Juddmansee.com

Evidently we are either not inspired these days, or nothing much is going on.  A little of both, I think.  We’re in autopilot for the most part, doing what we typically do, so it doesn’t seem noteworthy.  When writer’s block hits, it’s time to return to our favorite topics.  In our case, it’s the yard and food.

We closed the book on the backyard and garden last weekend.  I clipped the dead parts of the oregano, bee balm and black-eyed Susans.  I pulled up the out-of-control arugula, wilted tomato and shriveled pepper plants from the garden and put away the tomato cages and swirly support posts (big win for Beej this year, great purchase!).  I pulled a few weeds while I was at it, noting that the types I pulled early (pigweed!) seemed to get the message to stay away, while a few new ones (unidentified, some kind of short green clump with web-like roots) became a late season intruder.  I tried to pick up as many cherry tomatoes as possible, knowing that they like to reseed themselves, and would love to take over the entire small plot of garden next year.  I found a few peas that tried to come up during the 2nd planting, but didn’t have enough cool sunny days to make it very far (but the experiment worked!  Dried peas from July did germinate in September!  Next time, save the pods and sow in March).  I was really pleased with the garden this year and a bit sad to see it return to bare earth, with the noted exception of the Swiss Chard.  GOOOO CHARD!!  After 2 frosts it’s still growing strong.  We may have fresh chard into January, if Barbara Kingsolver is correct.  That means another few months of power juice (apple, lemon, chard and ginger) and bitter greens with garlic.  Yum!

As for the rest of the yard, I raked swiftly enough to form a blister and have it pop before I could even get my work gloves on.  My annual thumb-badge of yardwork progress is still a bit sore, but could have been much worse given the five bags of leaves I raked and put away.  The best grass is growing where the holly busy used to reside, and we’re also getting some grass sprouts under the maple tree.  It’s hard to believe what the yard looked like last year, given how nice and neat it looks today.  hooray!

On the food front, Brian has continued his exploration of the soft cheeses.  We loved having the Vargus-Korka clan over last weekend. (Beej notes that it looks a little weird for a 35-year-old man to play on the playground by himself, so it’s especially nice when 2 year old AJ came to play with him!)  We enjoyed fresh sour cream in the mashed potatoes, and had Fromage Blanc in reserve for late afternoon snack if needed.  I’m completely hooked on homemade yogurt, and may never go back to store-bought.  A little tupperware with frozen organic berries keeps the yogurt cold until noon, and it’s quite nice to have a naturally not-too-sweet snack (with protein and calcium!) in my lunchbox.  Let’s not mention mozzarella at the moment. Ricki may be a great cheesemaker but she’s a terrible recipe writer.  The resident chemical engineer (that’s me) has designs on a private experiment to get to the bottom of this issue.  On a more positive note, we *love* braising.  Thank you Mary!  Pork braised in milk turned into a tasty savory creamy gravy and tender meat-centered meal.  Chicken with prunes and olives might sound odd, but it was fantastic – just the right mix of salty and sweet.  This book can’t go wrong!

Brian has been thoroughly enjoying his WOW fest, well-timed with his birthday.  He had quite the loot pile between cards and checks and giftcards and one wearable gift, as well as a delicious dinner date with yours truly at Aquatini, to celebrate #35.  I may have overheard the 80% utility statistic (hours he’s been playing vs. the hours since the game was released, but we shouldn’t count when the server is down) and he still had time to make bread today!  I expect he’ll continue to explore the new WOW content this week while I’m at the Coast Guard Innovation Expo, and we’ll return to our normal routine next weekend.  It’s actually been a nice change of pace for me to do four loads of laundry today, do the grocery shopping, make dinner, and get tomorrow’s dinner into the crock pot.  I get to appreciate what Beej does on a day-to-day basis, and make sure I haven’t completely lost my self-sufficiency.

It’s been a while since we’ve posted. Su has been busy with travel lately and I’ve managed to stay busy with volunteer activities and work around the house. I’ve managed to come up with a good 50% whole wheat bread recipe using olive oil and honey in the bread machine. I also made a tasty fromage blanc the other week which is a soft, smooth white cheese. It’s kind of like cream cheese but lighter. I put herbs in half of it and the other half I cooked with. Currently I have some queso blanco hanging in butter muslin over the sink for tonights rice, beans, peppers, and tomato.

