I've been busy upgrading the house, room by room. Once all the kids and pets are gone there are so many places to repair and upgrade. I'm amazed at the volume of work - painting, caulking dents in the walls, and finding dirt where I'd never seen it before. Like behind doors, stuck in the hinges!
I've not had the time or the inclination to do any of this deep cleaning, and I simply didn't care as long as I felt anything I did would be undone in a matter of hours by people who have more interest in exiting a home than in repairing it!
I've been making a list for the week, so I can get George involved some evenings for a simple project - like putting handles and knobs on the kitchen cupboards. My arthritis acts up from time to time and these handles sure make it easy to open a cupboard. But, before they were installed, I had to sand the old varnish off the cupboards, and reapply it for a fresher, cleaner look. That was a lot of work.
I got rid of the metal blinds in my bathroom (installed by the contractor), and replaced them with wooden ones, changed the corroded light fixture, removed an old dust-covered bouquet, and added fresh baby roses. Yellow, fringed with red, they compliment the bouquet of orange, russet and red leaves from branches picked out in the yard. I'm determined to have these small $6.00 bouquets of fresh roses in my bathroom every week. When I finally sit down from all this work I have something exquisite to enjoy!
It is amazing how just a few little upgrades can restore freshness to a home. I've removed all the old, patched, shredded furniture in the livingroom, vowing to never have cats again! We gave it to Matt and Ruhiyyih - she has purchased new slipcovers for the chairs and sofa for their home up in Bremerton.I still have more painting to do, and look forward to planning my vegetable garden. When I take my coffee break in the afternoon I sometimes visit Google Earth, use their street-view tool, and wander the village streets of Italy.
I like this tool because it goes at my pace and allows me to turn around and look at all the details. This is exactly how I would travel in Italy if I went there - traveling through villages in the countryside.
Recently I found a chapel, Madonna della Neve in Tussio. I 'drove along', stopped, and noticed two small bouquets of red roses on the step at the doorway. Heading back uphill, the Google camera photographed several old ladies walking along the edge of the road. I imagined that they had placed the flowers there.
I do enjoy visiting the side-streets of Naples, with images of laundry hanging out to dry, the dark shadows and markets. The only things missing are the sounds of traffic and people, the aromas that change from early morning into the afternoon, and the glint of sunshine that startles the senses as one walks onto a terrace. These I'd love to experience again.
I have been watching House Hunters International on HGTV. It features properties that are for sale. One is chosen and often repaired and remodeled. The remodeling is so interesting, with cute propane stoves and candelabras, plastering and painting. I recall one gentleman who bought a little house in Italy and remodeled it. I found his Facebook site, and enjoyed all the upgrading photos . His wife repainted the scrolls around a ceiling fixture. She spent 12 hours facing upwards, restoring it, paintbrush in hand. I just loved that dedication, and imagined the happiness they would share while staying in the little house. This last beautiful photo shows her on their recent trip to Venice.
Although we were invited out to dinner at Rue and Annie's for Thanksgiving, I wanted to cook a few things too. I roasted a turkey with cornbread dressing, and made pumpkin and apple torts.
Ruhiyyih and Matt were visiting a few days, so we enjoyed Thanksgiving multiple times, always grateful for the opportunity to enjoy good food with our children.
I made polenta, stirring it into a thick texture, seasoned with fresh parmesan, garlic and herbs. The polenta is spread onto a stone, spread out flat, then allowed to set overnight. 
It hardens, then is ready to cut and fry in olive oil. I served it for breakfast in an eggs-bacon-and tomato casserole.
During the week we enjoyed many leftovers, including asparagus in a salmon stirfry.
These salmon-feta-spinach sandwiches were served with a vegetable rasam flavored with our wild huckleberries. They give the soup a deep color and add just the right sweet-sour counterbalance to the spices.
This may seem like a cold and lonely beach, dressed only with silver mist and sandpipers. But the Thanksgiving weekend we spent at Long Beach with some of our children and their spouses was warm and convivial.
