Month: December 2022

My Cook Center

Posted on by David Barker

It all started with our pizza oven project about 7-8 years ago.

We’d cook up not only pizzas, but plenty of bread too

We started out with a soft top gazebo, which wasn’t bad although you have to get a new top every few years.

The old Ducane BBQ finally bit the dust and we got the big 6 burner Weber, plus a Weber kettle for smoking. We also got tired of the soft top gazebo and put up a hardtop, which is awesome for days like this during the winter. Plus we could get it right up next to the pizza oven. With a gutter on that side, we can bake pizza in the rain 🙂

 

 

The latest addition to my cook center, a Kamado Joe ceramic, lump charcoal, BBQ.  This can cook just about anything but really shines as a smoker. Below is a Spatchcocked (or as I refer to is Sasquatched) chicken we recently cooked on it.  Very Yummy!

Pete’s Mt. Vineyards

Posted on by David Barker

We visited here today for the first time. They’re located at: 28101 SW Petes Mountain Rd, West Linn, OR 97068

Very nice place with good people. They are only open on Sunday’s and don’t have a “Wine Club” because they want everyone to get a good price.

Tasting room

Mike, the owner and winemaker, welcomed us at the parking lot (in his elf hat) and after guiding us into our parking spot, gave us very detailed instructions for successfully making it into the tasting room.

Mike later came up and talked to everyone, one group at a time. Very friendly guy, along with everyone else.

The wine is fabulous here, they had an exceptional Chardonnay along with great Pinot Noirs and even some great deep reds using grapes from Horse Heaven AVA in eastern Washington state.

We tried one of their charcuterie boards and it was wonderful

We can’t wait to come back in the summer when the live music is going on

It’s not too lively now but what a great outdoor space! Looking forward to our next visit!

Skillet Handle Trail

Posted on by David Barker

© 2022

“A flat easy going trail, if you don’t mind the webs.”

The Webs

Early Morning Hike

On the westside of the Running Y Ranch, near Klamath Falls Oregon, is a trail used by hikers, bikers and equestrians.  In fact at the trailhead is the equestrian center for the ranch.

Skillet Handle Trailhead

It’s best to get an early start, especially in the summer.  If you’re out early enough, you can come across plenty of birds and animals.  The Red Tail Hawks and Bald Eagles are plentiful

This Bald Eagle was looking out over the lake for some breakfast

Wearing shorts turned out to be a bad idea because of all the webs everywhere, even in the middle of the trail. 

and hiking sticks had a dual purpose here by keeping some of the webs off your shoes but believe me, there’s still plenty on your shoes.

Our Fitbits, Apple Watch and Oura ring all measured about 2-1/2 miles from the trailhead out to the lake, but you can see from our map, we didn’t stay on the main trail the whole way so it might be a little less than that.  

At the end of the trail you break out into a large open area at the end of the peninsula.  We flushed out some Egrets as we walked out.

Then we all posed for a Selfie to prove we made it.  Not trying to make too much out of all the webs, but we expected the hike back to be less of them, since we collected so much on our sticks and shoes.  

That wasn’t the case 🙂

 

Salmon Quiche

Posted on by David Barker

 

Early December we had some leftover salmon, so I threw together this dish for breakfast

RECIPE

Makes one 9″ pie

  • 5-6 medium size eggs
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 cups cheese
  • 1-1/2 to 2 cups of filling (meat, peppers, onions, garlic, etc)
  • 1/4 cup of bread flour
  • Salt/Pepper/Dill & other essential characters
  • Pie Dough.  Used store bought, but sometimes I’ll make my own.  Your choice

Preheat Oven to 450 degrees

Roll out dough for bottom shell, place in pie dish, trim edges and fork small holes in the bottom to stop it from bubbling up.

tightly line it with foil to keep the dough in place and put in oven for 7 minutes @450.  Remove the foil (save it for later) and bake @450 for another 3 minutes.  Remove and reduce oven temp to 325 degrees

Blend eggs, milk, cheese, flour, and seasonings.  I use an electric hand blender to really fluff everything up good.  Then chop up the meat, peppers, onions, etc.  I usually sauté the onions and garlic first but the key is to not blend the filling with the milk and cheese mix and keep everything chunky (at least 1/4″ chucks).

Toss the filling into the blended milk/cheese mix, stir gently then pour into the shell.  Put foil around the outer edges to protect the crust from being over cooked and bake @ 325 for about an hour.  The filling pretty much dictates how long it will take but I usually start with 35 minutes, then keep checking  until you can poke a toothpick or knife in the center and it comes out clean.  About 10 minutes before you feel it’s going to be done, remove the foil to let the crust brown up (if needed).

Take it out, rack it and let it cool for a 1/2 hour or so, then enjoy!