French Friday with Dorie ~ gerard's mustard tart w/dinner

The kitchen is uncomfortably warm. The oven has been baking away for over 3 hours. Both Shadow and Fluffy are fully extended on the couch "and" ottoman with paws curled over their eyes while they nap. The aroma of a warm tart crust fresh from the oven fills the house. Tomorrow is French Friday with Dorie and our second choice for the month of October; gerard's mustard tart.

Many thoughts circulated through my head while looking at the recipe for this savory tart last weekend. Two types of mustard, one grainy; leeks and carrots, julienned and steamed; and a filling resembling a quiche. Creme Fraiche is already waiting in the refrigerator. What could the tart possibly taste like? Is mustard going to be the dominant flavor? Dorie says to add according to taste. I was not sure what the taste should be. Then there is the dinner menu; one of my favorite past times, meaning get out old and new recipes to find ideas to match the tart.

An hour later, recipes spread across the couch, ottoman, floor, on top of the cats (they love playing hide-and-seek with loose paper), my menu was assembled on my menu notepad.

I am sticking with Dorie's exact measurements for the ingredient list along with baking the tart shell from page 498 of our French Table cookbook. I am also baking Dorie's Banana Cream Pie out of Dorie's Baking from my home to yours cookbook (I missed the week the banana cream pie was baked in TWD.).

Dinner for Early Evening:

Dorie's recipe of gerard's mustard tart

Feta-Stuffed Shrimp

Sirloin Steaks with Blue Cheese and Mushroom Wine Sauce

Roasted Broccoli w/Herb Lemon Butter

Dessert:

Dories recipe for Banana Cream Pie

Feta-Stuffed Shrimp

(adapted from a recipe by Paula Deen)

Ingredients:

8 jumbo shrimp

1/3 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

1 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped roasted red pepper

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup butter plus 3 tablespoons, melted and divided

1 large egg yolk, beaten

1/3 cup white wine

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spray a shallow baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Peel shrimp, leaving tails intact. With a sharp knife, carefully slice the spine of shrimp from head to tail, cutting almost all the way through the shrimp; remove the dark vein, and rinse shrimp. With your fingers, carefully spread apart the shrimp, and flatten the halves on a flat surface. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, parsley, red pepper, garlic, feta, lemon zest, lemon juice, ¼ cup melted butter, and egg yolk; stir well.
Spoon about 1 tablespoon of bread crumb mixture onto each butterflied shrimp, mounding the mixture, if necessary.
Place the stuffed shrimp in prepared dish.
Pour wine and remaining 3 tablespoons melted butter around shrimp in baking dish.
Bake for 20 minutes or until shrimp are pink and firm.
Transfer shrimp to serving plates, and drizzle with pan juices.

Issues along the Way:
*My crust baked up to more of a chocolate brown, just past golden, and I had yet to add my filling. I made a foil circle and covered the edging while baking the tart filling. Worked out perfect.

*I was planning on making this dinner Wednesday night before I realized the tart dough is chilled for 3 hours, assembled and chilled again, then baked and cooled before adding the filling. For pre-planning purposes, the tart shell dough is a breeze for baking the next day.

Verdict: The mustard was not over-powering. We were pleasantly surprised at how mellow the flavor actually was. The crust was crisp and flaky while the filling was firm and moist. We both loved it!

I can not wait to try the mustard tart recipe again with fresh tomatoes. I already bought them to try this weekend.


Dorie's banana cream pie filling was quick and easy to put together. I wasn't sure about the sound of cinnamon with banana but the flavors mingle perfectly. Hubby had two pieces after dinner. Where he fit them, I am not quite sure. =)

We both are up at 4 a.m. so a special dinner can make the long day melt away.

Thank you Dorie for choosing another dish that will not be forgotten in our kitchen.

CEiMB Thursday - Salmon Cakes with Ginger-Sesame Sauce and a Polynesian Shrimp Salad

I have been to the CEiMB home page about 6 times in the last month. Do I join or don't I? I bought Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave cookbook over 2 months ago and have definitely flipped through the pages and tabbed half the recipes to "try soon" BUT have not tried any to date (except for today's recipe). Several days ago I sat down in front of the computer and knew today was the day I wanted to start. I really enjoy how Ellie puts recipes together, cutting out a large amount of calories, but not taking away the flavor.

