Thanksgiving 2012

I love it when Thanksgiving rolls around and we get to host the holiday party. I usually roast a turkey and make the gravy. Carla makes the dressing and mashed potatoes; my brother-in-law Jim deep fries another turkey; and everyone else pitches in  bringing stuff vegetables, wine, dessert, you name it.

It had been raining pretty strongly all week; I was hoping for a break on Thanksgiving so I could cook the turkey in the smoker without my getting soaking wet. It turned out to be a beautiful day.

Thanksgiving morning was clear and crips

 Carla and I are delighted this Thanksgiving. Andrew and Henriët flew out Wednesday morning. They'll be in Charleston South Carolina over Christmas so we won't see them again for a number of months.

Andrew and Henriët prepped the turkey; chopping the herbs, preparing the wet rub, and smearing the turkey.

Henriët prepped the herbs for the dry rub. (Photo by Henriët)

Henriët preparing the wet rub. (Photo by Henriët)

Andrew and Henriët with their work of art

Howard takes the turkey out to the smoker

 Once the turkey was started, Carla and Henriët started the dressing.

Carla with the universal pleaser: butter! Starting the dressing

Henriët got  a lovely new hair style after the wedding

 We were expecting anywhere from 20 to 24 people (we ended up with 22). Normally we've had two or three tables spread throughout the living areas. This year we wanted to get all of us in one room. Wednesday night we moved most everything out of the living room and put 3 tables end-to-end and jammed chairs around. I think everyone was pretty comfortable

Table is set waiting for the food and the people

 I cooked the turkey out on the smoker for about 3 1/2 hours but it was too cold for the grill to keep up. The last 45 minutes needs the temperature to go from 325 to 450 to brown the skin. So, I brought it in the house and convected it.
I've had a hard time finding a turkey recipe that works but think I've finally landed on the right one. I took this recipe from Cook's Country. First, I dry rubbed the turkey with some herbs and spices and let it sit for an hour. Then added a wet rub of mayonaise, olive oil, vinegar and more herbs. Lift the legs up high and cookd for 3 hours at 325; then take off the foil, bump the temp to 450 and let ér rip the last 30 minutes

The turkey looks like the recipe photo!

Dinner is served

 A young woman friend of ours, Jessica Milano, is in the cake business. We ordered a carrot cake from her for Thanks giving and it was delicious. Carolyn and Glenn brought home made apple pie. And of course no Thanksgiving Day is complete without pumpkin pie.

And dessert

It was a wonderful night. After the dishes were clean and everyone had left Carla, Andrew, Henriët, Jeff, Sarah, and I topped off the evening with some glasses of Amarula - a South African liquer.

A WONDERFUL day

Posting test edit from Adobe Elements

I've been taking an on-line class on Adobe Photoshop Elements from Lynda.com. Based on some editing tips I worked on a picture of John to see how I did and how the results look on screen.

Here is the "Before"shot at Red Coach

Before

Then I removed the color cast and made some changes with the portrait tool in guided-edit mode

After

The above pictures were saved through the "Save For Web" dialog. Here is another Before/After that I just dragged from the Elements Organizer to the desktop

Before

After removing color cast

South Africa - Final Days

Final Days

July 1 - July 4

Before we went to sleep on June 30, Carla grabbed a picture of the skyline from our hotel room balcony

Sunset over the Atlantic ocean.

After a luxurious sleep, we awoke on the morning of July 1 then met Andrew and Henriët for breakfast at the hotel restaurant then took a long walk along the promenade. Our ride to the airport was punctual, as usual. Henriët's cousin Erika Botma owns a travel agency Erika's Travel and she did a terrific job organizing our travels. We didn't have a single glitch and had wonderful tour guides. If you are planning a trip to South Africa I definitely recommend Erika.
Andrew and Henriët were on the same flight but drove themselves to the airport since they had a rental car. Jeanette was there to pick us up at the airport and took us to her house for a little visit. For dinner we went to a lovely little café where the owner and waitress knows Jeanette. It's quite the hang out as Jeanette introduced us to many of her friends who were there.
After dinner we headed back to Adrian and Irien's guest house. Monday July 2 would be our final full day in South Africa and we made the most of it. Our first stop was the Walter Sisulu National Botanic Garden. This is a beautiful park comprised of about 740 hectares of natural and landscaped vegetation. If I've done my calculation correctly, that is a little over a square mile. This is one of several botanical gardens in South Africa administered by SANBI, the South African Biodiversity Institute.

Entrance to the Botanical Gardens

One of the highlights of the park is a waterfall. My tendinitis was flaring up so Andrew and I hang back on a park bench while Henriët, Jeanette, and Carla hiked to the top.

