Just 5 More Minutes | An Epicurean & Adventure Travelogue

Hubby, B and I have been spending much loved time in the beautiful San Juan Islands, specifically Orcas Island.

As we board the ferry each weekend from the mainland and travel through these beautiful archipelagos I am reminded of the many farms (and farmers) of which the Islanders here are so very proud of.  From tiny seeds grow the most beautiful big fruits and vegetables that then serve the local islanders, schools and restaurants (to name just a few) of which we have been so honored to have dined at.

It is very exciting for me to be able to share everything you can do here on the Islands.   Our outdoor and epicurean experiences thus far have been nothing short of amazing from staying at beautiful West Beach Resort and Doe Bay Resort with our Airstream to whale watching with Capt. Beau and Outer Island Expeditions, fishing with North Shore Charters with Marty, Amanda and Jake, dining at the New Leaf Cafe (home of The Outlook Inn) where Chef Steve Debaste prepared our chosen items from the "very hard to make-up-your-mind," menu and of course I won't forget the sunset dinner cruise we had with Cruise Control complete with knowledgeable Capt. Robin and crewmate, sweet Olivia - both of whom are incredible cooks and the scenic, quiet (and peaceful) Inn at Ship Bay with Geddes and his talented team of chefs.

In addition we will be joining a wooden sail boat race around Yellow Island with Northwest Classic Daysailing, zip lining with Zip San Juan, cruising around the islands on our own thanks to Orcas Boat Rentals, sunset kayaking, shellfish gathering and exploring the outer islands here in the San Juan Islands as well.  Of course the wildlife will always be a continuing story :)

Each of our outdoor & epicurean adventures will have their own story here on J5MM for you complete with photography and recipes so please do check back often to read about our  journeys we have been so lucky to have taken. I do my very best to post twice a week :)

I am very happy to have you along :)

"You must go and visit the tulip fields Monica," a friend of mine told me a very long time ago when I first moved here to Washington.

Now that I am here, I am wondering why I waited for so long to make the trip.  As far as your eyes could see, there were brilliant colors of reds, pinks, purples and yellows rolling over the gentle hills.

It was an early morning actually.  Very early.  That is probably one of the greatest benefits of having your home on wheels with you.  You can go anywhere and get there early before all of the crowds.

It was so beautiful here.  I'm sorry I didn't make the trip sooner.

Also happening at the same time was the farmers market in Mt. Vernon which is very nearby to the fields.  We needed something for lunch and I was so happy to find fresh English peas, ready to eat edamame and some smoked salmon.  What a perfect way to enjoy our lunch that afternoon.

Fresh and simple with a light spread of savory mascarpone that I seasoned with plenty of salt and pepper.

That's it :)

Oh and I won't forget to tell you about those radishes :)  They were very, very spicy and added a nice crunch.

~ an outdoor market in Mt. Vernon, Washington

What an amazing weekend full of bright colors, delicious food and just being together.  I hope that you can come and visit it here one day.  It is truly something to experience once in your life.

This is where we stayed on our visit -- maybe you could to?

http://just5moreminutes.onsugar.com/Beautiful-Peaceful-Fidalgo-Bay-Resort-Breakfast-Stuffed-Pancakes-19312650

Our trip through Oregon's Spring Splendor was coming to an end.  It would not have been a proper trip to Oregon if we hadn't stopped off at Cannon Beach.  Full of rich history, fabulous restaurants with the friendliest hosts, candy shops galore and boutiques upon endless boutiques to fullfill your shopping desires are just a few of things you will find here.

Of course I won't forget to tell you all about the sandy beach with infamous Haystack Rock.  Maybe my pictures will help you understand just how breathtaking it is here.

Oh, did I mention the surfers?

They are amazing.

Morris' Fireside Restaurant was our stop for lunch.  It was hubby's favorite place to go -- for me, I have never been.  I was so happy he took B and I there. It was a slightly chilly day outside so you can imagine what a pleasure it was to walk into such a cozy and warm place.  The fire was so inviting along with the log cabin charm Morris' offered.