My first dinner with CEiMB was a great way to start. Sarah of Sarah's Kitchen Adventures (Gorgeous header photo Sarah) chose Salmon Cakes with Creamy Sesame-Ginger Sauce. I cut the recipe in half because there were just the two of us eating tonight and used Bumble Bee Salmon in the little 5 oz. cans. A first for me using canned salmon. Great flavor (I was pleasantly surprised) and the chestnuts added a wonderful crunch plus the scallions gave added color. Ellie was absolutely correct about the dipping sauce! I could see dipping veggies or anything else, including my finger, in the sesame-ginger sauce. We loved it.



My only negative point to add is, for some reason, my patties were on the dry side. I had trouble keeping the patties together, especially when flipping them gingerly in the pan. Crazy. =) Thank you Sarah for the wonderful selection and for hosting this week. We really enjoyed our dinner! To get the recipe for the salmon patties, go to Sarah's beautiful blog and/or buy Ellie's Cookbook.



To go with the salmon patties and dipping sauce, we made a Polynesian Shrimp Salad with just a hint of mild yellow curry powder, pineapple chunks and the reserved juice. Summer time and cold salads go hand-and-hand.

Polynesian Shrimp Salad
Serves 6 (20 min. + chilling to Make)

Ingredients:
1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup lite sour cream
1 pound cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 cups cooked medium pasta shells
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/4 cup chopped sweet red pepper



Directions:
Drain pineapple, reserving 3/4 cup juice; set pineapple aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch, curry powder, salt, pepper and reserved pineapple juice until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from the heat; cool to room temperature. Stir in mayonnaise and sour cream.

In a large bowl, combine the shrimp, pasta, water chestnuts, red pepper and reserved pineapple. Add dressing and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Bisque with Shrimp over Pan-Seared Gouda Grits

3 pounds of shrimp are luxuriously swimming in a pool of rich and creamy soup ladled over pan-seared Gouda grits. The dish takes a few steps to complete but a little prep work ahead of time goes a LONG ways. Peel the shrimp and make the stock the day before. The shrimp stock simmers for 20 minutes, cools, strain and reserve in refrigerator. The Gouda grits need to chill for at least 4 hours before cutting into triangles.

This one dish dinner is hearty, filled with layers of flavor and fun to present. The recipe was adapted from Will Hughes of Catering & Market.


Shrimp with Pan-Seared Gouda Grits
(Makes 6 servings)

3 pounds unpeeled large fresh shrimp
1/2 c. plus 2 T. butter, divided
1 T. bacon drippings (I always have a jar used for collecting bacon grease in the refrigerator)
3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
3 green onions, coarsely chopped
1 small red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 small yellow bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. fresh parsley
2 t. dried thyme
2 t. Old Bay Seasoning or seafood seasoning of your choice
2 t. hot chili sauce (I used Sriracha hot chili sauce)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
6 cups Shrimp stock (recipe follows)
2 c. whipping cream
1 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. vegetable oil, divided
1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
Pan-seared Gouda Grits (recipe follows)



Directions:
Peel and devein shrimp, reserving shells and tails for Shrimp Stock.

In a large Dutch oven, add 1/2 cup butter and bacon drippings; place Dutch oven over medium-high heat until butter melts and mixture is hot. Stir in celery, green onion, bell peppers,parsley, thyme, seafood seasoning, hot chili sauce, and garlic; reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly, for 8 minutes or until onions are tender.

Add flour, stirring until smooth and blended; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add stock, cream, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and cool.

In the container of a blender, process cream mixture, in batches, until smooth. Return cream mixture to Dutch oven.

In a large skillet, add 1 Tablespoon butter and 1 Tablespoon oil; place skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add half of peeled shrimp and cook, stirring frequently, until pink and firm. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 Tablespoon butter and oil and remaining shrimp.

Add shrimp to cream mixture; cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove from heat, and stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Serve immediately with Pan-Roasted Gouda Grit wedges.


Shrimp Stock
Reserved shrimp shells and tails from previous recipe
8 cups water

Directions:
In a large pot, combine shrimp shells, tails and water; bring just to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Cool. Strain mixture through a fine wire-mesh sieve, discarding shells and tails.

Pan-Seared Gouda Grits
(Makes about 30 grits triangles)
4 cups water
1/4 c. plus 2 T. butter, divided
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 c. quick-cooking grits
1/2 c. whipping cream
1 c. shredded Gouda cheese
2 T. vegetable oil, divided

Directions:
In a medium pot, combine water, 1/4 cup butter, and salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Slowly whisk in grits. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, for 25 minutes or until thickened. Add cream and Gouda cheese; cook, stirring frequently, until cheese melts and mixture is blended.

