Pumpkin Derby

The rain continued throughout the weekend but that didn't stop any of the pre-Halloween activities. This was our first year competing in the pumpkin derby, which is held in a nearby neighborhood. There was lots of planning and several trips to Home Depot and a few last minute adjustments...but we made it though the preliminary, semi-finals....and WON the event!! Go Team Davitt and the Silver Bullet!

Truly Oregon kids

It was about 49 degrees, pouring rain, and they were happy as can be, playing outside. Yes, they are Oregon children!!!

Bridge Field Trip

Jackson's class took a tour of the downtown Portland bridges last week. It was awesome! The highlight was getting to lay down in the middle of the Morrison Bridge as it opened up. Cars were lined up behind the safety barrier, but all the kids got to stay inside the barrier so they had a front row seat as the two sections opened. Did you know Portland has the oldest vertical lift bridge in the US? (The Hawthorne Bridge). Also, The Steel Bridge is the only double decker vertical lift bridge in the world! So many interesting bridge facts were shared by our tour guide, Nathan. It was a memorable filed trip!

Over the weekend...

The past weekend consisted of soccer, a backyard party at the house of some friends from the boy's school, dinner at Park Kitchen, ice cream at Salt and Straw, a bike ride with an unsuccessful attempt at riding steep trails and a birthday dinner at our house for a friend and her family. The birthday girl arrived with these beautiful tomatoes , so I made the recipe below with them. Delicious!!! Note: the recipe is from a blog called Tea for Six and the blogger is from Australia so the oven temperature is listed as Celsius. It needs to be 395 degrees. 


ricotta and tomato tart


375g block frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, lightly beaten

200g ricotta

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup of pesto

1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 big handfuls of baby rocket and spinach

a few basil leaves, roughly torn

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line a large baking tray.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to form a 30cm x 22 cm rectangle and place on the baking tray. Prick the base all over with a fork then brush with the lightly beaten egg. Bake for 20 minutes or until puffed, golden and cooked through. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

In a bowl mix together the ricotta, garlic and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice. Spread this over the cooked pastry and then top with the halved tomatoes and dollop over the pesto. Season with salt and pepper then return to the oven for another 5 minutes or until the tomatoes have collapsed slightly. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a bowl whisk together the remaining lemon juice, olive oil and season to taste. Toss with the baby rocket, spinach and basil leaves and place on top of the tart just before serving.

Walk + Bike to School Day

This is a great little event at our school that I've been in charge of the last few years. It really isn't that far for us to ride bikes to school from our house....every year we say we're going to do this more often! I think we've been amazingly lucky because our weather has been perfect. The boys are already talking about riding bikes again on Friday. I am so glad I got my camera out while we were riding. As awkward as it was, I love the quick photos I took of Sean and Jackson with his friend, Erik.

Nature's playground

Logs, rocks and a river...that's really all they need to play for hours. Maybe add a couple of amazing waterfalls and some cool bridges...better than any playground!
This is from the hike to Triple Falls we did yesterday. Another amazing sunny fall day in the Columbia River Gorge. I wish we could set aside a few of these days to bring out in April when it's 50 degrees and drizzling rain!

Not quite ready to become vegetarians

This pasta dish sounded amazing...to me....radicchio, fennel, fontina, ricotta...yum! I knew the radicchio was pushing the limit on our (the boys) range of vegetables but we've had it in salad. How different could it be baked in a pasta recipe that is full of cheese?? Lets just say, there was what would best be described as a tepid reception. The kitchen smelled delicious! But one bite in and people were fussing. ("What is THIS red /purple thing???").  I knew we'd have to go back to our standard sausage /red sauce/mozzarella baked pasta. At least until I find the next fennel/radicchio recipe that sounds too good to pass up!

Every Saturday looks like this...

Summer into Fall

The school year started and it still felt like summer. We still went down to the lake and did other fun things like a last trip to the alpine slide. But the mornings are slowly getting darker and just this week there was a shift into more fall-like weather. And, the novelty of back to school has won off and now there's REAL homework and the usual juggling of spelling tests, book reports, soccer and robotics.
One funny note: Sean was voted as the best reader in his class and as a result is reading the "BFG" by Roald Dahl out loud to his class in place of the teacher. 

