Nor does it look like it will next week. Lots of gray days meant we got house projects done. Luckily, we managed to work in a day trip over to Summer Lake.
We took advantage of a break in the weather and headed over to the wildlife refuge.
In the winter the highlight is swans, who typically spend the season at the refuge. We had a nice chat with the local Fish, & Wildlife ranger who pointed out that both Trumpeter and Tundra swans swim together.
The view southeast to Paisley and Abert Rim is crowned with an azure sky.
It was a “summer” like day with no one around. We got lots of footage and watched the swans paddling around.
This week we got caught up in a Pacific Northwest winter storm.
At least once a year an arctic front rides the jet stream over a rainstorm and turns Portland’s streets to skating rinks.
. . . are you seeing this?
Trouble is , , , this storm was an Atmospheric River and the jetstream turned on some gale force winds.
On our side of the mountains, the ice storm was minimal, but we did get three feet of snow to go along with the freeze. It pretty much closed down the whole Pacific Northwest for nearly a week.
There IS a whole deck chair under there
Only a few days ago the gas stations and grocery stores around us were still waiting on trucks from PDX to re-supply.
“Out of fuel” signs were common and empty grocery shelves were another casualty .
Inevitably these cold snaps are followed by warming and an accompanying slush and flood cycle.
Unlike many, our neighborhood did not experience any power outages.
The worst of it was the numerous snow shoveling excursions as we attempted to keep ahead of the accumulation.
In the end, we had shoulder-high berms on either side of the driveway.
We don’t require daily access to the transportation system and are quite content to stay at home.
As we write this post the view out our window is more springlike rather than a winter scape.
With all this “stay at home” time, we hit our reading lists pretty hard and finished up some fly tying.
We finally ventured out and managed to top off our supplies (including a trip to See’s Chocolates),
But most importantly, we headed to the Crooked and had a walk along the river. . . . We may have been experiencing a little cabin fever.
excited
joyous
grateful
content
Yeah, so hearing the river and being outdoors again was just what we needed.
We tested some new recipes and cooked and baked quite a bit . . .
Crispy Oatmeal Cookies, a staple in this household
Butter Chicken
Apricot Jam Crumbles
Freezer Hashbrowns
Tried Indian Butter Chicken and got numerous canning and freezing projects shelved.
The weather report calls for more mild rainy days, so it looks like we’ll have time to get ahead on our reading and do some more recipe testing while we wait for this ‘El Nino’ to move on.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in bowl.
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and both sugars at medium low speed to medium and continue to beat until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Scrape down bowl as needed.
Add egg and vanilla extract and beat on medium low until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture, and mix until just incorporated and smooth, about 10 seconds. With mixer running, gradually add oats and mix until well incorporated, about 20 seconds. Give dough final stir by hand to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.
Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll into balls and space them 2 1/2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Bake 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are golden brown and crispy on the edges. Let cookies cool on wire rack.
Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani Indian Butter Chicken)
Ingredients
MARINADE
3poundschicken breasts
1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 1/2 tspLemon juice
1/2TBGround Tumeric
1/2TBGaram Masala
1/2TBCumin
SAUCE
4TBunsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces and chilled, divided
1onion, chopped fine
5garlic cloves, minced
4tspgrated ginger
1serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1TBgaram masala
1tspground coriander
1/2tspground coriander
1/2tspground cumin
1/2tsopepper
1 1/2cupswater
1/2cup tomato paste
1TBsugar
1tspsalt
1cup heavy cream
Instructions
Marinade
Whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala, and cumin in a large bowl.Put the chicken in and coat with the marinade. Cover and marinade chicken up to a day.
Sauce
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger and serrano and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is softened and onion begins to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garam massala, coriander, cumin and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add water and tomato paste and whisk until no lumps of tomato paste remain. Add sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to boil. Off heat, stir in cream. Using immersion blender or blender, process until smooth, 30 to 60 seconds. Return sauce to simmer over medium heat and whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Remove saucepan from heat and cover to keep warm (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 4 days; gently reheat sauce before adding hot chicken.)
Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Remove chicken from marinade and place on wire rack set over foil-lined baking sheet. Broil until chicken is evenly charred on both sides and registers 175º, 8 to 10 minutes per side.
Let chicken rest for 5 minutes. While chicken rests, warm sauce over medium-low heat. Cut chicken into ¾-inch chunks and stir into sauce. stir in 2 tablespoons cilantro and season with salt to taste. Transfer to serving dish, sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon cilantro and serve.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour muffin tins. Set aside
Cream butter sugars and extracts together for 1-2 minutes. This will be used for both the cookie bottom, as well as the topping.
Add in the flour and salt, and mix just until combined. The mixture will still be crumbly.
Scoop the mixture into each muffin well. Press into the bottom and up the sides a little, forming a well. Pressinto the pan, but do not over pack.
Scoop 1 tablespoon of jam into the center of each cookie.
Sprinkle each cookie with 1 heaping tablespoon of the remaining cookie mixture.