We split a burger with some of the most delicious fries I have had in a long time.  They were definitely made here and they were not greasy but rather thick and hearty.  I loved them!  B enjoyed his little sliders :)  They were just the right size for his little hands.

We also enjoyed a Bloody Mary.  It was hands down, the BEST Bloody Mary I have ever had.

That's Armando our host.  What a pleasure it was to meet him. He made me laugh and made our entire dining experience such a fun time. Oh and I should mention that the Bloody Mary recipe belongs to him so if you do stop by and you like this particular drink, I highly recommend it. It's on the menu too "Armando's Famous Bloody Mary."

I am sad that our trip was over so soon.  We will definitely be back to beautiful Oregon.

From our memories of Kahneeta, Smith Rock State Park, and Jetty Fishery to spending time on the beach with our Airstream, it was all an incredible time.

As usual :)

After our beautiful day that we spent at the beach we headed north on Hwy 101 and arrived at Jetty Fishery.

We could not believe our eyes.

To us, we just discovered a hidden gem and probably one of the most perfect spots that we had ever been to with our Airstream. The spots here come with full hookups, are covered with grass and come with amazing scenic views of Nehalem Bay.

It could not have been more of a perfect place for us to be.

Complete with smiling faces and some serious Dungeness crabbing opportunities, we were very excited to be here and start our crabbing adventure on the waters of Nehalem Bay.

"I could spent an entire week here," hubby said to me.

I could not have agreed more.

We love the taste of fresh dungeness crab and the adventures that come along with catching it.  Here when you catch a crab(s), you can bring it back to the dock and Josh (pictured above) will do the honors and cook your fresh catch for you to enjoy right there on the picnic tables.  Imagine enjoying your catch with sweeping views of the bay while the sun is shining.  This is what we saw when we arrived -- families doing just that and being happy together.

If you run out of luck and happen to not catch any crab, you can purchase some from their fresh salt water tanks.  Also available are oysters and clams if you like.

~ heading out to drop some crab rings

~ our crab and Prissy the local kitty.  She and B became very good friends.

~ Seagulls are everywhere and just waiting for the right moment to make their move on the seafood here

Right where I am standing is paradise for children that come to Jetty Fishery in the warm summertime.  This is a protected sandy place from the sea and at high tide, the sea water flows into this area and creates many shallow pools.  The sun then warms up the water making it an ideal nature playground for children.  I can only imagine it here in the summertime.  Must be incredible . . .

Our crab was going to be the star tonight and shine in a savory parfait complete with diced avocados, grape tomatoes and thinly sliced spicy radishes.  A drizzle of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice was all that this simple dish needed.  Crunchy and flaky sea salt brought it to pure perfection.

~ Our sunset view at Jetty Fishery

~ Our view just outside of our Airstream's door

An excerpt from jettyfishery.com:

The Jetty Fishery has been mentioned in publications such as the New York Times, Sunset Magazine, The Oregonian and Beer Northwest and is frequently selected as one of the best one-stop destinations for singles, couples and families to take part in crabbing, picnicking, hiking, camping, clamming, fishing, birding and eating some of the best fresh seafood on the West Coast of the United States.

The Jetty Fishery is located on the waters of the Nehalem Bay, less than 10 feet to tide pools, authentic cabled docks and sandy beaches. If you want to experience the pounding surf of the Pacific Ocean, you only need to open your window. Just a 2 minute boat ride across the Nehalem Bay and you’ll find yourself on the deserted beaches of the Nehalem Bay State Park. You can comb the beach, relax and read a book in a secluded nest of driftwood, or walk the lovely 3-mile peninsula over to the town of Manzanita and have an ice cream cone. No matter what you like to do, the Jetty Fishery is an excellent base of operations for your local activities.

When you spend time in Oregon you begin to realize just how incredible it really is here in all that it has to offer.  Dramatic coastlines, high deserts, state parks galore and so much more.

A couple more places to visit were on our agenda and then our trip would come to a close.  On this day we stopped at one of our favorite places to be with our Airstream.

