Ho ho ho holidays!

I'm sending out a 3-frog tribute to the holiday.

And for those who need to know, here is what we've been eating.

For Christmas Eve: Stuffed squid in a tomato sauce on spinach fettucine

Today: Halibut with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme stuffing; with wild mushroom gravy.

Still wishing for peace on earth.

Ah rain!

OK, we get it.  Most of 2015 was very dry here in Oregon, but the month of December is making up for it, big time.

This morning, the Pacific looked the color of cappucino.

During sun breaks in the series of storms that have hit us in the last week or so, I've been out walking on the beach looking for beach erosion.

While I have found some beach erosion, it isn't where I expected it.  And driftwood was everywhere, including still coming down the river, and out the mouth of the bay.

Beach erosion along the north edge of the bay.

I don't think that I would sleep well in this house during a storm.

Here's a pile of driftwood at the mouth of the bay.

A bald eagle perched on a log in the center.

Not everything was dismal.

Harbor seal

Great blue heron

Trust me, if I could, I would re-route some of this rain to needy parts of California.

Thanksgiving Day

The secret ingredient in my Thanksgiving gravy: king bolete mushrooms.

The end of the meal: a pear-fig galette.

The end of the day: a sunset over the Pacific.

Food and familly

Our fall has been busy with both food and travel to see family.  Within the last 2 weeks, we have driven south to California and north to Washington.

In Napa, we visited a couple of wineries and my parents.

Domaine Chandon

After we returned to Oregon, the rains began, and the first king bolete mushrooms of the season popped up.  I came home with 4.5 pounds one day last week.

This weekend, we drove up to Washington to visit Fran and Sadie.

Goldilocks, the birthday girl

After our drive home, I went for a neighborhood walk, and came home with three more king bolete mushrooms. 

I'll have what he's having

Today, Bori caught a very nice coho (aka silver) salmon. 

After opening it up, we could see that it had quite recently ingested a dozen squid, that were in very good condition.  So, we saved the squid, cleaned them, and cooked them for dinner.

Who knew we would be eating local squid for dinner?  There isn't a fishery for them.  Only the fish know where to find them.  Tasty!

Surf and surf.

Today's fishing report: while salmon fishing, one Chinook was caught and one Dungeness crab was caught.  The crab was caught on the herring bait that normally attracts salmon.  This seems like a perfect modification of the surf and turf plates that many restaurants offer.

Earlier, I had a sort of surf and turf harvest.  After many weeks of closure due to paralytic shellfish poisoning, mussel harvesting opened up for the entire coast, at the end of August.  So, a week ago, I headed out on a low tide to pluck some off the rocks.  Then later, I wondered what the wild mushroom population looked like.  I came home with over a pound of chanterelles.

Of course, fall is always a busy time for us, with regard to food.  I dried a flat of tomatoes, and we smoked a batch of salmon from the freezer.

Winter is coming, but we will be eating well.

August means salmon season

Although the ocean conditions have been odd this year, some salmon are still showing up at the mouths of rivers.  In the ocean, they seem to be doing OK, but in many of the rivers in Oregon, salmon are dying as a result of high temperature stress.  This doesn't bode well for the long term future of salmon in the state.