Waterfall in the botanical garden. This has been my iPhone wallpaper for a while now

Henriët and Andrew went back to the car and brought back some blankets and a picnic hamper. We had a fantastic picnic and then lay down in the sun for a little nap. At least I slept a bit; my snoring may have kept the others awake. Johannesburg has beautiful winter weather. No way would we be picnicking and napping in a park in Portland in early January.

On the way back from the gardens we stopped by Ben and Andrie's home. Ben is Henriét's brother. We had tea and Andrew entertained their daughter Karla and son Marcus. In addition to working full time Ben is also attending school studying for a Master's degree. Andrie is studying to become a teacher.

Then it was time to head home to Adrian and Irien's who hosted yet another wonderful dinner for us.  We feasted on ham, beef, sweet potatoes, and creamed green beans. Heidre and Le Salle were there as well. We had a fantastic dessert. It was a cake-like dish with sweet cream poured over the top. Delicious.

We awoke on Tuesday July 3 to face our last day and long trip home. Andrew and I hung out at home while the girls (Carla, Jeanette, Henriët, and Irien) went out for a nice breakfast at Westover hotel up on a hill in JoBurg.

Henriët, Jeanette, and Carla enjoying breakfast with a view

The hotel pool; what a view. Imagine hanging out on the edge looking down the hill

The view across the valley from the hotel

Irien, Jeanette, Henriët, and Carla enjoying a final moment together at the entrance to the hotel

Andrew and Henriët took us to the airport Thompson-style (over 2 hours early). We bought a last few souvenirs, checked in for our flight and headed home. Thirty-three hours later Jeff picked us up at the Portland airport. We had a frantic rush to get through customs and immigration in Washington DC. We barely made our flight from Washington DC to Seattle. From Sea-Tac we had about an hour wait for our 20 passenger flight to PDX. We were nervous about that connection; because it left more than 24 hours after we checked in for our original flight we didn't have reserved seats. But eventually we got on for the 30 minute flight home over Mount St. Helens. 

Carla brought home Henriët's wedding gown and shoes , and got them cleaned in time for the August 4 Wedding reception at the McMennimans Crystal Ballroom in downtown Portland.

We had a truly wonderful time. We met friendly, lovely people, were warmly welcomed into Henriët's family. I've wanted to see the Big Five on safari for most of my adult life but until a couple of years ago didn't think I'd ever do it. 

If you are thinking of travelling to South Africa, I have two words of advice: "Do It""

Burger Project - Red Coach

November 1, 2012

We've been at this project for almost a year now; it was last November when the Oregonian came out with their Ten Best Classic Burgers in Portland article. We've disagreed with many of their ratings. One of my issues is that Red Coach wasn't even on the list! I come here with some of my team every couple of weeks and I wanted to get it in our list before we wrap things up. If this isn't a classic burger joint I don't know what is.

Red Coach is on Broadway 1 block north of Nordstrom in the heart of the shopping district. Ray couldn't make it today so it was Jay, John, Norm and me.

I drive down the Sunset Highway every weekday to get to work. I've been admiring the colors and wishing I could get a picture; not practical while driving. But Jay was driving today and I could snap to my heart's content

Late Fall colors driving down Sylvan Hill into downtown.

One of Portland's unofficial mottos is "Keep Portland Weird".  As we walked up the South Park Blocks we saw a splendid example.

Keeping Portland Weird

John, Norm, and Jay ready to head in

Red Coach is hopping on weekdays with the business crowd; but not so much on weekends. The top is closed and the grill is lightly used.

The grill is ready.

A brief note about today's pictures. I recently purchased a 35mm f1.8 prime lens for my Sony Alpha A55. I got it to get good close up pictures and the wide 1.8 aperture means great focus on my subject with blurring of the background. As you will see in the pictures I have some learning to do. I left it open at 1.8 and as a result had a very short depth of field.  For example, in this picture you'll see the booth backs in the mid distance are in focus but not the waitress or patron. I've got some work in front of me.

The other customer. The young woman is our usual waitress when we come in on weekdays.

Ray, the owner; a real nice guy

The boys. 

Hard ice cream shakes! I think this is the only place we've been to on our quest that has true hard ice cream milk shakes.

Yum! Better use of the new lens. Nice focus on the glass; everything else is blurry

John performing the spoon test. It passed with flying colors!
John's in focus but I missed the glass. I should have closed down the f-stop

Lunch is served. Delicious hamburger. These aren't fresh-cut fries but they were nice and hot.

