How to make a perfect Italian meal

Send friend to Italy with nothing on her mind but the great taste of the pesto from Italy...more specifically pesto from Liguria...and even more specifically pesto from the Cinqueterre.


Meanwhile in about a month - boil water and add a generous handful or two of pasta...


Shockingly in that month your friend has returned and brought you.... wouldn't you know it... a jar of homemade pesto from the wonderful town of Vernazza.. on the Ligurian coast...


Drain pasta and add to pretty bowl with pesto.


Mix pasta with pesto - and as the steaming pasta hits the cool pesto - the smells of Italy return, fresh basil, lemon trees, the smell of the Ligurian sea, the train whistles into the tunnel, far off a dog barks... and here in my kitchen I savor the flavors, the smell, the taste of a trip taken long ago but fresh in my mind as if it were yesterday. And that is how you make a great Italian bowl of pasta!

Dancing the Sideline with Eryn

She is a magician that gal!

Cute Andrew

Just when I think I have sorta kindof mastered the vastness of computer wizardry - it throws another loop at me. And then I try to remember that at the end of a long hard day of travelling great distances in a wagon pulled by very slow oxen - the hardy Pioneer women not only set up camp and prepared dinner on a camp fire (and without Circulon pans!) but they did all that and then set about doing a thousand things that had to be done like sewing their own clothes, or making soap because you know they didn't have the 134 gallon bottle of Tide from Costco.

It's good to have perspective - and that is why I like to show off this photo of my friend Andrew who is so independent and wildly confident and optimistic at the age of 5 - the kind of kid that makes you think wouldn't it be great to be five forever? He is athletic, smart and so amused by his own humor.... And what makes Andrew the greatest 5 year old is that he is a HUGE, HUGE Duck fan. I'd like to think that has something to do with the influence of his friend Amy, but more likely it is because when he was 3 - green and yellow just looked way cooler than orange and black. So in a family of Beaver fans - my Andrew stands up and loudly and proudly proclaims his love of the mighty DUX! Is that why he is all yellow here? You bet - he really is that big a fan. I could cry with happiness.

Paella in Portland

Although this picture is from the food market in Barr, France it provides the milieu in which to tell you about a new Spanish restaurant in Portland that I had the pleasure of visiting recently (well about 2 hours ago).

It's Toro Bravo at 120 NE Russell - next door to the Wonder Ballroom. Mainly a Tapas bar but they also do serve Paella. No paella tonight but we did start with a pitcher of Sangria that was delicious - not too sweet and swimming at the bottom - a medley of fresh Oregon berries - nice touch.

We ordered a variety of things - manchego cheese and paprika fritters; chorizo and sliced manchego with bread; grilled shrimp with chili oil; grilled sweet corn with cilantro pesto; and a mixed green salad with hazelnuts served in a light vinagrette and topped with Spanish goat cheese.

Without going all Rachel Ray on you - it was all pretty damn yum! The fritters were light and delicious with a hint of spice. They were served with chunky tomato salsa. The sliced chorizo and cheese was good - not fancy but both were well selected and somewhere in the back of my head I was humming Andalucia as I took each bite of manchego!

The highlight of the evening for me was the grilled shrimp. The serving dish came with three large, luscious and spicy good shrimp - which when there are two of you (as happened to me tonight) makes it very awkward - try splitting three shrimp in two and still remain friends at the end of the evening. Apparently I really didn't value friendship tonight as I ate two of the three shrimp lustily and with absolutely no guilt.

The grilled sweet corn was drizzled with generous dollops of cilantro pesto - now I usually despise cilantro so I was leery to dive in. And well I still despise cilantro so I nibbled around the pesto and tried to save the friendship by "generously" offering my dining partner the extra cob of corn.

The salad was well dressed, light and just the right counter to the richer food we had ordered. And there was lots of it as we both were able to get multiple servings and even left some in the bowl.

I should add that one pitcher of Sangria was enough punch to boozily divert my partner from remembering that I had stolen the third shrimp. So when we ordered dessert (baked Oregon berries with sour cream ice cream) and it arrived piping hot and all oozy melting goodness - I was able to again eat my share and then some by diverting her attention to a puppy in the street.

So I highly recommend Toro Bravo - there were many other things I yearned to try on the menu - some really tasty sounding carniverous offerings and since the owner/chef is a former butcher - I have no doubt they are all quite good. But I will pick my dining partner more wisely - most likely a vegetarian.

Susan Does It Again!

As the final minutes of the championship game were winding down – I was brimming with confidence that even though we had had many opportunities to win the game on the field in regular time – that if it came to PK’s that we would win. And win we did thanks to the incredible skill and smarts of our beloved keeper Susan.

The Violent Thistles repeated as champions at the infamous Snohomish tournament. And once again we brought home the t-shirt! This year was perhaps an even greater triumph since Over 30 B was integrated into Over 30 A due to lack of teams entered. So the competition was great.

Our first game was a battle and we knew right away we were playing with the big dogs. We won 2-1 with two incredible goals from Robyn and Arnie (Violent Femmes incredibly fast and skilled forward – very fun to play with!). Her header from a Kelsey cross was one of the prettiest goals I’ve seen at Snohomish.

Susan had an incredible first game – we would end up facing this team in the finals and the game could have easily gone either way but Susan was amazing – saving several shots that were hard driving high shots that seemed to stop right on Susan’s fingertips.

Our second game was also tough but thanks to Erin Thompson’s two goals we won 2-0 to advance to the semi’s.

Sunday – we got a late start to the day – first game at 2:00 against the Stinky Pigs. They had recruited a sweeper that was incredible – fast, smart, great ball skills and she could rocket a clearance from her own penalty box to the other team’s penalty box.

