Waiting at the Espresso Stand in North Bend

House of Art

Under the gray November sky a wonderful Thanksgiving surprise awaited us in CentraliaHouse of Art



Red yoyos
Yellow yoyos
Blue yoyos
Plastic plates
Styrofoam tiki god


plastic flowers



Deranged Barbies




At McMenamin's Oly Club and Hotel in Centralia last month they were serving an all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving buffet dinner for 23.00. The bar is the most gorgeous saloon I've seen anywhere, befitting a "gentleman's resort". The food is fab; the brew, as in Hammerhead, fabber. You can take the train there and you can even spend the night if you like, but I haven't tried that yet. With 27 rooms named after local bootleggers, train robbers and other citizens of questionable repute I'm sure I won't have trouble booking at the last minute.

My fave feature of this spot is it's wall of spigots in the restaurant's ladies' room. Some of them actually do work; all are vintage and they reach to the ceiling. And I always like a chandelier in the bathroom. Brilliant woodstove and train car booths available for cozy dining. The place is loaded with art in the McMenamin's house style: check out the website for a complete gallery.

And speaking of art, Centralia is so-called because it's the halfway point between Portland and Seattle--why not mark it with a visit to the House of Art? It's free and open 1-3 p.m.

Favorite rest stop on the Slog

If you drive south to Eugene and back to Seattle as often as I do(both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year) you look for any alternative to the bleak rest areas spotted every 45 miles along The Slog (click here for Alaska Airlines' very witty map/ad) If there's a place to walk the dog, so much the better. There isn't one here, but it features a Starbucks, a grocery store and a Sonic drive-in where you actually get served at your car window. I can't vouch for the burgers, because I only needed caffeine--and to pick up some last-minute giftcards at the Albertson's. It was Christmas Eve, after all.

Wilsonville is now synonymous with traffic congestion. A while ago it was just a snoozy suburb of Lake Oswego, itself a sleepy suburb of Portland. Development seems to have leapfrogged over Lake Oswego and landed here. It's just off I-5, so if you're headed south, stop here after slogging through the congested Terwilliger S-Curves or if you're headed north take a breather before it gets too intense.

As an afficionado of supermarket parking lots, I give this one highest marks. Permeated with through-roads, it's village-like, and easily navigated.

Up one road


and down the other

A church appears to have been moved here, or perhaps it was always here. A much-needed historic landmark, in any case.
Public art, which makes me think that this is part of a planned transit station. Click here for Portland regional transit map showing Wilsonville as WES terminus of MAX. Very nice.
Site marker for Wilsonvile School. Not sure where it is now--demolished? But still, nice.

The brick "windows" provide a place to sit, a sense of unity, and boundaries. They give you a feeling of safety, guiding you around and through. This is something very rare in a parking lot.

And if you get lost, follow the puffballs!

You Say Snohomish/I Say Snoqualmie!

Saturday we spent the sunny, hot afternoon at South 47 farm learning firsthand what it was like to bring in the harvest, or, in our case, what it was like to pick a few beans for dinner, admire a gorgeous, cat-sized squash the color of celadon, pluck a huge bag of red onions from a hook in a greenhouse, and cut healthy sideshoots of basil from a very long row. Aromatic bliss! All this and some darling alpacas (not for picking!) too. Of course, early valley farmers didn't get to follow up a hard day's harvest with a late lunch in air-conditioned comfort at Racha Thai restaurant in Woodinville either. God we're spoiled!

Everything but the squash was eaten later in a quickie pasta beefed up with ripe heirloom tomatoes from our own garden.






Sunday we were back on the eastside hunting down farms in Carnation/Duvall by way of Snohomish (don't ask! but it was a lovely drive!) Again, bringing in the harvest at Fall City Farms this time--lacinato kale, Chioggia beets, lots of Bright Lights chard and broccoli. Perhaps early farmers of Snoqualmie Valley would have felt more at home dining in the friendly, goofy homestyle comfort surrounded by the kitsch collection at Armadillo BBQ in Duvall than in a suburban stripmall (like we did the day before). Next door at the antique store we picked up a bass and amp to add to the family's burgeoning collection of musical instruments.

I looked to Julia Child for inspiration in serving up the fresh-picked broccoli to the family. I made her hollandaise which was insanely easy and let's just say the kids ate all their veggies.

The chard and rest of the basil was eaten last night in a quinoa saute with onion and leftover hollandaise. Some ricotta and lot of parmesan. It was a little weird. It shoulda been pasta. But we'd eaten it all Saturday night!

Today I'm caramelizing all my onions for the freezer. I may roast the squash. The kale will be slowly simmered for a Tuscan stew. The trick is to get everything sorted out (frozen, eaten, etc.) before the next farm foray THIS weekend. Somebody's got to bring home the veggies!

Under the "gourdwalk" at Fall City Farm