Snow

We had our first snowfall here at The Den almost two weeks ago and it was pretty amazing. Take a look...

Down the street on Lane de Chantal

It was already noon by the time we took pictures so this is partially melted

Bryan in the snow - he loves the cold

Sasha in the snow - she does not love the cold

The Den

The street right in front of the house

Behind the house on the bay side

The driveway

Good News!

Colin is officially in remission!

His bone marrow biopsy done the day after Thanksgiving came back clean, with no detected cancer cells!

He has undergone one round of intense chemotherapy, and even though he is technically in remission, it is still required that he do two more rounds and then the bone marrow transplant, which will be an intense ordeal in itself.

He still has a long road to go, but we are all so excited that he is responding so well and finally feeling a little bit better. His blood counts are up to around where they should be and he can roam about the hospital occasionally without all his IV bags in tow.

Check out his website to see the full journal update:
www.caringbridge.org/visit/colinautry

There you will also find in the photos section a peek at Colin's new bald look and a very cute hospital visit from Klondike, the family dog.


Thank you to everyone for all your support and concerns. The whole family appreciates the love. Hopefully everything stays on this positive track and the rest of his battle will not be too awful.

We will definitely keep you all posted here with big news, but feel free to check CaringBridge every few days for more day-to-day progress.

International Food Nights

Just thought we'd update y'all on some of our most recent fantastic culinary creations. We try to do everything around here from scratch if at all possible because it's usually more economical and almost always more delicious. Plus it's just so fun. This time we even included our recipes!

Bon Appetit!

Moroccan Dinner Menu

• Chickpea Couscous
• Oven Roasted Sesame Potatoes
• Steamed Artichoke with Yogurt Sauce
• Pomegranate Ginger Mojitos
• Mantecados with ginger ice cream
• Mint tea

Chickpea Couscous

Ingredients:

14 ounces vegetable broth

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. harissa paste (hard to find in some places, so we've included our from scratch recipe below)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

15 ounces chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 C quick cooking couscous

2 T chopped fresh mint leaves

• Combine vegetable broth, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, harissa, salt, and cinnamon in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes
• Add chickpeas and return to simmer; simmer uncovered for 2 minutes.
• Stir in couscous, cover, and remove from heat.
• Let stand for 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
• Sprinkle with mint as garnish.

Moroccan Oven Roasted Sesame Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 lb. russet potatoes

1 T harissa paste

2 T olive oil

1 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

1 T sesame seeds

1/4-1/2 of a lemon

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
• Peel or scrub potatoes, depending on your preference
• Cut potatoes into 1" cubes
• Place in large bowl and toss with harissa until evenly coated
• Add olive oil and toss again
• Sprinkle with salt and sesame seeds and toss again
• Cover large baking sheet with foil and oil lightly
• Place seasoned potato chunks on baking sheet in a single layer
• Bake for 30 minutes, then turn potatoes with a spatula and cook for 15 additional minutes, or until potatoes are a deep golden color
• Squeeze lemon over potatoes before serving

Harissa Blend

Ingredients:

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. coriander

4 T dried red chillies, chopped

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. mint, chopped

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

• Combine all ingredients and grind if desired
• To make a paste, mix the powder with an equal part water and add olive oil to your desired texture

Steamed Artichoke with Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:

1 artichoke

salt

pepper

lemon

1/2 C plain yogurt

1/2 C mayonnaise

• Steam artichoke in a stock pot until tender (approx. 45 minutes)
• Cut in half lengthwise
• Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon
• The sauce is really easy, just mix together the yogurt and mayo and add a little salt

Mantecados (Moroccan Cinnamon Cookies)

-not pictured- We served these with ginger ice cream

Ingredients:

2 C all purpose flour, sifted

1 C oil

1 egg, beaten

1 C sugar

zest of 1/2 a lemon

ground cinnamon

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Put flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center
• Add oil, egg, sugar and lemon zest and knead
• Grease baking sheet and sprinkle with flour
• Form small dough balls and flatten slightly
• Let stand on sheet for 20 minutes
• Sprinkle with cinnamon
• Bake for 20 minutes

Pomegranate Ginger Mojitos

Ingredients:

Mint leaves

Ginger syrup (recipe below)

Clear rum (vodka works well also)

Club soda

Pomegranate juice

Lemon juice

• Place about 5-7 mint leaves in a tall glass with one ounce ginger syrup and two ounces alcohol
• Fill glass with ice and muddle mixture
• Fill glass with club soda and top off with a splash of pomegranate juice and a squeeze of lemon
• To make a stronger (or weaker) drink, just remember to maintain the one to two ratio of syrup to alcohol

Ginger Syrup

Ingredients:

2 C sugar

1 C water

3 inches ginger, peeled and chopped into about 1/2 inch sections

• Heat sugar, water and ginger to a slight boil, reduce to a simmer for about 2 minutes, until the ginger is infused and the mixture thickens to syrup consistency
• After the mixture cools, strain into a container and keep refrigerated
• We also used this to sweeten our tea (good with chai, mint, chamomile, etc.)

