Hunkering down

Dozens of Brewer's Blackbirds staked a claim on a pair of trees in the middle of the Costco parking lot today.

Why this concrete jungle, this Ground Zero for pre-Super Bowl shopping, was the refuge of choice for these little feathered foragers seemed strange enough.

Makes us wonder what's moving in weatherwise, but not enough to hang around for the next Northeaster or traffic gridlock. 

Wanna go home, kid?

After 45 minutes on the trail, it's usually obvious - the immediate 180 degree turn is a dead giveaway - when Casey is ready to go home. 

I'll give you an hour to stop that

If there is one thing that Casey totally submits to without any hesitation is a good brushing.

He always assumes a "take me, take me...I'm all yours" posture for this grooming regimen. 

Eyes closed, an occasional pleasure moan. No pride here boy, just pure gratitude.

  

Watchful eye

With clear skies for the first time in weeks came the watchful eyes of local raptors. Catching sight of a young red-tailed hawk checking out the neighborhood for unwary prey was unexpected. If I was a little quicker I'd have gotten a shot of him in flight as he propelled himself up and out and soared into the lower tree line. 

A salt-baked bird

Vic ran across a recipe for baked chicken this week in Chocolate & Zucchini that was worth trying, and as it turned out, called for an encore very, very soon.

Salt-crusted chicken, a misnomer of sorts when the final succulent product is on your plate, turned out beautifully for a first attempt at using this technique of allowing an organic chicken to cook in its own juices.

Salt-Crusted Chicken

• one chicken, organic and/or from a source you trust, about 2 kilos (4.4 pounds)
• 1 medium bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed with the flat of a knife blade
• 500 grams (17 2/3 ounces, about 3 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour
• 300 grams (10 1/2 ounces, about 1 1/3 cups) coarse salt
• 3 tablespoons thyme, fresh if available, dried otherwise (other dried herbs may be substituted, such as rosemary or oregano)
• 6 tablespoons ground flax seeds, or 160 grams (5 2/3 ounces) egg whites (from 4 to 5 large eggs)

Lightly oil a baking dish big enough to hold the chicken comfortably. Set aside.
If you're using flax seeds rather than egg whites, place them in a bowl with 100 ml (6 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) fresh water, and set aside for about 15 minutes, until the water is completely absorbed and the mixture is gelled.

Place the chicken on a work surface, on its back, with the neck side facing you. Slip your hand under the skin, starting at the base of the neck, and work gently to get your hand further in, lifting the skin from the flesh over each breast, and down over each thigh, without tearing the skin. Once the skin is loosened, slip in the chopped parsley, pushing it underneath the skin to cover the breasts and the thighs as evenly as you can.

Sprinkle a few pinches of salt inside the cavity of the chicken, and add in the garlic. Using a piece of chicken string, truss the chicken as demonstrated in Peter Hertzmann's Preparing for roasting video at minute 2:30. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour with the salt and thyme. Add the soaked ground flax seeds or the egg whites, and 160 ml (2/3 cup) fresh water, and stir with a wooden spoon or a dough whisk until the liquids are absorbed. Turn out onto a clean work surface, and knead briefly until the dough comes together; it should be supple and pleasant to work with, not sticky or crumbly. Add a little water or flour as needed to adjust the consistency.

Flour your work surface well, and roll out the salt dough into a circle large enough to wrap the chicken in it (I shoot for a diameter of about 50 cm or 20").

Place the chicken in the middle of the circle and fold opposite flaps of the dough over the chicken to wrap it entirely. Press gently to seal; if it looks like the dough might not stay put, brush the seams with a pastry brush dipped lightly in water.

Lift the whole thing carefully but with determination, and transfer it to the prepared baking dish. Place in the fridge until ready to bake -- you can leave it in for a few hours or overnight. If the salt crust cracks slightly here or there, don't worry about it; it doesn't need to be 100% airtight.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Insert the dish in the oven and leave it in for 1 1/2 hours (a little more won't hurt if the guests are late; just turn off the oven and leave the chicken inside).

Remove the dish from the oven, and break the salt crust open with a meat mallet or the handle of a chef knife. Once fractured, the crust can be simply pulled open with your oven-mitt-clad hands (it's fun).

Lift the chicken from the open crust, transfer it to a cutting board, and carve it. Discard the crust. Serve the chicken with the cooking juices, perfect roasted potatoes.

   

Northeasterly brrrr

A brisk northeast wind all day brought bone-numbing temperatures to Bellingham, or can you tell already from Vic's Arctic-ready hiking garb.

The white caps are clear indicators of gusty winds and a wind chill that cut our outing short, retreating to a coffee house sooner rather than later.



It was worth sticking around for a quick shot of the sunset, even when the final product was the result of forgetting our Canon G-11 and using a phone camera.







Can you tell?