We booked rooms at the Adrift Hotel and settled into luxurious accommodations. This hotel, constructed from pre-used construction materials offered down blankets, propane fireplaces, extravagant shower-heads and soaking tubs, great organic coffee, and exceptional customer service.
We spent the weekend indulging ourselves!
The hotel staff recommended the Pelicano Restaurant at the Port of Illwaco for dinner. It specializes in Mediterranean cuisine, our favorite. They served the most flavorful scallops!
George and I shared a Chocolate Mousse for dessert, which was so heavenly we had to share spoonfuls with everyone. That resulted in an intense discussion of how to get every last spoonful out of the bowl. Laurel suggested that the waitress bring a small spatula from the kitchen, but George ultimately, with a deliberate sweep of his finger, consumed the last sweet sensation.
We had great hiking weather over that weekend - sunny but cold. All the tourists had long since vanished, and the one cafe closest to the beach offering clam chowder doesn't make it off-season - it is not cost effective.
We'd hiked along the beach for several hours, so settled on anything this poor restaurant could offer ... even if the cook had to be hunted down to come inside to fire up the grill! He came inside wearing Bermuda shorts, hiking boots and a blue wool cap. The waitress was a lot older than me, shuffling along on a bad hip. She asked if she could serve water in plastic cups rather than use glasses, which were on a high shelf out of reach. We gave the high sign, and she pulled some out of a plastic bag.
While the waitress poured water from a gallon jug, we checked out the menu - typical fish 'n' chips, burgers and fries, simple tossed salad.
By now we were so hungry we'd settle for buttermilk pancakes, from batter in the fridge. The waitress brought a half-filled bottle of syrup, in the shape of a maple leaf. Now, that looked like the promise of a blisspoint! But the sweetness just never arrived. I wasn't sure what was in that bottle, but that was the most disappointing syrup I've ever had! You could pour the whole bottle and never get to 'sweet'.
I would have enjoyed coffee with my pancakes, but the brown liquid in the pot on the burner looked like it had been there since September. I wasn't going to risk it, have a belly ache for the rest of the afternoon. We walked back toward the hotel, about a mile and a half, looking for a good cup of coffee. I found a great latte at McDonald's, and we resumed our walk.
Along the way I told George, that if we'd just walked another mile, we could have eaten at the Shelburne! 
Advertised, it says ' Breakfast to the Shelburne is like art to the Louvre'. They'd have premium syrup!
But, we would have lost the ambiance of the little bedraggled cafe - the weary waitress, the cook who'd rather be chopping wood out back. He had little to do while we were there, so sat down and talked to a local who came in for his usual, the last drags out of the coffee pot. It being a cafe of about 30 feet and two tables, I learned a lot about the social life of the community, some of which has to do with court dates, collecting bail, and making ends meet.
After the farmers cheese was prepared, I added finely chopped parsley and colorful hot Thai chilies - red and green - then pressed the cheese as is done with paneer. It was served as an appetizer, with rye crackers. I added crushed chia seeds to the rye cracker batter, then rolled out the dough and cut a round shape with a cookie cutter.
On a cold rainy day there is nothing like soup! 
I made split pea, and topped it with crushed rye bread crumbs.
I've not done much bloggling, I'm just too busy. I'm upgrading the house, painting, patching and repairing. Cleaning, removing clutter. It will take a couple of months to do the whole house, but that is my goal - with new living room furniture replacing our old furniture which was shredded by our cats. Over the years I've patched and glued this furniture, seeing no reason to upgrade as long as kids and cats were in the house. Now I can tackle these upgrades!
I've been watching 'House Hunter's International' on the HGTV channel. It has featured the restoration of old buildings in Italian villages. I found rustic Italian dwellings online, and have imagined just a bit of touchups to restore modern livability. I'd keep them authentic, with just a few upgrades.
This old stone house is wonderful, and it has a side yard with a tree.
This is also a favorite. And, if I lived in one of these Italian villages, what would I be doing? Making cheese and crackers, and Split Pea Soup.
I took only one photograph on our trip to California - this one.