Don't forget to have a nice hot cup of mint tea after your meal!

Indian Food Menu

• Paneer Makhani
• Naan style flatbread
• Salt lassi

Paneer Makhani

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 T butter + 2 tsp. butter, separated

2 tsp. all purpose flour

1 C milk

approx. 20 cubed pieces of paneer (recipe for homemade paneer below)

1 onion, chopped

15 ounces diced tomatoes (we used one can of already diced tomatoes and drained a little bit of the tomato juice)

1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped

salt

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp. chilli powder

1 tsp. cumin powder

2 tsp. coriander powder

1 tsp. garam masala powder (this may not be readily available, but is pretty awesome if you can get your hands on this blend of 11 spices)

cilantro for garnish

• First make a white sauce by heating the 2 tsp. of butter in a small saucepan, incorporate flour, and add milk. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool
• Sautee onion in butter until tender, then add the ginger and garlic and sautee 1-2 minutes longer
• Add tomatoes and powders, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the mixture is reduced to 3/4 the amount
• Add white sauce and combine; cook for another few minutes
• Add the paneer , garnish with cilantro, and serve over rice

Paneer

-thanks to Bryan's classmate Heidi for sharing her homemade cheese knowledge-

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon whole milk

6 T lemon juice

• In a large saucepan, bring milk to just under a boil and turn off heat. Stir continuously to prevent the bottom from burning
• Add lemon juice and continue to stir milk until it separates into curds and whey
• Allow the curds and whey to cool for about 1/2 an hour, or until cool enough to handle
• Strain through a strainer lined with cheese cloth
• Rinse the curds with fresh water
• Wrap the cheese cloth on itself and squeeze the moisture out (the more you squeeze, the more firm your paneer will be)
• Shape the paneer, still in the cheese cloth, into a block about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Ensure that it is wrapped tightly
• Place something flat and heavy on top, like a cutting board or cooking pot and allow gravity to extract the remaining excess moisture
• Cube into desired size
• You may wish to save the whey for future batches of paneer and use it instead of lemon juice

Naan Style Flatbread

Ingredients:

3 C all purpose flour

1 C cold water

3 T olive oil

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

pinch of baking soda

1/2 tsp. cumin

2 T cilantro

• Combine all ingredients and form into a dough
• Cut into 4-5 equal pieces
• Roll out each piece into a thin circle or rectangle on a floured cutting board
• Prick surface of dough with a fork and cook on medium low heat on an oiled hot griddle or wide flat bottomed frying pan
• Turn with a spatula; watch these closely because they cook pretty fast, about 2-3 minutes per side depending on how thin you rolled them

Salt Lassi

Ingredients:

1/2 C plain yogurt for each

1 C water for each

1/8 tsp. ground cumin for each

salt to taste

• Place all ingredients in a bowl and blend with an egg beater and pour into a tall glass, or place all ingredients in a tall glass and use a handheld foaming/mixing device (I used my aerolatte battery powered whisk thing)

Alas, no room for dessert, but this rounds out nicely with a cup of hot chai

Please Support Colin Autry

Hey everyone, most of you already know, but for those of you who don't, Colin (Sasha's brother) was diagnosed with leukemia about one month ago. He is in the hospital and will remain there for the duration of his treatment, which they say will most likely be 6 to 8 months. He has so far endured his first round of chemotherapy, which has been really rough on him. Thankfully, I (Sasha) am a 100% match for Colin's bone marrow, so they will be able to do a bone marrow transplant later on when he is physically ready.

Pushpa (Colin and Sasha's mom) has set up a website where you can read her journal updates about his progress. You can find a much more detailed description of the situation at her site. There is also an area called the guestbook where visitors can leave messages for Colin. If you are so inclined to leave a supportive note, the URL is:

www.caringbridge.org/visit/colinautry

Just take a few moments to set up a log-in and password so that you can sign the guestbook. Your good energy is greatly appreciated.

This was back during the last week of October when I went to visit. Colin's hair has been buzzed off since then and has continued to fall out ever since he began chemo

In the corner of the photo you can see his massive amounts of IV bags. Those are all his fluids and IVs that continuously run and is set up through a surgically implanted permanent line (Broviac tube) attached to a main artery in his chest. That is the same port from which the nurses draw blood and administer all the different types of chemotherapy

During my visit I claimed this little area in the corner by the window. On the nights that I stayed over I had the pleasure of sleeping on a very narrow, hard window seat. The room is not exciting or entertaining at all and it totally sucks that he has to stay in there the whole time, but it is a pressurized controlled environment that sanitizes the air so that he won't get sick. His immune system is non-existent right now and we all have to take extra precautions around Colin.

