For your viewing pleasure

First thing's first, Happy Father's Day to my number one fan, my dad.  I love you very much!  I hope the morels are plentiful today -- wish I were with you!

This week I have been on the river honing my server skills.  We had a menu tasting where I was asked to photograph the items for the website.  My skills do not warrant a place on a commercial website, but it sure was a treat to shoot properly plated food in a setting that blows my setup out of the water -- literally.  

The menu is one that I am really proud of (not that I can take any credit for designing it).  Our chef is committed to using locally raised and grown products. Hooray for eating locally!  I am thrilled to work for a restaurant that supports our local farmers and producers, plus, every chance I get I am gawking on the line, asking questions, watching our chefs work their magic.  This food really is magic, people.  Magic!

House-made spinach raviolis with ricotta cheese and spicy marina sauce; 

fried to perfection!

Beef carpaccio with Dijon sour cream.

Cheese plate with cheeses from Rollinstone Chevre in Boise and Ballard Farms in Gooding.  

Smoked Rainbow trout salad.

 

Prosciutto wrapped sturgeon with horseradish citrus cream sauce.

Escarole stuffed Rainbow trout.

Black Canyon elk chop with brandy demi glace.

Creme caramel and chocolate decadent cake.  Yes, please.  I'll have both.

In my free time I should have my nose in the books working on my master's thesis, but alas, I can't focus.    The river is still raging at 17,000 CSF and is too cloudy for any productive fishing.  Instead of my fly rod,  I am equipped with my camera.

Below is wildlife photography part deux for your viewing pleasure.  I am off to diligently attempt to read about pioneer women and their relationship to Indians. Diligently. Attempt. To read.  

 The South Fork corridor is the largest nesting ground for bald eagles in the contiguous US.

He could have easily snatched forty pound Tuli out of the boat.

Mama merganser.

Hey, wait up, ma.

Golden eagle.

Serendipitous shot.

Mallard hiding in the grass.

Didn't look or feel like June.

I am fairly certain I caught this exact expression on his face last summer.

Pelicans are not native to the South Fork.

Beaver fever.

Almost missed her!  Last second shot.

Nice place for a pit stop after a cold, drizzly float.  

I'll have the chocolate cake and a hot toddy please.

No future in wildlife photography

This past weekend I was on the river enjoying fresh air, a special visit from dear friends, great food, lots of wildlife.  A momma moose and her brand new baby were spotted cruising across from the lodge.  Birds of all sorts were busy taking care of their own babies and building new nests. 

We took a quick trip to Jackson where we strolled through an art gallery.  I kept thinking -- I can do that.  I can take a picture of a bird.  Yeah, right!  Birds don't hold still.  I crept as quietly as I could, tip toeing, army crawling.  Wildlife photography is way harder than say grilled cheese photography.  

Fortunately for me, I caught one little guy who had yet to figure out the art of flying.  He looked at me. I looked at him.  We agreed that we wouldn't mess with each other.  (Bird lovers relax, I wasn't this close. I had my big honkin' lens on).

He still has a fuzzy head!

I tried my damnedest to snap a decent photo of a western tanager for my dad who loves birds, but holy hell! They were not interested in supporting my Father's Day present.

Hey girl. I see you.

Yeah, I'm not interested in your stupid photo.  See ya.

I am left cursing and army crawling in the middle of the road.  Thank God no one drove by and heckled and/or ran me over.  Stupid birds.  

Since my wee little room on the river lacks a cooking facility, when I return home I am always thrilled to get into my kitchen.  I love salmon cakes, crab cakes, savory cakes in general.  You could use fresh salmon for this, but I had canned salmon at the ready, which you would never know the difference. These little cakes were so tasty.  I served them for dinner, but you could make them a bit smaller and serve them as a lovely little appetizer.  Try these.  You won't be disappointed.

I made these pickles but instead of cutting them I used my vegetable peeler and made ribbons.  Carrots, too. 

