We've had just a misting of rain in the mornings. But, this doesn't deter our neighbors Tony and Mikaela from taking their daily stroll throughout the neighborhood. Tony says that Mikaela looks for our cats, Mordred and Pandora, on the front porch. I told Tony not to be concerned if she doesn't see the cats during the next few days, as we'll be on our camping trip. 
Mordred and Pandora will be locked up in the house with all the necessities, patiently awaiting our return. Sadly, they will view their admirers from afar.
As a kid, this was my favorite photo of our son Taraz. He was helping me pick peas from my garden, which we'd then shell over a big quilt I'd lay on the driveway near the house. My goodness, what a sweet little helper he was. And note, those three neon colored rabbits' feet he has dangling from his zipper (on one of my old jackets). I wish him oceans of happiness on his birthday!
It was about thirty-five years ago that I took an old unused sketchbook and started filling it with recipes acquired from all the pot-lucks and social gatherings I attended in Missoula, Montana. Pretty soon the book was filled with many savory recipes: Apricot Swizzle, Mossy Forest Salad (mung bean sprouts and fresh parsley), Eggs Benedict, Italian Minestrone Soup, Manicotti with Meatballs, Peach Marmalade, Old World Rye Bread, Spareribs and Sauerkraut... and a plethora of cakes, cookies and pies. Over the years the book has become so bespattered and torn, that pages now fall out. I keep the whole thing encased in a plastic bag with a zip-lock closure, and when it is time to bake, I pull several pages out, with the hope that the recipe I'm looking for is on top. Oftentimes, it is my home-made cinnamon rolls, but this weekend it was the recipe for Whole Wheat Bread.
I planned to make a simple vegetable soup, and have the bread ready by dinnertime, fresh out of the oven. The two would make a nice combination.
These loaves are raising in pans near the stove. My friend Carol Vaughn taught me how to make the bread, using molasses, honey and Stone Buhr whole wheat. At the time, about 35 years ago, we'd buy our whole wheat flour in 50 lb bags from a wholesale place. She'd take 25 lbs, and I'd take the rest. We also used large cans of yeast rather than the small individualized packages I purchase now. 
This is the finished soup and bread. I also made grape juice from the flat of Korean grapes that our friend Myong gave us last Sunday evening. We simply couldn't finish them, so I crushed them, cooked them, and put them through my food sieve. The most incredible, potent elixir was a result, so flavorful that only a few ounces are necessary, much like a shot of whiskey! I was able to make about 2 quarts, adding only a little sugar as sweetener.
On Sunday I made Dilly Pockets, an experiment. Ruhiyyih asked that I have some Dilly Bread ready for her when she arrives on Thursday from Washington D.C. to spend a few days visiting. 
I'm hoping to pack these Dilly Pockets for our camping trip. Using this old recipe, which has sauteed onion and garlic and a whole container of cottage cheese in the bread dough, I made little rounds that are rolled out with a rolling pin. A couple tablespoons of ground buffalo meat sauteed with onion and celery is placed on top and an upper crust is pressed around each pocket. (A dried packet of Savory Herb Marinade is mixed into the filling.) 
The pockets are brushed with egg before baking, which renders them a dark brown when baked. 
The finished pocket is crispy on the outside, flavorful on the inside, and is a substantial warm sandwich. I had some left-over Pea Salad (frozen, uncooked peas, onion, shredded cheddar cheese, mayo and a touch of relish) as an accompaniment. 
I wanted to include this strange image - the butter mixing with some of the molasses, honey and milk for the whole wheat bread.
It was a productive weekend. I've put a bit away in the freezer, to be pulled out when Ruhiyyih arrives. In fact, we will be packed for our camping trip when we pick her up at the airport, heading out from there.
Today at the Farmer's Market it was so cold that I could have worn mittens and a scarf as I browsed all the organic fruits and vegetables. I find most of the prices at the Market to be quite high - $1.50 for one peach! $3 for a big red tomato!
I settled for four medium size yellow zucchini for $2 and a big bouquet of fall dahlias and zinniahs for $7. (I've already cleared out most of my dahlias, to get a head start on fall cleanup.)These prices really convince me to get back into gardening again. Grow my own like I did for so many years. I just picked 6 nice tomatoes off my one plant in our backyard, and about 20 more are ripening - if the blight doesn't hit them first. In this part of the country, where early cold temps and moisture prevail in September, often the blight will set upon the plants, and everything has to be picked green and stored indoors to ripen.
But, just thinking of all that work, and driving to a community garden plot, and hoping that people will not come by and steal our crop...it brings back a lot of memories. Perhaps in the end it is probably not cost-effective, but I think I'll try to do it again on a very small scale and see what happens. Community garden plots are only three blocks away at Franklin Park.
W've been helping Taraz and Megan move out of their apartment here in Tacoma. Packing and cleaning, feeling wistful that they'll be a little further away down in Olympia. Megan is pursuing her Masters at Evergreen State College. Taraz will continue commuting to his job here in Tacoma. As a commute goes it is only about a half hour or so, and I'll still see him every week.
The longest commute I ever had was a fifteen minute commute by bus. It took me eight minutes to walk to the bus stop, and once on I had only a brief chance to visit with 'the regulars' and the driver, who lived just a few houses down from us. I always enjoyed this commute.
I drove to work during my last job as a caregiver in assisted living, at 5:45 in the morning, and I was usually there in 10 minutes. No traffic, dark empty streets. My walking commute ten years earlier was 20 minutes to the nursing home where I worked. If I rode my bike, it was a 5 minute commute in summertime, and I'd be there in a flash. Of all the commutes I experienced, whether by bus, car, bicycle, or walking, I enjoyed the walks the most. Got to know so many neighborhood dogs, kids, and the yards were always changing due to the season. I loved smelling the autumn leaves and the fresh air of early spring.
