Gardening

Greetings!!
It's been a while since I've posted anything. I think the last time I did, there was 3 feet of snow on the ground. Well, here it is, springtime in beautiful Oregon. Most of the last few months has been getting all the fallen branches from the winter storms to the recycling depot, getting rid of weeds, and preparing our garden for the summer. Over the next few weeks, I'll be taking some pictures of what we've planted, and continue to post pics so you all can see the progress.
Here's what is in the garden from year to year, and always comes back, regardless of the winter:
Oregano
Thyme
Chives
Rosemary
Marjoram
Sage
Parsley
Tarragon
Lemon Balm ( I hate it!!)
Mint

Planted this past month:
Cilantro
Collard
Beans
Peas (2 varieties)
Lettuce (3 varieties)
Dill
Radishes

Next Month:
Tomatoes
Tomatoes
Tomatoes

Stay tuned for more pics, and videos on YouTube!!

No Tree Yet, Part 2

Here's why we still don't have a tree:

Portland snowfall breaking 40-year record - Portland a Virtual Ghost Town

10:19 AM PST on Monday, December 22, 2008
By kgw.com and AP Staff

PORTLAND, Ore. -- More snow continues to fall in the Portland and Vancouver Metro areas Monday, paralyzing the cities, closing down the Gorge, and keeping travelers stuck at the airport and Amtrak station. Monday's high was only expected to reach 30 degrees.

KGW Meteorologist Dave Salesky said that three to five inches of fresh snow could fall in the valleys Monday, with even more in the higher elevations. But he expected the snow to stop by late afternoon and Tuesday would provide a break before the next storm moves in.

Even city sanding and de-icing trucks were having trouble because their equipment was icing over with temperatures well below freezing and winds also blowing snow, creating huge snow drifts. Also, at least four Tri-Met buses got stuck in deep snow Monday morning.

The Oregon Department of Transportation closed Interstate 84 between Troutdale and Hood River over the weekend and dozens of cancelled flights and trains were stranding holiday travelers at PDX, Union Station and the Greyhound bus depot.

The electric utility PGE said about 55,000 of its customers were without power as of 8 a.m. It said about 25,000 were in the Salem area, and there were concentrations of outages in west Portland, Beaverton and Gresham.

KGW Chief Meteorologist Matt Zaffino said the metro area hadn't accumulated this much snow in the month of December since 1968. As of Monday morning, 14 inches had accumulated in Portland, a record for this month. The all-time record in December is 18 inches.
"It is amazing," said Dave Thompson, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation. "You say to yourself: 'That's Portland?' The roads are snowpacked, covered with ice and it's freezing rain."

Well, that should explain. We've been pretty much homebound for the last 9 days, with only a few breaks of weather to get out and walk to the store. We were one of the homes without power Saturday night until late last night. The house was so cold, you could see your breath. Couldn't cook, no furnace. BRRRRR!! So, I still haven't gotten a tree. Looks like the good old aluminum tree will have to do.

Christmas Quick Bread

I've made this bread a number of times over the past few years for Christmas presents. It is really easy to follow, even if you don't know how to bake. It's not a yeast type bread. Quick Breads use salt and baking soda/powder for the rising. This particular recipe is so delicious!! It makes for great 'mini-loaves' rather than larger loaves.  I hope you enjoy it.

Almond Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients:
3 eggs. slightly beaten
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons almond extract

Glaze:
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract

Do the following;
Grease and flour two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch loaf pans. Beat together eggs, sugar, oil and milk. Combine flour, baking powder and salt, beat into egg mixture. Stir poppy seeds and almond extract into batter. Pour into loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.

For glaze:
Combine glaze ingredients to a spreading consistency. Cool breads in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and spread glaze over the top while bread is still warm.

A fairly simple recipe to follow, this is from "Savor the Flavor of Oregon". For added variety, sprinkle the top of the batter in the loaf with sliced almonds before putting into the oven.

Christmas Lights

Candy Cane Lane was always the highlight of our Christmas. Well, other than tamales. We would pile up into our car, and make the trek from the working class neighborhood of Reseda to the upper class neighborhood of Woodland Hills. Here were people that really knew how to celebrate Christmas. We had our string of lights, but they had LIGHTS! We would drive up and down the wide streets, and would oooh and ahhhh. I would end up liking it less and less over the years. To this day, I reluctantly put up lights. I have two sets of lights. One is the old fashion big bulb type of lights you see here.

The other set is the more modern ubiquitous white icicle type above. I finally succumbed a few years ago and bought some icicle type.

When combined with my retro lights, the newer ones don't look too bad.

In Portland, we have our own version of Candy Cane Lane. It's called Peacock Lane. I think I like Candy Cane lane better.

Visiting Santa

I'm not really sure when I stopped believing in Santa Claus. Truthfully, I'm not sure when I started BELIEVING in him. But I can tell from this photo, that at this particular time in my life, I truly believed in him. I remember when I finally stopped believing in him. I knew for sure he didn't exist. That Christmas, we went to my Aunt Lucy's for Christmas Eve, doing the tamale thing. It was late when we finally left to get back home to Reseda. It was past midnight, so that made it officially Christmas, and I knew that since my parents were with me at all times, there was no way that they could get presents under the tree by the time we got home to make it look like Santa had been there. This would be the final proof that there was no Santa. But, when we got home - OMG! The presents from Santa were there! How did they do that? To this day, I don't know. Neighbors? Friends? Santa? Whoever, it was one more year of believing.
This photo was taken probably when I was 5 and Joey was just 3. I was a believer then. I think I still am.
Merry Christmas

Last Christmas with Mom, 2005

It's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since the last Christmas with my Mom. She had cancer in '05, and in her heart, she knew she wouldn't be around to see Christmas '06. So she gathered the troops, taught the family how to make tamales. I captured in on video, and edited it down to a 30 minute tutorial on how to make tamales. I've actually used it a couple of times since then, and even though they will never turn out as good as hers, they turned out pretty good. Here's a short slide show of Christmas 2005, at Joe's house in Santa Barbara.