Acorn Squash & Zucchini Stew

This stew was made on Friday night. I've been trying to buy vegetables that I don't normally buy, in an effort to expand our options and try new things. We had tried Butternut Squash twice previously with success, so I decided to try an Acorn Squash. Both times we had the Butternut Squash we served it in a similar way to mashed Potatoes, once actually mixing in mashed Potatoes and I wanted to try something different with the Acorn Squash. I read a few recipes but wasn't quite happy with any single one, so I went in my own direction.
After dinner I wrote down the "recipe" and commented to Tim that had I read this in a cookbook I wouldn't make it because the list of ingredients is too long. However, it really did turn out quite well so I will share it with you.

Acorn Squash & Zucchini Stew
2 3 1 T 1 T 1 2 3 1 C 1 T Pinch 1 Qt. 1 C	Acorn Squash, halved, seeded & sliced lengthwise into 1" thick wedges Small Zucchini, cut into 1/2" thick coins Butter Canola or Vegetable Oil Medium Onion, diced Stalks Celery, chopped Garlic Cloves, minced Brown Rice, pre-soaked for 1-2 hrs Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped Nutmeg & Cayenne Pepper Broth (I used Imagine No-Chicken Broth) Half & Half Additional Broth if needed Salt & Pepper to taste Cheese (we tried Amadeus)
Arrange squash on greased baking sheet with sliced sides down and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place on lower rack in preheated 425º oven for about 30 minutes, flipping half way through. Add zucchini to pan when you flip the Squash. Heat butter & oil over medium heat in deep pot. Add onion, celery and a bit of salt. Saute until onions begin to brown. Slightly lower heat. Add drained rice, garlic, rosemary, nutmeg & cayenne pepper. Saute for a few minutes then add broth. Bring to a boil. When squash is cooked through, remove from the oven. If necessary, flip zucchini and return to oven for a few more minutes. Remove skin from squash. Mash 1/3 of the squash and add to pot along with half and half. Reduce heat to medium and stir until combined. Cube remaining squash. When rice is fully cooked add cubed squash and zucchini. If necessary add additional broth to thin out soup. Serve with a few thin slices of cheese on top.

Vancouver Aquarium & Stanley Park

When Allison came to visit us in Seattle back in February we went on a day trip up to Vancouver. One of the places we visited was the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. Here are some of the photos we took while there.



To view larger versions of the images, visit the Picasa Album.

Snuggles

Snuggling while we watch TV.

Every morning, after Tim gets up,
Olive hops up on the bed and sleeps with Lindsay.

Marinated Tofu & Stir-fry

Measurements are approximate. Adjust as you see fit. This made about 3 servings.

Tofu Marinade
2 T 2 T 1 T + 1 t 2 t 1/2 t 2 1	Sweet & Sour Sauce, Plum Sauce, etc. Balsamic Vinegar Low Sodium Soy Sauce Chili Sauce Ginger Powder Garlic Cloves, minced Package firm tofu, drained and sliced into 4-6 steaks
Combine all ingredients, except tofu, in bowl and mix. Put tofu in large zip lock bag and pour marinade in. Seal with some air still in the bag and gently move tofu around to coat. Refrigerate for several hours, mixing occasionally. Bake in 375º oven for 30 minutes, flipping once.

Since the tofu takes longer than the stir-fry, I put the cabbage (below) in the left over marinade from the tofu while waiting to add it to the stir-fry.

Stir-fry
1 T 1 1/4 t 1-2 t 2 1/2 1/2 3	Canola Oil Onion Red Pepper Flakes Low Sodium Soy Sauce Garlic Cloves, minced Jicama*, cut into strips Cabbage, sliced Leaves Kale, sliced
Heat oil in frying pan on medium heat, add onion and red pepper flakes. When onion begins to brown add soy sauce. Reduce heat; add garlic and jicama. About 5 minutes before tofu is done add cabbage and kale. Serve over rice.

* What is Jicama? I find it similar in texture to Water Chestnut, but with a milder, sweeter flavour

Chewbacca & a Picnic

A couple weekends ago we dog-sat for a guy at Tim's work. You can see a picture of her smiling face (and snaggle tooth) above. Her name is Chewbacca. Her family calls her Chewie for short and we affectionately nick named her Chew Toy. She's 10 years old and rather diminutive in stature, so she didn't really appreciate all of Olive's attention, but she did well at keeping Olive back without getting too snappy. Walking with two dogs on leash was interesting at times, especially when Olive tried to play with Chewie on the stairs, but we all survived.

On Sabbath our church held the service, and a picnic afterward, at a nearby park so we brought the dogs along with us. There were quite a few other dogs there, which Olive found nearly unbearable since she was confined to her leash.


















Our friends also brought their dog, Jack. He had a chain that screws into the ground and we tried attaching Olive's leash to it for a little while but had to stop when she nearly unearthed it trying to get at another dog who was running around off-leash.

Camping in Olympic Park

Here are some pictures from our camping trip on the July long weekend. We went to Mora Campground on the southwest side of the Olympic Peninsula in Olympic National Park. The Park is 922,561 acres, 95% of which is designated as Wilderness. The Wilderness designation basically protects the land from any development. Because we had Olive with us we were not able to go into any Wilderness areas - it's cougar country and dogs can attract them.


Mora has 94 campsites available on a first-come-first-served basis and when we arrived at about 2 am on Friday night there was only one site left. We parked the car, booked the site for the weekend and set up our tent at the base of a huge tree. Sabbath morning we walked down to Rialto Beach which allows pets up to the Wilderness line. It is covered in driftwood and is one of the most popular beaches on the Olympic Peninsula because of its sea stacks and tide pools. We brought a picnic lunch and spent a couple hours there. Sabbath evening we went to a presentation by one of the park rangers on Olympic National Park.












Sunday morning we were awakened nice and early by the sound of a puking dog (luckily we were able to shove her out the door in time). Since we were up we decided to go down to Rialto beach for a tide pool presentation. It was raining a bit in our campsite, so we put on the rain gear we brought with us and drove down to the beach. The tide pool is just past the wilderness line so we left Olive in the car with her breakfast and started walking down the beach. What had been a light rain in our campsite was being blown by strong winds down by the ocean and by the time we got to the tide pools the front of Lindsay pants were soaked (Tim had the rain pants). We were the only ones to show up for the tide pool presentation. The guide took us around, showing us the different creatures living there and we all tried not to fall on the slippery rocks. We walked back to our car, now thoroughly drenched, drove back to the campsite and found that there had been a mass exodus of the park while we were gone. After changing and noticing that we were running out of dry clothes and the tent was beginning to leak we decided to call it quits too and returned home a day early.












On our way to the park we had taken the long way around, through the cities, to avoid the ferry, but since we were driving in the day this time we decided to take the shorter route. This also meant that we got to drive around the north side of the peninsula, which had some lovely views.

There are more pictures in our picasa album.

Softball

Tim is playing softball with his company right now in a rec. league. They played last night and won both games! Woohoo!! So far this season they have won more games than they did all season last year. Unfortunately, they lost the game shown in the pictures below.