Eastern Washington road trip, day 1

Last weekend we took a lightning quick road trip with my brother to eastern Washington for some sunshine and hiking. We decided to meander there using a smaller state route to sample Washington's.."attractions". Our first stop was Leavenworth, a formerly dying town which re-branded itself as a Bavarian village in the 1960s.The re-branding apparently worked, because Leavenworth is now four blazing blocks of tourist attraction, where you can buy kitschy junk to your heart's desire.

It's practically Germany!
 

We got to the town at about 10am, which was apparently too early for business because nothing was yet open. Our hotel for the night was an hour's drive away, and we couldn't check in until 4pm, so the plan was to take as long as possible at every point along the way, including breakfast. We easily found a parking spot and meandered to a cafe which served big, greasy, American breakfasts. Perfect for the beginnings of a road trip.

This bear represents the German in all of us.

Essentially, all buildings in this place has to be built in the Bavarian style, and of course they have German sausage and lots and lots of beer. In the first five minutes of walking the town, my brother declared he was already bored. We had hoped that as shops open and more people arrived, it would turn into the bustling tourist trap that it is famous for. Well, the shops opened, the people arrived, the parking spots filled up, but it was still the same crappy kitschy place.

 We're baffled by the level of authenticity of this location!
 

Essentially, all buildings in this place has to be "Bavarian", and of course they have "German" sausage and lots and lots of beer. To give you an idea of how authentic the town is..we found a Pedobear wooden puzzle in one of the toy stores. Get that one for your kids! We painfully went through every shop of all four glorious blocks before giving up and head back on the road.

We spent 30 minutes yawning just because it was something to do.
 

While at breakfast, our waitress had mentioned that she was from a "very big town nearby, much bigger than this one". She said it has "a huge antique store" and "a candy factory" where we can get "lots and lots of samples". Well, it was noon and we had nothing better to do, so we decided to follow her esteemed advice and stop at the megalopolis otherwise known as Cashmere, WA. This town has a whopping 3000 people, compared to the meager 2000 slumming it out at Leavenworth. However, Cashmere does have a significant upgrade, as it contains a much larger downtown area of one whole block.

The only intersection in town, yo.

The town only has a total area of only 0.9 square miles. Even if you wanted to do something, there's nowhere to go! Ever wonder what you do for fun in a bustling town of 3000? If downtown Cashmere is any indication, the answer is a whole lot of nothing. At least you won't be spending much on gas to get downtown..

This is, clearly, where all the cool kids hang out. All five of them.
 

True to the waitress's word, there is a candy factory right in the middle of downtown Cashmere. Though factory might be a stretch, as its entire operations is smaller than my driveway. There was no one inside the store, and we awkwardly took a sample of what appears to be suspension of highly pectin-ed up apple sauce and nuts. There's always the antique store, right?

Just like Redbull, Aplets and Cotlets give you wings.
 

Well, we couldn't find the damn antique store. Feeling ripped off, we headed back on the road, intending to leave the Cashmere experience far behind. As we sped up to leave, we found it. It was clear from the sign why the antique store was not in the town as the total square footage of the store is probably bigger than downtown Cashmere itself.

My lot is 21000 square feet. You've got a ways to go, antique store.
 

Needless to say, we didn't spend much time in Cashmere, opting instead to head straight for Wenatchee, 45 minutes away. It's a much more reasonable size, at thirty thousand people, complete with JC Penney, Target and our lunch destination, Red Robin. By then we were tired from boredom, the long drive, and the heat that had increased steadily as we moved from the mountains. We nibbled on some appetizers, drank a bunch of water and checked in to the uber sketchy hotel for the night. We had to park the car right outside the window and keep watch over night. Maybe it was paranoia, but the whole town gave me the heebyjeebies. It doesn't help that the town is quite famous for abusing children and disabled people.

Thus ends day one of the express Eastern WA road trip. The second half is much prettier, promise!

Grape hyacinths

I'll never get tired of taking pictures of grape hyacinths.

 Nope, never.

 I love the way they're scattered in the grass.

 I love the way they gather under the trees.

I love the way Charlie completely ignores them.

It's been quiet around here..

..but little things are stirring afoot. Here's a quick preview of what's going on in my garden this week.

 Yes, spring is here again!

Workin' late

 Going..

 Going..

Gone!

Sssssss...

Originally this post was planned for Halloween, but the great water heater explosion fiasco prevented us from posting these awesome pictures.  In case you aren't familiar, this is a Creeper from the game Minecraft. It likes to silently walk up behind you, hiss, then explode. There's really nothing else I can say; we hope you enjoy the photos and video!

Until next time!

Turkey brine

My turkey brine changes a little every year, but the main components are the same. If I were cooking whole turkey, I would begin brining at least two days before roasting. Since I'm only doing drumsticks this year, 24 hours will suffice. The secret to good turkey is a good brine. It makes the turkey moist, flavourful, and requires no additional seasoning on the day of cooking, which is a big advantage if you have another 5 dishes going at the same time.

I'm too lazy to make brine the traditional way, so while I am prepping all the ingredients, I turn on the electric kettle. Then I put all the components in a bowl and dump the boiling hot water over it. As an added bonus, boiling water with my kettle takes about half the time as with a pot!

I end up with a bowl like this, which I just leave to steep and cool down to room temperature. Then the whole thing, solids and all, go into a ziploc bag with the turkey for at least 24 hours.

Before roasting, I take the turkey out, give it a quick rinse and dry the whole thing out. Sometimes I'll put some butter under the skin, sometimes I'll add some black pepper on for looks, then straight into the oven it goes! All the flavour is already in the turkey, so there's no need to season more.

I never measure for the brine, so these are all approximate values from my last attempt. In general though, you want it to taste more like gentle saltwater, not like "aha I burn yo' mouth". It will not taste particularly good, but should smell excellent, cool?

Turkey brine:
Main components
10 cups water
1 1/2 tbs salt
1 tsp sugar
1 apple, 3/4" dice
half a white onion, 1/2" dice
1 stalk celery, 1/2" dice
zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Spices - this is what I used this year (2011)
rosemary, sage, thyme, chopped
2 whole cloves
2 allspice berries, smashed

1. Boil the water with a kettle
2. Put all the components into a bowl
3. Pour hot water into the bowl and let cool
4. Pour everything into a bag with the turkey, seal up and put in the fridge for 24 hours

Happy American almost turkey day!

Thankgiving is my favourite holiday of the year. Anytime where the celebration revolves primarily around making a whole lot of food and eating it, I'm in. Now if only my body would cooperate and stop being sick.

We've been battling a cold since the flooding episode and haven't quite gotten back into the routine. First it was Colin, now me. I only realized a few days ago that this week is Thanksgiving. I frantically bought a loaf of bread and started drying it for the stuffing on Monday. I wish I were cooking the whole turkey, but it just doesn't make sense for two people. so I just bought two drumsticks. They'll go into the brine tonight and will be ready for roasting tomorrow. I prepped a ton of brussel sprouts this morning and have started making turkey stock for the stuffing/gravy.

Oh, and my cold has now progressed to where I can't smell or taste anything. Fantastic. I prepped my brine and made my turkey stock blind. Yesterday I baked a pumpkin bread pudding, but I can't smell the pumpkin nor any spices! It just tastes like sweet, wet bread. I am so sick of being sick!! Get better body, or no turkey for you!