Well it has been a while…and I am sure most of you have long since given up on me ever posting anything on my blog ever again.
To say that the last year has been a challenge would be huge understatement. As many of you know, I just recently finished my 1 1/2 Culinary Arts/Restaurant Ownership Program at the Art Institute. With that, my 18 hour days of school and work have also come to an end.
So what have I been doing with all of my spare time? Well for the last month it has been mostly used for catching up on sleep, and getting some much needed work done around the apartment. Mary had been amazingly forgiving with my lack of participation in weekly chores while I was in school, but now that I am free during the afternoons there are no more excuses.
I am sure some of you would like to know what is going on in my life right now, if there is anything new and exciting for me to report. Well on the work side of things, I am still extremely busy. The New Years event that I helped plan at work was a huge success, the most successful event in Cactus Club history. Everyone enjoyed themselves, and I think we couldn’t have done a much better job. I am now the sole Night Sous Chef, which means I am spending most of my time at work training a few of my staff up into management positions to help me out on days that I am not working. I am enjoying this, even though it means working some longer shifts to ensure things go smoothly. There is a possibility that in the next couple of months that I could be heading over to the new Cactus that is opening at the foot of the new Bentall 5 building. This would be a huge opportunity, and one that I would really like to have.
Around the apartment, things are also going well. Mary and I (and Nori) did move into a new apartment in August. It was a short move, only 2 buildings down from the old one. We now live on the 9th floor of a 14 story building, with views of coal Harbour, Stanley Park, and the North Shore Mountains. The place is great, we have two balconies, and in the summer opening all the doors allows for a great breeze to come through, and the smell of the ocean is always nice. My schedule has just recently changed, and with that I now have Sunday/Monday off from work, this allows Mary and I more time together over the weekend, time that we plan on using getting out and doing things that we have not been able to over the last 1 1/2 years. This week marks our 6th Anniversary together (wow, and yes I know that I need to get things moving. no need to remind me), and we plan on enjoying dinner at Brix and then watching some movies at home on our new HDTV.
Well this is the first post of many to come, I do hope to keep this as regular as possible. I look forward to hearing from all of you, and I hope you enjoy reading the general nonsense that I will be forcing you to read.
Mary and I tried to head down to Seattle last week, but when we got to the border and saw the 2 hour line-up we turned around and went home. Today we are ready, up earlier, and prepared for any traffic we might encounter. Why are we so excied about a 2 1/2 drive? Cheesesteaks! We are headed into Seattle to get lunch at Philadelphia Fevre, the closest place to get authentic Philly Steaks. We are so excited, and have been anticipating this all week.
Philadelphia Fevre (Philly Fevre) is the northwest’s oldest and most authentic Philly Steak & Hoagie restaurant. The popular eatery has received regional and national recognition for serving some of the most authentic Philly-style cuisine west of South Street in Philadelphia, PA for the past 20 years. The restaurant occupies a very unique niche in the northwest restaurant landscape. Philly Fevre has become somewhat of a novelty for customers, celebrities, and media alike. Customers consistently come from adjacent states and Canada to experience the food and east coast atmosphere personified throughout the shop.
“Philly Fevre stepped up to the plate and made a winning philly cheese steak” - Seattle Times
When passing through the front door of the flagship restaurant, one immediately gets the feeling that they have been transplanted into the historical east coast city. There is a large collection of pictures, articles, trinkets, and other Philadelphia memorabilia that keeps the environment interesting for visitors. Top Philly newspapers and magazines are on-hand for homesick customers. All of the favorite east coast treats (Tasty Kakes), accessories (Scrapple!), and specials are stocked for customer enjoyment. Even the meat for the original style steak sandwiches comes from a leading meat producer in Philadelphia each week.
Earth Day
What better way to celbrate Earth Day 2007 than with a 500km drive just to get lunch. Love that greenhouse effect, I need a good tan.
I highly recommend to anyone with the time that they should drive the Washington and Oregon Coast at some point in their lives. Mary and I had such a great time over Easter Weekend, the only thing that upset us was the fact that we had to be home Sunday night, and that we couldn’t keep driving south; Mexico seemed like a logical end point.
