What to do with razor clams...

Welcome to my cooking series! Well, not really.

I'm a little bored lately. The weather here has not been cooperating and mother nature is a bit confused. We've had snow, sleet, sun, hail, wind, and rain... did I miss anything? Being cooped up at home makes it difficult to find different ways to take photographs—and I must feed my creative side, so why not do it over some meals, right?

This linguine dish is great if you happen to have some delicious razor clams on hand. I have made this in our camper many a time, but we enjoy it at home too.

It's healthy, tasty and almost fat-free to boot. What more can you ask for?

Ingredients

6 Roma tomatoes
1 large lemon
1 lbs. razor clams
1/4 cup pine nuts (I use 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. lemon pepper
Parmesan cheese
Capellini pasta (we prefer whole wheat, but you can use your favorite). A small pasta like Angel hair goes great with this dish.

Instructions

1. Fill a large pasta pot with water heat the water to boiling.
2. Take your 6 Roma tomatoes and dice them up.
3. With your razor clam meat fully cleaned, dice them into small pieces.
4. Add the diced tomatoes and diced clam meat to a large skillet or stock pot.
5. Slice your lemon in half and squeeze the juice from each into the clam and tomato mixture.
6. Now add garlic, pine nuts, basil, parsley, lemon pepper and heat to boiling. Do not cover.
7. Lower the temperature from boiling and let the tomato and clam mixture simmer until the juices are cooked down to a sauce base. It will be somewhat of an orange-ish color tone. Remember, do not cover.
8. With the pasta pot boiling, now add your pasta and cook accordingly.
9. Drain your cooked pasta and add to the dinner plate.
10. Gently ladle the tomato clam sauce atop the pasta.
11. Top with a pinch of parmesan (Grano Padana preferrably)
12. Fill a wine glass with some Chardonnay and enjoy this fresh-tasting dish!

:: View the slideshow ::

The best salad... EVER

If you're anything like me, you can't eat the same thing day in and day out. This salad, however, is the exception. I never get sick of it and it's delicious every time—and I make it everyday for lunch at work.

First, I cannot take credit for this. It was served over dinner at Patty and Dave's on one occasion, and I loved it instantly.

Although I don't know the formal name of it, I like to refer to it as Mandarin chicken salad. I'm going to share with you how you can make it at home.

Take any (bagged) salad mix and place in a bowl.

Now for some grilled chicken breast.
For a one-person serving, I like to use 2 oz.

This chicken is sold at Costco and is cooked and ready-to-eat.

Shred the chicken out into many bits and pieces
and add to your bowl.

Next come the craisins.
I'm calorie-conscientious and use 1/2 oz.

Sprinkle them over the chicken in the bowl.

Now the Mandarin oranges join the party.
I use 1-2 oz.

Distribute evenly to the bowl.

We're almost done. It's peanut time.
I use 1/2 oz. of these.

Distribute atop and add your favorite oriental sesame
salad dressing and you got yourself some magic.

I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I do!

Oyster harvesting and other news...

On Valentine's Day, Connor, Brett, Dave and I ventured out to the Hood Canal area, just on the other side of the bridge to take in some oysters and Manila steamer clams. We were grateful to be shielded from the winds this trip, as all of our past it has been quite treacherous. The weather was so kind to us, I was able to actually get in some pictures.

Piled up driftwood

Oyster bed

Close-up: Periwinkle on an oyster

Close-up: Mussel on an oyster

Dave getting ready to enjoy a fresh one.

Brett and Connor in search of oysters.

The bounty harvest



Connor thinks that if grandpa can eat a raw one, he can too!
He didn't like it so much after all, but only because of the sand.

A seagull with a clam. What they do is fly above and drop them over and over until they break and then eat.

Other news
Leah was having some continued cloudiness with her vision that her doctor recently remedied. Her eye was operated on to clear this, as well as some scar tissue. The doctor was pleased with the work he did and said she looks great, so she's on the recovery path once again administering an eye drop regime frequently throughout the day. Her vision should be restored to normal and we are astonished she's been able to turn around like she has! It really goes to show you how good doctors help with your success.

We'll enjoy some of these oysters we harvested over dinner at her house on Monday!

Patty and Dave are enjoying retirement and have been busying themselves every day. Their highly-anticipated visit to Arizona is only days away now. They'll leave on February 25 and return March 11.

Lastly, the economy. What a downer it has been, right? Lay-offs are all over the news, in fact, our employer will be doing some as well. Anticipating "who will go" and whatnot has been stressful for folks. We just keep our noses to the grindstone and try not to let it get to us. Morale is at an all-time low and I'm certain this is not any different where you may work. We hope this surge in unemployment and weakening in the financial industry recovers soon. We're hanging on as much as we can and hope we won't have news to the effect that one of us has been "let go." Here's to keeping our fingers crossed!

