Sunday, Dec 11, 2012 we had our annual Maxim Christmas party. Each year they offer 3 different parties to attend: Saturday breakfast, Saturday lunch, and Sunday dinner. This is my 5th year going and we have always participated in the Sunday breakfast followed by sightseeing at the Pioneer Place downtown mall and surroundings. This year we wanted to try something different and chose to go to the Sunday dinner party. As a consequence, we went sightseeing before the party.
We arrived in Portland around 12:00. We chose to walk around North Portland and look at the Trinity Episcopal Church that I love so much. Laurie is using this in her novel. It ended up being the perfect time since everyone was leaving after the service, but the organ was still going.
Neat old house across from the Trinity Episcopal Church
Here is the Gothic church with its really cool red doors
Three red doors in front
Close up of the 3 doors
I really like this courtyard with a neat little rock garden
Magnolia Tree
South doors
Inside
Stained glass windows
Next, we walked 1 block over to the Jewish Synagogue. It's really hard to get a good picture without trees, cars or buildings in the way.
South side
South doors
I love the stone walks around the Synagogue
Front entrance
North side
At this point we moved the car to a spot as close to Pioneer Square as we could get which wasn't really close at all 8) Honestly, for a weekend only a few weeks away from Christmas, it sure seemed empty.
Christmas Tree at Pioneer Square
Trolley wannabe
Macy's which used to be Meier & Frank with a really cool old Christmas village at the top floor
Here is a shot of the old Christmas village that used to be in the top of the Meier & Frank building. My kids have ridden on the monorail many times (or at least Byron has.)
Entrance to the mall. Notice the man in silver. He is there every year standing as a statue or doing tricks for money.
Inside of Pioneer Place mall. This is where they had the flash mob last year. It was pretty empty today.
Laurie beginning to look tired and hungry
Our walk back to the car took us by the elephant statue in one of the park blocks
By the time we walked back to the car we were extremely tired and hungry. Some of us were a bit grumpy too. Usually they have the party at either the Hilton or the Marriott hotel right downtown which was very convenient. This year they had it at the Oregon Convention center which gave us a lot more room, but the atmosphere wasn't quite as nice and we had to drive out of downtown a bit.
David standing in line at the Maxim party
The dining area
They must have cut back on the catering budget because the food was okay but not great in our opinions. And there was no eggnog!!! I wanted eggnog!! We all agreed, given the late hour of the party and so-so food, that next year we're going back to doing the Saturday breakfast.
Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving holiday at Laurie's parents' home...
Danny and David playing Foosball just before dinner
David trying to dodge the camera and failing!
The dining room is prepared for dinner
David is ready!
BBQ'd turkey!!
Green been casserole, Yam Yums, cranberry sauce and cranberry jello
Close up shot of my favorite dish: Yam Yums
The kids begin eating
Cody's first helping of food - compare to below
David's first helping of food - compare to above 8)
The desserts: the lemon meringue was a popular choice because it was the least rich
Dan working off the calories on the treadmill
The next morning I took a 4 mile walk as I was getting cabin fever...
First stop was the pioneer cemetery
Neat old headstone
Heading back to the entrance
A view of Yoncalla from the cemetery
Another Yoncalla view
A train went by as I was walking. This is next to the high school.
Another view of the high school
This is the house Laurie's family was living in when I met her. Laurie's father built the wrap-around deck you see there complete with the scroll work on the poles. Has changed very little since then.
Here is the old Methodist church in the center of town. This was for sale back in July when we visited. I was really worried it would be torn down, but it looks like it will be fixed up and rented out.
Yesterday evening, Laurie and I went shopping for a few items needed for the Spanish Omelette. I thought I'd grab some cranberry sauce since I always seem to be without it this time of year. With the recent article I read about micro-filtered honey that removes all pollen which is the only way to trace where the honey comes from (with the suspicion that much of it comes from China without disclosing that fact) and the vast number of products that have replaced sugar with high fructose corn syrup, I decided to check the ingredients of the cranberry sauce cans. Sure enough, all the cans had high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar.
I was going to boycott and look for cranberry sauce elsewhere, but Laurie suggested that we try making it ourselves. I grabbed a couple 12 oz packages of fresh cranberries and left. When I got home, I did some research and found a recipe that sounded good called tangerine cherry cranberry sauce. I already stock dried cherries so all I needed was tangerines (or oranges), cloves, and anise seeds. The recipe calls for star of anise, but I couldn't find that at Winco so I settled on regular anise seed. I used a cheese cloth to keep the seeds and cloves out of the sauce.
So, first let me say that I like cranberry sauce with turkey and on turkey sandwiches, but I'm not a big fan of it on its own. After making this recipe, I am now a huge fan! This is SO good that I couldn't stop snacking on it. The kids loved it too. So tangy and delicious and so easy to make. I'm probably going to need to make another batch before Thanksgiving. Here is the recipe:
1 (12-oz) bag fresh cranberries
1 cup small dried cherries (larger ones can be chopped a bit)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated tangerine or orange zest 1 cup tangerine or orange juice, plus water as needed
1 whole star anise
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
There is a good write-up of the recipe and a video here:
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2010/11/tangerine-cherry-cranberry-sauce-your.html
Here is the video for your convenience:
3 Cloves and Anise seed
It required 4 of these little "cuties" to supply enough juice and zest
All ingredients added
All ingredients stirred
Simmering
Finished product - my mouth is watering just looking at it
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November 2012 Update: After making this recipe again this year, I would propose a change. From now on I will only add 1/2 cup of dried cherries and use juice and zest from 3 tangerines. Make up the remaining 1 cup of liquid with water.