Top center of the bun in perfect focus. But the front is blurry. That's a shallow depth-of-field at 1.8

Ratings

You'll see in the ratings and comments why it's good to have a group do the rating. I think we have the widest disparity of scores this week. I loved it; Jay liked it a lot. John thought it was pretty good; but Norm was unimpressed. You may want to discount my score since this is my regular burger joint.

Comments

Burger (Karl's Classic Cheeseburger with Bacon except Norm)

Howard

I love these hamburgers. The bun is nice and soft with a perfect toasted underside. The American cheese is good quality; the bacon is perfectly cooked.

Jay

The burger was tasty and nicely cooked with fresh lettuce and tomato. The bacon and cheese were perfect.

Norm (Cheeseburger)

Pretty much average all the way. Pretty standard very flat and somewhat dry patty. Bun average. Basic cheese. Add your own condiments. About like something you'd get at a cafeteria or buffet place.

John

Bun was fresh, not over-sized as some can be; patty was cooked medium,still pretty juicy; The bacon was perfect - lean, crisp but not crunchy, and it was flat so it fit nicely on top.(bonus points). Whole, not shredded, lettuce, tomato, sauce, no onion. The cheese was good and melted - american, I think. All in all a very good burger.

Side - French Fries

Howard

Crinkle cut. Nice and hot.

Jay

The frozen fries were served very hot and complemented the burger.

Norm

These fries were probably out of a box made by an Ore-Ida wannabe. Ok but very average

John

Good fries. 'krinkle' type. cooked, not mushy. Could have been a bit crispier.

Drink (Chocolate shakes except for Norm)

Howard

Hard ice cream shakes! Yummy

Jay

This real ice cream shake was perfect. The chocolate syrup on the sides of the full glass was a perfect presentation.

Norm (Coke)

It's coke

John

Real ice cream, served in a glass. This place drizzles chocolate syrup around the inside of the glass along with the regular dose.Nice touch. Pretty thick consistency. I love the chocolate, so it can always be more so. Good shake.

Atmosphere

Howard

Nice booths. It's a little on the dark side, which is fine but the darkness takes a smidge away from my ideal burger joint.

Jay

The surrounding were very comfortable and well appointed. The device was prompt and accurate.

Norm

Downtown lunch joint on a saturday. It was deserted except for us and the help.... and a woman who arrived about halfway through our meal. Everthing appeared to be clean and well maintained. $9.75 for the coke and burger was a bit pricey.

John

This is an older restaurant in downtown Portland serving a variety of fare. Not just a burger joint. Decor is nothing fancy but pleasant. Big, overstuffed 'pleather' seating was pretty comfortable. Nice place.

Service

Howard

I eat here every couple of weeks and love the owners and their daughter. They know me and are always pleasant, prompt, and courteous.

Jay

We received more attention than we deserved. I think we shouldn't tell them what we're up to.

Norm

About halfway between average and pretty darn good. Guy who took our order was friendly, probably the manager. Had two waitresses working for him and one was very chatty. Personable, yes. but the service was still a 3.5

John

Since we were virtually the only ones in there, we had their full attention. The owners took good care of us. Friendly and chatty.

Overall

Howard

For me; it's Red Coach and Dee's In 'n Out as the best burger places in Portland so far.

Jay

The Red Coach puts it all together - a great burger with great service and attention to detail.

Norm

OK place to go and have lunch during a workday. But don't expect much out of the burger.

John

The fries were good, the shake was better, and the burger was better yet. I would go there again. Nice place, good service, and as for our burger research, better than average food.

Trains at the Ridgefield Bird Sanctuary

The fall colors were showing, I got a bargain on a Sony SLT-A65 camera, and there was a break in the rain so I headed 14 miles north of Portland to the Ridgefield bird sanctuary.  But I didn't make it into the sanctuary, I stopped by the tracks for some train pictures.

As soon as I parked, a train was peeping around the corner

I turned south and here comes a BNSF coal train

The Cascades trains are so quiet and fast they are practically gone before I get the camera up

The Cascades, this BNSF, and the following UP went by in quick order

Did I mention I got a new car? It did great on the muddy road on the way in

Not bad for a couple hours hanging out. I spent the time between trains reading the camera manual.

Burger Project - George's Giant Hamburgers

Saturday September 29, 2012

With our vacations and otherwise active lives, it's been a while since we were able to all get together for burgers. Thankfully we were able to get a start for fall. John picked and determined it was time to get back to the original 10 from the Oregonian article last winter. So we headed out to George's Giant Hamburgers in Tigard.

