Flowers, Fruit and Homemade Jam

It was a wonderful weekend filled with flowers, fruit and yummilicious freezer jam. We went for a drive out to the country and spent some time walking through the fields of flowers and, then, when we were driving home we saw a cute little place blooming with berries. We had to stop to pick some Marionberries. Marionberries are a hybrid blackberry created at Oregon State University.

It was a fun, fruity and delicious day.


But what to do with the berries?

I had to make some freezer jam.

Unfortunately, the jam smelled so good Sasha snuck one of the containers off the table. Luckily, she didn't get it open. But, if you look closely, you'll see the bite marks on the lid.




But, no thanks to Sasha, we still had lots of jam. So, then, what to do with the jam?

We had to make Danish crepes for a fun dinner.


Here's one of the finished crepes.

Then we spread some jam and sprinkled sugar over the top



Then we rolled it up


And spread a little more jam and sprinkled a little more sugar


FREEZER JAM:

5 cups of berries
2 cups of sugar (this is about half the sugar of "normal" recipes)
1 package of gelatin
1/2 cup water

Boil water and add sugar
Prepare gelatin (following instructions on package)
Combine fruit and gelatin
Cool and then keep in fridge

CREPES:

1 1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons sugar
zest of 1/2 of orange or lemon
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup of beer
3 eggs

Mix all dry ingredients and zest, gradually beat milk and beer into flour mixture until smooth. Beat eggs and add to batter. Grease a flat pan (we prefer cast iron but it's heavy). Pour enough batter to make a thin coating on the pan. Fry until the batter starts to "sweat" or moisten, flip it over using a large flat spatula. Serve with jam or syrup or even a cream cheese filling.

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

A Spoonful of Reading

Want to make a bookmark for a going-away gift??? Here's how I did it.

Once again, Mackenzie is heading for France, and I wanted to give her something to say "Have a nice trip". And, since I love reading, what did I think of? Yep, a bookmark. Plus, I figured she'll have plenty of time to read on the planes and trains or any time she's traveling. So, I took some ribbon in her favorite color: PINK!

And, stuffed it with lavender - so she can smell the wonderful aroma whenever she's reading.


Plus, I tied a spoon with Lady Liberty on one side and a "France" spoon on the other.

So now she'll always have something to eat with, especially while she's reading...

I know, it's no wonder I'm so chubby, but reading and eating are two of my favorite past times. And I hope Mackenzie will enjoy a few of my favorite things too.

Have a FUNtastic trip Mackenzie!!!

We Did It - 26 miles

The crowd is ready to get going on the 16th Annual Providence Bridge Pedal. Providence Bridge Pedal is the second-largest community bicycle ride in the country and the third largest in the world. More than 18,000 cyclists were expected to participate this year and the crowd was estimated at near 20,000.

Pedalers are getting antsy waiting for the start of the Providence Bridge Pedal


Riders pedal away from Portland toward The St. John's Bridge.


It's a beautiful way to spend a day - seeing the city from atop a no-car bridge


A peek of the city from the St. John's Bridge


I probably could have prepared better. Three bike rides: one in Sunriver (13 miles) and two on the Springwater Corridor in Portland, Oregon (each 10 miles). Not nearly enough to prepare for scaling 8 city bridges and a 26 mile bike ride but . . . I did it.
Finally . . . the FINISH LINE!!!

The hardest bridge for me was the St. John's Bridge but I shifted down to first gear and made it the entire way...without walking. That was my goal. And, the slow, steep terrain took its toll on me. I was definitely feeling the burn...but I didn't give up. I just kept telling myself, "If I can run a half-marathon, I can ride a full one." I just didn't take into account the different muscles you use for biking, as compared to running. And, I'm hoping I'm not going to be too sore tomorrow.

Monday Mountainside

This was the sight that greeted us as we climbed out of the car.


It was a gray day but we brightened it up by visiting the Mountainside Lavender Farm. It was beautiful but I really wish you could smell the aromas wafting through the air when we opened the car door. It was wonderfully awe...romatic!

We walked through the fields, reading the labels of the different varieties of lavender and cutting the flowers to make bouquets to take home.

Earth-Friendly Friday

Some women love to sew others love to bake and still more love to garden. And we all want to share our passion with other people. So, here's one way you can make friends, share your passion and help protect the planet all at the same time: simply share seeds.

I like to call it sowing seeds of friendship. Most plants will produce seeds and there are usually so many seeds no one person could use them all. And, why would any gardener want to see their little "babies" go to waste? They wouldn't. So, why not dry the seeds out then put them in envelopes and give them as gifts for birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions?

Giving seeds will cut down on your gift-giving budget, reduce your consumption of costly mall products and be earth-friendly too.

Do you share seeds, cuttings or even flowers/fruits/vegetables from your garden?

If you do, this is an easy step: simply sow your seeds and build a community of gardeners.

Skin and Bones

That might sound like a scary story and perhaps it even looks a little frightening from the shingle dangling over the door. But, those of you who know me know I love scary stories. So maybe the name played a small part in us (me, my husband and a friend) ending up at the restaurant on Tuesday night--instead of pilates class--enjoying a glass of wine (or two) and dinner, plus yes, even tho' I'm supposed to be on a diet, dessert.

The fare was unusual for me, even though this chef owned and operated restaurant boasts that it serves from the abundance of Pacific Northwest flavors. Maybe I'm the odd duck, or at least the odd Oregonian, who doesn't normally eat bison, rabbit or pork belly.


But, odd or not, it was a special treat going out to dinner in the middle of the week. The food was yummy and different. I felt a little daring taking a bite out of a bison.

And, if you're in Portland, you might want to get to Skin & Bones. I know, it sounds like a diet place - but, believe me, it's not.

Check out their menu here.

And, if you do visit Skin & Bones, let me know what you think.

Word for Wednesday - Game for Writers

Word of the Day: Exine

Guess what it means.


Do you know?


Simply scroll down for the answer.



Further.


Further.



Still further.


Exine is the outer coating of a spore. I know, who knew?

Not me.

It was my daughter who taught me that one and I didn't even believe her. I said, "I've never heard that word before." I even had to look it up for myself. If you don't believe it, you can look it up too. Just click here. And THANKS for playing :)