Christmas in Walla Walla

We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas in Walla Walla with Nick's and my families. We spent Christmas eve traditionally with family and friends enjoying a fantastic meal of garlic soup. On Christmas eve night we opened up a crazy puzzle Nick and I had chosen to put together over the weekend; however, we did not plan for how huge the puzzle was and how little time we had so the puzzle came back to Seattle with us and is only about 1/3 finished. On Christmas day we went to church, ate dinner, opened gifts, opened stockings and ate way too much food!! On Sunday Nick and I enjoyed visiting his grandparents, having dinner with his parents and then attending a big family get-together. We made it safely home on Monday after stopping and picking up some wine at Cougar Crest and Three Rivers Winery and driving over the blizzarding pass.

We hope you had a beautiful Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year!!

Winter Extravaganza

The weekend was jam packed with plans of getting ready for Christmas - shopping, wrapping, baking, stuffing stockings, organizing and visiting the Seattle University Winter Market.

The winter market was amazing! Apples, soup, bakeries, meat, cheese, eggs, cider, wine, handmade pierogies, herbs, winter greens, even a mushroom vendor. We had so much fun checking out all that was available during the winter months and are thinking of trying another winter market. Definitely not something we'll do every weekend (prices are a little higher, weather is a lot yuckier...), but would like to maybe go 1-2 times a month.

Christmas is officially prepared for in the Tomczek household - shopping done, gifts wrapped, stockings stuffed, cookies made, Christmas party completed; now we'll head for Walla Walla next week and celebrate Christmas with my family and some visits with Nick's family. All I want is some snow like we had 2 years ago - EPIC awesomeness!

It's becoming a tradition...

Every other year we travel to one of my favorite places on this planet - Nashville, TN, and it's surrounding areas. I spent 4 years of my life there going to nursing school, made some of my best friends and experienced the awesome privilege of being "adopted" into this incredible family called the Simmons.

This year was an off year, one where Nick and I stay at home and invariably I end up working or being on-call and where we have started our own tradition of completing a home project. We realized that the last 2 times we've stayed home it's involved completing a home project. Two years ago it was the living/family rooms, which nearly ended in disaster if we wouldn't have had some awesome friends to help us put everything back together and cook dinner (so miss the Sormins and their being our project slaves!! =)). This year we ordered cabinets from Paul Franklin at Just Inside the Door Custom Woodcrafts and after much discussion and talking decided that rather than install beautiful cabinets and THEN do the pantry remodel, we'd do the remodel THEN install the cabinets. We've been working on it for about a week, technically 4 days solidly and it is all finished in time for new cabinets. It seems that with each project we take on some piece that we've never done before - this time it involved making and hanging our own exterior door. All I have to say to this is, "attempt once and next time buy a pre-made". The project is done though and if I do say so myself, it looks FAB-u-LOUS!! The cabinets will be here the second week in December and I cannot wait to remove my pantry from our dining room and kitchen and put stuff where it belongs - in beautiful, white cabinets with loads of storage space!! And it's done!! We pounded in the last nail, spackled the last hole and cut the last piece of board at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday night; today we finished the caulking, painting the spackle spots and the repair spots on the door. Pictures with the cabinets in will come soon!

We of course celebrated Thanksgiving by eating way too much food and tried a bunch of new gourmet recipes this year. Dinner consisted of: chantrelle and apricot stuffing, pear shallot gravy, mashed potatoes with Gruyere and caramelized leeks, squash casserole (thanks Mom Sandy for this delish recipe!), port and cinnamon cranberry sauce with homemade whipping cream, romanesco, sourdough rolls, pumpkin cheesecake and Cline Viognier wine. Absolute deliciousness!!

Leaf Shuffling and Apple Squashing

Two weekends in summary:
Nick and I enjoyed the last day at the farmer's market on October 30th and on a whim decided to drive up to Leavenworth to check out the fall colors. The leaves were gorgeous and we stopped along the river to take some pictures. In Leavenworth we walked around and ate lunch, bought a camera (our battery died at our first stop), took Jack for a walk down by the river, bought some chocolates and headed home. We also found handfuls of chestnuts to try roasting. We celebrated Halloween by passing out candy and watching our traditional Halloween movies of Corpse Bride and Young Frankenstein. The garden is officially tucked in with mesh on top of the boxes and burlap over the roses and herbs. I also planted some seeds of lettuce and cherry tomatoes to see if we can grow summer through the winter.