It’s been a beautiful fall in New England. The tree colors are very bright this year and cover a whole spectrum of greens, yellows, and reds. While I was outside checking on the last of the tomatoes in the garden (and the first of the peppers which are just now large enough to pick) I noticed our own maple tree. Our tree is usually only one color (yellow) and changes late (Thanksgiving). However this year it’s managed to turn early and in multiple shades.

Enjoy!

I’m trying something new in this post. When I post images on this site I have to edit them down to the proper size. From now on I’ll try to link to the original photo by clicking on the edited photo in my post so you can see the full size image.

Susan went to Dayton on business this week and the weather in the White Mountains looked fabulous, so I decided to go on a nice, long (emphasis on long) hike. Late Tuesday I drove up Zealand Road and did the short hike past some pretty fall color over beaver pond to the Zealand Falls hut.
The woman who arrived at the hut about 30 minutes after me had seen a moose at the ponds and had some great pictures to show for it.

My planned route for the next day was 14.4 miles so I ate a hearty dinner and tried to get a good night sleep in the cold bunkroom. On Wednesday morning after breakfast, I discovered that this hut didn’t offer trail lunches for sale so I was in for a long, hungry hike. I hiked the steep, rocky 1.2 mile ascent to Zeacliff which took quite a toll on my legs and spirits and made me wonder about the wisdom of such a long hike. Fortunately the views and the promise of a more level next 4 miles reenergized me.

Along the pleasant ridge along the ridge to my first peak, I got some nice views of morning clouds in the valley far to the north.

I also surprised a bird on the trail and took some pictures of it up in the tree. It was about football sized and I’m not sure what type of bird it was. It’s pretty, though.

I continued on over Zealand Mountain, Mt. Guyot, and onto the short spur to West Bond. From there I did the ascent up and over Mt. Bond which was my high point for the trip at around 4700′. I then continued down an exposed ridgeline over to Bondcliff, my final peak for the day. The descent off of Bond which I would have to hike up on the way back was quite steep and rocky. Other than the inital ascent to Zeacliff this was easily the most difficult part of the hike.

I took a series of shots from West Bond to try to make a panorama using Autostitch when I got home. Click the small panorama below for a larger shot.

The three peaks that comprise the Bonds are located with views of the Pemigewasset wilderness. This is a vast tract (by New England standards) of wilderness and is one of the few places in the White Mountains where you have the feeling that you’ve really left civilization. There are no roads in site and you’re surrounded on all sides by 4000′ peaks, steep cliffs, and lush green river valleys.

Here are two shots. One of a cliff at Bondcliff and another with me on the ledge.

After that it was time to hike the 6.7 miles back to the hut for a well earned dinner and rest before hiking out in the morning. When I got back to the hut around 4:30 I discovered that the previous nights small and quiet group of hikers had been replaced by approximately a dozen energetic 12 year old girls and boys who were there on some sort of wilderness program. One of them asked me if the bunk I was unpacking on was mine. I replied that it was but I was thinking of hiking out early. The girl replied, “That’s probably a good idea. We’re loud, especially when the boys start picking on us.” That combined with the fact they had rifled through my bunk and the stuff I had taken out of my pack before hiking that day convinced me that 2.7 more miles of hiking and a 2.5 hour drive home was preferable to the night I’d probably have in the hut. My reward for hiking out early was seeing a moose on Zealand Road and a quiet night in my own bed.

Final tally for the day was 17+ miles in just under 10 hours and peaks #27 -#30 of the 48 4000′ peaks in New Hampshire. I think today I’ll rest my legs some.

So other than dinner, what is new anyway?  Since our last post, here’s what we’ve been up to.