Day 1 - Vancouver, BC to Aberdeen, WA
We managed to get out of Vancouver around 3pm on Thurdsay, and were hoping to get as far as Aberdeen, WA. Things were looking good, until we hit the border and sat in line for 45 minutes.
After the border things were smooth sailing. Traffic through Seattle was fairly decent, and I managed to avoid getting any speeding tickets. The speed limit on the I-5 is 0 in the rural areas, and 60 in the urban ones, and most people average about 10 miles an hour over those posted limits. This is quite different than speeding on the I-95 on the East Coast where the posted limit is generally 60, but if you are doing anything under 85 you are pissing a lot of people off.
Mary and I stopped for dinner at Jack-In-The-Box, we love ourselves some fast food.; I know, its horrible. Just more proof that Mary and I are perfect for each other, we can equally enjoy a Filet Mignon from a fine dining establishment, or a sloppy burger from a hole in the wall joint like Jack. The burgers were great.
We arrived in Aberdeen sometime before 9pm, and drove around for a bit trying to find a motel that didnt resemble something owned by the Bates family. Driving through abereen was like stepping back in time 30 - 40 years, it is a mill town stuck on pause. We were tempted to grad a beer at a bar, but decided better of it after seeing what some of the patrons looked like.
After driving for a while, we doubled back and went with our first choice of lodging, and locked the doors for the evening.
Day 2 - Aberdeen, WA - Newport, OR
We woke up to blue sky and sunshine on Friday, and were ready for another day of driving. The plans for the day were to hop on US-101 south and find a good place to spend the night.
From Aberdeen, US-101 stays away from the coast until you reach the mouth of the Columbia river and the town of Astoria, OR. Astoria is famous for being the location for one of my favorite 80’s movies ever, The Goonies. The Astoria Bridfgfe, connecting Washington and Oregon was quite impressive.
After Astoria, the highway heads out to the coast, Mary and I stepped out of the car in Seaside, OR to stretch our legs. The beach at Seaside is huge, and the weather was great. There was a wall of mist/fog hanging a mile off shore, but sun and blue sky everywhere else. There are lots of hotels on the beach, and this would be a great place to spend a summer long weekend.
After Seaside, we headed down the road to Canon Beach. Canon beach is a popular tourist stop, as it is home to Haystack Rock. The Oregon coast is well known for its rock formations lining its beached, and Haystack Rock is one of the largest. Unfortunately the fog had started to roll in, and that made viewing of Haystack Rock difficult, though there was much to be seen in the town itself. After a walk on the beach, Mary and I stopped by one of the many candy shops and picked up some saltwater taffy and home made fudge, yum.
We then drove on to Tillamook, OR for lunch. Tillamook is the home of Tillamook Cheese, and I was looking for soemthing with some cheddar on it. We founda nice little place in town, and got some sandwiches, Mary had a Reuben and I got the special of the Day, a BBQ Beef sandwich. The beef was smoked in house earlier that morning out in the parkiong lot, and tasted amazing.
The weather was so nice on Friday, and it made for lots of short stops on the side of the road. There are so many little beaches, and points of interest to check out, that it would be easy to turn the 400 mile Oregon Coastline into a 2 week trip.
We finally arrived in Newport, OR around 5pm and decided that we would find a place to spend the night. We found a hotel on the beach, and took a room with an ocean view. Newport has a historic bayfront area, and we were told that we should check oit out for the shops and dinner. What we were not told is that since it is the off season, the stores all close at 6pm, and the restaurants close at 8pm. So once we got down there, the place was a ghost town. Hungry, and needing food right away we followed our noses to The Sizzler. Now I have enver been to a Sizzler before; Mary and I both thinking that they had all gone out of business years ago. Well, we found one, and sat down with the locals for an entertaining and filling dinner.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel with some 40oz bottles of beer and some snacks for the evening. We are so high class.
