Bellevue Cemetery Bike Ride

This has been a very wet January for us in Oregon so when I saw that this Saturday would be partly sunny with a high of 52°F, I got excited about taking a nice long bike ride.  I have had the urge to go see the "forgotten" Bellevue cemetery otherwise known as the United Brethren cemetery as seen on Google maps.  Saturday morning came but the temperature didn't want to rise above 38° and a heavy fog didn't seem to want to lift.  Sometime after noon, the sun broke out but still the temperature hovered at 38°.  Finally, at 2:30 I decided to go riding despite the lingering cold.  

Dressed in my warmest cycling clothes including my new ear covers and gloves, I set out for Bellevue cemetery.  I decided to take Peavine road which is a more scenic and much more hilly route to take, but I was feeling good.  I noticed quite a large number of cyclists out.  They must have been thinking the same thing I was.  The Yougberg Hill Vineyard marks the peak of the route I took.

It is just about 14 miles to the entrance of the cemetery from my front door.  Looking at the sign can you see why it took my 3 tries before I actually found this place?  It also helped to find the right road - darn you Google maps!!

Here is a view of the cemetery from the road.  It is the small bit of shrubbery to the left of the grove of trees.  It's a little nerve-racking to ride on that muddy road with my skinny little tires while my feet are locked to the pedals especially while trying to go up the hill.  Finally, I just got off the bike and walked it up.  Laurie thinks the grove of trees is creepy and worries that zombies are going to suddenly run out of it.

Here are a few miscellaneous pictures of the cemetery...

Finally, here is a little video I made of the ride.  The video highlight for me was when I was quietly eating a snack while sitting in the cemetery and suddenly a boat load of crows went crazy right over me.  I pulled out the camera and caught a bit of it.  Laurie says that was a very bad omen 8)

New and Improved Prune Cream Pie

 

This was an idea I had after enjoying a very nice pumpkin pie recipe Laurie made that had a delicious walnut crumble topping. I thought it would be perfect for the prune pie and I believe I was right cause it turned out great. However, don't look at my lame pie crust making abilities.  I normally have been using stewed prunes for this recipe but as my mom pointed out, it doesn't have to be.


(Taken from a 1952 Betty Crocker Cookbook)

Delicious and homey-tasting.  This prize-winning recipe was sent to us by a prize home-maker, Mrs. W. K. Robbins of Baytown, Texas.

Make Pastry for One-Crust Pie of desired size.  Line pie pan.

Filling for 9” Pie

Beat Slightly…

3 eggs

Mix together and blend in thoroughly…

4 tbsp Flour

1 cup sugar

½ tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Stir in…

3/4 cup milk (1 cup in original recipe)

1 tsp vanilla

1.75 cups unsweetened stewed or sliced prunes (1.5 cups in original recipe)

Pour into pastry-lined pie pan (see pie crust recipe below.)  Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350°F until filling is firm enough to support the walnut crumble.  While baking make the crumble as follows...

Walnut Crumble Topping

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter or margarine until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in walnuts. Sprinkle mixture evenly over the pie after baking for 30 min.  Bake pie for approximately another 30 minutes or until a knife inserted one inch from the edge comes out clean. 

Pie Crust Recipe

Ingredients:

1.25 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cube cold butter

~4 tbsp cold water

Instructions:

• Mix flour and salt
• Slice up butter and add to flour mixture
• Using pastry cutter, cut butter into pea sizes pieces
• Add a portion of the water and mix/mash using fork
• Add just enough water to form a ball out of the dough
• Refrigerate dough for 5-10 minutes
• Roll dough out from center and place in pie pan

Maxim Christmas Party

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.

Thanksgiving in Yoncalla

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.

Laurie's parents' house

Isn't that a cute barn that Laurie's dad built