I sent an e-mail to his daughter last week but it is inactive. It was a University address I think.(?) He is busy with work and posts less often recently. A trip with friends and family involving food, etc. Renting a house together....

Maybe a posting on his last thread about oysters will give him an e-mail notification?

Use @ with his screen name and he should get an e-mail notification unless he has all contact disabled.

Hi, I have not been eaten by a vengeful oyster after all. I have been up to a lot of stuff, fun and less-fun. I have even done a tiny little bit of cooking. I will gather up some pics and do a little catch-up thread here soon!

Sleeve, here is the “code” to figure out DD’s email: it is [xxxx]sauve[yyy]@gmail.com where [xxxx] is the short version of her first name, and [yyy] is her and my last name. Or, heck, just email me at johnliu@earthlink.net.

I figured as much. Me too and I think there are a lot of "Me three's" here. I am cooking way less than ever and not making much interesting and experimental things, mostly tried and true. I usually post here when I am entertaining, for ideas. Not much of that going on. I posted a bit about sourdough, then decided I wasn't really going to be able to keep up with it, don't eat enough bread products on a regular basis . . . canning is on hold, and I already posted about Instapots, which is our new cooking toy. Between my own "to try" file, and the files inherited from my late mother, and cookbooks, I have enough recipes to keep me going for the rest of my life and then the rest of someone else's life . . .

We used to have a "Cooking Conversations" forum, where we posted about things perhaps only remotely food related--health, dieting, travel, home making, family accommodation, etc. It went away when Houzz took over. I miss it.

Ok, good. And yes, that is the same e-mail that came up in my mail Rolodex. Even with iCloud I recall issues before. I bet on my phone it would send fine. Did not think to try that.

Thanks for the check-in.

-sleeve

We have been cooking more than ever. Simplified. But have to build next day lunches as well. A bit of a dance. I've enjoyed the challenge for the most part.

I'm glad to know you are still upright and breathing, and doing a little cooking.

I'll look forward to "seeing" you here when things let up a bit.

Annie

Phew. If someone goes silent at the moment, it's a worry!

Islay.

Rather than write one mega post, I’ll just toss in a few posts about what I’ve been doing. Some will even have cooking content!

DD has been bugging me to teach her to fish, for years. I’ve always been too busy. SWMBO guilted me about it, and perhaps I remembered when I was a little boy, living far from my dad and listening to “Cat’s In The Cradle” https://youtu.be/7OqwKfgLaeA because I finally went down to the basement and found my fly fishing gear. All my rods, reels, flies, vests, were still there, having lain untouched for over two decades.

We spent two days in the street, DD learning to cast and me feeling the muscle memory return, surprisingly quickly and accurately - which is to say, I promptly was doing all the right things and wrong things that I used to. Then we drove to the Deschutes River and DD cast her first fly on a river ever, while I cast my first since before she was born.

Look at that nice loop! She has the touch for fly casting, as most women do. Its men who try to overpower the rod and create all sorts of tailing loops and wobbly lines.

The Deschutes is only two hours from us, a big open river with lots of access and legendary dry fly fishing. “Legendary” means you read about it but have not seen it yourself. Which remains true for us. But, hey, it is too early for trout and we’re just re/learning how to cast, tie knots, and wade without swimming.

Then we took a morning and went to the casting pond for more practice and I bought her some waders. She already had the wading boots, purchased for her oyster hunting trips. Patagonia and Danner have joined up to make some great wading boots; I bought myself a pair after getting unpleasantly re-acquainted with my old wading boots.

Yesterday we went to the Nehalem River, which was even more of a revelation. Barely one hour from my house, you can get on a gorgeous mountain river, easily accessed, with no-one around, and . . . collect rocks while making friends with a salamander.

The joy of fly fishing is being in nature, and if rocks and salamanders catch your eye, that’s a perfectly fine way to spend time.

The Nehalem is mostly a salmon and steelhead river, from what I’ve read. It has a small native trout population, but I guess you have to be a lot better than we are now, to tickle any up. This is probably going to become our home river, so we’ll have plenty of opportunities to find out.

