Mammoth Ski Trip #1

Time to head to the mountains!  We went from here...

... to here... which is a bit more mountain-y...

... and then here - look!  Snow!

Finally here!  We made it to Mammoth Mountain!  They've had record snow up there this year, and the skiing  looked to be fabulous!

We stayed here, Juniper Springs Lodge, right on the mountain.  Wonderful!  This was the view from our room.

The lodge fireplace.

And the great big snowman on the mountain under the gondola!

Sun sets on the mountain.  Gorgeous.  I love living at the beach, but sometimes I forget exactly how majecstic the mountains really are.

Next up!  Four full days of skiing!






Mhnaty!

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Paso Trip - Sculpterra Winery

We couldn't leave Paso Robles without at least one wine tasting. So we headed to Sculpterra Winery before our trek up to Mammoth.

Sculpterra is a beautiful winery, with fabulous wine and incredible artwork. We toured the grounds before tasting and took a few shots of the art.

The winery itself is beautiful  And the wine?  Delish!  The Mr really liked the port and I loved the Viognier.

We bought several bottles and even got the winemaker to sign our bottles for us (though I didn't get a picture - grr)!
Cats are a favorite subject for the art here.  You can see a live view of some of the art in the courtyard of the vineyard via their webcam.

A wonderful wine tasting - Sculpterra is a must-see if you are in the Paso area!

Mhnaty!

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Paso Trip - Family

Did you know that California has a large elephant seal population?  And that they like to hang out on the beach with their babies?  We didn't either, but we got the opportunity to go to see them.  The babies are extremely cute.  And extrermely loud.

Though it is hard to tell from these pictures, we had some crazy rain.  The photo you don't see here is me, in my wool coat, in the pouring rain, wearing heels, attempting to walk in the mud/sand and take photos while protecting my favorite (and expensive) lens from the downpour.  Not pretty.

The rain does however have nice side effects - rainbows!  Here's a view of one from the car.

Though you may not think of beer when you travel to the central California coast (where so much fabulous wine is made) Paso Robles does have several great breweries.  We had the pleasure of tasting beer at the Firestone Walker Brewing Company.  Lots of folks loved the "Double Jack" a super-hoppy IPA, but The Mr and I were partial to the "Velvet Merlin" which is a decadent oatmeal stout.

We ended our day with dinner at a favorite Italian restaurant with the whole gang. Doesn't get much better!

Tomorrow? We head for the mountains!

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Paso Trip - Hiking

At the end of January, The Mr and I decided to take a week of vacation and go skiing.  My brother-in-law and his family live (sort of) between where we live and Mammoth Mountain where we were planning to ski.  Perfect excuse for a weekend visit!

My brother-in-law and miece took us on a wonderful hike at Pinnacles National Monument, not too far from where they live.  We had a beautiful day for it, and the park was gorgeous!

We hiked some beautiful trails, watched some rock climbing, did some spelunking (cave exploration) and saw some fabulous vistas.

The Mr and his brother and niece... and a little guy in the corner. 

Family conversations and signs of Spring's arrival....

A great way to spend a day!  We love visiting our Paso Robles family!

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What We've Been Doing Lately

This year has been crazy.  Absolutely crazy.  I'll be giving you an update over the next couple of weeks... but here's a preview of some of the places we've been since the end of January:

Mhnaty!

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More Duck Experimenting

Remember last week, when I made duck? Well I'm a big believer in using the bones to make stock (which I did) and then using that stock to make soup. I love soup made from homemade stock!

I wanted something that would match the rich flavor of the duck stock, so I decided to make my version of hot and sour soup.

(I think it would have been great to have taken pictures during the cooking process, don't you? Sigh... I forgot to take the camera out until it was time to serve.)

For my soup (so I made this recipe up out of my head... I think it is a pretty forgiving recipe, so use your judgement and taste with the ingredients):

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
1.25 pounds extra lean ground turkey (I would have liked a nice duck sausage to compliment the stock, but I couldn't find any at my local store.  Next time I'll order some from somewhere like Maple Leaf Farms)
1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper (or more - or less - depending on how hot you like it)
1/4 - 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (this gives the soup a sweet, sour and slightly "soy sauce" flavor, without all the sodium)
1 quart duck stock

Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Brown the onion, red bell pepper and ground turkey.  Once the turkey is browned through, add the cayenne pepper and cook for several minutes until combined.  Then add the balsamic vinegar and cook for several minutes until combined.  Add the stock and bring the soup to a boil.  Let simmer for 30 minutes, or until flavors are well blended.  You can add more cayenne if you like it spicier or more vinegar (adding a different type of vinegar, like a bright white wine vinegar, can lift the flavors if needed).