• Brian canned 7 quarts of fresh peaches, his first foray into home canning, with delicious results.
• FTSD’s awesome social chairs planned a kayaking trip to Hopkinton on August 22.  The weather was gorgeous and it was hard to think of any better way to spend the day than on the water.
• Brian and I hiked Mt. Carrigain August 23. 
• Brians Judd and Hone hiked Mt. Moriah August 24.  I am jealous that they saw 3 moose (a momma and two calves).  Someday I’ll see a moose.  I hope.
• Christopher Elliot Korka was born August 23, so I visited him and his adoring family on August 25 at Mount Auburn Hospital.  He is easily the youngest baby I’ve ever held, and was very cute and calm the whole time.
• Ron, Cara, Meredith and Bella visited Labor Day weekend (August 29 – 31).  We walked around Plum Island, did the Freedom Trail, hung out at home and explored Newburyport.  We made homemade pizza with our tomatoes, local basil and homemade ricotta (ok, it was supposed to be mozzarella, but it was still tasty, and made terrific lasagne later.  This homemade cheese thing is pretty nifty). It was so good to have them visit!  I hope to have a separate post once I get pictures together.
• Lori and I watched the Sox win Sept 3, a sunny afternoon game.  Another great reason to play hooky from work.
• The start of Football Season!  Sept 7 was a wonderful day.
• Emily K and I watched the Red Sox win!  (despite a bit of rain) Sept 12
• I found a new running buddy at work.  Soraya and I have been trying to get in a least 1 weekday workout, sometimes 2.  It’s really nice to have the motivation, not to mention someone to chat with and keep pace.  We are hoping to ramp up a bit before the snow flies.  I’ve easily doubled my mileage just having company.  Also having new clothes, a new stopwatch, and keeping track of our best 10K in NBport is a good motivator.  Brian and I keep upping the ante on one another.  The ball is in his court to beat 58:30 (taunt taunt!)

There are the highlights.  I hope to grab a few photos to add later.  Brian Hone has some great ones from their hike.

Today was a joint Juddmansee dinner effort, and it may be our new favorite.  Our friends Asa and Jessica have a tradition of capturing “Great Meals at the Douglass Household” on film.  I’m afraid our great meal is being devoured without pictorial evidence, but here’s the description:

1. make fresh Queso Blanco

2. roast fresh red and yellow banana peppers from church friends (courtesy of Nanci Vargus’ recipe)

3. dice red chilis and onions (from Tendercrop farm)

4. chop tomatoes from the backyard garden

5. make brown basmati rice

6. saute’ onions, add black beans and queso blanco, then add tomatoes and peppers, then add rice

7. eat hungrily and enjoy the fresh local flavors.  It’s especially good with a glass of Spanish rioja (red table wine)

YUM!

…for they shall make tasty dinners.

Brian made mozzarella cheese on Wednesday. He’d mentioned his intention but I didn’t know he’d actually done the research, ordered supplies, and had planned out his tasty cheese until I was ready to come home for dinner. I was very excited to encounter a proud cheesemaking husband, a pound of fresh mozzarella cheese and a lesson in cheesemaking. We enjoyed bread with tomatoes and basil and [homemade!] mozzarella, with a side of steamed broccoli – all fresh and local – for dinner.

YUM! What new delicious food experiments lie in store for the Juddmansees?

This year, we decided it was time to resume our tradition of hosting a Goat Roast. We had a few changes to the rules, though.

1. Due to pranksters ordering goats from the butcher and not picking them up, we were unable to order a local goat. This year we roasted a 38 pound pig.

2. We did not invite everyone we know. We decided that 15-20 people was a good number. We could enjoy everyone’s company, actually talk to our guests, and not worry about roasting and carving multiple animals.

It turned out that the roast was a mini-WOW event. Several guild members who have spent hours on line together, but never met in person, converged at our house. It was really fun to hear their stories and see the surprise as they put faces to names. Minju even traveled from New York for the festivities, to actually meet Racknir, Youkilis, Capra, Khrino, Oldmanwam, Minimadonna and Barress. (We missed you Leifo!)

3. No more keg. We had a reasonable amount of tasty beverages, beer and otherwise. Everyone got home safely and no one ended up sloshed.

One rule that didn’t change – we picked a day with sub-optimal weather, but we came prepared so the passing thunderstorm was a minor blip on a terrific afternoon.

At this point, I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. Credits to Brian O’Laughlin for this tabblo. You can see my glee at being able to carve the front half of the piggy. Tim O’Malley captured the moment we took the pig off the grill.

We’re enjoying pulled pork sandwiches this week.