Day 3 - Newport, OR to Portland, OR
Saturday morning we woke up to wind, a little rain and foggy skies. But even with this, Mary and I wtill managed to get a good walk in on the beach in front of the hotel before heading out for the day.
Our goal for day 3 was to get down to the Oregon Dunes National Park, and then head inland to Eugene and then north to Portland. along with the dunes, we had to find time to stop by Target, Best Buy and grab diner at Sonic. Busy, busy, busy.
Even though the weather was a bit nasty, the wind and mist was very fitting for Oregon’s central coastline. The rugged cliffs and shorelines are ideal for weather like we had on Saturday.
We stopped at Seal Rock and were almost blown off the hillside taking in the sights, the wind was pretty gusty on the cliffs (you can tell from the videos).
The Dunes were amazing. I have never seen such large expanses of sand in my life. I can only imagine what people stuck out in the Sahara would do, lucky for us it was cool and not 120 degrees.
We had originally planned to contine heading south through Oregon to California, visiting Redwoods National Park before returning north. But since I had to be back at school for Monday, this part of the trip has been put on hold for another time.
The drive through Oregon’s coastal mountains to Eugene was very scenic. It was nice spending so much time on secondary highways and byways. there are so many great places to stop on the side of the roads and enjoy. We could have spent so mich more time out here.
We managed to find a Target and Best Buy in Eugene, as well as lunch at Taco Bell.
The drive North along I-5 was like any other drive on an Interstate in the US. Traffic wasn’t too bad, though becasue foa car fire, we did get stuck in a back-up for just under an hour.
Once near Portland we had to locate the Sonic Drive-In, since this was the whole reason for the trip in the first place. Sonic was locate 10 miles east of Portland, and lucky for us we found a Marriot across the parking lot from the Sonic.
There will be an entire post later this week on our Sonic Experience, but I will just let you know now that it was worth all these hours in the car, and we would do it again in a heart beat.
Day 4 - Portland, OR to Vancouver, BC
Sunday was the home stretch, the last day of our amazing, yet too short, journey. Today we would head out from Portland, OR and head home (about a 6 hour drive striaght up the I-5). But instead of just driving straight, we were planning on a stop at Mount St. Helens.
Ever sicne doing a report on Mt. St. Helens in grade school, I have always wanted to see the volcano up close. Sunday was a perfect day for it, the weather was great and we were planning on getting up the mountain ncie and early to beat any morning traffic.
After a workout at the gym on Sunday morning (Mary worked out, I bitched and complained), and a quick breakfast, we set out on the road. The drive to St. Helens is just over 2.5 hours from Portland, and after you get off I-5 onto the local road, the view is great. There are many vantage points of the mountain and the surrounding area on you way into the park, and I suggest stopping at all of them to get different views of the valley and crater.
I wanted to stop at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, which at 5 miles from the crater, is the closest you can get to the mountain. But since it is still early in the season, Johnston Ridge was not open yet, and we had to stop at the Coldwater Ridge Observatory, which is 7 miles from the mountain, and with a less direct view into the mouth of the mountain. But none the less, it was still an amazing experience.
It was awesome to see that even after 20+ years, there is still evidence of the eruption in the balst zone. But even with the devistation, there are signs every where of new growth and life. The moutnain itself is stil constantly errupting and building a new lava dome, something that can be seen much easier from Johnston Ridge.
After spending some time out at the mountain, we buckled up and sped home. We were tired, full and needed lay on our couch. The drive home was uneventful, and suprisingly quick with no traffic at the border.
8:00pm Sunday Night - Home Sweet Home!
We are so glad that we decided to take this trip, and it would have been great to share it with all of you in person. I will upload more pictures on to my flickr account, and you can check them out there.
Well I managed to get some time off work, and Mary has a 5-day weekend, so this afternoon we are heading out on a mini road trip. The original plans were to head down the coast as far as Sacramento, and then turn around and come home, but I have to be in school on Monday and the trip had to be shortened by a few hundred miles.
So as it stands now, Mary and I will be heading out tonight down I-5 and get a bit further than Olympia, we are thinking South Bend since it is on the coast.