It is interesting to return to fly fishing after such a long absence. I lived for it, in my twenties and thirties, and DD has been happily reading through the four linear feet of fly fishing books I’ve been carting around for so long. The gear is mostly the same, just way (!) more expensive and a little more colorful. The trout are the same, and the bugs too. The feeling of standing in cold flowing water, focused on a dark current just over there and what may be finning under it, transported from the stresses and aggravations of daily life, hasn’t changed.

Last month, we spent a week at the beach with our close friends from Berkeley. In this Covid period, this was the most time we’d spent with anyone other than ourselves since, well, last February. They are all vaccinated and were willing to take the chance with us, the unvaccinated heathen from backwards Oregon.

Because of my job, I have to work, or be able to work, every day that the markets are open, from 9 am to 4 pm New York time. During vacations on the West Coast, this means that I get up early, turn on the computer, do what I need to do, and close down in time for lunch. The main fly in this ointment is that it is really inefficient and frustrating for me to work on a single tiny laptop screen. In past beach weeks, I’ve gone home early because I was spending so many hours squinting at the tiny fonts that I basically wasn’t having any fun.

This time, I brought my secret weapon, a four monitor workstation that packs down into a single rolling case. We call it “Tetrapod”.

Tetrapod was so successful that I had lots time to cook, enjoy cocktails, and join everyone on excursions. I made clam chowder with local razor clams (soooo different than standard steamer clams!), DD brought four dozen oysters of every variety, my friend W and his daughter T (pictured with her sister C below) supplied an endless variety of cocktails (T put herself through school as a bartender), and after visiting Astoria I forced everyone to watch “The Goonies” which was filmed on the Oregon coast. And we all spent a lot of time on the beach, which is sandy, sunny, rocky, tidepools, strollers, starfish, cold, warm, fierce and beautiful, sometimes all within an hour.

At the beach, I had time to do a lot of thinking. As a result of which, I made some decisions.

With kids going back to school, DD’s job has been winding down, so she’s had more time to keep back in the studio (she even has some painting commissions to work on!), take oyster-hunting trips to Washington State, and add to her kate.eats.oysters Instagram account.

The reach and micro-segmentation potential of social media allows people who are passionate about the same topic, no matter how arcane, to find each other and share - oyster pictures, apparently. I believe she is missing an opportunity to become a Social Media Star by expanding her empire to oyster Youtube, oyster paintings, and oyster-fan merchandise. But DD cares not for fame or fortune, so my retirement is still up to me.

And she won’t even use my photography! Grumbled something about “the oysters are the subject”, whatever that means.

I think our next excursion to the river will be with a cooler of oysters and some canned champagne.

On the home front, we have all progressed towards getting vaccinated. DD got fully inoculated some time ago, being employed in the education sector. SWMBO is caring for a housebound friend, L, who is recovering from knee replacement, so she got an appointment. Then the state of Oregon opened up appointments to more categories of people, but you need someone who can figure out the Byzantine online system(s) to get you one. Well, L happens to be such a wizard, and she got me and DS and his girlfriend S appointments. So our whole household now has had either one or two shots, and in a month we’ll all be fully vaccinated.

That household includes DS’ girlfriend, who is living with us now. Covid has been so strange for kids, including college kids. DS lives in a house of guys who are a “Covid bubble”, and his GF lives in another house and is not in their bubble, so the two were not supposed to come within six feet of each other. All year. That, evidently, didn’t work. So we suggested they just live here for the rest of the school year, classes being online anyway. They do a couple weeks here then a week in their respective houses in Eugene. It seems to be working out.

Meanwhile, Covid cases are rising in Oregon again, restaurants are back down to 25% capacity restrictions, and we’re all hoping that the vaccinations speed up, and that more people who are on the fence decided to get vaccinated, before we get a summer surge. I’m optimistic, but we’ll see.

Good to hear from you again, John. All of us miss your lively updates! Glad to hear you are getting vaccinated.

