Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[QueSeraSera]

Garden harvest time, however meager.  somehow a new bean plant (or 2?) grew up around the wreckage of the originals and is now producing product.  Late dinner tonight, wish I had DWavey or JP or Clo here to turn this into a worthy dinner side dish for the shrimp I'm sautéing.   

 

 

[Stumblefoot]

That’s great silkismom.  Super cool you got to see Moose cow with her calf!

 

Attached is a shot of the sunset tonight (no filter) from our campsite which is on the east side of the Sangre de Cristos in the Wet Mountain valley.  We’re heading to Salida tomorrow and haven’t decided what we’re going to do Monday.

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe day all!

[Lois R]

8 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

That’s great silkismom.  Super cool you got to see Moose cow with her calf!

 

Attached is a shot of the sunset tonight (no filter) from our campsite which is on the east side of the Sangre de Cristos in the Wet Mountain valley.  We’re heading to Salida tomorrow and haven’t decided what we’re going to do Monday.

Good morning, what a beautiful picture.  It looks so peaceful. Too bad the world isn't feeling the way that picture

looks..............

[TLCOhio]

14 hours ago, silkismom said:

Stumbles, we just got back from 5 nights in our RV in Grand Lake, Elk Creek campground just outside Rocky Mtn Nt Pk, there is a "resident" cow moose and calf that eat the willows at least once a day. We didn't see a thing in the park except some elk way in the distance. So glad we were on our way home today, the roads were packed and we can "enjoy" the expected snow from home with the fireplace.

 

Great to hear about the sights and wildlife of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.  Like to be back there and enjoying those wonderful views and that dramatic excitement.  Nice sunset view from Stumblefoot.  KEEP IT COMING!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

[mysty]

[silkismom]

The trailer in the background is not ours.

[silkismom]

BTW the collar on her is a tracking device. They call her "steak sauce"

[Fletcher]

'I ate his [chicken] livers with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

 

Tonight one of our favourites - chicken liver sauce with pasta.  This dish is all about the very finest ingredients and an extensive prep.  You need to be organised.

 

Saute some shallots in olive oil and butter, add grated garlic then a fistful of proper pancetta and sage leaves, then another fistful of minced beef, then add the chicken livers and saute until they have lost their raw appearance.  After that, add a mixture of two teaspoons of tomato puree mixed with a decent amount of Noilly Prat (or dry Vermouth) and cook gently for 8 minutes. Add twice-podded broad beans, more butter and parsley.  Then add the pasta - I use a very broad variety called mafaldine which holds the sauce beautifully.  Italian parsley adds a nice touch. No need for parmesan with this.  It's big and filling and needs a 'nice chianti.'

[Lois R]

1 minute ago, Fletcher said:

'I ate his [chicken] livers with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

 

Tonight one of our favourites - chicken liver sauce with pasta.  This dish is all about the very finest ingredients and an extensive prep.  You need to be organised.

 

Saute some shallots in olive oil and butter, add grated garlic then a fistful of proper pancetta and sage leaves, then another fistful of minced beef, then add the chicken livers and saute until they have lost their raw appearance.  After that, add a mixture of two teaspoons of tomato puree mixed with a decent amount of Noilly Prat (or dry Vermouth) and cook gently for 8 minutes. Add twice-podded broad beans, more butter and parsley.  Then add the pasta - I use a very broad variety called mafaldine which holds the sauce beautifully.  Italian parsley adds a nice touch. No need for parmesan with this.  It's big and filling and needs a 'nice chianti.'

This looks delicious😀

[TLCOhio]

1 minute ago, Lois R said:

This looks delicious😀

 

Agree!!!  Fletcher's pasta dish looks super good and very tasty!!  Makes me hungry.  

 

As to moose, here are two pictures from Alaska last summer after sailing on the Silver Muse.  Coming back from Denali, here are the two different pictures.  One is a real moose!!  The other?  Cute but fake.  Sorry.  Can you tell the difference?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

From Alaska, August 2019 here are two moose sightings!.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

[clo]

On 9/4/2020 at 9:39 AM, mysty said:

Miss him regularly.

 

When in Vietnam I sought out a soup that he said was the best in the world. I agree. Bon Bo Hue.

 

[jpalbny]

Looks like we've all been cooking today! Fletcher, that sounds delicious. Maybe a little too rich for a summery day but once there is a little chill in the air, that would be superb.

 

It was beautiful and sunny here, but only 70 degrees, so we went out for a run this afternoon. Then I changed the water in the hot tub and did some work on the pool. It's 80 degrees still - our solar blanket works great - so maybe we'll get in later this weekend. 

 

I found a recipe a few weeks ago in F&W for chicken-tomatillo fajitas, which I'd been eager to try. But I had to wait for my tomatillos to get ripe enough... I planted one tomatillo plant along with the tomatoes this spring, on a lark, just to see what would happen. I really didn't expect much, but it's been growing like crazy, and finally the fruits are starting to get big enough to use.