Don’t worry, we’re not stuck in Oregon. We made it to California and back home again safely. We just decided that wine tasting and our CA accommodations were too enjoyable to bother with photos and blogging, and then last week was a bit of a whirlwind back to reality.

After braving Hwy 1 and enjoying a great dinner at the brew-pub we continued to Calistoga. It turns out that mud baths are good therapy for poison oak, so we went ahead with our spa plans. Brian booked a couples mud bath and massage at Golden Haven. He warned me that we would emerge, glowing, a few hours later, and he was right! I think I nearly melted on the sidewalk in Calistoga. We enjoyed a mud bath, mineral water shower and hot tub, warm wrap, then an hour massage. Even though my masseuse clearly didn’t spend a lot of time on my blistered legs, it was gloriously relaxing and I felt like warm relaxed putty by the end of the session. Brian is brilliant. We continued into town to eat lunch, a fresh deli in the train station downtown, then on to Napa to check in at our Inn.

Did I mention that Brian is brilliant? We stayed in a garden suite in the Incantment room. Our hosts Jim and Jamie were awesome. A hummingbird visited us on our patio. We were invited to a wine tasting at the Inn on Wednesday afternoon, and given excellent recommendations for dinner at Zuzu for tapas. We had a nice conversation with the couple at our neighboring table who were also vacationing in Napa.

Thursday we had booked a private wine tour, and boy was it worth it. No worries about driving, take advantage of a local’s insights and connections to small family wineries, and enjoy beautiful scenery all day. Our driver was Gary from Beau Wine Tours. We started at Ceja family winery for an introduction to the Carneros area. It was a nearly private tasting, a beautiful venue, and a friendly host. I learned why roses are planted at the end of the rows, and saw the bocce courts where Gary often plays with the owners. We then traveled to the picturesque Domaine Carneros for champagne. In the future, I think it would be a nice place to spend a mid-afternoon for tasting and snacks, overlooking the vineyards, but this time it was a good chance to acclimate ourselves to the area. We continued on to Robinson Family Vineyards, which stole my heart. Anyone who starts making wine in garbage cans in their driveway with a bunch of friends resonates with me. The fact that this concrete contractor poured his own wine cellar was just gravy. The wine was interesting and the stories were incredible. I was inspired that he gave his daughters a stake in the winemaking business to help pay for their college educations. We got to ask lots of questions, we heard about the family wine collection, and we were sad to have to move on. Our next stop was Saddleback Cellars for lunch. A variety of events aligned to make this a sub-standard stop on our trip, but I will chalk it up to poor circumstances and give them another chance if I have the opportunity. (Note to self – few wines are made to drink with a ham sandwich. Next time go for a more wine-friendly menu selection.) Not to be deterred, we continued on to Jessup Cellars. This was easily the highlight of the day. We had a private tasting, enjoyed beautiful artwork, and the accompanying snacks highlighted the wine. We later heard that Bob (Clark) is *the* guy to see at Jessup, and we could not agree more. While the other associates were friendly and knowledgeable, Bob had a passion for wine and such an unpretentious manner, we felt that he could not possibly steer us wrong, and we enjoyed each story and impression he shared. I know we have special affinity for vertical tastings, but this tasting was everything we enjoy all put together, a wonderful way to end our tour.

After another delicious dinner in Napa, a tasty breakfast at the Inn and a short tour around town, it was time to head to San Francisco to see Marnie, Jed, Zoe and Josie. I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that Jed loves North Coast Brewing Company, which we found quite quickly in our drive through Fort Bragg. Great minds (who enjoy beer) think alike. We enjoyed chatting with Jed and Marnie, Josie was really cute (even though she didn’t feel well) and Zoe appeared in her birthday splendor in time to meet us before her big party. A huge thank you to the Davidows for letting us crash there on short notice.

What adventure is complete without Mary Obelnicki? We met up with Mary on Saturday morning, checked out her apartment, played a cutthroat game of Burn Rate, and walked around her neighborhood in Oakland. We picked up lunch at Bake Sale Betty’s, a hopping spot with delicious Fried Chicken sandwiches (with cole slaw!) and yummy cookies. Although sitting at an ironing board table was tempting, we took our lunches back to Mary’s place and learned about broasting. Finally it was time to move on to our last vacation stop – how does two weeks go so fast? The Pitchers hosted us for our last day, in fine style. We enjoyed Wayne‘s grilling and Santina’s pancakes, yum! Jonah is growing fast, but still managed to spend some quality time with Brian, mostly playing Sorry rather than playing dinosaur this time. They headed off for vacation to Nantucket, while we headed back to Newburyport to reflect on a wonderful vacation and get back to our normal activities.