Bake for 18 minutes or until lightly browned.
Let cool completely, then remove from pans. You may need a knife to run around the edge to help in coping them out. These will freeze really well for up to 3 months.
Peel potatoes. Cut into quarters and place in a pot of water. Salt and bring to a boil.
Parboil potatoes for 10 minutes, drain allow to cool.
Grate cold potatoes. Whisk egg and add to grated potatoes, then sprinkle and toss with cornstarch. Place mounds of grated potatoes onto parchment covered cookie sheet and shape to the size and shape you prefer. Freeze for 1 hour.
Heat avocado oil in skillet, a couple inches deep. Bring oil up to frying temperature. Place frozen hash browns in pan and brown on both sides.
Once brown, cool on rack. These freeze well and only require a little bit of heating up for those dash and go days.
Documenting current as well as historic views on Yellowstone National Park and Yukon wolf packs.
NatGeo Images by R. Donovan. This was a favorite.
Excellent images and fascinating information.
We get passes from our library and try to get over to the museum a couple of time a year . . . this was one of the best exhibits in a while.
First the sidewalk needs clearing . . . then you can go for a walk
The snows continue throughout the second week in January and we’ve accumulated about 3 feet on the ground (2 feet within the last 24 hours) and more is on the way.
We actually enjoy having four seasons. This snow is less than years past and I don’t mind the daily task of clearing snow.
It’s better than constant rain.
Frosty windows early in the morningA good way to enjoy a snowy week
We’re back with weekly updates to our adventures, though not sure what is planned for the coming days.
A lot depends on the weather.
There will be good pictures, that I can assure you . . . so come back every Sunday for a new installment.
It has been some time since we visited Painted Hills, so this week we spent a day walking trails and taking pictures, very touristy of us.
The Painted Hills Unit gets a lot of hype on the internet . . . heck, it’s listed as one of the 7 Wonders of Oregon.
We are regular visitors to all the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument ‘units’. But this is perhaps our most photographed.
The stratification that gives the “hills’ distinct layers presents differently depending on the season, as well as time of day.
Our afternoon visit was on a clear day, but there had been a week of rain.
These elements combined to offer some very photogenic views.
Even a quick swing into the Painted Hills is worth the time. As such, it gets worked into many different road trips. Frequent readers of the blog will recognize that.
Usually these excursions are short photo sorties to an overlook about a mile in from the junction of Burnt Ranch and Bear Creek roads.
We expanded that typical visit this week with some trail walks past other exibit areas.
Took a quick pass around a fenced off mound of leaf fossils.
We’re kind of leaf fossil snobs, you see we dug samples when you could still just park at Fossil High School and collect.
Spent a bit more time on the out and back trail at Red Hill.
The view from the Red Hill trail
Not as visually stunning as the overlook hills. It’s a lone mound of red capped with green.
There is a texture to the surface as well as color
It’s the surrounding landscape that gives the site an ancient look. Did manage to find a lot of photo ops.
The afternoon sun on the painted hills
We enjoyed ourselves to the point of skipping a trip to Tiger Brewing in Mitchell, so as to avoid night driving. Will be swinging back here again.
Before fall gets covered with snow, we figured it was a good time to locate some color.
The high desert isn’t devoid of deciduous trees. It’s forested hills put on a nice show of seasonal change. However, the journey down into the Willamette Valley offers broader strokes of color dotting the foothills.
Maple presents the more dramatic shades
A majority of ‘places to see fall color in Oregon‘ are on the Cascade Range’s west side. I think it’s an elevation difference. Regardless, the west side was drenched in warm tones.
On top of that our weather apps pointed out a high probability of rain, so it became a perfect time to do a road trip.
And by road trip, I mean we’re mostly going to be driving, not stopping to say, wet a line. This type of adventure is more a historical marker, regular dog walk and picture op stopping day.
We got going early to make it through Sisters and up Santiam Pass (Hwy 20). The plan was to loop back via Willamette Pass (Hwy 58).
Slices needed tasting and the freezer needed a restock. It would also be a good excuse to swing through Silver Falls State Park. That is, if there’s not a downpour like we experienced.
Along I-5 from Millersburg to Goshen the reds from oak trees and maples gets mixed in with yellows of cottonwood and ash.
These blobs of color frame the edges of fields still green from an ample supply of McKenzie and Willamette River water. Not ones to choose freeway miles, this is a stretch we’ve driven often.
Inevitably these cold snaps are followed by warming and an accompanying slush and flood cycle.
We also took in a 
It has been some time since we visited Painted Hills, so this week we spent a day walking trails and taking pictures, very touristy of us.
The stratification that gives the “hills’ distinct layers presents differently depending on the season, as well as time of day.
We expanded that typical visit this week with some trail walks past other exibit areas.
These blobs of color frame the edges of fields still green from an ample supply of McKenzie and Willamette River water. Not ones to choose freeway miles, this is a stretch we’ve driven often.