Mukilteo Discoveries

Larry & I have been trying to journey somewhere fairly nearby each day to go for a walk. We are always looking for dog-friendly places to take the Duchess, and since Mukilteo is one of her very favorite spots, being the beach-loving girl that she is, that was our choice for today, and what a beautiful day it was!

The roses that grace the park have finished blooming, but as soon as we got out of the car, Larry noticed the rose-hips that are remaining on the bushes.

These rose bushes have been planted, but the wild roses that once covered the bluffs prompted  Lieutenant William Robert Broughton and botanist Archibald Menzies, members of  British Captain George Vancouver's party, to name the place "Rose Point," when they briefly left the ship the Discovery to do some exploring. The ship had anchored at the site shortly before midnight on Wednesday, May 30, 1792. Remnants of Rosa nutkana can still be found along the Mukilteo shoreline, but not nearly as much as I remember growing there when I was a child.

Visiting Mukilteo on a rather chilly November day is an entirely different experience than a visit in July or August, but a beautiful one nonetheless.

I'm always keeping my eyes on the sand, searching for unusual shells and rocks to bring home and put in the basket that I found specifically for that purpose. The really tiny ones find a home in Dot's music room in the dollhouse.

No matter what the time of the year is, Mukilteo is a fine place for relaxing, even when there is a lot going on in the background - kids in the playground, dogs barking, etc., etc. It all fades away as we walk the beach...

 

This interesting piece of wood had drifted ashore. What could it be? Part of an old shipwreck?

 

We walked down the beach and back, finding all kinds of interesting places to explore. Someone had made a teepee out of driftwood and decorated the entrance with seaweed. Duchess and Larry climbed inside a hollow log for a perfect photo op!

We made our way to the lighthouse. I've been visiting this magical little place since I was a child, but never tire of it. We visited many lighthouses on our trip from Colorado to Washington, but it's nice to have one in our own backyard.

It was strange to see a Hollyhock in bloom in November!

The last time we visited the lighthouse, this hydrangea bush was blooming vibrantly, now the faded blossoms have a different kind of beauty.

Soon it was time to head for home. It's so good to be able to take advantage of these fleeting sunshine-filled days before the wet winter really sets in.

One Potato, Two Potato...

Last night, while waiting for the fried potatoes to finish cooking, I poured a glass of wine and sat down with Larry in the living room. He said, "I really like fried potatoes. When I was growing up we had potatoes in some form every night for dinner." I commented that we did as well - often fried with a bit of onion thrown in, but sometimes just boiled, which we would smash up with a fork on our plates and simply add butter, salt and pepper. We went on to remember many of the other dishes that came out of our childhood kitchens. Most of Larry's memories centered around his grandmother's cooking. My memories were of the delights that my mother put together.  She didn't have a big budget for groceries, but somehow she managed to feed us well. How did she do it? I don't even remember her having a cookbook in the early days of my childhood. I do remember her clipping recipes out of Family Circle or Ladies Home Journal, but I think many of her meals were put together from memories of her own childhood. As Larry and I spoke of potatoes, one of my Mom's dishes that came to mind was something she called Boiled Dinner.

When I look up Boiled Dinner online, I found many recipes for New England Boiled Dinner, which called for corned beef. Mom made hers with inexpensive pieces of stew meat, which she would simmer  in a pot of water with vegetables (so actually, it should be called a "simmered dinner.")

 Boiled Dinner was different from stew. The pieces of vegetables were larger and the broth was clear rather than thickened. The low, slow cooking temperature of the simmering water tenderized the meat.

 The vegetables Mom added included cabbage, carrots, onions,and potatoes. 

The carrots and potatoes would always be in large chunks, rather than in a dice.The vegetables were simmered until just tender, and all of the flavors melded together in the pot.

While many boiled dinner recipes call for serving the meat and vegetables on a platter, our dinner was the soup. Mom would serve it with a stack of sliced white bread to sop up the broth.