Spouse and I are (at last) fully vaccinated so went out to lunch in Walnut Creek while the car was being serviced. Contra Costa County had JUST been allowed to open indoor dining at 50%. We sat inside - what a delight it was to sit down and order for the first time in over a year!

Food was decent, just a nice little Japanese place. The agedashi tofu was the silken kind - as it should be but so seldom is nowadays - and absolutely fresh. We scarfed it up and congratulated the staff for its quality.

I was so incredibly happy to be dining out again. It's my hobby, and I have really missed it. No shopping, no prep, no cooking, no mess, no washing dishes - I was in heaven :))

But your fishing trips sound wonderful. My mom (from Seattle) loved fishing - more for the freshest fish to eat than for the Zen experience, LOL!

I miss eating out. After over a year of hard, dry takeout sushi and cold, gummy dim sum, I will be more than ready to camp out at our local sushi place and dim sum house. If they survive.

I miss pubs even more. Granted, some breweries have erected elaborate canvas temples so that you can be served “outdoors”, but my favorite place is stubbornly shuttered. It is called the Laurelthirst Pub. When the pub owner was ready to retire, he sold it to the employees. When the building owner was ready to sell the building, the employees did a big fundraiser and, with the patrons’ help, bought the building. With that much community energy, I think (hope) it will survive.

Good to hear from you - I have missed your posts. It has been a transformative year. Best wishes,

seagrass

Oh, cooking content - well, I've been on a duck kick recently. Made sauteed duck breast one night, duck + asparagus + mushroom soup another, the third dinner was duck confit (36 hours sous vide). DD recently made baked oysters with bourbon-butter sauce, and has been experimenting with different mignonettes including my fave, cucumber + rice vinegar + sake. We had sauteed cod with homemade pico de gallo. We've been making thin crust pizza using cauliflower crusts, for keto diet purposes. Now lighter fare is in order, both because it is warming up and because of the pandemic pounds. I'm thinking about doing a miso soup, sashimi, and seaweed salad dinner this week.

Taking note of DD's oysters. I've started a menu page having ten days of meals. We will be in oyster and blue crab heaven. Already packing a kitchen crate of spice, medium cast iron, shucking tools, some dried grains and beans, etc. Nuts, seeds. Not doing breakfasts and lunches...just a good evening meal. Lots of things to snack on during the day.

Love your Tetrapod. Problem solved. I have one of those for my cameras and drone.

I avoided the cauliflower rice/crust thing because of high cost/price gouging. Added a big bag to my last Costco order. (5 bags in a giant bag). In the cuisinart with nutritional yeast and cashews...some parm...nice lasagna layer. Add to any meal.

We are not keto or paleo but follow whole fresh food, 'eat food, not too much, mostly plants'

This is really good. (Costco). The healthy Noodle.

(not a direct link but easy to find)...boring but easy to speed ahead.

I would not hesitate flying once vaccinated. Like Rickey's plans. Air is circulated less than an arms length just overhead. Though the destination matters. Advice is to be seated at the front...last boarding and first to un-board. Seems people get sloppy before and after the flight.

We are not yet retired so our travel is driving and local within 4-6 hours. Need to see parents!

That looks beautiful!

I will have to try those noodles.

We have had very good results making alternative noodles with a spiralizer and either zucchini or carrots. The zuc absorbs sauce better, the carrots can give the al dente effect, combining the two is fun. I haven’t tried other veg in spiralized noodle form, but I suspect turnips or large/Daikon radish would be nice. I’m thinking of making some cold “pasta“ dishes with these.

The kids now like mashed cauliflower (+ cheese, butter and cream) as well as mashed potatoes. When we want a particularly luxuriant set of sides, I make the cheese Brie and pair that with creamed spinach (+Amaretto) or creamed corn (+ nutmeg). I said luxuriant, not healthy.

My efforts last year to devise a homemade alternative rice fizzled out - crumbled and dehydrated cauliflower sounded promising in theory, but in practice was like how I imagine eating a bowl of dandruff might be - so when I want a virtuous rice now I just use brown rice. I first fry the raw brown rice, which breaks down the husk and allows it to cook faster and be softer. One of these days I will try making a brown rice risotto.