 Lime zest, green onions and cilantro.  Next time I'll add fresh ginger.  

This salmon is from Costco. So so good!  Makes great salmon salad sandwiches, too. 

 Good thing to have in your pantry.  Lots better than any other breadcrumb. 

Humina, humina, humina.

 Here's where the meal took a turn from yummy to YUMMY!  I made coconut sticky rice for dessert, and I had about half a can of leftover coconut cream.  So in the pan that fried the cakes, I added about a cup of the coconut cream, the juice of two limes, and about a tbs of chopped of cilantro.  This was a total crapshoot. WOWIE!  This sauce had a rich coconut flavor with a hint of lime.  Wonderful sweet contrast to the salty salmon cakes.   

 I would pay for this in a restaurant.

 Easy asian salad dressing: 1 tbs wasabi sauce, 1 tbs mayo, 3 tbs olive oil, squeeze lime, 1 tbs rice wine vinegar, squeeze sriracha, salt and pepper.  Whisk until combined.  Toss greens with dressing and sesame seeds.  Fancy!

Canned asian salmon cakes

3 cans canned salmon 

2 limes, zested

2 green onions, sliced thinly

3 tbs cilantro, chopped

1-2 eggs

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (more for dredging)

3 heaping tbs wasabi sauce

salt and pepper (good dose of each)

canola oil for frying

Preheat oven to 325.  In a bowl, combine zest, onions, cilantro and salmon.  Begin to combine and break up the chunks of salmon.  Next add the eggs (you'll have to feel the texture and judge whether you need 1 or 2 to hold the cakes together), breadcrumbs, wasabi and salt and pepper.  Fashion the salmon into cakes using your hands.  Dredge them in the breadcrumbs and set aside until all the salmon is used.

In a hot skillet, add about 2 tbs oil and GENTLY! add a few cakes.  You could easily bake these for healthier cakes and eliminate this tricky frying process, but they get a lovely, crispy crust.  Fry until golden brown -- only about 2 - 3 minutes total if your pan is hot.  Remove salmon cakes to a cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes or until the cakes are cooked through.

Serve with wasabi sauce, sriracha, ponzu sauce -- all would be delicious!  Enjoy!

Drink Bailey's at work without getting fired!

I am just coming down from my birthday high.  I had such a glorious, sunny, lovely birthday.  I hope wherever you live you experienced the same weather we had here in Southeastern Idaho.  I wore a tank-top.  Outside!  After three great parties, I went to bed Sunday night sun-kissed, sleepy and so thankful for all of my friends and family.

Oh, and I forgot to mention.  My rump hurt, too.  LOVE, baby!  

There are a few things that make me truly grouchy -- someone chewing ice within earshot, left lane drivers, NO COFFEE.  I have professed my love and unyielding affection for coffee before on this site.  If I don't have at least two cups of coffee within half an hour of waking up, I turn into a cranky little bitch.  I may be so brazen to say that I love coffee more than any other foodstuffs.  

That said, this little bottle of goodness has made my coffee cup all the more enjoyable:

You can now drink Bailey's at work without getting fired!  How cool is that?  This creamer really is more than a gimmick.  It is delicious.  Watch out Coffee-Mate.

Moving on, a recipe . . . on a food blog.  Go figure!  (I apologize for the sarcasm.  I am only on cup one).

I will be the first one to stand up and shout on my soap box about processed foods.  However, there are times when life prevents us from making CURRIES FROM SCRATCH.

Thank you Thai Kitchen:

I was skeptical about these curries (I have also seen green, red, and panang in the Asian section), but I could not be bothered making my own.  I was pleasantly surprised, which is why I am sharing this easy, super quick, yummy meal with you all.  It is nice to have ready meals such as this one at hand for days when you haven't consumed enough coffee.  Or someone chewed ice in your ear all day.  Or you got stuck behind a left lane driver.  Just saying.