My garden is still productive at Franklin Park, lots of carrots, cabbage, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, black kale, and chard. One of the other gardeners asked if anything has been gleaned or stolen. Fortunately my plots have been spared this year.
How many thieves really want to figure out how to cook a parsnip?
The kale is so black that it looks ornamental. The cabbage was so prolific that three heads emerged after I picked the center head! The rutabagas, turnips and carrots are hidden in the ground - no thief would know they are there unless they recognized the foliage.
The chard is excellent in a wonderful Indian soup that I make every week, Rasam Masala. It contains a spice blend of fenugreek, cumin, coriander, tamarind, curry leaves, turmeric, asafoetida, red chilies, and ground black mustard seed. 
I add onions, garlic, tomatoes, all my root veggies, chorizo sausage, black beans, and a firm pasta shell like malloraddus, which I make at home. Topped off with chopped parsley and a scattering of small Thai chow mein noodles, it makes the perfect meal for a spice lover.
To compliment the soup, I made four loaves of cornbread, so satisfying warm out of the oven, with butter and honey on top.
George was unavailable all weekend, so that left me alone, wondering what to cook for myself. I had lots of vegetables, so prepared a crepe I call 'Tarka Dhal', using garbanzo flour and cornmeal. 
This crepe is more like a substantial veggie pancake, with six different crunchy vegetables slightly fried before pouring the batter on top. A few poached eggs, hard on the outside and soft in the middle, partner well with this meal.
And, a cherry-huckleberry pie with home-made sweetened yogurt. This time I made yogurt that wasn't hard-set, but poured very slowly like a super thick cream - it was a perfect topping for this pie.
Although I was alone on the weekend, swamped with home-repair projects, I sat down awhile too. My sister sent the book "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" by Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D., and a couple of videos - one featuring Moroccan Cooking and the other a poignant recall of Sheep Herding in Montana.
I could identify with both videos: The spices in the Moroccan Harira broth, and the loneliness of the old sheep herder talking to himself, cause nobody else was there, if'n yer not countin' the sheep
.
Is there anything more wonderful in autumn than sunshine through the kitchen window? Yes, the aroma of pumpkin and huckleberries! Pies. Muffins filled with chocolate chips, huckleberries, walnut and pumpkin.
George and I walked through this little park on the weekend, after having coffee and a chibata sandwich at Forza's. It had been a tough nine days, with the IPG - Intensive Phase of Growth - behind him, and new projects and people ahead, all of which will use up every packed moment of his day, whether he is contributing at a meeting or pouring over data online with photos of the Invaders/Tigers teams, Baha'i photos of community events, e-mail, his Facebook postings, or his blogs on the Faith and the Illahee Wildlife Preserve.We attended an IPG morning reflection, where our friend Chris mentioned, "...strain every nerve..." For the Baha'is it means service and dedication to the community, building relationships, which George takes very seriously. He is a distinguished resource, both on the job as a mental health counselor and within the Baha'i community.
But, when I heard those words I felt a visceral awareness that this man is spread so thin, with so much on his plate, that it becomes impossible to set goals that would require his participation - like cleaning out the garage and organizing what is there so it is possible to access garden tools or find the lawn mower and the power cord - and pull it out! Or, do upgrades on the yard and the fall cleanup of leaves, digging out dead shrubbery, mowing grass, pulling down dead vines, cleaning the patio and storing the furniture - in a garage that has to be organized and cleaned out before it can be functional.
In a busy life one tends to overlook what cannot be addressed. I looked around, to the garden, the yard, the home. Most of the work must fall on my shoulders. I've had to strain every nerve, in a different manner than George, to get more organized, to commit to goals regardless of energy or the weather just to get it all done - and I'm still in the process!
It was her birthday, so we spent the weekend together.
Ruhiyyih and Matt drove over, and we brought our grand-daughter Daisy. My oldest daughter treated all of us to a tour of the Theo Chocolate Factory.
Theo Chocolate Factory is committed to "changing the definition of “quality” by uniting creative excellence that results in deliciously award-winning chocolate with our unwavering commitment to changing the way the cocoa industry conducts business."
