Hood River Valley
Mt. Hood from the road
After a visit to Panorama Point to take in the lay of the land, we headed for the first few orchards on the loop. We drove through acres and acres of pear, apple and peach orchards at the peak of harvest for the apples and pears. We bought a few apples and pears at each place to try a variety of different kinds and they were all great. At one family run orchard, we were looking at some beautiful pears and the lady steered us toward a bin of the ugliest looking pears you ever did see. She sliced into one and we were in love in one bite. They were ripe, juice and calling our name, so we had to buy a few. :)
Enormous Apples!
Packer Orchard was a highlight because of our history with their cookies. Both times I had been to Oregon, we had gotten Packer's cookies at the Portland and Beaverton Farmer's Markets and they were heavenly! When I went to England, David decided that he would send me something special and he knew how much I liked Packers cookies. Well, the little stinker called them up and had a dozen cookies shipped to Illinois and then he shipped them off to England. I was in Germany when they arrived, but they were waiting for me, tasty as ever, when I returned. In a way it was a pilgrimage of sorts to be able to go to the actually bakery/orchard and get fresh cookies. Sorry no picture...they were eaten too fast!
For lunch we stopped at Apple Valley BBQ in Parkdale. I had been to Parkdale on my first visit to the Vally 5 years earlier, but didn't see much of the town. Really not much too see, but Allison was right when she said they had great BBQ. I got the lunch sampler with pulled BBQ pork and a few ribs with a choice of 2 sides. I wanted to try the baked beans, but I was curious about another side option...cornbread salad. I decided to ask the waiter what it was and he told me it was pretty much macaroni salad with cornbread instead of pasta. Sounded interesting so I gave it a whirl....BEST CHOICE EVER!!!! Wow was it good! I could have eaten a bowl of the stuff. I asked the waiter if they would share the recipe and he said he'd check with the owner who was in the kitchen. He was more than happy to share the recipe with me and even wrote it down on the back of a ticket. I'll post that recipe in the near future. David enjoyed his BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger, pear slaw...and my cornbread salad...I was nice and shared..a bit. :)
After visiting more orchards, sampling some HUGE apples (see picture) and driving a 1/2 hour to Lost Lake only to find it fogged in, cold and rainy, then driving a 1/2 hour back to the highway, we stopped at Apple Valley Country Store. We bough some of the marionberry syrup that we had for breakfast that morning and sampled some jams. On Allison's recommendation, we tried a marionberry milkshake, which David is still talking about.
Lakecliff B&B
Lakecliff B&B
Our foodie adventure didn't end there. After a rest at the B&B and calling back home to listen to our church's Wednesday evening service, we headed out supper at Riverside at the Hood River Best Western. Allison told us that the new chef at the restaurant was doing some great things with the menu and thought we should give it a try...she hadn't steered us wrong yet! Our meal was phenomenal! We got a window seat on the water, but could see much since it was dark, but still nice.
We started our meal with some great fried calamari with some fried fennel root mixed in. David got a pan-roasted chicken with homemade gnocchi, chanterelles and spinach. When the server brought my pasta he called it, "big boy chicken alfredo" and it was just that, with papperadelle pasta, super tender chicken, peas and a great cream sauce. We were so full, we didn't get dessert, but enjoyed tea and coffee after the meal. This was probably the #2 meal we had, just behind the Streamliner Diner. It was an excellent way to cap off our stay in Hood River! Thank you Allison for all of your great suggestions!
Once again, we experienced fresh local ingredients that just make a meal so much more enjoyable and tasty!
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