FYI we ate at Ramen Gaijin/Sebastopol (Sonoma County) in late 2019 and had the most amazing miso butter we have ever tasted. It was so good we tried to get the name of the miso from the cook, but the waitress mangled the pronunciation (it's a really noisy place).

The closest I could find was this: ".....her answer sounded like “Kakari” - however, the closest brand name I could find was Hikari. It's an organic Shinsu-style miso. If this is the one RG uses, we can say that it makes an outstanding miso butter – much less salty and more mellow than any other we've tasted. It was so good one could eat it plain, so we mopped up every bit of it!"

Miso lasts forever in our house as I seldom use it, so I still haven't tried the Hikari yet. John, you might want to keep an eye out for it.

For us duck lovers, I ran across this recently in the WashPost. My friend, who is a Francophile, tried it and says this is the easiest method she's ever tried, and the duck came out PERFECTLY.

You can make sublime duck confit without fancy techniques or expensive fat. Here’s how.

Washington Post by Olga Massov Feb. 23, 2021

Duck Confit

Active time: 15 mins

Total time: 4 hours 5 mins (plus 24 to 72 hours curing time)

Servings: 6 to 8

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried (may substitute rosemary or sage)

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 moulard duck legs (about 4 pounds total, see NOTES)

1 head garlic, halved across the equator (optional)

Strips of zest from 1 orange (optional)

1. In a small bowl, combine the salt, thyme and pepper. Sprinkle half of the seasoning mixture over a large, rimmed baking sheet. Place the duck legs in a single layer on top and sprinkle with the remaining seasoning mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 and up to 72 hours.

2. When ready to cook the duck, position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 250 degrees.

3. In a large, ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven (a 7-quart oval oven works better than an 8-quart round Dutch oven), arrange the legs in a single layer, skin side down, so they fit snugly. Nest the garlic head halves and orange zest among the duck pieces. Cover and transfer the skillet or pot to the oven for 2 hours.

4. Remove the lid, flip the duck over, skin side up, cover with a large piece of aluminum foil, and continue to slow-roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes more, or until completely cooked through and you can wiggle a bone in the leg without any resistance.

5. If serving right away, transfer the legs, skin side up, to a large, rimmed baking sheet and increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Return the duck to the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the skin is crispy. (Otherwise, transfer the duck, the cooking liquid and all of the rendered fat to a large container with a lid, let cool to the touch, no more than 1 hour, then cover and refrigerate. When ready to serve, follow reheating directions in the storage field.) Discard the orange zest before serving or storing.

NOTES: Moulard duck legs often vary in size. If yours are larger — closer to 1 pound each, instead of 8 ounces — add about 12 hours of curing time and adjust the seasonings accordingly.

To make roasted fingerling potatoes, about 1 hour 30 minutes before the duck is done (around the time when you flip the legs,) on a medium, rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes with a generous drizzle of olive oil — or extra duck fat, if you have it — and season liberally with kosher salt. Place in the oven and roast for 1 hour 30 minutes or until browned all over and luxuriously tender.

Nutrition Information (Based on 8 servings)

Calories: 548 ; Total Fat: 45 g; Saturated Fat: 12 g; Cholesterol: 157 mg; Sodium: 590 mg; Carbohydrates: 0 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugar: 0 g; Protein: 32 g.

John Liu, re: risotto. I've made a passable quinoa 'risotto'. Please post if the brown rice works out. It occurred to me that I make risotto all the time but I've never had it in a restaurant, so i have no idea how it should be, lol!

Also, what part of Portland is your historic district? I spent time as a kid at the gparents in Sellwood. It was old back then, lol.

John, sometimes we just can't change the inevitable, no matter how hard we try. When you have thrown all the time, love and money you can afford, and maybe more than you can afford, at a problem with minimal/no results, you have to then decide when/how to cut your losses. It sucks, but it is what it is. I'm all for spending more time with the salamanders and less time with politicians, even the well-meaning ones!

If anything good has come out of this pandemic, it's allowed people to spend time with their families in some instances, and it's shown that our work can sometimes be more mobile than we ever imagined.

