Annual Stephanie Inn Trip

Every year our group of ladies heads for Cannon Beach to spend a few days at Stephanie Inn , walking on the beach, eating amazing food, and enjoying all the things that the Stephanie Inn has to offer.

We always start out our trip with a little wine tasting:

 Our first stop was Duck Pond Cellars. Look at those ladies (Mom, Penny and Donna) with their matching shirts!

Mom and Penny at LaChini winery.

Cheers, from Stoller Vineyards! This place was pretty cool... the tasting room is 100% self-sufficient, with a large array of solar panels, a green roof, and some water catchment. Anything they don't use in the tasting room, they send to the actual winery, so it is about 30% sustainable.

Donna hears no evil, Penny sees no evil, and I speak no evil. Really. I swear. :)

Once we are done enjoying the fruits of Oregon wine country (literally!), we continue on to Stephanie Inn. It is located on Cannon Beach. And I mean, right on the beach. 

This is the view from the balcony of our room.

We like to take walks on the beach, and we can walk all the way into downtown Cannon Beach from Stephanie Inn on the beach. We don't see a single road until we hit downtown.

The weather was perfect while we were there. It was about 60 to 65 degrees, a couple of hours of sun in the afternoons, and no rain. The mist kept rising up off the ocean and I liked the way it made Haystack Rock look like it was floating.

Haystack Rock

Now isn't this the life?

We also like to make sure that we get some good food while we are there, and that is not hard to do at the Stephanie Inn! Even with my food allergies, they were able to make sure that we all got some amazing food and drink. We dressed up for dinner one night, and it was fantastic!

Me!

Mom

Donna

Penny

The whole gang!

We started with salads:

Now I will be honest and say I am not normally a huge fan of salads. They tend to get a bit boring for me, especially since I don't get cheese, or dressing, or croutons, or any of the fun stuff. But this was a truly incredible salad. The onions on top were dredged in rice flour and then fried. It had lime oil on it... it was fantastic!

 I didn't get the scallop starter because of my shellfish allergy, but as you can see, it was pretty fantastic looking!

The soup was a roasted tomato with fresh basil and gorgonzola cream. I didn't get that either, but at least I got to smell it!

For the main course, we had the marinated rack of lamb. It was served with creamy polenta, roasted beets, braised greens, and garlic Dijon reduction sauce.

My plate had fingerling potatoes in place of the polenta due to my dairy allergy.

For dessert, they served me the most wonderful fresh berries!

The other ladies got a Lemon Swedish Cream, that was silky vanilla bean almond custard swirled with lemon curd, shortbread cookie, and fresh berries.

Doesn't that look great?!?

The following day we decided that we really needed to work off that dinner, so we went for a hike out at Hug Point State Park. This park is actually more beach, but it has some really interesting features. It has caves, a waterfall, part of the original stagecoach trail, and they also happened to be filming a pilot for a TV show on Vikings while we were there. So I got some random photos of the set and vikings.

When the tide is in, there are parts of the beach that are completely covered in water, and these large caves have formed. They have some amazing colors inside!

 The viking set was right over by two caves I wanted to visit, and the large waterfall, so we had to steer clear of that area, but I still got some pictures.

Random viking... wonder if he is someone famous?

 The viking set was actually pretty neat, and it was kind of fun to watch them film for a bit.

This is one of the caves that has formed from the water coming in at high tide.

 We needed to pose in front of it because it was cool. You know how these things are.

This is the old stagecoach road I mentioned earlier. As you walk along it, you can still see the areas where the wheel had grooved ruts into the rock. This section is also covered completely in water when the tide is high, so you have to time this hike a little carefully!

This old stagecoach road actually joins the two beaches together, but make sure you watch the tide table, you don't want to get stuck on the side that is nowhere near your car!

As you can see, we made it back just in time. The tide was just starting to come in, and already it was getting to the point where you needed to wade to make it on to the trail. This is a great picture, though, because you can see those ruts I was talking about.

This has to be the saddest looking wheel I have ever seen. But at least all that sea life now have a lovely home!

This guy was stalking me, so I took a picture to have in case I needed to identify him in a line-up at a later point.

And it's these ladies again. The "see no evil" one is peeking. I wonder what that means?!?

When we came back from our walk, the cast and crew were at lunch so I got a better shot of the waterfall.

Hug Point State Park is a neat little place if you get the chance to visit. It is about 3 miles south of Tolovana Park and Cannon Beach on Highway 101.