While many boiled dinner recipes call for serving the meat and vegetables on a platter and saving the broth to make a soup later, our boiled dinner was the soup. - See more at: http://kitchencourage.areavoices.com/2011/02/23/mom%E2%80%99s-boiled-dinner/#sthash.itDb9X2x.dpuf

While many boiled dinner recipes call for serving the meat and vegetables on a platter and saving the broth to make a soup later, our boiled dinner was the soup. - See more at: http://kitchencourage.areavoices.com/2011/02/23/mom%E2%80%99s-boiled-dinner/#sthash.itDb9X2x.dpuf

While many boiled dinner recipes call for serving the meat and vegetables on a platter and saving the broth to make a soup later, our boiled dinner was the soup. - See more at: http://kitchencourage.areavoices.com/2011/02/23/mom%E2%80%99s-boiled-dinner/#sthash.itDb9X2x.dpufMom would serve it with a stack of sliced white bread to sop of the broth. It was delicious!

This was one of my favorite childhood dishes, since I was a big fan of vegetables - especially cabbage.

I've never tried making this myself, and since I don't eat beef,  the flavors of just the veggies alone wouldn't be quite the same as what I remember. Sometimes it's best not to try to mess with tradition.

In Search of the Perfect Apple...

When I was a child, this time of the year meant a trip to Cashmere and Tiny's Fruit Stand. I'm not sure if it was a yearly tradition or a one-time trip that was so awesome that it stuck in my memory for all  these years.

It was a big place full of all kinds of things to look at, smell and taste -  the aroma of apples permeated everything, mixed with the scent of the pine wood chips that covered the floor. We would get a free sample of the ice-cold cider, but I don't remember if we ever bought a jug. I'm sure Bobby, Margie and I  wanted one of the many souvenirs that were on display. What we each did get was an all-day sucker, which was gigantic and lasted much longer than a day. I would enjoy mine during the ride home and wrap what was left in saran wrap to finish off in the next few days. We bought a couple of boxes of apples which made the car smell heavenly all the way home.

Those apples would be transformed into pies and crisps, and I remember stirring huge pots of applesauce.


 Since it is that time of the year, Larry and I set out this morning on our own quest to find some apples to make a chunky applesauce in our handy little crockpot.  Our plan was to buy the apples at the Maltby Produce Market, but when we drove by they weren't quite open, so we decided to head on over to the Bothell Landing and stop at the Yakima Fruit Stand in Bothell afterwards.

I used to take my kids to the park at Bothell Landing years ago to feed the ducks, most likely following a visit to the Country Village.  The park seems to have changed just a bit, and I didn't see a single duck. Well, there was one, but he was flying and not floating about waiting to be fed. Some things, however, were just as they were thirty years ago.

 I love the bridge with its mossy railings.

 The reflections in the Sammamish River were pretty amazing, even on a cloudy day.

It was a beautiful day for a walk along the Sammamish Trail. It wasn't raining...so far. 

The bridge was a little slippery with all of the fallen leaves.

An interesting stump covered with some sort of lichen or mushrooms?

The trees were so colorful.

Unfortunately, the museum located in the William Hannan Home wasn't open...

This little cabin cabin housed Andrew and Augusta Beckstrom and their 16 children!

Their third child, John, was born in the cabin and is the first recorded birth in Bothell. The cabin wasn't open today, but  I remember visiting with Matt and Rachel when they were little.

The 1885 schoolhouse.

The rains came and we scurried off to the car.

  I thoroughly enjoyed our visit. It brought back a lot of wonderful memories.We realized we were getting hungry, and there just happened to be an Ivar's down the road...

I'm so glad that they now have a soba noodle salad on the menu...it was delicious!

Larry brought a bag along specifically for Duchess' share of his clams. She was very happy to see us when we got back to the car and waited patiently while  Larry filled up her bowl! She's just a little spoiled.

 So, back to the quest for the apples. We drove to the Yakima Fruit Stand and it was closed for the season! What? We need apples! So we headed back to the Maltby Produce Market.

I was hoping to find some apples from the Cashmere/Wenatchee area but we did much better than that. They carried REALLY local apples, from  Marshland Orchards just down the road in Maltby! If we had room to store them, we would have gotten a whole box, but picked out about five pounds of three different varieties - Liberty, Melrose and Mutsu - a few for eating as are and a few for applesauce.

 
When we got home, Larry sliced up one of the Mutsus - it was nice and crisp, sweet with just a bit of tartness.

These were to go in the applesauce. 

  This one still had its little leaves!

I chopped them in pretty good-sized chunks. After all, this was to be chunky applesauce!

tossed them in the crockpot...

We have room for one more apple..some brown sugar, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon...

 

and a touch of Jim Beam can't hurt!

 

Ahhh... just about done. This might call for a trip to Albertson's for some vanilla ice cream!