He naps most of the time and is exhausted from nausea, lack of sleep or just plain old sick and tired of being sick and tired. Also, the tv is kind of lame and there is no internet connection available. Of all the horrible things to do to an x-box live playing teenager who is stuck in the hospital, that is not cool at all.

Birthday Adventure

Hey everyone, Sasha here. It was my 23rd birthday last weekend, on the 7th. I know, I'm getting up there in years. Our entire street was being paved, so doing your typical birthday outing was out of the question. Instead, we did a little exploration around our house on Discovery Bay after a delicious banana pancake breakfast (lovingly handmade by Bryan and served with tea right in bed!), which was accompanied by an unexpectedly silly Disney channel Jonas marathon. I may be old, but I'll never be too old for the Disney channel! All in all it was a really great birthday and we had a really mellow and romantic day. Also, Bryan gave me the coolest present I've ever seen, let alone received. Scroll down to the bottom to see what it is if you can't wait until you've gotten through all of our woodsy foresty adventurey photos from the day.

This is the beginning of our walk down to the shore. Naturally, we stopped to pose for some tree leaning portrait opportunities

Okay so maybe the forest isn't as untouched as we'd like to think...

Bryan leads the way down what turned out to be a steep and somewhat treacherously slippery trail to the water, but he was an amazing navigator

It was totally worth the trek to see the beautiful bay during sunset at high tide

The shore isn't your usual sand (usual for us Californians, anyway), but small polished pebbles and shells


The slowly setting sun begins its descent


After walking along the shore a little bit we came upon a tiny lagoon!


Bryan of the Bay (would be his Viking conqueror name)

Really cool driftwood was all over the place

We stopped to admire the sunset... and each other

Of course we wore our mud boots, duh


Almost time to head home... don't want to be caught outside in the dark with those cougars around!


For my birthday present, Bryan made me a birch wood wizard's wand on a lathe and also a Peruvian walnut stand to display it when I'm not casting wicked cool spells. It is down to all the specs of the wand I figured I would have if I were attending Hogwarts. It is made of wood from my favorite tree, 14 inches long, and I can only assume there is a phoenix feather core inside.

Discovery Bay

The view outside our bedroom window is of Discovery Bay, and while it's always the same location, various times of day and types of weather give us drastic differences in scenery. We are always excited to wake up in the morning and check out the situation. Sometimes we have clear skies, or fog, or even snowy mountains.

Sunset after it started to get dark early

Bright and sunny, but with a mysterious low cloud rolling across the water

Epic battle of sun and rain

Cloudy muted sunset

Super extreme mega fog... the water should be out there somewhere

Autumn

Since we actually live in a place that has distinct seasons, the turning of the trees and keeping track of their progress every morning has kept us quite entertained. Here are a few pictures that we took in our neighborhood:

Cape George Road

One of our favorite trees on our street is this yellow giant we call Big Bird

Lane de Chantal

Cape George Road - the green grass to the right is Discovery Bay Golf Course

Crafts Time

In preparation for the extreme cold winter months of the Pacific Northwest, what better way to pass the time than craft a cozy beanie to warm the brains? That is precisely what crafts time has consisted of the past weeks in the Den. Honing our skills crocheting spools of yarn into attractive heat retaining hats has been both relaxing and challenging. Nonetheless, ample pieces of quality winter headwear have been created.

Beanies aren't the only creation emerging from the Den. We have been trying our hands at carving some wood stamps for printing on note cards too. So far we have made some Halloween stamps and a set of note cards for Shannon's birthday.

Enjoy these cool craft time pics and feel free to comment!

Our yarn basket

Bryan working on a beanie

And yet another one...

Sasha working on her very first carving - a skull

Action shot!

Finished product, after a few test stamps

Bryan's raven stamp

Test print, and it worked!

Sasha's pelican layout for Shannon's stamp

Bryan's carving skills

The card set in the drying phase

Close up of one of the cards... each one turns out differently

Boat School Update

It's hard to imagine how much has happened and how much I've learned in just a little over a month at NWSWB. It was nice to get back into the shop after a long week of drafting. I finished up my toolbox today; it's on to half models next week, and then lofting! Lofting is drawing the lines for a boat full size on the shop floor (which is much easier done with an understanding of a drafted lines drawing of a boat). We should be building skiffs within the next couple weeks, which will take us all the way to Winter break.

I had a rare opportunity to work on a Bristol Bay gill netter on Wednesday. A rainy forecast called for extra hands to stretch canvas over the deck, and I got to fasten the seams with shop made copper nails. They will eventually turn greenish and give a nice traditional look and a contrasting detail to the white canvas deck.

Here are a few random photos around the school over the past few weeks:

Hadlock Bay

Misty calm

Laying out a wooden mallet handle

Port Hadlock launch ramp