2013: A Recap

2013
was a crazy whirlwind of activity for the Lubitz Family.

There were good times and some not so good times.

I will cherish the memories.

I did not have any new year resolutions, however, if they had included a new pet to love, some quality family time, lots of glorious travel, apple harvesting, pressing, and continued home remodeling, I would have been batting a thousand!

January

January brought much biz travel for Michael including Japan, LA, Seattle, and Silicon Valley. I suffered from a horrible tooth ache, which eventually led to a root canal. Every Thursday I dealt with Stinky sitting in my office chair while the cleaning people cleaned and I tried to work (and I only took pictures of the pets in January, apparently). Oh, Stinky!

February

Michael completed the final bottling of his first official batch of hard cider (with the help of his friend, Mick). Sammy's room was emptied in preparation for a complete remodel and we enjoyed many lovely winter sunrises and sunsets in Portland. We are so lucky to have a view of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens from our home.

March

In March I traveled with Michael to Silicon Valley and then we spent a wonderful couple of days in Paso Robles with Deb & Steve. We drank great wine, ate great food, and had a blast talking about winemaking and all sorts of things. We loved the Hotel Cheval, Paso Robles!

April

In April we spent 10 days on the island of Maui. I can feel the warm breeze right now. Paradise! Unfortunately, I was in a rather horrifying snorkeling accident the morning of our last day at the Four Seasons at which point I nearly drowned. I spent the rest of the day dealing with coral wounds and sea urchin stings. I then returned home only to deal with an infected coral wound, which grounded me for nearly 4 weeks. We did have a fantastic time in Hawaii. I am happy to be alive.

May

Despite my lingering wounds from April, May was so amazing. I turned 50 and enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Michael at Toro Bravo. I spent most of my injury time planning for our upcoming trip to Paris, France. Happy Birthday to me! We left for Paris on May 24. Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed our family trip to Paris or our visit to Roland Garros and the French Open Tennis Tournament!

June

June was pretty spectacular too. We continued getting to the know Paris for the first week of the month. We returned home absolutely in love with the city. On Father's Day weekend, we picked up our little Berner Rosen. We love that naughty little mini aussie puppy. He owns our hearts.

July

In July, Michael was hospitalized for a week. It was exceptionally difficult for him and we were very worried about him. We checked him out of the hospital and headed straight to The Stephanie Inn, Cannon Beach to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary. As it turned out, we were both not feeling too well, but we enjoyed the time together and the fantastic view of Haystack Rock. We also enjoyed driving leisurely out to the farm every other Sunday to pick up our vegetables. The farm is an amazingly tranquil place.

August

In August, we extended our anniversary celebration to Los Angeles (on the back of a business trip, of course). We got a cherished visit from Joey after his summer stint in New York City. We delivered Sammy's '66 T-Bird to the Restoration Specialist and Michael and I headed to New York City while our furnace was being replaced. We spent a fantastic week in the city spending time with friends Doug & Sydney. We ate amazing food, went to a Yankees game (go Ichiro!), and we even went to the US Open Tennis Tournament--a.k.a., heaven for me!

September

The first part of September, we headed from NYC to Maine to get Sammy checked in to his Sophomore dorm. We returned home and harvested apples for this year's hard cider. Michael's new cider press arrived. We also harvested other lovely fruits from our garden including golden plums and figs. It was a great summer for fruit in Portland!

October

October was all about apple harvest and travel. Once we had harvested and pressed all our own apples, we went out to Sauvie Island and picked up a third variety. We traveled the first part of the month to Southern California. Michael celebrated his 50th Birthday. Unfortunately, we had no time for a real dinner and so Michael's birthday dinner was celebrated at I-Hop after we had arrived at our airport hotel in anticipation of our early morning flight back East. I have been trying to make it up to him ever since. We traveled to Boston, Maine, New York City, and Cleveland (and Oberlin).

November

In November, Michael's new home office was complete and we celebrated the occasion with some festive drinks shared with Uncle Chris, Grammy & Grampy. Michael and I also got new cars for the first time in seven years. We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Fleming Family, an exhausting yet rewarding time.

December

Finally, the last month of 2013 was a busy one. Michael traveled to Japan We enjoyed our 2nd Annual Corporate Retreat with our staff at The Allison Inn & Spa. Joey visited Portland for 10 wonderful days and we spent Christmas week at a rental house in Arch Cape, Oregon. We have fallen in love with Arch Cape and we shall see where that leads.

The year was a special one. 2014 has started out a bit rocky, but I think it will turn around.

Good-bye 2013! Cheers to 2014!