On Friday, November 5th, we headed for Walla Walla for canning applesauce with my mom. Over the weekend we celebrated my mom's birthday, ate a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with Nick's family and then the big event of canning on Sunday. We started at about 7:15 in the morning getting things set-up, cleaned and ready to go. The first apples started being cut at about 8 a.m. and we just went through batch after batch. I used 3 varieties of apples - jonagolds, galas and honey crisp; the goal was to use the least amount of sugar possible and I was successful at that and only used about a cup of sugar per batch. I ended up with 34 quarts for Nick and I for this winter/next year - about 9 quarts more than I planned for! Overall our stats were: 238 pounds of apples, 7 different varities, 14.25 hours, one trash bag full of apple pulp, 134 quarts of applesauce and 4 very tired ladies. We lifted the last jar out of the canner at 9:30 Sunday night. On top of that my mom made 8 loaves of homemade bread of which we indulged in while still hot and slathered in butter.

Ode to night shift

They come to work as the sun sets and
Go home as the sun rises.
During the winter months they hardly see the light of day.

They work in the dark or very dim lit room,
They walk softly and whisper their care,
Quietly telling you what they are doing and yet
Allowing rest and recovery to occur.

They wipe fevered brows, empty drains, watch telemetry monitors,
Listen to restful breathing or restless stirs.
They bring cots for family members
And offer reassurances.

They bring midnight snacks and pain pills.
They watch, wait and comfort through those tragic moments.
They sit at the bedsides of the dying and pray.

These are the nurses of the night shift.
The ones that keep vigil while others sleep
And dream...

They work in the dark and provide such light.

Seattle Seasons

First we had spring, then fall, then about 3-4 weeks of summer and now it's winter. Nick and I haven't even had a chance to take fall foliage pictures and with the wind we've been having it's not looking promising. This weekend we'll put the burlap over the herb bed, pick up a planter to put our lettuce in (growing it in the kitchen for winter salads!) and maybe pot a tomato plant so we can have cherry tomatoes through the winter as well.

I love fall - the colors change, you get to mow the lawn a little less, crisp afternoon walks, snuggling under the blankets with a cup of tea and a good book. This year I think we're skipping fall and heading straight for a la nina winter.

We opened our first jar of canned pears and it was quite delish if I do say so myself. The pears were a little firmer as some of my pears weren't completely ripe, but still tasty. So I guess that means our "experiment" has officially started it's winter portion. The question is: have we put up enough produce to survive the winter eating only the fruits of our labor (no fruit in season during the winter!)? I am hoping to make a huge batch of a couple different soups and put them in individual containers for lunches that can be easily pulled from the freezer. Just wanted to show you some pictures of one of our favorite veggies: Romanesco. We polished off about 3/4 of one head and then ate the 2 small ones out of our own garden; the rest I froze and put up 4 large quart size bags. This veggie tastes like a combo of broccoli and cauliflower, but much milder and very yummy. Hard to find, but worth the effort and price!



After completely tucking in the garden this coming weekend and canning applesauce the first weekend in November, I feel like we'll be ready for winter; predicted to be the worst winter in 55 years. I think we're almost ready!

Pearadise

This time it involved pears, gallons of sugary syrup, lots of hot water, a few phone calls to my mom, frustration and triumph.

I bought 25 pounds of Bartlett Pears from Central Market, peeled them, sliced them, made a light simple syrup to fill the jars, then carefully positioned the pears in hot jars, covered them with syrup, put the lids and rings on, then boiled them in my lovely water bath canner. I had a few jars that did this very weird tenting thing on the edges (essentially the lid bulged up and the edge would have a little peak); the first 3 jars that did this I re-boiled and sealed with no issue, but the last one I decided to leave alone and see what it would do. Lo and behold, the thing sealed down like a vault - the loudest "ping" I've ever heard; but, that jar is definitely sealed!! I ended up with 18 quarts (6 more than I planned for) and the look quite pretty if I do say so myself. Despite the frustrations, I feel very accomplished. Thanks Mama and Nick for all your help!!

Nick and I spent last weekend closing down the garden. We pulled out all the corn plants, squash, tomatoes and some of the flowers. We left the herb box, Cosmos and Romanesco alone. I'm hoping to grow herbs through the winter and am going to try my hand at an indoor planter box of lettuce. We also trimmed our rose bushes back and the shrubs in the front of the yard. Due to the lateness of summer the spiders were ridiculous!! I must admit to doing some mild screaming and the "icky" dance while pruning the roses back. Blech!!! I was able to put up a pint of tomato puree' from the tomatoes we rescued off the pulled vines and also over a pound of summer squash and about a 1/2 pound of zucchini. Pretty impressive for end of garden harvest!