Right next to the sea.

Hubby and B started exploring and I started preparing lunch for us.

Crispy purple potato cakes with salty gravlax and a farm fresh poached egg.  There were crunchy beet chips too.  Oh and some wild salmon caviar I should not forget.

Here is my recipe for crispy purple potato cakes on "The Blender," a Williams-Sonoma blog :)

You can find the recipe that I wrote for Full Circle Farm for Beet Chips here, but they are "baked," and not fried like the ones featured here.  Both are delicious but I was going for "quick," this afternoon and these fit the bill perfectly.

Preparing lunch at the beach + being with my family = HAPPINESS

Around and around went B riding his bicycle, all over the beach.

"Mommy! Watch how fast I can go!"

. . . and he did. He rode his bicycle so fast!

He was so happy and well, so was I.

And again, it was time to leave.  A crabbing trip was waiting for us and hubby was excited about that.

"Do we have to go now?  Can we please stay a little longer?" said B

As we pulled off to leave we took one last drive down the beach . . .

We were sad to be leaving Kahneeta.  We had such a wonderful time spending our days hiking, swimming, golfing and just relaxing.  We will forever remember the good times we had there.

Like anything else in life, it was time to move on.  We had a schedule that we needed to stick to if we truly wanted to visit all of the places we had in mind in Oregon.

So off we went.  Our next stop was Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne where we would be able to see some rock climbers in action.

When we arrived We pulled the Airstream into a nice big spot and had a picnic lunch of prosciutto, feta and tomato tartines accompanied with Burrata.

Oh that Burrata.  

Before our trip, a coworker of mine told me all about it and after her good ten minute, mouthwatering and awe inspiring Burrata story that took place in Italy, you can imagine how eager I was to get my hands on some of this cheese to take along with us on our trip.  Apparently it is not an easy cheese to find but luckily my local Whole Foods carried it.  

I've been waiting for the right time to serve this divine, buttery, fresh cheese.  It has been waiting for us in the Airstream fridge and as each day passed I could feel it taunting me but I was patient and waited for the right moment.  I wanted the time that we enjoyed this cheese to be special.  Now was the time.  Here we were in this beautiful park, it was so peaceful and quiet outside.

Burrata is the most amazing cheese I have ever tasted in my entire life.  It is fresh mozzarella and inside of it you find that it is stuffed with even more delicate, stringy mozzarella that has been soaked in fresh sweet cream.  It was divine.  Oh and did you know that Burrata is Italian for "Buttered?"  Well, there you go :)

"Look mommy!  I can see someone climbing . . ." B shrieked with excitement.

Wow, and there they were, the rock climbers.  So many of them and so high up.  I could never do it.  Never.  I am always envious of people who are not affected by heights.  For me, I am terrified.

The rock climbers were amazing to watch.  Carefully eyeing each place they will put their hands and feet and then slowly getting higher and higher.  Then when they came back down they were so happy and were talking about what a fantastic time it was.

It was a fantastic time for us too.  Smith Rock State Park was incredible.  We felt like we were on a different planet with the dramatic rocky landscape that surrounded us.  I took many pictures here.  I just couldn't stop snapping away.  It was so beautiful.  I wanted to make sure it was all captured.  Every last bit of it.

What a wonderful trip we were having so far.  We just love Oregon, what a beautiful place to visit.

P.S.
If you are interested, here is a Smith Rock State Park Brochure for your reading pleasure :)

"I just don't feel like cooking tonight," I mentioned to hubby as we headed back down from the mountain (it was another beautiful hike that day).

I had plenty of delicious fresh goodies in the fridge, but tonight I wanted to do something different.  I wanted to go and see the Chinook Room located in the Lodge where I have heard from many guests here at Kahneeta that it is the place to go for incredibly delicious cuisine.

Apparently it is so good there that people drive all the way from Portland and beyond to enjoy the gourmet fare.

Boy were they right.

