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Upstate NY and duck pond

January 7, 2013 by vclayton

on my recent holiday visit to upstate ny, a frozen pond serves as a resting place for hundreds of ducks, the beauty of it made me stop in my car and take this photo

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Rosemary and Sea Salt Flatbread

December 10, 2012 by vclayton

Amelia's avatarSimple Provisions

Rosemary and Sea Salt Flatbread

Since humans worked out how to use grains around 10,000 years ago we’ve been making unleavened bread. It’s been a staple in many cultures, harking back to the birth of modern civilisation in the Fertile Crescent. You could say we’ve collectively had a decent amount of practice making flatbread, so I’m not sure why I thought it would be difficult. Turns out, all that practice was worthwhile. It’s really quite easy to make very tasty bread with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry (especially if your garden boasts a rosemary bush as my new garden does).

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the garden has grown

December 3, 2012 by vclayton

young garden and the man that planted new grass seeds, for the third time

lettuce garden

hyacinth grow wild in Oregon

bluebells

azalea

apple tree jona gold when it was about three years old

fig and bushes

strawberry flower

fern on my back porch

antique roses from early 1900

hydrangea bushes grow wild

the wisteria took nicely

figs

currants

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Pie shop and single seated window seat hoggers

November 30, 2012 by vclayton

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finally bottling my cherry liquor

November 21, 2012 by vclayton

It tastes delicious and we got quite a few bottles from it, it is a long aging process, summer to late fall in the bottles, sour cherries, best quality vodka and sugar, that’s it!!!! If you simply have to have a bottle email me and I can see if we can mail you one, for $55.00 and shipping costs, to be determined!!

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fish to eat and to avoid guide

November 16, 2012 by vclayton

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_NationalGuide.pdf

BEST CHOICES

Arctic Char (farmed) Barramundi (US farmed) Catfish (US farmed) Clams (farmed)

Cobia (US farmed)
Cod: Pacific (US non-trawled)
Crab: Dungeness, Stone
Halibut: Pacific (US)
Lobster: California Spiny (US)
Mussels (farmed)
Oysters (farmed)
Sablefish/Black Cod (Alaska & Canada) Salmon (Alaska wild)
Sardines: Pacific (US)
Scallops (farmed)
Shrimp: Pink (OR)
Striped Bass (farmed & wild*)
Tilapia (US farmed)
Trout: Rainbow (US farmed)
Tuna: Albacore (Canada & US Pacific,

troll/pole)
Tuna: Skipjack, Yellowfin (US troll/pole)

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the new skylights in the attic

November 13, 2012 by vclayton

we are almost done with the 5 Velux skylights being installed in the attic before it becomes a real space
at a cost of $6000 for the windows and installation, it has a very large part to play in the ongoing renovation….it will give us a new space to enjoy and perhaps help us sell the house for what we have put into it

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my three favorite low budget red european wines

November 10, 2012 by vclayton

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la jolla heights,california

November 1, 2012 by vclayton

this is the most amazing spot…on top of the cliff in La Jolla, California

and the beach near by, Pacific Beach

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a short trip to San Diego

October 31, 2012 by vclayton

We went to San Diego to get a few days in the sun and had great weather, in the 80’s, sunny every day, but no swimming, the water temp was 63, and way too cold

The view from the 26th floor, of the Hilton Bayfront hotel, with the convention center on the right

the view from the pool area

a statue in front of the water

Hilton’s front entrance

John enjoying crab at the Crab Shack nearby

A hair cutting seminar was scheduled for one of the conference rooms in the hotel

visiting Coronado beach at the hotel’s restaurant

small garden of herbs by the hotel

the stalk of this cactus looks like an asparagus spear

walking the sidewalk near Coronado beach

Coronado Beach

sunset by our hotel

bridge from the hotel to the gaslamp area

sushi at Taka in Gastown, San Diego

Pacific Beach

the pier at Pacific Beach

Surfers at the beach

fishing off the pier

Pacific beach pier

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a yellow tree on 34th av

October 24, 2012 by vclayton

yellow tree on 34th av, near my house, not sure what it is but it struck me as beautiful

