Redwoods!

Hi Everyone!

This past weekend, we had house guests and did some exploring with them. The daughter of my former boss, and her roommate, spent the break between their spring internships and summer classes exploring California. They spent a few days with the roommate's family in the Los Angeles area, and then they spent a few days up here with us.

On Sunday, we went to Santa Cruz for brunch and a walk along the beach, and then we went to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park for a hike. It was a lovely spot, and I know that Gramma in particular likes a good tree, so I took some pictures to show you.

Despite the drought, the forest was still pretty green, and there was still a bit of water running through the stream in the park. This was the view up the hill from our hiking trail.

This picture doesn't really capture how massive this tree is, but it's one of the largest ones in the park. I think there's about 200 feet of tree above us, and the diameter of the tree is on the order of 20 feet.

The trees are so tall that you can't take a picture of the entire thing unless you use panoramic mode on the camera - maybe Bryan has one of those pictures! 

Lots of people in the park, including horseback riders, bicyclists, and lots of hikers, some with dogs. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon. If you come visit, we'll take you to the redwoods too!

And on that note, we bought a new couch that folds out into a queen-sized bed, so we have space for guests again.

That's all the news from California!

Amanda (& Bryan)

Making Udon Noodles

** I wrote this several months ago, but just now got my photos to upload. Sorry for the delay!**

On our way back to Kansas City after Christmas, Arman and I stopped at Kusaka Japanese Restaurant in Mineral Point. (For those of you in FDL at Christmas, this was the restaurant my mom was talking about.) It is so so good! I have been craving it since.  Arman had Ramen Yaki with Pork Shoulder, which was pan fried noodles with veggies, pork and scallions. I had Hiroko's Chicken Soup with Udon which was slightly spicy and delicious! Both the Ramen and Udon noodles were homemade. They are nothing like the dried ramen and udon you can purchase at the grocery store. We talked for a bit with the owners/chefs and they encouraged us to try to make them at home, so we did. The very next day.

Making Udon is kind of like making Italian pasta, except the dough is only flour, water, and salt. No egg. I used a combination of two recipes, Recipe 1 and Recipe 2, which came to roughly 3 c. flour, 1 c. water, and a teaspoon or so of salt. You can Google. There are a gazillion recipes and methods. I think it must depend on the region of Japan and your family.

I don't have pictures of the first few steps.

First we mixed the flour, water and salt with the stand mixer and bread hook for about 5 minutes. I scrapped the dough down a few times, as it kept creeping up the hook. Then we let it rest in the refrigerator for about 5 hours. From what I read it is better to leave it overnight, but again every recipe is different.

Then came the funnest part. We put the dough in a large plastic bag, sealed it almost all the way, and spread the dough out with our feet! Weird, right? I think many websites say to do this, because the dough is so stiff. I don't have a picture of our feed kneading, but here are someone else's feet...

I don't think this is how they make them at the restaurant, at least I kind of hope not. Anyways, each time the dough spread out, we took the dough out, folded it in 3rds or 4ths, and repeated the process. We did this about 4 times. Then we let it rest for about 20 min.

Next came the rolling, cutting and stretching. This dough was really really hard to roll. After it was rolled out, we folded it in thirds, cut strips, and stretched the strips out.

1. Rolling 

2. Folded and cutting noodles

3. Stretching noodles 

Next came cooking the udon. After a couple batches, we realized that it was important to dump the noodles in ice water as soon as they were cooked otherwise the texture was off. 

While I was rolling, cutting, stretching, and cooking the noodles, Arman was cooking the chicken and veggies, making broth, and handing me plates and bowls of ice water. Sly took a nap.

We ended with this yummy dish which we ate several times.

We're going to attempt this again soon, I think. Now that we have the process down it should be a bit easier and faster.

Old Glory Honor Flight - September 11, 2014

Dad and I started our trip early in the morning, leaving Appleton at 5:30 AM.   We arrived in DC at 8:30 AM to receive a "Fireman's Salute" - streams of water shooting over our airplane as we taxied to the terminal!  There was much fanfare as we entered the terminal with many people greeting the veterans.  After boarding the bus, we toured the city before going to the memorials.

Our favorite memorial was the Korean Memorial but all of them were spectacular. The temperature was about 90 degrees, but there was always plenty of cold water,  rest stops, and good food. We departed DC about 6:30 PM and arrived back in Appleton about 8:30 PM. The best part of the trip was the welcome home, where the veterans were greeted by the community, friends, and family.
( written by Jeff)

I gave up!!!! No slideshow. Here is the long line of photos Jeff took in Washington DC and I few I took in Appleton.  Jeff and I added captions last night. I have no idea where the captions went. I will readd when I have time.

                                       

I also took a video of Gordon's arrival. 

Look for him shaking hands along the left side.