Dear Boat

I love you, but...  you are causing undue stress.  Sure, you allow us to get out and enjoy the great outdoors  which is all good.  It is the times you are sitting around doing nothing that the problems start.  The PNW is known for its wet weather, you wouldn't think this would be an issue for a boat, but it is.  As it stand the boat is currently living in the parking space next to our house.  There is plenty of room for it there, however, it does not provide any cover.  To address this we have been covering the boat with a tarp and bunging it down.  As it turns out when we get days in a row of pouring rain our method provides approximately zero protection from the elements.

Today we had planned to go squid jigging and crabbing.  Upon removing the tarp from the boat we were presented with a rather unwelcome site, inches of water in the bottom of the boat.  Not good... Thankfully it gets used often and we know it hadn't sat like that for any period of time, still, it is frustrating.   A couple of hours later the water was drained, some electrical work had been done and we were finally ready go.  However we had missed the low tide and it didn't make much sense to go to the Sound, not to be detured we went to our local lake.  Matt caught a perch and rainbow, I got skunked.  We did get to see a beautiful sunset.

When we got back we decided it would be in our best interest to park the boat in the garage.  I got out to direct Matt and after about 10 minutes of hollering and maneuvering we decided to do some measuring.  Turns out the boat won't fit.  Why we didn't think to measure first I have no idea.  Looks like we are now in the market for some sort of carport to protect the boat.  It's always something...

 

The Klungles go Clamming

This past week Matt's parents made the trip to WA to come and visit us, it was nice to get to see them.  While they were in town we had a clam tide and thought it would be fun to take them out to experience clam digging.  There was two problems with this 1) it was a night tide, and 2) Linda did not have any rain pants or boots.  Being a night tide makes it much harder to locate the little siphon holes that indicate a clam is below.  Lacking lower body wet weather gear poses two problems, you have no protection from the rain or the tide.  Thankfully as soon as we got out of the car the rain stopped, unfortunately Linda  was consumed by the tide and got soaking wet.  In case you were curious, the oceans in our latitude are not exactly warm.  She was a trooper and stuck it out while we finished hunting for our clam limit - which we got.  Being that it was pitch black out I do not have any photo evidence of the actual dig, but I do have a photo of Ken cleaning clams for us.

Cleaning clams

Surf and Turf

Note: I am a little behind in posting.  This is from last weekend.

We have had a productive harvest this weekend.  Saturday we headed to the coast for the clam tide, both Matt and I got our limit in a short period of time.  It seems clamming is an all or nothing deal - either they are there or they are not.  The past two weeks they have  been there.  The weather on the other hand has not been - both times it was pouring, last week the wind was blowing so hard it was raining sideways.  I have to admit, this doesn't fit with my general idea of what a day at the beach includes.  O'well, it was fun. 

Nice beach weather, eh?

Sunday morning Matt and Jacks went pheasant hunting.  It was a success of sorts.  They got their limit, but did so in such a short period of time that Jacks didn't really get any exercise.  That afternoon we went fishing.  I caught a nice rainbow and Matt didn't land anything.  We both hooked a big fish that snapped our line, I am itching to get back out there and go after it!

Finally!

I love Indian food and have been dabbling in cooking it for awhile now.  Sometimes it turns out good, more often than not it has been a failure of a dinner.  As in it gets thrown out because it is so disgusting.  I just don't have a good hold on Indian spices so I have to follow recipes exactly, as it turns out there are a lot of crap recipes out there.  Which brings me to today.  I found a simple, healthy recipe for Saag Paneer - I had to try it. 

Imagine my surprise when it was not only easy to make but delicious.  In an effort to not lose, I figure if I post it here I can always find it later.  And, if you, like me have had some Indian issues you can try something that is good (in my opinion).

Saag Paneer
Credit: Quick Indian Cooking

• 225gm paneer
• 500gm frozen spinach
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• Half tsp chilli powder
• Half tsp turmeric powder
• 1 medium onion
• 1 large green finger chilli
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger
• Half tsp garam masala
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Salt to taste

Chop the block of paneer into even bite sized pieces. In a bowl, mix the paneer pieces with the turmeric, chilli powder and a teaspoon of salt and set aside.
Now, chop the onion roughly and mince or puree the ginger and garlic together. In a non-stick pot, bring the oil to heat over a high flame.
When it is hot, add in the paneer and fry on one side until golden brown and then flip over and repeat on the opposite side. Then remove it with a slotted spoon back into its bowl.
In the same oil, fry the onions, ginger and garlic next. When it starts going translucent, mix in the cumin and the chopped green chilli. Fry for about five minutes until the mixture turns a deep golden brown.
Now mix in the frozen spinach and let it cook for another five minutes. When it is thoroughly defrosted in the pot and mixed evenly with the masala, add half a cup of hot water and go in with a hand blender to liquidise the whole lot into a smooth, creamy mixture.
If you don’t have a hand blender, you could tip the spinach into a normal blender for the same result. When it is smooth and back in the pot, add in the fried paneer pieces and the garam masala. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the water dries up and the spices have penetrated the spinach thoroughly.
At this point, check for salt. You’ll need to add a fair bit to lift the spinach. But this dish is worth it. Eat it piping hot as a side dish or with some ready nan as a complete meal.