 

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Mayor, my new video

October 15, 2012 by vclayton

The second youngest mayor in American history gets elected in Pennsylvania. He lives in a typical small American town with a typical mom and sister. His nemesis, the Council President, strongly mistrusts the entire “spectacle”. Will Jeff get his police? Will the incumbent mayor give up his seat without a fight? This is truly an eye opening fact of life in the United States, that anyone, and we mean anyone, can be Mayor if they so desire!

We follow Jeff from his winning the election to the First meeting of Town council where the old mayor gives up his chair.

Hilarious and refreshing, a true “tale” of American politics at work.

Check it out here

https://vimeo.com/51421258

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real cevapcic sausage, croatian style

October 3, 2012 by vclayton

http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/sausages/r/cevapcici.htm

It has been said the casing-less sausages known as cevapcici or cevaps found their way into Eastern Europe via the Ottoman Empire, which picked them up from Arabic cultures around Persia.

Today, there are different versions of cevapcici throughout Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. Some use pork and lamb, others use pork, lamb and beef, and yet others omit the pork entirely.

Originally, they were skewered and grilled over an open fire. Nowadays, most cooks grill, broil or pan fry them. They make great appetizers and sandwiches on lepinjebread!

Makes 6 servings of Cevapcici

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground beef chuck
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 1/2 pound ground lamb
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Finely chopped onions, for garnish

Preparation:

  1. Mix together beef, pork, lamb, garlic, 1/2 cup chopped onions and salt until thoroughly combined.
  2. Roll meat mixture into a long, 3/4-inch cylinder. Cut links at 4-inch intervals. Or, you can use a sausage extruder. Place on plastic wrap-lined plate, cover with more plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to firm. Note: Sausages can be frozen at this point. When ready to use, thaw or cook from the frozen state.
  3. Broil “cevapcici” on a charcoal grill or a preheated oven broiler rack coated with cooking spray 4 to 6 inches from flame, 4 minutes per side or until no longer pink in the middle. Or they can be pan fried in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over high heat for a total of about 8 minutes, turning frequently to brown all sides.
  4. Serve with chopped raw onion, Serbian potato salad and pogacha bread. Cevapcici make great appetizers!

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Gruner in Portland

October 3, 2012 by vclayton

http://grunerpdx.com

A new restaurant in Portland that seems to be getting some attention. I decided to go there with my friend Ann for lunch, who is battling cancer, as per her suggestion, otherwise I might have gone somewhere else since I was not that drawn to it. I was excited to see this on the menu:

grilled cevapcici sausage with lescó — hungarian stew of
gypsy peppers, sweet onions & tomatoes, served with polenta
with grilled corn and asiago cheese 12

It is one of my favorite things to eat in my country of birth, Croatia.

But actually what I got was a sausage, not a “cevapcic” at all, so I was disappointed and Ann was very happy with her burger, a thing she can rarely eat, as per her dietary restrictions.

So I would implore the chef to change the menu to say sausages, in the style of a Polish kielbasa, is what it really tasted like…

cevapcic sausage????

burger with smashed fries

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The Hazel Room cafe

September 6, 2012 by vclayton

this cafe opened a few months ago around the corner from my house, on Hawthorne and 32nd, in an old craftsman style brick bungalow http://thehazelroom.com
it is awesome!!! please go there if in Portland visiting

beer, wine and muffins

bar and cafe in one

old dining room

small detail from the mantel

my fluffy single machiato

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watermelon surprise

September 5, 2012 by vclayton

watermelons and juice

this is a watermelon i bought and cut up today, from whole foods…I LOVE IT
I also took another two watermelons, took out the flesh and blended them until they were liquid
I froze my freshly squeezed watermelon juice for those rainy winter days!!!! in weck jars with plastic lids

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