Winter fishing: Blackmouth salmon

Our first outing of 2009 took us to Mid Channel Bank, which is near Port Townsend, WA. It was a cold January morning and Brett, Dave, Connor and I were bundled up for the adventure. The water and weather conditions were nice. No wind and no waves, so despite the cool temperatures, we were not complaining. The sun was shining on us all day.

We lucked out because we had some overnight snow and we understand the weather conditions are going to get a little worse before they get better. Dave caught a nice one, which you'll notice in the pictures above, but Brett's wasn't too bad either. Them and chardonnay will make a yummy dinner!

2009 salmon tally
We're going to do something a little new. On the right of the blog under our photo, you'll see a salmon tally. We'll keep adding to it throughout the season and see what the outcome is. The tally is a total of all the salmon caught (specifically, the keepers) for each outing we go on.

Family health update
Thankfully, Leah's right eye continues to get better and better! She's reading from an eye chart now and has a little blurriness, but all in all it's remarkable she made this type of recovery given the injury she began with. Her doctors are astonished and we are so thankful of her recovery.

Patty keeps getting better as well. She and Dave have been enjoying retirement and lately he has gone fishing in his boat, and together they've made outings to the local movie theaters to catch the latest flicks that are out. They are looking forward to visiting Arizona in February to meet up with the O'Brien, Severson and McNichol families.

A family health update...

I am here before you with some good news to report and feel enormously fortunate!

Patty
Many of you have been concerned about her health and praying for her. Before her big surgery, things looked very grim. We were even worried she wouldn't make it to the surgery. Her poor body just was giving up on her. Her spunk was gone and she was very weak and couldn't eat much, if at all.

I can't tell you enough how grateful and astonished we are to see her turn around for the better. It was rough in the beginning, but you can literally see she's back, and she's looking fantastic more and more! It felt so good to see this turn around after everything she has been through. Truly a gift long overdue! Thankfully, she is enjoying food now (yay for nourishment!), and the pain she was in—as well as the variety of medications she was on has greatly diminished.

Leah
On 12/11, you'll recall she suffered an eye injury (as reported in a previous post). From her last checkup, what they thought was a retina detachment then, isn't! With her healed a bit, they can see more clearly that there is viscous fluid build up and blood that will go down as she continues to heal.

She will return in a couple weeks for another follow-up. Her surgery to repair the injury was done beautifully, and the surgeons should be proud of the great work they did. These doctors aren't trained specifically for these types of scenarios... I mean, come on, a pitchfork accident? Their mastery is truly an art form and is clearly attributed to her success so far. Her sight in this eye is obviously affected, and she's relying on her left eye for now. We'll learn more about the vision part in her next checkup.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year!
I think many of you will agree, that this has been a difficult year for a lot of people. This family, in particular, has a lot to be thankful for. We hope 2009 will be a great year to reflect upon with many fun adventures and memories to recall.

Hugs!

Christmas at home...

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!
Included is a small collection of pictures from our Christmas Day.

Patty, Dave and Leah came over for dinner and it was a great highlight to share this special time with them. We've had some health scares this year and it was so nice to see everyone in good health and happy (and pain-free!) — that was a gift in of itself for us!

2008 Christmas Newsletter

Happy Holidays!
The theme these days is "going green" and we're doing just that. The Christmas newsletter we produce annually, which summarizes highlights of the year, is being delivered online through our blog now.

We're encouraging folks like you to come to the blog to keep in touch.

Access the 2008 newsletter now>>

Winter's arrival

Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick...

I am sure most of you have heard that phrase before, but this time, I'm afraid it's actually a fitting one given the recent events.

This is sort of a long story, so sit back, relax, and imagine.

I received a call from the hospital while at work. A nurse informed me my mom was there and had injured her right eye.

In haste, I wrapped everything up at work, grabbed some items, and fled to the hospital to get more details on just what happened.

As it turned out, mom was in the backyard doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing, AND with a pitchfork.

Well, the pitchfork wound up winning the fight when it hit her in the eye.

You got it, the pointy end. Ouch, right? You betchya and then some. Let's just say it didn't tickle one bit.

My mind wandering in a crazed drive to the hospital, I was trying to get a grasp for what could have possibly happened and what sort of shape she's in.

I knew that:

• It couldn't be life-threatening (I had to keep things in perspective)
• She drove herself to the hospital
• I would take care of whatever she needed and see her through recovery

I arrived quite quickly despite not remembering the drive there (again, my brain was in a flurry) and found her in a room on a bed with a styrofoam cup over her eye. I don't know what I would have done if I actually saw the eye at the time.

They had her on pain meds, but it was understood that they don't specialize in this sort of thing.

(Maybe the cup gave this away, I don't know.)

They told us she was going to be transported by ambulance to Harborview in Seattle.