Pour grits mixture into an 11x7-inch baking dish. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or until firm.

Cut grits into 15 rectangles. Cut each rectangle into triangles.

In a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil; place skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add grits triangles, in batches; cook for 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. Repeat procedure with remaining triangles, and remaining 1 tablespoon butter and oil.

Summertime Simple

*Menu*

~Lemonade Tea with Mint

~Artichoke and Tomato Salad

~Chicken and Shrimp Clemeneau

Dinner in the summertime. How does summertime affect choices in your kitchen? We eat fresh and simple; many of us are in the middle of heat waves but where does your taste buds drift?

Heirloom tomatoes, fresh figs, local new varieties of cheese, different cuts and a wider variety of meats (such as bison, salt cod, kobe beef) have been a new for several years in the NorthWest. We have local coffee made with personal touches (one local coffee farm succeeds by incorporating enthusiastic volunteers; Vashon Island's homegrown and roasted variety of coffee and tea comes to mind . . . LOVE the chocolate tea!), local cheese stores where the cheese is made on site, an amazing Russian sausage house only open Thursdays thru Saturday in Shoreline (the rest of the week you can see the smoke emitting from the small store, readying stock for the weekend), wonderful local butcher stores keeping costs down and variety up (the Swinery in Seattle and DD Meats in Mountlake Terrace are two of my favorites), and the many local fruit, berry and nut farms open to the public to pick for a cheaper price along with bringing the produce to local stands. Friday and Saturday Farmer's Markets are wonderful for a wider variety of selection then just your local fruits and vegetables. Kind of like a homemade metropolis for most every part of a home. Woodworking, plants, quilts, canned goods, fresh seafood, fresh-cut flowers, and the list goes on (I love each of the Farmer's Markets in Port Orchard, Gig Harbor and Olympia along with the ever popular Pike's Place Market in Seattle, open 7 days a week).

Tonight's dinner incorporates local prawns, poultry, and vegetables accompanied with an inner feeling of warmth because I have helped support my local business community.

Lemonade Tea with Mint

12 cups boiling water

12 single-size tea bags

3 fresh mint springs

1 (12-ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

Directions:

In a large pot, combine water, tea bags, and mint. Let stand for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags. Stir in lemonade concentrate.

Pour some of the tea into an ice cube tray for serving time. Freeze.

Refrigerate the rest of the tea for approximately 1 hour, or until ready to serve. When serving, use tea ice cubes in freezer.

Artichoke and Tomato Salad

1/2 cup baby spinach
1 1/2 pounds heirloom tomatoes, or different colored tomatoes (yellows, oranges, and reds), diced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 artichoke hearts, cut in half

Directions:

Remove stems from baby spinach, clean and pat dry.

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, basil, oil, and vinegar. Arrange baby spinach on plates and top with tomato-basil mixture. Lightly cover salads with Parmesan. Arrange artichoke halves around salad.

Chicken and Shrimp Clemenceau

(adapted from Dooky Chase Restaurant)

1/2 c. vegetable oil

2 1/2 c. peeled and diced Idaho or Yukon potatoes (approximately 3 medium potatoes)

3/4 c. butter, divided

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into strips

1 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms

2 pounds medium fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails left on)

1 t. minced garlic

1 1/2 c. green peas (fresh, frozen, or canned)

1 T. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (out of my garden)

1 t. hot sauce, such as Tabasco

1/2 t. ground paprika

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper

Garnish: sliced green onions

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil, and heat. Fry potatoes until browned, 7 to 9 minutes. (Or you may blanch potatoes in water, drain, and then brown in butter.) Transfer potatoes to a dish with a slotted spoon. Set aside.

Wipe out skillet, and add 1/2 cup butter. When butter melts, add chicken strips, and brown lightly, in batches if necessary, approximately 5 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to a dish. Set aside.

Melt remaining 1/4 cup butter (if needed) in the same pan. Add mushrooms, and cook until they release juices. Add shrimp, and cook until pink and firm, 2 to 3 minutes.

Return chicken to pan, then add potatoes and peas; heat thoroughly. Top with parsley, hot sauce, paprika, salt and pepper. Garnish with green onion, if desired.