We've seen a little color - deep red, on shrubs up in the North Cascades. It is getting cold up there. We have one last camping trip planned when our daughter Ruhiyyih comes home for a visit next Thursday. Just being out at the Farmer's Market this morning makes me realize that mornings will be a real challenge if it is really cold. I can just see me wearing gloves to boil water for coffee, and once the food is served on the plate it cools down real fast, within moments in the morning. Rue, Rahmat and Taraz would like to join us for this 'one-nighter'. Let's hope it won't rain. It will be our last camping trip until next spring.
It is this paddler's fondest dream to camp in remote places, awake at dawn, brew hot coffee, and drink it while gliding over still water - and that is just what we did most mornings on our camping trip last week.
We teamed up with our son Rue and his wife Annie, to explore the Okanogan country in northeastern Washington.
Our first destination was Leader Lake, where all of us camped together. After several days, Annie and Rue returned home, and George and I headed north, to explore the dramatic Northern Cascades Highway, one of the most scenic drives in the state. We made two more additional camps, at Blackpine Lake and Diablo Lake, enjoying hiking and canoeing experiences along the way.
We had an early morning glide on Blackpine Lake, a very pristine lake, with a beaver dam at one end. It was a little cold in the morning, and I was certainly glad to have my coffee along. During the days it may be in the 80's, but at night it was in the 50's.
Rocky outcroppings on Diablo Lake, lining much of the west shore. The water in Diablo Lake is some of the coldest in Washington, glacier-melt. The silt causes the lake to be a milky emerald green.
In every camp we pitched our tent so that we could maximize the view of the sky at night. Clear skies meant we could stargaze, and find the Milky Way. 
It was exquisite looking at these black pines through the window of the tent. As the stars twinkled it seemed like someone had come along and placed Christmas lights throughout the forest. At Leader Lake, I laid awake in the middle of the night listening to the coyotes howl answering each other.As I've written before in other camping posts, our family really enjoys cooking outdoors, and this is no exception for our son Rue. The evening he arrived at Leader Lake, he prepared petite sirloin kebabs over a grill. Marinated and rolled in seasonings, they sent a mouthwatering aroma throughout the campground. 
The next afternoon he made buffalo burgers, and I added a few prepared salads as side dishes. These burgers really hit the spot after our morning hike near Starvation Mountain.
Rue chopped up fresh strawberries and peaches to pour over Annie's pancakes the following morning. 
These pancakes were almost the size of a small fry pan, and really hit the spot! Annie opened up a jar of my home-made plum syrup and I prepared eggs, sausage and hash browns as side-dishes.
I was so busy tending camp and cooking that I had George run the video camera, and I was not able to film much. (And many of our dinners were 'in the dark', evening, when filming impossible.) 
This was a lentil soup served with bagels and brown bean dip that I served at Blackpine Lake. I make five quarts of soup at a time, freeze it, and pack it frozen in our cooler. By the third day, it has thawed and is ready to reheat.
And this rice-garbanzo bean goulash accompanied fresh green beans from our garden. 
I season these beans with fresh lemon, pepper, and cumin, and cook them in just a tad bit of olive oil. The secret here is to simmer them briefly, then let them sit in the hot broth to deepen the flavor. (You save on propane, too.) Squeeze the lemon, and the fresh scent mingles with the fragrance of pine and cedar in the air. It is very refreshing.
I also made some little taste thrills - like zuchinni bread, corn muffins, and granola bars for our backpacks. 
These bars are made with bran cereal, peanuts, almonds, pecans, flax seed, yogurt, and sweetened with honey, brown sugar and topped with dark chocolate. The day before we left on vacation, I made more plum syrup (about 6 1/2 quarts), so I dried all the pulp from the plums and made fruit leather. It turned out so good (gobbled up), that I dried strips of my home-made applesauce, adding shredded zucchini and carrots. I find that chewing on a few of these really enhances the enjoyment of a hike, adding quick nourishment.
Annie and I hiked up to this rocky promontory on their last day of the trip while Rue and George did up dishes - (yes, everyone does kitchen duty.) It was incredibly dry and warm. After we finished our climb we walked throughout the entire eastern side of the campground(pictured here across the lake), where I showed Annie where I wish we could have camped had it not been so windy on the evening we first arrived. (Propane issues.) We hope to come back to the Okanogan again, perhaps in the spring when more of the family could join us.
I'll finish out this post with the only thing I brought home from our trip -- dried elk droppings I found on a hike near Starvation Mountain. As you know, most regulations prohibit disturbing the habitat, whether that means bringing home rocks or shells, moss or driftwood. 
When I saw these I told Rue that they make excellent incense, pungent with the juniper, cedar, or pine needles that the elk has eaten. I said I regretted not having a plastic bag. . . and he happened to have one! When I got home, I made a little alter, lit the scat, and savored the wonderful memories of our trip.
We've had just a misting of rain in the mornings. But, this doesn't deter our neighbors Tony and Mikaela from taking their daily stroll throughout the neighborhood. Tony says that Mikaela looks for our cats, Mordred and Pandora, on the front porch. I told Tony not to be concerned if she doesn't see the cats during the next few days, as we'll be on our camping trip. 
Mordred and Pandora will be locked up in the house with all the necessities, patiently awaiting our return. Sadly, they will view their admirers from afar.
