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Santa Cruz to Clear Lake (without stopping in Napa)

Driving

This was the squirrely part of today's drive from Santa Cruz to Clear Lake. Kinda reminds me of last summer's CA Hwy 1 trip. 

Okay so, driving through Napa with a 27' trailer and nowhere to park is kind of a heartbreak. I mean, it would have been much more of one had we not already had our truck and trailer filled with delicious Paso Robles wines. We passed Sterling Vineyards (we love their wine!) in Calistoga and thought "Hey, it's only 45 miles or so from Clear Lake…we'll just come back in minus the trailer." Well, those are 45 miles we might not want to drive two extra times. We'll see how we feel tomorrow.

And now, under the category: Doesn't Quite Look Like The Brochure….we're staying at Edgewater Resort. The location is cool, but the only photo they show on their website is the one shot of the one single spot that's down near the water, while the lawn wasn't covered with chairs and kids. Most of the other spots are packed in way too close and the maneuvering we had to do to get into ours was pretty tricky. Our neighbors said they had to have someone come and park them. There's no view really, but the proximity to the water is okay, so hopefully we'll spend some good hours out on the boat and maybe even catch some fish. 

We've got some salmon on the grill (marinated in horseradish, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic, with a sauce to top made from sour cream, mayo, fresh basil, lemon….) and I'll saute some zucchini to go with the salmon and black beans. We love this salmon recipe, so I'll add it here, in case you'd like to try it. Tonight's recipe substitutions are red basil (that we got from Bonny Doon last night) instead of regular basil, juice from meyer lemons instead of regular, and some horseradish that we picked up in Paso Robles that's fresh and super smooth.

Grilled Salmon Filets with Creamy Horseradish Sauce
(from Bon Appetit in maybe 2003-2004)

Sauce
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons prepared white horseradish
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Salmon
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon prepared white horseradish
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
6 1-inch-thick salmon fillets (each about 6 ounces)

For sauce:
Mix all ingredients in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

For salmon:
Spray grill rack generously with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Whisk oil, horseradish, soy sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper in another small bowl. Brush oil mixture over both sides of salmon fillets. Grill salmon just until opaque in center, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer salmon to plates. Serve with sauce.

Makes 6 servings.

p.s.  Tonight we're drinking a delicious Petite Syrah (called "Heretic") that we picked up at Cypher Vineyard in Paso Robles. It's great. Not sure it'll go with the salmon, but we may finish it before dinner's ready, so it won't matter. :) 

p.s.p.s.  It went with the salmon just fine, actually.