Orcas Island » Just 5 More Minutes

B was having such a good time playing on the beach searching for crabs and critters under the rocks all while running around and laughing. I knew he would be sleeping well that night. To keep him going in the meantime, I prepared a Mediterranean tuna salad wrap. This was super quick and easy to prepare and the flavors in this were amazing. Light (not too much mayonaise) and fresh and so flavorful. If you happen to make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I should mention that if you eat this outdoors on a beautiful sunny day, it may taste even better.

This is going to sound crazy, to some.

But after years of longing for a farm fresh egg, my dream has finally come true. Really.

We were driving along one of the most beautiful scenic drives on the San Juan Islands when I reached over and squeezed hubby’s arm (to use as my own steering wheel in case he didn’t abide) and declared him to: “Stop! Stop – Stop!!” Pointing excitedly to where he should pull off — this is what we saw — possibly the cutest Farm Stand I had ever seen (and I will surely capitalize “Farm Stand,” because to me, this was Heaven).

It was quiet here. It was peaceful here. It smelled of fresh flowers and the birds were singing and that funny rooster was, well, funny and curious.

Need I say more? Pictures certainly do speak 1,000 words and this one could quite possibly exceed that.

But why is it when your hubby is waiting for you while you shop, you can never relax and just enjoy yourself? He was waiting in the car and I was perspiring just waiting for his beckoning call of ‘hurry up honey,’ but this time, he got out. He got out of the car and was amazed too.

“Wow honey, this is really nice.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

I could hardly wait to get back to the Airstream where I would prepare baked eggs . . .

What a special treat.

Grammy award winning artist Dave Matthews and his lovely wife along with their darling twin girls were spending their Mother’s Day at one of their favorite venues as we were in the San Juan Islands.

It would be just as you would imagine having your family and friends over for a Sunday afternoon BBQ with hot dogs, s’mores, fruit salad, etc. I hope we are not tarnishing his Rock Star image.

Finishing off the experience of a lifetime with a “Shallow Bay – Sucia Island Style” sunset, we said our good-bye’s awakening the next morning as if it were a dream.

We are spellbound and rocked by David Matthews. We took no photos in respect of David and Ashley’s friends, family and the Islands.

Our trip to Vancouver Island in Canada with our destination being Tofino was such an incredible trip. We met so many wonderful people and everyone was so genuinely nice here. We caught the ferry from Sidney in Canada and then returned home to Orcas Island via the Friday Harbor ferry (pictured below is our Airstream in the waiting line).

When we finally unhitched at West Beach Resort, B and hubby went exploring on the beach and I began the tedius, but yet relaxing task of cracking the remainders of our freshly caught Dungenous Crab B and hubby caught while on their fishing trip with Lance. I was ready to prepare some Dungeonous Crab Cakes and I wanted these to be simple because I wanted the crab to the be the star! Less is more with this recipe — you could even omit the celery but I wanted some kind of “crunch” amongst the delicate crab meat. Maybe a freshly diced red bell pepper would be good instead of the celery — the possibliites are endless and all depend on what kind of mood you are in.

It is good to be home on Orcas Island and we are really looking forward to exploring the many farms this beautiful Island has to offer the public. B can’t stop talking about visitng a farm with chickens and baby lambs — maybe we will! All I know so far is that the folks here on this Island are so warm and welcoming!

Now I’m not sure what happened to me over this Thanksgiving trip of ours, but something inside me changed. I became more calm, more relaxed and more, well….happy?. I can’t remember the last time I came home from vacation where I have felt so reenergized. Typically I feel like I need a vacation to get over the vacation we just had. Hopefully all of our trips will be wonderful like this one.

THANKFUL we were that our Airstream survived the record breaking temps here in the San Juan Islands just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Apparently temps were down into the low teens with gusts of winds up to 50 mph. Luckily we learned that when our furnace runs, not only does it keep the inside of the Airstream nice and toasty warm, but the furnace is also “ducted” so it blows warm air on the pipes as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we decided to opt out of the traditional big family get together and celebrate the holiday on our Airstream, just the three of us up on the San Juan Islands here in Washington State. I have been very excited about the idea of cooking a traditional Thanksgiving feast in a small space on our Airstream and I am happy to say everything turned out perfectly. As a matter of fact, I think this is probably the best Thanksgiving dinner I have ever made.

We shopped at Orcas Homegrown Market & Deli for our (special) turkey. This is an incredible market as they carry everything you can possibly imagine from exotic hard to find herbs to fresh caught seafood and a plethora of meticulously arranged produce.

Our Thanksgiving menu consisted of roast turkey, baked mashed potatoes and brown sugar glazed carrots along with my own cranberry sauce and gravy.

Probe thermometer, makes life a little easier.

Our turkey from Shelton’s thanks to Orcas Homegrown Market & Deli. I should mention that never, ever again will I buy a turkey that is not organic/free range. After years of buying supermarket turkey’s, this one was so different in every way. The texture of the meat was so long and lean and incredibly tender; there was literally no fat to trim and the taste was something I have never experienced before.

Fully prepped — btw, that is my iPad in the background with the best (in my opinion) recipe organizer app called Paprika.

I didn’t follow the roasted turkey recipe exactly. I subsitutted sage and rosemary from my garden and I didn’t melt the butter. Instead (since the turkey was so lean) I put pats of butter under the skin of the breast.

My simple cranberry sauce — just a bag of cranberries, one squeezed orange, two cinnamon sticks and about one cup of light brown sugar.

Put all ingredients into a pot and bring to boil and cook until you reach a consistency that is to your preference.

Boiled potatoes before being smashed into mashed….

Carrots cooking away in my new cast iron skillet

Potatoes “after”

Happy Thanksgiving and Bon Appetit!

One morning at West Beach Resort, we saw the sweetest baby deer out of our Airstream window. The little darling had no fear and came right up to us. Her brother was nearby with little baby horns and was a bit more skeptical of us.

Just 5 More Minutes

Mediterranean Tuna Salad Wrap and an Island Sunset

A Darling Orcas Island Farm Stand with Fresh Eggs

Dave Matthews and Mother’s Day Airstreaming, San Juan Island’s Style

Dungeonous Crab Cakes and our Journey Home to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands

West Beach Resort on Orcas Island with our Airstream

Record Breaking Temperatures

An Airstream Thanksgiving on Orcas Island

Early Morning Visitor