Early to bed

If you look around after prime time (which doesn't mean a whole lot anymore ever since we dumped cable TV) and Casey is no where to be found, our farmboy has turned in. He just retreats to his kennel, bundles up his favorite sweatshirt for a pillow, and crashes. It just seems like he never quite got off of central standard time.  

(What?!...It's late OK.)

On silent haunches

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches
and then moves on.

     Fog
         Carl Sandburg

While the East Coast is digging out from underneath a record-breaking blanket of snow, in our little corner of the Northwest we've been dealing with filtered sunshine, persistent fog, at least for now. The cul-de-sac evergreen matrons have even taken on an eerie chic. 

Trout feed

What a lucky break today. On the way to our first Whatcom Falls Park trail hike in a while, we noticed a feeding going on at the park fish hatchery.

Thousands of rainbow trout being catered to in front of onlookers, including
Case and I.

Each main pond contained over 10,000 one-year-old rainbows breaching and jonesin' for feed, provided by a B.C. company, Ewos Feed from Surrey.

This hungry feedfest will be released to streams and lakes in April and ought to be about 3/4 pound each by that time. Today they weigh in at about 3 to a pound.

The last pond we came upon contained 500 3 to 4 pound rainbow brooding trout. This bunch has it made, just protected and fed to reproduce year after year. In some genus circles, not a bad gig.

Casey was understandably not quite as impressed as the rest of us, knowing a walk in the woods was just around the corner.

  

Late night crazies

It's getting late, but the kid's ready for some action.

A simple ball curfew would have worked wonders, if we would have enforced it from day one. Now, we just admire his persistence. After all, in the old days we had to teach our "farm boy" how to play.   

Casey's doing just fine now - thank you.

Don't tell anyone...but

Does this guy look happy, or what?

Casey might have really good reason to be smiling, but we already knew that.

Hot off the presses: Bellingham, one of Casey's worlds, is listed among the top 10 'happiest cities' in the West according to Sunset Magazine in its February issue.

"So depending on what makes you smile, here are the ten best places to live (and find happiness) in the wondrous amusement park of the American West," the article says in an introductory passage. Nearby Salt Spring Island, B.C. is listed based on its excellent conditions for vegetable growing.

Each town makes the list for a different reason. Bellingham is characterized as "a seaside haven 90 miles north of Seattle" with 65 miles of multi-use trails within city limits, plus nearby access to mountains and sea.

Other communities on the list include:

• Eureka, Calif., for its hospitability to artists.
• Salt Lake City, for its friendliness to entrepreneurs.
• Portland, Ore., for its bike- and pedestrian-friendly design that, along with excellent mass transit, enables a car-free lifestyle.
• Taos, N.M., a good place to invest in a vacation home.
• San Diego, for innovative businesses.
• Sonoma County, Calif., for fine dining.
• Scottsdale, Ariz. for its low crime rate.
• Crestone, Colo. for its widespread use of solar power.

Renovation on Pattle Point

Looking southwest from Boulevard Park at Pattle Point

This afternoon Casey and I discovered that the hike from Fairhaven to Boulevard Park was re-opened. It had been closed since October, with its wornout wooden trestle over Pattle Point being replaced with new walkways and supports.



Now with the renovation complete, our straight shot over Taylor Dock to Woods Coffee in the park, one of our favorite outings, is back in commission.


Before Oct 2010



Today



Flatiron Woods

One of the cooler locations for a coffeehouse in Bellingham is now the Flatiron Building on Bay St. Woods Coffee opened its 10th location in this nearly 7-story former "skyscraper", well, a skyscraper of sorts in 1908, the year it opened for occupants.


And today this newest caffeine pitstop passed with flying colors as another in our list of potential haunts for espresso and conversation.

The wet cappuccinos and hot chocolate - four star; the mocha - not bad; the baristas top-notch. Organic blends would have been a nice touch, but at least the beans were direct trade. 

We'll be back.






Now if only it was only dog-friendly, we'd be regulars.



No clearing anytime soon

Lummi Island mostly obscured, and Orcas Island no where to be seen by southwesterly flow and incoming weather.

 
Before heading out today on our "get the Border Collie outta the house quick while the rain has let up" walk, it was plain to see that there will be no clearing, no blue skies, anytime soon. The California and Nevada "refugees" will get over it soon enough. Say... July? 

Not exactly yin jang, just late night "lights out"

What's the holdup?!

The rain letting up this afternoon was definitely a window of opportunity to get a walk in, as far as our Mr. Persistent was concerned. And this ploy worked...again.

Nightfall on the southside

Nightfall on the southside came fast while we were distracted with beachcombing and occasional light rainshowers at Marine Park.

Twilight didn't hang around long before Casey and I headed back to Fairhaven and home, which seemed like the best move.

Luckily nightfall doesn't come all at once and the sights and sounds of today's gloaming on Bellingham Bay were excuses enough to just chill and enjoy the return leg.