Ridgefield and Cathlamet

The second weekend of March brings the the Cathlamet crab and oyster feed as we did last year. 

We left at 10:30 and did a bit of hiking at the Carty Unit of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

The Carty Unit is just a bit north of Ridgefield, Washington

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Not spring just yet

Carla looking at me; Jay looking at an otter in the pond

Jay nursing a hot coffee. John being amazed at something he sees

Terry leading a part of our group

I've gone to the River Unit of the refuge in the past for train pics. This hike features a pedestrian bridge over the same tracks. The Coast Starlight is heading to Portland from Seattle

Coast Starlight Southbound

After the hike we headed up to Norse Hall in Cathlamet. It's on an island in the Columbia River.

Norse Hall

The oysters were getting a shower before their steam bath.

Cleaning the oysters

Into the steam bath for the Oysters

The feed is in the basement which seats about 150 people in long tables. There are big plastic sheets running the length of the tables with Sharpie lines marking spots for the various parties. There are 3 layers of plastic sheets pre-marked for the 3 feeding times 3:00, 5:00, and 7:00

One of our table mates; she was in the group next to ours

At the beginning each table goes through a line to get 1/2 a crab, potatoe salad, cole slaw, and some beans. Then youngsters come around with 5 gallon buckets of oysters. We went back for seconds. 

Tasty.

Oysters; and plenty of them.

The guy in the blue shirt from another group told some great stories about growing up on a pig farm. 

Remains of the day. Norm, from our group on the left.

The feed is a big fund raiser for the community; apparently they have a giant fireworks display the 3rd weekend of July.

The organizers (I think). I should have gotten their names

The only thing lacking was dessert. So on the way back to Portland, Carla checked Yelp for ice cream parlors. She found Ice Cream Renaissance Vancouver. They make their own ice cream.

Dessert

Arroz con Pollo

Found a nice recipe this week in the Oregonian for Arroz con Pollo. Even though we had Jambalaya last weekend I thought I'd give it a try. Myt recipe is here.

I cooked it in my large Viking skillet so I could cook all the chicken in one batch. Since I don't cook with this pan very often, I was a little out of practice on the temp. I over browned the first side of the chicken thighs even cooking on medium.

The recipe calls for 2 bell peppers. I'm not fond of green bell peppers so I got yellow and red; they were fine.

Simple ingredient set

While frying the chicken, steep 1/2 teaspoon saffron buds in chicken stock.

Saffron steeping in chicken broth

When done with the chicken, drain most of the fat and sauté the onion, jalapeño, and bell peppers. Then add the tomatoes. Finally coat the rice with the liquid and add the stock and chicken. Simmer, covered, for 25 minutes.

Rice, tomatoes, peppers, and onion.

 Dinner is served

The chicken was a little "over brown"

President's Day Weekend - Fern Hill Wetlands

Jeff Johnson, a great photographer and musician posted some pictures in mid February from the Fern Hill Wetlands in Forest Grove and said it was one of his favorite places to take pictures.

Description: This 243 acre site is composed largely of restored wetlands and moist soil habitats of now defunct sewage ponds. Fernhill is the focus of a proposed multi-million dollar project to continue the 150-200 acre restoration process and re-open the slough to the adjacent Tualatin River.

The Saturday of Presidents' Day Weekend was nice so Carla and I headed out to see what was up.



As we started walking we saw we were under a long line of clouds heading northeast

As we looked at this line of trees we saw one of two eagles fly out of a nest

Eagle's Nest in the right most tree

 One of the eagles minding the nest

The mate circled around and landed atop a tall tree nearby.

We headed back to the car as the sun was going down.