April 2013May 2013 June 2013

05/31 - View of Port Angeles

From this view, Port Angeles actually looks like a quaint sea side town. Who would have guessed?

Keywords: port angeles


05/26 - Russian Easter

You saw and ate the domes in the last post, now enjoy a few pictures of the spread. (For some recipes, see our Russian Easter page.)

The champagne forest. We highly recommend our Little Snowie ice shaver.

Pelmei and blini with all the fixin's

Enemies of the Tsar, Trotsky's Bane, our home made pork sausage and a fennel salad we haven't come up with a clever name for.

Keywords: russian easter


05/25 - The Domes of St. Basil's

Every year we retell the story of Russian Easter, that is, the Kaleberg version. In our version Mother Russia is attacked by the monster Napoleon and his terrifying Grand Armee. The only defense against is the Russian winter and a scorched earth policy, a policy that requires the burning of Moscow. Ironically enough, this is accomplished using French brandy.

We perform this as a set piece. We serve a Baked Alaska made of brownies and coffee ice cream and topped with a meringue, though this year we had good luck using vanilla ice cream. Every year the domes signify the domes of the St. Basils in the heart of Moscow, and every year the flames of brandy adorn the city as part of its last ditch defense while the 1812 Overture plays in the background.


This year's domes, 2013

The making of Moscow

We like the look and taste of the vanilla ice cream topping better than meringue.

A dome in progress

2013

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2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

Keywords: russian easter, kale, alaska


05/21 - Spring Rain Farm

Things have been a bit thin at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market lately, so Spring Rain Farm & Orchards is a welcome new presence. They are from over in Chimacum and are sellnig asparagus, greens, lamb and eggs. Their card says they are run by John Bellow, Ph.D. We're looking forward to their season.

Spring Rain Farm & Orchard

Keywords: farmers' market, port angeles, spring, spring rain


05/19 - Trillium Change

We've been hiking the Lake Angeles Trail out of Heart of the Hills for over a decade now, and we have never seen so many trilliums in bloom. There were always a few, but each year there seem to be more and more of them. Even in places where we have never seen them before, such as along the drier stretch above the crossing bridge, there seem to be a lot of them. In places, like the Trillium Vale, where there were always a fair number, there seem to be more of them. Are they new colonizers? Has some condiiton changed? They like water. Could the area be, somehow, getting wetter?

The trail

Some trilliums from above the crossing

The stream in late spring flow

The Trillium Vale, or so we call it

A young trillium

More trilliums, some still emerging

Even more

The trilliums aren't the only things blooming. The Oregon grape is coming out as well.

More flowers

Keywords: lake angeles, trillium


05/10 - Hurricane Ridge Melt Watch

We've been watching the snow melt at Hurricane Ridge on the park webcams, and we've been following the snow depth at the weather website, but we had to drive up and see what is happening live.

The Kaleberg Report - The snow is melting rapidly. We were quite surprised. The phlox is in bloom a bit below the Switchback trailhead, so the high country is opening for the season. The biggest surprise was the state of the road to Hurricane Hill. It was blocked off by a barricade of orange highway cones, but instead of the usual high ramparts ending in a wall of snow, the road seems to have been plowed, at least as far as we could see. It may even be open now as you read this.


There's more and more grass showing.

We are reminded that summer is coming.

More signs of melting snow

The ramparts and the barricade

but, the Hurricane Hill Road has been plowed and may soon open.

Keywords: high country, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, weather, kale


05/08 - Elwha - Down to the River

We didn't really get down to the river, but we get down far enough to have a good view of it. The glacial melt is starting, but it's still early in the season. The tiarella are not yet in bloom, so we'll probably have to come down to the woods near Hume's ranch to watch their progress. Meanwhile the trilliums are starting to show their age with many petals turning a subtle pink.

One thing we particularly noticed, as we took this hike on a very sunny day, was that while most of the trail is purely of the Pacific northwest, there are dry stretches where one turns a bend or comes out of the forest, and it feels as if one were hiking in California. The vegetation changes, and the smell of the trail changes. If we didn't know the trail and where we were, we'd imagine we were hundreds of miles south. Then, the trail turns or reenters the forest, and we are back in the Pacific northwest.


Hume's Ranch

The Elwha river

Another view of the river

Tiarella, not yet in bloom

A little waterfall right by the trail

The forest on a very bright spring day

The cathedral of the woods

We never tire of this view of the river.

A trillium, turning pink in passing

Keywords: elwha, spring, waterfall


05/05 - Catalan Salmon

There was a dearth of good salmon a while back, but now that the good stuff is coming in we made one of our favorite salmon party dishes, Catalan stuffed salmon. The way we make it isn't really stuffed, we just have three layers in our baking dish. The bottom layer is just thinly sliced potatoes, chopped up tomatoes and thinly sliced onions. The middle layer is the stuffing with shrimp, cocktail olives, hard boiled eggs, garlic, bread, sherry, milk and a couple of raw eggs to bind it. The top layer is the salmon, and we pour a half cup each of white wine, lemon juice and olive oil over the dish before baking. It's a bit of a production, but it's always a real treat.

The finished dish

Potatoes, tomatoes and onions - We "parboil" the potatoes in the microwave.

The "stuffing" and the salmon

Keywords: salmon, food


April 2013May 2013 June 2013