Made this last weekend....so good!

Roasted Cherry Tomato Clafoutis

Ingredients


1 1/2 pound cherry tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh thyme

Fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

5 large eggs

1/4 cup cornstarch

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 ounce grated Manchego cheese

5 basil leaves, torn into pieces

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1.Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss tomatoes and garlic with oil and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Roast until caramelized, about 30 minutes, then transfer tomatoes and juices to a straight-sided 9-inch-round (2-inch-deep) baking dish and let cool slightly. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees.

2.In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cornstarch, coconut milk, cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and herbs, then pour mixture over tomatoes.

3.Bake until top is golden brown and edges are puffed, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

14 years!!!

A glance back at summer

Before we get too involved in the school year, I wanted to do a quick note about the last hike of the summer. This hike is in the Columbia River Gorge and has the lovely name "Pool of the Winds". Aptly named because when you reach the waterfall, it is tucked behind a wall of rock so you lean over a railing a feel a gush of wind. The hike continues on to Hamilton Point but we opted to go only halfway up so we could stop and have lunch at a gorgeous view point overlooking the Columbia River. (The second photo of me with the boys is where we had lunch....a truly amazing view!).
I'm continually amazed at the beautiful places around us! This summer we really got out and explored the places that are within a 2 hour drive from our house. And I feel like we only scratched the surface. I think the next step will be longer hikes and finally doing some camping.  Happy Weekend!!!

Another school year begins...

The end of summer went by so quickly, it was hard to believe that on Tuesday it was time to start another school year. The boys were ready and excited and at the last minute, just a tiny bit nervous. Both boys have new teachers this year and we (the parents) are very, very happy with the class placement. I think the uncertainty of a new classroom and new classmates had both boys feeling jitters. However, the moment they got off the bus in the afternoon, they were chatting nonstop about how great the days was and all the fun thing they did at school. I suspect once the real work begins, the enthusiasm may lessen just a bit. But, it's so great to know that right from the beginning, they truly like their teachers and are excited about another year of school.

And with the boys in school, I'm off and running on planning the New Zealand 2013 adventure...finding a place to stay, finding a house sitter, figuring out schools, etc., etc. . We are so excited!!

Outdoor Movie Night

This is something we've talked about doing for a long time. And it was on the official Summer 2012 To-Do List. It finally happened, thanks to one technically savvy husband and equipment borrowed from his office. We watched Ironwill last Sunday night (the trial run to make sure everything was working)  and invited friends to join us for a weekday screening of Tin-Tin (with smores, of course).
It was lots of fun and such a great activity for a warm summer night.

In his happy place....

Fishing at Timothy Lake can't be beat!

More Summer Happenings

August has been busy and full of fun. There was a 5K obstacle course fund raiser, an ever expanding repertoire of cooking skills (crepes!) , a few familiar faces stepping in to be junior judges at a car show and a visit from Gram and Pop. And the month of August isn't even over yet!

More beach photos

Two beautiful spots near Manzanita: Oswald West State Park and the hike to the top of Neahkahnie Mountain.
Oswald West is also referred to as "short sands". It's a long hike in but completely worth it. It's a nice spot for surfing  but we decided to skip surf boards in favor of smaller and lighter boogie boards. We did bring wet suits and the water was perfectly fine for our Oregonian selves. Wetsuits are light to carry in but very heavy once soaked with water. In fact, no matter what we bring in to short sands, the load always feels unmanageable on the way back. As a result, the hike back out always ends with me dreaming of a Dark and Stormy*.
The photo of me with the boys is at the top of the hike and the next photo shows the view below. When you climb to the very top, the view takes your breath away. The last portion of the climb is essentially a pier of large (but stable) rocks and looking down make my stomach do a bit of a flip flop. But after a few seconds, I was relaxed enough to truly enjoy the view. 

Dark and Stormy:
2 ounces Gosling's or Myers's dark rum

5 ounces ginger beer (or ginger ale)
Lime wedge