Despite chilly mornings and stubborn snow flurries,
spring is stirring.
You have been more faithful than the changing of seasons
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
A Taste of an Epicurean Tour
A couple weeks ago I was privileged to take part in something so unique and special it had to be for a very special occasion. And it was. For my sister-in-law Anne's 30th birthday, she announced to her husband, my brother Paul, that in lieu of any kind of present, she wanted to go on an Epicurean Excursion with Portland Walking Tours. So Paul, Anne, my mom, Jason, and I got all gussied up and headed up to Portland to do a tour of all things Epicurean.
Anne and I both photog'd it up throughout the entire tour and since it was Anne's birthday, I was gracious (and bit the blogging bullet) and allowed her to be the primary blogger of our excursion. (And that is my gift to you, sis.) If you, dear reader, are like us and crave details and unique experiences, you can visit Anne's fabulous posts here (part 1) and here (part 2).
For my own post about our tour, I thought I'd focus on one of the highlight tastings of the trip: the Flying Elephant Delicatessen.
Now, our guide was smart. He first had us taste the soup, then advise him what flavors we found. Well, tomato was obvious. Cream, onion, thyme... but the texture was different. He had us guess as to what it was - what other flavor was in there, subtly brightening up the tomato. "Orange," alerted a fellow tour-goer. "Orange!" Our guide bellowed out, gleefully, "Welcome to the Flying Elephant's famous tomato orange soup."
It was lovely.
The recipe is so popular, our guide went on to explain, that the deli - tired of being hounded for it - released it to the public.
So when we got home, Anne located the recipe. And so, I pass the tomato orange loveliness on to you.
This little Cuisinart guy isn't a standard part of the recipe, but I wanted to show him off anyway. My immersion blender. Best birthday gift ever. Makes shakes and smoothies in glasses, purees soups in pans, does most of your federal income tax return (as long as you don't have too many deductions). It's amazing.
So you toss the soup stuff together, puree it, and then get to the most important element of Elephant Tomato Orange Soup. (It is not, curiously, elephant.)
I bought a nicely priced bag of oranges and squeezed them the old fashioned way (which is - halved, then forked). I discovered that if I microwaved an orange for about 10 seconds (yes, I risked an orangey, pulpy explosion, I know - it's just how I roll), the juice came out even easier.
I then added my freshly-squeezed orange juice to the delicious tomato-y concoction bubbling happily on my stove.
I allowed it to cook up a bit, added some cream and... wait for it... waaait for iiit...
And my - oh my, do we have one delicious bowl of tomato orange goodness.
Look at the texture in the bowl below. It's simply beautiful to look at and even more beautiful to eat. I just love the bright tomato flavor. It's marvelous.
Now listen, I understand that parts of this recipe - firstly the word "elephant" as a recipe descriptor - but namely "orange" can be a little off-putting for people who aren't too adventurous in their food involvements. But I guarantee you this is a fabulous soup to try. I'm so happy that our guide had us taste our way through this soup - I might have also turned up my nose at the words "elephant tomato orange" before the word soup. But since I let go and opened my foodie mind a bit, I was rewarded with this new personal and family favorite (the Sweetheart heartily enjoyed several bowls).
Another odd ingredient in this soup is baking soda. Do not leave this out. The addition of the baking soda cuts the acidity in the soup, which creates a friendlier environment for the cream - in other words. the baking soda makes it so the cream does not curdle in the high acidity of the soup.
Do yourself a favor - a unique, bright, and tasty favor - and make this soup. It's perfect for spring (and summer) and so very lovely to eat.
Elephant Tomato Orange Soup
Puree in a food processor or blender (or with an immersion blender!).
Return to saucepan and stir in orange juice. At this point, the soup can be refrigerated until ready to serve.
At serving time, add the cream and heat gently, stirring constantly, bringing to a simmer and adjust seasonings if necessary. Extra cream maybe drizzled on top of the soup immediately before serving for decorative effect.
*I doubled the above recipe for my family of 3 and had enough for leftovers over the next couple days.
Anne and I both photog'd it up throughout the entire tour and since it was Anne's birthday, I was gracious (and bit the blogging bullet) and allowed her to be the primary blogger of our excursion. (And that is my gift to you, sis.) If you, dear reader, are like us and crave details and unique experiences, you can visit Anne's fabulous posts here (part 1) and here (part 2).
