It was a picture-perfect day - the sun was out, the temp was up and the mister was game - so we headed out, as my dad likes to say, "to hitherparts unknown to the hearts of man"...I have no idea where he got that but it's one of his favorite sayings - that and "we're off - like a dirty shirt!" Our first stop was the gas station - $3.69 a gallon - I pushed the premium button by mistake because I was distracted by the TV on the gas pump....how can I be expected to pump gas AND watch President Bush be trashed at the Washington Press Corp Dinner that was shown on CNN at the same time!? I'm just a little Mountain girl for Pete's sake! (I must offer a defense for the mister - something I never feel the need to do...but he usually pumps my gas - in fact, that is something he has always done for me - along with always meeting me inside the airport - never out front - and cleaning the shower - so you see, he's not all bad...but yesterday he was starving so he went inside the convenience store to get himself something to tide him over while I operated the pump...)
Our next stop was Newcastle Golf Course - it's on top of a mountain and the views are unbeatable...
I don't know who the guy in the red shirt is - but after I snapped this picture he waved...In the background is Lake Washington and in the far, far distance is Seattle - barely visible in this shot but the "white line" above the horizon is actually the Olympic Mountains covered in snow...the view was just incredible...we could have broken out in song..."We can see for miles and miles...we can see for miles and miles..." but our life is not a musical - it's a dramedy - no singing allowed. We had lunch at the club and this brings me to the Olive spread...we were served it, along with a garlic spread and butter when the first course came out...it was so good that I had to recreate it when I got home!
Olive Spread
I can (12 oz.) pitted Black Olives, drained
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Put all into a food processor or blender and process in 5 second intervals just until the olives are finely chopped - leaving a few larger bits of olive is a good thing - even Martha would agree.
Spread on Italian bread or crackers - I will definitely serve this at my next soiree...
I'll fill you in on the rest of our adventure in another post...but here's a teaser for you...the mister was very talkative and regaled me with all sorts of interesting tidbits - like - 39 years ago today the DaNang fuel dump, which he oversaw while stationed as a Marine in Vietnam, blew up...surprisingly, it was not his doing, but rather the VC's...who had somehow infiltrated their perimeter...now where else are you going to get this kind of infotainment?!? I promptly took two valium....Semper Fi.