Summer Time Grilling - Shrimp Tacos with Tequila Refried Beans

Grilling can be alarming for some and a natural way of cooking for others. A person definitely needs to practice to get timing, color, and amount of heat down. Nothing worse then nibbling on charcoal. At least, if the BBQ is not done, you can go back and grill.Seafood is pretty easy. Smaller portions and smaller actual sizes to work with. Fast grilling, less mess and more time to enjoy good food with family and friends. The shrimp taco shells in the recipe below are even wrapped in aluminum foil and set on the grill. The refried beans are done on the stove top. I know. You knew it was to good to be true!

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

Time: 30
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the Shrimp Tacos:
1/2 c. fresh lime juice
1 T. olive oil
2 t. chili powder
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined (24)
8 flour tortillas
For the Chipotle Sauce:
1/2 c. mayonnaise or sour cream
1 1/2 t. minced chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
1 1/2 t. honey
1 t. fresh lime juice
Salt to taste
For the Red Slaw:
4 c. shredded red cabbage
1/2 c. sliced scallions
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
1 T. olive oil
1 T. distilled white vinegar
Salt to taste

Whisk together 1/2 c. lime juice, 1 T. oil, and chili powder for the tacos. Add shrimp and chill until ready to skewer.

Preheat one side of the grill to medium-high and the other side to medium-low.

Whisk together mayonnaise, chipotle's, honey, and 1 t. lime juice for the sauce. Season with salt and chill until ready to serve, or up to 1 hour.

Combine cabbage, scallions, cilantro, 1 T. oil, and vinegar for the slaw. Season with salt and chill until ready to serve, or up to 1 hour.

Wrap tortillas in foil. Thread shrimp onto 4 metal or soaked bamboo skewers.

Grill foil-wrapped tortillas, covered, over medium-low heat, 3-4 minutes. Flip and grill 3-4 minutes more. Grill shrimp skewers, covered, over medium-high heat, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove tortillas and skewers from the grill.

To serve, divide slaw and shrimp among 8 tortillas; drizzle with sauce.

I also added Tequila refried beans to the base of the tortilla before adding fillings.

Tequila Refried Beans

Time: 20
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1/4 c. diced white onion
1 T. olive oil
1 t. minced fresh garlic
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. ground coriander
2 T. tequila or water
2 cans (15 oz. each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 T. fresh lime juice
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Crumbled feta cheese
Sliced serrano chile

Directions:

Saute onion in oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat until softened, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, cumin, and coriander. Saute 1 minute. Deglaze pan with tequila; reduce until evaporated. Stir in beans and broth.

Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to medium-low. Crush beans with a potato masher and cook until soupy, 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. Serve with cheese and chile slices.

Creamy Chocolate Martini; New Year's Gumbo AND Anniversary Bed and Breakfast

Creamy Chocolate Martinis, Pomegranate Tequila drinks, seafood gumbo, peach crisp dessert, family and friends enjoying each other's company. . . what a great New Year's weekend to start out 2010! 2010, who can believe it? Growing up, the year 2000 sounded so far away, like one of those sci fi TV shows. You know, Buck Rogers and the 21st Century, or 2001, A Space Odyssey (sp?). I started posting pictures for this entry, yesterday, and there were so many pictures missing. The photo shots you wished you had taken. So much to learn; a photography class would be nice and maybe a digital camera attached to me. The best shots always seem to be the ones where no camera is in sight or the lighting is non-existent! Mom, Larry made this martini recipe for me and the best creamy chocolate martini is made with Chocolate Temptation liqueur but Washington state no longer sells it. No idea why because this stuff is delicious! The last bottles we bought were in Oregon ~ a little far to go for even this martini. Godiva works as a great chocolate replacement, just not as creamy.

Creamy Chocolate Martini

2 Jiggers Cask and Cream Chocolate Temptation or Godiva Chocolate Liqueur

1 Jigger Creme de Cocoa
1 Jigger Vanilla Vodka

Fill a cocktail shaker 1/3 way with ice, add all 3 ingredients, shake quickly and pour into your favorite martini glass. To me, the martini glass is just as fun as the martini.

We visited family over the New Year's weekend and had a relaxing time catching up on so much. Time always flies by while everyone is together and life seems to keep us intertwined in day-to-day rituals, with us allowing more time then we wish to slide away before getting together again. Larry and I were talking about this very topic on the way home, wishing there was an easy answer.

Seafood Gumbo is a New Year's tradition. We live near the water and could not imagine life without some kind of seafood in the house. Dungeness crab, king crab legs, lobster tails, salad shrimp, prawns, scallops, all types of fish (Costco is great for fresh tilipia and cod), clams, mussels, crayfish tails, squid ~ to name just a few.