For my own post about our tour, I thought I'd focus on one of the highlight tastings of the trip: the Flying Elephant Delicatessen.
Now, Flying Elephant Delicatessen is pretty much your standard delicatessen experience (which I happen to very much enjoy). We shuffled in with our tour group, stood in line, and were given a sample of a unnamed soup which we then shuffled back out into the chilly Oregon sunlight to enjoy.
Now, our guide was smart. He first had us taste the soup, then advise him what flavors we found. Well, tomato was obvious. Cream, onion, thyme... but the texture was different. He had us guess as to what it was - what other flavor was in there, subtly brightening up the tomato. "Orange," alerted a fellow tour-goer. "Orange!" Our guide bellowed out, gleefully, "Welcome to the Flying Elephant's famous tomato orange soup."
It was lovely.
The recipe is so popular, our guide went on to explain, that the deli - tired of being hounded for it - released it to the public.
So when we got home, Anne located the recipe. And so, I pass the tomato orange loveliness on to you.
This little Cuisinart guy isn't a standard part of the recipe, but I wanted to show him off anyway. My immersion blender. Best birthday gift ever. Makes shakes and smoothies in glasses, purees soups in pans, does most of your federal income tax return (as long as you don't have too many deductions). It's amazing.
So you toss the soup stuff together, puree it, and then get to the most important element of Elephant Tomato Orange Soup. (It is not, curiously, elephant.)
 |
| Behold. The orange. |
I then added my freshly-squeezed orange juice to the delicious tomato-y concoction bubbling happily on my stove.
I allowed it to cook up a bit, added some cream and... wait for it... waaait for iiit...
And my - oh my, do we have one delicious bowl of tomato orange goodness.
Look at the texture in the bowl below. It's simply beautiful to look at and even more beautiful to eat. I just love the bright tomato flavor. It's marvelous.
Now listen, I understand that parts of this recipe - firstly the word "elephant" as a recipe descriptor - but namely "orange" can be a little off-putting for people who aren't too adventurous in their food involvements. But I guarantee you this is a fabulous soup to try. I'm so happy that our guide had us taste our way through this soup - I might have also turned up my nose at the words "elephant tomato orange" before the word soup. But since I let go and opened my foodie mind a bit, I was rewarded with this new personal and family favorite (the Sweetheart heartily enjoyed several bowls).
Another odd ingredient in this soup is baking soda. Do not leave this out. The addition of the baking soda cuts the acidity in the soup, which creates a friendlier environment for the cream - in other words. the baking soda makes it so the cream does not curdle in the high acidity of the soup.
Do yourself a favor - a unique, bright, and tasty favor - and make this soup. It's perfect for spring (and summer) and so very lovely to eat.
* * *
Elephant Tomato Orange Soup
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
Puree in a food processor or blender (or with an immersion blender!).
Return to saucepan and stir in orange juice. At this point, the soup can be refrigerated until ready to serve.
At serving time, add the cream and heat gently, stirring constantly, bringing to a simmer and adjust seasonings if necessary. Extra cream maybe drizzled on top of the soup immediately before serving for decorative effect.
*I doubled the above recipe for my family of 3 and had enough for leftovers over the next couple days.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Klamath Falls Children's Museum
The other day the Sweetheart and I were introduced to another of the little gems the city of Klamath Falls has to offer: The Children's Museum.
We met friends there, among whom were Mr. C and Miss L. Aren't they adorable?
Upon entering the Children's Museum, we noticed several things right off: the place offered fun - fun absolutely everywhere, and right alongside and on top of all that fun? Terrible, terrible lighting (for the mommy with the new camera burning a hole in her camera bag). Thus, you will be seeing a whole lot of black and white images. Some people think they're more artistic and emotional. Me - I'm just skirting the whole weird colors thing. (Please never accuse me of being artsy and emotional.)
So another one of the first things we noticed right away were the trains. Trains! We kinda love trains. There are hands-on trains (Hello Thomas) and hands-off trains (Hello miniature Union Pacific).
And then - we saw it. Across the crowded room... a fire truck! I had a mommy-melting moment when Siennalee scooted her little self onto that truck and saw that she could work the truck's siren light. There's nothing like the pure joy of children.