In a few weeks we'll buy our apples and get ready to head for Walla Walla for applesauce making. I must admit that I'm looking forward to some girl company and socializing while canning (no offense babe!). This project has given me a new appreciation for all the hard work my mama put in every year, when us kids were growing up, to put up healthy, home canned goods. It has also opened my eyes to how important this art of canning is to maintain and preserve (no pun intended!). I have no idea how pioneer women did this kind of work without the conveniences we have now!!

Sandwich of the Century, garden being put to rest and wedding weekend

Last Saturday I spent the day with girlfriends and then Nick and I met up in the evening at our lovely little home. We went out for Spotted Cow ice cream and then bought the fixings to make the best sandwich EVER!!!! Ciabatta bun, lightly brushed with butter and toasted in the oven, spread with aoli, sundried tomato spread, then topped with a sauteed portabello mushroom with melted mozzarella on top and a small piece of lettuce (I wanted to use argula, but couldn't find any!). Nick nearly cried and I'm sure I experienced Nirvana!!! Holy amazing...




Tis the season for gardening to come to a close, experience the bounties of harvest (if you don't live in Seattle this year!) and tuck the garden boxes in for winter. I've pulled out my beans; all the potatoes, carrots and onions are dug with the potatoes and carrots being stored in sand; we've put up our tomato sauce for winter; Nick has canned ketchup and the freezer is fast approaching FULL. We plan to put up some quarts of pears, dry apples and put up some quarts of applesauce. The applesauce I'm doing with my mom and I think it's going to be so much fun! Right now we are enjoying the colors of fall showing up at the market, the richness of Honey Crisp apples and pears, the fantastic variety of peppers and bike rides in the crisp, sunny air. There is some sadness with tucking in the garden, but we still have corn that we're pulling, a few baby squash here and there, handfuls of tomatoes and some romanesco that we will hopefully have by November. I'm hoping to grow my herbs through the winter by covering them, but nothing too crazy.








This last weekend Nick and I were in The Dalles, OR, for a highschool friends wedding (Dwight Summers & Heidi Baldwin). We had an amazing time catching up with friends from highschool and celebrating with Dwight and Heidi. Friday night was rehearsal and a wonderful dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Nick and I went out for breakfast at a local diner - Momma Jane's - amazing!! - on Saturday morning and then hung out by the pool at our hotel until time to get ready for the wedding. The wedding was beautiful and perfect! We headed home on Sunday morning with a detour along the historical highway, a stop at the top for a fantastic view of the Columbia Gorge and then a stop at Multnomah Falls where we had a lovely breakfast and then a short walk up to the bridge, where we were soaked with rain and waterfall spray, but it was a spectacular site. We had a wonderful weekend and it was fun to get away and catch up with friends.

Another weekend of harvest...

This weekend Nick was attending PAX (the annual computer gaming nerd convention) so I spent Friday evening and Saturday having alone time. Saturday Jack and I enjoyed a lovely day at the market, spent some time at the park, went for a walk and then did a bunch of cooking - well I did the cooking and Jack relaxed. Sunday I ended up getting called in for a case, then spent the rest of the afternoon doing housewifely things. Today I dug potatoes, pulled carrots, laid the potatoes out to dry in the garage (another sign of being a NW gardener), pulled onions (also laying on the counter to dry), put the carrots in sand to store, got a bid for our new pantry shelving, had a plumber fix the shower head in our bathroom that was becoming a Chinese water torture device, made tomato puree', dried tomatoes, put my frozen peaches in bags, picked and froze edamame, and pulled the biggest mother of a zuccini out of our garden that we've had this whole year!! Whew, I'm wasted...

Thought I'd let this weekend tell the rest of the story in pictures...

Top 10 Ways You Know You're a Gardener in the Pacific NW

1. You begin your starts inside; where they remain for a very long time.


2. You plant your seeds in the pouring rain.


3. You grow your tomatoes in a gardenhouse year round, but still pray they ripen.


4. You can grow lettuce nearly year-round.

5. You harvest in the pouring rain and have to dry things indoors.

6. Things that need to dry in the sun, end up drying indoors on the counter.

7. You can pick enough blackberries along roadsides and trails to make your own jam, cobblers, etc.

8. The flowers are amazing!!

9. You can winter store your potatoes and carrots in the ground all year.

10. Your garden is a green wonderland.