We enjoyed perfectly cooked salmon with hollandaise sauce, tender lamb (B's favorite),  flaky elk empanadas (yes, elk -- my first time ever trying it and it was delicious!) and thinly sliced venison that was topped with the most incredible berry sauce I had ever tasted.  The combination of all the flavors were perfect and everything was cooked to absolute perfection and served, once again, but a smiling face from our sweet hostess.

No wonder everyone is always so happy here and smiling.

It really is such a wonderful place to be -- beautiful landscapes and amazing cuisine.

Bon appetit!

Here everyone is all smiles.

Really.

So kind, so caring and so, well . . . always making sure you are having a good time.

This for sure, we were having. Especially B.

We could hardly wait to take a hike up into the beautiful mountains that surround Kahneeta.

The views were so beautiful.

So incredible.

To fuel our day I made chocolate crepes.  Oh those crepes . . . B is still talking about them.  This time we kept them plain with just a sprinkling of sugar and I can tell you, we probably won't have them any other way after tasting them.  What that sugar does to those crepes, it's magical almost.

I also want to share with you photos of double bruleed custard oats that I also made. The hard candy topping on the custard oats, well, it was almost desert.

There was so much to see on our hike from wildlife tracks (I am guessing these are mountain lion maybe?) high up in the mountains to the cool rushing river down below . . .

I also was eager to make beautiful bowls of berries with vanilla stewed rhubarb from my garden.  Greek yogurt with some honey finished it off perfectly along with a sprinkling of chopped pistachios.

It was quite the feast that morning that took us through to the end of the day when I prepared an amazing rice pasta and cheese dish with a very special ingredient that really took it up to a new level of decadence.  I am looking forward to sharing that with you soon!  You will be very surprised :)

Kahneeta is a very special place for us.  It was our very first time here and it will most definitely not be our last.  The combination of the beautiful landscapes, outdoor activities, incredibly friendly people that always have non-stop smiles on their faces and just general overall feeling of complete peace really sets the stage for the perfect family vacation.

I miss it there, very much.

So does B.

"B, can I take off your wrist band for you?" (It was a wrist band for access to the slippery slides)

"No mommy, please don't.  I want to keep it on forever."

See?  It's a paradise for children and adults alike.

Thank you so much Kahneeta for the memories that we will keep forever :) xoxo

Dear friends,

Just yesterday is when we returned home from our spring trip to beautiful Oregon.  

Oh how I miss it already . . .

I took over 1,500 photographs on this trip if you can believe it.  I couldn't help myself, Oregon is so beautiful with some of the most incredible landscapes you will ever find.  I keep thinking how I will put all of my photos together so I can clearly share with you our experiences.

Until then, I will leave you with some images of places that we visited and meals that I prepared.  If you can tell it, we had an incredible time and are already planning when we will return.  I can hardly wait.

"I wish we could have stayed for just one more day mommy," said B over dinner last night.

"I know it darling.  Me too . . . me too."

Warm springs, hiking, biking, swimming, horseback riding, golfing and the list goes on . . .

These are just some of the things you can enjoy here at Kahneeta Resort located in Central Oregon's high desert.

Tomorrow we go on a hike.  A day hike and I very excited about it, especially to take some photographs so I can share with you just how incredible this landscape is out here.  You won't believe it -- I promise.

The landscape is absolutely breathtaking here.

Breathtaking.

Today we celebrated the welcoming of Spring and Easter.

B participated in the annual egg hunt here and found two golden eggs.  Two!

Guess what was inside?

Money!  Oh the look on his face, lol.

He also had his traditional Easter basket hunt.

"Mommy?  Do you think the Easter Bunny came?" he asked me, first thing when he woke up.

"I'm not sure, why don't we go and have a look?"

B is eight years old by the way -- and he still believes in the Easter bunny.

My sweet boy.

After the morning festivities, we enjoyed brunch at Kahneeta.

Here is talented chef David preparing my omelette.  It was delicious, thank you David!

Back at camp and looking forward to new adventures and some home cooking on the Airstream.  Stay tuned . . .