My parents love the coast. Oregon, Washington, doesn't matter. We would go to an area called Willapa Bay. Very very small. The local town, Oysterville, gives you a hint on what went down in Willapa Bay. There was a restaurant there that my parents fell in love with. The Ark. This restaurant was around for 25 years and the owners/chefs, Nanci Main and Jimella Lucas set the bar high and early for using only local ingredients, become it became such a fad now.
The Ark was able to do what so many restaurants can't do: be good at many things, while staying in business for a long time and never comprising the integrity of their food. There are cranberry bogs not far from The Ark. And those bogs made what my mom considers what dreams are made of. Their Cranberry Butter. Mom has an (un)healthy relationship with cranberries. She loves them in and on anything. She once got for Christmas a 5 pound bag of dried cranberries. I kid you not.
The Ark Chef's put a out a few cookbooks, and my mom, bless her heart, had Nanci and Jimella autograph them. To put in perspective how amzing Nanci and Jimella are, read this article.
http://www.oregonlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2013/08/washingtons_long_beach_peninsu.html
JAMES BEARD declared it his "favorite seafood spot" JAMES BEARD!!! If you are saying to yourself " Who is Jams Beard?" No worries. Read about him here. If you are jumping up and down, saying "No Way, James Beard!" You are welcome. He is only a God among true foodies!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Beard
Like I said previously, my mom loved their Cranberry Butter. I have the recipe. A photocopy, from one of her Ark cookbooks. Today I made it. And it is glorious!! I let the kids help, and even they wanted to stick their grimy fingers in and just eat butter. So here is a pic of the finished product and the recipe.
Doesn't that look amazing? I *may* have eaten a spoonful. I
We had a pretty full house. Us 4, Andy's parent's, his mom's sister, Aunt Terri, his brother Matt and his friend Heather, plus Andy's BFF Rick and his wife Steph and their son Joseph! We had lots of vegetables and some non-traditional dishes. Since Thanksgiving was also the beginning of Hanukkah I wanted to incorporate that. I have Jewish friends, and have always appreciated the dishes so with some help from a website I whipped up a few. Cranberry Applesauce (supposed to be put on Latkes, but was pretty good on Turkey) and Horseradish Mashed Potatoes. The potatoes were sooooo yummy. A little bit of kick (don't use horsey sauce from Arby's as a substitute) and very creamy.
In the last picture you can see the cranberry butter all done. Mmmm, may have to and have some soon. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I even went out on Friday and went shopping with Terri (at 5:30 am no less)!