 These are the same potatoes you saw a few weeks ago that were beginning to sprout new potatoes; they were begging to be cooked.  Along with them, I diced up some chicken, an onion, a few carrots and a sweet potato.  Feel free to add any veggies or meat that you and yours enjoy.

 This was a lucky score!  Sweet basil is great in curries, too.

 I parboiled my taters in the noodle water first then added the rice noodles, sauteed the chicken and onion in a separate pan, then tossed in the potatoes and curry sauce.  Fifteen minutes total.  

Close to takeout.  

Over half my life . . .

Before I begin, for those folks who are new to Hail's Kitchen and have not seen Nick's ass cake, please beware . . . ass cake below!!!

For those of you who frequent Hail's Kitchen, you will recognize this cake.  I couldn't be bothered mustering up another epic ass cake for myself.  I little photoshopping (terrible photoshopping, I might add), and voila!  Friends, may I present you with a seventeen year obsession:

People who know me well know that I have lusted after this silly tattoo since I first saw A River Runs Through It when I was about thirteen.  A few friends and my mother, specifically, have questioned, "Why????" Well, this is an entirely personal location.  It's not like LOVE would be tattooed on, say, my forehead.  Future employers would never know.  I don't foresee a career shaking my derriere anytime soon.  My dad just audibly sighed when he read that.

I have never wanted something consistently for SEVENTEEN years.  Well, maybe to win the lottery, but that's beside the point.  This tattoo would be an entirely selfish venture.  My twenties were largely a lesson in making me a priority in my own life.  I spent a large chunk of time attempting to make other people happy -- at the cost of my own happiness, health and overall well-being.  

As I celebrate this big birthday today, I feel I am finally settling into my own skin, proud of the direction I am heading with my degree, my potential career, my life!  A number of women who I admire very much have reminded me how wonderful their thirties are/were.  All I can wish for today is that I enter my thirties with as much grace and class as those fine gals.

I hear my parents now, grace and class do not marry well with a tattoo on one's rump, but you know what does?  Having the gall to do something I have wanted to do for over half of my life.  How can you argue with that?  Happy birthday to me! xoxoH

If you could eat summer it would look like this

The following pictures may confuse you.  You may think, wow, Hailey drove to the coast for Memorial weekend.  Gray skies, waves, sand.  Then you will be jolted back to reality when you see the RV, which gets less than appealing gas mileage and a drive to the coast would require me to sell one of my kidneys to afford the trip.  Also, sagebrush.  I am fairly certain sagebrush does not grow on the coastline.  

However, this location (which I have been sworn to secrecy by my sweet friends who shared this little spot of heaven) was in Idaho -- a little more than an hour's drive away from my home.  The weather required us to enjoy the haven of the RV for a large part of our night's stay, but listening to whitecaps smash on the rocks truly felt like we were on the ocean.  Perhaps I am just easily amused, but living in a landlocked state, I will gladly take moments like this any time.  Plus, s'mores cooked over the gas stove with reeses peanut butter cups instead of plain chocolate revolutionized the way I look at marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. 

 See Tuli in the front seat -- he would drive if he had thumbs.

 Sand, shore birds and waves. Oh my!

 He's so fashion-forward.

 Breakfast scramble with zucchini, onions, peppers and squash, and CREAM CHEESE.  Next time you scramble eggs, add a few tbs of cream cheese instead of cheese = delicious.

 Served our breakfast guests espresso in plastic cups.  Keepin' it classy in the rv!

After enduring the wind and weather as long as we could, we escaped to my parents house . . .  to their hot tub.  My mom prepared a fabulous Memorial weekend meal that channeled warmth and summer -- bbq chicken, watermelon, corn on the cob.  Eating food like this really does get you excited for the months ahead.  Bring on summer!

 Next time you eat corn on the cob, try this combination: equal parts sour cream and crumbled feta cheese (eyeball enough to serve your guests), season with salt and pepper.  Slather on hot corn and have a napkin handy -- messy but worth it!

 Grilled corn and bbq chicken.

If you could eat summer it would look like this.