Katherine and I had a beautiful and adventurous drive through the snow late on Christmas afternoon for a delicious dinner at Timberline Lodge.

I sat around in front of the fire while Kate worked on arrangements in case we needed chains for getting down from the mountain. (We didn’t.  Love that Subaru.)

I made some new friends who only spoke Bulgarian.  Always the old teacher, I taught some vocab:  snow, mountain, boots, warm.

Here I am fully sated. (And we both brought half our meals home for later.)

Here’s the menu.  We made a point to opt for different dishes.

Amuse Bouche

Applewood Bacon Crunch:

compressed pear, chilled potato puree fennel sprouts

Choice of Soup or Salad

Smokey Butternut Squash Soup with creme fraiche, chive garnish

or

Kale, Endive & Radicchio Chop Salad withGlacier blue cheese, walnuts, black mission figs, mascarpone vinaigrette

Intermezzo

Mulled Red Wine Sorbet

Choice of Main Course

Slow Roasted Breast of Turkey:

roasted garlic smashed Yukon gold potatoes walnut-apple stuffing, cranberry-orange relish giblet gravy, roasted yams  (This was Katherine’s choice.)

Columbia River Salmon wrapped in puff pastry with wild rice butternut squash puree, roasted Brussels sprouts  andHood River apple-cabbage slaw

Alder Smoked Prime Rib of Beef with roasted garlic smashed yukon gold potatoes rosemary roasted baby carrots, spaghetti squash, wild mushroom demi glace  (I had this.)

Roasted Duck Leg with Neuske’s Bacon, riesling poached pear, Ice Axe mustard seeds savoy cabbage, toasted farro

Cascade Farms Pork Shank braised in red wine demi glace with root vegetables lemon-herb breadcrumbs & creamy polenta

Roasted Acorn Squash with Walnut-Apple Stuffing baby carrots, toasted farro, black mission figs Swiss chard, smoked Hood River apple butter roasted vegetable demi glace

For Dessert

Timberline Pastry Team’s Trio of Sweet Creations

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We took our time driving back through the snow, so by the time we got home, we were ready to finish off the other half of our dinners with the wine we had forgone earlier to be very sober drivers.    It was a lovely day on so may levels.