Weekend Recap

This post is a day late, but I have a good excuse: my Momma was in town this weekend! She lives in Huntsville, Alabama so I am only able to see her a few times a year. This was the first time she has been to visit us in our new home, so we spent the weekend touring her around Portland and the surrounding area. The leaves are just turning, the air was crisp, and the sky was blue. It was the perfect weekend for her to visit!

When I picked her up from the airport we took a drive through the city and Washington Park. There were just a few small buds at the Rose Garden, but it was still nice to take a walk around the beautiful grounds. We then drove up to Pittock Mansion, not so much to look at the mansion, but more to get a great view of the city. The day was so clear we could see all the way to Mt Hood and Mt St Helens. I am so happy that she was able to catch the last few good days of the year. Brian returned from work and we took the MAX downtown and did some beer tasting at Deschutes. All of their beers are delish, so I am glad we too the MAX, ha!

My mother had a list of things she wanted to do and see while she was here, so we were up and out of the house Early on Saturday to head down to the Saturday Market. I told her we had to go to VooDoo Doughnuts to round out her Portland experience, but the line was too long for her liking and she would not be swayeed otherwise... Le sigh, no doughnuts for me. It was nice to walk around the market and catch up with my mom, inspite of my doughnut-less state. We oogles all the pretties the market had to offer, but didn't find anything that tickled our facies enough to walk away with. Saturday was fun, but Sunday really knocked it out of the park!!

A friend of mine had mentioned the "Fruit Loop" in the Hood River Valley, and I was curious to check it out. It is a long loop of road that is dotted with pick-your-own-farms, cider houses, pumpkin patches, orchards, and even an alpaca farm (swoon)!! Oh My Lawd, was it incredible! There are close to 30 establishments, so it is impossible to enjoy them all in one day. I think we made it to about 6, but I would have loved to do more. Every place we stopped had a section set up for tasting, whether it be house-made jams and jellies, fruit, or cider. Quite a few places had hard cider sampling, so Brian was in Heaven.

Fox Tail Cider Company. Everything from Peach, to Berry, to Pear, to Apple.

This little guy was one day old. If I could have taken him, I would have. So sweet and so soft.

Mt Adams (?) in the background, handsome man in the fore. 

We returned home exhausted, stuffed, and laden with fruit. I had no idea what to do with so much produce, so my mother and I spent the evening discussing recipes and making list. We decided the best use of our bounty would be:

- Apple Sauce

- Pumpkin Shortbread bars

- Apple Chutney

- Raspberry Jam

I love cooking with my Momma, so that is how we spent all day Monday before she had to fly away again. Tomorrow I am going to go over the above mentioned recipes. I have a feeling there are going to be several recipe posts in the future, as we did not use even half of the apples or pumpkin we came home with!!