"At Theo, we believe there is no luxury in products that benefit us today, while jeopardizing future generations ability to meet their needs. When you taste our chocolate you will experience our passion and integrity in every luscious bite."
Samples of everything were available in the shop and on the tour. These are chocolate nibs, roasted beans that are cracked and then de-shelled by a winnower. Most nibs are ground, using various methods, into a thick creamy paste, known as chocolate liquor or cocoa paste. This liquor is then further processed into chocolate by mixing in more cocoa butter and sugar, vanilla and lecithin as an emulsifier.
Organic, with fair-trade practices, Theo promises "there is something for everyone from the adventurous 'foodie', to those seeking the simple comfort of a delectably creamy milk chocolate bar."
Rahmat enjoyed the Spicy Chile Dark Chocolate bar. It is 70% dark chocolate, balanced with the warmth of guajillo chile and cinnamon, the tanginess of pasilla chile and a subtle hint of citrus. It was also my favorite chocolate bar, exciting the palette with a wonderful aftertaste.
I purchased a small box of handmade cream-based ganache each of a different flavor - hazelnut crunch, fig-fennel and almond, rum, and peanut-butter! They are little treasures, decorated with an embellishment on top.After the tour my grand-daughter and I spent the night at Laurel and Mehran's, enjoying a wonderful dinner and a facial mask with massage. The next day we went shopping at Whole Foods and went for a walk to look at eagles nesting over the water. This was how she made her birthday special for us.
We picked almost 24 lbs of huckleberries on the weekend.
I suited up with rain gear pants because the shrubbery was wet. We wore food-handling gloves to protect our hands.
Picking went quickly, taking about an hour and a half.
Once these are cleaned and sorted they are frozen in quart bags.
First project: Pumpkin-huckleberry muffins for us; then a pie for my daughter. She requested something without sugar, butter or Crisco, or wheat flour - but wanted a huckleberry pie for her birthday.
She is remembering the wonderful pies I've made in the past, with the lattice crust on top, the thick sweet syrup, the plump berries. She is remembering a butter crust, a sweet filling, and ice cream on the top.
But, she wants a healthier option. She's also avoiding dairy, wheat and sugar. So, I'll grind up walnuts, oat bran, apple skins and a little dehydrated orange peel for the crust, mixed with organic coconut oil. A little agave syrup to sweeten the berries, then baked. I wouldn't call it pie, its more like a round granola bar that spills berries.
Last year I experimented with 'healthy options' - an apple-huckleberry pie with a crust made with crushed pecans, almonds, flaxmeal and minced apple peelings. I added vanilla, rum flavoring, oil, and salt.
These 'healthy options' give the impression of pie, if someone was desperate enough to suffer through a substitution. But me? I don't drive for two hours, pick berries for another two, sort and clean for another four hours and settle for a substitution. I want real huckleberry pie the old fashioned way.
I've been busy upgrading the house, room by room. Once all the kids and pets are gone there are so many places to repair and upgrade. I'm amazed at the volume of work - painting, caulking dents in the walls, and finding dirt where I'd never seen it before. Like behind doors, stuck in the hinges! 
I like this tool because it goes at my pace and allows me to turn around and look at all the details. This is exactly how I would travel in Italy if I went there - traveling through villages in the countryside.
Recently I found a chapel, Madonna della Neve in Tussio. I 'drove along', stopped, and noticed two small bouquets of red roses on the step at the doorway. Heading back uphill, the Google camera photographed several old ladies walking along the edge of the road. I imagined that they had placed the flowers there.
I have been watching House Hunters International on HGTV. It features properties that are for sale. One is chosen and often repaired and remodeled. The remodeling is so interesting, with cute propane stoves and candelabras, plastering and painting. I recall one gentleman who bought a little house in Italy and remodeled it. I found his Facebook site, and enjoyed all the upgrading photos . His wife repainted the scrolls around a ceiling fixture. She spent 12 hours facing upwards, restoring it, paintbrush in hand. I just loved that dedication, and imagined the happiness they would share while staying in the little house. This last beautiful photo shows her on their recent trip to Venice.