Thankfully Mr. C was driving because this girl is completely taken with the red shiny light.
Once he was satisfied that Siennalee had paid sufficient attention to her driving lessons, Mr. C let Sienna scoot behind the wheel and take 'er for a spin. The bliss on her face is one of my very favorite things.
The Children's Museum then breaks off into several rooms with different themes. One of the first we found was the "office" room, complete with a (working!) inter-office telephone system and semi-antique-but-still-play-with-able office equipment. Mr. C, who frequents the Children's Museum with his mommy Cherry, got right to work.
Siennalee was thrilled with the phone. Especially when an intrepid little fellow museum-goer called her from another "office."
And then - there was the "salon." We spent a lot of time here. And frankly, the photos kinda tell the story better than I could. (I just love my sweetheart's little face!)
I absolutely must add more shots of Miss L. She's pretty darn cute in the pictures, but she's a perfect little doll in real life! (So is her mommy. Next time I'll do a better job getting pictures of the mommies.)
And here's Mr. C again. His mommy takes a lot of pictures, too, so he's no stranger to what to do in front of the camera. Although I did catch him giving me some "aw, c'mon lady" faces though when I was going a little too paparazza.
Another room was the "grocery store" room. It's ideal how they've got this set up like a little neighborhood market. Siennalee took a few moments to survey, then got right to shopping. She was then able to take her purchases up to a very old fashioned cash register and dig her extra-large money out of a little pocketbook that came with the grocery store. How convenient! There was a phone in this room, too, which was able to call the other rooms in the museum. More great fun.
The Klamath Falls Children's Museum! What a treat. We will SO be back. :)
We met friends there, among whom were Mr. C and Miss L. Aren't they adorable?
Upon entering the Children's Museum, we noticed several things right off: the place offered fun - fun absolutely everywhere, and right alongside and on top of all that fun? Terrible, terrible lighting (for the mommy with the new camera burning a hole in her camera bag). Thus, you will be seeing a whole lot of black and white images. Some people think they're more artistic and emotional. Me - I'm just skirting the whole weird colors thing. (Please never accuse me of being artsy and emotional.)
So another one of the first things we noticed right away were the trains. Trains! We kinda love trains. There are hands-on trains (Hello Thomas) and hands-off trains (Hello miniature Union Pacific).
And then - we saw it. Across the crowded room... a fire truck! I had a mommy-melting moment when Siennalee scooted her little self onto that truck and saw that she could work the truck's siren light. There's nothing like the pure joy of children.
Thankfully Mr. C was driving because this girl is completely taken with the red shiny light.
Once he was satisfied that Siennalee had paid sufficient attention to her driving lessons, Mr. C let Sienna scoot behind the wheel and take 'er for a spin. The bliss on her face is one of my very favorite things.
The Children's Museum then breaks off into several rooms with different themes. One of the first we found was the "office" room, complete with a (working!) inter-office telephone system and semi-antique-but-still-play-with-able office equipment. Mr. C, who frequents the Children's Museum with his mommy Cherry, got right to work.
Siennalee was thrilled with the phone. Especially when an intrepid little fellow museum-goer called her from another "office."
And then - there was the "salon." We spent a lot of time here. And frankly, the photos kinda tell the story better than I could. (I just love my sweetheart's little face!)
I absolutely must add more shots of Miss L. She's pretty darn cute in the pictures, but she's a perfect little doll in real life! (So is her mommy. Next time I'll do a better job getting pictures of the mommies.)
And here's Mr. C again. His mommy takes a lot of pictures, too, so he's no stranger to what to do in front of the camera. Although I did catch him giving me some "aw, c'mon lady" faces though when I was going a little too paparazza.
Another room was the "grocery store" room. It's ideal how they've got this set up like a little neighborhood market. Siennalee took a few moments to survey, then got right to shopping. She was then able to take her purchases up to a very old fashioned cash register and dig her extra-large money out of a little pocketbook that came with the grocery store. How convenient! There was a phone in this room, too, which was able to call the other rooms in the museum. More great fun.
And then there was the "doctor's office" room. The lab coat was irresistible.
And on our way out we spied the helicopter. Mr. C was giving lessons and made sure Siennalee felt comfortable before she did some solo-flights.
The Klamath Falls Children's Museum! What a treat. We will SO be back. :)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
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