Then Saturday we will drive the coast and try to get as far as Coos Bay, Oregon. Though depending on the weather and the amount of places we stop, we might not get down that far.
Regardles, Saturday, we will continue down the coast, just past Coos Bay/Borth Bend and head inland on 42, then head north on I-5 and spend Saturday night somewhere near Portland.
Sunday we will return home along I-5.
We have been looking forward to this trip for some time now, and have most of it “planned out”, though who knows what we wil find along the way to distract us. We have already mapped out teh Fast Food restuarants and stores we need to make pit stops at…Actually, the whole idea for the trip originated becasue Mary and I got sick of watching the commercals on TV for Sonic Drive-Ins, knowing that there are none around us. The cloest Sonic is just outside Portland, so we decided that we would have to make a trip and get hamburgers one time…and now here we are, on the verge of stuffing our faces.
Aside from Sonic, Jack-In-The-Box and Target, there are other things that we are looking forward to seeing and doing. The Oregon Coast is awesome, it is has huge beaches, rock formations, sand dunes and oceanside cliffs. Many opportunities for me to try out the new camera. We wanted to make it down to California to see Redwoods National Forest, but that will have to wait for another time. Sunday, on our way home, we are goign to make a small detour and check out Mount St. Helens. I have been facinated with this mountain since I was in grade school, and I am really looking forward to checking it out.
Mary and I will try to keep you updated along the road, but either way I will have lots to tal about when we return late sunday night.
So I wish you all a Happy Easter, and I hope you all have a great long weekend.
I am two days into my 4th quarter at school, and so far so good.
My only lab class is Garde Manger, and I have it Monday and Tuesday mornings. Garde Manger (french from “keep tp eat”) focuses on the Cold Kitchen. Think salads, charcuturie, sausages, pates, terrines and so on. Yesterday we started by curing our pork belly and tenderloin. The pork belly is being used for our pancetta, which will dry cure for 8 weeks, before i will stuff my face with it. The tenderloin will be a dry cured lomo, and will also age for 8 weeks in one of the walk-in coolers at school before being shoved inn my pie hole. I already snuck a few bites of the product this morning, purely to check for proper seasoning, and things seem like they are on the up and up.
Today’s focus was on salads, as is will be for the first two weeks. We began by identifying various types of greens and commenting on their flavor, texture and appearance. We then made three diffierent salads using a variety of greens.
The first salad was a simple Caesar Salad, made with romaine, croutons and dressing. The caesar dressing was very simple to put together and contained - garlic, anchovies, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, white pepper and parmesan cheese.
The second salad was a compound salad made with a base of apples, belgian endives and frisee greens. The dressing was an apple-walnut vinaigrette and the salad was garnished with toasted walnuts, grapes and blue cheese.
The final salad was a mixed mesclun with a sundried tomato vinagrette. The greens were selected by each group for a good balance of bitter, spicy and mild greens. The salad was garnished with tomatoes, roasted eggplant and roasted bell peppers.
I will try to get some good shots of the meats as they cure and age…thats all for now, talk to you all soon.
I only hope that once I am done school, and have a bit more experience under my belt, that I will be an internet celebrity Like Merrill Howard Kalin. Thanks to Marc for sending me this one.
It is obvious that my sister and I are products of our mother, we are all addicted to technology. My sister just recently bought herself a nice new Panasonic Camera, and not to out do her I have bought myself a shiny new Canon Powershot G7. We had both been looking for new cameras for a while now, unkown to each other, and had both been looking at similar devices.
I have an older Canon Powershot Elph that I have been quite happy with, though it was time to upgrade to something newer.
The G7 has tons of features, and it will take me the better part of the next few weeks to fully understand all of them. I plan on taking more pictures of products at school, and documenting meals that Mary and I enjoy while out and about in Vancouver.
Ok, back to tinkering with my new toy, pictures to come soon.
This blog provides you the reader with an opportunity to venture deep within the cobweb filled caverns of the mind of Jason Streefkerk. Stay for a while and enjoy, if you have a good time tell all your friends about me.