The Seafood Gumbo includes Dungeness crab, prawns, scallops and 1 type of firm fish. This time around, cod filets were used.

Dinner was served on a beautiful setting with candles and family. What a great way to enjoy good food!

Seafood Gumbo

(adapted from Pirate's Pantry, treasured recipes of Southwest Louisiana, by The Junior League)

2/3 cup oil or bacon drippings (I use 1/2 cup bacon drippings and the rest vegetable oil)

1 cup flour

3 large onions, chopped

3 ribs celery, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 quarts water

3 bay leaves

Tabasco, Emeril's hot pepper sauce, or habanero hot sauce to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Worcestershire sauce to taste, I use several Tablespoons

2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce

(6) pre-cooked dungeness crabs, cleaned and shucked, keeping the crab claws to be added to gumbo

1 bunch green onions, chopped (I omit this ingredient sometimes)

1/3 cup chopped parsley

3 pounds raw prawns, medium size and cut in-half or a smaller size left whole (peeled and deveined)

1 pound small scallops

1 pound firm, boneless fish fillet (I use cod or halibut), cubed into bite-size pieces

**clams and mussels (in shells) can be tossed in but if the gumbo gets reheated, both of these will toughen in texture

Directions:

In skillet, make roux using oil (bacon grease) and flour. Cook until it is chocolate brown color. Add chopped vegetables and stir until wilted. Transfer to large gumbo pot (I use a large Dutch oven or stock pot). Add water and bring to a boil. Add seasonings and tomato sauce. Boil approximately 1 hour. Add prawns, scallops, green onion and parsley, continue boiling for about 15 minutes. Just before serving, add crab meat and crab claws.

Serve over hot, fluffy rice in bowls. This recipe is a great background for omitting seafood and adding chicken, turkey, duck, or any type of meat. Serves about 10 people.

Peach Crisp with vanilla ice cream dessert:

I thought adding our bed and breakfast anniversary would be a great finish. Just a feel good moment for myself to look back on and share a few new treasures we discovered along the way.

Sandlake Country Inn Bed and Breakfast, Pacific City, Oregon is Voted "Most Romantic Hideaway" by Inn Traveler Magazine & "Simply Sublime" by Best Places to Kiss in the NW; we enjoyed a romantic getaway with double jacuzzi tubs, a gas fireplace viewed from both sides (the bedroom on one side and the sitting room on the other), a private deck & a 4-course breakfast delivered to our door both mornings. We stayed in the Starlight Room and had the whole upper floor to ourselves. The Pacific Ocean was less then 5 minutes from the front door.
Below is a photo of the living room open for all as we entered the house. The atmosphere was cozy and the shelves were lined with movies and music, ready to be borrowed and enjoyed.

Since our anniversary is several weeks ahead of Christmas, we were able to relax before the holiday rush for Christmas season really set in. The drive was long, about 6 hours but we left early on a Friday morning, ready to enjoy every part of our getaway. So many beautiful ice sculptures to look at and a raging river with large pools of ice was usually to one side or the other of our drive.
The Sandlake bed and breakfast, as mentioned earlier, is close to the middle part of Oregon's coastline. The raw beauty is amazing to take in. Washington has a maze of mansions along the waterfronts and yet Oregon's coastline has so many open areas where vehicles are welcome to drive onto the beaches, small fires to keep warm by on chilly afternoons, open quiet spaces (many times not seeing another person) are all part of the scenario.

Every restaurant we visited overlooked the ocean. Romantic, delicious and breathtaking scenery. I truly love what the great Northwest has to offer. The variety and beauty can feel beyond words, leaving a person mesmerized and in awe.

The first restaurant we found in Pacific city, Or was the Pelican Pub & Brewery. My pictures are so dark but I hope you can get the jist of the location and surrounding scenes.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and microbrews – all in a family restaurant with an amazing ocean view. We did not arrive here until after checking in at the B&B at 3 pm so night was setting in and my flash was not enough for a good picture. Below is a door that is used during the summer months for customers to sit on the patio and look out at Oregon's second Haystack Rock formation. Not very imaginative, if you ask me, to have a rock formation in Canon Beach, OR called Haystack Rock, then going further down the coastline to see another and have this rock formation called the exact same thing. There is not even a Sr, Jr, or I and II after the title. Strange.
Sitting in the restaurant, looking out a window, you get to look at the waves washing onto the beach and Haystack Rock (the air is chilly and no one was near the water at the time of this picture):
Pacific City, OR is tiny and recluse. Small sand dunes could be found across the street, in parking lots and driveways. The largest grocery store in Pacific City could be compared to a small Mom and Pop grocery store where I live in Port Orchard, WA.