Thanks to some scouting from Kelsey and Robyn – we knew their weakness – if we could pull the sweeper out to the wing – it would leave the middle wide open and our first goal was exactly that – Arnie pulled her to the wing – she saw the middle was open and a quick cross and we were up 1-0!

It was a tough battle – Eryn went down with an ankle injury (but tough as ever – after a little ice therapy she did rejoin us) and Erin was taken down in the box for a PK which gave us our third goal. Stac once again walked off the field with a very bloody left knee. And with seconds to play in the game, Susan was cleated hard in the thigh. We won 4-2 but we were battle weary.

A short break, some arnica therapy for Susan, a taped up ankle for Eryn and then the final began at 4:30. We faced our first opponent – the Knot – E’s. Our offense was on fire – there was no end to the runs, crosses, and creative, beautiful soccer. For some reason we had more freedom in this game than any other and there was some terrific stuff. Sadly we could not put one in the goal – and as the minutes ticked down both teams seem resigned to a PK finish.

I will spare you the kick by kick PK replay – suffice to say – Susan saved two PK’s, and had her hands on another – Erin and Eryn both scored their PK’s along with Kelsey and to finish it off with the 5th and final kick – a rocket shot that slipped through the opposing keepers arms and into the goal – our very own defender – Tara.

You can be very proud of our Thistles. Erin and Eryn were great as always – Erin had several goals and assists – all of them beauties and played almost every minute of the tournament. And she and Arnie were a fearsome front two-some – so glad I wasn’t defending that! Eryn gave our mid a sense of calm that was greatly needed – her distribution was top notch, her runs down the wing were awesome and she had another cross bar shot which Robyn very nearly put in on the rebound. Also her PK shot in the championship on a weak ankle was terrific – what a tough gal!

Stac was tough as nails (bloody knees to show for it) and totally calm in defense, and I – well I listened to Tara and stayed right with #18 or was it #10, # 7 – who has #7? wait that’s Robyn!

But this tournament was Susan’s – in all the games she was at her best. And to finish it off with a PK triumph was just classic Susan. She paid the price – we shipped her off to Chicago with a cleated thigh and a knee to the other thigh. So walking will be a challenge – but I’m sure she would be the first to say, it was all worth it.

Hot Thistle Action!

Now how is that for an action shot? Janice in mid-air - taking aim for a half volley (apparently right at the ref!). I really hate to say this but that is some fine Husky form there.

Thanks to Stevie for the great picture - and I definitely have lens envy, camera envy for that matter.

What you can't tell from this picture is that that was some mind sweltering heat out there. Whew... has anyone seen the old Tuborg beer ads? With the old man wiping his brow on the roadside - just waiting for a cold Danish beer? That's what it felt like out there.

I'll skip over the details of the game - except to mention that Janice did play great - she covered lots of territory all night. And the goal was terrific - great through ball Eryn - and speaking of Eryn - she danced the sideline with that soccer ball like no one else. What a master of touch.

The post game "chill with a beer" and chat was again the highlight of the night. It was so wonderful to have the VanderWeele-Ghastin crew out there. Harv is already getting Liam into football! And Sean - even tho you were sweaty and beat from the ride - you were as charming as ever. We missed Patrick tho.

Wish I had a little more wit tonight but it's been a long day and without air conditioning it may be a long hot night.... just a long Hot July Night! (Sweet Caroline...bum bum bum... good times never seemed so good....)

My buddies in Hawaii

This is a picture of Kathy and Drew's boys, from left, Andrew, Nicholas and Ben, at my alma mater - Hawaii Prep Academy. They are on the Big Island for vacation and decided to have a look. It reminds me what a beautiful place this is - and not too shabby a place to go to high school. Believe it or not in these conditions, with one of the world's best beaches only 10 miles away - I did manage to study. If I can find it in my archives (old cruddy boxes covered in dust in my basement) I will download a picture from my graduation - not out of vanity but just to show you what an incredibly beautiful graduation they do there. No caps and gowns - just flowers and leis and lots of Aloha spirit. What a place.

More pics of red rocks

This is from a hike I did two days ago at the Kolob area of Zion. This area is a lot less populated by tourists - in fact there was hardly anyone there. It was about 4:30 pm when I started out and did end up hiking with Jake from Pennsylvania. I had camera envy as he has a Nikon D200 ooh la la.

Anyways, it was a beautiful hike into this canyon and at the end of a double arch. Beauty that makes you really believe in a higher power - Van Gogh maybe?

I went for a very hot 9 mile hike today and need to hit the showers but wanted to get this downloaded.

Pictures from Zion NP

Hi from Zion

Ah the oasis in the desert. I was flying through the town of Rockville on the way to Zion N.P. when I spied this bed and breakfast in the middle of town. Had to stop and capture the thistle moment.

It's been a long and hot day. Started out at Snow Canyon state park and did a couple of short midday hikes there, which were beautiful but I wouldn't recommend doing it in 106 degree heat. There is just no way around it - it was damn hot.

After refueling with fluids in St. George - I headed east at about 4:30 to Zion NP. Thought I'd have a quick peek before going there for the day tomorrow. What an absolutely gorgeous place. On my way there I passed several spots in the road like for instance Rockville and Coal Pit Wash. They should have named it "Most beautiful place for miles wash" or "This is unbleeping believable red rockville".

So got to the park via Springdale and following Sandra Hinchman's advice I entered the park and headed to the east entrance. The drive was incredible. I will post some pictures above. Gorgeous rocks, scenery and the size of it all - again did a couple of short jaunts to check out views etc. and the heat was much more tolerable. A combination of time of day (it was about 7:30 pm) and elevation (I think Zion is at about 6,000 feet).

Anyways a great day.