Buffalo Turkey Burger Recipe

During one of my many romps across the Internet universe in search of delicious food options, I came upon this great website that has some pretty decent and easy recipes specifically geared to be healthy for the Type 2 Diabetic: JoyBauer.com.

The first recipe I tried was actually the Almond Hot Cocoa recipe, which was rich and delicious and uses almond milk, vanilla, pinch of salt, dark chocolate chips and sugar (I used Stevia). It's a great go-to recipe when I feel like something hot, rich, chocolaty and sweet, but without the dairy and sugar.

The second recipe I tried was the Buffalo Chicken Burgers and everyone loved it. I have since tweaked the recipe a bit and added an avocado topping. We have had these burgers many times now. If you like buffalo wings, I think you will like these burgers. The link above is to the original recipe. Here is my version:

BUFFALO CHICKEN (OR TURKEY) BURGERS

Ingredients for Patties:

1 pound lean ground chicken or turkey

1 Tblsp. Olive Oil

1 small onion, very finely diced

1/4 cup celery, very finely diced

1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce

10-12 drops Sriracha (we love Sriracha)

4-6 ounces crumbled Goat Cheese

(bleu cheese works too, we like the milder flavor of the goat cheese too)

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

salt and pepper, to taste

Ingredients for Avocado Topping:

1 ripe avocado

2 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt

8-10 drops Sriracha

salt and pepper, to taste

Whole Grain Hamburger Buns, Lettuce, Tomato

Patty Preparation:

Since I do not like crunchy onions and celery in the my burger patties, I sautéed the vegetables in olive oil until soft before adding to the ground turkey. Combine meat, veggies, Frank's, Sriracha, cheese, cumin, chili powder, and salt & pepper. Form into patties and cook on hot skillet, grill pan, or outdoor grill, approximately 5 minutes per side (or until cooked through), depending on size of patties.

Avocado Topping:

Mix together the ripe avocado, yogurt, Srirachia, and Salt & Pepper until creamy.

Assemble the burgers, adding Frank's Red Hot Sauce as a topping at the end if you like.

Quick, easy & delicious!

Breakfast of Champions

It has been a fun Seattle Seahawks season thus far. They have a great team and they are winning games and getting respect from, well, everyone. Since Portland has no pro Football or Baseball Teams, we have to look elsewhere for our favorites. For some reason, Sammy loves the Eagles and now that Chip Kelly is in Philly, well, let's just say we are all rooting for their success. I am not a huge Football fan, however, I do enjoy the more local Seahawks and even though Michael and I went to ASU and only one person in our family is actually a Duck, we love the Ducks. I do go south as well, to San Francisco, for my favorite baseball team and, yes, I still love Barry Bonds (and Martha Stewart, and Paula Deen...but I digress).

I started my day today by turning the kitchen TV on to the Seahawks game and whipping up a delicious Sunday breakfast brunch. Usually Michael takes care of Sunday breakfast and he has two specialities. The first including a quick run to Kenny & Zuke's for bagels, lox and cream cheese. Michael has also perfected steak and eggs, which is simply grilled filet mignon and scrambled eggs (he adds cream and cheese), and quite delicious. I have been wanting to make sweet potato hash for a while, so today I took over the Sunday breakfast duties and made: Sweet Potato Hash with a Sunny Side Up Egg, Grilled Filet Mignon and Homemade Chimichurri Sauce. Since it all turned out so deliciously, I thought I would document my recipes here.

SWEET POTATO HASH

2 sweet potatoes

2 yukon gold yellow potatoes

3-4 strips bacon, diced

1 small yellow onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

hungarian smoked paprika to taste

1 Tablespoon chili powder

Salt and Pepper, to taste

finely chopped scallion for garnish

Peel and cut the potatoes into large chunks and boil until almost cooked through. Drain, cool and dice. Meanwhile, in a frying pan, cook bacon on medium heat until fat is rendered and bacon is cooked. Add onion and bell pepper and cook for approximately 3 minutes, then add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add in diced potatoes, paprika, chili powder, and salt & pepper. Cook for an additional 5 minutes on medium to get a nice fry on the potatoes, then turn down to low. In another pan, cook eggs sunny side up. Serve with egg on hash and garnish with green onions.

CHIMICHURRI

1 cup finely packed flat leaf parsley leaves, trim off thick stems

3-4 garlic cloves

1/2 cup finely packed cilantro

1/2 chopped jalapeño

2 teaspoons dried Oregano (or 2 T fresh)

1 teaspoon dried Basil (or 1 T fresh)

1/2 cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Lime Juice

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until fine.

Completely delicious and really good served on steak.

Enjoy!