West Coast Eclipse Adventure Day 4 - A Quincidence of Cousins

We arrived as planned (more or less) in Philomath, just outside of Corvallis, situated squarely in the path of totality with a day to spare.

Our original plan was to take the day to assess the weather forecast for eclipse day and, if necessary, head east looking for clear skies. Predictions of traffic nightmares made that plan problematical, but thankfully moot, as the weather is cooperating.

Eclipse T-Minus 24 hours - brilliant sunshine.

Cousins Rob and Paula are our hosts. We spend the day relaxing and getting to know our relations. Cousins Rob & Paula, 2nd (3rd?) cousins Mindon & Athena, and me are first at the breakfast table.

Rob introduces me to Mindon and Athena, but I think we've met before. Turns out - we had - six years ago. They were somewhat smaller then.

Rob takes us on a tour of the family farm and quince orchard. His Quince Essentials Membrillo spread is now a staple in our house. Sigrid and I become very possessive when we are down to the last jar. It can get ugly.

Zillions of blackberries that fence the farm were ripe and sweet.

The big event of the day was a gathering of multiple clans for a feast.

Art & Design Students - One and All

I contributed abalone...

... Harlan prepared a faux piccata lemon sauce ...

... which was accompanied by Rob and Paula rice specialties, salads and desserts.

We are eating well in preparation for the celestial event.

In the commentary on our Facebook post, there was some discussion about what to call a grouping of cousins like this. I suggested the correct term is a "Cavalcade of Cousins" (you know, like a "pod of whales", "herd of deer, "pack of wolves", etc.). Others thought we should consider a "gaggle of geese" or an "exultation of larks".

Clearly there is a great deal of linguistic latitude in this nomenclature.  After due consideration, I decided to settle on language I've used before - a "Quincicidene of Cousins."

Corvallis Cousin Quincidence

membrillo

I spent last weekend visiting family in the Northern California county of Oregon.  I'm not sure why this is the case, but I've got more cousins per capita in Oregon than anywhere outside of Chicagoland. On the maternal side of the family my Aunt Betty and Uncle Don migrated to the Corvallis area from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan via Wisconsin.

Uncle Don and many, many cousins.

This branch of the family favors micro-brews, home brews, and chair throwing barroom brawls.

The infamous Yooper home brews -  Big Shag Big Stout and Escanaba Pail Ale were made with the brewing expertise from these Corvallis cousins and supplied by cousin Joel's  Corvallis Brewing Supply:
 

Coincidentally, cousins from the paternal side of the family also migrated to Corvallis from Chicago via San Francisco and Santiago, Chile.  So I also had the opportunity to spend time with Aunt Gloria and cousins Rob and Paula.

Rob's a retired educator and for a second act, he and Paula have embarked on a gourmet entrepreneurial venture - a quince orchard and Quince Essentials:

They sent me home with a jar of their organic quince spread aka "Membrillo" and instructions on how to enjoy the South American delicacy. Their recommendation: serve it with manchego or white cheddar cheese on water crackers or crusty bread. Last night we enjoyed it on the side with Sigrid's split pea soup.

Really good. While enjoying the gourmet treat, I am thinking to myself - "I've had this before."  Then I remembered. Another cousin. Another retired educator. And to complete the circle - back to the U.P.  a couple of years ago:

Shag Lake - Fall 2009

And another good reason to blog. The blog has a better memory than me.

Olive-Palooza - Fall 2012 Edition

Mike, Chris, Emily, Matt, and  Olive visited us on Sunday, bringing gourmet snacks. garden veggies,  and farmers market goodies. MK tells me this is   "Jaochim Fearro" "Martín Fierro" - a  quince paste (membrillo) with manchego cheese, often served on a cracker, topped with fresh fruit, nice with a crisp, dry white wine. Named for a mythic gaucho character in Argentina."

Against All Odds - The U.P. is turning into a foodie destination. No. Really.

After some pizza, Olive favored us with her modern interpretive dance stylings:

Is there no end to these cousins?

What does it mean to travel to the ends of the earth and find that one cannot cross the street without tripping over more cousins than one can count?

Old cousins and new cousins...

Cousins getting married. Cousins plying you with craft brews. Cousins picking you up and dropping you off and hauling your sorry ass all over the state. Cousins offering tours of their estate. Cousins singing and dancing. Cousins offering gourmet meals at their home and at fine dining establishments and enticing you with handcrafted brews, home grown quince jellies and homemade breads.

Now, I am not implying that the towns of Portland, Corvallis and Philomath, Oregon represent the ends of the earth. However, most agree that they are well within spitting distance. But I digress...

Not too long ago Cousin Rob posted this on his facebook page:

"I treated myself to my favorite breakfast (made by me): Omelette with feta cheese, spinach and greek olives with bacon along with a toasted sesame bagel and a large non-fat extra hot latte. Yummmmm."

In response I shamelessly demanded the same breakfast for my upcoming visit. Hence my next stop on the continuing Cousins at the Ends of the Earth Extravaganza Tour - Cousins Rob and Paula and Mariya and Athena and Mindon and a breakfast for the ages...



Yum indeed. More pics linked here.

Then - back to Corvallis, where cousin Rob hands me off to cousins Matt, Tina, and Kira.
We drive back through Albany to visit with Don and Betty and on to Jefferson for a brief repeat visit with cousin Brent. Finally back to Portland again. I check back in to the Grand Hyatt Mantarea where the resident chef cousins planked a copper river salmon on the grill, served with swiss chard and artisinal bread. Apparently all of my multitude of cousins are gourmands.




Double yum.