Summertide Resort in Hood Canal




This weekend we went to the Summertide Resort on Hood Canal.  The place is out of the 50's.  It's a casual relaxed place.  The big excitement was Abe's first fish.

 

Digging clams for chowder and clam spaghetti.

Our cabin is in the background.

Bev & Becky who run the place.  Bev was looking for a place on the water & ended up buying a resort.

Abe ate them raw & roasted.

Waiting for a bite.

Abe's first fish.

It looks bigger if you use the zoom.

Abe's own life jacket.

Trucks, trucks and a hurse

Last Sunday we went to Magnason Park for Touch a Truck.  They brought in a bunch of construction equipment, garbage truck, bus, ambulance, cement mixer, the book mobile and a hearse (not really too sure about the last 2).

The tire was as tall as Abe!

 Driving the bus!  Abe was really into turning the wheel.  Since the motor of the bus was on the guy supervising got a little concerned.

Quite frankly the inside of one truck looks just about teh same as another.  Here's the cement truck.

a little more grown up

About a year ago Sarah took these same pictures of these guys.  

Rattlesnake ledge

Over memorial day weekend we went on a little hike up rattlesnake ledge.  It was surprisingly nice weather for a 3-day weekend.  

 

Playing with the editing effects on iPhoto.

Abe was really into the camel back.

Neil carried Abe for most of the way, but Abe did some hiking of his own too.  He insists on using the poles.

 The rest of Seattle decided to go hiking too.  It was kind of funny to come up to the lookout and be surrounded by a giant crowd.  We packed a little lunch and enjoyed the company--I mean view.

Neil was more nonchalant about letting Abe near the edge than I would have liked.

 Banjo, Hannah and Nick enjoying the view.

Five Course Dinner with Wine Pairings

This weekend we had a fabulous gourmet dinner that we bought with the Hoff's at Abe's preschool auction.  The chef Connor, whose daughter is one of Abe's classmates, graciously donated the dinner.  He works at the Madison Park Conservatory http://madisonparkconservatory.com/about/  Connor's friend who owns the restaurant won an award in Food & Wine magazine as the best new chef in 2012.   Connor said that he put in 15 hours preparing the dinner.  He even brought the dishes over to David & Diane's, served the dinner and washed the dishes.

There were five courses, each paired with a wine.  Emily couldn't drink.  And Ruth generally doesn't, but as you can see, she did have a few samples.

 Dinner is ready to be served.

 The first course was bruschetta with home made ricotta, fava beans, pickled onions, fennel and a citrus sauce. Ricotta is made by adding an acid, such as vinegar or citrus to milk.  This course was served with a sparkling wine.  There was a printed menu with a better description of the food & wine in French, but I didn't take a copy.  The wines were selected by the sommelier at the restaurant.

 Second course was tomato soup, prepared by roasting the tomatoes with cinamon, bread crumbs, and chives that were home grown.  The wine was a rose.   I didn't get a picture of the third course.  It was homemade pasta severed with pea tendrils, ham brodo and garden grown garlic.  It was served by a white wine.

 The main course was poached copper river salmon served on roasted cauliflower and asparagus with a cream sauce.  I've never had such moist sockeye salmon.  It was just barely cooked.  The wine was a pinot noir.

 The dessert was strawberries with granola, cream & chocolate.  The wine was a dessert wine that Connor got when he lived in the bay area.  This was his second to the last bottle.

Notice the empty wine bottles and the happy drinkers.  We'll get this again next year if it is available.