Hope you enjoyed our trip... I know we did!

Paleo Pumpkin Cream Chicken Casserole

So the other day I asked Mike what he would like for dinner. He said "A casserole. With chicken." Well that one got me thinking. See, I am used to the type of casseroles that I have had for the last 30-something years of my life: pasta, cheese, cream of chicken soup... all those things that I can't eat anymore. So this request was a little bit of a challenge. What could I make that satisfied Mike's desire for a casserole with chicken, was within my dietary requirements, and tasted good enough for Mike to eat, even without cheese?

I went on an explore of the interwebs and picked up a couple of ideas. The one I decided on was from www.paleomg.com, and she called it Paleo Pumpkin Cream Chicken Casserole.

Here is her photo:


I apologize for not having photos of my own... I was skeptical that Mike would eat this, but not only did he eat it, he actually said he liked it! I think this recipe would also be really good with a richer meat like lamb, if you wanted to try that. I did make a couple of changes from the original, because that is how I insist on doing things, so my recipe is below:

Paleo Pumpkin Cream Chicken Casserole 
Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs chicken breasts, chopped into 1 inch cubes (you could also use shredded or ground chicken for this, or even ground lamb or other game-y meat would taste good)

• 1 medium sized spaghetti squash

• 1 head cauliflower, chopped

• 1 can pumpkin puree

• 1 can canned coconut milk (I used about 2/3 of the can for this recipe. If you use the whole can, the sauce is a little runny, but it still tastes great!)

• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 yellow onion, diced

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander

• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Chop the cauliflower and put it in a baking dish, tossed with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste. Then cut your spaghetti squash in half, using a spoon to scoop out the seeds and extra threads, and set it face down on a baking pan. I used my silpat for this, it is perfect! Add the cauliflower and spaghetti squash to the oven, side by side if possible, to roast for around 25 minutes. (Depending how big your spaghetti squash is, the cauliflower made roast a little quicker, but mine cooked at the same time) You will know your spaghetti squash is cooked when you can poke the outside skin and it gives a bit.

While the squash and cauliflower are cooking, it’s time to cook up your chicken. Use a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add olive oil to it and once the olive oil is starting to get hot, add the minced garlic. Once the garlic begins to smell, add the chopped onions and cook until translucent, around 5 minutes or so.

Add your chopped chicken to the cooking onions, cover and let steam for around 5 minutes. Once the chicken is almost cooked through, add the can of pumpkin, the coconut milk, and spices directly to the pan. Mix until well combined. Taste to see if you need any more spices or salt.

Once the squash and cauliflower is done cooking, and the chicken mixture is heated up, de-thread the spaghetti squash with a fork, running the fork the opposite way of the threads. Add your spaghetti squash threads, roasted cauliflower, and chicken saucey mixture to a 9×11 glass baking dish and add dish to the oven under the broiler. Cook for about 5 minutes, getting a little dark on the top.

Remove from oven and let sit for about 5-10 minutes to help the sauce thicken up. 

Then, as she says on www.paleomg.com, "...eat the crap of that deliciousness".

Spring Sampler Block #7 - Friendship Quilt

Hello everyone! I am sharing block number 7 from the Cora's Quilts Spring Sampler quilt-along this week.

This block comes together pretty quickly, and I really like how the different colors are bringing all the blocks together.

Here are the seven blocks together so far. Two to go for the wall-hanging size. I think I am going to be an over-achiever, though, and go for the lap size, so I am going to get to make extras of some of these blocks. I think block seven will be one of them. And probably blocks 5 and 6, too. I think I will use different fabrics in them, though, so it doesn't look like I have repeats. This is going to be way too much fun!

I hope at least some of you are following along!

And for those peeps that like recipes - stay tuned! I have a paleo casserole coming your way, and Mikey liked it! I also have a post about the annual jaunt to Cannon Beach and the stay at Stephanie Inn, so I will "talk" to you all soon!

Spring Sampler Block #6 - Temple Court

I have another block to share from the Cora's Quilts Spring Sampler quilt-along this week. This is block 6 of 9, and it is titled "Temple Court".

Only a small number of flying geese in this one, but I really like how all the colors are coming together.

Here are all six blocks so far, proudly displayed on my new design wall. It sounds fancy, doesn't it? Design Wall.

This material works great because I can just tack it up on the wall, and my blocks stick to it. I don't need to pin them or anything. And it has a nice white, neutral background for displaying my works in progress.