11640 SW Pacific Hwy Tigard, OR 97223

One sign that it had been a long time since our last outing is that I forgot my camera and had to make do with my iPhone.

George's Giant is different from the other burger joints we've visited in that you make your own burger. You order the basics, a cheeseburger with bacon and you get a patty with melted cheese on a bun with some bacon. Then you go to the condiments bar to add whatever combination of pickles, relish, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and sauce that your heart desires. The condiment bar was extremely well stocked with good looking purple onions and tomatoes.

The condiment bar. Very well stocked and clean

Nice looking tomatoes and onions.

We all had pretty much the same thing but different: bacon cheeseburgers with different fixin's 

Standard set up

They do Burger King one better: my burger my way.

My burger my way.

Good idea but not perfectly executed. The burgers were warm, not hot and not as tasteful as we'd like. I think if they used some of the magic dust they have at Killer Burger things could be much better. 

The owners are really nice and work hard to ensure you have a great experience. When they learned about our burger project they brought us some home made moon cake, a traditional Chinese desert made during the autumn festival. This was undoubtedly the most original thing we've eaten in our burger quest.

Moon Cake

All in all I think the Oregonian had it right in their ratings. Good idea; okay burgers.

Ratings

Comments

Burger

John

Buns a little dry. Minimum size patty cooked medium-well. The onions, pickles, mayo, ketchup, relish, mustard etc. - okay. The 'american' cheese was nice and melted. No 'secret sauce' or special seasoning detected.Finely chopped lettuce - okay if you like it that way. Me, not so much. The fact that you have to 'build your own' takes some of the pressure off these place to make a great burger but they have to start with a good foundation, and I don't think they quite met that standard.

Norm

Pretty Average hamburger however the bun was nice and fresh, and did not mush up considering all the items it held. Bacon was average, as was the cheese patty. It was an ok burger but we are looking for something better than just average.

Howard

Okay. you get the basics: bun, patty, bacon, cheese then go to the condiments bar for sauces, relish, pickles, tomato, onion, whatever. The condiment bar was wonderfully maintained with lovely slices of tomatoes and purple onion. The bacon was cooked just right.

Ray

Pretty ordinary. Good bacon, though. All the trimmings were available to be added by the diner. The bun was not unusual, just what I buy at Safeway.

Jay

Fresh, American cheese, my own secret sauce fro salad bar, shredded lettuce, patty well done - no hint of pink

Side - French Fries

John

A little under-cooked, a bit mushy is not my favorite.

Norm

Pretty average fries, better than some we've had, but again, we are striving for something outstanding. They also needed a lot of salt.

Howard

Great french fries are hot and crispy; okay fries are hot or crispy. These were neither. I only ate a few

Ray

Again, very average fries. Not seasoned or salted. Not freshly made. Not brown or crispy.

Jay

Hot

Drink

John

Milk Shake. This was not a good shake. Not enough syrup or whatever they use for flavoring and the consistency was ' icewatery'. I might have had better luck trying to order chocolate milk. Terrible.

Norm

The flavor seemed to be a little off. The "ice cream" was pretty thin. Not worth the money

Howard

Root beer shake. Okay shake; not real rich ice ceram

Ray

Not especially thick and not very chocolatey. Pretty weak and not made with real ice cream.

Jay

Soft ice cream

Atmosphere

John

Clean, no-frills burger joint. Nothing really stands out. The place seems to be pretty popular.

Norm

Pretty average non franchise burger place. And I did like the condiment bar. Everything seemed fresh and there was a large variety

Howard

Nice clean place.

Ray

It was OK. Not fancy, not funky, just functional. Very clean. Nothing to set it apart from hundreds of other fast food joints.

Jay

Very clean and tidy

Service

John

They delivered the buns with a patty with cheese on it to the table. Pleasant servers.

Norm

The high point of our visit was the service. Prompt and attentive. The server was very friendly!

Howard

George's Giant is owned and operated by a wonderful couple. They were very helpful and even brought us a little Chinese Moon Cake for desert.

Ray

Very good service. Friendly, fast, and efficient. She even brought us a special chinese dessert she had made.

Jay

Server brought food out, explained ingredients, prepared special dessert

Overall

John

I cannot not say I would suggest others go there. The price was okay, $8.50 or so, but the hassle and the quality don't get it up to anything but maybe average. Of the ten restaurants on the list rated by the paper, this place rated number 10. I can see how it might get that score if there were only ten burger joints in the metro area, but I wonder how it got on the list to begin with.

Norm

Average

Howard

A nice place worth a visit if you are in the neighborhood, but not epic

Ray

Just average

Jay

The burger was average, service and ambience above average