kale salad

I tried a new kale recipe today.

I found it yesterday, and figured I'd have to get kale at the store because the kale I planted (from the seeds I harvested months ago) is still in its infancy. But as I was working in the garden this morning, I realized that lots of those baby kale plants needed to be thinned. And all those extra little plants made the perfect amount of salad for dinner.

 I cut the leaves off with my kitchen shears and composted the muddy roots.

The garden is coming along nicely. 

The herbs are in flower, little green strawberries are forming, and the chard is still going strong from last year.

Today I planted basil,

some tomatoes,

and weeded the hell out of my beet rows.

I also weeded the kale plot.

Peek a boo, baby kale!

I'm trying a row cover this year to keep the cabbage moths away.

I found the recipe on Catherine Newman's blog, Ben & Birdy. Catherine's my favorite because she's an improvisational cook like me. You could just wing it—kale, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, Parmesan, and bread crumbs—but go check out the actual kale salad recipe. I bet you'll like Catherine's writing as much as I do.

Definitely try this salad. It is seriously so good. And don't leave out the Parmesan or bread crumbs. They take the salad from plain old dressed kale to a salad my kids will eat without complaining.

we're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. . . how about you?

We took the kids to the Oregon Zoo on Friday, and my parents came along. I knew the lighting at the zoo would change from exhibit to exhibit, so I put my camera on Shutter Speed Priority to help ease the transitions. I wanted to enjoy the zoo, not spend all my time fiddling with camera settings. 

I have to tell you, though, it was hard for me to take it off Manual. I really like having absolute control.

I should have stuck with Manual. The camera overexposed nearly every picture. I still ended up fiddling with settings, but it was to correct what the camera chose. Now that I think about it, I probably should have changed from spot metering to something more comprehensive. Next time.

For now, I'm just happy I shot in Raw. Because next time, baby elephant Lily won't be this small.

We're having a bit of a heat wave in the NW. It was 80° Friday, hotter today, and supposed to be in the 80s all week. Is spring over already? I bought a fan mister to keep us cool. The kids loved it.

in the weeds

Remember me? I haven't posted in a very long time. April is a busy month around here! May is a close second, but I got some time to go out and take pictures just for me this morning, so I had to share. I really haven't been taking many pictures at all for the past few weeks—just obligatory tball/mom shots.

But I had some time this morning, and instead of pulling weeds (like I should have been doing), I took the opportunity to photograph those weeds. . . and flowers, and volunteer maples. I got lost in the world through my lens and before I knew it, thirty minutes had slipped away. Thirty beautiful, peaceful, relaxing minutes. Photography is my favorite therapy.

tulip lessons

I liked the way the setting sun was lighting the tulips on the table at dinner. After we finished eating and cleared the table, I took a few shots. The light was fading quickly, and I didn't like how high I had to push my ISO, so I lugged out the tripod. I set my ISO back low (320) and lowered my shutter speed to 1/4 of a second. 

I learned two things:

1) My macro shots are so much sharper when I use the tripod! I really need to use it every time I macro.

2) My tripod is magic. It turned near darkness into daylight. The following photo was taken with a slow shutter speed, thanks to the tripod. Immediately after, I raised my shutter speed and took the last photo to show how dark it actually was. See? Magic tripod.

Blue Star Donuts

I have a soft spot for doughnuts. I have several soft spots from doughnuts. Since I started making my own doughnuts (here and here; the recipes are good even if the photos are awful), I've sworn off chain doughnut shops because the products are too sweet. But when I opened my Sunset magazine a few months ago to see this beautiful Blueberry Bourbon Basil doughnut, and read that the shop it came from was in Portland, I knew I had to get my hands on one.

Maybe two. It was hard to choose! Hubs and I walked into the packed Blue Star Donuts this morning to a gorgeous display of doughnuts. Valrhona Chocolate Crunch. Creme Brulee (with actual caramelized sugar crust). Lemon Poppyseed. Vanilla Bean Sugar. Meyer Lemon with Key Lime filling. Passion Fruit with Cocoa Nibs. The best Apple Fritter I've ever had, and it was made with hard cider.

Need to clean the drool from your keyboard yet?

I wish I had photos of the shop for you. It was perfectly clean and lovely. Maybe if I go back on a weekday it won't be quite as crowded and I'll have room to take a picture. For now you get all that I have left—the empty box.

twin tunnel trail

We hiked the Mark O. Hatfield trail today, also known as the Twin Tunnel trail, between Hood River and Mosier, Oregon. We stuck to the Mosier side today. This trail runs along a portion of the historic Columbia River Highway—the only dry way to get up river before Interstate 84 was constructed. These tunnels were blasted to make room for automobiles in the early 1900s, covered up during interstate construction, and restored in the 1990s.

And these tunnels have amazing light. I'm so glad I brought my camera.

eagle creek trail

 Metlako Falls

We took a hike along Eagle Creek trail today. It's one of the most popular hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, with good reason. So beautiful! Perfect for a rainy weekday—we were almost the only ones there. Try to go on a sunny Saturday and you'll be lucky to find a parking spot within a mile of the trailhead. Plus you'll have to navigate some narrow, treacherous trail sections with oncoming traffic. Not for me, thank you.

 Punchbowl Falls, from above

Since we're still in early spring, there was too much water for us to get to the Punchbowl vantage point I had hoped for. Next time I'll bring waterproof shoes. (And my tripod. I was nervous enough about the narrow cliff trails, I decided having a tripod hanging off my backpack was too much. I made the right decision, but I really missed my tripod. I wanted a much slower shutter for those waterfalls!)

The kids had fun making rock stacks during our snack breaks. 

We're planning on hiking a lot between now and fall, so hopefully I'll have more of these to come.

With a tripod!