They do look nice up there, don't they? So I will let you in on my secret... it's just an old picnic table tablecloth. You know, the kind with the vinyl, easy-wipe-up on one side, and the felty stuff on the other. I think I paid less than $2.00 for it. How's that for DIY? And as soon as you are done marveling at my thriftiness, head on over to Cora's Quilts and link up your block!

Hiking in the Gorge - Angel's Rest

In honor of the happy coincidence of a 3-day weekend with no previous commitments, we planned a hike with Mike's sister Beth and her fiance Danny. We are lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest, and some of the most beautiful hiking around happens in the Gorge. We picked the Angel's Rest hike - a 4.6 mile out and back with some waterfalls, some shale cliffs, and some panoramic views of the Gorge.

This shot is from the first break in the trees, on our way to the top of Cooper Falls.

We crossed the rock cliff, and just a few hundred yards later, Cooper Falls.

This hike is pretty cool because you can actually see the falls from above!

Beth and Danny on the bridge over the creek.

There were so many wildflowers along the trail: bluebells, trillium, irises, lady's slippers...

I have no idea what this one is, but Beth was nice enough to hold it for me so I could get a better picture! This was one of our favorites, so if anyone knows what this one is, please share!

 Queen Anne's lace...

Beth and Danny at the first overlook.

Me and Mike!

This is from the second big overlook...

Mike's selfie...

Mike

Beth and Danny

 

Me and Mike

My silly face. Yes. It looks like that most of the time.

Just a playful shove...

The hike had a section that traversed a shale cliff... very pretty views, and some comfortable rocks on which to take a water break.

We finally reached the top, and the views are truly spectacular!

You can actually see all the way to the I-205 bridge from up here!

There was a friendly neighborhood chipmunk, scamming for some treats.

And Danny...with his fearless free-climbing!

And then lunch at Edgefield McMenamins! Beth decided to try the wine sampler for lunch. Yes... she really is as happy as she looks right now!

Spring Sampler Block #5 - Aztec Jewel

This week I have been working on block #5 from Cora's Quilts Spring Sampler quilt-along. This block has lots of flying geese, so I got to practice those. I am now of the opinion that:

Happiness Is... Chaining Your Flying Geese

See that? Lots of flying geese. Twelve of them, in fact. I highly recommend chaining them when you sew this block!

And I finally got that picture I promised you with all of the blocks together, out in the sunshine, soaking up the vitamin D. Yes, that is my grass. No, it is not always that green. 

I am getting really excited to see the rest of the blocks. I like how the colors are coming together and I can't wait to see what we do next!

Definitely make sure to check out Cora's Quilts to see the instructions for this block, and the schedule for the quilt along!

French Cake Trio Apron - Happy Birthday, Penny!

In between all the blocks for the Spring Sampler, I have been working on a serious hush-hush, big secret project. My good friend Penny (who has made several cameo appearances on this blog including the post from the Lighthouse crafting retreat and the trip to Stephanie Inn) is having a birthday! I know, shocker... right? It's not like we can get away from them. They follow us everywhere we try and hide and pop up on the same day, every year. But I digress... So Penny is having a birthday.

Penny is our Baker of Cakes for all birthdays. Anytime anyone on the Club Green Meadows Women's Drinking Team (we are undefeated!) or the tennis group has a birthday, Penny bakes the most delicious cakes. Even now that I can't eat regular cake (because of the gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free diet I eat due to food allergies), Penny made me a gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free cake for my birthday. It had 8 eggs in it. And it was AWESOME.

So for Penny's birthday, of course she bakes the cake. I know some of you might think that is odd, but really... no one bakes cakes like Penny does. Might as well stick with the best! But I still wanted to make her something like cake for her birthday. Something special. I considered and discarded a lot of options before I came across the perfect solution in the March 2014 issue of Cross-Stitch and Needlework magazine: the French Cake Trio Apron.

Yes, that is me showing off the finished apron. And yes... I am missing the top half of my head. Don't worry, I wasn't using it anyway. And isn't it fortuitous that the missing part of my head is the part with the grey hair on it? Hah!

So the apron is sewn in a soft beige pattern with a light metallic, and has blue trim on the ties and waist. The cross-stitch cakes are set into the bodice:

And I hid a couple of champagne splits in the gift bag, too... because I don't know about you guys, but I like a little wine when I cook!

 And here is the birthday girl herself, modeling her new apron!

Have a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Penny. We love you!