While they proceeded to transport her, I had some running around of my own to do. Go home and feed the "fuzzy family" she has; drop off jewelry; find her wallet; drive out to get Brett from work, and then drive back to the hospital to change cars and then off to Seattle I went.

Enroute to Seattle, I made calls to family members to notify them what occurred. I don't like talking on the phone when I drive, but didn't have much choice. I had great directions to follow, and was grateful to have them. I entered through the emergency room entrance and saw a variety of people from different walks of life. Some injured and waiting, some sick, some bored and most of them tired of waiting. I had about a 5-minute wait when they called me back.

She was on the hospital bed in a shared room. On the other side of us we heard a story about a guy who was assaulted with a hot Cup O' Noodles.

You know you're in a big city with a real "gangsta" who's been assaulted with soup!

Who would have thought that the "cup of salt" you occasionally enjoy doubles as a dangerous weapon? Not me, that's for sure!

All joking aside, it was a really frustrating night. I had to do a lot of nagging to make sure they'd give her an IV to receive liquids. She hadn't eaten since the day before. If you are ever at a hospital alone, that's it, you are alone. When you're not feeling well, you can't necessarily fend for yourself. That turns into neglect. The squeaky wheel always gets the oil, and I did my fair share of squeaking.

It was an eternal wait.

No, I am not whining.

Really.

It was eternal... you had to be there to believe it!

A young Ophthalmologist arrived to evaluate her and had her sit up at a machine to look at what was in store.

He poked and prodded and then prodded and poked at her eye. His doing this set a condition I'm sure he didn't realize. That his presence meant pain every time he entered the room. Mom did not like him.

All of this evaluating he was doing was just causing her to feel sick to her stomach -- a common symptom of eye injuries. He did not want her to get sick because it puts pressure on the eyes. She wouldn't have felt sick if he wasn't poking at her eye... and so on.

Hours ticked by and all I wanted to know was if I had his blessing to go home. It was so late by that time and I was worried about the long drive ahead of me. I knew she was not going to be released that night but they kept me hanging.

At around 12:30am the next day, we were told she would go in for surgery (ah, finally - a decision!). But wait... I knew this hours ago (sigh)...

There's something about health care that frustrates the hell out of me. We are at their mercy, and we have to accept the lousy service they are so good at giving.

That's it. Just take it.

There were times I needed to interrupt their casual conversations among nurses to let them know we had something that needed tending to.

I work at a place that demands service, so it's hard for me to grasp when it isn't reciprocated. I wonder what their experience is when they are in this situation and have to go to the hospital? Ah, the mind boggles oneself.

This isn't to say that I am not grateful. I am! I am grateful of the first hospital's judgment to transport her to Harborview and have her seen by the top experts in the field.

Mom's surgery was scheduled early that morning. Dr. Chen repaired the laceration from the pitchfork caused. Dr. Chen is a different doctor than the one that was poking at her eye. He was an expert in his field with over 25 years of experience under his belt, despite his youthful appearance — he looked like he was 25!

We had an exciting drive home, as our first snow storm started and we were in rush-hour traffic by that time. Thankfully, we were safe.

So she has been recovering and has lots of eyedrops to take frequently.



We learned that her retina is detached and once she is healed from this, will need to have another surgery to repair the detachment. She will be seen by a doctor who specializes in the retina specifically, so I know she'll be in good hands there.

I have been working remotely ever since, and now we are socked in with snow as evidenced by the photos you're seeing. Gorgeous as it might be, I didn't necessarily bring with me, snow-friendly apparel. It's okay, I guess. What am I going to do outside but fall on my butt, right?

Brett and Connor visited to us yesterday, and it was so good to see them. Grandma showed Connor a Yahtzee! game on her computer, so he had that to entertain him for a while. Their stay wasn't long as we had another snowfall hit, which meant they had to head home before it froze outside and got worse. A trip that normally takes 25 minutes took them 90, but they were safe!

We hope your holidays are going more smoothly for you and that you are safe and sound!

Family update and an outing in the woods...

:: View the slideshow ::

We hope that your Fall weather hasn't been too hard on you. With the fires in California and the flooding in some areas of Washington, the timing couldn't have come at a worse time given the economic climate these days. I feel for those who have been dealing with these trying times and grateful at the same time that we have been spared (so far), but certainly have my guard up.

Recently, for us here, it has been "surgery central." Patty (Brett's mom) had a procedure on 11/7, and then Leah (my mom) had surgery as well on 11/11. We are happy to report that both surgeries went great and we are now looking forward to their strong recoveries. We will definitely have something to celebrate as the holidays approach, which isn't that far away now.

The pictures above are from our visit to the woods this afternoon. The weather has calmed down a bit and the sun has been out -- we even found 60° temperatures in the mountains, which, for this time of year is rare. The mountain was stunning though, so I hope I don't bore you with a few shots of it from when we were out. Oh, and yikes, you'll see me without makeup (cringe)!

Keeping our fingers crossed for all...