Trout Almondine

Today we went hiking to Rattlesnake Ledge. It was actually a pretty chilly day here in Seattle. But once we got we got in the car, the weather opened up a bit. Rattlesnake Ledge is about 45 minutes away from us and it was a nice drive over there. We went through Ballard and it was kind of cool. It is like a upper-middle class suburb was just plopped in the middle of a forest.

Hey! I found a handsome guy by the lake!

On our drive up, we saw several cars with their dogs out on the back! It was pretty crazy. I don't know if I'd want my dog on the back while I'm going 60 miles per hour. But the dogs didn't seem to mind. When we got to the parking lot it was kind of crowded. Prior to going, I had heard that this is one of the more popular hikes since it is so close to the city.  For some reason I didn't think there would be this many people. But once we got going it wasn't that bad. There was a couple though that was right on our ass. I finally stopped to the side to take a drink of water because it was making me anxious that someone kept following you closely, when you are just trying to leisurely enjoy your hike. 

All ready to go with his day hiking pack!

The view off of the ledge

When we got to the ledge it was fairly crowded. There were about 20+ people on the ledge. To be honest, I felt a bit nervous because there were so many people! If it had only been like 6 people, then I would have gone out further to see the view. But there are so many people with backpacks that are preoccupied taking photos or selfies, meh. I just didn't want to venture out closer to them. Wayne agreed too, so we took a few photos then headed back down.

Wayne: "Look away deep in thought!"

My thoughts: "My butt hurts sitting on this gigantic rock!"

Overall, the hike itself was great. It was probably in the low 60's but once we got moving we weren't cold. The hike up was pretty engaging. We first started out near the lake and then moved into the forest. The trail would fluctuate too (either uphill or downhill.) I was pleased since my ankle felt pretty good. If we go again, one thing is for sure, we will leave earlier! There was way too many people. I'd rather go up leisurely then run into people on my way back down. It was funny though, in the morning you could see the people that were dedicated about hiking. They had the hiking gear on, hiking outfits and equipment. When it hit around noon (when we headed back down) up came the people wearing jeans, GAP sweaters and Victoria Secret sweatpants. Once we got to the ledge though the views were spectacular. I don't know, words really can't explain the feeling you get that you're on top of the world (okay not really) but I guess when you have that sense of accomplishment. I can only imagine how people that successfully climb mountains for a living feel.

We then went over to Ballard to get some bibimbap. It wasn't the great, but it did the trick. It filled my tummy! :) We totally passed out when we got home. When I woke up, we then made Trout Almondine from Blogging Over Thyme for dinner. I didn't really have a chance to take a lot of photos of making it, but we grabbed some fresh trout at Whole Foods. I had stumbled upon Laura's website randomly.  Her recipes look delicious but I also found her story was very inspiring. She went to culinary school and documented her experiences on her blog. After she successfully graduated she then went into marketing and communications for a speciality foods company. The fact she was able to chase her desire of going to culinary school and stay true to what worked best for her is admirable. Read more here. 

Anyways, I'll get started on my thoughts of making this bad boy fishy: Let me tell you, de-boning a fish is effing hard. The fins and backbone was still intact. I had a sharp knife but I was fumbling a lot. It just turned into a fishy mess. But it was a good lesson. I want to continue to work with fish more so I can learn how to properly de-bone and gut a fish. Then I seasoned the trout with salt and pepper then dredged it in flour. Wayne helped out by making the asparagus. After seasoning the fish, I cooked it in the pan and then made the sauce. 

Our crazy fire alarm went off halfway through making the food! The alarm kept screaming in a female with an accent, "BEEP BEEP! Fire! Fire!"  My first reaction was that the parchment paper under the asparagus caught fire. But when I opened the oven, the asparagus was perfectly fine. We guess the alarm detected some smoke around the oven. But we didn't see any smoke. In our previous apartments, our alarm would go off and it was obvious to us.  Meh, it was weird. I hope it doesn't happen again! Stupid sensitive alarm. 

Ta-da! Finished product! But the sauce, the sauce was fantastic! I love capers. They are like tiny balls of sourness. I love putting them in my tuna salads. Despite how difficult preparing the fish was, the dish turned out quite well. Trout reminds me of salmon except not as fishy and it turned out really good with the roasted asparagus and pineapple. The fish was lightly flaky and the caper sauce solidified the meal. 

After dinner we watched the movie, Hector and the Search for Happiness.

I was surprised. The movie got low ratings. I thought it was a fantastic movie with a lot of heart. 

I believe that happiness isn't a constant state. Nothing in this world is constant. If it is, then it is not growing. I think love encompasses many aspects of happiness. I think there are people out there that do believe happiness is made out of money. Which might not true to everyone but it is to that person. It doesn't make their means of happiness wrong, it its just different. Or like a person that just wants their family to be happy. Or another person has their work be their source of happiness. Both are forms of happiness in my mind. Just the equation doesn't work for everyone. I think we are also socialized to believe we can obtain happiness. That if you are successful businesswoman, with a loving family, lots of friends then you are happy. But life doesn't work out that way. Sometimes what we believe is happiness doesn't turn out to make us happy.

When I was growing up soccer made me happy. But as a grew older, the happiness got sucked out of it. I still love the sport, but there are so many memories (both good and bad) attached to it. It is hard to find that happiness again. But now, one of my moments of happiness occurs when I cook. There is an essential need to eat food. So it makes me feel like I have a purpose in my actions. But then I have the freedom to create what I want. No one tells me what to make or how to make it. I get to release my creativity. 

Then I share it with people I care about. I love how Wayne will eat anything I make. He won't judge it either. Which when I cook, it feels like a piece of my soul and pride goes into it. He enjoys it and we experience it together. Food can become a journey and what is awesome is I get to create this journey ever so often a week. Another thing that makes me happy is Wayne. To be honest, when we first met each other I never thought we would last this long. But as time goes on, I know he's the one for me. Sure, thing aren't perfect (nothing in life is.) But when things get tough or when I need someone to lean on, I know he'll be there and vise versa. That he'll grow as a companion and is willing to explore life with me. 

Blogging Over Thyme's Trout Almondine recipe can be found here.

Sty tuned for more adventures!

Emma