A Piece Of Heaven: Donner Lake

Song:  Gift Of Life

Artist:  Thomas Bergersen

Yesterday...

I went to my mother's at about 5 PM and suggested we go to Donner Lake 

for a pleasurable short mountain drive and viewing of the lake.

Donner Lake is at an elevation of 5,935 ft...

and so...it is an Alpine Lake.

There is nothing more beautiful as an alpine lake which has mountain cabins nearby...

which, because of their wood burning stoves and fireplaces...

infuse the air with a light aroma of burning wood...

and which automatically triggers beautiful memories of camping in the wilderness

with campfires scenting the air.

The crystal clarity of the alpine air is cool...

and a light breeze is almost always blowing.

The ambiance is enchanting...

with the forest's leading edges kissing the water...

and the shadows lending a mystery to the air.

It is a fantasy setting right out of the fairy tales.

Every time I go to Donner Lake...

I feel recharged, and motivated to do more in life.

I wish to buy my final property in such a place.

By far...

my favorite lake...

 one of my favorite places to go...

and one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced...

is Donner Lake.

It is but a short and beautiful drive from home (45 minutes).

It is also in close proximity to Lake Tahoe, and Boca and Stampede Reservoirs.

However...

by far...

this is my favorite.

Even when not here...

just by reliving the perfect experience of this alpine lake...

I am at peace...everything is right with the world...

if only for those moments.

But, once experienced...

I know the experience is mine forever...

and it is always just a thought away.

This lake is the closest to perfection of any place I have ever been.

It is a genuine piece of heaven.

We are at the western end of the lake here.

They rent canoes, kayaks, and other water craft at the lake.

It is also a good place to catch trout and other fish.

My mother had seen a boat way before I could...

and she is 78 years old!

There it is.

My mother waving to the occupants of the boat.

My mother loved the views of the mountains...

and of this beautiful alpine lake.

We stayed for a while to soak in the magnificence of the lake and the views of both...

the distant, and the nearby, mountains.

We then drove East...

towards Truckee.

We were in search of a restaurant with which to finish the day.

We are nearing downtown Truckee (an alpine town just minutes from Donner Lake).

To the right of us is the Truckee River.

Its waters come directly from Lake Tahoe...

and it gives Reno much of its water.

I hadn't known that there was a festival at that time in town.

Nearby parking was impossible...

and so...

we drove back to Reno to eat.

We were leaving Truckee to get back on the highway to Reno.

We are less than half an hour away from Reno here.

My mother loved looking at the mountain views.

It had been a while since we had a good hamburger.

Our favorite burger place is Red Robin.

They have this great Whiskey Barbecue Burger that we always get there.

Each burger comes with unlimited amounts of steak fries.

Even though my mother often looks at the menus...

she almost always just says that she will have what ever I am having  :)

Our burgers arrived...

and we always order an ice cold non-alcohol beer to accompany our meals.

My mother was hungry.

She had been looking forwards to eating 

since I had picked her up from her home.

But that is part of the experience.

Hunger stimulates our other senses...

and you hunger for stimulation...

and so, you greatly enjoy beautiful experiences.

This, along with the anticipation which accompanies it...

heightens the tension...

a crescendo which leads to the climax that a good meal provides...

and so, gives a great ending to a great day.

My mother was so happy to finally sate her hunger.

My mother had finished off everything with great delight.

-------------

We had such a magical time at Donner Lake...

we are going back this evening...

only this time...

we are going to make a picnic out of our lake viewing.

I will pick my mother up at about the same time in the evening today...

whereupon we will pick up some fire grilled chicken to enjoy lakeside.

Donner Lake is not well known to many people...

and that is a good thing.

Part of its charm is that it is not crowded...

on the weekdays.

It is the rustic charm of the forested village homes along the lake... 

with their wood burning stoves scenting the air

 that gives it that magical and mystical fantasy setting.

The crystal clear air and water...

coupled with the cool breezes and the near and distant mountain views...

makes this THE lake to experience.

If only people knew

(Whoops...I guess they do now  :)

A Cold Supper...By Design

Song:  Nocturno

Composer:  Chopin

After a night of marination...

the Beef Tataki was ready

(for the recipe...look at the previous article).

On this night...

we tried a new Kimchi.

This one was mostly Korean radish...

and...

this already had plenty of ground spicy red pepper mixed in.

It went perfectly with this dish.

I took the Beef Tataki out of the fridge.

 We had left over shishito in the fridge...

and the meal was complete.

Everything tastes excellent cold

(the rice at room temperature - day old rice).

The above was my mother's plate...

and below is a photo of mine.

After we had finished our meal...

we still had plenty left over to go back in the fridge.

My mother can just eat it for lunch at a later time.

It will last for many days in the fridge.

---------

Today...

I picked my mother up at around 5 PM...

and we went to Donner Lake for a spectacular short trip...

and dinner afterwards.

In my next article...

I will include photos of our short mountain lake excursion.

Roast Beef And Beef Tataki

Song: Never Can Say Good Bye (Flute Cover)

Artist:  TwainsBlues

On a previous night...

my wife had made this simple dish of roast beef for Alex.

I had sampled some...

and it was so juicy and delicious...

I had asked her how she had cooked it...

and on the next night...

I decided to cook the same dish for my mother.

My wife had actually used a lesser cut of beef than did I.

All my wife did was to use olive oil and salt and pepper as an initial rub...

place the beef in an uncovered roasting pan...

and cook it for an hour to an hour and a half...
depending on the thickness(for two pounds of meat) at 375 F.