 

So I chopped a bunch of them along with green onions, a hot pepper, and lots of garlic. They got sauteed, then cooked down further in some chicken broth. The whole mess went into a blender with lots of fresh cilantro (store-bought - I didn't grow any this year).

 

In the meantime I grilled some chicken thighs and then shredded the meat. It got reheated in the pan with the salsa verde:

 

 

We served the meat with some tasty sides: pico de gallo which Chris painstakingly chopped - the fresh tomato was also from the garden; radishes; and the crispy skin from the chicken thighs, which I could not bear to throw out. It was too crispy and had lots of salt and pepper on it. It would have been a shame to waste all that goodness, and we did burn a few calories running!

 

 

Piled high on a tortilla and ready to eat! Along with some pickled jalapeños which I'd made a few weeks ago. Yum!

 

 

Another 60+ hours to go on this "holiday" weekend. We are both on call so no break for us. We are making up for it by taking a few days off next week, though. I finally decided that not having any vacation since January was just not sustainable, so we decided to use some of our accumulating days. We haven't decided what we are doing, if anything, but maybe we'll drive an hour or two south of here and do some hiking - there are more waterfalls to discover! We thought of spending a night in New York City but it seems a little early to try that.

 

Enjoy the weekend, all! The weather has been superb so far.

Edited September 5, 2020 by jpalbny

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, silkismom said:

The trailer in the background is not ours.

Wow!  Those are great pics of the meese. 😉

[jpalbny]

Meese. Ha. English is sure funny!

 

Here is one we saw in Denali many years ago... Probably could have touched it, or tried to, were I stupid enough.

 

[silkismom]

I think the only time I've seen a bull moose was in AK and didn't get a photo. Larry is doing a large salmon fillet in the smoker and I'm going to stuff some zucchini, really wish I could have a garden. Deer even ate my lilac bush, not the Russian sage though. (pretty, but really stinks, bees and hummers like it.) 

[Emtbsam]

3 hours ago, Fletcher said:

'I ate his [chicken] livers with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

 

Tonight one of our favourites - chicken liver sauce with pasta.  This dish is all about the very finest ingredients and an extensive prep.  You need to be organised.

 

Saute some shallots in olive oil and butter, add grated garlic then a fistful of proper pancetta and sage leaves, then another fistful of minced beef, then add the chicken livers and saute until they have lost their raw appearance.  After that, add a mixture of two teaspoons of tomato puree mixed with a decent amount of Noilly Prat (or dry Vermouth) and cook gently for 8 minutes. Add twice-podded broad beans, more butter and parsley.  Then add the pasta - I use a very broad variety called mafaldine which holds the sauce beautifully.  Italian parsley adds a nice touch. No need for parmesan with this.  It's big and filling and needs a 'nice chianti.'

Sounds wonderful!

[clo]

5 hours ago, Fletcher said:

chicken liver sauce with pasta.

After decades of trying I thought I'd given up on chicken livers but this sounds just lovely. We have local ranchers and farmers around Reno. Maybe I should try with fresh, local, etc. Bob loves them so they won't go to waste.

 

I assume you grate your garlic on a microplane grater. I only learned the trick a few years ago to turn in the opposite direction from grating cheese and you can see how much you have and then just tap it off into the pot.

[Daveywavey70]

On 9/4/2020 at 10:30 AM, SteveH2508 said:

If you like Gewurtzraminer (I do too!) then you might like a Viognier. 
 

Montbazillac with seared foie gras is rather good too.

yes I do enjoy a Viognier. I have an extremely nice Chateau la Fage on my wine list, (I’m an hotelier) it’s an excellent Monbazillac.

[Fletcher]

7 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

yes I do enjoy a Viognier. I have an extremely nice Chateau la Fage on my wine list, (I’m an hotelier) it’s an excellent Monbazillac.

 

Montbazillac isn't a viognier - Condrieu - wine, but a super sweet relative of Sauternes, I think.  It's become rather difficult these days to find Sauternes because they are just so out of fashion.  I did read recently that even D'Yquem is likely to go out of business.

[lincslady]

Something which  nowadays is unfashionable or politically incorrect, but which I (whisper) love,  is the combination of sauteed foie gras and Sauternes.  Yes, I think Monbazillac is from Bergerac ,  east of Bordeaux,  and wines made with the viognier grape are essentially from Condrieu in the northern Rhone.

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe day all!

[Lois R]

Good morning friends,  Mysty, If I haven't told you lately, thanks for always posting the right things.........that one

is truly perfect..........

[TLCOhio]

Below is an "odd couple" from different times and periods in history.  Many differences between Abraham Lincoln and Marilyn Monroe.  Tomorrow is Labor Day here in the U.S.  Another day off and to stay at home??!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

[mysty]