Good luck, where ever you land and congratulations on the taming/domestication of Tetrapod. Heck, I got a new laptop and haven't even gotten that beaten into submission yet, although I believe Cortana and I have finally reached a mutual level of hatred for each other, LOL.

jakkom, thanks for the duck recipe. I still have a couple in the freezer that I need to use up.

Annie

Thank-you for the stories, JL! When you've sorted things out and refound the fun, and have spare time again, you might want to consider a memoir.

John it sounds as if this year has been a great opportunity for you to work out what your dream can be. How wonderful is that!

And konjac is the food of the devil. Rubbery, tasteless and just wrong! Lol

Islay.

Every rubbery alternative product has a relief producer that has corrected that. Every rubber cheese dairy alternative has a better one now. And recipes for the home chef.

like a gorgeous velvety oyster stew, 😂. Mind open....

KatieC, I’m in, and helped create, the Laurelhurst Historic District in Portland.

(Not sure why I lost my username, but this is John Liu.)

Volunteer stuff will consume you. Do a good job at one project and the offers you can't refuse because they are worthy come piling on....and it's hard to step away from a pet project. Good luck on taking some of your life back.
Head back to the beach!

Sleeve, DD’s university email did indeed have a problem, some issue when university changed to a new email system,

she’s trying to get access back to it.

I was looking for your email, but can’t find it. When you have a chance, would you drop me a line, at johnliu@earthlink.net , so I have it? Thanks!

(Wonder if this will post under my username or as HU-something. Houzz has been so weird lately.)

I too took a "sabbatical" last year. Also partly motivated by spinning wheels and deciding life was too short to keep up with that pattern. Just stopped everything, including work, to figure out where I wanted to go next. BUT, I did not plan on a pandemic . . . that kind of took some of the wind out of my sails. Still trying to figure it out but back to work part time, need the money. I think the whole world is trying to figure out what to do next. Meanwhile, I'm not motivated to cook, but very motivated to garden . . . luckily hubs helps with the cooking. Both hobbies help people who are easily frustrated with long term incremental plans work off some steam. That's why I love canning. Short spurt of work and large return which benefits me over a long period of time . . .

Sleeve if I could find some acceptable konjac, i would gobble it down. Lockdown hasn't helped my girth.....maybe I should stick to your oyster soup😋🤔

So, continuing with this meandering mumble, a dear friend visited last night. Yes, the first house guest we have had in over a year! Everyone is fully vaccinated (well, I have had one shot) and very careful so we decided to take this little step toward normalcy.

Over dinner - pork ribs (pressure cooked in miso then broiled and sauced with sort-of-teriyaki), dry cooked green beans (parboiled then wok-cooked), green salad (with lightly sugared apple slices and apple cider-dijon mustard vinaigrette) we discussed my plan.

My 3 to 5 Year Plan, as grandiose as that sounds - it’s like I’m the Politburo! - is, basically:

1. Buy a vacation place in Port Townsend WA. Start spending lots of time there. Assuming that nearly-living there for a year or two agrees with us, then

2. Move legal residence to P.T. (there are, ahem, tax reasons to do that). Keep current Portland house and spend a few months a year here, since my friends are here and it’s only a 4 hour drive.

3. Work from P.T., which basically means a home office and a fast internet connection. Keep some sort of Portland workspace (could be a co-working sort of place, where you call and reserve a desk when you need it), since the guy I plan to collaborate with on a biz project is here.

4. Start a jazz club in P.T. (as my side venture, not my day job!) The town’s jazz club closed due to a dispute with the landlord. There is an annual Port Townsend Jazz Festival, but a lack of good venues. My friend - who was visiting from P.T. - started the town’s radio station, and said I could get a jazz show on it, if I want to try my hand at D.J.’ing (not sure I do).

I think/hope this is doable over the next five years. Or three. I’m excited! I’ll be in my early sixties by then, likely pretty ready for a change of scenery and less of the hustle-honk of city life.

lpink, I think you’re not alone - a lot of people have found that the disruption of the pandemic has made them think about, or rethink, their plans and outlook on life.