When I left you Saturday morning we were sleeping in at Corinne and Mike’s place.

The first order of business for Saturday was a tasty breakfast of homemade waffles with fresh berries.

After that we took a little tour of the small town of Trout Lake and headed back to their property for a tour of their tree farm. The farm borders the White Salmon river, which many people use to kayak down. Here’s a view of one of the rapids on their property.

After a bit of rest and dinner we headed to the rodeo at The Dalles, OR. This was our first rodeo and quite a bit of fun, although I think the animals won. We saw some decent horse riding, but not so good calf and steer roping and terrible bull riding. The highlight of the evening may have been the mule race, though the fellow in the second picture took quite a spill after almost surviving an amazing 3rd buck of the bronco.

On Sunday we had another tasty brunch and headed to the local art festival before saying goodbye. From there we drove to Oregon City, OR where we met up with Su’s cousin Greg and his kids Cici and Henry. We had a nice evening of pizza, playing with the kids, and catching up on the past few years. Also we discovered that Su had a bad case of poison oak developing. (We’ll spare you the pictures of it, but it’s really quite gruesome.)

On Monday we departed Oregon City for the long drive to Crater Lake. Crater Lake is another experience much like Mt. St. Helens. Words and pictures can’t describe what this place looks like. I’ll post more pictures at a later time, but for now here is one of the lake viewed from the spot where we had a quick picnic lunch on the northwest rim.

We also took a quick hike up Garfield Peak for a panoramic overview of the lake and surrounding wilderness before heading down the road to Prospect, OR and the historic Prospect Hotel. We stayed in the motel portion of the property, which was passable for a motel so close to a national park. The inn itself looked quite quaint and I suspect the rooms were a bit nicer than the motel portion. The dinner we had at the dining room in the inn was one of the best we’ve had in a while. The special was local, organic lamb chops. Su commented to the server that we had seen sheep on the way up to Crater Lake and they looked tasty. I’m not sure the server recovered after Su made that comment…

Tuesday was a long travel day in the car down to Fort Bragg, CA. Along the way we stopped in Redwoods National Park. We snapped a picture of me in a tree on the Lady Bird Johnson trail and a picture of Su on the beach.

After finally leaving the park we drove 4 more hours down US 101 and CA Highway 1. The section of highway 1 from 101 to the ocean is some of the tightest, steepest, curviest driving that I’ve ever done. It was very pretty, if exhausting to drive. I’m not sure I need to drive that road again, but I’m glad we did it once. After a good burger for me and some tasty fish and chips for Su, we’re finally back at the hotel, caught up on blogging, and ready for a good nights sleep (Poison Oak aside) before tomorrow’s adventure.

Friday was largely a travel day from La Conner down to Trout Lake, WA via Mt. St. Helens. It’s hard to describe seeing Mt. St. Helens even after having been there. The enormity of the destruction is incredible. I remember when the mountain erupted in 1980 from stories on the news and have since seen enough shows on PBS, etc to know what happened, but all the pictures and stories couldn’t really convey the magnitude of the event. The two photos are from the Johnson Ridge observatory on the north side of the mountain. This is the direction of the main blast. The first photo is of the mountain itself and the surrounding blast area. The second photo is zoomed in on the cones in the crater which are still growing and rumbling. You can just barely see some of the steam with the naked eye/camera from the currently active area.

After leaving Mt. St. Helens we got back on I-5, drove to Portland, and headed east on I-84 which is a beautiful drive up the Columbia River Gorge. We crossed the river at Hood River where the Gorge Games are in progress. Mike and Corinne live on 60 acres of land that includes a tree farm. We had a tasty dinner, played some games, and got to do our laundry from this week which was very necessary.

To say they have a spectacular view is an understatement. This picture of Mt. Adams is taken from a chair in their lofted great room as I’m writing this post. The haze is actually a forest fire on the next mountain over, but I don’t think it spoiled the view too much.