Corvallis Tourism Website

One of the best places to find out information about Corvallis is the general visitors page at www.visitcorvallis.com This site is simply fantastic. they have a live event area where you can post upcoming activities or simply find something to do on a Saturday afternoon. They also have a comprehensive list of places to eat, stay, and a section for suggestion on things to do. The reason I write about the is because they recently updated the old website into a snazy new format. this new site is even easier to navigate and has added several new features. Click on the link in this posting to check it out.

Beautiful Nature Walks, Peavy Arboretum/McDonald Research Forest

Last weekend I decided that with the leaves changing, it would be a wonderful time to go for a mid-day walk. I hoped in the car and drove out to Peavy and I was amazed. It is that time of year when leaves blow across the trail and a swirling spiral of red and yellow leaves can be seen in all directions. For those of you that don't know, the forest is located right off of Highway 99. If you are in class and stressed like me, or just a passer-by I would highly recommend getting out to the woods sometime in the next week.

Stuffed Grape Leaves

so the following post has nothing to do with Corvallis, but rather is a food recipe that all my friends CONSTANTLY ask me about. This is my family list for amazing stuffed grap leaves. Make sure to actually try them before you say it sounds disguisting

What you need:
1 jar, or about 15 grape leaves
1 can of tomato paste
2-3 cups or rice
1-2 lbs of ground meat
allspice
mint
a whole lemon

Start by soaking the grape leaves in water over night to soften them. If they came from a jar at the store, feel free to skip this step (Oasis restaurant in Corvallis sells grape leaves). Next cook the rice, it is easier to do in a rice cooker but a pot works just as well. After the rice is cooked, mix it together with the ground meat and pour in the can of tomoto paste. Add a good bit fo allspice and a little mint so that you can smell it, but it is not overwhelmingly strong. Stir the mixture up with your hands, careful not to burn yourself (the rice will still be hot).
Take the grape leaves and lay them on a plate with the vein of the stem facing your direction. Place one to two spoonfuls of the meat and rice mixture on to the grap leaves and proceed to wrap them up (check out a video or tutorial online as to how best to do this). After all the grap leaves are wrapped, line the bottom of a pot with grape leaves so that the stuffed ones do not burn. Next stack the grap leaves in the pot, placement is not an issue, just make sure that stack rises near the top of the pot. Next, fill the pot with water and cut some lemon slices to place on top of the water (use the whole lemon in my opinion). Place a plate or other heavy object over top of the pot to prevent the leaves from rising to the top. Set the stove to the highest setting and once boiling occurs, reduce to a heavy simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
Grape leaves are best served with pita bread and dipped in hommus, but that of course is a matter of opinion. NO, you do not remove the meat from the leave, the whole mix is eaten as one. Hope a few of you actually try this out, I made it for my roommates a few days ago and there skepticisms soon turned into making yummy sounds.