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Glad It’s over … nearly

Blackbirds, Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge

This is the 60th time this year we’ve shared our week.

The blog serves as a reference point in our lives. What we did last week gets translated into words, images, and an occasional video.

Smoke from Oregon’s forest fires inundated the area making it impossible to do anything outside.

As the year comes to a close it would be easy to focus on the dumpster fire that was 2020 … maybe naively think 2021 is going to be any better.

But a blog allows us a look back at directions we took and points we hit.

 

Fort Rock

Last January started with a typical Central Oregon mid-winter thaw. This presented an opportunity to explore where just a few weeks before the roads were snowed in and would be again the following week.

By April we were in the clutches of “first wave” quarantine and social distancing. We discovered that fewer people working meant crowds in the forests and on river banks. Thus we had to look for alternatives.

Time was blocked out visiting via Zoom, experimenting with recipes and creating new rituals.  Cocktail hour became a new favorite. We spent time sipping and testing different whiskeys.

As Spring shifted into summer we discovered new spots to spend a day. Explorations of different roads around Summer Lake, Fort Rock and the high desert forested edges occupied our day trips.

 

We upgraded our camera kit this year, adding a lens sized for wildlife photography.

The summer and fall got filled with days stalking feathered critters in addition to the usual finned variety.

 

Kokanee

A blog by design is retrospective, focused on what happened.

We actually got in quite a few great adventures while perfecting our social distancing skills. That said it will be nice to see the end of this year.

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Thoughts from Quarantine

 

Deadly spikes in Covid19 cases have placed many counties in Oregon on a “stay at home” list.

So this week we didn’t do much exploring … unless you count our Kindle Unlimited reading lists.

There are bookcases in our home stuffed with traditional print books.

However, our current reading platform of choice is a 3 ½ by 5 inch screen in a ½ inch thick case.

The e-Reader in our case, a Kindle Paperwhite, can be filled and refilled. We have yet to reach its capacity with stories of adventure, mystery, sci fi and fantasy.

If you read genre fiction of any kind, a Kindle Unlimited membership is critical in these pandemic times.

There are hundreds of titles to choose from. They are quickly transferred to the e-reader for transport to riverside camp or just from bedroom to living room.

The beauty of a Kindle Unlimited membership is how easy it is to explore a wide variety of authors and story types.

You can purchase, often at reduced price, those titles you like to re-read. In many cases, there are how-to books loaded on the reader.

It will also store PDF manuals for software, and hardware we are working with.

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Give thanks … for deep-fried goodness

bei-gnet
|ben' yá| 

a square of fried dough eaten hot, sprinkled with 
confectioners' sugar
These powdered pillows of deliciousness are essentially donuts.

A restaurant in New Orleans that made beignets famous, has boxed a mix that is really pretty good.  However, we tried our hand at making them from scratch. We selected a New Orleans-style Beignet recipe featuring yeasted dough. It makes a difference.

The yeasted dough can sit in a refrigerator from 2 to 24 hours.

Once the dough is rested, you roll it out to a quarter inch thickness, then cut into two inch squares.

The cubes are dropped into a few inches of very hot peanut oil.  They are fried to a crispy-chewy golden brown, then dusted with powdered sugar and served warm.

It takes a bit of time but these simple treats are easy to make and wonderful to eat.

Print Recipe

New Orleans-style Beignets

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup warm water 110 to 115 degrees
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 ⅙ tsps active dry yeast
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • ½ cup evaporated milk
  • 1 ¼ tsps vanilla extract
  • 3 ½ cups bread flour
  • ¾ tsps salt
  • 2 ½ Tbps unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 cups peanut oil
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Instructions

  • In a medium-size bowl, add the warm water, sugar, and yeast and whisk well to combine. Set aside for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture has bubbled up and become foamy.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg until smooth.  Beat in the vanilla and evaporated milk.  Beat in 1 ¾ cup of flour until smooth. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly pour in the yeast mixture being careful of splashing. Beat until smooth.  Add the butter and beat until incorporated.  Finally, beat in the remaining flour (1 ¾ cup) and salt. Beat until the dough is smooth and cohesive; about 2 minutes.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
  • Set a cookie cooling rack in a baking sheet and set to the side.
  • Put oil in a cast iron pan, about 4-inches, and heat to 360º F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a ¼ inch thick rectangle and cut into 2 ½ inch squares.
  • In batches, fry the dough until they puff up and are golden brown in color, about ½ minute a side. With a slotted spoon, transfer the beignets to the cooling rack and repeat. 
  • While still warm (but not hot from the oil) roll batches of the beignets in a bowl of confectioners’ sugar to coat and return to the rack to continue cooling or to a plate and serve ... this is the best way.  
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Winter’s Return

 

Winter’s start is always messy. The warm days of fall still linger and melt early winter snows. This week we’ve had a mix of weather … most of it wet … much of that snow.

The week ended with a winter storm watch for the Cascades making passes un-passable. We’re not looking to get far. At present we will enjoy a crisp morning stroll that includes untracked powder.

The snow fall we got at the beginning of the week came under a cold front and frocked pine bows.

However, by the end of the week the temperatures warmed and the snow it brought was deeper but also heavy and hard to shovel. By afternoon the city plows were clearing the rutted streets of a slushy mix.

 

The shift to consistent cold is coming, but for now we have to contend with this snow and rain mix.

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Nothing typical about this week

This week has been interesting to say the least.

For the last six months we’ve been observing pandemic guidelines. Now to be honest, I rather like the whole social distancing part. It’s nice not having someone crowd you at the checkout, so waiting 6 feet away is actually preferable.

But then,  just after Labor Day came the  wildfires. Oregon was hit with a series of blazes on the west side of the Cascades. Large fires, unlike anything that side of the state has seen.

 

The result … air quality at hazardous levels.

For the past week, or more, we’ve been inside, unable to spend any time outdoors. There have been small breaks with the worst of the smoke coming late afternoon and evening.

An eerie haze hangs over the landscape. Face covers, mandatory for interior travel, are now necessary outside as well.

Just taking Tip for a walk brings tears to our eyes.

Friday finally brought a shift in the weather. It rained for the first time in weeks. Wind direction shifted and moved dense smoke out of the Willamette Valley and into Central Oregon. Hopefully it will keep moving east and while the fires still burn the really bad smoke / air quality is on the way out.

In the meantime, we are getting caught up on reading, cleaning and home organizing projects.