We researched a few places before leaving and Barnacle Bill's Seafood Market kept coming up as the absolute must to try. The business is nothing to look at, in fact, we almost didn't stop as it appears to be nothing more than a tiny fish market. The reviews I read said they have been smoking salmon since the 40's or early 50's and offers the best smoked salmon people have ever tasted. Available in moist, medium and dry . . . we took the moist! You get the feeling they either catch it themselves or get it right off the boats each day. Definitely the best smoked salmon we have ever eaten! Here is the address and phone number: 2174 NE Highway 101, Lincoln City, OR 97367
541-994-3022
Another stop was at Wine 101. The wine shop is just across the street from the ocean front so you get a killer view plus Mary (the owner) was our server, offering artichoke dip and crackers, large wine selection to sample from, a small fireplace to sit by in overstuffed chairs. You are invited to relax and stay a while. Mary even gave us the must go to restaurants for our anniversary dinner Saturday night. Larry and I felt overwhelmed with Internet pictures and write-ups so Mary's suggestions were wonderful! She would know, the lady enjoys talking about food as much as we do.
Just a little shop but between the warm company and entertainment inside and the coastline view outside, definitely makes this a must-stop place anytime of the year. What a cold, rainy, windy day and all my pictures are so dark.
Mary suggested appetizers at Fathom's restaurant at the Inn at Spanish Head, located on the 10Th floor. Appetizers start at $1 to $2 and include seafood with a phenomenal view of the waterfront. Just Gorgeous! Unfortunately, winter time gets dark way to early and our view was hard to get a picture of too.
Mary said appetizers only here and for a romantic dinner, go to Tidal Rave Seafood Grill (279 U.S. 101, Depoe Bay, OR (541) 765-2995‎) and we would not be disappointed. You have no idea just how right she was! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous and the food was huge portions of melt in your mouth everything with a cocktail hostess with talents to match. The wine selection to match the menu - Perfect!
I took no food shots because we did not take my camera into the restaurant. Seafood fettuccine, seafood anything, looks and tastes delicious. The restaurant's food seems to get mixed reviews on the Internet but everything we had, including the seafood fettuccine and a fillet of salmon were perfectly cooked, over-sized portions and the dishes tasted delicious. If you can not quit thinking about how good the food was long after you have left the restaurant, then the restaurant is a keeper. Tidal Raves is just such a place.

Sandlake B&B caters to seclusion, romance, and comfort. A partial canopy bed, dark, soft colors and another partial picture (I know, I know):

Looking outside the bedroom is a full-sized dining room with a table large enough to seat 6 comfortably. We could not believe our eyes. A full, private dining room in your own suite! Unheard of. Every part of the suite was filled with lace and crocheted curtains, dining table clothe, decorations . . . romantic!

Another lovely partial picture, I kept forgetting to take pictures because of everything there was to take in. The house is a historical landmark, built out of timbers from a shipwrecked boat over 100 years ago. I believe our hostess said the timbers were over 6 inches thick and if a land owner could find a way to haul the wood back then, people were welcome to it. The whole house is built out of these timbers.

Okay, if I get nothing else right to share, showing the breakfast menus for Saturday and Sunday morning may make up for my lapse of pictures and you may even decide to go visit one day. Can you imagine going to a B&B and eating a multi-course breakfast privately in your own suite? Believe me when I say this is unheard of!

Brought in a basket both mornings to the doors was ~

Saturday:

Pineapple Orange Juice,

Fresh Fruit Romanoff,

Diane's Homemade Granola & Milk,

South of the Border Eggs

and Banana Muffins

Sunday:

Orange Strawberry Banana Juice,

Baked Pears,

Apple Oatmeal & Milk,

Sandlake Breakfast Pie

and Berry Bundles

Fresh coffee with real cream and sugar were also delivered on a seperate silver tray. We were so stuffed we could hardly squeak.

Driving home let me stop at a few place to take extra icecicle shots.

I had so much fun and everytime we see the coast of Oregon, we are mentally scheduling when we can come back. The ocean, slower pace of life, and natural beauty in nature forces us to appreciate the obvious around us.