginia from Alabama joined us. Rhonda, owner of the Garden Wall, served, telling us the history of the house and the origins of the farm-fresh meal as we ate.
More coffee, fresh fruit in a tall glass, warm blueberry muffins with melting butter, tomato and zucchini frittata, fingerling potatos.
It's almost noon, and we're well on our way toward taking it easy. We drove around town; picked up maps, books and this journal; made plans for simultaneous hour-long massages on Wednesday; chatted at the Chamber of Commerce about celebrity sitings (Johnny Depp and Cindy Crawford); and now we're chilling over drinks at the Montana Coffee Traders. Later, we may head to the farmer's market and angle for tickets to Camelot at the local community theater.
Ben adds: The Black Star Brewery building from 1998 was passed to a different brewery (Great Northern), and the town of Whitefish has zero youth hostels.
The woman at the chamber of commerce mentioned the "Non-Hostile Hostel," which was likely the hostel I stayed at in 1998, and said it's now a brick building witha store of some kind.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)
August 12, 2006
a cat named mouse
Ben and I have adopted a cat named Mouse.
She's very cute, as this photo from the Humane Society shows.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 01:02 PM | Comments (5)
August 08, 2006
neurotic orange cat
Mister has this habit of being so picky that he makes himself sick.
He only likes the freshest, purest, drippingest water, and if it's not coming out of a faucet or a people glass he's not interested. None of this cat dish water for him, thank you.
He winds up dehydrated, and crystals don't get flushed out of his kitty urinary tract. Not good.
Tonight Ben and I finally bought a special water dish for picky cats. It cycles the water around and around, makes a buzzing noise, and spouts out a small fountain of fresh filtered water from the top.
Mister is delighted. He spent probably 10 minutes drinking nonstop water once we had it set up. I also got him some new canned cat food after a long dry food only spell. This cat's in kitty heaven, rolling around with his belly in the air, purring, drinking, munching, purring.
I'll have to post a picture later.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 08:24 PM | Comments (2)
August 06, 2006
wedding pictures
It's going to take a really long time to organize all the wedding photos we've got. I'm in the process of uploading some now, and guests Cathy and Gregg (who have their own studio) have also generously shared the pics they took.
The Cathy and Gregg photos are online at http://coppertonestudios.lifepics.com/, enter "cbwed073006" in the event code box to view.
The other photos, which I'm still uploading, will all be accesible at flickr.com/photos/courtneysherwood/tags/wedding/. Eventually, I may pull together a bunch of favorites that will weed out anything blurry or redundant. But with the sheer quantity of pics I've got that seems a bit overwhelming at the moment.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 12:05 PM | Comments (5)
August 05, 2006
Back in Portland
I want to have non-stop, constant honeymoons. Three-course morning meals in a cozy bed and breakfast with a 20 minute drive to some of the most awesome national parkland on earth=awesome.
Too tired to elaborate or post pictures tonight.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)