SUMMER BEGINS 2010

FIRST DAY OF SUMMER 2010
What’s so great about the Oregon coast you ask?

Forget that the ocean is frigid cold. Forget that it rains practically every day. Forget that summer clothes must be waterproof. Eating ranks first.

That’s right, just eating day to day. The bounty of northwestern seafood is so great that each day’s catch offers the best eating in the country. Thanks to step-son Doug and step-S-I-L Paul, we tasted the very best including. . .

Begin with Cioppino, San Francisco’s answer to the bouillabaisse of Marseille or the Tyrrhenian Sea’s "cacciucco." The word “cioppino” probably derives from “ciuppin,” used in the Genoese dialect to describe the local fish stew, and no doubt arrived on our shores with the first Italian immigrants. Cioppino is San Francisco’s answer to the bouillabaisse of Marseille or the Tyrrhenian Sea’s "cacciucco." The word “cioppino” probably derives from “ciuppin,” used in the Genoese dialect to describe the local fish stew, and no doubt arrived on our shores with the first Italian immigrants.

Years ago in Astoria OR I found "Delights and Prejudices" written by Oregon native James Beard. Much to my surprise my step-children did not know about Beard. How can you cook in the USA and not know that James Beard is the father of American cooking?
http://www.jamesbeard.org/index.php?q=recipes/show/cioppino When others were eating PBJ sandwiches, Beard was teaching the merits of local foodstuffs. I must recommend the Who’s Who of Oregon: find JAMES BEARD, http://bluebook.state.or.us/notable/notbeard.htm

After a bowl of Cioppino stew what’s next?

Head to Cannon Beach and enjoy a roast salmon steak at Newman’s 988. Menus and photos at http://www.newmansat988.com/. My first course was seared scallops with a sauce of carrots and wild mushrooms; followed by the chef’s plate of the day, baked salmon with caviar butter. That was the day that sent my calorie chart over the top and was worth every ounce. A perfect dessert might have been Tillamook’s Coffee Almond Toffee ice cream….might have been.

Actually we had stopped there days before – both in one day would be a coronary waiting to happen. Head to the Tillamook Cheese factory: http://www.tillamookcheese.com/VisitorsCenter/IceCreamCounter.aspx

Featuring 38 flavors (read it and weep Howard Johnson) of ice cream, all 38 available only at the factory ice cream counter. DH and I shared a cup “Coffee Almond Toffee,” of what has to be the richest cream in the world.

We also discovered Tillamook Cheddar Cheese Curds, acclaimed by locals as the best snack ever. The freshest taste in this award-winning cheddar category, orders come from all over the nation. Curds are the first coagulation of the protein in cheese-making and are drawn off the top of the brine before the cheese is pressed into block forms. They were irresistible until I read the label and found that 1 oz. Contains 110 calories, yikes!

For exercise we walked on the beaches at Oceanside, Cape Meares, Cannon Beach and dunes along the way.

The unique and totally photographical seascapes along the coast are the result of ancient volcanic activity leaving lava filled necks. As time and tide wore the earth around the necks away exposing the plastic formations, the sea encroached towards the continent and left these giant ‘stepping stones,’ scattered along the edge. Yes that is the same volcanic age that produced Mt. Saint Helens and Crater Lake at a parallel time to the formation of Yellowstone. Expect to get sand in your shoes I was constantly pouring it out of mine.

Magnificent to look at, delightful to photograph and a wonder to behold of geologic history.

The Cape Meares lighthouse, now defunct with the advent of GPS and global satellites is now a lookout point to enjoy the Pacific and all its magnificent glory. Ample rainfall and long hours of daylight in summer produce an abundance of flora including saucer-sized Queen Anne’s Lace.

The big surprise arriving home was a visit from niece Meghan, now married and working as an elementary school principal while studying for a PhD Education degree in Oklahoma. For shame she has never seen the move “Oklahoma,” one of the gems produced by Rogers and Hammerstein for Broadway; will have to send her my notes on Agnes deMille from my lectures on dance in the golden age of Hollywood film to bring her up to date. Who gets a PhD in Oklahoma and has never seen the movie?

The second surprise is that I am hosting my cousins and their married daughter & husband for a luncheon buffet on Saturday at 1:00. That gives me four and half days to pull the house together and get the shopping and prep work done before they arrive. They and Mother are staying with sister Jan in Elon, NC for the weekend to celebrate yet again Mother’s 90th birthday.

June 25 is her actual birthday and this coming weekend will be the finale to a month of parties and family visits.
Stay tuned, bb

OREGON COAST

Cool, damp, cloudy and wet. That was our welcome to Oregon, landing in Portland and driving out to Oceanside to a large, 5-bedroom house with spectacular ocean views. Joining us on this summer retreat are Doug and Jen celebrating twenty years of marriage, Michael celebrating graduation from college, David keeping track of iTunes and the newly weds (about two years), Jane and Paul. This is the first time Paul has joined our family get to gathers and is proving to be adept at find crab fishing sites.

Doug's mastery of soup making was exercised on night one with split pea soup and again night two for the thickest, richest Cioppino stew replete with crab, shrimp, clams and a thick aromatic broth. Total Yum. Night three was time for Ahi tuna on skewers with pineapple slices grilled on the outdoor gas grill. Think of Hawaii, only thirty degrees cooler!

Packing for this trip was impossible. N.W. Missouri was 90 degrees and total humidity, while Oregon is far cooler. The upside is that I now have a new waterproof windbreaker with an Oregon Coast insignia. Found the jacket at the Tillamook Cheese Factory gift shop after a self-guided tour overlooking their production line. Just like Chaplin's "Modern Times," the line of cheese blocks just keep coming and coming as slicing, weighing and packing take place. Getting a taste of Tillamook Cheese Curds was a newfound experience.

Just what I needed each morning to warm up and stretch was my twenty minute slimnastic routine, getting Jane to join me in the workout was a bonus. Where are my warmer yoga pants when I need them?

Wednesday we found another production line, the Pacific Oyster Company of Bay City, Oregon where a dozen shuckers were busy filling two-gallon buckets in preparation for canning. At the storefront counter we tasted creamy New England chowder while Jane and Paul got a bucket of steamer clams. Needless to say we are in seafood heaven.

Chowder lunch followed a vigorous morning on the Tillamook Bay peninsula walking about two miles through sand dunes to inspect driftwood. This morning after making oatmeal and kitchen duties, we will head north to Seaside to allow Dave some playtime and then to Cannon Beach where lunch will be anywhere that has crab salads or something steamed.

Tomorrow is our big celebration day - getting the Jimmy Buffet-style shirts ready for all of us to get "wild & crazy." This as if the family needs anymore 'crazy' to enjoy the coast. What we wish now is to spend as much time with Jane, Paul, Michael and Dave before they leave Sunday evening to return to Eugene, while Ed and I spend another two days with Doug and Jen. Then it will be time to return to North Carolina.

Off to the coastal drive....stay tuned. bbf