I was reading a blog I wrote almost 24 years ago - lost it when CompuServe went away, but found it on the Internet Archive - and it made me realize that, trite as it sounds, life is streaming by and I’m going to regret not trying some more things out.

I was ill 10 years ago with cancer and we changed our life drastically after. None of us knows how long we have left.....cheerful topic lol ...... but as you said, life is streaming past. Every day has to count. You will never regret something you tried but who wants to arrive at the end of life and think... if only I'd.....

Islay.

Sounds like a plan, John! Good luck as you go forward.

A couple we are friends with have just taken early retirement. Their kids are grown/married and gone. They love their house but all the old neighbors are slowly retiring and leaving. They looked around their 3000 sq. ft. house with 3 empty bedrooms unused for the past 10 yrs and decided, "Time to sell!"

They have cleaned out their kids' stuff, will store the goods they're keeping, and garage saled/charity dropped off the remainder.

Next week they leave on a 365 day tour of the US to look for interesting sights - no big cities, they've done all that - visit kids and friends who are living in other states, and maybe pick a place to retire.

They are so excited, we're really happy for them. They love to hike and bicycle around, so a lot of US parks and micro-brewery stops are in their minds ;))

^A coworker friend did exactly that when he retired. 4-5 years ago. They expected to settle after a year or so but are still mobile. They found comfort in so many places they decided to keep going. Friends, family. A week here, a few months there...rented a house for six months in SaltLakeCity for pennies tending a pup and a couple cats. My parents did that In Mexico for 6 months babysitting a couple dogs.

Interesting plan John. Follow the passion. I need to add, age 50 can be miles different from age 60-65. The first few months of lock-down 2020 were eye-opening for us. Feeling very fortunate yet deeply concerned for our younger co-workers/employees. We thrived on the private time and made the best of it. Considered retirement...a bit early for me. I have an office and studio so private I can do as I please but I need to be 'on hand/call' when needed. So careful that only three or four have been sent home after 6 months....150 co-workers. Since September before the vaccine. (we double masked months ahead of the recommendations.) Face shields when in close contact.

Like ipink, I lost track of a 'visual' blog I started years ago and recently found it. Thought it was gone forever. No words, just images. Mine and others. Really nice to have access again.

Seems like old folk advice, but consider when looking at properties....a one level living situation. At least one bedroom one level with the kitchen, laundry, pantry, office..the cappuccino is easily accessed without stairs. 😜 . A nice waking venture just outside your door with not too many stair steps. Elder steps, I'm talking 70 years+, is important in steps not stairs. Walks and steps. Second floor for younger guests, kids, grandchildren...

If you love a property and may stay for many years...consider the future years.

I have two very good friends (two different families) who have recently moved to Pt Townsend, so I've been spending a lot of time there in the last couple of years. Housing is very expensive because so many people have discovered it's a great place to live, but you're used to that in Portland. There are some amazing airbnb/vrbo rentals there because there is so much waterfront and fantastic views. One of my favorite places in the PNW.

My long lost blog was about our year of traveling around the world with infant DD. So many photos of chubby baby DD and much younger me and SWMBO! So many memories I’d forgotten or misrembered.

On the stairs thing - unfortunately the housing market in PT is such that we‘ll have to take what we find, then alter/add on. Unless, of course, my biz is just hopping by then, which would open more options. I did once look into residential elevators - there are some options that aren’t crazy, the issue is if the floorplan can accomodate.

My friends looked to buy there and it was impossible! Or at least very hard. So they are building. My other friend built a gorgeous small home/cabin (2 bed 2 bath) on Dabob Bay...also very beautiful site and on Hood Canal, which I prefer to other bodies of water up there.

Ah, I should know better. East coast up and down is crazy expensive coastal. We looked and peeked 30 yrs ago. Long Island, etc. Then bought a farm in the Catskills. Then the beach home in Newfoundland. 20 yrs ago.

I only mentioned the one level living from experience. A property may not have it initially...but checking building code in the area for an add-on later....