Although my mother is wearing an old robe to cook with

(she didn't want to get her Happi coat dirty while cooking)...

she is wearing a shirt my elder sister had made for her underneath it.

(She is still missing her eldest daughter).

As the beef was cooking...

I started the rice...

and I then fire roasted Shishito (a mild hot pepper)...

and I had my mother do the veg prep for the follow up dish using the left over beef...

as I had started with almost a Kilo of beef.

Our meal for the night was sliced roast beef...

and the extra beef for the next day's meal would be used to make Beef Tataki.

This particular Japanese radish is called Daikon.

My mother had halved the daikon for ease of handling.

We used both halves for this dish.

It will form the most critical component for the Beef Tataki.

Never get the insanely small Daikon grater.

It simply takes way too long to get any appreciable amount 

in a reasonable amount of time.

I had purchased this Godzilla grater (my name for it)...off of Amazon.

After waiting for my mother to grate the first half of the daikon...

I grew impatient.

She was using small strokes.

I then showed her that it was full length strokes at the highest rate which

takes full advantage of the size of the grater.

I was grating at such a great speed that my mother grew nervous

at how low the daikon had shrunk so quickly...

and how small of a piece I was soon left holding.

For safety reasons...

either get the plastic one...such as this one...

or get a metal one which has a veg holder...

which will prevent accidentally grating your knuckles

when the daikon runs low.

If you accidentally run you skin across this plastic type...

you will most likely only get a road rash type of injury...

whereas with the metal ones...

you will color the daikon below with a crimson flow which will surely follow.

With this grater...

I had shown my mother that a whole daikon could be grated in about one minute.

One whole white onion is then halved...

sliced into 1/4 inch thick semi circles...

and these are then halved.

Break apart the onions...

and place them in with the grated daikon.

Now...

these are three of the basic ingredients which add the flavor.

The majority of the sauce should be Ponzu.

It has a vinegary citrus taste.

The soy sauce is added if you like a more salty taste...

the Mirin is to add more sweetness.

I like straight Ponzu...

and I will sometimes add ground hot red peppers to the mix.

However...

for this batch...

I just kept it simple.

The resulting mixture is ready for the addition of the meat...

which we did not do until we had finished the night's meal of sliced roast beef.

The Shishito is especially good when dipped into Ponzu before eating.

I then pre-staged an area for when I pulled the meat from the oven.

Just about when the beef was done...

the rice had finished cooking.

I then fluffed the rice and let it sit until the meat was fully ready.

After pulling the meat from the oven...

I then covered the pan and let the meat rest for 20 minutes.

My mother then sat waiting for the meat to be finished.

She was hungry...

and as she sat with the expectant look of a child about to receive a treat...

but with still 20 minutes to go...

I decided to have us start with the shishito to bide the time.

I love to see the child like expressions of delight on my mother's face

when she does things she loves to do...

and she LOVES to eat  :)

Soon after...

the meat was ready to be sliced.

I had her pre slice all of the meat...

as I could then put in whatever we couldn't finish that night...

into the Daikon / Onion / Ponzu marinade.

This was my mom's first portion.

We each had more on the second helping  :)

Now...

this picture should automatically tell you something.

Although my beef was okay...

it was not nearly so juicy as was my wife's.

With my wife's beef...

I hadn't any need of any sort of condiment

(and she had an inferior cut of beef!).

With mine...

well...

it needed a little help.

My mother loved the beef though.

After our meal...

I placed the rest of the meat into the marinade.

I mixed everything together and covered it.

It was then placed in the fridge to marinate for a day.

The great beauty of Beef Tataki is that the marinade softens the meat...

and it makes even formerly, somewhat dried out meat...super juicy.

The acid / citrus juices simply bursts with flavor within the mouth with each tender bite.

I LOVE Beef Tataki.

In the next article...

I will show our next day's meal of Beef Tataki.

Gifts From My Elder Sister: Homemade Clothes For My Mother

Song:  Wishing You Were Here

Group:  Chicago

While my family and I were away for a week...

my elder sister had driven over from her home in California to stay

with my mother while we were gone.

She had taken her sewing machine to my mother's house so she could

make a comfortable lounging shirt for her to wear around the house.

Before her arrival at my mother's house...

my sister had already made another lounging shirt and a happi coat for her to wear...

and she had given it to her upon her arrival.

I don't know if my sister already had my mother's measurements...

or if she had guesstimated the measurements needed.

 I especially liked the designs on the material she had used for this shirt.

My mother has been wearing her happi coat every day since my sister went back

to her home in CA.

The happi coat is triple layered...

the designed outer side...

the insulation between the outer layers...

and the black inner side.

My sister had made the top with an attached tie on the top...

and a removable waist tie.

My sister had also sewn in some floral designs to help stabilize the inner insulation.

My mother often remarks how she misses her daughters...

but now she has some comfortable wear made from one of them to help 

remember her by.

My sister had also gifted me with an embroidered portrait of a Shiroi Tora (White Tiger).

This one she had bought.

It was made by a Chinese artist who makes art...one hand stitch at a time.

Last night...

I had roasted nearly a kilo of beef...

and we had eaten half of it as a roast...

and we then made Beef Tataki with the rest.

I also fire roasted shishito to enjoy with our meals.

We will be eating the rest of the meat...and the shishito... tonight.

In my next article...

I will show what we had done to make both meals.