While the soup is simmering, I made roasted vegetables to go with my soup.  I wanted something sweet to go with my soup, so I added a bit of maple syrup to the vegetables before roasting.  Delicious!

For the vegetables:

1 sweet potato
1 red bell pepper
1 cup baby carrots
1 head cauliflower
1 can sweet corn
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons fresh herbs (I used oregano, parsley and thyme)
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Dice the sweet potato, pepper, carrots and cauliflower into small pieces.  (this will help speed the roasting process)  Put all of the vegetables into a microwave safe bowl.  Add the vegetable oil and cook in the microwave until the carrots and potatoes are soft.

Stir in the herbs and maple syrup and spread in a roasting pan.  Roast in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Stir the vegetables, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over them and return to the oven.  Roast another 10 - 15 minutes until vegetables are slightly brown.

To serve:

Spoon some of the roasted vegetables into your bowl.

Doesn't that look tasty?  Then ladle some of the soup over the vegetables.

You'll end with a bowl that looks like this:

If you want to forgo the vegetables, the soup is tasty on its own.  You'll get something that looks like this.  You might enjoy the irony of my duck soup picture atop my pig cutting board.  ;-)

I loved the way the sweet vegetables complimented the rich, spicy, sour soup!  This was one of the best dinners I've made in a while.  I can't wait to make this with duck sausage!

Check out Ott, A and the rest of the "Iron Chef Challenge: Duck" entries here!

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Iron Chef Challenge!

I am entering Ott,A's Iron Chef Challenge this month - challenging us to use duck! I started with Duck l'Orange, and this weekend I am planning to use the broth I made with the leftover bones etc. to make duck soup. Yum (at least I hope!)... and I'll let you know how it goes.

Interested in trying duck yourself? Enter Ott,A's Iron Chef Challenge!

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Experiment: Duck!

Some time ago, my father-in-law brought me a whole duck. Frozen. So I put it in my freezer and there it sat, mocking me. Really, that's what it did.

You see, I've never made duck before, and I was worried that it wouldn't taste good, or would be difficult to cook... I'd read that it was a very fatty bird and would make my house smell funny when I cooked it.

(I think I may read too much.)

Enter Ott, A's Iron Chef Challenge - with this month's ingredient: DUCK!  I figured this was a great opportunity to try a new recipe, alleviate my duck-cooking fears, or at the very least, get that duck to stop mocking me from my freezer.

I wanted to make Duck l'Orange.  We ate that every Christmas Eve when I was a kid, so I knew what it should taste like.

The first step is to stuff the duck with apple and season the duck.

You'll roast the duck at 350*F until it reaches 185*F. And in the meantime, assemble the ingredients for the orange sauce. A good spicy mango chutney adds a key flavor to the sauce. My recipe calls for peach preserves (though I think next time I'll use orange marmalade to give the sauce a stronger orange flavor.)

Once the duck is close to done cooking, mix all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and boil until the alcohol burns off and the sauce begins to thicken... about 6 minutes.

Take the duck out of the oven. I have to say, this smelled amazing!

If you are lucky, you can get someone who knows what they are doing to carve your duck. The Mr carved ours.







While The Mr was busy carving, I got the rest of the dinner together - some peas picked fresh from our garden that afternoon...

... and freshly baked bread...

... I love fresh Italian bread.

Spoon the sauce over the duck once you have carved it.  I expect it will look something like this:

This meal was fantastic.  I loved the sauce - spicy and sweet.  And the duck was tender and rich, and did not taste fatty or gamy.  My father-in-law said it was the best duck he'd ever had!  Even The Girl said "The duck doesn't taste bad" which is high praise indeed out of a 13-year-old's mouth.

Here's the recipe:

Duck l'Orange

Ingredients

For the duck
1 duck
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 large granny smith apples
2 cloves garlic
2 sage leaves
1 teaspoon light olive oil

Orange Sauce
4 tablespoons spicy mango chutney
2 tablespoons peach preserves
1 oranges, juice of
3 tablespoons of duck drippings, from pan
1/4 cup red wine


Directions

Sprinkle chili powder, garlic powder, and salt all over ducks.

Cut 1-inch slice in skin of ducks on both sides of breasts.

Puree garlic, sage and olive oil and fill in slices in skin with mixture.

Chop apple into 1-inch pieces and stuff inside ducks.

Bake at 350*F (175*C) for 1 hour 30 minutes for a slightly rare duck, or 2 hours for a well done duck.

Put the ingredients for the L'Orange sauce in saucepan and heat until alcohol simmers off, about 6 minutes.

Serve L'Orange sauce over sliced duck breasts or other parts.



I will definitely make this again. Thanks to Ott,A for challenging us to use an ingredient I hadn't used before!

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